What's for dessert Mama?

I felt like we were eating way too many sweets and the question just got annoying. Especially when Ebug would ask after breakfast! So we established "dessert days". Sundays. Wednesdays. Fridays.

After lunch the boys get to pick something out of their candy bags - which are usually plenty full from candy received on holidays. Or an organic lollipop from Yummy Earth. On a non-dessert day I let the boys choose from a small organic breath mint (usually Newman's Own) or a piece of dental gum from Spry.

After dinner it varies on what's in the house. What I like about this is that I've actually used the opportunity to make a few fun desserts. My favorite would be the mini cherry pies.









Now here's the part where I have to say that when the boys' backs are turned or they've gone to bed, it's very hard not to sneak something sweet on a non-dessert day. I try to grab some dates, gum, or tea with honey but am not often successful. Now that I've posted this, maybe I'll be better?!

Scheduling my nights

The days it seem, fly by and at times I don't feel like I have anything to show for it. My hobbies aren't getting any attention, books aren't being read, and I'm staying up late doing who knows what. In an effort to claim back the "lost" hours I have assigned myself activities for the evening times once the boys are all tucked in for the night. It sounds so rigid and really it's not, just a guideline to help myself. Here's what it currently looks like:

Sunday: Relax or get ready for the week
Monday: Budget night (EH and I meet and update the database, pay bills, talk money. It's sooo romantic!)
Tuesday: Go to bed EARLY night and read a little - I'm not very good at this one
Wednesday: Quilt (I'm going to finish your quilt mom!) or stitch clips for the Etsy shop
Thursday: Free night, probably spent reading blogs and catching up on E-mail
Friday: Watch a movie
Saturday: Finish watching the Bringing Up Boys videos by Dobson

Hopefully in the next few months I'll have completed some goals that have been collecting dust.

Homeschool Co-op Graduation

Our first year of homeschool co-op has come to an end. I'm grateful for the new friends we've made and the experiences we had. Honestly, I can't imagine life without them.












LE Babe and I with our fellow nursery friends.












Ebug and his preschool class.













Agent H and his Kindergarten class.

Two wills

"If we forget that there are two [wills] and dwell only on the sovereign will of God, we will abdicate our responsibility and lapse into the fatalism of Islam, which leaves all to the inscrutable and unknowable. If, on the other hand we forget the sovereignty of God we see ourselves as independent, we will arrogate to ourselves all responsibility and leave God out of it - in other words, we make ourselves God. In both cases we fail to do His will, and the result is the forfeiting of our joy and freedom."
-Discipline, The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot

I'll be mulling on this for the next month.

LE Babe @ 9 months

Hey sweet babe! I can't believe you're waving "bu-bye" already.

You're pulling yourself up onto everything, the bath tub being your favorite. My favorite is me. When I'm busy at the stove I can hear you making little baby babbling noises as you make your way toward me and stop to grab onto my legs, pull yourself up and chat with me. All the while drooly drool is dripping and you have a very happy, proud smile on your face.

You've also learned to splash in the bath tub which has been a great test of control for Ebug because he is not allowed to splash back with as much abandon as you are.

Another of your favorite places to hang out is at the patio window while your big brothers are out playing, you laugh and bounce as you kneel at the window. You're especially pleased when one of them stops to wave at you from the other side of the window.

You are a delight to me and I'm so grateful for the gift of YOU!

Shoe laces

I'm done buying kids shoes at Target. The last 4 or 5 pairs have started to fall apart within a couple weeks if not days of wear. Instead we hit up the local Once Upon A Child in hopes of a decent used pair of tennies for Agent H. We found 'em! The only catch is that they are laced shoes. He has a pretty good idea of how to tie a knot as he has to tie the garbage bag closed when he takes the trash out. However, we haven't practiced bows yet. How fun that I picked this up at a garage sale last weekend. I originally thought it would be a nice lacing tool for Ebug to play with while we are doing school (I think I got a solid 10 minutes of quiet play out of him!) It's Doug and Melissa and it was only a buck! Yee Haw!

AWANA '09

Agent H completed his first year as an AWANA Spark!

Crawling & climbing

LE Babe is on the move crawling and climbing. Lego creations and other toy treasures that we thought were safe up on the ottomans or bench are now within his reach. He especially likes to pull himself up against the edge of the tub while big brothers are bathing. The floor is in need of near constant sweeping with his big brother's droppings and LE Babe's ability to find stray apple seeds, raisins, crumbs, etc. His forehead bares the proof of a few tumbles he's taken. He has also learned the fine art of shriek screaming and thinks dinner time is a nice time to practice it. Our ears are ringing . . .

The days are so full right now as we are working double time to wrap up our K curriculum in the next 6 weeks. It's hard to imagine that Agent H will be promoted from Kindergarten at homeschool co-op this Friday. I know it's just K but this time last year all I anticipated for this year was survival and it's been so much better than that.

May Day

Happy May Day













Flowers carefully colored and delivered to a neighbor by Agent H.