This week, I...

* Painted a formerly rust colored kitchen a lovely shade of green. Behr calls it "cricket"--a perfectly awful name for green paint. It's more of a mellow mint and brightens my kitchen right up.

* Took this BIG girl to her first dance lesson. She had fun! (She's sitting in front of the green kitchen wall in these photos.)

* Completed my first week of homeschooling. It included some head scratching (me), some enthusiasm for learning (John), lots of paper cutting and Awana verses, John learning to write his numbers, and two field trips: the zoo and the plant nursery.

* Went on a date with Billy. Those are few and far between, something we are now resolved to fix. It's amazing how a few hours to have a cup of coffee with my husband can focus and energize me for a new week.

* Thought about my sister-in-law who found out she's having twins in January, not just one baby. We're excited for another niece and nephew!

* Helped out again at Sprouts, the Awana class for 2-year-olds at our church. Those kids are amazingly cute--all 30 of them!

* Took one nap. Maybe this should be on my agenda every week?

* Made homemade doughnuts after reading to the kids about Almonzo's birthday and his farmer mother who had a doughnut jar. wow. That sounds incredible. (The kids love the Little House on the Prairie books; they are so educational...and delicious!)

* Ignored the mess of boxes and stuff in my bedroom as it is doubling as a storage room and office. All in good time, everything will have a place....

* Contemplated God's goodness in sending several women my way who were encouraged by my miscarriage website, babygrief. Around this time of year, I think more about the little one we lost and it does the heart good to hear from others who have gathered strength from my story. Thank you Lord.

* Began making a mental list of the ways I know I'm finally getting older. It's a sorry list. But I'm going to work on adding some positives and then maybe I can share it with you.

* felt tired. No idea why....

school is in session

We've decided to switch to homeschooling John for the rest of this kindergarten year, and to work with Hava on preschool activities while we're at it. I didn't want to get into such an undertaking without a designated room, so we transferred D to Hava's room and made his bedroom into the homeschool room.

There's still work to be done on the school room, but here's a glimpse of where we're at now:

On our first day, we took a walk to look for seeds in nature.

Hard at work!

John has discovered three of the benefits of homeschooling: your craft supplies are always available, you can craft topless, and a snack of almonds can find its way into the classroom.

Along with schooling at home, we have initiated mandatory quiet time every afternoon. Half an hour of kids plus books--in their own space--means I get a little break midday. Hava fell asleep during quiet time yesterday:

I am open to any and all suggestions for schooling kids at home. I think we have a good plan in place for this year. But I know I am a greenhorn and am ready to learn, right alongside my kids.

{Billy and I refinished the school table from an old wooden table found on craigslist. Neither of us had undertaken a project like this before, and it was fun to work on together. Now we need to finish the chairs...}

6 (full) weeks

What have we been up to over the last 6 weeks? Well, I'm glad you asked! Though you probably won't be, after you here this list:

moving. enough said. no, there aren't pictures.

swimming...

celebrating (for the first round) three special people. This time, it was with Mimi. And, no, the kids don't look like lobsters because I neglected once again to apply sunscreen. This time, the 95 degree house and 105 degree outside temps receive the credit.

so, then we replaced our air conditioner.

But back to the Mimi birthday party! Mimi got lots of love after present opening:

A couple days later, David's birthday came around and we had leftover chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. (Are you wondering why David is alone with fire? Me too. I don't seem to remember that part of his birthday...)

Another wonderful thing about celebrating birthdays all month is the packages that arrive via mail, all full of presents. (Thank you auntie Katie!)

Two days after David's birthday, big boy John started kindergarten. This is the best shot we got of him on his first day. silly boy!

[ok, here's the kindergarten scoop: John loves it; his teacher, Mrs. Stefan, is outstanding; the school is half a mile from our house; he goes in the afternoon which is perfect for our schedule; his homework takes approximately three minutes each evening, and ANOTHER girl has her eye on John. This girl, Eve, claims that John is "my first love! the love of my life!!" bah humbug. Go away Eve! John is developing quite an interest in her as well. It's hard not to love in return when you're Prince Charming in someone's eyes. I asked John why Eve is her friend and he said, "because she loves to hug me." Please! Ok, quick survey: should I home school him or lock him in his room?? But, like I said, school is great.]

Then Hava turned 4! The little darling already knows more Bible and theology than most college students, but she continually reminds me that she's still barely out of toddlerhood by putting everything--did I say everything?--yes, everything, everything, everything in her mouth. Is this normal or am I crazy to think most 4-year-olds don't suck on shopping carts, their brother's shoes, dead bugs, cleaning rags, pool noodles, old gum, etc.?

Her birthday was lovely, just like her (minus that mouth thing). She requested meatballs, something we haven't had since her birthday last year. (Her memory astounds me every day--how did she remember her third birthday?) There was strawberry shortcake with whipped cream afterward. We played games, nursed a sicky brother (John), and got a big surprise when Billy told us he was taking the day off for her. Don't you just love her cupcake shirt?

Four days later, we finished the birthday festivities with John Willis. By then, David was the sicky but we hauled him to the zoo anyway (he had a stroller, after all) for a couple delightful, albeit hot, hours of animal gazing. John requested pizza and "blueberry coconut cake," which I had never heard of. I improvised by making our favorite blueberry lemon cake and topping it with whipped cream and toasted coconut. It worked!

On a very important note, we introduced the kids to cassette tapes. They laid like this for hours until David poured water into the stereo. David is with pouring out water as Hava is with anything that can fit in her mouth. I tell you, there are a thousand things I will miss about having my kids all small enough to fit on my lap and believe everything I say. The water spills everywhere is not counted in that thousand. (This is the reason why D and H have soggy behinds in the photo...they accidentally sat in a victimized location.)

As you can probably tell, I needed a few days away from my kids--darling though they are--and my sister conveniently had a baby boy on David's birthday so a trip was in order (between David's and Hava's birthdays). Plus, I hadn't met my brother's little girl yet so I definitely needed to head north. Billy took over for five days and I enjoyed every minute of holding my niece and nephew, catching up with Shawna & Jordan and Jonathan & Chelsea, and experiencing jeans weather. Sorry, my pictures of Abigail are just on facebook. But here's little Elijah:

On the home front, the kids rearranged their sleeping habits. Hava plays musical beds most nights, though she sleeps best next to John in his queen size bed. We very rarely had kids in our bed (besides babies) before the move. Now, I often find a sweet little face next to mine:

we've learned to swim! John and Hava can now keep themselves afloat and moving around the water. Both of them have learned to jump in on their own too! David is happier saying "ready? Go!" and jumping to me.

Yes, David is talking! hooray, hooray! Actually, he's more of a parrot than a conversationalist at this point, but the boy has lots of words! hooray!

here is my calming point: the backyard.

In the pool, the troubles of ruined tape players and troublesome kindergarten girls and whatever other troubles may be, melt away as we have family time together. In the end, that's what I want to remember from the last six weeks and for the years to come--enjoying each other in our own little spot, under the trees.