No time for school...

Well, as I was trying to collect the kids to begin our school work for the day, this is what I found:


Emma was reading her "Little House" Chapter Book, since it had to be returned to the library today and she had not had a chance to read it yet. Caleb was reading about Joan of Arc leading the French against England in war out of the Childcraft Encyclopedia set. But, it had to be a cool story, there were pictures of knights, and armor, and war.
I decided the "work" I had planned could wait.

Out with the old...

Okay, I am pretty sure that I am going to have to fess up and admit that I am a bookshelf junkie. Or maybe I am a book junkie, and I just like bookshelves to hold all the books? I am not really sure which, or maybe I am both!! But, I have been going through, trying to get rid of lots of stuff, and making room for a new bookcase. I have had my eye on it at IKEA for awhile, but it was on sale this weekend, almost half off. So, we made a "half-day" of it, and went down and got it.



Also, we have been needing a dresser for quite a while!! We looked on craigslist, and at garage sales, but just hadn't found one. Well, when we were helping out with a garage sale at the folks' house (Ben's dad and stepmom), Ben noticed that they were getting rid of... well, it's probably more of a buffet, or a sideboard, but could definitely be used as a dresser. Ben loved it right away. I was very busy, so I didn't even really get a chance to look at it, but I trusted Ben's judgement enough that we decided we would take it home with us. We stained it "black", with a very light coat, so you can still see the wood grain. The hardware on it is beautiful as well, so we didn't want to change that. It turned out so amazingly beautiful, it is in our room, and is much more "grown-up" looking than what we had been seeing on craigslist or at garage sales. I love it so much, I feel guilty having it. Here is a pic, I didn't get a before shot, but a couple of "in the process" shots. Thank you so much Connie!!

This is getting creepy!

So, Ezra can get into a fair amount of trouble now!  He rolls around, sits up, and "commando crawls."  But the really odd thing is... guess who was my expert "commando crawler"?  Yep!  Caleb!  The similarities are sometimes uncanny, however, I think Ezra is much more tenacious.  He sees it and MUST GET IT!!  =)

Chubby, Chubby!

Noah grabbed the "extra" on my shoulder and said, "Chubby, chubby mommy!" Gotta love it.

The Least Effective Method of Potty Training...

I am pretty sure that I am using just about the least effective method EVER for potty training. I am just not ready to fully commit to the process, and life has seemed a little crazy for full-on training anyway. With three times a week to the chiropractor, and all of life's other twists and turns, I have taken a very cavalier approach, which I probably wouldn't recommend to anyone. But it is working just fine for now, and keeps me mellow. Noah is actually doing quite well, especially given my method, and so we are just moving SLOWLY toward the goal of sometime being potty trained. And, my personal belief is that potty training is quite a bit about training the MOMMA, as well as the child, so I am going easy on myself. It's been a while since I've had to be responsible for reminding and such. I have a really cute picture of Noah in his Superman underwear, but I haven't uploaded it, and I probably wouldn't post it anyway. But, he is super cute. I found some Superman undies at 99 cents only, (a three pack for 99 cents!!) and silly me, I just bought one pack.
We pretty much wake up, and I decide if I feel "up to" potty training really seriously. If I am super serious, we go with underwear. If I know I won't be able to be completely on top of it, then I put him in a pull-up. I do try to make sure he stays dry, but I am just not quite as concerned about it, knowing he'll be okay. So yeah, I wouldn't recommend this method to anyone, but it's going okay for us. =)

Not as young as we were...

