Today in Pictures

I haven't posted any pictures lately of the little people who make my life so exciting. So here are a few I took today for your viewing pleasure!

Oh, There They Are!

One particular geranium in a hanging basket on our deck has been a favorite nesting place for birds. Or perhaps it's just one bird who keeps coming back to her familiar home. But the plant had been deserted for a couple months since March, and then late May (I think) I noticed we had another bird, nesting comfortably in my plant. So day after day, I would check out my kitchen window and watch for signs of baby birds. Finally, it happened. There they were, two baby birds. I've enjoyed watching them, seeing them grow and grow, as the mama bird tended to their every need. Really so sweet.




This past weekend, during the morning hours, we were outside and the kids were playing and I noticed the mother bird really giving us the stare. And then later that day I took some pictures of the two birds out of my kitchen window. They weren't great photos due to the extent I had to zoom in, plus the spotty window (it's really in desperate need of a good Windexing). And of course, I also could not use the flash since it would reflect off the glass. At the time, the mother bird was away. In fact, she'd been away for quite some time and I was actually worried something might have happened to her. But thankfully, as it was getting dark, I noticed she had returned. So this time, I stepped out onto the deck and I held my camera up high and snapped a few pictures with the flash on. All three birds looked shocked, with their little eyes just bulging out. I was worried I'd frightened them, though I really tried hard to keep my distance. It was probably the camera flash that did it. The next day, I noticed that all three birds were gone. I was surprised and quite saddened by my discovery. I so enjoyed watching them each day and I just knew I'd scared them all away. I figured the mama bird had spent that previous evening searching out a new home for her and her babies, where there weren't any scary people spying on them and intruding on their space.




I've thought often about our little bird family the past two days. And then this morning, as I was doing some chores about my room, I saw out my bedroom window the mama bird and her two little birds in my back flower bed. There they were! And though the mama bird briefly flew off, she only went as far as the fence and continued to watch over her young as they ran about the flower bed. I can only guess that they've created a place amongst the bushes, though this seems unusual. Or perhaps they have a nest in one of my trees and are just searching the flowerbed for food. I do believe that their leaving had nothing to do with my scaring them away. Perhaps they outgrew the geranium - a highly likely possibility as the babies were getting fairly large and my pot isn't all that big. Whatever their reason for leaving their original home, it's refreshing to know that they are all okay and are still living somewhere in my backyard!

Inspiration to Change

Today I read a wonderful blog entry that made me rethink some things in my life. It was a beautiful post by a woman who I admire a great deal, even though we've never met. Her blog often inspires me when it comes to my role as mom and wife. Today's post was a humbling one, and one that I found rather unexpected from her. There are several moms in the blogosphere whom I consider somewhat heroes in the examples they set. They're devotion to their children, their husbands and God Himself are so clear as I read their blogs. Melissa is definitely one of those people. So it surprised me when I read her post about life and how she needed a readjustment on how she looks at things. And as I read her words, I felt encouraged to change, since a reflection on my own life certainly does not show the woman I would like to be. When I look at myself, I see a woman who often sees things in a negative light, instead of focusing on the positive. I see a wife, who often does not offer the understanding and support her husband needs. I see a mother who loves her children, but doesn't show them the patience and affection they so deserve. Obviously, this is a woman who is ready for a change.

It's not that my situation is bad. Hardly! I have a wonderful, devoted husband who loves me and works hard each and every day to provide for his family. I have three amazing children, who are beautiful inside and out. I have a home and lovely things and truly lack nothing. But it's my perspective that needs changing. It's how I view my situation, and how I respond to it.

I wrote a comment to Melissa's blog, letting her know how her words affected me and how I planned to take on a similar view of my life and the daily moments I have with my children. To enjoy the moments with them and not spend this special time God has given me constantly upset and irritated by the day-to-day frustrations, whether a result of stress from misbehaving children, especially one who tests me almost constantly, endless chores that need to be done or just some other miscellaneous mountain I am trying to climb. I sat at my computer feeling empowered and ready to take on my day. But sadly, I am now sitting at my computer, hiding from everything and everyone, to find my own moment of peace. I have not lived out what I set out to do at the start of my day, having read Melissa's insightful post. I have been snappish and irritable and incapable of dealing with the various trials I've been faced with. I am at a loss. How do I change? How do I make myself into the patient, respected and loved mother that I long to be? I'm so afraid of distancing myself from my children. How can I hope to teach them and guide them, especially in this crucial time of their lives? And how do I adjust my attitude to focus on enjoying the time with my children instead of making it miserable?

