Busy With THREE!

Well it has been a long while since I have written a blog post.

THREE KIDDOS KEEPS ME HOPPING!

I'm loving every single moment though... well most of them. Hahaha!

Ben and I hit our ten year anniversary just a little over a week ago! What a blessing! I definitely love my man more and more as time grows us together! To celebrate we traveled way north to Mackinac Island! It was such a peaceful and relaxing time! We biked, walked, ate the lunch buffet at the Grand Hotel and enjoyed dinner and lunch on the water! It was so refreshing. Something about no cars and only biked and horses on the island made the atmosphere more relaxed! The smell of fudge every 50 feet downtown was hard to walk past!

Here is an update on the rest of us:

Our littlest joined our family a few weeks before Christmas and it is crazy to think that he will be eight months very soon! He is crawling... sitting up on his own... saying Da-Da ... and GROWING UP WAY TOO FAST! He is really a joyful addition to our family though! He smiles just about all the time. We can't imagine our home without him!

Our two year old has adjusted to being the middle child really well. He loves his younger brother... a little too much :) He loves riding his tricycle around our little cul-de-sac. He loves hitting his baseball with Daddy. He is always trying to keep up with his older sister too!

Our two oldest loving being in our new neighborhood. They love playing with their friends. There is a homeschooling family next door that is about to have their fourth child. They are great neighbors and we just adore their whole family! We are very blessed!

Our oldest seems to be blossoming into a girl more and more everyday! It is hard to believe she is 5! We started homeschooling kindergarten last Fall and took a LONG break while we were adjusting to a family of 5! While other families were ending the school year and preparing for summer, we were breaking out the books again. 

She loves animals so I have been integrating Science into our Phonics, Reading and Writing curriculum! Every two weeks we work on a new letter. We have been learning about all kinds of animals that go with our letter. We write down their habitat, what they eat, whether they are herbivores, omnivores or carnivores, and one interesting fact. It has been so much fun. I'm so thankful for our time together. If I had to give her over to school each day this Fall I'd be such a mess right now.

This fall we will be joining a home school co-op. Every week for the semester we will enjoy some socialization and classes with other homeschooling families. I'll be teaching some ASL classes while the kiddos enjoy some classes like music, art, Lego challenge, etc. We are so excited!

Many people have asked about our desire to home school. With my teaching background, it is definitely my passion to make learning a part of our every day life as a family. With teaching K and 1st it seems kind of silly to send my daughter to someone else when I can do it myself. There is also a desire to impact my kiddos for Christ in these easily influenced young ages! How cool to teach your kiddos beyond the classroom subjects too! I'd love to teach them baking, cooking, sewing, etc. and give them opportunities to learn outside the classroom. Ultimately though we don't know how long God will provide for me to stay home or when He might lead us to send them to school. So... we will pray each year about it and enjoy it for every minute I get to have them here.

Healthwise, my back has been doing well. Besides back labor with #3, I have been relatively healthy! This has been a big change! So thankful to be able to keep up with all 3 while feeling well.

That's where we are at... in a simplified nutshell! Hope you'll drop us an email or text and let us know how life is treating you! Hopefully I can keep our blog more updated too :)

Til next time... live life and enjoy the blessings God gives you each day!