How is it April already?!

April.  We've celebrated 3 kiddo birthdays already this year with Claire left in May.  And she's going to be 13.  How is that even possible?

The other thing that is crazy is my continual lack of blogging.  I really, really want to blog more, but that Instagram...it's just so easy.  But it's also kind of lacking wordiness.  And I can definitely be a wordy kind of a girl.

I was looking over my 2015 and 2016 (thus far) posts just thinking about how thin my blog book will be for those years.  I can probably just combine them with 2017-2020 and make it semi-worthwhile. :)

Okay, so we've had some major excitement around here since I last posted.  We have a new member of the family...gasp!!!  It's another girl...

Ahhhhh...isn't she precious?!  She certainly is when she's sleeping!  Welcome Ruby!!  Long story short...Josh's brother (who is a dog breeder...along with 46 other professions) was out of town for a couple of months on a special assignment, so we had his pregnant dog.  She had 6 adorable black lab puppies, and we kept one.  We absolutely love her, even though she's totally a puppy and wants to chew on all socks and shoes and slippers and legos and every other thing that isn't hers.

We've had her in the house with us for almost two months.  She's doing great overall, but I'm looking forward to getting past the puppy stage...in two or three years. :)

For anyone who isn't friends with me in real life, you will be shocked and surprised (and hopefully just as thrilled as we are) to find out that we're also having another baby!   

That photo was taken just prior to 20 weeks.  I'm over 26 weeks at this point and twice that big.  Maybe I'll talk Josh into taking a photo with my real camera sometime in the near future.  Okay, so the even more shocking news...

I know, right?!!  Shocking.  I still don't think I've wrapped my brain around it, nor do I think I will before he arrives in July.  And probably not even then, either.  It's going to take us a while to get used to snakes and snails and puppy dog tails (though, we're doing pretty well with the puppy dog tails right now).  

So, this is kind of how this baby thing went down:  I have kind of wanted baby #5 for a while.  I've been thinking about it for a couple of years, but I knew Josh probably wasn't going to be on board.  He was perfectly content with four kiddos.  I would hint around from time to time to get a feel for his interest level or lack thereof.  He was at like a 10% baby, 90% no baby level.  Not very promising.  I was really 50/50.  

So, then one evening last spring, we had a pretty major discussion about it.  It wasn't sounding promising (at all) for another baby.  So, I prayed for contentment.  And maybe I prayed for a surprise pregnancy as well...but definitely was praying more for contentment.  Then, in August, I had just decided that I was so okay with not having another baby.

Josh had been throwing out the thought of getting a dog in the house since Tucker was sick and didn't have much time remaining.  I wasn't sure I wanted another body in the house, but I warmed to the idea.  So, one night in September, Josh was sitting at the computer working, and I came up to him and said, "I think we should get a puppy."  His response: "I think we should have a baby."  

I.was.speechless.  Literally.speechless.  

I think my jaw dropped and my mouth was hanging open for who knows how long.  Then, I had to completely check my emotions to decide if I really wanted a baby #5.  Well, regardless, I decided that we just better hurry up and get pregnant before either of us changed our minds.  So, we did.  And here we are.  And the Lord is so kind.  We feel beyond blessed to be welcoming this precious baby into our lives, and our girls are beyond thrilled.  I fear that I'm going to have to fight for baby holding time. :) 

So, those are the two big adjustments in our world.  We have seven weeks of school remaining!!  Seven!!  So excited about that.  We've had a fun birthday stretch, and I make no promises, but I would love to post about birthdays and kiddos.  I actually do drag out my nice camera to take birthday pictures.  That will at least force me to upload photos, and I might even have one or two others that I could post.  That would be something, wouldn't it?

school year in review

The end of April and the month of May are always crazy busy in this house.  This year was no different, and actually I think it was busier than usual.  We threw in a homeschool convention, an out of town trip, and a half marathon along with the usual set-in-stone events.

I'm always a bad May blogger, but I see that I threw April under the bus this year as well.  Easter in late April didn't help. :)  I'm typically not a great summer blogger, but I'm hoping to change my reputation at least for this summer.

