A Few Faves

I joined Instagram.  As I sit here, perusing my blog for the last two months, I can't decide if my lack of posts is because I am posting more often on Instagram, or because life's been busy and a simple Instagram pic is all I could manage.

Honestly, I think it's the latter.  I am knee deep in homeschooling, having added grammar, human anatomy & history since Christmas, and while this has been awesome for the boys (and me) it has meant less free time during the day.

And in the last two weeks we've been spending oodles of time outdoors.  Which also means less time for blogging.  Both good things, the additional homeschooling & spending time outside, but time suckers.

I am determined to take April's blogging up a notch, so here are some of the pictures I posted recently to Instagram.  (And a few I just wanted to share.)

The boys love to read while they eat.  They aren't masters at it, so often I say no, but this day I let Logan read Zombies in Love while eating his mac & cheese.  He was SO happy!

Jack showed Logan this scroll, and told him it had the rules of the world on it. I asked what that was and Logan goes, "it's from the wall of terror." 

Jack corrected him, "The wall of Japan, you mean." 

Finally figured out they meant The Great Wall of China. 

"That's how they talk" Logan told me. It's fake Chinese characters. Oh man these guys crack me up.

In March my parents tried to visit on some standby tickets.  It didn't end up working, but we left the extra bed downstairs in the playroom for a while anyway.  It was super sweet to come downstairs and find the boys like this, gathered together reading on it.

Cookies & Milk.

Need I say more?

This is my life.

Josh goes to work,

I make coffee,

we do school.

The twins write in their journals,

Wyatt does puzzles & plays cars.

Then we do:

Reading, Grammar, Phonics, Spelling

Math, Human Anatomy & Flashcards.

***

Throwback Thursday.

Oh man.

They were SO cute!!!

{Jack on left, Logan on right}

I know it's a constant refrain of mine these days, but seriously...

Where are those long legs coming from?!?

Can it really be true that he'll be four in June?

Impossible.

Jack chose to buy a Matchbox race track with his Valentine's $$$ from Grandma Shirley.  It was a HUGE hit with all the brothers.  

I love this picture Josh snapped of the three of them.  

{be still my heart}

Sometimes the boys' bubbas (their favorite stuffed animals) accompany them to school.

Math is easier with friends!

The twins have taken to reading to Wyatt, and I have to tell you, nothing warms my mama heart more than that.

Mid March we had some serious snowfall.

It was a blustery, blizzardy day to walk to Saturday Social!

The twins held hands the whole way, and it made my heart smile.

We spent quite a few days following that snowfall, outside sledding and digging in it.

After sledding in the new snow, Jack tore his snow pants on the rocks.

Alaska fix?

Duct tape, of course.

#problemsolved

Temps warmed up and the snow melted mostly.  With the nicer weather came the urge to spring clean.  I purged the kitchen, reorganized my drawers & cupobards and began my inventory for when we come back in the fall.

Hate seeing this "little one's" shadow growing so quickly!

Slow down, little brother, slow down!

We've been getting outside a LOT lately.  It means that other things fall by the wayside, but our time outside is worth it.

Special time with Wyatt, watching movies on my laptop in the extra bed in the playroom.

Wyatt LOVES bath time.  He will stay in until his fingers & toes turn to little pink prunes.

While Josh was out of town a while back, I had special time with Logan & Jack, one at a time.  Logan's request was to share a Totino's pizza with me;

and Jack's was to make us each ice cream sundaes.

With the warmer weather, we've been getting outside.  My favorite is to play on the rockpile by the side of our house.  I bring my foldable camp chair and a book or my laptop, and read or blog while the boys play.  The sunshine makes us all so happy!

These little sweethearts arrived in the mail from Amazon last week.  They are my *favorite* pens of all time.  It's ridiculous how happy they make me!

I am super proud of my parenting as of late.  Lots of self sacrifice, and the other day, when Jack busted the entire humidifier while trying to fill it up for me, I just hugged him and assured him it was alright.  That moment felt like a turning point for me.

It felt so good to comfort him, forgive a mistake and move on.  Maybe if I can do that for him, I can do that for myself: Accept mistakes and move on.

Every week, date night is still my favorite!  Pizza & a movie with my man is just what I need at the end of the week.  Some favorites:

Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Fury

The Judge

During Saturday Social last weekend Josh and Joe pulled out the parachute.

