easter 2015

Laithe was the most excited about Easter this year. He said it was the jelly beans. Maybe it was, but kiddo woke up every day asking how long until Easter for like 2 weeks. The Thursday before Easter one of our homeschool friends organized an egg search and potluck for several families and it was so incredibly great. We frequently thank our lucky stars we've found this group of friends! 

For our own little family we dyed eggs & grew wheat grass. 

And enjoyed the cuteness of our kids.

Juniper got a basket full of eggs stuff with puffs. She was pretty pumped.

Guthrie and Laithe got mini birdhouses, tiny animals and birds, activity books and of course some candy. The Easter bunny had left a yard full of eggs stuffed with beads, candy, quarters, and other little treats. People in the midwest (is it only the midwest?) tend to get a little crazy with their Easter baskets. Like lots of new clothes, copious amounts of stuffed animals, gift cards. I am glad we haven't taken on that tradition and kept things relatively simple. 

I made them sit on the couch in their fancy clothes before grandmothers got here. 

Then there was the egg hunt, a yummy brunch, the tradtional silly string and chocolate overload.

Just think -- last year we were this: 

and this year we have this: 

full sun

On Superbowl Sunday we had a huge snowstorm. It was beautiful - that frosting kind of snow, but the rain the evening before coupled with a drastic drop in temperature caused one of our two trees out front to basically burst. Like a pipe. Which was weird. And really sad. And caused our whole house to look different. And a whole lot less private.

Then, a few weeks ago, our backyard neighbor cut his trees down, the ones that shaded a good portion of our backyard.

The guys we hired did a great job cleaning up the front, except that 1/4 of the branches and tiny stuff was frozen to the ground for about a month. The backyard guy, well, they did ok. They did leave us a bunch of firewood, which was very nice. I'm tired to death of raking small bits of wood though. I'll be curious to see how the first mow goes. We did rent a chipper to handle everything that was left. We were pretty excited, but it was short lived. That was a giant pain in the butt. I don't know if it was because a lot of it was evergreen or if it's always a giant pain.

So, basically we have a whole new yard. I don't think any of us are really thrilled with the changes, but they were so out of our control, so what can you do? So, instead of moaning I'm making plans.

This summer we'll have a crawler, a 5 year old and 8 year old and I want to focus on some areas for the range. Rather than putting in a play structure, which we've hemmed and hawed about, I'd rather install a few things that would be usable for a few years for everyone.

A small, permanent balance beam

A pull up/hanging/upside down bar

A digging area and a couple small raised beds for the kids. Especially for that one kid that likes to dig all the holes. We have the raised beds for them, but no fill dirt just yet.

The biggest thing I'd like to add to our collection, both for the backyard and for park play dates is a slackline. They've come down in price quite a bit the past couple years and I know it would be a hit for the kids - and I'd really like to try it too!


Obviously I'm hoping for some serious playtime outside for the kids - - so I can be outside too!!

i know it's already fall

I'm still a little bit holding on to summer. This was a big one for us. It was lovely and hard and I think all of us grew by leaps and bounds.

Sometimes I think older siblings get a little eclipsed when there's a new little one. Maybe not eclipsed entirely, but a lot of their identity gets funneled into being an older brother or sister. There are so many "how do you like having a baby in the house?" "how do you like being an older brother" questions - which are good and important and necessary, but it doesn't leave a lot of room for everything else.

I want to always remember that this was the summer Guthrie taught herself to read and became comfortable reading aloud to other people - not just her brother, though that was such an important step. She slowly, sometimes painfully, makes her way through short chapter books these days and almost always happily reads Laithe whatever he brings her. Bedtime usually ends with me reading a chapter from a longer book to both kids and then spending a few minutes cuddling after lights out. These days though she waits until Laithe is asleep and then requests to read one or two more books to herself. I feel like Marnie in Little Women when I kiss her head and admonish that she not stay up too late.

This was also the summer she started to really think outside of herself. She's always been so sensitive and empathetic to others, but she has this new desire to help others and to see needs that could be met. Many evenings she will ask if she can do anything to help me. This has also been the summer of needing privacy, needing some time alone to recharge and be inside her own head. She's spent hours drawing in her notebooks and I watch how sometimes the transition away from whatever is going on in her mind is difficult. I'll admit it's a little frustrating sometimes, but oh I remember those days! When I was so involved in my play that I stepping out if it was just the worst! She spends time quietly on the porch with her pocket knife sharpening sticks and I want to guard that time and space for her.