We had our last day of school last Thursday, and I've been thinking about our school year a lot.  Last year, I ordered all of our curriculum as soon as school was completed, and it was nice to not have to think about it all summer.  I'm definitely doing that again while things are still fresh in my mind.

Overall, this was our best year yet in spite of parenting a tween and a toddler at the same time.  The unexplored territory of the tween years baffles me at times, but we're going to survive (sometimes just one hour at a time, though).  This toddler thing...I totally thought I had it down...and then potty training reminded me that I, indeed, know slim to none.

Claire
Claire was an excellent student this year other than a slight hiccup in December.  She took complete charge of her math and her language arts programs and did an outstanding job.

For some reason, she was struggling to complete her reading assignments on time during the month of December.  She assured us that she would catch up over Christmas break, but we all know how difficult it is to catch up when people are building snowmen, decorating for Christmas, and drinking hot cocoa.

We put her on a strict school/chore/free time (or lack thereof) schedule through the month of January, and that seemed to do the trick.  She had no other problems through the remainder of the year.

I'm continually impressed at Claire's self discipline.  She often wakes up long before everyone else so that she can get to work on her math assignments while it's still quiet in the house.  I know that her motivation is that she doesn't want to "miss out" on free time when everyone else has completed their work, but I would have struggled to discipline myself at that age.

What is most shocking is that we now have a 6th grader.  When did that happen?!  We're looking forward to the next stage of the journey. :)

Meredith
Meredith was also a great student this year.  She continues to excel at reading and can often be found lying on her bed with her nose in a book.  I think it calms her.

Math is a frustrating subject for her, but she did extremely well this year while learning all of her multiplication facts.  Certain facts were continually giving her fits, and we did our best to work through those.

I'm praying that her attitude will be a positive one for the upcoming school year as she will be transitioning from me teaching her math lessons on a daily basis to her using Dr. Shoreman's DVD for her daily instruction.  Sometimes she has a difficult time with change, and I think she's feeling some anxiety regarding this.  I know she'll do just fine once she gets a few weeks into the program.

Meredith is a very willing student and typically gets right to work without much prodding.  She works right through her subjects and doesn't get distracted easily.  This is a blessing, for sure!

Amelia
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Amelia this year.  She is so easily distracted and by far the wiggliest child in our home.  Despite my fears, she was a joy to teach.  Distracted?  Yes...but also easy to put back on task.  Wiggly.  Ummm...for sure.  But, thankfully, kindergarten doesn't require that you sit and listen for hours upon hours each day.

She was the easiest child, thus far, to teach how to read.  Claire was the most challenging, then Meredith, then Amelia.  I'm not sure if their personalities/learning abilities are playing into this, or if I'm just getting better at teaching it each year.  I'm sure the latter is true!  If Olivia is the easiest, we'll know it's my experience playing a huge part.  My patience was certainly better the 3rd time around.

Amelia loved math this year, and often requested that we do it first.  Her Explode the Code book was also enjoyable for her.

Olivia
Olivia did great this year as far as finding things to do to keep her busy.  I often gave her little activities to complete this year, but mostly she was just happy to sit next to someone and play legos, look at books, or color.  She has learned her colors, shapes, and numbers.  We've done nothing formal, so I can't take any credit for her knowledge.  I am continually impressed at how much kids learn just by watching and listening.

Last year at this time, she was very interested in potty training.  I thought it was great timing with summer break upon us, but she only wanted to potty in the toilet...no pooping.  This was not what I had envisioned when I began the potty training journey.  Have I mentioned that potty training is my least favorite part of parenting?  Because it is.

