Goodbye 2011!

So far 2012 is going very well. Matthew, Philip and I welcomed the New Year by watching the ball drop on TV. Braewyn almost made it but fell asleep at 11:45pm! We enjoyed New Year's Day with our church family at church that morning, lunch with our next door neighbors, and then a leisurely family afternoon. The Brooks Academy began our Spring Semester bright and early on Monday, January 2nd. The kids and I are reading through the Bible via summary overviews which I read from My Father's World teacher's manual, Philip reads a similiar passage from his Bible Reader, and then he writes a summary sentence with an illustration in his Bible Notebook. Philip is almost done with the 1st grade level of Math U See and still excels despite saying he dislikes math! Reading / phonics are also in our My Father's World curriculum, and he is also signed up for the Pizza Hut "Book It!" program. If he reads 20 books each month, he earns a free personal pizza!

Science is new this semester as I just changed to a curriculum published by Answers in Genesis. We'll be studying "The World of Animals" as we learn of the many different types of animals which God created: "the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind” (Genesis 1:24). Philip and Braewyn continue doing a few pages of their Building Thinking Skills workbooks and we're going to begin basic Spanish (we're talking picture flashcards!). All that with field trips and play dates should make for an educational and fun spring! I thank the Lord that Juliet is a wonderful napper still as she's asleep most days from 10am until noon. How things go once she no longer naps is a question mark. Cross that bridge when we get there!

Anyhow, before I get totally caught up in 2012, wanted to post some wonderful Christmas pics my friend Suzanne took of the kids. I used a few to make my photo books and calendars for family presents. Here are a lot more great ones and funny outtakes too!

Juliet and her friend Pate, who is Suzanne's son. They are buddies from baby Sunday School.

The kids with my friend and neighbor Greta. She came over to watch Pate while Suzanne photographed. She loves these four kids bunches and we love her! And here's where it goes crazy...

The bench photoshoot was unraveling,

Philip's doing his thing,

Juliet began grabbing the scenery at Greta's house,

and Philip says, "Are we done YET??" Yes, thank you sweeties! And a BIG thank you to Suzanne for taking such great photos!

Once Upon A Time

Matthew said a few of his coworkers had begun watching a new tv show called "Once Upon A Time" and really liked it. ABC aired a marathon of the show's first 5 episodes today which he recorded. I wasn't sure about it but said I'd watch the first episode with him. When it ended, I said, "Let's watch the next episode."

The general premise is the Evil Witch is so mad at Snow White and Prince Charming (everyone really) that she puts a curse on all of fairy tale land sending them all to a place where there are no happy endings. However there is an enchanted tree which can hold one person who will escape the curse. Snow White gives birth to her first born child and Prince Charming places the baby into the tree just before the curse takes place. The person who escapes the curse is the only one who can break it. The place they are all sent is Storybrooke, Maine. It's a small town where they all now live but do not know of their former fairy tale lives. The show jumps between Storybrooke and flashbacks from fairy tale land. It is written by the same team that wrote "Lost" and I am already hooked. It's my new favorite show. That said, it's still just a tv show.

However, there is another story, a true story. There is an evil wizard and a mighty king. There is a baby who was sent to break a curse. There are people living their lives without knowing their true purpose. There are others who understand that one day we will no longer live here but arrive where we truly belong. This story is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The mighty king is the One True God. He created the heavens and the earth. He knows the needs of each person on earth and can meet every one of them. The evil wizard is Satan. He is a former angel of God who chose his own way and is now banished from heaven, roaming the earth looking for those he may destroy. The baby is Jesus, both the Son of God and God Himself (I know, it's confusing). He left all the splendors of heaven to come to earth as a poor, helpless baby. He lived a sinless life and sacrificed Himself to break the curse and provide a way for sinful man to enter heaven. There are two kinds of people: those who know Jesus as Lord and Savior and are no longer under the curse, and those who do not know Him and are still under the curse of sin.

After watching "Once Upon A Time", I wanted to get on Facebook and tell everyone to watch it. Then God brought these thoughts to my mind. His story (and truly all of history is His Story!) is so much more powerful, amazing, awe-inspriring and TRUTHFUL than something created in Hollywood. If you want to watch "Once Upon A Time", I will say it's a really good show, but if you want to experience a more joyful, satisfying, real life, get to know Jesus. He loves you more than you could know.

Dickens Christmas

Well my plan to blog every day recapping the holiday highlights all through this Christmas season didn't really pan out. As always, I'm having a hard time keeping up with the laundry and dishes not to mention plan extra fun Christmas crafts and activities all along the way. That said we have had a few really fun days so far.

