Baby, Write This Down.

2015 is here and ten days strong!  

New Year's Day seems like a long time ago.  Since then Nathan has returned to school (except when interrupted by the weather), the girls are back in the swing of school, Matt is working five days a week again (sigh), Evelyn is being cute (and rascally), and I finally got caught up on the laundry.  We also spent this week at the hospital visiting my dad who had knee replacement surgery.  Thankfully things went very well and he's now at my sister's recovering and moving around.

 Like most, I like to take this time of year to reflect and make some goals for moving forward.  December was kind of a "loose"month (nothing was written down on the budget and much sugar was consumed), so it feels good to get back into normal routine.

For my sake I thought I would write down some of my 2015 goals.  There's nothing big or major (yet), and it's definitely not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will help me to be successful!

For visual interest, I thought I would include photos of a New Year's Day tradition.  Besides taking down the Christmas decorations, we also enjoy decorating a gingerbread house.  I just buy a kit at the store.  They're simple, and if you wait until after Christmas they're 50% off.  Ella and Adeline did 90% of the decorating this year, though I did help with a lot of the frosting.  The neighbor boy came over as we were beginning, and Nathan chose to go play at his house instead.

Back to goals...

1.  Each month read one classic book and one non-fiction book.  I think I make this goal every year.  I really enjoy reading, I just need to make it a priority and schedule time to do so.  I've started so far with Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (my first time), and The Gospel by Ray Ortlund Jr. This second one our church gifted to every family in the congregation, so I would've read it anyway.  I already know what I want to read for the next couple of months...

2.  Complete 14 weeks of real food "mini-pledges".   We've been slowly changing many things about how we eat, and so honestly most of these are (thankfully) no longer a big challenge (week #3 and week #12 will require some effort though).  There are many different levels of eating real food. I need balance or my mind and time become consumed with food.  We try to eat and live simply.  This is an easy baby steps way to begin if you're interested. 

3.  Run a 5K in sub 26:00.  I just got in my first 2 miles today.  I don't plan on running my first 5k until Mother's day weekend, but this was my goal last year and I missed it by a minute and a half.  I forgot about the hill factor.  To some this is slow, to some it may sound fast, for me this will require pushing myself.

I would also like to add run a half-marathon here.  This is something I say every year and have never done.  Perhaps I just need to sign up and do it (and maybe find a running buddy!).

 Finished!

4.  As a family, participate in Life 96.5's Hands & Feet opportunity and/or our church's ministry opportunity each month.  These are typically simple ways to bless others.  I like that our children can be involved.  I think it will be a good chance for them to give, serve, and think of others.

5.  Improve this house, in a wise, meaningful way.  This year I would like to concentrate on the kitchen, garage, and basement as far as big projects go.  (I cannot confirm at this time if Matt is on the same page).  I'm also making it a January mission to get things up on the walls.  I don't believe in just throwing up meaningless things to take up space.  However, we've lived here for over two years and it's time to invest some time and money to make things a little more homey, especially in the living room and bedrooms.  (I don't even want to mention the half torn-down wallpaper in our bedroom.)

Evs did help decorate some as well.  The house was together for an afternoon....that evening they ate all the candy!

6.  Be hospitable.  We'd like to invite more friends and family into our home.  I'm also including schedule dates (and ladies' nights) into this category!

I feel like six is a good number to start with!  These are simple I know...hardly earth-shattering, but perhaps a good beginning.

Fresh Squeezed.

I spent yesterday trying to work through what I affectionately call "tomato tangle". We only have six plants, but they're all over each other.  We haven't picked a tomato in a long time, and so I'm trying to encourage some air flow or something so the tomatoes can ripen yet this year.  Thankfully the weather has been beautiful this week, but there are still about 50+ green tomatoes out there!

There was a time however when we had a few tomatoes sitting on our counter.  Not a lot, but more than we could eat....which also means fruit flies.  I can't stand fruit flies.  They make me feel like my whole kitchen is disgusting.  Anyone relate?