I cleaned disgusting messes all summer, and I gave it a rest in the fall thinking that she would come around.  We tried to start again a few different times.  No go.  Mess after mess after mess.  Seriously, a few weeks ago, Claire took her into the bathroom and told her that she couldn't get up until she pooped on the toilet.  She sat there for about 5 minutes and then pooped.  We all celebrated! :)

Of course, she's had an accident here or there, but she's been really successful during the last few weeks!  This is such a relief.  Everyone has been super encouraging to me, and you'll find me often saying things like, "She'll figure it out by the time she starts kindergarten."  But honestly, I was kind of doubting it on this one!  Thankfully, I think we've made it through the hard part.  And if for some reason we happen to have a surprise 5th baby...I'm turning potty training over to Claire. :)

Overall, it's been a truly enjoyable year to teach the girls.  They are such a blessing to our family and to others.  Even though they have their sisterly squabbles, I'm continually impressed at the way they love each other and truly enjoy being together.

Selfishly, I must admit that I'm looking forward to the next two years of having the same number of students to teach.  Middle school seems like a daunting task when I think about it too much, but we're just going to keep doing what we're doing and making changes where we see fit.  It seems to be working, thus far, so we're sticking to it.

I can't tell you how much I love summer break!  We're looking forward to park days, lake days, zoo days, and lazy days.  Hope all of you have a great summer as well!

eleven years

Whenever I look at photos from our wedding day, I can't help but think about all of the things that I've learned over the last eleven years.

When I was in high school, I remember wondering who I would marry someday.  I thought it would be so much fun to jump into the future and see a day in the life of future Jackie.  I wanted to see the name that I would sign on my checks at the grocery store.  {I find this extremely amusing because I'm pretty sure that I've never written a single check at the grocery store.}  I wanted to see my home, my car, my job, my life.  

I would have loved seeing my girls.  I would have been shocked to find that we have four.  I would have loved seeing Josh.  I would have been shocked {and excited!} to find out that he was my husband.  We met initially when I was 15, and I had such a crush on him. :)  I thought he was totally out of my league.  I would have loved seeing our home, but I would have been shocked to find that we only had one television.  I would have been completely unimpressed with the evolution of technology based on the lack of it in our home.  I probably wouldn't have realized that a large majority of people our age had flat screened televisions hanging on their walls.  I would have for sure been disappointed that I was driving a minivan instead of a Dodge Durango which was my future dream vehicle in 1995.  

When Josh and I got married, I thought I was ready for the life that was ahead of me.  I wasn't.  I don't think you ever are.  It's not possible to be prepared for life when you haven't lived much of it.  Experience is life lived.  

When I look at our wedding photos, I can't help but think that I was unknowingly two weeks away from landing my first teaching job, three weeks away from welcoming 24 students into a 5th grade classroom, and five weeks away from unexpectedly conceiving a child.  Oh my.  It overwhelms me just to think about it.  That summer seems like a lifetime ago, and yet where has the time gone?

During that four month period in 2002, I had graduated college, bought a house, gotten married, began my first year teaching, and gotten pregnant.  I remember people being shocked by all of the changes in my life, but honestly I just didn't know any different.  Life experience was certainly having its way with me.

There was so much going on during our first year of marriage that I don't remember a lot of it.  I remember not cooking much, mostly because I was so exhausted, overwhelmed, and inexperienced.  My mom came to my rescue and cleaned my messy house on more than one occasion because I just didn't even know how to keep on top of that 1200 square foot house {with no children in it yet}.  The thought kind of makes me laugh at this point.  There are certainly days when I still feel overwhelmed by my never-ending to-do list around here, but now I have daughters to help me instead of my mom.  I'm sure she appreciates the change of roles.

At 23 years old, I didn't know how steady that man standing beside me would be...no idea at all.  He's so steady.  So constant.  So predictable.  He doesn't waver about anything that really matters.  He's a generous provider, a thorough planner, and undeniably, my favorite person in the world to spend time with.  What an absolute blessing.  And other than the fact that I loved spending time with him, I'm pretty sure that I didn't truly know a lot of these things on our wedding day.

But I would learn.

At 23 years old, I had never cooked dinner 5 nights in a row, done more than 2 loads of laundry in a week, cleaned up a child's vomit, moved an entire household, bawled in complete helplessness over a sick child, had a gray hair, forced medication down a 5 year old's throat, completely lost my patience, changed 6,000 diapers, taken a child to the emergency room, read the same book what seemed like 63 times in the same afternoon, or fully appreciated the sound of silence at the end of a day.

