Happy Summer

 It's what's written on our letter board. 

Happy Summer. 

Indeed.  Happy Summer!  We are happy it's summer.  2021.  I still get mixed up what year it is, truly! I think its been a couple years since I last wrote.  I really do forget.  But its so fun to look back on things we've done, faith journeys, and of course photos.  I do struggle a bit with how much to share and I think that prevents me at times from sharing my life.  It can definitely be a highlight reel, but it can also lead to unnecessary judgements. 

Last year we were just getting some landscaping done. We had to build up our yard and dirt was EVERYWHERE!  Ella had horse lessons. We tore down the old house across the yard. We went to Disney World/Land! We thought we had the Corona!  We planted some new trees.  The grass came in!  We got a puppy!  We had a nice warm spring.  We lost a cat and got a new one! We enjoyed some great dates in Minneapolis. 

Easter 2021

The old house

Our cat, Toby

Disney World, 2021

Our first pup

Dates in MPLS

Pat, our first cat.

Disney Land 2020, before you know what.

Disney Land

sunflowers from our flower garden

lots of walks and bike rides!

Produce from our lovely garden

Ella's horse lessons

We've enjoyed many fun things and experiences the last couple years. Of course this is a highlight reel and I haven't posted the hard, the ugly, and the miserable.  But all the same-- we have to experience the rain before the growth. 

random facts

I haven't blogged in a while, so here are some random things that have been going on for us:

we are half done with beets

i have a clean kitchen (after 3 days of working on it!)

started reading 'unglued' by Lysa TerKeurst

homeschooling is still going good

today is Tuesday which means a very busy day with B. Study and Dance at night

 Still waking up in the middle of the night to pump

praying we don't get sick!

with beets and other activities, there is not much time for anything

Ella is almost 6 months old!
starting to Christmas shop, yep!

it is so much fun to teach Kate 

they've just learned the days of the week and over half of the months of the year

trying to treasure every minute with the girls

it's beautiful out today

finally made a trip to the dry cleaners 

going to organize one cupboard a day this week in the kitchen

wanting some pumpkin spice coffee

tonight I am going to sit and relax!

 started this post at my first pump of the day, and finally finishing at my 4th pump :)

xoxoxo

dance

Today.   Full of joy.   Busy, but full of joy.  This morning I went to bible study with the kids- at first I was skeptical about it, but it's a chance for them to be social and my eyes seem more open for chances to involve them with other kids.  I suppose it's a win-win. :)   We got home, made lunch, put Ella to bed, and started homeschooling.  I let Maddy stay up in hopes that she would behave. After a couple of threats of sending her to nap, she calmed down and even listened in. I have been working on putting summer clothes away and there was a huge mess in their room with clothes neatly folded, but all over the floor and in baskets. I knew it should get cleaned up soon or I would regret it later! I worked on that for a good 20 minutes and before we knew it, we were rushing out the door to dance class. It never fails, we were running late again.  After finally getting to the school and parking on the total opposite side, we were in the room and I watched in excitement and clicked away on my camera, fighting Ella who was very curious. I'm so very excited for them in the upcoming months....what a great experience and opportunity for them!

a calling

Yes.  We started homeschooling.   Why?  People ask that when I tell them.  One said "Interesting".  One person even said, "How do you make time to home school?"   Easy.   Homeschooling is THE priority.  And if you have time to spend with your kids, you have time to home school!

I can think of many reasons why we want to home school, but for now I'll list the main reasons.  Kindergarten.  It's too long.  Five days a week, and every day, all day Kindergarten.  The day before she started I was desperately looking into finding a three day kindergarten for her.  I did find one, but it was also 30 minutes away.  I couldn't commit to two whole hours in the car, especially with a small baby and winters in Minnesota. So, we gave it enough time to make a decision, which happened to be just three or four days.  It helped that Kate (along with probably every kindergartener) was overstimulated and cried about why she had to go every day.

The second reason, which should  be the first reason, was a calling from God. I had been called two years ago only to give in to Satan's lies of inadequacy.   I've learned that every mom has those same thoughts and was encouraged that my love for Kate would drive me to provide the best education for her. Even if it meant stretching me.  How can  you ignore such a calling?

