Catching Up

...always!

I can't believe the lapses between posts these days/years ;).  I have dreams of what this space is/should/could be, but for now it will remain a place I hop in and out of every now and then!

School is back and we are fully immersed in schedules and after school activities and very few naps.  It's a good thing third children just seem to be born as "troopers" because we really haven't given ours a choice - he is two and a half and probably takes one to two naps a week.  If he was suffering because of it I would be fearful and stressed, but he is not.  He gets a bit whiny some days more than others, but for the love the child is two and proud of it!

Jacob is talking up a storm and taking all of Emory's funny little play-on-words and expressions as his own.  It's hilarious.  He has finally stopped saying "pink and purple is my faaaaavrite colahs" and can honestly tell you blue is his favorite now {and praise the Lord he can actually identify it! He had the hardest time with blue-green-red distinction and if he hadn't been able to group items of the same color together we would have sworn he was color blind.}.

"Momma yook my princess face!"

He is a ham and is the only child who doesn't clam up and cross his/her arms when I ask him to dance or sing with me.  This family does a lot of loud obnoxious singing and dancing, usually in the kitchen, and we expect our offspring to do the same.  Jacob is a natural.  I am a proud mom.

Emory is four on Sunday {I am writing this on Wednesday, but by the time I actually get this posted I might have to go back and say she already TURNED four on Sunday...ha!}.  It will be her first large friend party in the backyard and she was incredibly specific on what she wanted: pink, purple, painting, a purple sparkle pony, and a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate icing.  The girls speaks a me language.  I am praying it doesn't rain but honestly weather happens and I'm sure the four year olds will be none the wiser.  I love childish innocence :)

The sass train that was the past couple years of Ms. Emory Ruth seems to have slowed to a comfortable crawl.  She still is a spitfire but in a manageable and endearing way.  She is incredibly expressive and encouraging.  She can make you feel like you are loved more than anyone else in the word by her and that you are the "very best" and "most wonderful" and everything you do is "so great."  It's her gift for sure.  She is obsessed with her new pink room {post to come!} and had zero trouble moving out of her brothers room, after insisting for weeks she did NOT want to have her own room AT ALL.  She has not looked back and can be found any given afternoon dragging more and more things she considers "hers" and "girly" out of the other rooms of the house and into hers.

She is enjoying pre k 3 and especially gymnastics and ballet.  She makes friends very easily and considers about five different girls her "very best friends I ever had."  She loves to talk.  A LOT.

Bennett is continuing to be my best helper and very grown up six year old.  First grade has brought incredible improvements in handwriting and reading.  I love seeing his competitive drive to read as many books as he can each night - his school does an excellent job of encouraging reading with their first graders - prizes are of course involved.  We were afraid the boy did not possess a competitive bone in his body so the fact that it is blossoming in school as well as other sports is fun to watch.  He appears to be an overachiever when it comes to homework and schoolwork in general - never wants to use a homework pass and always does more work than the teacher asks him to.  I never even suggested this type of behavior and I'm not sure it will last {maybe it's just the start of a new year and something new} but I will surely encourage it!  I am so proud of him.

On the other hand he has quite the attitude at times and we have had to work with him on "respecting your parents" in front of other children.  He is usually too busy trying to make other kids laugh than listen to what we are telling him to do/not do.  He is definitely the "class clown," chatterbox type which is foreign to me.  In public he likes to act like he is so grown up and doesn't want to show much affection to me in particular, {but he still holds my hand without blinking!:)}, but at home I am thankful he still curls up in my lap every morning when he wakes up and freely hands out hugs and kisses.

when he found the "one in a million" yellow bead amongst the blue at the Exploreum

He still would give the coat off his back and the M&M out of his hand to anyone who might want it - whether they ask or not.  He is extremely selfless, generous, and insightful.  He keeps us honest for sure.

Our days are generally lived in the car - to and from school or BSF, carpool, gymnastics, tennis, ballet, etc etc.  My little bit of "down time" in the afternoon does not exist anymore and it has taken me a few weeks to adjust.  I am generally a go-go-go person and I have realized I still need some calm time at some point of the day to stay sane.  I just can't fill it all up and expect to still be a good version of myself.  It has taken much prayer and intentional ordering of my hours and days but I have found that when I cut out the chaff and save up the wheat, my days as a whole seem much more enjoyable and fulfilling.  There is so much chaff in our lives!  It can be overwhelming.  {a.k.a. social media}.

My husband reminded me that life is also better when I cook regularly {we go on hiatuses at times :)} so I have also started back with that and, instead of stressing out my evenings, it again actually makes the evening times more enjoyable as we all take the time to sit down for a meal together.  Another good intentional time I cherish with my favorite people.

My continual prayer is that I keep getting rid of the fillers in my life and just live out the good stuff.  My phone is down more and my ears are open - true I might need noise canceling headphones at my house on a daily basis {hello all three of my children talk at the same time all. the. time.} - but when my phone is down and my attention is more focused, my children are more individually engaged and the jabbering decreases a degree or two.

The sun is slowly moving to the Southern sky and the morning light through my eastern facing windows is reflecting it.  It is my favorite time of year and my pillows are ready.  My house might not be, {side effect of switching around four rooms in our house}, but my pillows ARE.

War Eagle and Happy Fall!