For Laithe I will remember how much he changed physically. Gone is my tiny boy with baby chub still hanging around. He lengthened and stretched until it's easier to see a six pack than a belly. He's always been so intensely physical and this summer was all about football and dancing and rough and tumble. His first trip to the ER for staples in his head (just a few, after a tumble down our top flight of stairs) and I steel myself that it will likely be the first of a few if he's anything like his father. He's intentional with his movements, but I've noticed that in the right environment he'll perceive the risk and then run towards it with all his might. Last summer with his mop of blond hair he reminded me so much of Dennis the Menace, but this year he's full on Peter Pan with an impishness I'm discovering is a personality trait as much as it is his age. Oh he makes us laugh! He tells terrible jokes!

I always knew he loved music, but I guess I didn't realize that there is a constant stream of song in his head. This summer there was so much singing! I occasionally sneak videos of him singing while involved in another activity. I love it.

Though she needs a break from him, Laithe has such a strong desire to be with his sister. She's as much his sidekick as he is hers. I worry sometimes about him carving out an identity separate from her, but he's got years and years to do that. In the past couple months I have also watched him start to really play with other kids, not just next to them. He's beginning to engage with some of our homeschool friends instead of just sitting by them while everyone does their own thing. He comes home from park dates with stories of shenanigans I didn't even realize were happening which makes me very happy for him -- even when they do involve decaying animals!

Both kids have become so independent. I find myself doing the dance that all parents do - to not hover, to let them go out of my sight at the park (within family rules), to help me in the kitchen with real tools and dangerous objects. Some days it's tough, but honestly most days it's a relief and a joy to watch them move comfortably outside arms length.

I have amazing kids. They are such a gift. And I'm so honored to be their mother! For sure it was a summer to remember.

First Day of School 2014 - 2015

First day of School 

First Day of Second Grade for Guthrie 

and 

First Day of Preschool for Laithe (his second year) 

Getting pictures this year was somehow more difficult. Weird light, everyone constantly in motion and more interested in talking to each other than looking at the camera. I feel like that will be the case for several more years - - until the embarrassment years start up. 

I always feel like the outtakes are so much better at portraying our family and everyone's personalities. And poor Tegra dog does not like her photo taken!

A good day was had by all. I kept having to remind myself that we are easing in. It is better for everyone that way. Today will include some morning work, a trip to the library (with a certain young lady getting her first library card!!) and chiropractor and an afternoon at the park with homeschool friends. 

And away we go!!

Variations on a Theme

I was picking up and packing up some of the kids' artwork to give us a nice empty space to fill up again with school starting this week. My friend Sierra is really good about taking pictures of her kids' art and posting it on her blog and I keep telling myself I should do that. Really, what I want to do is be good about scanning it in to the computer and eventually creating photo books of their art, but yeah.

I'm pretty proud of myself for remembering to snap a few pictures this time!
I could say I'm super thrilled with both kids' fine motor skills development this summer. With Laithe beginning to write--- again without encouragement because when mama encourages it's over --- but really I'm just interested in their art. I always ask them to tell me about their picture and try to refrain from just saying "what is that?" because that's always kind of crushing isn't it? So these are their descriptions.

girl in fancy dress on the grass. {guthrie}

camping with Tegra. {guthrie}

mom at the beach. {guthrie}

girl on a pier. {guthrie}

all of us at a hotel. we have a force field around us to protect us from the volcano (left background) {laithe}

my hotel and a volcano exploding. {laithe}

my hotel on the beach. by the volcano. it's exploding. {laithe}

"oh hey Laithe! Is that the 5 of us camping? Is that our tent?" "Uh no, it's a volcano. We're running." {laithe}

Earthside

She has arrived!

Juniper Leigh arrived earthside July 11th at 10:55 in the morning.

Weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and measuring 20 inches long. 

With dark brown hair and blue, blue eyes. 

Much to everyone's absolute delight. We are all just smitten.

Juniper, 

Oh my heart, how you've arrived and firmly planted yourself in this family in such short order! I think it's safe to say the four of us are pretty in awe of you and there is no shortage of arms available to hold you. 

Your brother and sister! It has been such a privilege to watch them become your older siblings.

It's possible we had some concerns about how that blond headed boy would react to you, but you're pretty much magical and he asks to hold you frequently. And every time he holds you he is sure to count your fingers and toes. Yesterday he got to 12, but he got it under control.

Your birth was peaceful if intense; several people worked pretty hard to get you into this world. And though intense, it was also very low key, quietly sacred, and full of joy.Your dad announced that you were a girl and I think though we didn't know if you were a boy or girl we weren't surprised one bit that you were our Juniper. We marveled that you cried, briefly, so differently than both your brother and sister. 