The kids absolutely LOVED it.

Those two are such amazing dads!

Little Wyatt is in the big bed this month, and I love how he uses ALL of the bed for sleeping.  When I walked in last night and saw him like this, I couldn't help but see the tiny baby he used to be.  

Today I woke up and felt inspired to try on the jeans hanging in the back of my closet.  Much to my delight-- they fit.  I haven't fit in my size 14's since last spring!  I guess this whole working-out-every-day thing is paying off.  Even if it is just fifteen minutes!

I hope to see a lot more of you all soon.

And by that, of course, I mean, I'll be blogging more!

My Tuesday

Josh was gone over the weekend.  He was out of town, in Anchorage, at a training with his boss & coworker.  He left early Friday morning and didn't return until dinner time Monday.  We made it through the weekend just fine, but by Monday I was seriously sick.  Just a head cold, but the knock-you-out kind that makes even your fingers feel tired.  Upon waking up I immediately feel like I need a nap.

{Josh brought fruit & veggies & all kinds of other treats back with him}

Thankfully Josh made it home and we were both ready for bed early Monday night.  Even after 8+ hours of sleep, though, I awoke Tuesday still exhausted.

The boys however were awake before the light was green, and hit the ground running.  We didn't do school for second day in a row.  This is the first time ever missing school, and it feels weird to not do it. Like I should have to report to someone.  I keep reminding myself this is the luxury of homeschooling.  We can do it on our own schedule.  And we can easily make up lost time if it becomes necessary.

After Josh left for work, I tried turning on cartoons so I could sleep on the couch, but with three rambunctious boys, that's just not possible.  So around 10 I gave up and jumped in the shower.  Then I did the dishes (always. the dishes. will they not just leave me alone?) and we colored together at the kitchen table until Josh got home for lunch.

After lunch the boys do their reading time and the AR tests for the books.  They are both nearing 50 AR points, so I'm trying to think of a creative prize to reward them for all their hard work.  After reading we have quiet time.  The boys can watch movies or play tablets.  I typically let the twins watch something in my bedroom, and Wyatt stays downstairs with me.  Tuesday it was Veggie Tales for the little one.  Per request I gave him his glass of orange juice with a lid.  Ten minutes later he came to me, orange droplets adorning his chubby cheeks and forehead, and told me he had spilled his orange juice while taking the lid off.  It was all over him, and Josh's easy chair, and our couch pillow and blanket.  sigh.  I was supposed to finally be getting a break.  Instead I had to start a new load of laundry and throw Wyatt in the tub.

Quiet time ended, as it always does, all too soon, and again, I tried to recoup and keep the boys entertained.  We played Uno, then did laundry.  Then we watched an episode of Wild Kratts and followed up by cleaning the playroom.

Monday the little legos got me so much quiet time.  Like over two hours of cooperative play for the twins.  Then today Jack nearly swallowed one.  It was the weirdest thing.  He came to me on the couch and said, "I think I..." and was grabbing at his throat.  "I think I'm swallowing it!" Then he was like, "You need to..." and started pounding on his own back.  I had no idea what was happening, but did what he said.  I pounded on his back and in between gagging he managed to tell me he was in the process of swallowing a Lego.  Somehow he managed to get it back up and spit it onto the rug.

He said he wasn't sure why he put it in his mouth.  I was so upset. And scared.  He was crying and I was shaking.  And poor Logan-- I don't think he breathed the whole time this was going down.  Then at bedtime Logan said, "Well, I think that was a miracle. I think God chose today to keep Jack alive or dead, and he chose to keep him alive. And I think that's a miracle."

It was so precious.

In other news, I spent the end of Christmas break reorganizing our homeschool stuff.  It had gotten a bit out of control.  I am so happy with how it turned out.  This bookshelf in particular brings me joy!  

Here's hoping our Wednesday is a little less eventful, and that soon this sickness turns a corner.  I'd love to not feel like death warmed over!

Six Year Peace

You know how they say marriage has the "Seven Year Itch"?

Well I think parenting has the "Six Year Peace."

The last couple of weeks I've been watching as my to-do list grows, yet I feel nothing but acceptance.  I wake up to six feet pounding like elephant hooves down the hall toward my room and three loud voices announcing, "We slept till the light was green! We slept till the light was green, mom!"  

