Buster The New Addition...

Interesting enough we had 3 cats...2 of which disappeared quite suddenly over the spring...we think coyotes could have been a good guess of what might had happened to them. Oh it was sad...we will never know for sure though...
Though gratefully our kitty Midnight is the only survivor.
The poor kids were saddened and stunned by the whole thing, especially Kayla. It was one of her cats that disappeared. So we decided to get another cat for Kayla and a playmate for Mids...
It's been a good experience so far for the family and Midnight...

so introducing Buster the kitten...!
(I think the picking out of names for cats in our family is quite funny, we always end up with funny names...)

Not only that Kayla, who's in charge of Buster and owner, is learning what its like to care for a baby-somewhat...;)
She is doing well...training the cat and making sure he uses the litter box?

The Kids Ginger Bread Train

I thought it would fun to have the kids do a Ginger Bread Train this year! This was the first year where I actually did one of these with them. It was fun, but of course all the candy had disappeared quite quickly...

Isabel after her chocolate binge

A train in the process...

Our first Ginger Bread train is finished and not eaten!!

The Kids First Little Christmas Pageant

Over the past several months the kids have been taking these Co op classes for school. I know I have talked about the classes before in previous posts. These classes include subjects like history/geography, writing, music, drama, and arts and crafts. At the end of every quarter the kids put on a little program to show what they have been learning.
So this was the Christmas play.

Below are some pictures and 2 short videos that I taped. I was trying to maneuver the camera while also figuring out another video camera. So you will see some jiggling of my camera. Very Sorry!
It is bearable though...I only taped the segments that the kids are in.
Carson is a Wiseman in the yellow crown, while both Kayla and Gavin are narrators.

Lastly they sang some songs. Ava though-my goodness...sadly she didn't want to participate in her part of the singing. Lets just say, Ava was having a tough moment.

I love and enjoy that all my kids are now at ages where I can begin to focus on just watching them have a grand ole time doing fun things like this. Not having a baby to nurse, not having to console a crying baby and walk out because it's too loud all the time. Wonderful moments!!
Not only is it lots of fun to watch all your kids enjoy doing something like this, but it's really fun to participate with them!!


Ava trying overcome her tough moment...

the full cast...

Carson the Wiseman...

Eating the yummy snacks!!

Gavin, Carson, and Kayla enjoying their craft time and friends

The videos...

RICE EVERYWHERE!!

So I let the little girls play with some rice...
and.....
this is of course what happened! Rice, Rice everywhere-in the dining area that is.
I like to let Ava play with dry rice at times. So I will give her measuring cups, and a pan, so she can play cooking with it. Well, needless to say, Isabel thought this would be fun too and began to fling rice as far as her little hands could throw. Yet, Mom stayed as calm as a cucumber. Ava as a matter of fact took the broom and began to sweep the gigantic mess all by herself!! What a HUGE helper she was!! For this I gave her much praise and the rest of the family sang the "We're proud of you" song to her. Which she quite delighted herself in as you can tell by the pictures below. Thankfully we got most of it cleaned up before Daddy arrived home!

Note Ava has her shoes on this picture. This is what she told Mommy,
"Mommy I need to put on my shoes so I don't get 'rices' on my feet."
And so she did...

Tea Time!

The Kids and I have been enjoying tea time lately, either in the mornings or afternoons. We put on a pot of water in our red tea kettle and wait to hear the blustering, steaming, whistle! Then we get out the little sugar cubes, tea bags, and lemons, (if we have them). Then prep the table with Kayla's delicate tea mugs and saucers. Lastly, we gather around our table and graciously chat as we sip our tea. OK...maybe it's not that "perfect" but we do laugh a lot, and we do practice our manners!!
It has been fun to see that tea time means a lot to them and making tea time a memory during our days at home.

A Sense Of Accomplishment!!