After you were born your temperature dropped a little more than anyone likes so you spent some one on one time with daddy in the nursery under the warmer and then a bit later you spent a lot of time laying skin to skin with mama. By the next morning you were warm as could be and nursing like a champ. That extended period of chilliness meant we didn't have to give you a bath right away and that was the longest amount of time we've had to smell that truly new baby smell with any of our kids. Mama loved it. 

We are taking the next few weeks to settle in as a family of five and as much as I like a routine my heart keeps reminding me that these days will never come again with you and to enjoy them. Just breathing your newness in and savoring these early days. Allowing Guthrie and Laithe space to explore this as well with little or no outside activities. By the third baby we surely know how fast these days go and we will have plenty of time for regular bedtimes and the busyness of everyday life so for now we're just setting everything aside to honor our newest little addition.

We are so very glad you are here Juniper Leigh!

recovering

So last Friday at about 2:00 am Guthrie got hit with the flu, and then an hour later I got it, then 8 hours after that John got it, then 36 hours after John, Laithe finally succumbed. His immune system wins apparently! This has never, ever happened. Ever. It was so weird that we thought it might have been food poisoning, but then Laithe would have never gotten it. Because he lives on air and yogurt.

It was quick, but violent *ahem.* And that's all I will say about that. The recovery though is what is killing me. Forever. A week later and I'm still feeling like I'm not at my best. Soooo much better, but just still getting over it. I'm sure it has to be pregnancy and being a stay at home mom. I just haven't had the extra down time I need. Guthrie is still kind of puny too - though I have to be honest that I believe most of her issue is that she's terrified she will get it again which makes her not eat, which makes her stomach hurt, which lowers her blood sugar which makes her repeat the phrase "I feel like I'm gonna puke" 85 times a day and evening. Which, I get completely. I mean you don't eat, you don't feel good. And throwing up is the worst when you're a kid. But I'm losing my patience a bit with it. I mean a good science lesson in immune systems - something she's already very well versed in, but yeah, I'm done.

John and I both expressed that though the weekend was absolutely miserable there was something kind of, oh I don't know, sweet about us all getting through it together. It was almost like being on the worst vacation ever. But still a time of isolation and togetherness.

And the amount of laundry afterwards was about the same as 2 weeks of camping. I stopped counting at 19 loads.

Not even joking.

I even bought detergent, something I haven't done for at least 2 years. I was fairly annoyed at how much it cost and I've been super disappointed (but smug) in it's crappy stain removing abilities as compared to what I make.

Gearing up for more snow this weekend and a Super Bowl party involving my two favorite teams. I mean if I had favorite teams, you know. But I try. Because my husband tries to be interested in my sewing and knitting projects. Oh marriage, you're a funny bird.

Hoping you all are well and stay well!

ends & beginnings

My 5th grade self is just in shock that tomorrow it's going to be 2014. 

My 5th grade self is probably in shock about some other things in my life too, but whatever. 

I do like this New Year thing, though it doesn't ever feel like the real beginning of the year -- that's always the start of the school year. Instead I always think it's kind of a halfway point beginning, or like a do-over beginning. Kind of silly probably. 

2013 was a pretty good year. Full of the ups and downs that I'm beginning to equate with just being human. Here's what I think I'll remember:

• Lots of vacation time - 5 weeks I think.  Lots of time in the woods, so good for the soul.
• Finding out we're expecting a new member of the family!
• Lots of exterior home improvement, largely thanks to family members who surprised us with helping to fund it. Not as much interior home improvement as I wanted, but there's always next year. 
• Finding the weird balance and rhythm of both staying at home and homeschooling. It looks like this: overwhelm, exhaustion, peace, frustration, this is so easy, overwhelm, are we doing enough?, oh my gosh this is my favorite, overwhelm. . . repeat, sometimes several times per day. I believe I'm finding my footing. Apparently enough to throw it all out the window with another baby this summer!
• I'll remember the spring and summer as a really stressful time of Guthrie getting over her HSP -- we think and hope it's gone for good and we are so thankful. 
• Tegra, oh Tegra. You've been a good addition to our family and we love you to bits. If you could stop with the barking and toilet paper eating you would have my total loyalty.
• Our neighborhood becoming more of a community. Maybe we are becoming our own Noisy Village.
• Kids going to the beach for the 1st time - even if it was a Great Lake instead of the ocean I think it still kind of counts.
• My mom getting really sick and then getting well, but still having problems, but different problems. Hoping 2014 is awesome for her.
• The kids finding new friends and strengthening their friendship with each other. 
• Me finding some new friends too. Not an easy task, but a good investment.
• A really good year for John and I. Also not an easy task, but an excellent investment. Maybe after almost 12 years we're kind of getting the hang of this?

