MFW K: Penguin/Love/Valentine's Day

It might seem odd, but Valentine's Day hasn't really been celebrated in our home until this year. C & I would rather go on a quieter date than jam into a full restaurant, we're both not huge on gift giving, & if he only shows up with flowers this one day out of the year, I'm honestly not going to be happy (coerced?). 

But remembering back to my childhood & all the fun I had making valentines for classmates & card holders to hold all the ones I received from them, I decided maybe we should broaden ourselves a bit & give the boys some culture, if you may. So I emailed all the close family & asked if they would be interested in a card exchange- & all accepted :) Mind you, when I first thought of it, it didn't occur to me how many cards that would entail...

or how many hours it takes to make unique cards... (Z6's variety)

(S2's variety)

(J5's variety)(sorry, I can't get the pic to turn?)

 Yep! By the time all 3 made close to 20 each, we were pretty sick of making cards! :/ But! It really was a good lesson on sacrifice & blessing others and then reaping the rewards later when receiving all the cards in the mail :) I'd say it was a success & learning experience all in one! :)

(The guys decorating their bags)

 So once we finally finished making cards, we turned our attention on penguins- they are amazing Fathers! They love & take care of each other so well- just like our Heavenly Father does for us :)

 So after we researched them & mapped them out, we, of course, had to do some hands-on activities :) The boys were surprised how challenging it was to walk and keep the "egg" balanced on the feet

 and for some reason they chose the RockHopper as their favorite so we had to do some hopping races, too :)

 I filled a bowl with an oversized ice cube (baggie with water frozen overnight & then peeled out) & a few regular ice cubes  & we talked of ice burgs and how cold the penguin's water is. Then I filled a bag with crisco & demonstrated how similar it is to penguin's blubber & also their feathers (repel the water). I honestly wasn't optimistic about them putting their hands in the bag (texture thing), but they (as you can see) were extremely excited & fascinated about it and played with it till the ice disappeared & my counter was a small lake :)

After all the valentines we made, we just didn't have more art left in us! So we took the week off from drawing class & "cheated" with Target dollar spot foam penguins the boys cut, glued, & added a "scarf" to.

 Bible- wise, I had them focus on Jesus when they picked their daily Bible reading & we talked on how He showed the people around Him love. It's an important subject- one we'll always be learning until we reach Heaven :)

and then we got busy...

Ugh. It has been too long since I posted last. I have a goal of posting every weekend but then we got busy...

You would think that with me turning off the computer during the day the house would be organized, the boys would be clean, and I would be nearly bored. Nope to all accounts :) 

So this is the last 3 weeks summarized into a few photos:

The boys and I went on a field trip to an old west horse ranch outside of Paso Robles but soon after arriving we realized the van went completely dead. We have never had a problem with our van (& haven't since) but it was without a doubt not going to start. C was just a few miles away working so he came up to our rescue. We could've called AAA but he had been contemplating coming with us that morning but decided to work and found this a ready excuse to come after all :) We were glad to have him :)

Soon after S turned 1, he realized not only are those red things in the garden strawberries, he was now tall enough & heavy enough to reach them (the fence is to keep the rabbits out :)). Every day he ventures over & peeks in :)

Speaking of S turning 1, he now has shoes! Many thanks to his Aunts & Uncles: he grabbed his birthday money and bought his first pair :) He's so proud of them!

We had hot weather! For 3 days it was in the low 100s :) I switched their lessons for the week to reflect that: one of the days they enjoyed a frozen treasure hunt (I don't think S was too thrilled with the first touch :) He did enjoy it later on)

Z is on a game spree :) We hadn't even finished eating supper when the cards came out:

and then the next day I came out from putting S to nap and found they started playing all by themselves. They are getting so grown up {tear}.

 I'm not sure how J got them (I can guess, though!), but he came in the house the other day with bug wings so we whipped some magnifiers out to see the textures & colors better. We are such a boy house! :)

I was desperate for a clean van so the boys did their books while I cleaned :)

1st rain day of the season! Yes!

On Thursday we went on another field trip to a 118 year old fruit farm. The rain let up just long enough for us to run out & glean 80 pounds! of apples off the ground and then it started pouring again. We were soaked! It seemed a shame to leave all those beautiful apples behind but now that I still have about 50 pounds left and I'm getting kind of worn out from peeling, cutting, cooking/drying, and figuring out what to do with them, it's probably a good thing we were stopped! :)  We will for sure enjoy eating all the "fruits of our labor" in the months to come!

C is in the backyard right now working on the new coop... should be done soon... hopefully I can blog about the finished project next weekend :) Love ya!

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 :)

Finally Finished! :)

Yay! I love finally finishing things! Literally, we have a whole list of projects hanging on the fridge waiting to be finished. It's a little overwhelming sometimes but it's sure nice getting to cross things off :)

So. This week I received the final missing piece & was able to finish my jewelry photo frame! I've had it for almost 2 years now but it sat empty for most of it for lack of knowing what to put in it (picture wise). I had read years ago that you should never put pics of your kiddos in your room so that leaves pics of C & I but we rarely remember to take pics of ourselves & how in the world would I find the time to find them?? Anyway, while I was cleaning out cabinets recently, I came across a lot of cards that I just didn't want to part with & it occurred to me that if I used them to fill up the frame, then it would be a win-win! ;)

Ta Da! Love it! 

 Next, I finally finished putting our MT trip pics in the clock I got for my birthday! And it's on the wall! :)

It was surprising how much smaller it got once on the wall- almost to the point of looking too small- but it's grown on me & it'll probably stay this way until we move :)