These are questions I plan to research until I have found the right answers. The answers must be out there. Somewhere. I know prayer will help, as God is most certainly the answer to everything. But no matter how hard I've tried, I have not been able to commit to a regular prayer life. I was getting up early for a couple of weeks, trying to spend some time in prayer and in God's Word. But it was difficult as each day I became more and more tired and found it harder and harder to cope throughout the day. I know that over time, it will get easier. I'll have more time to strengthen my prayer life. And that will be great. But it won't help me right now. I need to make the change in my life that will bring me closer to my children and my husband - and to God.

I hope this doesn't leave an impression on readers that I am unhappy in my life. That is far from the truth. I love my life, especially my children. But at the same time, these special little people who are so dependent upon me each and every day take a lot out of me. And as a result, I don't always respond well to those all too frequent difficult moments with said children. But I am happy. I'm just not as happy as I think I ought to be, and am definitely not as appreciative as I should be. Afterall, I have been graced with so many blessings in my life.

I am sure there are some very kind people out there who would say I am being too hard on myself. And maybe there's just a little truth to that. But I think it's necessary to be hard on ourselves in order for real change to happen. Even to slightly embarrass ourselves by openly discussing it on our blog. I can honestly say that today was a failure in my attempt to be happier in life and truly appreciate the blessings I have been given. But I think with a little more inspiration from other wonderful mothers out there, continual effort on my part, and yes, prayer anytime I can fit it in, I'll get there yet!

More Excitement

but this time it's the good kind (mostly).

Last night, I gave Amy some Tylenol for her fever. It dropped the fever fairly quickly, and the fever never came back. We got up this morning (after a somewhat difficult night - we're just not all used to sleeping in the same room!), and Amy was still feverless and in good spirits. Nathan's forehead was now only slightly bruised, not the least bit swolen. I was amazed. So when my mom called and said that my sister had invited us all over to swim for the afternoon, I thought why not? Okay. I did hesitate for a bit as I tried to determine what would be the responsible thing to do. But the boys were so tired of being trapped in the house and Amy was afterall without fever. She also doesn't like going in the water, so preventing her from swimming would not be a problem. So we went. Of course, we first stopped at Half Price Books so that I could spend a bunch of money on more books - can you ever have enough? And the rest of the day, we swam. My mom got to spend lots of time cuddling and playing with Amy, who was fine all day. And the rest of us got to enjoy the pool. What could be better on such a hot summer day?

There was one exciting moment that I could have done without, however. Alex gave us all a brief scare when he took off his floatie so he could see better (still not sure what he was trying to see) and accidentally roamed too far into the deep end. His feet suddenly wouldn't reach the ground and he began to panic and take in water. Thankfully, my mom had seen him take off his floatie and had just alerted me to watch him, so the moment he was in trouble I was able to pull him up and get him to the shallow end. He wasn't as fond of the big pool after that and spent the majority of the time in the hot tub.

Despite that frightening moment (and my really bad sunburn), all went great and after a long day of swimming, all of my precious children fell right to sleep on our way home. And now I get a moment of peace and quiet to myself - the first in a couple of days. It's going to be short, however, as I think I too am worn out. My bed has never looked so inviting. And I really should get some rest before I begin a new day. Afterall, who knows what sort of excitement is in store for us tomorrow!

The Excitement Never Ends

I'm sure all of you mothers out there can agree that life with children is filled with excitement... Never a dull moment, you could say. Today is no different. Actually, this past week has been an adventure in sickness. Amy has been sick with fever since Tuesday. We're talking fever up to 103.6. She did have one day without fever, but she was throwing up on that day. Thankfully, we have an appointment with our pediatrician for Monday - an appointment I didn't feel would be necessary, but am now so glad he suggested I make it as a precaution. I have a feeling we'll be keeping it afterall!