I think that what I will remember most about this year is just the simple meditative daily grind. The endless work of trying to do my best and then letting myself off the hook because sometimes good enough is actually truly good enough. Learning, again, that self care needs to take a priority over housework (which will never actually be done as long as people live in this house) and that being content is cultivated, not just something that happens to you. 

I'm looking forward to 2014. For what it holds for our family and how the kids will grow and change this next year. I am also looking forward to this cozy in-breath time of winter. Though it has been too cold for my preference. Too cold being any temperature where my kids can get hypothermia after 20 minutes outside. It could be a long few months, but maybe not, maybe we'll get into a rhythm and it will be fine. Either way my knitting needles are ready. 

Happy New Year Friends! I hope this finds you in a lovely place. 

little reader

Last week I fixed a snack for the kids and then left the room.

I came back to find Guthrie with her book set up so she could read while she ate.


Be still my mama heart!

It's not that this journey to reading has been particularly difficult in the grand scheme of things because really it hasn't. Frustrating? Most definitely. Have there been some painful moments? Uh yeah. Tears? A few. On both our parts. 

Guthrie seems to be a bit of a perfectionist. Which is neither good or bad, but it makes trying new things difficult. Sometimes she seems paralyzed by the fear of failing. It just wasn't what I expected from her. The other thing was that I expected that there would be this moment where a light somewhere would go on and she would get it. The light has been more like a steady small flame and there were no moments where the clouds parted and angels sang. This has just been a steady plod forward - and sometimes backwards. There's still not a huge amount of confidence on her part and she still balks at reading aloud and fusses when I choose something for her to read, but whatever, she's doing an excellent job and I couldn't be more proud of her. Even when I'm frustrated. 

Every kid has their gateway books, the ones that really, really help and the ones that they'll read on their own. Ours have been the Level One BOB set and then anything by Cynthia Rylant, but especially the Mr. Putter and Tabby books and Annie and Snowball. They're just sweet little books - and they have plot! Unlike the BOB books, but those were really, really useful for building confidence. 

I have loved watching her learn to read though. I am so glad that we didn't force it any earlier - this has been the perfect timing for her. 

Here's to many more times of finding her at the table with her nose buried in a book- even if it drives me crazy someday!

winter wonderland

A whole day of snow! The third snow of the season, but it's different when all the leaves are gone and  you're unpacking bins of Christmas decorations. 

We made the trek to get a tree a on Friday. John cut down his first Christmas tree- he was quite proud and I was a little smug that I've held tightly to this real tree tradition. 

If you follow me on facebook/instagram, you'll know that our trek was full of tears on the kids' end. In their defense it was pretty darn cold, like -1 windchill. But still. They were supposed to be joyful! 

Anyways, it's a nice tree. And I honestly don't know if they remember their own fussiness because the awesomeness of the tree outweighed everything else. 

Gigantic though and bigger than any piece of furniture we own. Times a thousand. We let the kids decorate until they were done and then I decorated a bit and made sure our stockings were hung. 

Today has been quiet. In that two kid, pre-Christmas, first snow in awhile kind of way. I got some wrapping done and split pea soup is bubbling on the stove (not for dinner but for my lunches this week - I'm the only one who will eat it! Tonight is cheesy risotto because it's the mother of all comfort food). The house is full of kids who are tired of snow and have filled the entryway with their massive amounts of winter accoutrement. I made them popcorn and they spilled nail polish remover all over. And had lots of fun. 

Laithe and I had some quiet fun inside reading near the heater vent and doing puzzles. He's good in the snow for about 15 minutes. If I remember correctly Guthrie was around 5 before she really loved the snow, so for now I have a buddy and I'm ok with that.

And the dog - oh she is joyful in this snow! Her hip seems to have healed well and she bounds and races around in her puppy kind of way. It's very sweet. 

I'm trying to not get overwhelmed by this season this year. Some days that works. Someone else mentioned that their days are full, but not frantic and I think that's where we're at. We've got something scheduled every day this week, but next week there's very little on the calendar except John's birthday. And then he has the whole week of Christmas off and we're all very excited. My goal is that by the time he starts his vacation I'll be completely ready for the holidays and we'll just get to play and have fun. Although last minute wrapping can be kind of fun too- but you know what I mean! 

This week will be our last week of school until the new year and I think we're all good with a bit of a break. It's not that it's overly structured, or that they're getting pushed too hard, but it seems that they're just learning by leaps and bounds and breaks are always good to let that newfound knowledge happily settle in. And mama's good with a break too. We're starting January with a math unit and I need to make sure it's solid because Guthrie loves math and I think it will be kind of intense. 

