Happy 10th Birthday Ryan!

Ryan and Sara last week. She looks so much like him when he was a baby.

Jake was only 14mo. old when Ryan was born, still a baby himself. But when he came to the hospital to visit me when Ryan was born, he looked huge! My Ry was just 6lbs 13oz. He had a sprinkling of dark, auburny hair and a classic English roses and cream complexion. The freckles came later! He gained weight quickly and became a strong and sturdy little toddler with round cheeks and the absolute softest skin. We called him butter baby cause his skin was 'soft as buttah'. He was also nicknamed Danger Baby. Ryan is almost fearless and is full of bold curiousity and as a baby, we could always count on him to find the most dangerous object or situation no matter where we were. He gave and surely still gives his guardian angel a workout! He has always been a people person. He is a friendly and outgoing kid, a total extrovert! We joke he has never met a stranger and he could make friends with a doornob. This kid is a total charmer and one of the most good hearted people I know.

He is a nurturer type, always looking out for the little guys and born leader with a soft heart. The younger kids adore him and even the sibling he fights with most can often be found giggling and whispering with the adored big bro. Lately they have found some common ground and have been getting along so much better. He is a great big brother and he actually likes to help with Sara, asking us if he can feed her, hold her or just play with her. I see him making great strides in his self-control. He is so determined and willfull, two traits that can really try the patience of a mom, but will serve him well as an adult as he continues to learn to apply those strengths in positive ways. I admire that quality in him.

Happy Birthday, my son. I treasure you and I'm so happy that God has put you in my life. You make the world a better, brighter place.

Love, Mom

Do you Boo?

We do!

What the heck is 'Boo-ing?' you may be wondering. Well basically you make a little sack or two of treats and take the treats and a note like this to your neighbors. You place the treats and the note on the front door step then ring the bell or knock loudly then run and hide!

(scary faces)

We've been doing this in our neighborhood for a few years and our kids look forward to it every October. It's fun to walk the streets at night and hide in bushes giggling with your family.

a dream for my children

“Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. ‘Thou hast set my feet in a large room,’ should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”
Charlotte Mason(Vol. 3, pp. 170, 171).

Confessions of an introvert

This article is fantastic. Go read it and then come back here and tell me what you think.

I have been in denial about being and introvert. But I am done hiding. It's true, I am an introvert.

Even my bestest friend, who has known me since I was 11, was skeptical about my introversion -and she's an introvert too! We've talked about this ,at length, and discovered we've both had misconceptions about intoversion and also felt societal pressures to surpress our introverted tendencies.

Of course there is a general misunderstanding of what introversion is and also I'm very good at masking. I know there are several people who think I am this social, outgoing gal. They've been surprised after they get to know me better they realise I'm actually quite melancholic.

I'm not particularly shy and I do enjoy being with others...to a point. I know what is expected in certain social situations and of course I'm not going to run off and hide in a corner when I'm suppossed to be making small talk. I want to make others comfortable and I do genuinely care about people. Introverts are not misanthropes.

So are you an extrovert or an introvert, in general?

PS. Here is another short blurb about introvert confusion

I love my giant sink!

...And these girls do too! Yes, that's my 4 year old AND my 10mo. old in my kitchen sink!

Small Successes

I am really stretching here people. I'm not sure why, it has been a perfectly good and productive week. But for some reason I am really having a hard time pulling three seperate small successes together.

1. Finished the deck! Woo Hoo!! (pictures forthcoming after the rain ends..ugh)

{not small I know, however this is probably it's hard for me to pick out other stuff. It was a fun project, but it did kind of dominate life around here}

2. did lots of reading, praying and talking to Lee and the kids about our home education thanks to some thoughtful posts by Leila

3. signed up for AHG for Lainey (first meeting tonight!) and Boy Scouts (tomorrow night!) for the boys

Weddings make me cry

We watched The Office last night on Hulu, the episode(s) where Jim and Pam get married. {We don't watch much TV, but there are a couple of shows we like. On Hulu we can watch them whenever we want! And it's free!} It was hysterical yes, but it also made me tear up.

Weddings always make me think about my own wedding and marriage. I get all nostaligic and shocked that it's been 5, 10, now 12 years since we were married. I am asked often if I ever thought we'd have this kind of family, this many kids, the homeschooling etc...The answer is NOPE!

But God's plan, it turned out, was waaaaaaay better than my plan.