In the last eleven years, I have experienced some of the most amazing things.  I've held four of the most lovely babies on the face of the planet.  I've felt overwhelming gratitude.  I've sang children to sleep.  I've owned and sold a business.  I've taught two children how to read.  I've heard the words "yuv you" from the lips of all of my children at age two and have decided that it never, ever gets old.  I've figured out how to survive as a wife and mother.

I've gained a whole lot of life experience in the last eleven years.  I know there is more to come, both ups and downs.  The gray hairs that have appeared on my head inform me that I do, indeed, have some experience.  The brown ones remind me that there is still a lot to learn.

These days are filled with more hard work, dishes, laundry, planning, and prayer than I could have thought possible when I imagined my future at age 16.  Yet when I take a step back and occasionally achieve a good night's sleep, they are also filled with more joy, thankfulness, and blessings.  I could not have ever imagined the goodness of these years, and while I had initially planned them differently, I truly wouldn't trade them for anything else.

What a true blessing it is to stand beside Josh and raise our four daughters.  What a true blessing it is to live this life.  Eleven years from now, we'll be in a whole different ball game.  Instead of just entering the tween years and ending the toddler years, we'll be ending the tween years and entering the college years.

There is nothing innately exciting about the eleventh year of marriage other than it's starting to sound like longevity.  Eleven is comfortable to me.  Eleven means that we're through the physically hardest days of parenting.  Eleven means that the emotionally hardest days are on their way.

Eleven is good.

{keepin' it real}

I've been thinking about this post for a long time.  And by a long time, I think it’s been at least a couple of years, if not more.

We have a lot of fun in this family.  We work hard, and we play hard.  Josh and I work hard to make memories for our children and each other.  

I say it on this blog, I say it on facebook, and I say it in real life over and over and over again.  We are so blessed…and we are blessed beyond measure!  God is good…all the time.

People often tell me how much they love to read my blog and my facebook status updates, and they also enjoy seeing the beautiful pictures of my girls that I post.  I love all of those things, too!  I wouldn't post them if I didn't like them. 

My continued fear, though, is that people will think that we live a perfect little life.  I sure hope that you know that we don't.  Hence, the reason for this post.

Let me start by sharing some self-imposed guidelines for my facebook page and my blog:

-You will never see me speaking poorly of my husband.  It is not becoming of any wife.  I will not do it.  {On a side note, Josh does have his faults.  However, I speak about them privately to him, my bff Deanna, or his family.  These are people who are discerning and will not take my side undeservedly.}

-I will put a positive spin on almost any situation...or at minimum find a little humor in it.  This is who I am, forever the optimist.  I might grumble about something today, but by next week, I'm sure I'll be doing my best to find a positive side to the story.  Whatever the case we'll be making the best of our current situation.  How else will we endure it?  

-I will encourage others and share what works for us.  This is one of my constant goals in life.  I realize that what works for us may not work for other families, but I crave knowing other people's routines and tricks because that's where I get all of my ideas.  I steal almost all of them.  Rare is the idea that was mine first.

-I will write about memories that I don't want to forget.  This is especially true for our blog.  You will see our highlights and bloopers because those are the memories that I treasure.  This is our highlight reel.  These are the parts that would make the scrapbook if I had one.

And here is some imperfect, kinda grimy, non-supermom reality for your reading pleasure:

-On days when we don't have to go anywhere, I often stay in my pajamas all day.

-If I don't dress Olivia during her first diaper change of the day, you can bet that she stays in her pajamas all day, too.  On a positive note, she has spent less time in her jammies than any of my other children.

-We use paper plates for lunch almost every day.  For $2 a month, my sanity is saved.  Well worth the money spent.

-Sometimes, I let my kids watch t.v. just so that I can get stuff done.  {You might not think this is a big deal at all, but I have issues with the t.v.  This one is a big one for me.}

-My pots and pans accumulate on the stove because I hate washing them.

-Sometimes I lose it and yell at my kids.

-As soon as I clean a room, someone messes it up again.

-My kids truly do enjoy being together, but they also know how to push each other's buttons. One or two of them are awfully good button pushers.