 

 

I came upon a rare morning however when Matt and Nathan had already left, I must have had my Bible study finished (or so I would like to think), and the girls were still in bed.  So, I decided to take care of the few tomatoes (and the fruit flies).  I have canned tomatoes before, but didn't have enough tomatoes or time to start that, so I decided to try freezing them.  I've never frozen tomatoes before, but it was very simple!  The preparation was the same as if canning, but then instead of filling jars and waiting while they sit in a water bath, you can just put them in an air-tight freezer bag.  I'm not going to write the steps of how to do this here because it would then make it seem like I know what I'm doing.  However, I love pickyourown.org and get all my information for freezing and canning anything and everything there.

The above tomatoes produced this:

 

 

 Two bags with about 3 cups of tomatoes each.

Not super impressive, but I think my time in the kitchen was only between an hour and an hour and a half.  Better than rotten tomatoes, and better than having fruit flies!

 

The issue I have when processing tomatoes is the amount of liquid that you lose.  The instructions said you could just drink the tomatoes juice...

 



 Gross, right?  I am not a tomato juice fan.

(we don't always have a world map on our table, but this day we did)

 

However, I've never had fresh tomato juice.  It was actually, genuinely good!

Don't get me wrong, if you don't like a fresh garden tomato you're probaby not going to like the juice it produces.  But, don't knock it until you try it. 

 

By this time the girls had awoken and were ready for breakfast.  My girls don't have many reservations about trying new foods, and Adeline and Evelyn love tomatoes, so I offered them some juice.

Ella politely tried it, but was not interested in having more than a taste.

 

Evelyn and Addie really liked it though.

 

Here's Evs with her tomato juice.  She perhaps does look a little unsure...or maybe that's a grin.

 

And of course, nothing complements a yogurt beard better than a tomato stache.

 





And here's Addie, loving' it up.

 





 

So, here's hoping the beautiful weather continues, we can gather a late harvest, and make some more tomato juice!



Tiny Dancers.

Ella's middle name is Grace, and it fits her well.  She loves to be ladylike and act mature (though she can also be very silly).  She loves to dance and for a very long time she has wanted to take ballet lessons.  She loves the idea of gracefully dancing and twirling around, all while wearing a fancy outfit of course.

 

Well, I don't how long it will last, but I we did decide to let both the girls take ballet lessons.   They were both so excited about it, and did a huge happy dance when I told them the news.

 

Here they are the day of their first lesson!

 

 

They are both enrolled in Kindermovement, which is ballet basics for ages 5-7.  Adeline is not quite five, but since she is close and has a big sister in the class they let her join.  The uniform for their class is pink leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet flats...pinkalicious!

 

 

I knew Ella was going to love it.  Evelyn and I get to observe the class through a window.  I can see the pride and joy on her face during class time.

 

I wasn't as sure about Addie.  She seems like more of a gymnast to me, but I thought this would be good for her too.  I wanted something that would promote structure, form, and body awareness as well as self-control. 

Her movements are definitely not as fluid.  It was hard for me to tell if she was enjoying class, or just bored to be standing there pointing her toes and holding out her arms.

 



 

However, she loved it!

They are both very happy.  It also works out very well in our schedule.  It is a homeschooling class so they have it earlier in the afternoon.  They get done at 2:15, perfect timing for us to go pick up Nathan at 2:45.  It is also taught by a homeschool graduate.  She talks about dancing for the glory of God, and they pray before class.

 

 

Here are the ballerinas in action!

(They are fourth and fifth from the left.)



(Home)School's in Session!

With Nathan going to school it honestly felt a little strange for the rest of us to not be doing school.  The weather was beautiful that week (he started August 18), so we did a lot of playing at parks and bike rides, but.....we missed him terribly!  Ella especially didn't know what to do with herself, and I was even having a little guilt that we were enjoying ourselves without him (silly I know...)

But that being said, we ditched our plans of waiting until after Labor Day (when school should start) and began easing into school the week before instead.  We love the care-free summer days. but the girls were excited to get started, so I decided to go with it.

We are now in full force!

 

Ella Grace is a 1st grader.

 

 

So cliche, but it's hard to believe my baby girl is 6!  She is officially school-aged...eeks!

For Ella's first grade curriculum we are continuing to use Heart of Dakota (which Nathan used for 1st grade).  I love it because it is literature based and ties everything from science to history to poetry to art to the Bible together. There are especially many great history readings that I'm looking forward to doing again!
 