I just tasted the soup and lunch will be yummy this week. 

learning style

So, remember when we were in high school (well, some of us) and all that data about learning styles started to come out? And the teachers tried really hard to incorporate the research into their classrooms, but it was really, really difficult because well, public school is not really all that flexible. So much less so these days.

Understatement of the year.

With all the common core and testing requirements I really, honestly do not know how kids these days flourish within school. And yeah, maybe relatively few kids ever really flourished in school, but it seems like the margin is getting smaller and smaller. I mean it has to be.

Back to the learning styles. When I first learned about learning styles there were only three options - auditory, visual and kinesthetic. And then they added music and a few other ones. A few classes I took in college touched on learning styles as well as developmental processes and that was kind of the last I thought about it.

It behooves me though as a homeschooler to get really familiar with all the new literature on learning styles and begin to try and figure out my kids' a little better.

Last year I had an idea of how Guthrie learned best, what type of environment she would learn easily in. And I was mostly wrong.            

This is all about flexibility though, right? And learning?
I feel like I am still learning with Guthrie, learning her temperament, her personality, her learning style - especially as far as homeschooling goes. I mean I've totally got parenting her down pat. Totally.

One thing I've really noticed though is how quickly Guthrie can understand a concept if I can put it in the context of natural world. It's not so much that she is a "big picture" kind of girl, but if I can relate it to the seasons, or some natural category it just goes so much smoother. Or any category or pattern in general. So maybe one of her ways of learning is naturalistic.

Our local Nahant Marsh Education Center offers homeschool supplemental science/nature classes - the only outside class I didn't even waver on signing her up for. They meet monthly during the school year and so far have been really great. I stay with her, at her request, but also as an additional pair of hand because her group is K-4th and yeah, there are some busy kids in there. Some really, really smart busy kids.

I'll be curious to see what we observe as far as learning styles in both the kids. I hope it will be super helpful in facilitating their education over the years.

Pumpkins

The kids got to take two trips to pick out pumpkins this year. One with my mom and one with John's. And they were thrilled!

We waited to carve until a few days before Halloween because our squirrels are super crazy. In fact they got into one pumpkin and completely emptied it of seeds and flesh and then a couple of days later I noticed they came back for the peel! 

We did our usual hammering of golf tees into a pumpkin - Laithe says, "I feel like a grown up" with his little hammer out. 

What a difference a year makes in his ability to aim and actually accomplish what he sets out to do! My favorite was when he pounded the tees into a smiley face. 

I gave the kids choices about whether they wanted to carve, or paint, or decorate with Mr. Potatohead pieces. Laithe changed his mind a few times (a reoccurring theme) but then we all ended up carving. 

John helped Guthrie and I helped Laithe. 

Guthrie had a significant amount of confidence in John's carving skills. They were able to strike a compromise and do partial carving with some detail drawn in sharpie. 

Guthrie had a significant amount of confidence in John's carving skills. They were able to strike a compromise and do partial carving with some detail drawn in sharpie. 

Not a very good picture, but well I snapped this and then the dog decided to have an adventure down the road by herself. In the dark. She's hard to see in the dark. 

All was well and she beat us back to the front porch, but still, it didn't make for great pictures. 

Honestly if I had to choose my favorite part of Halloween it'd be a tie between making costumes for the kids and carving pumpkins. Love it. Even the messy parts.

Apple Orchard

Our Seventh Annual trip to the Apple Orchard as a family! 

The first was just a couple weeks before Guthrie was born and it's become one of our most looked forward to fall activities. 

Both kids were excited for the tractor/hay ride, though Guthrie was much more brave. I got Laithe tucked onto a hay bale next to me and then felt his hand creep into mine. It was sweet. 

We picked almost 50 lbs of apples - and would you believe we're already almost out of apple sauce? Next year I probably better budget for 100 lbs, you know? 

Similar to when we picked blueberries this year, both kids were actually helpful and we were surprised when our wagon was full so quickly. Any parent will tell you that it's an amazing rite of passage when the kids are able to help rather than, well, hinder. It's just a different experience. 

Stone's Apple Barn has a few animals that are always up for some apple snacks 

and loves from the kids. 

The best part though was probably working with Guthrie in the kitchen the following weekend. She's getting so capable. I can give her a job and unless there's a major mishap she's pretty confident. Her big job this year was peeling all the apples for applesauce and apple butter. 

I would bet she easily did 35 lbs. 

And she's pretty proud too - just ask her and she'll tell you about how she's a way 

better peeler than even mom. 

I love these little traditions we've cultivated. They're such a highlight of the seasons.