Goose Turns Four

It's too late and I'm too tired to write about all the fun times we had last Thursday when my sweet little Goose turned four. I hope to sit down another time and put a little more effort into sharing the fun we had as we celebrated the big day together.

But I did just have to post a couple of pictures of my boy on his big day. Can you guess what theme he chose? He'd been talking for MONTHS about the big Soccer Birthday he wanted. The child has never even played soccer himself, but his Daddy played a ton and he's watched his two big bros play on teams for a few years now.

Sweet, funny Goose. That boy steals our hearts on a daily basis. He's the funniest, cleverest, most amazing four year old I know - Oh how blessed I am that he calls me Mommy.

An Oldie but a Goodie

Sometimes there is a reason that classic toys are just that...

Classic.

Last night I did some rearranging and pulled some old baby toys back into rotation for Little Bug. The other kids haven't seen them in quite a while, so whenever I rotate toys it's like we just got home from the toy store. ;o)

Girly Pie found the old Fisher Price donut ring stacker this morning and was smitten with it at first glance.

Something about that little toy has drawn in each and every one of my children at all different ages. The babies love to eat the rings. The toddlers love to wear the rings. The preschoolers tend to use the post as a sword and redistribute the rings all around the house so I spend the next several months trying to collect all five of them so I can put the toy away again (actually so do the school age kids, but I digress...). When they first hit the point of trying to stack them, the babies and toddlers always get them out of order and though some may patiently work at getting it right at times, most just proudly display the three rings they managed to fit on there and move on to something else. Then they grow a bit, and the stacker comes back into rotation (because inevitably another baby has come around...) and suddenly like magic they are able to stack all five rings in order without even breaking a sweat. It's amazing. It's inspiring. It's just plain fun.

And then of course once they've mastered it they lose all interest - and so it becomes a sword once again - and back it goes into the closet until - you guessed it - the next baby is ready to chew on the rings again.

So today when Girly Pie sat down on the kitchen floor I was not surprised to see then new knowledge of size comparison dawn on her as she started to put the rings onto the post. It only took her a few minutes to master, and she, just like her brothers in years past, was thrilled with herself.

I give it less than a week before she moves on - but none the less it was a great moment - and the pictures turned out beautifully, to boot. ;o)

Back to School Shopping...

Normally I'm pretty disgusted by the media's hype on Back-to-School shopping just as we clean up the fireworks on the driveway from the 4th. As if anyone is thinking about backpacks, sweaters and jeans when the weather just FINALLY turned summerish. And of course there will be Halloween decorations out come August and Christmas stuff will be on the shelves before the leaves have even hit their full fall glory. Really, the buy it now and buy it early mindset is pretty irritating, to say the least.

But when it comes to homeschooling, there are certain things that you really do need to plan ahead and prepare for. So as of spring my prayers and research began on what to do with the coming school year, and once the planning was mostly done it was time to actually do some purchasing. Yes, it's still only the first week we've been able to pull out the pool this summer. But if I wait until school really is starting I'll never be ready to start when I need to.

Well, my curriculum arrived a couple of weeks ago. I just ordered the bulk of the extras I needed for the year (art supplies, math books, paper, a few random books we wanted to have around) from Rainbow Resource and Amazon, and everything should be here in the next two weeks. All I have left to buy are the random things that I couldn't find online but are easy to get at Target or the grocery store (three ring binders, spiral notebooks, that kind of thing). Oh and I'm sure they'll all be needing a few pairs of pants and shirts in the next size up come the cold weather, but I'm nowhere near even thinking about that yet!

All in all, for only being July 8th, I think I'm doing pretty well so far in preparing for the coming school year. I'm excited, I'm having fun working out the details, I can't WAIT to break into my box of art supplies and goodies... I feel like it's going to be a good year. A great year. I prayed for guidance and clarity in which direction to go this year, and God was faithful. So I trust that the year ahead will be blessed.

And I am so excited to do it all! For me that's pretty cool, as often I get nervous and apprehensive about starting a school year.

So 2010/2011, third grade, first grade, pre-k, toddler, baby - HERE WE COME!

But - I'm sure glad to be able to sit back and enjoy the summer in the meantime. ;o)

Five Months

I can hardly believe it - but it's true. My sweet Little Bug turned 5 months old this morning at about 5:24am. Wow. Can it possibly have been that long since I first laid eyes on my sweet little man? It feels like just yesterday and yet at the same time it feels like he's been in our family forever.

Bug is now grabbing toys and maneuvering them around in his mouth like a champ (so good now that he's teething in earnest!) He's the charmed prince of the family and each and every one of his siblings adores him to pieces. The poor child never has a moment to himself because someone is always in his face smiling at him, cooing at him, talking to him or bringing him toys or a pacifier. I doubt Bug will ever need to learn how to walk or crawl as everything he could ever want will be gladly brought to him wherever he is. ;o) He's (generally) a great sleeper, a spitter, a drooler, a super full bodied smiler, a hair grabber and a chin biter. He smiles at everyone and we all love watching him light up when we talk to him. He can roll from tummy to back, but rather than roll back to his tummy he just happily turns himself in circles on his back instead. He can inch forward but still has a ways to go before I'd call him mobile.

All in all, Bug is the perfect five month old little man. We really feel so blessed to call him our own.

So here are a few pictures of my little bug to commemorate these beautiful five months of his life. If I had more time and didn't mind crying a little today I'd go back and collect pics from the past five months - but I don't have time and I'd rather not be a puddle of tears. So instead I'm just posting a few recent pics of him in all his cute, chubby, curly headed glory.

Sleepy eyed boy

More getting on his face than in his mouth...

Still working on the mechanics of eating solids - but he's sure happy to try!

Little Bug sporting his FuzziBunz diapers.

We love you Little Bug!

Silly Girl

Sunday Dress - Check.

Hard hat - Check.

Tool Belt - Check.

Construction tools - Check.

One super cute girl - Double Check.