Mountain Drive & 6 weeks to go! Preggo Belly :)

 2 weekends ago we decided to crunch as much into a (Time Change, mind you!) Sunday possible... well, not really, but it kind of turned out that way :) 

I was on for serving in nursery 1st & 2nd service so before I ran out of the house, my amazing hubby took a few 33 wk belly pics:

 After enjoying the 3rd service sermon, we jumped in the truck & hit the jeep trails :) This is currently C's favorite spot... & the boys and I enjoy it, too :)

 My amazing little men:

S2

 Z6

 J5 (I love this pic!! Brings a smile every time I see it :))

 A yummy pastrami picnic:

 A hike to see the view from another hill:

 A little rest :)

 A little tree climbing: How many monkeys can you find in the tree? :)

 And an attempt at more belly shots :)

 On our way home, as the sun was setting, we took a side road,

 and a little hike,

 passed my favorite tree: manzanitas,

 and to a rock cliff

It was a good, full day... we loved every minute of it :)

MFW K: Cow/Bible

This is Z6's favorite week so far:

As we studied cows, we played worked hard making a playdoh farm

 and then we broke out the serious fun: "milking" a cow (water in a disposable glove with a small hole poked in the fingertip). All 3 kiddos absolutely loved this! 

 Then the gloves came out & we played "cold potato" as we made ice cream in a bag. One huge necessity with this: make sure you have a good quality bag! Yep- our "storage" bag opened on a toss & salt & ice went flying! Always an adventure, I tell ya! :) After that, we used a freezer bag with much better results :)

 Z gets a crazed look in his eye as he waits to try it...

 and it's a success! 

 You  could even call it "plate lickin' good" :)

Aren't their cows the cutest?? We have found some great "teachers" on youtube & even I am surprisingly really enjoying the "art lessons" each week :)

Every afternoon, we all lay down for a quiet time & read separately then we come together & I read to the boys a story they each pick from their Bible. On specific weeks I will also have a special Bible story picked out to read to them & tie it to the point of the week, but this week, as the Bible is our soul's nourishment, any story they picked worked :)

MFW K: water

This chapter, of course, was fun :) We had a warm week & we played with water, what could be funner? 

We floated things, sank things,

 dissolved things, realized oil & water don't mix :),

 and even enjoyed some lemonade :)

 After tying the oil/water not mixing to ducks, we decided a visit to the ducks was in order, with lunch with Papa, of course :)

Then we studied how currents carry things

We also filled balloons with water and froze them. We were hoping to make a snowman but it wouldn't stay up :(, such is the life in Cali :) Anyway, we estimated how long it would take for them to melt, 

and then we watched the liquid turn to steam, measuring the remains.

I love the boys' drawings this week :) Z6 (top) drew his with color & then watercolored over it. J5 doesn't quite like to do what others are doing so he opted to just crayon and not paint, too. As frustrating as it is sometimes, I was just glad to get a drawing out of him :)

Water. It really is amazing. In fact, we can't live without it. Same with our spirit. We just can't live life to the fullest without God filling & quenching our souls. Eventually, we'd just dry up like a leaf disconnected from it's tree :/ It's a good lesson to learn :)

How is your 3 legged stool setting?

 It all started at the church when we took a questionnaire about how balanced our 3 legged stool is setting:

Leg #1- work

Leg #2- home

Leg #3- house of the Lord

For leg #1: work, I answered the questions with my boys and schooling them in mind.

Fast forward a few.

I'm frazzled. The days are escaping me. I'm doing this and that, getting things done, enjoying my boys, but just the bare minimum. Not excelling. Not thriving. Not feeling like I'm doing the best of my ability and focusing on the task at hand.

Enter this week.

I started the day normal. Got up. Showered. Fed S. Checked emails. And then I felt the need to turn the computer off. It was 8am. Just turn it off and focus on the job at hand.

I'll be honest. It was hard to do. It's my escape. My means of being with the outside world. If a thought hits me, I can go and immediately find it, buy it, get lost in it. Hence, the frazzled, lost day.

But you know what? It was very freeing. I'm calmer. My kids are a blessing instead of interrupters. I'm able to focus instead of being and doing whatever pops in my head. 

I've had jobs of all different hours: morning shifts, evening shifts, overnight shifts. And jobs of all different descriptions: baker, stocker, customer service, secretary. For each one, a different thing was required of me. In this season of my life, I have a bare minimum 8am- 5pm job. It's a non-stop run, run, run kind of job. And it requires full focus and my all. I need to balance my 3 legged stool.

So. With that said, with the computer now officially off every week day from 8am to 5pm, this is what happened this week :)

I had the privilege of playing 3 games of Hi Ho Cherry-O with my gentlemen. These weren't just any games, though. This was the first time they did it like "big kids". Focused. Counted their own berries. Did what the arrow said to do. 3 games. This is a mile stone. My boys are growing up (*tear*).

 S has been taking some steps off and on for about a month now. But this week he decided to get serious and is now walking about 1/2 the time.

 We've had these swings for a long time now. But this week, Z figured out how to pump! He is so excited and I have to admit I'm proud and relieved- one less to push :)

 The yard is still under construction, but I have to post a few sneak peeks :) Z going off some sweet jumps:

 J enjoying the first sit on nice green grass:

 and S helping me throw crab grass away :)