I don't think I have blogged about this yet, although in keeping with the post, I may have just forgotten!! Anyhow, it's been about a month ago, that my back "went out". I am not quite sure how else to describe it. But, the kids and I were just getting ready to walk out the door. I had Ezra buckled in his infant seat, and I went to pick him up, and in that moment, I knew something was very wrong. I laid down on the floor in our living room, and asked Emma to bring me the phone. I called Ben in tears (he was at work), and asked the three "big" kids to get up on their beds for some rest time. God was so gracious to me... all three got right on their beds, and Ezra fell asleep in his car seat. After about twenty minutes of just laying there on the floor, I was able to kind of crawl down the hallway and get a movie on for the kids and get to our bed. There I stayed!! Ben was able to get off a little early, and Ezra started fussing just about five minutes before Daddy walked in the door and came to his rescue!! My mom came and brought us dinner (Taco Salad, one of my favorites!!) and we were able to see the chiropractor the next morning. I had never been to the chiropractor in my life!! But, they did x-rays, and I have been going three times a week since then. I have a pinched nerve, and a "bulging" disc. I haven't really been in pain since that first time I saw them, so I am very thankful for that. I have been more cautious, and I am not yet cleared for bike rides. I am allowed to walk, and thankfully the kids seem to enjoy their scooters just as much as their bikes right now.
Last Friday (not yesterday, the previous one), Ben had his fourth knee surgery. The third surgery was on his right knee, and they repaired a meniscal tear. He re-tore it, so this time they went in and removed the torn portion. Last time was right after I had Caleb, and he was on crutches for 6 weeks! This time, he came out of the hospital and could already bear weight on it. So, he took it easy for five days, then was able to do whatever his knee would allow... which for us, meant going back to work.
So, it's been a crazy month or so, but it just goes to show that we are, in fact, aging, whether we recognize it or not!

Daddy Date...

Emma didn't have a "birthday party", or many presents to speak of, but the special thing which she was looking forward to was her special Daddy date. Daddy took just her to California Pizza Kitchen, which is somewhere Emma has REALLY been wanting to go!! From what I hear, they had a great time.
Her dress was her "big" present, but she did also get a jump rope and a watch. I had been working with the kids on telling time, and they were doing really well, so I got her the watch so she could practice. She kept telling me the time, and I thought, "Wow, she is doing so well!!" Then she told me, "Mom, this watch has the 5-10-15-20 written on it!!" And sure enough, very tiny numbers were written for the minutes. We decided it would be good practice anyway. =) She also got to pick out some flowers that we planted the afternoon of her birthday. We did get to have cake at grandma's house with her cousins, so that was special as well!

Ezra loves food!

Ezra is six months now, and loves his baby food. So far, he has had green beans, peas, squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. He eats one jar every evening at dinner time.

Movie Night

We finished reading The Tale of Despereaux, and were all excited for the movie. It was a wonderful time together (the reading of the book, and anticipation of the movie). We popped some popcorn on the stove, and got everything ready. The kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly, and we had a great time together, so all in all, it was great. But in my humble opinion, the book was much better, so the movie had a little bit of a let-down factor to it. =)

A finished project and a six year old...

I finally got to bed just before 1 am, and was greeted by Ezra at 4 am, then the rest at 6 am. But, no lack of sleep could take away from what is really hitting me like a semi-truck: I have a six year old today. And I love her so much.
(This is a side note, more for me than anyone else, because I don't want to forget. I had Emma try on the dress when I was making it so I could get the hem right, etc. She asked, "Is it going to be puffy like this (referring to the bodice)?" I asked her, "Do you not like it that way?" And she responded, "Oh, it's okay... I'll like it however you can make it...")

Influencing the Future...

So, at the library, I picked up some short, little biographies for the kids to read.  Emma's was about Betsy Ross, and Caleb's was about Tony Hawk.  (he had a couple of Tony Hawk sweatshirts handed down to him, and really likes them, so I thought I would give him a little more information.)

This morning:

Caleb:  Mom, I think I know what I want to be when I grow up.

Me: What is that?

Caleb:  I want to be a Daddy who skateboards!

Overheard at breakfast:

Caleb:  Emma, Tony Hawk wears elbow pads on his knees.  And his mom's name is Nancy.

Needless to say, when I had to go down to sign the kids up for the homeschool co-op classes, and the kids stayed with Grandma, Caleb just HAD to bring his skateboard (and helmet).

So next week, I am going to look for a biography about an astrophysicist.   (just kidding.)