A Sweet Gift...

Jenn from Munchkinland Designs gave me the sweet gift of a new blog design!  I have to admit I was a little nervous about it at first.  I've had the same blog design for 6 years!  But, I love what she came up with!  She is so sweet and easy to work with.  I highly recommend her!  Six years ago I began praying with/for her ~ praying that she would be able to work less and be home with her little munchkins more!  God answered our prayers!  Now she has this wonderful business that she is able to run from home!  She is so good at what she does.  I loved getting to work with her!

And, so a big thank you to my sweet friend, Jenn!!!

A Sweet Glimpse...

More of the Ordinary...

I just don't know where to begin.  My home is completely turned upside down, and I have six sweet ones under my care, and I teach them here in our turned upside down home.  It is so funny, but this is still a very peaceful time in our lives.  No matter what lies ahead, these are sweet days, and I am thankful for every one of them!  The boys are all here reading and learning and busy about their daily tasks.  Em is in the corner just a swinging in her swing cooing happily.  My house is more dirty than usual.  Clutter is everywhere.  My clothes are split between two closets.  I feel paralyzed to tackle all that lies in front of me!  But, still I rise each morning, grab my coffee cup and my Bible, and thank Him for every bit of every thing.  And, I know deep down that one day things will be organized and put away, and life will once again fall into some sort of pattern that we all know and love.  But, until then, my heart is happy with the chaos ~ as long as I can burn pumpkin spice candles, stare at gorgeous fall foliage, and feel the cool crisp air of autumn!  JOY!  Pictures of life...

Jack has to take medicine twice a day to prevent seizures.  We have found that he takes it best from the boys.  We all stand around and chant, "Go, Jack, go!" while either Joshua or James gives him his dose. They usually add fun airplane noises and dance around the room to make him laugh.  :-)

I'm guessing this is why they call it the mudroom...

James loves to teach ~ particularly, he loves to teach math! Probably this is because math is his favorite subject.  So, I have really gone with this.  I use him to help me teach Elijah.  He grades Elijah's math worksheets everyday with smiley faces and "great job"s and lots of stickers!  He can be very picky! :-/  But, he is so encouraging, and he loves doing it so much!  

I caught the big boys just hanging out reading Revelation the other day.  :-) So funny to me because I remember thinking it was so fun to read Revelation when I was a kid!!!  I saw a tweet from David Platt the other day that said all of Revelation could be summed up in three words... OUR GOD WINS!!!  I shared his tweet with the boys, and they loved it!!!! :-)

Love it when I can catch sweet moments like this on camera...

Elijah lost his first tooth last week!!! :-)  He literally let it fall out ~ it was soooo loose.  He was so proud! 

My girl with a light saber...

I asked my knights to go on a quest for autumn, and this is what they brought me...

Picnic lunches abound during fall...

Love, love, love...

Pop came for a quick visit last week...

Sweet days and thankful hearts all around!!!

My Cowboys...

Fun Sandwich and a Trip to the Zoo

Apple and peanut butter sandwich...

The zoo!  Erik took Jack to one of his neurology appointments and dropped the big four, Emery, and I off at the zoo!  The boys had a blast!

The polar bear stood up and played with the boys!

A super fun day!

Baby Curls...

Almost eighteen Months, can I hold you longer please?

Horsin' Around

Our contractor has become like family to us over the last year.  The boys love to follow him around, and he loves to play with them.  He brought my older two duck calls with the promise to take them duck hunting this winter.  While we walk around the addition and make decisions, he usually holds one of my babies, and I hold the other.  He has made so many decisions for me, without even bothering to ask me, based on what is safest or most convenient for a house full of children.  I am so thankful.  Erik Daniel hugs his legs and tells him that he loves him.  :-) And, now that we are over in our new area, the boys are constantly thanking him for building it for us!!  

Our contractor heard Erik and I talking about beginning to move our things into the addition.  He insisted that we let him help us.  He showed up bright and early with two other workers and wouldn't accept anything in return for their help.  We couldn't have done it without them.  With six children and no family close by, moving is not an easy task.  These men moved so much so fast.  When it seemed things wouldn't fit through a doorway, they took off the doors and made it work!  Erik and I were so grateful for their help!

He, then, invited us out to his place for the evening.  The boys had a blast!

We had to peel this little man off his horse.  He was still talking about riding horses this morning.  The two older boys really enjoyed learning how to ride, taking the reigns, and doing it by themselves!

Jack enjoyed being with his big buddy!

He loved riding, too!

I thought he might fall asleep! He was so relaxed!!

Then, our contractor and his wife made a feast!!

Yum!  What a great way to enjoy the fall weather!!

Sweet Fall...

Fall has arrived and is gracing us with her tender beauty and gentle peace.  The cool air outside has turned my heart in such a way this year that it has surprised even me!  My thoughts have turned with the weather from outward to inward focusing on home.  I am so inspired to fill this space with the warmth I feel in my heart!!  Now, how do I do that???

I'm working on it ~ fall candles and warm colors all around, soothing comfort foods for dinner, peaceful music, and reading time with lots of cuddling in blankets and sipping hot drinks.  Oh, my heart!  How I love this time of year!

