A little walk

On most days, quiet time for the big kids lines up nicely with Anna's afternoon nap.  But every once in a while, the little miss just can't wait until after lunch to crash.  On those days her and I get to spend a bit of one on one time together during the afternoon when Leah and Isaac are tucked away, as she has already woken up from her nap by then.  We don't have that many kids-- only 3-- and yet one on one time seems so rare.  Now that I think about it, I should probably give them each a day where they get to skip their afternoon quiet time and just spend some time with Mommy.  (Of course, Mommy's alone time is pretty rare too, so maaaaybe I shouldn't be making any rash decisions here.)  ;) 

During today's time together, Anna and I decided to take a little walk around the pond.  We started with a visit to the chickens and brought one out for a little visit.  

 For so long this little girl was quiet.  And then a few weeks ago she just started talking, talking, talking.  Mostly just miscellaneous words (Her favorite phrase these days is "Mommy! [Insert whatever she is looking at at that particular moment here.]" And then repeat it.  Over and over and over again.) But then she told me, "I anna see im," when I brought this little chick out, and said thank you (da-doo) when I crouched down with her.  This little girl surprises me with her growing up-ness.  

Poke, poke.  These photos also give you a good view of my stubby genetically deficient thumbs.  (Little known fact-- Megan Fox also has club thumbs just like mine.)

 Rowdy wanted to get a closer look at this little chick. 

 So. TEMPTING. 

 I had asked her to follow me so we could go back inside.  Naturally she promptly turned and walked the other way, with an occasional smirky look back in my direction. 

Up close and personal.   

 Her "stern face".

 But she can't be stern for long. 

 Oh, those dimples.  

 We found a worm.  She didn't want to touch it. 

 A quick stop at the jungle gym for some climbing.  She's been going up and down this on her own for about 2 months now.  Monkey. 

 She looks very focused, but she was humming the whole way down.  

And we topped it all off with a little swing.  This is big stuff for this girl.  Anna doesn't mind swinging on her belly like this, but she is so very afraid of swinging in a baby swing.  If she is pushed more than 6 inches away at a time in a baby swing, she grabs the swing with a death grip and stares at you fearfully.  (Which is also what she does when we drive down big hills.)  But belly swinging feels safe to her, probably because she can go at her own pace.  

We are in a tough, tough stage with Anna right now and these little moments are so necessary to help me remember her sweetness and innocence.  Yesterday a friend of mine posted on FB a video of Chris Parnell and Maya Rudolph singing a lullaby he wrote for his brand new baby.  (You can see it here.) I don't have any opinions of either of those celebrities, but the song was pretty sweet.  And while it was meant for a newborn, it ended with a line that is true for all babies/toddlers/kids,

“The two things I’ll be thinking are: I’m exhausted and I love you, I love you.”

  Anna, you exhaust me.  And I love you.  I love you. 

"Recent" projects

I don't have much extra energy these days, and what little bit I have is often spent tap-tap-tapping away perusing the internet "for just a few minutes", while an hour (or more) quickly slips away.  Two occasions in the past few months gave me the opportunity to put my creative juices to a more useful purpose than cataloging projects I would "one day work on." 

One was when a dear friend had a sweet little baby.  I'd been wanting to make this particular type of blanket for a while and Asher's impending arrival prompted me to finally do it.  I love, love, love the look and feel of this blanket. 

 I did not so much love, love, love how it took 10,000 times longer than I anticipated. (Which is why Asher was 4 weeks old when he finally got it.  Even though his arrival date had been scheduled months in advance.  [Side note: when I started working on this, Jared was all, You'll never finish that in time.  And I was all, What do you know? Obviously I've given myself ample time to finish this project that will take me no time at all.  Wellll, apparently he knows better than me.  Don't tell him I said that.])

 At one point while making this blanket, I was surrounded by my sewing machine and multiple stacks of fabric circles and a friend (the recipient's father, to be exact) commented that it was a little weird for me to be giving a bunch of homemade nursing pads as a baby shower gift.  Uhhhh, yup.  That WOULD be weird! 

The moral of this story is if you want me to make you one of these sweet blankets, tell me as soon as you find out you're pregnant so I have plenty of time.  Better yet, just let me know when you're trying to conceive.  Just don't be weird about it.  

The other opportunity that prompted some craftiness was Anna's Christmas gift.  Years ago, a friend's mom made some quiet books for her grandchildren.  I admire them every time I'm at their house, and I decided Anna needed something like it.  Even though I kept it fairly simple, I still just barely finished in time for Christmas.  I used fabric that I already had on hand for the entire thing, and had to purchase a few random things to put in the book (tassels, elastic, grommets, ribbon).  Have you ever looked at these kinds of books on Etsy?  They are expensive.  Now I know why.  

(Quick note-- some of these photos refuse to rotate, no matter what I do.  Sooooo, you will have to deal with it.)

