a big hunk of catch up

Hello friends!!!

My stars, it has been a while since swept off this dusty corner of the internet. 

This morning as the girls went about playing, I began researching a few things on the www's and ended up here, reading old posts, mourning a lack of desire to keep up with this place, and feeling a desire to play catch up right now.

This week marked 1 year since we packed up our little grey house in Oklahoma and moved our little family to Missouri, and it has been quite a year.

A year of travel :: we loved it and are always on the lookout for more adventures. We were blessed to have gotten to go to Colorado for a couple weeks in the mountains, across the ocean for 10 days to Osaka, Japan, Cincinnati for Christmas, and little trips to Arkansas, Tulsa, and Kansas City. My oldest often asks "What's our next adventure, Mama?"

A year of healing and growth :: everyone deals with hardships and sufferings of different kinds, but this year, especially, God's grace and love has been made known to me like never before. There are still days when the wound opens because of some memory, or someone's comments and the hurt comes back, but He is still there, and still good. New Year's Eve, best friend and I went on a date, and I remember making the comment "Boy, so glad this year is over!" and for him to look at me and remind me of all the good that came and continues to come, all the answered prayers, all the fun. So thankful for my best friend.

A year of new passions ::  Home based education has been a new found joy this year!! We all have been able to discover things we love and new avenues to serve in doing things we have always enjoyed!

A year of awesome kids :: every year I think they are awesome, and there is so much truth to each new stage is my favorite. And while Pip is the "most toddleriest toddler" we have ever experienced, she is also the sweetest little lovey girl. We love getting know these girls everyday! 

And I hope we will continue to live with thankful hearts, and joyful spirits feeling at peace in His Grace, ready to do all He asks!  

Have a fantastic weekend! I have missed this little space! Thanks for reading! 

 ::eden

Snapshots :: October Weekends

We ended our September days with a particularly warm weekend,

celebrating the life of our girl, Pip.

The following weekend, Autumn began to peep out and we began

filling our time with crunchy walks, leaf hunts, pumpkin patches,

visits to dear friends, warm days outside, moving and selling our first house,

and ended with a super pink, sparkly, girly Halloween.

October was so fun!

Now we are into birthday month!!

And this month ends with a special once in a lifetime trip!!

Welcome November!!!

two, or as Penny says, "tee-ewww"

- T W O Y E A R S O L D-

Happy Happy Birthday, Pip!

We love you and all the crazy you add to our family!
And to celebrate you, we had a simple breakfast party at the park,
complete with your favorite fruit, coffee cake, and Nana's cinnamon rolls!
You blew out your own candles, first try,
and smiled proudly while everyone cheered!
You tore into your presents, received the greatest group hug,
and climbed all over the playground.

Penelope Lee, 
you are a bright,
fun, spunky girl.
You're a complete mama's girl,
but incredibly friendly with others.
You keep us laughing with your clumsy tendencies,
like that one time you slid off the couch while reading with Dada.
You're a fast learner,
and its fun to see 
the excitement in your eyes
as you learn something new.
We are proud of you little one.

Sometimes, Pip, you can wear me out,
but while you play hard, and fight hard,
you also love hard.
You are quick to say you are sorry,
and quick to hug and kiss.
You look up to your sisters,
and always want to do what they are doing,
even if it drives them crazy.
Sometimes I call you 
"Persistent Pippy"
And I think that is a great quality to possess.

Penny, your dada and I are so thankful to know you,
and to watch you learn and grow.
We love your laugh, the way you growl like a bear,
and the way you tell us stories and jokes.
You are a beautiful child made by God,
given to us, and we are blessed by your little life every day!
So, happiest of birthdays littlest love! 
Here's to many more!

xoxox
Mama

focused on my cake and not my girl, rookie move, yeesh.

ready for birthday nap time

School at Home

Hello Friends!

We have just finished our first full week of school at home,

and so we are celebrating with a Barbie Mermaid movie, 

(yup, I let them choose their movie to rent from the library today)

and I get to blog!

After many talks, going back and forth on a decision for homeschool vs. public school,

we felt that in light of the many transitions in our life right now,

(we now live in Nana's basement!)

we were going to take a shot at home education.

Little did I know, through my research and meeting other homeschooling moms,

that a passion for teaching my children would be awakened.

I have been reading many books on the matter:

For the Children's Sake

When Children Love to Learn

Books Children Love

Honey for a Child's Heart

Other resources I have used are www.amblesideonline.org
and simplycharlottemason.com

I was anxious to begin, and we had prepared Nora for the first day of school.

We wanted her to get some of the fun things that go along with 

attending school, so we picked up a first day of school outfit,

let her pick out her own backpack,

and celebrated with ice cream at Sweet Caroline's the night before.

She was excited, I was pumped.

We woke up early and talked through a morning routine,

and stepped outside in the shady morning and took some pictures.

And of course, Cordie needed preschool pictures and a backpack as well!

This week has gone by well,

we have established a good morning routine, 

things we do before we start our day.

We then would work on letters, reading and writing,

followed with stretching time, math and extra study.

I found though that I was saving outdoor explore time for the hottest point of the day,

and this week in Missouri was especially steamy.

So yesterday we mixed up our school day,

and spent the morning at some local waterfalls,

drawing algae and dragonflies,

climbing rocks and throwing rocks in the water.

The girls loved it, and didn't want to leave, they didn't even ask for a playground!

We then spent the afternoon doing our lessons,

and it ended up working out better for Pip too.

I was struggling with giving her attention and trying not to get too frustrated,

while teaching her sisters.

Having lesson time during her nap has been a great change in our schedule.

There are still a few things I will be tweaking as the semester goes on,

 but there having been so many high points this week.

A quick list of things I want to remember:

Nora's face as she sounded out and read the word "little"

Pip's contentment sitting in rocks by the stream

Cordie's laugh when we read fun stories.

Their steady breathing as I read chapters to them.

Nora asking to work on her "sums"

Watercolors as a family

Hope y'all have a splendid weekend!!

So, moving on..

Hey, so we moved!
In the last couple of months,
our little family packed up the 
little grey house with the orange living room,
and left humid Oklahoma for humid Missouri.
I have tried to write a few posts on it,
but took my sweet time in posting them, so now, we are just moving on.

When we first got here, we spent two days moving into
our temporary housing (my in-laws, Thanks Kev and Deb)
and packing for our 10 day stint in the Colorado mountains at Camp Como.

Levi helped his dad out with a week of High School camp,
and the girls and I just tagged along for fun!
We explored, drew in our nature books, which soon turned into princess books,
hiked, lunched in tiny towns,
made new friends, 
and played till the sun was behind Little Baldy
(the 12,000 ft peak I climbed!)

We stayed in an old barn,
waking up way early as the sun blazed through our windows.
Every single morning all five of us would snuggle in one bed waiting for it to be time to get up and out for breakfast.
At night I would sit outside our cabin, waiting for littles to fall asleep,
 reading, and seeing the most spectacular skies.
I am thankful for our time there,
exploring some place new,
seeing God's beautiful mountains,
walking through peaceful trails between aspens.
I loved the simplicity of being there,
I never knew the time,
never stressed about meals,
left my phone off and in my room most days,
I was unplugged more than I ever have been,
and it was wonderful!

Now that we are back home,
I am trying to remain intentional about 
spending less time in front of a screen,
spending more time playing
and making memories with the girls,
and meeting God without distractions!

Have fun this week! Shoot off a Roman Candle for me!