March Daybook

Outside my Window ... a cloudy gray day today but there are promises of 60* weather this afternoon. I'm ready for it!

I am thinking ... that it has been busy the last few weeks and the next few look about the same. Good busy, but busy none-the-less. Friends that are moving so there are several farewell events on the works, friends visiting, school that must happen, and all the fun and celebration that celebration that surrounds Easter both at church and home.

I am thankful for ... a pregnancy that is continuing to do well from what I can tell from the outward signs of exhaustion and some morning sickness. : ) I go back in for a 12 week appointment in a week and a half and am hopeful for another good report and a chance to hear a tiny heartbeat this time.

In the learning room ... We are finishing up our Spring study this week. We got about 1/2 of it done before N1 spent last week at an outdoor nature day-camp. Then, our plans are to spend the next week and a half doing some Easter reading and activities. I had purchased an Easter unit study, but it was just more than I was up to doing this year with a camp week in the middle + 1st trimester. I'm going to pick and choose a few things from it and then we'll hopefully use it in it's entirety another year. After Easter I have a few more books I want us to work our way through (Five in a Row style) and a unit on Ireland I can't wait to do ... it's hard to believe that we have just a little over 30 days of school left for the year!

From the kitchen ... Nothing too exciting because nothing has really sounded good to me of late. Just making normal meals and feeding my ever-hungry children.

I am creating ... a mess on my desk? : ) True, but I'm also still working on my 365 project for 2010. Still going strong on pictures although I do need work on my journalling cards and get those caught up.

I am going ... in the car a lot of late! We have had lots of running the last week or so which is much different than my normal home-for-most-of-the-week schedule. Today it's soccer and a girl scout leader's meeting tonight.

I am wearing ... black capri pants and a green and gray maternity shirt. Yes, I'm in maternity shirts already - chalk it up to the 4th baby and the fact that I am extremely short waisted.

I am reading ... I've been spending what little time I am awake with Miss Read in the village of Fairacre in the evenings. I'm really not getting much reading done at all right now because I'm so tired. I still want to dive into Sally Clarkson's new book about joy, but I just don't have the mental energy for it. Oh, and I've made it to Judges in my plan to read through the Bible this year. Yay!

I am hoping ... for a cure for my little friend Case. My good friend Melissa is a mom on a mission to educate folks about the disease her little man has. Case is about 6 weeks older than BBoo and we love him to pieces in our family.

I am hearing ... girls playing outside for a minute for a school break, birds chirping, spring sounds. : )

Around the house ... we are cleaning and purging in spurts around here. I'm sorting clothes like crazy and will be doing much more of it once I find out what #4 is to be. While a move is probably in our future, we aren't planning on doing anything before this baby arrives and we have to find some room here for him or her.

One of my favorite things ... spring sunshine.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... we have a couple soccer games, a soccer practice, an open house to attend for a family that is moving, a possible lunch or dinner with some girl friends on Sunday plus the regular stuff of life. And, oh, I really need to mop my kitchen.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you ...

Going, Going

I had hopes of doing a Ten on Tuesday blog this week, but time is elusive. N1 is attending a nature camp this week (she is LOVING it!) but taking a munchkin to "school" and picking her up is new to our routine. My hats off to you Moms that do this daily. And our camp doesn't even start until 9 am!

Anyway, hopefully I'll be back one of these days, but I'm trying to stay on top of things between pick-up and drop-off right now. More later. : )

Ten on Tuesday / 10 on the 10th

Just in case you were wondering (you probably weren't and that's okay : )) one of my favorite weekly bloggy reads are Elizabeth's Ten on Tuesday posts. That's one of the reasons that I started doing them here although she is a much better (and much funnier) writer than I. Anyway, yesterday she did a post with 10 different photos marking her first month as a digital photographer and I loved the idea. I'm going to post 10 recent ones from my 365:2010 project. : )

1. 3.08.2010: We went to the zoo on Monday - it was beautiful outside (75*!) and stopped to eat our lunch right by the giraffes. This one was hanging out at the fence and it was so cool to see it up close. I just thing giraffes are amazing (and a little bit freaky!)



2. 3.05.2010: Travis had a work lunch on Friday (the end of a long work week and lots of yummy work lunches) and he invited us to join him on Friday at the Greek Cafe. We jumped at the chance! My favorite place to eat with him ... the food is so good! (These two are look eerily alike in these pictures - just a big and small version!)





3. 3.06.2010: A chilly but sunny Saturday for N1's first soccer game. There are some girls on her team that have played before so there is a little learning curve for her. And, man, did she fall asleep fast when it was time for bed!



4. 3.07.2010: We had some time with just Grandma on Sunday afternoon while Grandpa was down at the church taking directory photos. Natalie caught the opportunity to snuggle with Grandma under a blanket and Grandma will never turn down a snuggle.



5. 2.23.2010: A little horseplay with Daddy. Love the blurry action shot of this picture that one of the girls took.



6. 3.04.2010: This is how I found Betsy this morning when I went in to check on them - just her little feet peeking out. (This also can document her new-found love of socks and how she likes to have them on all the time!)



7. 3.02.2010: I made these bars on Monday - something sweet sounded good to me. They were so good - with the coconut on top they tasted like an Almond Joy bar.



