Hello, July

It has been three weeks. I haven't taken a blogging break like that in quite some time. Right now . . .

- Calico is sitting next to me, saying "hi-low!" to my phone, over and over again.

- Bubba is loving on his cars in the playroom

- Giggles and Spunky are fixing their hair, preparing for our family "July birthdays" get-together at Nana and Grandad's

And I am taking a break from cleaning. Not any spectacular cleaning; just the daily stuff. For the first time this month I made a crock pot meal and feel like it's not a bad time for a break. Yay for no dinner prep!!

This week I decided to REALLY start couponing. I actually bought the binder and the baseball-card-organizing sheets. Oh yeah. On Tuesday I made my first purchase with coupons and felt a little giddy. It wasn't much, just 10 boxes of cereal for $10, but it was fun!

Our new non-profit has kept us incredibly busy. We have a logo.

We had a benefit yardsale that raised over $1000. LONGEST day of my life! :) But well worth the time and effort. It paid for our 501c3 application and the logo design. We also had a booth at the God and Country Festival, where we ended up getting about 150 people on our contact list. Another long day that was well worth it.

The girls and I (plus two neighbor girls) have been reading through the Little House on the Prairie Series. I just adored those books growing up! We've attempted some get-togethers with some other homeschooling families to do related crafts, but it's tough in the summertime with schedules. We're doing things like cloved apples, nightcaps, butter (from scratch), button necklaces, and jackrabbit stew.

Bubba has been turning some corners with his speech. It almost makes me cry every time he says something new because it's SO difficult for him. We had a breakthrough the other day. His aide and the kids and I were all out going to the library and she wanted to stop at Little Caesar's. So we parked in front and she went in with Spunky, who'd asked for permission. Bubba clearly said, "I want to get out of the car." Thrilled, I replied, "No, Miss Julie and sissy will be back in just a minute with the pizzas. We're staying in the car." And that was that. He went back to playing with his car.

Why was that such a big deal? The normal scenario would consist of this:

People get out of the car. Bubba starts screaming. I say, "Are you hungry, honey? What's the matter? Are you tired? We're going home right after this." Etc. He continues to scream, maybe bites himself for good measure. I feel stressed and frustrated and worried. The baby starts to cry.

So, that not happening was a good thing.

We've also had some relapses in the pottying department. He's had several accidents a week at naptime and bedtime. Unfortunately he's back to smearing #2 again. I try to catch him but it's difficult. I'm considering getting a camera in there. And replacing his carpet with a concrete drain. ;)

Time to get dinner on, but I'll be back soon to give some more updates!

I Knew It Was Coming . . .

Ever since I held my wonderful little netbook in my hands (which, for the record, was at the beginning of my 3-month hospital stay when I HAD to have contact with the outside world!) I knew this day was coming. Someday it would die, or be destroyed. And in our house, something is much more likely to be destroyed with Bubba around.

Yesterday he was having a great day. He was mellow and played by himself after nap. But something, and I have no earthly idea what, upset him. And when that boy gets upset . . . watch out! He was in the bathroom and he just started screaming. I could hear the situation escalating but by the time I got to him it was too late. He took the toilet plunger, ran out of the bathroom, and started hitting everything in sight. One of those things, unfortunately, was my netbook. (Moment of silence, please.) He hit the screen and it shattered on the inside. I never would have left it open like that but I was following a recipe for dinner. Sigh.

One of the lessons I feel that God has tried to teach me since having Bubba is to not hold too tightly to my possessions. And I really never thought of myself as someone who struggled with that. But my son has moved me to tears on more than one occasion by breaking and destroying things -- my Scentsy candle, Spunky's tennis trophy, a special room decoration that was given to Calico. I know . . . it's just stuff. But it's still a challenge for me. I thank God that he has prepared a place for me that neither moth or rust or little boys can destroy!

Sad Goodbyes

Our little exchange student flew home yesterday morning and we are so SAD. She was such a great addition to our family.

Introducing her to street hockey was a must.

She already loved badmitton so we played a few times.

Rollerskating!

What a view. :)

Inside "the car".

Fun with games on the phone.

Banana splits!

So we hosted last summer and while it was okay, we definitely didn't bond with our student. This year was incredibly different. Mary is fun-loving and very polite. What cracked me up was how quickly she assumed the role of big sister. I heard her correcting the little ones (but it was always appropriate). Before we knew it she was unbuckling Calico from the car and taking her inside each day and playing in the backyard with Bubba.