Today has been a great day of accomplishment. The Lord helped me to persevere in some areas regarding school. The kids have been involved with a Co op writing class since September. They are doing a writing curriculum called, "IEW Excellence In Writing' (a method for teaching strong writing skills). I had found it to be extremely confusing when the kids first began to take this class. They actually staggered behind because of my lack of understanding and had been unable to follow the homework instructions. So I went to the "teacher" and asked if I could borrow the DVD's that came with the curriculum. She kindly allowed to me view them. So last night I stayed up until 1pm., reviewing the DVD's!! Guess what? I reviewed all 4 in a few hours and was finally able to grasp the concept of this method. Whew! This was such a wonderful feeling! Not only that, but I was able to teach the kids all that I had learned today in their schooling. So now thankfully they are caught up and they understand this method of writing. Their brains were extremely tired though, and so was mine!! I said to them, "See? We worked very hard and now look, doesn't it feel good that we are on top of things, your ahead in your work, and we understand the class?" I was sooo grateful that the Lord used this opportunity to show both the kids and I, that when we put in the hard work, there are going to be rewards! Now they are ready to march into class tomorrow-homework done, notebooks orderly, and book bags ready by the front door!

What a milestone of victory for this homeschooling Mom!!
Woohoo-(sigh)!!

Simple Things I Enjoy As A Mom

So much has been happening in our family over the past few months. Changes are taking place in many different ways. Some changes are more difficult to face than others, some are pleasant and enjoyable, while others are requiring more faith.
God is faithful and teaching me many things through these challenges, its hard to post about them all because they are happening all at once. Though for starters, my eyes are truly beginning to open in realization that my oldest is turning 12 in November!!! A Pre-teen!! We are already seeing signs of what is to come for those teen years. I do sense in my spirit much excitement! I love relating to my daughter on such a different level. She is growing into a teen, yet then onto womanhood! It is hard to believe, but as I told her, I was only there myself about 15 yrs. ago!! I do remember. I had Kayla when I was 19 yrs. old- I was just coming out of those teen years, myself. WOW!!
Last night Stefan took Kayla out on a father/daughter date. Kayla, today, told me how much fun it was and that she wished it could have lasted forever. Daddy just let her talk and talk!!
Go Stefan!!!!!!!! (He is learning well!)
She is Daddy's girl, let me tell ya!

Anyway, today as a Mom I faced some challenging thoughts and questions, one being, "oh my goodness-a Pre-teen! Lord help me to give and feed her not only Truth, your truth, but much grace and love!"
Mothers of girls~how I urge you to look forward to these years - if you haven't already!
I am amazed that the Lord has given me this responsibility to raise 3 girls for His glory!
How my heart is growing in praying for them and desiring to teach them Godliness!!
I keep looking at Ava and Isabel thinking-ok 2 more times I must do this, not in a relieving way, 'phew', but in an amazed sort of way.

It seems as though when they are so small-life is so simple...holding, cuddling, singing, reading books, and teaching them ABC's...
but when the day comes when they are...emotional about everything, the world seems to be falling a part around them...and you want to just tell them "get it together"...wow... how the opportunity is there to show Christ's love to them, to have patience, grace, kindness, most of all to listen and be there for them.
Oh Lord, help me!!!

In relation to the title I wrote above? What are those simple things I so enjoy as A Mom?

• feeding the kids popcorn for lunch-with some kind of fruit of course
• all of us laughing together
• dancing and singing together
• taking lots of pictures of them!!
• watching their happy and satisfied faces after I have thanked them for being a great "mommy's helper"
• hearing their simple thoughts like, Carson and Ava, what they think about life...Ava's famous words about the, "cation house" (vacation house) and her "chickens" (cheeks)
  
• lastly, they are so much like sponges at these ages...they soak in everything!!! Teachable moments!!!

Simply put...

I love being their MOM!!!

Having Fun With My Kids..

Today has been a GREAT day of accomplishing School, training for the Lord, and having fun!
The kids had this memory of during school at break time-we would go outside and play these fun games. So I decided to reintroduce some of these games for our break time again!!
Some of the games included Freeze tag, Monkey in the middle, throwing the football around. Ava was trying to grasp the concept of Freeze Tag-poor thing she got a little emotional trying to keep up with all the big kids. She had this limited understanding of why she kept getting tagged!
Carson's response to Mommy and to how much fun it was, was this...
"Mommy, you are a kid again!!!"

They saw how much fun I was having with them-it was VERY fun!!!!

Next time they want to play Dodge Ball and Capture the Flag...
So I told them...we shall see who wins at Dodge Ball...

"Watch Out now, Mommy used to be the QUEEN of Dodge Ball!!"

Many Random Weekend Pictures...

though these are random pictures...we had a field trip day that was so much fun!!
We did have a dr.'s appointment, and then we went to the library! Lastly we went to Mcd's in which the kids got a lot of their energy out!! Woohoo!!
It was a busy day but a pleasant one!!