After much, much prayer,( like every hour of the day ) we felt at peace with scripture that jumped out at us, or things we saw/heard.  This is what popped up the Friday we took her out of school:

"Opportunities are always lost when we let fear overrule our faith. When God calls you to a task beyond your abilities, instead of giving in to your feelings, choose to rely on what you know about Him and His promises. By moving forward in faith despite your inadequacy, you will discover the Lord's faithfulness. He always empowers us for the works He assigns."

- Encouraging words this morning from Dr. Charles Stanley

Coincidence?  No. Some people just won't understand. Some will have their opinions. Yet I am trusting in God this season to sustain me and bring me through it.  The teaching part is fun.  I get to read and teach my kids.  What better joy is there than that? What better joy to be able to teach the girls about life and how to live it here at home?  Today they learned about trusting God.  But it also means working long hours on everything else and literally running around the house at times to get things done a little faster! :)  I think honestly one reason why I was unable to breastfeed was that when I'm pumping, at least I get to sit!

And the third reason explains it well in this link under the "1. When & why did you initially decide to home school?" section under all the photos; the very first paragraph.

Though I've only had a week at it, it will take some time to get a good routine down. Obviously the perfect situation is to do it during Ella and Maddy's nap time... but that doesn't always work. I have to work around hours of pumping and feeding, preparing meals, tantrums, tiredness, harvest and giggling and wild girls. I don't know where God will bring us with this.  Maybe it's just kindergarten. Maybe it's first and second grade, too.  I just know that we are taking it one year at a time.

 it is the best thing for our family right now.

Joy

I find myself not having anything in particular to write, yet so much has happened.  Maybe a week in photos will help explain... trying to find joy in the littlest things. And when I make an effort?  Beyond blessed.

lemonade stand

We had our first lemonade stand yesterday. The girls woke up so very excited... who knew having a lemonade stand would be so much work? Getting it all ready by 11am was a little challenging, being i had to pump and feed ella twice. I made a paper gingham banner that morning and had to run home to refill the lemonade. We sold lots of cookies, too that we made the day before. Overall?

  200% success.

Meet Ella

It has been way too long since I last posted. Over two weeks I am sure. But our little baby girl Ella is here! We were really surprised that we had another girl, but oh so joyful and excited at the same time!  She was born April 21st, at 10:28 p.m.  No, I didn't go in naturally... I was induced a week early.  It turns out I was dilated to 4.5 when I went in, and I was leaking amniotic fluid as expected. I was pretty sure I was leaking, but at the same time I didn't want to drive all the way to the hospital and be wrong and have to come back home. Turns out, I was exactly right, and since I had Strep B., she had to come out as soon as possible or there was a risk of transmitting the bacteria to her.

We got there about 1p or slightly after, by 2:20 or so, we received info that I'd be staying. I was very thankful we packed most of our things *just in case*. They started everything around 3, and for about two hours I just kind of layed there dormant. Nothing was happening at all, just some inconvenient cramps. This is was normally happens when I get induced, and I knew if there was any water left to break, they need to break it so things could get moving.  By 6 I had some regular contractions, by 8 I got the epidural -- sadly the pain wasn't even that bad, I just really wanted to be comfortable. Instead it really didn't help a whole lot because I ended up not being able to breath very well. At 10pm, I finally convinced them to break the rest of my water, which ended up not being very much, but once it was broken, I went from a 6 to a 10 in about 10 minutes. I then felt the urge to push like I did with Madelyn, and I just remember feeling excited. Like, "this is about to happen!". I felt strong urges to push and they advised me not to. We did a couple of practice pushes to see if I'd make any progress and within once push they saw a head and told me to quit! I remember crying a little bit because as I pushed, it hurt and I was shivering and uncomfortable.  As I pushed they told me the baby had big shoulders and I definitely felt that!  Finally I felt relief and they announced proudly and loudly that it was a girl! I remember laughing excitedly because we were wrong again. When they put her on my chest she didn't seem to look like either of our girls. She was our Ella.

The best part of the whole day, besides the birth of Ella, was watching Peter as he cut the chord. His faced was filled with emotion and love. I continued to watch him as he followed the nurse to see how much Ella weighed. He was looking down on her in admiration, following her every move like a lost puppy. I just loved it. I watched him the whole time.  Even now, it is so fun to see him come home from work, hug and kiss the girls, and then come straight to Ella. What a proud dad.

