First Day of School - 2013/2014

Today was our first day of school for the 2013/2014 school year! I've been working on lesson planning, cleaning the school room and getting organized in little snippets of time here and there. Thankfully I felt decently prepared going into today.  

Armed with two cups of coffee already bubbling in my veins, we started class at 9:00am. We took "First Day" pictures and then hit the books right away (with an additional cup of coffee for the teacher.)

 

Luke was very nervous about being a second grader. He was terrified it would be really hard right off the bat. Thankfully today gave him a confidence boost. Once he started his work, the things he feared he'd forgotten over the summer came back to him quickly.

 

 Will was a bit apprehensive about starting school, too. I don't think he was quite ready to give up his summer freedoms. However, once we got rolling, he seemed to enjoy himself. He even said he liked school by the end - phew!!! Now ask him that in about a month and we'll see if his answer is the same.

 

We had a few snags here and there. I forgot to print some things which resulted in a few extra brain breaks for them (they weren't complaining about that!) Honestly, Owen was probably my biggest challenge today. (I know, I know - he looks completely  innocent and angelic in this picture!) And don't get me wrong - I love Owey dearly - but he can be a grouch sometimes! And today he was just having a down.right.grouchy.day. I ended putting him down for an early nap which seemed to be what he needed.  His mood has improved since then and he's back to being super cute Owey!

So overall, I feel like we had a successful first day! I'll blog more about the specifics of our curriculum in another blog. More to come!

Luke's First Lost Tooth

It took Luke a long time to get any teeth when he was just a wee little one...I mean a looooooooong time.

Luke is 1 years old here! He had the cutest toothless grin!

Every time he would have the sniffles or be grouchy we would think, "He's finally teething!" But to no avail...it never resulted in any tiny white razor breaking through the surface of his gums. Ok, he did FINALLY get teeth -but you get the picture.

Fast forward 7 years. All the other 6-7 year old kids he knew were losing teeth...but his teeth wouldn't budge.

Last week we noticed he finally had a bottom tooth that was loose.

He was so excited!

And a little nervous.

He's a very cautious child...and a bit squeamish - so even though he was relishing in finally having a loose tooth...he wanted to make sure no one was going to actually pull it out. Honestly, I was expecting the tooth itself would have to jump out of his mouth before it actually got pulled out.

As fate would have it though, as he settled into bed, somehow he bumped his mouth with the blanket and Wallaaa! The tooth came out! He searched around in bed to find it and bounded down the stairs.

"You'll never believe what just happened?!" He asked incredulously.

"What?" I asked.

"This!" he exclaimed while holding out his little white razor tooth.

Of course we were so excited and proud of him! We had to take pictures and congratulate him.

We put the tooth in an envelope and he placed it under his pillow.

The next day, he was happy to find a treat under his pillow. He told me, "I feel older now that I've lost a tooth."

I smiled at his words - so proud of him - but ached a little in my heart because of the truth in his words. He IS older...time has flown by since that warm June day 7 years ago when he was born...

 I sure wish time would slow down a little.

Us in the Here-and-Now

Welp, I've been meaning to become a more consistent blogger for...years now! Every time I have committed to blogging again, I just get overwhelmed by where to start...do I try to catch up from the last time I blogged consistently (which would be 2009/2010!!), do I just hit the highlights over the last 4 years or do I just start from the present. Because of the overwhelming task of the first two (thus why I have yet to start blogging again) I have chosen to do the latter. Just start from the here and now. If I get a chance to backtrack and put a few posts up from yesteryear, then great...but the longer I put off blogging, the more overwhelming it is - so I've just decided to start now...

So, hello again! Chris and I are now an old married couple (11 years this month!) The boys are growing faster than I can stand and our faithful companion, Riley, is still our precious pet (every time I say the word "precious," I feel the need to say it in a Gollum voice...but I guess you can't hear that when I'm writing, huh?)