The evening of Tuesday, November 29 (so it really preceded my 25 Days of Christmas anyway!) was spent shivering in the cold fall air downtown amidst thousands of people all ready to ring in the Christmas season at our city's Dickens Christmas Festival. Matthew, my dad, the kids and I enjoyed the hustle and bustle of walking down the middle of Main Street, watching the reenactments of Victorian life in the storefront windows (hence the name Dickens Christmas, i.e. Charles Dickens' time) and then finding a fun indoor activity. Lowe's had set up shop in the lobby of the Denny's Corporate building where the kids could build (with hammer and nails!) tiny sleighs. It was a great night other than when we got home and I realized Juliet's feet were little red chunks of ice! She had footie pajamas on and I thought the thick blanket I tried to keep around her would be enough. Nope! Next time, shoes and socks for my little sweetie.

(Click on any of the pictures to see them larger. Great new feature from Blogger!)

25 Days of Christmas

Christmas is such a wonderful, joyous time of year but we somehow seem to let it fly by each year too quickly. In an attempt to slow down and cherish each day, I hope to blog about how we celebrated Christmas each day this month. Having three small children (one of which is celebrating her first Christmas this year!) does bring an extra dose of cheerfulness to this month, but also in my adult, spiritually mature mind, I can also get quite caught up in the mystery of it all.

Jesus, the Creator of the universe, humbly took the form of man and came to live on earth for one purpose: to allow His creation, mankind, a chance to get to know God personally. It is just amazing! To be a mother is to know firsthand how fragile and helpless a newborn baby is. Jesus left the splendors of heaven and was born as a baby into a dirty, animal stable. And we get upset about having to run errands on a rainy day.

Thank you, Jesus, for being our best Christmas present ever!

Merry Christmas!

Nine-month-old Screamer

When I was pregnant with Juliet, she barely moved and I was quite nervous about her a lot of the time. Then when she was born, she didn't eat for 13 hours just because she didn't want to. I was astounded by how mellow she was. Hence the nickname "Marshmallow". I really don't call her that much, marshmallow is a mouthful, and anyway she's really not that mellow anymore. Other that being a very patient baby when it's meal time if I'm carrying her around, Juliet has become quite the little impatient eater and screams out at random other times for no reason too. She's so funny.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 36th birthday.  According to Philip, I've been around the sun 36 times now.  It's been a good day filled with reminiscense back to some of my favorite things.  This morning my friend and neighbor Greta came over and she, the kids and I drove to North Greenville University where her son and daughter are students.  It's beautifully located in the mountains of northern South Carolina.  Fall is my favorite time of year to go to the mountains because you can see red and yellow leaves for miles! 

So my first flashback was eating a meal in a college dining hall.  The wide variety of food, unlimited supply and seemingly all of it for free (Greta treated us but I remember never handing over cash when I was in college; just scan my ID, thank you!) brought back many memories.  However the differences were extremely apparent too.  Never at my days at Winthrop University did I ponder, "Can my 8-month-old eat that?", "Where is my four-year-old?" (with Greta at the waffle iron), "Will my 6-year-old hurt himself as he does pretend karate on a makeshift stage area?" and last but not least, "What I wouldn't give to be able to walk in here and eat everyday instead of staring into my fridge and pantry trying to find something healthy/tasty for my family to eat!" Our friend Suzanne, who also came with her 11-month-old son, and I did discuss just staying through lunch too as we don't eat that good at home, but reality kicked in and it was time to drive home.  It was a nice visit and we all decided that we'll visit again in the spring and maybe spend some time wandering around campus. 

On the way home, I stopped at the park at the lake (just a mile from our house!).  The kids had done a great job at the college so I thought it would be fun to enjoy the pleasant fall weather.  We had the park to ourselves and so I enjoyed another favorite flashback... swinging as high as I could!  It was exhilerating to be on that swing with the fall foliage surrounding the beautiful lake in my view.  Swinging could definitely be the next fitness craze as it really does work your ab muscles!

After that, on to the house and Kim's grown-up, real life once again.  My birthday afternoon was spent making lunch, nursing Juliet, teaching Philip and Braewyn as school-time was pushed to the afternoon, and washing a load of laundry. 

Life is good and I thank Jesus everyday for which all He has blessed me.  I pray I might use my next 36 years to glorify Him more than I have with my first 36. 

Confused about the neighbors

My kids are growing up and with each stage comes new joys and new challenges.  Philip is now 6, almost 7, and thrilled that six boys live within walking distance of our house.  I love the small community feel of our little, dead-end street but it seems recently that it's turned into the set of a soap opera instead of a sitcom. 