To be continued....

They're in!

The cabinets are in! But I don't want to post any photos because we are waiting for the counter tops. We have gotten, or, I have gotten about 40% of the stuff back into our kitchen. I am a bit worried that we don't have as much storage as before but we'll wait to see once we get our small appliances and bakeware back into the kitchen. Yesterday was a big day for me - I could hardly walk honestly. My back hurt and with certain steps my legs would give out. Once I sat down for a while I had more energy and felt better but carrying boxes up and down stairs is really not a good job for me. The kids helped by "washing" some of the dusty utensils  - they thought that was so much fun!  Then they put all the cans and boxes into the pantry and later that night Peter went through them and organized them better for me. That actually was so helpful on both parts because I would have had to bend over most of the time and that would have been really hard for me.  We got the dishwasher working and our old sink in until our new countertops come in, which is next Thursday.  I think they are already done cutting them, but for some reason it's Thursday when it works for them to come. So, that is sad! But, at least we have water - I am just so excited to see how it all looks!!!

We are also getting our table Friday sometime between 8 and noon and it's coming from the cities. I think originally it was from California.....it's amazing to us that shipping was as little as it was (though to me it's a LOT of money still for shipping) but if you think about how many people handled it, how much gas, etc... it should really be a lot more.  So, that will complete the look of the kitchen for now, until of course our flooring and back splash are in, which we don't know when that will be. We still have doors to be hung, too, and some trim on windows.  I am excited for it to be complete.

Last night I wrote a list of things to do so I am sure today we will be busy since Peter is home. We really haven't gotten to take advantage of when he's home because throughout the winter he's had SO many meetings to go to. Now, time has passed really when he can do projects around the house. Pictures are really non-existant for me at this point... I take some but as much as I used to. I am just too tired to upload and spend however much time it takes to edit. I have been cheating by using Peter's phone while he's home to take photos.  Oh well. I am sure once the baby comes I will be taking pictures like crazy. And once we get the kitchen in order and get through Easter, I will be focusing more on the baby, hopefully.  I feel like I am not prepared at all!!

slowly but surely

Every day I seem to think about the same statement: "April 26th seems so far away.... so impossibly far away".  It has truly been a long winter and now right at the end of it I am getting sick with a cold. I hope it doesn't add to my discomfort! This week might be the start of demolition to the kitchen. Peter will be destroying the soffits, lighting will hopefully be installed and also praying sometime early next week (week of the 12th)  we will have work completed to the living room ceiling and all cabinets out, walls and ceiling textured and ready for painting during the weekend. Then, the carpet will most likely go in that week or weekend, flooring will be taken out or patched up and the week of the 19th is a hopeful week for installation of the cabinets. Then, a full week longer for our countertops to come in.  I am trying, really, really hard to not get my hopes up for delays. The week of installation is when we are able to stay at our in-laws so that would be great for all of that to work out. Still confused about meals...hopefully it's not too hard. My goal is to have a really good and detailed meal plan worked out as soon as the contractor comes in to repair and patch up the walls.  There will always be people in my kitchen!

This week I plan to take out some of the contents of our upper kitchen cabinets (since they'll be removed this week) and find a place for everything. I am also hoping we can get some sledding in with the kids.... we are praying we feel better this week.  Better go to bed!

looking ahead

It has been quite some time since I last wrote! I sometimes think to write, but then get too lazy, if that is even possible. This week I went 9 days without posting any 365 photos.  The last couple weeks have been pretty productive. Slowly we are getting a few things organized in the house-- the bunk beds have been up for a little while and this last week they both started sleeping in them finally. The first night was a little rocky because Maddy kept giggling, but since I threatened to bring her back into her bed I haven't heard any peeps the rest of the nights.  I organized our linen/medicine closet in the hallway.... oh my- I threw out almost a whole garbage bag of old medicines and body sprays/lotions, etc. I usually clean it out twice a year and I still had that much stuff. This year though, i've noticed my attitude with throwing out has changed a lot. Before I would think, "oh, I'll probably use this for.......(fill in the blank)" -- I know better this time.  Bags, and bags, and bags of stuff have been thrown out, including clothes that I normally wouldn't give away were sent to a thrift store and I even sold some of the girls' clothes since most is in excellent condition.