We have been in our home here for almost 3 years now. It's hard to believe that Chris has been out of the Army for 4 years - though he still works for the Army in a civilian job. I will be starting my third official year of homeschooling the kids next month. It has been such a fun (and challenging) adventure!

Picture Credit: Morning Joy Photography (Thanks again, Mandy!)

Luke - who is 7 now (when in the world did that happen??) - continues to be a mini-me of Chris. He will be going into the second grade next month. He loves (to name a few) art, baseball, Legos and being a goofball.

Will - who is 5 1/2 (and that 1/2 is very important to Mr. Will!) is a little more quiet and reserved - but just as much a goofball. He will be going into the first grade next month. He loves (to name a few) making silly faces, soccer and video games.

 

Owen - who is 18 months (uh...where did my baby go?!?) is nothing short of spunky. Mischief sticks out all over him. He loves stuffed animals (mostly dogs), books, pulling things out of drawers and carrying on conversations that only he knows what is being said.

Riley - who is 10 now (ahh, I remember when she was just an energy-packed puppy!) enjoys her spoiled life of sleeping on the guest bed, barking at all nature of animals in the woods and keeping an eye on the neighborhood while stretched out on "her" bed.

So, this is us in the here-and-now! More to come!

My Grandpa

My Grandpa walked onto heaven's shore on June 17th, 2012. Words seem to fail me when I try to speak about how much Grandpa means to me. Maybe because words don't even come close to captivating Grandpa's character and life.

He was such a strong yet gentle man. Kindness and compassion flowed from his eyes - with a twinkle that spoke to his great sense of humor. He was a man with an unwavering faith in God, an eternal love for our Grandma and a steadfast love and devotion for his family.

     

I will never forget seeing him at the table with a pile of Shaklee vitamins, a scrumptious morning breakfast with hot coffee- and before partaking in any of this he would say a morning prayer that covered all of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren by name.

I will never forget sitting in his lap as a little girl as he helped me learn the motions to "Patty Cake", and then as a teenager how he looked me in the eyes and told me he believed in me and how he always encouraged me to stay strong in the Lord at all times. Through baptisms, weddings, and baby dedications he was always there with his quiet smile, gentle laughter, and words of wisdom.

So, thank you for being our Grandpa. You have left us a rich heritage and a lasting legacy. You lived your faith. And we couldn't ask for a better Christ-like example.

Though you are gone from this earth and we miss you so much - we know we will once again see you on heaven's side. Good night, Grandpa - we'll see you in the Morning.        

Letting Go?

When I was a girl, my Grandma Winegarden made me a doll house. It was one of those wooden kit kinds – but she went far and above just gluing some wooden pieces together- she made pretty yarn carpets and painted the house a cute white and blue. It was a Christmas gift and I LOVED it! 

 I still have this doll house…at first I thought maybe I’d have a girl one day to pass it down to…but it’s quite apparent that we just make boys. =) Through our many moves, the doll house has started to fall apart…and at this point it’s pretty much in pieces. And yet, I still can’t bring myself to get rid of it. I mean, no one is making me…it doesn't take up that much space – but it’s broken into little pieces…probably to the point where it can't be fixed.

So why can’t I just let it go? I suppose it’s the memory of my Grandma Winegarden that I've attached to the doll house. She has been gone 13 years now and I miss her terribly. 

Through the years I've been able to part with a lot 

of her things – 

dishes, decorative items – but there are a handful of things that I just can’t seem to let go. Things like the white and blue plastic canvas church she made for me, the set of bells (she gave me one every Christmas) and the doll house.  Why do we attach such strong emotions/memories to physical things? I don’t think I’m alone in doing this (or maybe I am?) Do you have items that have memories so interwoven in them that you find it hard to let them go?

I brought the doll house out of storage today to take a look at it. It's in pretty bad shape. Maybe it really is time to let it go...but it sure did make me smile to see the house "played" with one more time...(even if the boys were pretending a tornado hit the house and they had to fix it!) And ya know what - I think it would have made my Grandma smile too!