To add to the excitement, Nathan decided to fall and hit his head on the tile this evening while I was upstairs getting their bath ready. He has a lovely purple bump on his forehead the size of a quarter. I panicked at first, thinking back on an all too familiar trip to the emergency room for a similar episode with this same child. But thank the Lord he appears to be okay and I think we've escaped the ER this time. Of course, even though bedtime has arrived, I don't want him sleeping just yet. So I made popcorn and all three kids are happily munching on sweet kettle corn and watching episodes of Andy Griffith. No one even seems remotely tired. I've promised the boys they can sleep in our room tonight, but only tonight. Hopefully, the remainder of the night will be less exciting. A mom can only handle so much.

Plans for Homeschooling

We still have much of summer left, but I have made my plans for Alex's Kindergarten year and I have even purchased most of what I need thanks to the awesome homeschool conference Celeste and I recently attended. It was so enjoyable flipping through the different curriculum books as well as the many other books, both educational and fun. There were also such neat teaching manipulatives available as well, and though I was tempted by many, I managed to steer away from them as most were certainly not inexpensive. I was so happy when I came home with most every book I needed for the subjects I plan to teach this next year (and then some!).

I have always loved the idea of the unit study. It just sounds like such a fun approach to learning, one that will hold my children's attention better and encourage their desire to learn. There are many unit studies out there, but I went with Five in a Row, as recommended to me in a recent homeschool consultation. I was a little hesitant at first because this unit study centers on lots of reading. Unlike many other children I know, my kids are not book lovers, though I pray that they someday will be. We do go the library every week where I let them choose books, and they are read to each evening before bed. But Alex is more interested in the children's Batman or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle books. I limit him to one per week as I do not feel that these are the greatest enrichment books. And of course, I choose several books, too, so that we have a few well written books to select from. But what I want is for my children to regularly grab a book off the book shelf and sit and look at the pictures, or better yet, asked to be read to, instead of their typical use for books, constructing houses. So I pray that Five in a Row will change their appreciation for books and the sweet stories contained within. My big fear, of course, is that Alex's lack of desire to read the books will make it hard for me to follow the plan of utilizing one book a week to teach all the basic subjects. If he does not like the book, he probably won't be too interested in reading it day after day and using it as the main subject for our daily lessons. But I'm going to give it a try. I am having some difficulty with the book selection, however. They are all classics and I'm sure, wonderful books. But many are no longer in print and are very hard to come by. Anybody got an extra copy of The Giraffe that Walked to Paris lying around that they are willing to part with for less than $75?!?

In addition to the unit study, I plan to use Horizons Mathematics to work on Alex's math skills. I've heard good things about this program, though one lady did inform me that it was a little advanced for her son when he was just starting out. She had to go to a different teaching tool to get him started and then she was able to go back to Horizons later on. Alex is a slow learner and therefore may also have trouble with the Horizons books. But we won't know until we try! Should we find he's struggling, we may move to the Math-U-See program as the visual aspect of this teaching tool may be easier for him to grasp.

I am also using the D'nealian Handwriting book to work on his handwriting. He's already done a lot with writing in preschool and I believe they used the traditional method. But he is still having trouble with his writing, so we're just going to start over with D'Nealian. Hopefully that won't confuse him too much!

Finally, I am using the Explode the Code curriculum for his phonics. This also came highly recommended. Alex has always had speech issues and will continue speech therapy at the local public school his kindergarten year. Hopefully, this phonics program will help him make better sense of letters and their sounds and thereby help with his difficulty with language and speech, in addition to preparing him for reading.

I still need to work out our schedule - when our school year will begin and when we will have our breaks, when we'll cover what topics, etc. But I am so excited that I at least know what curriculum we are using and that I have most of what I need to begin the first year of our homeschooling journey.

