Tiny Tiny

Look what I found in the attic...

As I was sorting through bins of baby boy clothes to share with a friend, 

I found this tiny little outfit that Luke wore home from the hospital. 

Both Ethan and Aaron wore it at some point too. Can't believe my huge boys were ever this tiny. 

(And I have a LOT of baby stuff that I think it's time to get rid of... very mixed emotions about that!)

The Blue Room

We're slowly chipping away at some home projects around here. And when I say "we," I should say Darin is doing the work and I'm working at being patient. ;) We are 95% done with Ethan and Aaron's room. The last 5% is up to me, but it might be a little while until I can complete it. (Trying to keep my focus on school prep... only 12 days!)

Take a look...

 The walls were previously white. I spotted this blue color at a 

friends house and thought it would look great with their quilts. I love it!

 Darin did a great job painting the blue and red stripes! It was much harder then you'd think. 

I repainted their name letters with the same blue as the stripe. 

This is their favorite corner for setting up Playmobil scenes. 

 My mom and I made the navy curtains with white stars for Ethan's nursery in our old house. 

So glad to keep using them! They are great for keeping out morning/evening light. 

I repainted the wooden star wall hanging to match the blue stripe too. 

 We have some hooks to hang to the left of the door. Trying to decide 

if it is wise to hang them or if the boys will just use them to scale the wall! ;)

Here is where my project comes in... See that empty wall? 

I'm determined to make something special to hang there. 

I bought this value pack of 12x12 canvas's. I'm planning to use

four to hang together in a square. With a little help from 

my artist dad, I have great plans. You'll have to wait and see! Stay tuned...

Sleep...ahhh!

Can't believe it but I stayed in bed until 7:45am! Maybe a new record for me. More then 8 hours of sleep! What!?!?! I always get up before 6 to exercise (either run or workout in the garage), but shockingly I turned off my alarm and rolled back over. The boys played quietly with legos in the lego room and didn't even come ask for breakfast until 7:45. (I did have a sweet little snuggler for a little while though.) What a treat!!! I'll probably feel guilty later, but for now I feel thankful for the extra rest my over tired body needed. Ahhh...

Grinding Gears

Oh how I would love to have some light and fluffy posts, but alas... I'm just not there right now.  God is at work in my heart teaching me some very hard, but wonderful things. Many of which I'm still sorting out and processing privately. It's really all I think about... these things that God is teaching me. And believe me, my brain is constantly thinking and sorting. It's exhausting. :) I learned recently that men actually "stop thinking" at times. Really?!?! I heard from a reliable source that studies have actually been done that prove this statement. Hard to believe, but I kind of wish that were true of me too. Maybe the gears would stop grinding at least for a little bit? I posted yesterday, but quickly felt compelled to remove the post because it felt too vulnerable (but not before 1 person snuck a peek! oh my!).

God's word is sustaining me and I am soaking it in. I am so thankful for how He speaks to me through His word. This is one passage He has impressed upon me recently. With Christ, we have so many benefits! He loves us so perfectly. It is beyond comprehension.

"Praise the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits -

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us at our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heaves are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

Psalm 103:2-5, 8-12

Splash

After a scary pool incident at the beach house in May, 

I was determined to get Aaron signed up for his second round of swim lessons. 

Don't you love the ridiculous looking goggles? :)

He started off the lessons afraid to get his hair wet and go under water. 

He gripped on to his instructor and was very tentative. 

He was smitten with his swim instructor and always kept track of 

which life guard stand she was on when the pool was open after lessons. 

"There's my friend Miss Katie," he would shout. 

And even though he refused to jump in the first two days, he jumped

from the starting block to his teacher on day 7 all by himself. 

So proud of my little swimmer. Every day is a pool day now, right? 

Not so ODD.

As of this month, the boys have officially given up being ODD. 

Well, maybe they're still odd, but their ages are not. At the ages of 4, 6 and 8, I'm ready 

for an even year. :) Have I told you my theory that even years are smoother then odd ones? 

We'll just have to see if it holds true this year or if it's all psychological babble. 

Let's take a look at these three sweet boys and their individuality.

Luke: At the age of 8, you are shy and introverted with new people, but are comfortable and chatty with close friends and family. If someone outside your close circle asks you questions, you tend to clam up and stare blankly. And yet, with those you love you are confident and quick witted. You feel music through your body and can't help yourself from dancing, drumming, or singing in response to it. You can get lost in music and dance like crazy, forgetting that someone may be watching. You love to build with legos and create "scenes." Your imagination is limitless. You are very passionate and feel things deeply and can get caught in extremes. (sorry buddy, but I think I passed this along to you!) You are a perfectionist, which is a blessing and a challenge when it comes to school work. It can seem overwhelming to you to not understand your schoolwork perfectly the first time you see it. Fear of failure is high. You are a rule follower and quite upset when rules are not followed. You are very affectionate and not bashful about holding my hand or giving Daddy and I hugs and kisses. You love to eat vegetables and salads and while you like the idea of special treats you generally think they're too sweet. You are fiercely devoted to your brothers, but can also be fierce with them. You love to run and go to track club. You are discovering a joy for tennis and just generally like to be outside (no matter what the weather). You have a very sweet servant heart and understand the blessings of working hard. You've lost 8 teeth!

can you tell how much they were into this photo shoot?

