Days Like This

This super-fantastic thing has happened.  Ava, in her Mama's sadness of her growing up, is...well... growing up!  After 3 years of planting organization and favorable hygiene habits, it seems we are yielding some results. 

I have, I admit, been preaching, "I know you don't care how they are folded... BUT I am showing you how they are folded, so that ONE DAY, when you DO care how they are folded... you will KNOW HOW TO FOLD."

Sooo, yes... and... no. Ava had her own take on "folding". It really should come as no shock.  Girl does things her own way.  And I'm actually quite inspired, sometimes.

"Hey Mom... lemmee show ya something..."

"I found it on Pinterest; it said that rolling would actually make LESS wrinkles than folding.  Plus, this way I can see everything in there, at once."

Is my girl one up-ing me??  Groovy.  I can't tell you how many nightmares I've had about her laundry habits. Candy wrappers, plastic spoons, earrings, and other unmentionables have been found in these same drawers, and under her bed.  Sooo.... you GO, girl, go.  Score.  And also, WAAAAHHHHHHH!  HOW are you so big?!? Sigh.

A shout out to my Veteran Homeschooling Mama Heroes, Nicole Warren and Jennifer Kimble: I remember talking to you when our family made the commitment to begin homeschooling...  You said there'd be days like this... when making a water bottle volcano doesn't sound half as fun to a 9 year old, as covering the cookie jar with crud that never comes off.

Making Olympus Mons, the solar system's largest volcano - located on Mars

No matter how I try, I still can't seem to fully embrace messy crafting and experimenting.  But I forge on... because the smiles and looks of concentration and interest on my ever-changing kids' faces makes it more than worth it.   

You said there'd be days like this...

and this...

There are also days like this...

Learning about Rachmaninoff and Rothko

And days like this... 1:1 time.  Thee.Best.  Amazing how a kiddo's light just shines beyond belief when date time kicks in.  I think it's the parent's little gem of a reward for prioritizing this special time. Love so much.  She was so happy to choose Pandora songs... giving the  "thumbs up" click when she approved.  She now calls classical music "our music" and that pretty much makes me happier than anything.

We are on the road this week.  Sooo very super excited to be spending time in Indiana with my one-of-a-kind inspiration & soul sister, and her family.

This picture, below, was actually taken on the day we met each other for the very first time.    

It was the Fall of 1995 and Tony was playing baseball at Bethany Lutheran College.  He had a teammate named Garry Kimble.  Garry was already married at the time... to Jennifer.  We were just 18 (me) and 19 (her) at the time. 

Tony: "Wait till you meet Garry's wife; I think you are really going to like her and get along well."  

We'd no idea what kind of true, blessed friendship lie ahead.

From our passion for learning, and challenging ourselves, to the uncontrolled and self-diagnosed ADHD, we are truly kindred spirits.  A heart for missions, the both of us, and striving to center our lives around loving & serving Him, and our families.  Both of us, dedicated (on most days) to constant, all-around self-improvement.  So similar, yet... I could only hope and pray to be as strong, unselfish and unprententious as this girl.  Oh, and 

p a t i e n t. Also, she can sing.  Like, in an ahhmaayzing way.   On that note (pun intended... ok, bad, bad...), Jen's the only person I can claim to have done my "witch laugh" with, while she simultaneously sang an impromptu opera ditty.  Oh yeah.  That happened.  Just this Tuesday, while we were unloading the dishwasher and feeding the kids lunch. 

Jam & Jen on Michigan Ave, Chicago - November 2010

This trip has prompted me to look back at some memories from the years past - ones of such joy, with our families together.

Ava and Annalee in the Navy Pier fountain - summer 2005

Ava & Cassidy, summer 2005 in Chicago

Ava and Cass @ Navy Pier, 2005

Ava & Cassidy at Shedd Aquarium - summer 2007

Cass, Annalee, Ava & Soren

Gressa, Cass & Annalee @ Shedd

Annalee, Cassidy, & Ava - Fall 2008

Colton... in the belly!