Ella is also using a math curriculum called Singapore math (book 1B), and a language arts curriculum called The Logic of English (Foundations  B).  This is our first time ever using LOE, and so far we are really liking it.  Everything is laid out well and it covers not only phonics and reading but also spelling and handwriting.

 

 

A major new thing for us this year is that we also joined Classical Conversations.  It is a classical Christian home school group.  We have a class day every Tuesday, and though we've only had one meeting the girls love it!  We've never done any group, so it's nice to have a day to meet with others, both for the social and fun aspect and for accountability as well.  Using the classical approach Ella and Adeline will primarily be memorizing lots of history, math, science, English, geography, and Latin facts.  They also do a science experiment and art project in class every week, as well as give a presentation (which for Addie could be as simple as show-and-tell).  I shouldn't forget that they are also memorizing the first twelve or so verses in John chapter 1.

The memory work seems like a lot, but thankfully it is on CD so we listen to it in the car when we pick up Nathan from school.  This also works well because I can have Nathan memorize it with us so he's not missing out.  So far so good, but if you see me and I just start singing skip counting songs or history facts, you'll know that we need to take a break and listen to the radio a little!

 

And here is Miss Adeline, age 4, all prepped for pre-school. 

 

 

I've always assumed she would be my most difficult child to home school.  However, she has certainly surprised me so far!  Addie loves to accomplish things and she feels very proud of herself when she learns something new!  Her "schooling" is still pretty relaxed, but besides listening to the CC CD and doing class on Tuesdays, Addie is doing Saxon Math K, handwriting, coloring, puzzles and whatever strikes her fancy.  She enjoys listening to Ella's history for school, (which I love), or she'll play with Evelyn for a bit.  She also just started "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", the same book I went through with Nathan and Ella to teach them how to read.



I love that my girlies can stay home! 

(They love that they can wear dresses and be barefoot all day.)

 

 

 

Smitten.

We went to my oldest sister Brenda's farm a couple of weekends ago to celebrate my nephew's 3rd birthday.

We were last there in June, when they happen to be nursing newborn baby kitties.  Ella was upset then that we didn't come home with a kitty.  Well, they were all still there and accounted for, and Ella was just as smitten with the kitten!

 

Here is Ella with Fig.

(They all had bizarre names, given by my nephews)

Ella and I were walking the other night and she told me she had a secret.  I told her if she wanted to share it with me should could.  She proceeded to tell me that she was "created to live with an animal."  She apparently feels that Matt and I are holding her back!  For a long time she's been asking for a dog (but I think a cat would do).  I'm starting to be persuaded and think we should get something...Matt is definitely a harder sale though!

 



Here is Adeline (and Evelyn) with the same kitty. 

 

 

Anyone who knows Addie knows that this is a miracle.  Until late this summer she was terrified of all animals.  Even on a 4th of July trip to Wisconsin she spent the first three (or was it four) days screaming and crying because there were two dogs there.  Did I mention that these dogs were a spaniel and a bichon mix that probably weighed about 10 pounds soaking wet!?  It was ridiculous and stressful.  I'm so thankful that she is getting over that!

 (She does look a little frighted in this photo, because I think the cat moved in an unexpected way, but in general she was very good).

 

Here is Evs with a kitty, named Garden.

 

 

She too was nervous around all animals until a few weeks ago.  I'm thankful that the terrified of animals phase seems to be on its way out.

 



 This is my beautiful niece Katlyn with the third kitty, Snowflake. 

Katlyn and Ella love Snowflake.  They even brought him (her?) into the house and were singing it songs while rubbing its belly and laying it on a play bed.  The cat totally went for it and was sleeping and purring.

 

This last photo is my "after" shot of Katlyn.  She just wanted to play with the kitties, even if her eyes were swelling shut and completely blood shot.



 

This is also the reason I don't have any photos of Nathan with the cats.  Without even holding them his eyes were all red and itchy.  He doesn't have the inner struggle with wanting to hold the cats however...he really doesn't care about them at all.

Aaah, we still have a dream of someday owning a hobby farm.  The cats there would definitely be outside cats, except when Ella snuck (sneeked?) one inside.  Until then we'll enjoy our visits to my sisters!