-My house looks clean and picked up when you come over because I knew you were coming.  Stop by on a Tuesday morning, unannounced, and you'll get the real deal.

The organizational side of me that you see has been born out of necessity.  I am not naturally an organized person.  I have good intentions, I know how to organize, and I can probably even tell you how to organize some parts of your own life.

Personally, I struggle with disciplining myself to use my systems.  They are in place, but my motivation and energy often seem to be in short supply.  Still, it is extremely beneficial to know where to start and how to go about it when I find time, motivation, and energy.  Again, I would lose my sanity if I didn't at least have a plan.

Now about our stuff.  {Another fear of mine is that people will think that we have a lot of money because we have nice stuff.}

I will be the first to say that we do indeed have a lot of nice stuff.  Josh works really hard to provide for our family so that we can have and do a lot of things.  He is also an extremely skilled do-it-yourselfer, and this man can find a bargain like no other.  We have saved thousands and thousands of dollars because of these skills.  {We have certainly not saved any time because of these skills...just money...lots and lots of money.}

Our finances are a huge priority to us.  We are awfully disciplined when it comes to our money.  I'll be the first to say it:  we are cheapskates!  We have a whiskey appetite and a beer budget.  Actually, I think our biggest problem is that we have a top shelf whiskey appetite and a cheap beer budget. :)

We aren't big spenders on a daily basis.  A lot of the nice things we have were birthday or Christmas gifts from our families or each other, or we've saved and saved to make a purchase.  We are not extravagant.  When we do shop, we often shop at resales/resale shops, garage sales, or get hand-me-downs from friends.  We are frugal, and it works for us.

My birthday dinner the other night?  That once-every-few-years extravagance cost us almost 2 months worth of our eating out/babysitter budget.  Trust me when I say that I enjoyed every single minute of it.  My commitment to cook dinner each and every night of the month has served me well this year.

Our priorities do not include "keeping up with the Jones'".  I certainly struggle with this from time to time.  I think we all do, but we need to remember that the Jones family is probably in debt up to their ears and miserable because of it.  We will not be that family.  We will not fall into that trap.  We will be thankful for all that we have, knowing that we've been given more than we need and certainly more than we deserve.

I will do my best not to play the comparison game.  It is my hope that I am real enough that you actually do see some of our struggles and challenges...we certainly have them.  I want you to be encouraged and to enjoy watching our family make memories and grow.

What you see is what you get.  This really is us...just remember that a lot of it is the best of us.  It's the favorite-edited-photo side, the we-cleaned-the-house-before-you-came side, and we-probably-baked-some-chocolate-chip-cookies-too, side.  This is our best foot forward.  Please remember that sometimes we trip and fall flat on our faces just like the rest of the world.

I pray that you see our family continually loving each other, continually forgiving each other, and continually falling at the feet of our Heavenly Father in thankfulness and humility for all we have be given.

Thank you for being faithful followers of us.  We love having you share in our memories.  

{and so it begins}

She's hiding her face because when you're 1, if you can't see people, they can't see you.

Last week, Olivia decided it was time to start being destructive.  I was walking through the house trying to get everyone rounded up for park day.  I walk past Olivia's room and see her walking out.  When I peered in, I noticed Amelia's bottom dresser drawer standing open with the contents nicely unfolded and strewn about the floor in front of the dresser.  

Hmmmm.  And so it begins.  

Not kidding, a short 3 minutes later, I walk into my master bathroom and find half of the roll of toilet paper unraveled onto the floor.  

Goodness child...you could at least ease me back into this stage slowly.

rainy.day.ideas

(photo circa 2009)

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who sent me rainy day activity ideas. I think we're going to have lots to do this summer when it rains! :)

Outside (as long as there is no lightning):
-play in the rain
-jump in rain puddles
-walk in the rain with umbrellas
-make sidewalk paint and paint the sidewalk
-play on the covered deck

Inside:
-build tents on the furniture
-pretend camping
-books on CD
-read books (lots!)
-movie and popcorn
-bake something and eat it (cookies, cake, banana bread, pudding, pie, etc.)
-wii
-manicures/pedicures
-legos
-indoor picnic
-nerf gun freeze tag
-puzzles
-dress up
-tea parties
-any type of arts and crafts (paint, beads, paper mache, finger paint with pudding, etc.)
-act out simple stories
-puppet shows

Outings:
-library day
-bounce time at the new ice rink
-go out to lunch

fun.with.googly.eyes

So what do you do when it's rainy outside? Play with googly-eyes, of course!!