 I kept the covers simple and without her name because I knew they'd be passed to other siblings one day.  And this way I wouldn't be required to make another.  :) 

 The petals are removable.  Anna can't do the buttons yet, but she does like to spin the petals around them.

 I do love these little jellies that move along the strings. 

 I tried to keep everything that was removable from the page attached by a ribbon so it wouldn't be lost forever.  

 Anna's second favorite page-- the letters are attached by snap buttons and can be tucked in the pocket below.  

 There's some soft, wooly fabric inside the mittens for her to feel. 

 You know how when you get new sheets and they come in those clear plastic thingies?  I always saved them, thinking I would surely have a use for them.  I had been waiting for this moment for years, and here it is:

 A slip in pocket for photos.  

 Do you see how the tie-closure is not in the center of the covers?  That's what happens when you stop measuring and just start eye-balling because it's December 23rd and this just.needs.to.be.FINISHED.  Like a week ago, so I could actually enjoy the days leading up to Christmas. 

Now.  Does this make you think I am super crafty or competent or capable of having things together enough to use time to do these fun things? 

BAAAHAHAHAHA.  Don't be fooled.  

If I was going to share the good stuff, I figured it was only fair to share the not so good as well.  Below are some photos of my kitchen and living room area earlier today.  There was stuff EVERYWHERE in our house.  Nothing was in its proper place, and to be honest, it's been like that for a few days.  But when I take the time to work on projects that are fun for me, this is what happens to our living spaces-- they explode. 

Dirty dishes in the sink.  Two compost bowls needing to be emptied. 

 A sweet view of our dining room table.  Clearly not used for dining, but more so for puzzles, school work, laundry folding, and apparently a place to put your to-be-planted pansies. 

For what it's worth, I did use the afternoon to tidy up.  We'll see how long it lasts. 

School Time

It's only been half of a year that we've been officially homeschooling our kids. From what I've gathered of it thus far, the fact that we homeschool is fairly interesting to most people.  When many folks find out we do, I generally get one of two responses: 

"Oh, I could never do that.  We'd be at each other's throats."

or 

"How does that work?"

Lest anyone think my children and I have some sort of super powers of love and patience towards one another, let me just say that some days we ARE at each other's throats.  It is hard.  There are days when Jared comes home and I say, "This is it.  We're not doing it with multiple kids at a time."  But those are the days when I am trying to keep an agenda of ridiculous structure and I forget-- these kids are 5 and 3.  And really, those days are few and far between. 

When I remember that the beauty of homeschooling is the freedom within it, those are the days we have fun. 

 Telling time.  I dragged their little bodies around the rug, tick-tocking the whole way.  They thought 12 o' clock was the most fun.  Naturally. 

 Leah really likes memorizing verses.  And she soaks it up waaaaaay quicker than I do. 

Last Friday, I scrapped our standard plans of handwriting, reading, and math to do more of an interactive activity.  We started off the day at the library, and then followed up with a sewing project for both of the kids.  They've been begging me for months to learn how to use my sewing machine and I'd been dragging my feet doing it.  Sewing is one of my relaxing breaks.  It's always been something I haven't had to share with anyone.  And I was worried if I taught them how to do it, they'd be asking to use my stuff all the time.  It sounds pretty selfish when I type it out like that, but I am pretty sure that any mom out there can understand the need to have something that is just ours. 

At any rate, I came up with a simple scarf for them to make on my basic sewing machine.  And in that simple activity, we covered all the standard lessons I usually do.  They practiced using rulers and measuring lines on paper before they measured the fabric itself (Hello, Math!).  They then followed step by step instructions on how to make scarves (almost) all by themselves (There's Reading!).  The result was two incredibly happy kids who love to show off their scarves to anyone who will look at them.  

 Pinning the fabric...

 Leah wrote out her steps and once she was done, she put together a "How to Make a Scarf" booklet, complete with illustrations (There's that handwriting practice!).  I think this one will go in the files forever. 

 Yes, we had to use a bucket for them to reach the pedal. 

 I love these little hands. 

 Sir Grumpy Pants does not like having pictures taken.  I tried to make him smile.  It clearly didn't work. 

Final products.  They worked super hard on these and were into the project from start to finish.  If you see them wearing their new scarves, I'd love it if you could comment on how much work and patience it must have taken for them to finish the scarves.  Because it really did! And I was really impressed with their determination. 

As far as the "How does it work?" question?  It varies, day by day.  Sometimes we sit at the table for 2 hours straight banging stuff out.  Sometimes we trail blaze through the woods, filling our journals up with pictures of plants to compare to plant i.d. guides upon our return home.  And some days we just curl up on the couch with a really good novel and I read to them.  All. Day. Long. 

Again, I will say that it is hard.  And yet, I really, really love it.  (More than I ever thought I would.) Sometimes I worry that I am slighting them in some capacity because they aren't learning Spanish or doing crazy art projects on a daily basis, but then I remind myself that they have time to play with each other and friends, that they are being taught by someone who loves them beyond comprehension and that they are just 5 and 3.  And in the end, they are going to be fine.