Ethan: At the age of 6, you are my little monkey. You love to climb, wrestle and roll around. You are a very physical kid, knocking us down with your leaping hugs. You are generally shy with new adults and children. Up until your recent meeting with hornets, you were fearless. The multiple stings have brought out a bit more caution, but you are still my "extreme sports" guy. You love climbing at the climbing wall, but are not interested in organized sports. Crazy stunts on your bike make you excited. You've expressed an interest in gymnastics and swimming and this summer you are determined to learn how to dive off the diving board. Once you set your mind to something, you can do it and are not worried about failing. You just keep trying. Since the age of three, you have been a precise and detailed colorer. This year in art class, you continued to excel in other forms of art. You surprise many with your unbelievable focus for art, especially in light of how psychically active you are the rest of the time. You love to pretend play with playmobil toys with your brothers. You are definitely my meat and cheese boy, but you still enjoy your veggies. You love to dress up in costumes as long as you are in the privacy of your own home. This summer you've made great progress with your reading. You have a great love of animals (especially horses) and are so gentle with them. When you are sad, you love to have your "Doggie Dog" stuffed animal in your arms. In a school setting, you are quiet and respectful. You save your spunk for home or with those you are really comfortable. You've lost 1 tooth!

Aaron: At the age of 4, you are our little snuggler. You love to sneak into Mommy and Daddy's room in the night and snuggle up with Daddy. You still have a little baby fat and are so soft and squishy to hug. When you are nervous or shy, you hang open your mouth with a cute little expression. You love any kind of sport: football, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, anything! You can throw a ball up in the air and whack it with a bat or racket easily. You are surprisingly good at dribbling an adult size basketball. Sports seem to be a part of who you are. You love the idea of doing school, but are not particularly interested in any type of worksheet or coloring. You love to pretend with little duplo men or lego men or playmobil men. You can keep yourself busy for long stretches pretending with your little men but can also hold your own pretending with your brothers. You love babies and have been known to ask when God is going to give us one, or two. You are taking your second swimming class this summer and making good progress. While you love playing with your brothers, you still love your time alone. You can be very silly and giggly. What a wonderful and contagious giggle you have! You are very ticklish. You are very social and eager to play with new friends and neighbors. 

No matter how hard being a Mommy is at times, I am so grateful for the privilege of 

taking care of our three boys. What a gift to watch them grow and mature!

The hardest, but best job I've ever had!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

It's official... I mailed my notice of intent to home school Luke and Ethan on Wednesday. Deep breath! Much prayer went into this decision and as I prayed, there were very clear answers to move forward with home schooling this year. And yet, I am still nervous! I am certain that since God is calling me (us) to home school, He will give me (us) the strength to do so. Oh Lord, give me the faith to believe that You will be with me, carrying my burdens and holding me up. Help me to trust in You and cast all my worries on You. 


It's tempting to pray for an easy year. Who doesn't want that? I'd love all our learning to be smooth sailing and for them to delight in every little thing I prepare for them because they're such geniuses. Wouldn't it be nice if I could blog about our perfect school days and my expert teaching! ha! Realistically though, considering our sin nature that's not likely. And if it did happen, I think I'd be a wee bit tempted to think it was because of how great I am. I might even be tempted to begin relying on my own strength and not God's.

This past year was hard. There was resistance to school work. There was shouting (from the boys and from me). There were angry words. There was repentance. There was forgiveness and there was much relying on God. There was a very clear sense of our need for Him. So, as much as I'd love things to be easy, isn't it better that it wasn't and I was at a place of relying more fully on Him? I cherish that affirmation from the spirit as I "accidentally" read scripture that was just what I needed. He made it so clear that He was with me and He will be again. (And I must add that we had MANY lovely school days mixed in with those hard ones - those were a gift from God!)

In four short weeks, we'll begin our 2012-2013 school year. I have a lot of work to do to get ready and somehow I don't even feel like I've rested all that much this summer. Somehow, I'll be ready. Ready for more multiplication, exploring countries and cultures, cursive, spelling, reading, grammar, phonics, science and art. And most importantly, ready to continue pointing these precious boys to the cross and their need for Jesus. (And praying that He will fill me with joy as I follow Him!)