Amelia was the funniest! We decided that pinching your eyes shut was the best method. {I could barely take pictures because I was laughing so hard!}

I asked my facebook friends, and now I'll ask you...what do you do for fun on rainy days? I'll post my finalized list soon!

rough.day

This picture pretty much sums up our entire day today. Other than our time at co-op, there were a lot of tears...by all of us (some...{cough}Amelia...more than others!).

Over the weekend, I was reading the book Steady Days (thank you, Myah!!) by Jamie Martin. She was saying that at the end of the day, it can be helpful to write down things that you're thankful for. It can give you a much more positive outlook on life, even in the midst of craziness. So here's my list:

Today, I'm thankful...
...that Josh will be home in about 30 minutes (he's been out of town since Wednesday).
...for the moms at co-op...today, especially Deanna and Danielle. I definitely needed to talk about random topics that didn't include cleaning the playroom in my house.
...for my sister because I know there will never come a day when she refuses to talk to me...especially because we debate such serious issues like floral delivery fees! :)

I feel just a little bit better already.  I'm also thankful that tomorrow is a new day.  Exhale.

glamorous.life

I just want to share (just for a moment, of course) about the glamorous life that I lead.  As of right now, it is 12:13.  I should be starting lunch, but I'm not.  I'm doing what I want to do...because I do lead such a glamorous life that I stop for no one.  Except for my toddler....

...who is currently naked.  She's potty training (her choice).  But she just had an accident.  Her second of the morning.  I've spent about 15 minutes this morning simply cleaning up potty.  And with her, if I haven't been cleaning up her potty accidents, I've been wiping her bottom. 

She potties about 4 times per hour.  I secretly think she just wants 4 skittles per hour (her treat for pottying in the potty).  What can I say?  She's a smart girl.  Again, back to my main point:  I stop for no one.  Except my 5 year old...

....who has completely rearranged the kitchen and family room into one huge tent.  She, of course, made it with the biggest blankets that she won't be able to refold alone.  I may just have to stop eating bon-bons and watching my all favorite shows later to help fold those.  When did she make it?  Oh, while I was cleaning up that last potty incident. 

Again, back to my main point about my glamorous life:  I stop for no one.  Except my 7 year old...

...who needs assistance with her cursive.  Otherwise, the name "Jesus" ends up looking like "Jesians" because she was looking at Ephesians while she was in the middle of Jesus and all of the sudden was mixing up words.  "Why do I have to use my eraser so many times?"  I don't know.  Why do I have to clean the kitchen 3 times a day?  Unanswered questions in life. 

So, here I am...stopping for no one today (just like everyday, of course).  I was barely able to squeeze in breakfast this morning, I'm still in my pajamas, my hair is a mess, and (gasp!) I still haven't brushed my teeth today.  Ick.  But I really don't care.  I have 3 (almost 4) healthy children to hold in my arms, a husband who is a rock, and families on both sides that I couldn't do without. 

Glamorous life?  I think not.  Beautiful life?  Yes.  I am choosing to love where I am in this world.  I am so extremely thankful for all of the ways we've been blessed...more than we deserve, and yet the blessings continue to roll in.  Incredible.

Please remind me of all of this when I start complaining about wiping bottoms, my messy house, and home schooling.  Because the time will come when I will complain...quite possibly later today. :)

happy.mother's.day

This is my mom. She's pretty much one of the best moms ever, and everyone that knows her will agree.  I love you, Mom.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms who read my blog! Keep up the good mom-work ladies! We're all in this together.

"Train {your children} up to be people that may one day lead nations." I can't remember who said this, but it inspires me to be a good mom! :)