We are going to miss our student but at least we have an email address for her. And who knows? Maybe someday we'll go to Korea!

What to Do?

The girls have been attending vacation Bible school this week and it has been so different around the house. They're gone from 9 a.m. 12 p.m. During that time Bubba's aide works with him and Calico takes a nap, so I have been getting a lot done! It's very strange. I also have a break this week from the little neighbor girl I homeschooled during the year, so it almost feels like I don't have kids for a couple of hours. I can't imagine if this was the norm. Stay-at-home moms who have their kids in school must get so much accomplished every day. I'm a little jealous. ;)

I've been doing smaller organizing projects around the house, leading up to the mother of all projects: our master bedroom. When we bought our house I was okay with having a huge bedroom, but also kind of wondering what we'd put in it. So we turned half of the room into a library/craft room. I hate to admit it, but it has become a craft dumping ground. Occasionally I wade in, grab some scrapbook papers or ribbon, and make my way out. Carefully.

Anyway, Ethan and I talked about it and decided we had to do something to make it better in there. So waaaaay back in February my mom and I went shopping for something to organize my craft materials. We lucked out big-time at a scrapbook store that was selling off their floor displays. This huge twirling display was only $25. (Actually free to me because it ended up being my birthday gift!) Anyway, from the first picture you can see that it even opens up for storage. And guess how much I've organized in that room so far? Um . . . . well, I threw enough stuff in to take a picture. That's it. So tomorrow and Friday IT IS GETTING ORGANIZED! I have no excuses now, no kids interrupting or lessons to plan. You blogging friends can hold me accountable, okay? Guess I better go get to work!

Life

Baby's first trip to the dentist! She doesn't look too upset in this picture but she did end up shedding some tears.

By the time she got to the treasure box and was allowed to pick out a toy she was all smiles again. She chose a pair of bright pink sunglasses.

Spunky and Giggles entered their first race. They did awesome and loved the medals they received.

A moment of joy - Bubba is extremely happy when he's buckled into his car seat. I'm not sure why his car seat ended up in the backyard but he took full advantage of the moment. He stayed out there for probably a good hour reading a book and cuddling with his blanket.

The first lemonade stand of the summer! Grand total earned (in 1 1/2 hours): $6

Calico and Fred have a conversation. :)

Such a Busy Time

Our exchange student from Korea has been with us for 5 days and we all really like her. The picture above is the girls building a volcano for a (home) school project.

Her profile described her as shy and very self-reliant. I'd agree with shy, although she seems to be warming up to us a little more each day. And it took her no time to warm up to the kids! She is very polite and well-mannered.


Last weekend the girls had their end of the year recital. As much as I love watching anything my kids do, I must confess that sometimes I find ballet boring. But this year's Cinderella was an exception! The stepsisters really made the show with their jealous antics.

It looks like our Calico is going to take after her daddy and be a tree climber! Ethan was just standing next to the tree and she about leaped out of her arms trying to get into it. Of COURSE I had to capture that on film.

Speaking of Calico, lately we've noticed that she is extremely stubborn and very dramatic. It is so cute but we try to be really careful to not encourage the behaviour. Ethan was cooking here and she wanted to play with him, but when he couldn't she grumpily threw herself down on the floor and held onto his leg. I think it may be an uphill battle to good behaviour with this one!

The Cat's Out of the Bag!

BIG NEWS!

Okay, so some of you friends already know about this, but Ethan and I are starting a non-profit organization. We've been working on it for about 14 months now. The name of our non-profit is the Messenger Academy of Worship Arts. What is it? Well, maybe I better give some background.

Ethan works closely with churches as part of his job as an audiovisual design consultant. It's his passion really, helping churches. But over and over again he has talked with worship pastors who are frustrated because they have so many people with the desire and the talents, but there isn't any place they can further their training. (Especially at an affordable price.) There are many secular dance studios, for example, but it's rare to find a place where you can take dance lessons where the emphasis is to bring honor and glory to God. Our dream is to have a place where people of all ages can train in visual arts, drama, dance, writing, and music. They in turn can use the gifts God's given them to bring His message to others in their own churches and the community. Another part of the academy will be training for the technical side of things -- running sound, lighting, video, etc.

If you live locally and are interested in teaching a class or being involved in any aspect, we'd love to talk to you. :)