Other things done:  I cleaned out the "yellow" room to make room for kate's old mattress, well not old, we just got it a couple years ago, but now it is being used in another guest bedroom. I cleaned out all the papers and old junk in that room, cleaned out most of the toys, threw out lots and lots of junk, and even cleaned out my sewing/craft area.  Peter finally got the kitchen closet cleaned out and added two more shelves and now we are able to store some of our food/canned goods (use as a pantry) for when the kitchen remodel takes place. We're really trying to be efficient during this time and I have been searching for some frozen slow cooker meals I can put together within the next two weeks to be ready for when we don't have a sink. We still have many things to order, such as our table, faucet, sink, -- mostly everything and we're just not sure when to get all this stuff.  I think the faucet and sink need to be asap, but the table is rather large and Peter is worried that another sale would come up between now and when we need it. Production time is March 16th, which means we're hoping to have them deliver and install the week after and to be safe, for sure around the 23rd (but they can't guarantee the Monday after the 16th, --we're crossing our fingers!)   We are unsure when to start tearing out sofitting,  electrician work, contractor work, and flooring work.  We are also due to replace our living room carpeting due to water damage and ceiling work as well.... so, so much going on. It hasn't hit us quite yet but with all the work in the kitchen going on, it's not like I will be able to be in there making food.... so I will have to have a definite EASY meal plan for several weeks while work is being done. Awkward.

I've also been looking at some photos of myself during the summer, back when I weighed the least in my life since like, 9th grade.  It makes me really sad that I will have to start all over after the baby is born, and who knows how much energy and time I will have. The energy part is what I am hopeful for because I have the motivation... just not the energy. Baby has been terribly active, especially at night and seems to HATE when I lie on my left side! It is so weird, it goes nuts! As soon as March hits, i am hopeful it will go really fast, especially with all the stuff going on in the house! This week, Kate is going to the dentist for fillings (again, poor girl) we are now up to 3 times a day brushing and rinsing for both kids, we'll see if this helps.  Maddy has a concerning mole on her cheek that they (derm specialists we went to) advised us to get removed and do a biopsy on the mole to make sure it's okay.  Scary stuff, but that just adds to this overwhelming March month.   Off to bed I think!

things to think about

We had a great weekend visiting my younger sister Kelsey. It was a huge joy to see how excited Kelsey was to see the girls... how she looked forward to it all week and how the girls woke up early, excited to get on the road. It's sad that she loves being with them so much and is so far away... even when she lived closer (about an hour away) she'd come every weekend to visit them. She doesn't have much money yet she buys them stuff all the time.  She is like a second momma!   Priceless.

We went ahead with the kitchen. It was really a huge praise to us how well it went. We had complete peace and feel really good about it.  On my prayer list this week is that I would be able to go with the flow and just get through the next few months.... they'll be very hard on my personality. I have trouble with things being outrageously messy and I know for sure I won't have energy to keep up.  My prayer is that I can be content and not make it hard for the kids or for Peter. With my fall it has made things a lot harder now to keep up, especially since lifting is really out of the question- though I still do it at times when i'm desperate.

Ecclesiastes 1:3: What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? 

That's what I need to seriously think about the next couple of months. 

I'm so thankful for my Triad group for encouraging me tonight. 

latest photos

Wish I had more time to write, but I don't. I'm awfully tired and we've got a big day tomorrow- so here's just a couple of pictures to get me by til next time....

new pictures

I've had a chance to take some really fun photos over the last week...and it's been especially fun to put a 'watermark' on them! Of course when I print them it won't be on there, but to me it makes the photo look more dramatic and real. I had ordered a bunch of photos the other day and a photo book too, and as I was looking through the pictures I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. Yes, a photo a day is sometimes a burden, and editing can be too especially when you don't feel like it or busy...but it is TOTALLY worth it! I just love doing 365... it makes me accountable to taking pictures. I was hoping today to get kate in some of the frosty ones... but we'll see. My tailbone is really hurting today for some reason so it is hard to move around. We plan to go to my nephews game tonight so I'll be sitting on hard bleachers.. hopefully it will go okay! Here's the rest of them.