The boys and I are reading King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table right now, and we are loving it.  Yes, there is a lot of smiting and heads do roll, but it is a fun read and has inspired drawings of knights and damsels by all four of my older boys.  They are acting out scenes from the book in their literature class at Excelsior.  They love practicing their lines and bringing their swords and knightly attire to co-op on Friday. I am also laughing at the sentences I am getting from them in grammar. "Run get thy sword," and such! Because their literature corresponds with what they are studying in history,  I feel like our whole home takes on whatever time period we are in.  Even the little ones listen to the books as I read and act out the scenes with their big brothers.  It becomes a family affair. We are all learning and growing together.  I am learning as much as they are about Charles the Hammer and Charlamagne. :-)  I will miss this one day, so I am soaking it up now.  And, as we read I pray that God will raise these little dreamers up to be knights who go on quests for the honor and glory of their King.

Life is unbelievably crazy and chaotic for me right now.  The last few weeks have been the climax of the renovation (which began a year ago on my birthday ~ Oct. 25th), and tomorrow we will begin to slide downward finally! :-)  We are going to begin moving our things over to the addition in the morning at 7:00 sharp!  I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it!  I will no longer have two tables in my kitchen, a couch in my foyer, another couch and a church pew in my dining room, and stuff piled everywhere!!!  We will begin the slow process of nesting in our new little space, and we can't wait.

Though I must admit the move makes me a little melancholy.  We will not put all four of our older boys to bed in the same room anymore.  I didn't realize how sad this would make me.  I am excited for the older two boys to have their space and to be able to read in their beds with their lamps on at night.  But, my heart hurts just a little to think I won't be tripping over the two trundles in the middle of their old bedroom.  And, Jack will no longer be in our closet.  Change. Good change.

Here are a few pictures from the past few days...

Everybody loves Miss Emery.  Her older brothers adore her.  I cannot wait to find out who she will be! Will she join in with her big brothers or will she hang back and do the girly thing by herself?  What fun it will be to watch her little personality continue to reveal itself.

Erik has been getting home earlier these days.  I did not ask him to do this.  He just felt he needed more time at home.  I am thankful for how God has made this possible for him to do.  Erik takes his job as their father seriously.  He pours generously into their lives and their hearts.  This year he has taken over teaching the older two boys math, and I appreciate this so much.  I am more of a literature/history person, and he is definitely more math/science.  This year in Bible we are reading Acts through Jude.  We are in Romans now, and Erik has also taken ownership of this as well.  He does a much better job of talking them through difficult passages than I do!  I am so thankful for my sweet husband and all he does to prayerfully lead and guide our family.

I can't remember where I saw this idea, but it was a fun surprise lunch for the boys!  We made pb sandwiches on apples slices.  Does that makes sense?  2 thin slices of apple with pb smeared in between.  Yum!

One of the things that has helped me get through the last few weeks of craziness has been big brothers who play with little brothers.  My big three are really learning to help out!  I need them, and I think they are beginning to realize that they play a vital role in our family.  They are needed and appreciated so much!  Elijah is only 5, but he is such a good helper!

Emery and I have gone shopping together a few times lately, and it has been so fun!  We were looking for comforters at Bed, Bath, and Beyond when I took this picture of my little shopping buddy!

Nana came for a visit last week.  She is always up for a game of anything!  The boys had so much fun with her.  Jack still says "Nana" out of the blue at least once a day!  She is a special lady, and I love her so much it's crazy!!!!!

This is a picture of a picture my mom took...

It is so my boys!  I love it.

And, this is sweet Em before church last Sunday.  My mother loved to dress me in sailor dresses when I was little.  So, one of the first things she bought Emery was a sailor dress, and it is finally time for her to wear it!  Precious!

As always life is full and good.  It is crazy and difficult and loud and unending, but it is good.  God is teaching me to slow down and take a deep breath and relax in Him.  It is amazing how this is changing me.  Simple lessons that are making such a difference in my everyday life. He is so good, and His ways are always better than our own ~ no matter how many lists of reasons we have for why our way is the right way.  His ways are best.  I'm so thankful!

Cross Country

The boys were part of a homeschool cross country group this fall, and this was their first 5K of the year!

 Before the race....

And, after the race...

It was a fun experience and by the end of the season James Christofer was given an award for most improved runner!!

A Pocketful of Seashells...

Sweet little memories tucked deeply in my sweater pocket.  We can't stay here forever, but we can hold tight to the memories we make as we journey if we slow down and recognize the beauty of the moment.  Each moment is such a gift.

It was a fast weekend chock full of the kinds of things that memories are made of.  The boys had so much fun...

Driving down...

It rained most of the weekend, but this did not put a damper on things for the boys!  The boys were wild with excitement!  We didn't tell them where we were going until the palm trees helped them figure it out!  They could not contain themselves!!

Happy boys...

Enjoying the peace of the water, the moment....

Jack's first trip to the ocean...

He loved it and was completely unafraid!

Running back to the beach house!

The view from the living room...

When it rained the boys played upstairs without need of toys!  They created their own costumes...

And, I stole some quiet moments while Erik had the boys down at the beach to do my favorite kind of planning...

At Lambert's Cafe...

catching some rolls!!!

And, then the long drive home...

We all felt a little like this one the way home...

It was a fast trip, but I know that the boys made memories that they will never forget.  When they look back on this weekend, they won't remember that it was only three days.  They will remember the ocean, the "throwed rolls," the rain and the salty air, the beach football games, the boogie boards, James Christofer getting stung by a sting ray, the collecting of shells, the big house with tons of beds, and being together.  Thankful.