Ava, Annalee, & Cassidy - Navy Pier 2010

January 2014

Oh, growing up, so!  Jen and I decided we love this pic for the fact that it truly illustrates each of their personalities.  Those are raw grins, and I can feel Cass's tomboy breeze from here :)

The kids, after Addison's, "Phantom Groom" Wedding.  They spent hours orchestrating this... Gressa running about during rehearsals, yelling, "The Bride is hungry!  The Bride is thirsty!"

Colton & Soren = Monster Truck Mania

We sure do miss Tony!!!  We all drove together, to Indiana, and he flew out of Indianapolis on Sunday am.   He was headed to Beech Island, SC for a week of work, there.  We treasured the facetiming we did this week, but we absolutely can't WAIT to see him tomorrow (toDAY at this point, I suppose...)! Addison was a big fan of the facetime gig, too.  "Hi Toby!  You funny, Toby!"

I'm finishing up some laundry and getting ready to smush myself in between 2 of the sweetest little bodies I could ever imagine.  Sleeping with S and G is a little piece of heaven, with a crack between the twin and adjacent trundle bed, made just for me... :)  It surely isn't all rainbows and unicorns... tonight Soren chose bed - still in his jeans - over a chili dinner.  I hope that sleep-deprivation-too-much-good-fun-with-friends pout is gone in the morning... maybe I can love it out of him with some snuggles...

 Love ya, friend.  Thanks for always being you.  

Beautiful Works In Progress

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.  What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.  A schedule defends from chaos and whim.  It is a net for catching days." - Annie Diard, A Writing Life

When random facts:

"Mom. Puffins' eyes have a nick-a-tay-ing (nictitating) membrane and a gland that separates the salt from the ocean water and then drains from their noses!"

take over what we are "supposed to be" learning...

This is my life, right.now.

When we have to cancel plans with friends in the afternoon, because the darn kids lose respect for mom in the morning...

This is my life, right.now.

When the cereal bowls remain on the coffee table, and the laundry STILL ends up on the floor...

This is my life, right.now.

But, when the wonderment of learning the moon's phases is reflected back to me in a 7 yr old's gleaming, thoughtful eyes... 

This is also, my life, right.now.  

And when that same 7yr old learns the definition of infinity.. and then uses it to judge the amount of humor she finds in her sister's Just Dance dance moves... 

This is also my life, right.now...

Friday morning, I stepped out of the shower to the sounds of two pajama-clad youngsters journaling aloud.  I peeked around the corner, into G's bedroom and found them pouring over their notebooks.  I adore how they pile into a bed and throw their thoughts down.  Soren, just scrambling to get his ideas committed to paper, before they escape him, and Gressa, ever the perfectionist, continually double-checking herself for spelling proficiency and errors

Gressa: "How do you spell...."  

Soren: "Just SOUND it OUT!" and then, "This is only your 'rough one', anyway..."   

Soren: "Gressa, there is more than one, 'there'."

Gressa: "What?  It is spelled, t-h-e-r-e."

Soren, "It depends.  It is also spelled, t-h-e-i-r.  Like, 'their socks'. And yesterday my English lesson said that 

there is also t-h-e-y-'-r-e."

Yep.

excerpt from "Alice In Wonderland"

Gressa, "Well, I know t-h-e-r-e, so that is what I am writing."

Unplanned, fantastical, little English lessons, 

happening all on their own...

This is my life, right.now.

And then, my awesome discovery of the phrase, "how to get my book published" in the google history...

This is my life, right. now.

Lunch and chit-chat before work with the one and only, Ava D...

 and a boy who skeddaddles to read, if only motivated (sometimes) by more screen time...

This is my life, right. now.  

It's messy.  It's loud. It isn't always fun.  It isn't always beautiful, and it often isn't easy.  But it IS a gift.  And it sure is 

a marvelous one. 

A Fresh Start

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

New International Version (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The Holidays... no, CHRISTmastime was a wonderful, blessed gift, and it flew by in an instant, as it always does.  The "instant" was filled with many mini-instances that will be treasured always.  

As I think back on 2013, I smile a contented smile.  But I also feel frustrated.  Frustrated that I can't possibly condense, highlight, or emphasize just how very many lovely and precious experiences it brought us.  All I can do, all any of us can do, is keep moving forward, trying to be better than before.  We can feel more, do more, pray more, give more, repent more, love more.  We can embrace this as we live each and every moment.