And we're off!

Then it's down the stairs to open the house up, turn on my Scentsy plug ins and start the day while Josh showers.  When he's done, I go up and shower while he feeds the kids.  No later than 7:45am, he leaves for work and my day as a stay-at-home mom starts.

The boys watch two episdodes of cartoons-- usually Team Oomi Zoomi & Wallykazaam, but sometimes Paw Patrol & Doc McStuffins.  During this time I email Julie, eat breakfast and post a blog if it's ready.

Then it's 9:00am and time for school.  We start with calendar, counting, learning days of the week and months of the year, and reading a few stories on the rug. Wyatt joins us for calendar.  Recently we added show & tell once a week and the twins think that is the coolest.

After calendar, Wyatt stays in the playroom and the twins and I move to the kitchen table.  We tried working at their desks in the playroom last year, but I can keep them better focused if we are together at the big table.  So we do our work there.  

We do journals first.  Sometimes I give them a subject, but more often I let them draw and write about whatever they please.

Then we do sight word flash cards, Bob book reading, and our Saxon reading program.  This weekend I am going to read up and get the Saxon Math going, which I think Jack in particular will be excited about.  

By the time school is over, Josh is home for lunch so we all eat.  Once he takes off, the twins do silent reading and quiet time begins.  During quiet time, mommy gets a break (hooray!) and the boys get a chance to watch a movie or play tablets.

So far this year, after quiet time, we've gotten to go outside everyday.  This has brought me so much joy!!!

Getting those boys outside makes everything better.  They run and ride and play and yell, and I sit and breathe and relax and center.

After an hour or so outside, we head back in so I can make dinner.  By this point Josh is usually home.

I cook, we eat, then we bathe the boys and it's upstairs and off to bed.  

Jammies, stories, prayers & hugs.

So as you can see, that silly to-do list I have isn't getting a whole lot of attention during the day...

That's how I found myself mopping my arctic entry at 10:00 last night.  If I want the chores done, I have to get creative with my time.

Last year not getting things done during the day made.me.crazy.  I would rush and get frazzled and do whatever it took to get things crossed off. And suddenly now I'm at peace.

If I get to it, I get to it. 

If I don't, it will wait.

I focus on:

Kids

Husband

Meals

Dishes

Laundry

If I end a day meeting those top five needs, I feel good.

I couldn't have forced this peace. 

It's like the right amount of time passed, and suddenly it washed over me.  

I have fully settled into my role as mother, homemaker and homeschooler.  The weight of those responsibilities is heavy, and I never have them all three balanced perfectly, but I am happy anyway.

Those of you who have been mama's for six or more years, did you find the same to be true for you? That you found a magic sweet spot of time where you settled into the rhythm of life that is motherhood?

Following blogs of other mama's has also played a huge role in my peace.  

Am I lacking?  Am I imperfect?  

Yes. But we all are.

Some nights it's cereal for dinner.  Some weeks the laundry is in baskets all over instead of folded in its drawers.  Other times, the toilet bowl is shining and the dishes are all put away.  

But the beautiful thing is that I'm not impacted either way. 

Staying in the moment has been really big in sustaining this peace.

Being present with the boys allows time to pass slowly, and distracts me from all that's not getting done.

Something else that has, funny enough, helped, is Pinterest.  During quiet time or after bedtime, I love reading inspiring quotes about homeschooling, anxiety and parenting.

They help me remember that this time with my boys will pass quickly, that I'm not alone in the homeschooling struggles I face, and that I can conquer my anxiety.

A few of my favorites:

"The influence of a mother in the lives 

of her children is beyond calculation."

-James E. Faust

"Please hold onto your hope.

It is in such limited supply 

around the world these days.

Hold onto it and be proud that you are 

one of the ones that does."

-Tyler Knott Gregson

"Education is not the filling of a pail,

but the lighting of a fire."

-William Yeats

If you haven't hit your Six Year Peace yet, give it time.  

When it comes, it will be a glorious thing!

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Completely random side note:
I know some of my pictures look edited. I swear to you, they are not. It's just that beautiful here!  The colors this summer and fall have been completely stunning. Nature does all the work for me!