Books on Tape

Moving to the west side and being farther from family has contributed to much longer car rides for myself and my kids. To make it more bearable we have started doing books on tape. We only have a tape deck, but we also have an adapter for a CD player if we need it. So far we have found the books we want on tape at the library. Once upon a time we did Winnie the Pooh and the girls were too little to remember it, even if they did enjoy it at the time.

Recently we have listened to one of my childhood favorites, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And I was surprised at how quick it was. The girls loved it and were sad when it was over.

After that one we moved onto Hello Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. They loved this one because they would talk about the things the kids shouldn't have done, like be "cry baby" or "whisper" about other people. I liked how the families were tightly knit in the stories and the mother's were genuinely concerned for their kids no matter what troubles they had.
After we finished this one the girls had decided they really liked listening in the car and would ask to have me turn them on as soon as we got in the car. I was happy when I found Stuart Little at the library and we have been enjoying this one a lot. I think we may need to start putting some others on hold because of how much we have enjoyed this past time in the car. Sometimes they are so interesting we don't want to leave.
I think this will be one of those things we will be continuing. We love to learn at our house and this is definitely a fun way to do it.

I Want to be Super Mom!

I am now realizing that I am the type of mom who just can't do it all, despite that I would love to. Its so hard to admit that or remind myself of it when I am having one of those days where I think I can and get disappointed when it doesn't happen. I am now realizing just how much being pregnant with Willis made it so hard to function the way I normally do. Its like I was working at less than half speed. And my brain wasn't working well. All of the things I enjoyed or wanted to do, create, learn, etc. felt monumentally difficult to do. It was just enough that I got dressed, cleaned some, did school and made dinner.

The second my little guy was born I felt like I had stepped outside of my cocoon and was once again myself. It is so liberating! However as a nice and beautiful me came out so did my wee beautiful baby with needs and desires of his own. And as much as I feel like myself wanting to do it all, I know that babies are only small for small moments. The temptation to do the things I have been dieing to do for a year come when the attention of my small ones are so present in my day.

The second I begin something, someone needs me. Despite the fact that my art has been neglected for a year. I haven't done anything beautiful to my yard since moving here last May, in fact the lawn died a horrible death this year when our pipes burst. It was a bad week and we never did get the grass we did have back to living. Its been a year since I have read a book from beginning to end. My brain isn't able to hold the attention of an entire book when my body is cooking the intelligence of another human being. I guess they just don't work so well together. Before I got pregnant I painted my living room with the hopes of having the entire house decorated and painted by this time. I haven't painted any of the other rooms in this house. The girls got their bunk bed and it was only the deadline of them needing a place to sleep that forced me to finish. I haven't in the last year, scrapbooked, sewed, exercised, sang in a choir or done 90% of the projects I planned to do this time last year.

So while I am feeling myself come alive again with the lust and love for life and all the possibilities that lay before me. The Etsy shop I want to open, the yard sales I want to have, the art I want completed and sold in galleries, etc. I am also having to stop myself and remember that even if I want to, I can't always be super mom. It is a myth that you can have it all. Because as soon as one thing is where you want it, something else will be off balance. And the last thing that should be off balance is my family. I am beyond grateful to be doing the most important thing I can do right now. That is rocking my baby to sleep. Reading to my 3 year old. Studying addition with my 6 year old. Playing Candy Land for the hundredth time whether I want to or not. Giggling, tickling and making pumpkin cookies. And when the baby cries from the back bedroom, dropping it all to show him that he is welcomed and loved. Because "babies don't keep".

Smiles!

We have been getting smiles for awhile now, but haven't been able to catch them with the camera. We got a few small ones here and have even had some giggles because little boy is so ticklish.

Two Months

Willis is two months old today! He is the sweetest baby and we just adore him. He loves to smile and "goo" at us. I think he's a keeper. He is 13 lbs now and I can feel it in my arms. He loves to eat and I can feel that in the 7 lbs I gained since having him. I eat all the time too trying to keep up with his appetite. I feel like I am always starving. And I'm not if you look at me, but I feel like it.

Willis with his great-grandma who was married to his namesake who passed away almost 2 years go.


We had this banner up for his baby blessing. We had about 40 people over and so it was a crazy day and we completely forgot to get pictures of him in his suit. Thankfully we still have it and we will have to dress him in it again so we can get some good pictures of him to show off.



Is it just me or do they look very similar in this picture? Oh and love our beautiful chair? I hate how the stuff on the arms is coming off. Think of all that weird stuff and what it would look like ALL OVER your house and on the carpet. I would just get rid of it, but I can't replace it right now and it is the only rocking chair we have and it doubles as a computer chair. If I become really crafty I may just recover it. We'll see. Its still in good shape and it would be a pretty easy one to do.




Nothing like a home made fall wreath above the fireplace don't you think?

School Has Begun

School started at our house on the 23rd of August. I had a fun day planned for the girls. We played a game so they could find their back-packs with new books, pencils and treats inside. We made cookies and just had a good day.


We have been doing a unit study and lap-book on Egypt. The lap-book is still in progress. So far we have learned about mummification. Emily's activity was to mummify her Barbie and make a death mask for it.



We also made Egyptian headbands. You can't see Lindsey's wonderful coloring on hers, but it was very cute. We have been working on making canopic jars out of clay and beaded jewelry.

Field trip with our homeschooler friends at the Dinosaur museum. You can't see the fun sand and water Emily is playing in, but it was lots of fun.

Love that face!

And thankfully we have been able to get a lot of schooling done because our sweet Willis does a lot

of

this...

Picture Time

It has been crazy busy around here. Adjusting to having a little baby in the house has been interesting. He is such a good baby too. At 2 weeks old his poor little skin broke out in baby eczema that lasted a good 3-4 weeks. Poor thing. I was constantly slathering his little skin with vaseline because it was so dry.

Robert looks so tired there! He has helped me non-stop and I really appreciate it. Every night he changes the baby before I feed him and he takes him when he gets home. He rocks him, bounces with him, burps him, etc. All of my kids are really lucky to have a father who is so involved. And I am really lucky as well.




He really wanted to suck on something and found his Daddy's hand and grabbed on. He would not let go either.

First bath. Can you see the rash around his face and body? Oh it was so bad!

We went out with our friends to Temple Square. Emily and Mary, such good friends!