Dearest Ava, Soren, & Gressa:  

It's the start of a new year.  Our world makes a big to-do about resolutions and goals - particularly associated with the beginning of a new year.  What's in store in 2014?  We don't know.  True, the beginning of the new year signifies a natural, new start.  But, my prayer for you, is that not only on January 1st, but on each and every day - you commit yourself to growing as a person, and a child of your Heavenly Father.  He loves you so!  He doesn't promise the days will always be easy, but He DOES promise to always be with you... guiding and protecting you.  This is your comforting truth, always!  Shine for him - let it shine brightly!  Be fearless.  There is nothing... nothing to fear, in Him.

PS.  This is also more FUN. :)

Love, Mama

 I think of all we have yet to accomplish... the have-to's and the want-to's... but then I remember what we already have done.  Gressa has learned all of her addition and subtraction facts; she's reading.  She is learning about punctuation, sentence structure, and she's soaking up what it means to take care of a family, every day, alongside me.  She's gaining an accurate perspective on the world around her.  She loves to cook and bake, and I'm so thankful for this time together in the kitchen.

Soren has mastered his multiplication facts, isn't fazed by long division or fractions, and has blooming reading comprehension and a developing interest in story writing. He's learned to follow his curiosity, whenever it strikes, and he's busy learning what's going to make him a fabulous husband and daddy one day, if he chooses that.

Ava's rate of growth and maturity is flying right off of the charts... she's starting to wash her face, clean off her desk, and make her bed (consistently, and with effort) - without being told to do so!  These transformations are a true epiphany in the idea of "planting with the harvest in mind".  Recently, she told me that she might want to homeschool through high school. Now, that's never been the plan exactly, with our (hers and ours) sights set on FVL... but it was startling and amazing to hear her reasoning.  She really needed to step outside of her peer culture to see the big picture, and to realize what she needed to do for herself.  "Mom.  I really want to do well in school, and in college, the best I can... so I can get a good job that I like.  I think I want to be a Pediatrician!"  Heart melts.  She is coming into her own. What else could a mama ask for?

So, while it's tempting to let The Evil One convince me that we need to keep "on pace"; we need to "do more", I plan to keep on truly enjoying my moments and days with the ones given to me.  We'll do work, to be sure!  But we'll also do love.  And grace.  And forgiveness.  And more love.  And it doesn't hurt to remind myself what we HAVE done... Exhibit A, below: Soren's cummulative math lessons for the year, so far.  

We started "back to school" today (Thursday), as Tony was back to work... and... why not??  They seemed ok with getting started back up :)  We were also able to finish up the last few chapters of our read aloud, "Everything on a Waffle".  

Math time

After lunch, it was off to the Building for Kids Museum :)  Thanks to Papa, for the membership for the kids' Christmas gift!

 In other news, the begging for rodents hasn't let up at ALL in this house....

To be completely honest... I.Am.Tired.  I'm happy-tired... but I am plenty tired. 

Still... I feel the sand falling faster and faster through the hourglass of childhood with every lost tooth, every giggle that matures just a little each time it escapes, and with every pair of shoes that's suddenly a little too tight.  

This sand that waits for no one, not even tired mamas... it makes me want to scribble down every moment.  It urges me to record every conversation, impromptu dance routine (think sisters doing the Tango), every game of horse or pig, and each puppet show.

But if I am to soak up these gifted moments alongside these precious gems of mine, I simply can't.  I can't BE THERE and also be an "outsider" on the sidelines, trying to record the show.  No, subtlety is a somewhat-lonely must, and the commitment any parent understands; it helps me stay focused on being in the here and now.  No other earthly thing could ever grab hold of my heart, making such pure and real things so very clear.  And for that, I am eternally grateful.  

Plus - when I read a "Topic of Choice" journal entry such as this one - at night, in my weariness, it sure adds to the entertainment of this crazy ride (and also makes me reconsider topic-of-choice journaling..)!

And so, yes, in the midst of fatigue and sometimes mental exhaustion... fuel siphons out of me more quickly than the coffee goes in, and yet I try my best to serve my family on an ongoing, relentless basis... and I wouldn't want it ANY other way.  Mamas?! 

Thank you Lord, for my precious family.  Please never let me take their miraculous in You for granted.  Amen.