8. 3.03.2010: $1 from the Dollar Spot at Target. Well worth it. : )



9. 2.22.2010: Busy, busy, dreadfully busy. The calendar the last two weeks has just been nuts. Good stuff, but busy none the less. This week (with the exception of Monday) I was out every night. That NEVER happens.



10. 3.09.2010: Yesterday we hit 9 weeks pregnant and the baby is now the size of a grape. : )



Linking up to Mer's 10 on the 10th post as well ... because I can't come up with two lists of ten in two days. Just do not have the brain cell's for that right now. : )

Friday Felicities ::: March 5

Things that are making me happy this week:

• having a big decision made (regarding N1's schooling for next fall)
• diet A&W root beer
• my Everyday Food magazine and the recipe we made last night. Crazy good!
• some great GREAT news that T got from work yesterday. He works so hard and I'm glad to see him appreciated by his employers.
• SUNSHINE!!!
• that I've made it to Deuteronomy in my goal to read through the Bible this year. Still pressing on with my plan (although I will be honest and say that I'm so glad to be out of Leviticus and Numbers!)
• a trip to the library today - new books! - in the sunshine!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. : )

Ten on Tuesday

1. Thanks for all the congratulations for our coming addition. We are super excited ... the girls can hardly contain themselves! I can already say that it is going to be a much different go-round this time with a 6 1/2 year old in the house. She has lots and lots of questions. (None of the major ones, yet, thankfully!)

2. The girls have been throwing out plenty of name suggestions as well. N1's top pick right now? Peter Pan. Um, no. :) She told a friend at church her idea, and this other mother (who really was old enough to know better) said, "You could shorten that to P.P.!" I about died trying not to laugh. N1 looked at her very seriously and said, "We can't call him that - it's a bathroom word!" Ha!

3. Yes, we will be finding out what the baby is. N1 is rooting for a boy. She is the queen of fairness and justice in our home, and she really wants this baby to be a boy for her Daddy. (So sweet). N2 and BBoo are rooting for a girl. They are going through a insanely huge mommy/baby play phase. Sometimes they use dolls, sometimes one of them is the mommy and the other is the baby. This baby doesn't stand a chance.

4. I'm feeling fairly good right now ... there are moments of extreme exhaustion and moments of food funkiness, but I can't complain at all.

5. We woke up to snow AGAIN this morning. This time is was very wet and didn't stick at all, but still. We have had a crazy amount for us this winter. The weather says that it's supposed to get up to 60 by this weekend, and as N1 has her first soccer game on Saturday, I'm really hoping it does.

6. I can't remember if I mentioned it here on the blog, but we have been debating (again) whether or not to put N1 into a two-day a week school tutorial for next year. Throwing a baby in the mix added a little pressure to that decision. I have thoroughly enjoyed having her home all of this year, and after talking with Travis, I didn't have any qualms about taking on 1st grade. However, with a new baby, we also could see the benifit of giving me a few days a week grace from school. The long and the short of it, we've decided to go ahead and apply for the school and just see what comes of it. We have no idea what the waiting list for 1st graders is, but we're going to just head this direction and see what God makes of it. :) Truthfully, I'm just glad a decision is made and we're heading in a direction!

7. I was at a homeschool seminar on Saturday and was taking with another Mom. We were talking about our extremely active children that we each have and I mentioned my theory that our BBoo has the energy of two people trapped inside her little body. She mentioned that her son is the same way and they call him "concentrate." I loved that and stole the title for a scrapbook page about our BBoo. Fits her perfectly!

8. This week (and next) we are all about spring and gardening for our school work. I pre-ordered this book months ago on Amazon and am still waiting for my copy (backordered!). I can't wait to dive into it with N1.

9. This book is another gem we stumbled upon at the library: How Does a Seed Grow. The whole book is a narrative of a little garden experiment you can do with your child. They walk you through planting some beans into egg shells and then watching them over the course of several days and see how they sprout. Very, very cool.

10. I leave you with a recipe I made today ... Coffee Toffee Bars. My two-cent tip: sprinkle sweetened coconut over the top before baking. In my opinion, it makes them taste like an Almond Joy candy bar and that's never a bad thing. : )

I Read It ::: My Father's Dragon

A few weeks ago Lauren mentioned a chapter book series she was reading with her Best Girl called My Father's Dragon. The fact that they were the first chapter books that she had read with her son, and now her daughter, intrigued me. I am always on the look-out for smallish chapter books for N1 and so I immediately reserved book one at the local library.

This book was WONDERFUL! N1 and I sat down to read it yesterday and couldn't put it down. At the end of every chapter, she said, "Just one more!" and since the chapters were 3-4 pages, I obliged. The story is about an adventure that the storyteller's father had - the main character never has a name, but is referred to as "my father" the whole time. He sets off on an adventure to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon. With only his knapsack full of supplies, he manages to get by many and varied wild animals in his quest. First published in 1946, this book has stood the test of time and gets two thumbs up from our house. : )

If you have any little boys in your home (or even girls that love a good adventure story!) you need to check these books out! This is one that we are going to add to our home library, and I'm making a note to buy our boy cousin a set of these for his birthday this year. Thanks for mentioning these, Lauren!

This post is linked up to Five Minutes for Books "I Read It" monthly carnival, highlighting the books we have picked up on others' recommendations.