Keep the Kleenex Coming

Every once in awhile, a movie comes along that no matter how many times you watch it, you are brought to tears upon every viewing. In fact, even the music from the movie makes you cry. I find this happens more with movies from my childhood, perhaps out of nostalgia. This morning, while parked on the couch with one sick child and while the other two were happily playing in the next room, I watched such a movie - one of my favorites. And as always, by the end my eyes were puffy and red and I was grasping for the Kleenex. It's possible that others would not be moved by this movie as much as I am, or maybe not at all. But let's just say that if it didn't sound so terrible with my last name, my daughter would be named Savannah. I love this movie. If you haven't seen Savannah Smiles, or even heard of it, you should try it. It's a tear-jerker, but it's so sweet and so heart-warming. I could never grow tired of it!

Disclaimer: Just so there are no surprises, this isn't necessarily a movie you would want to watch with younger children (unless they are sick ;) ) because there are a few instances of swearing and some mild violence, and I mean mild. But compared to most current movies, this one is quite refreshing.

Careful What You Start

When we first began Friday family fun night, we realized we might be eating some interesting dinners on the nights the kids would choose our meal. We were thinking hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, maybe even PB&J from time to time. But I never guessed we'd be eating chocolate chip pancakes... every time they choose. I'm not complaining. They are really yummy. But I do have to laugh as I listen to Nathan call them "cookies" as he devours one after the other. Does serving my children cookies for dinner get me nominated for Mom of the Year?

VBS

This week was Vacation Bible School at our church and what a week it has been! The kids had a lot of fun, though we are all tired. Poor Amy had to be awakened from her peaceful slumber every morning, and all three kids would be napping in the later part of the afternoon. And of course, this meant a late night for all. Amy didn't go to sleep last night until almost 10:45pm! But it was all worth it for such a fun, important week. I wish I could say that VBS went great this year at my church, but I really wouldn't know. I worked in the infant room where I got to cuddle, feed and play with lots of precious little babies. So from my perspective, it was awesome!

Name Meme

My good friend Celeste tagged me to do this earlier this week but I have had barely enough time this week to check email and quickly skim through a couple of my favorite blogs. Never time to post! But now that VBS is over, I am going to take a few minutes to complete it. Here it goes!

Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following... They MUST be real places, names, things... NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Once you're done, forward on to friends and back to the person who sent it to you. Now Go!

Your name: Robin

1. Famous singer/band: REO Speedwagon
2. 4 letter word: Rain
3. Street name: Rodeo Drive
4. Color: Red
5. Gifts/presents: Ruby earings
6. Vehicle: Rolls Royce
7. Items on a menu: Roast Beef
8. Boy Name: Robert
9. Girl Name: Rachel
10. Movie title: Rudy
11. Drink: Raspberry tea
12. Occupation: Rock Star
13. Flower: Rose
14. Magazine: Rolling Stone
15. U.S. City: Rapid City, South Dakota
16. Pro Sports Team: Rockets
17. Reason for being late to work: Roadwork
18. Something you throw away: Rubbish
19. Things you shout: Run!
20. Cartoon Character: Roadrunner

That was fun. :) I'd tag someone, but I don't know who's already done it. So if you haven't done it and want to - feel free and have fun with it!

Breaking in the Kayak

This morning Bill took his kayak out for the first time. After ordering and receiving all of the essentials, most important being the lifevest, or perhaps in Bill's opinion the nifty decals, which he had carefully and almost perfectly applied to his new kayak, it was time to try it out. So this morning Bill set the alarm for 6am, quickly got dressed and secured the kayak to the top of our Ford Explorer, and took off for the lake. As shown in the pictures, it was a lovely clear morning, though maybe a little on the hot and humid side. But Bill returned home a couple hours later very proud and happy with his first kayak outing. And my sweet and thoughtful husband also came home with two scrapbooking folders filled with lovely scrapbook papers that he picked up for a bargain at a garage sale on his way home. So I guess you could say it was a rewarding morning for both of us!

Brotherly Love

Most every night Nathan climbs into Alex's bed where they snuggle together until they fall asleep. It's amazing how they can fight and argue all day long, but when time for bed, they become the best of friends.

Alex and Nathan (26 months and 8 months, respectively)

Nathan and Alex this morning (3-1/2 years and 5 years, respectively)