So I'm trying to share the love of Christ with the boy Philip plays with most often.  His parents are divorcing and I'm happy to provide him with a peaceful haven for a few hours after school.  His mom is at home during this time so I'm not techincally babysitting.  The friend who I will call Charlie is an overall good kid but somewhat on the hyper side but I've grown to love him and he and Philip play really well together.  There's been a few potty humor jokes said and pretend injuries to the groin area but Philip sees that stuff from his church friends as well.  At this age, that kind of stuff seems to be on the minds of all boys no matter how strong his family is spiritually. 

Well, Charlie's mom and I are acquaintances.  I'll listen when she tells me how things are going with her husband and I try to encourage her to turn to Jesus.  Not that I'm trying to be preachy, but He is truly my only source of hope and strength, and I want that for her too.  She is a seemingly nice lady but I don't know her well enough to ask her to babysit my kids.  I don't think I should feel bad for saying that I don't know exactly what is said or done in their house and so I don't want my kids influenced to the point of not being able to come home if they want to (only Philip goes over there, but she's offered to watch all three). 

Here's where it gets complicated. Another mom on the street called me last week. She and I are even more distant acquaintances but she's always seemed very friendly and I know their family to be Christians. She called me with much hesitation as she didn't want to gossip but she told me that she and Charlie's mom are no longer friends due to Charlie's mom saying some very unkind things about her to other neighbors and being involved with things that the mom calling me disagreed with (being places and saying she was elsewhere, lying to her husband about things, etc.). This other mom said that Charlie had gotten too rough with her kids and was not allowed to play there anymore.  The mom was calling me to make me aware of the situation and not trust everything I see or hear.

Now I feel silly writing all of this because it does sound so 6th grade.  But the bottom line is that I love my son and want to protect him with my life.  Where do I draw the line as to whom he can play with, whose houses should I let him go into, how do I say he can play with certain kids if they come to our house but not to their houses?  I don't really think I'm a good judge of character as I'm quite gullible and often buy into whatever the person says. I do know I should pray for discernment and not let my mind go all "after school special" coming up with crazy thoughts of what might happen.

A friend whose kids are older teenagers now told me, "When your kids are little, it's physically exhausting, but when they get older, it's mentally exhausting."  I'm going to be all-around exhausted if I'm in the tough physical and mental stuff all at the same time!

A Healthy Family

I do desire to help my family stay healthy and well.  It doesn't take a PhD to know that the way Americans are eating is making us unhealthy.  My goal is to get to a place where I'm not making dinner out of a box.  Also I'd like to move away from processed snacks for the most part.  No more cookies and chips aisle! Yikes!  I need to pace myself because I get overwhelmed with the whole idea of making a dinner menu, writing out a list of ingredients, trying to save some money by using coupons (I am so not an extreme couponer!), and then getting to the store to buy all the needed things. 

I think this is on my mind tonight because here's what I fed my family today...

Breakfast:  Dry cereal and milk
Lunch: Fish nuggets and tater tots (Philip ate a banana with his; Braewyn says she doesn't like bananas these days)
Dinner: Mushroom pizza from Pepperoni Express around the corner

NOT ONE VEGETABLE ALL DAY.  That's shameful.  I'll do better tomorrow.

And finally, I'm going to bed with a clean kitchen and I think I might vote for Ron Paul for president.

Back to Blogging

Hello, blog world!  I'm deciding to blog without pictures whenever possible and with pictures when possible.  We've been doing a lot of fun things recently and I've been taking pictures to blog about however the time runs out and the thought of saving pics to the computer, resizing them, posting about them seems too daunting a task.  Whew, breathe...   I make myself crazy thinking I'm so behind on blogging when in actuality this blog is the least of my things I'm so behind on, things that really matter and would make like run more smoothly.  But I thank my God for my wonderful husband who recently blew new wind into my sails! 

Last week, my children, my parents and myself took an 8 day trip from SC to GA to FL to GA and back to SC!  It was wonderful introducing Juliet to her last three living great grandparents on my side of the family (she's now met all 5 of her living great grandparents!) and letting them and some of my aunts get to know Philip and Braewyn better.  The downside was a packed to the hilt Trailblazer, sleeping 8 nights with my loveable yet sprawling sweetie Braewyn, and breaking up countless fights between my older two as I parent-ed solo for the week (albeit Nana and Papa were there but just not the same as Daddy).

All that said, we came home to a very cleaned up house thanks to my main sweetie, Matthew!  He said he didn't get to the vacuuming but I didn't care... every toy was in its place and the final boxes which we never unpacked in our master bedroom were now gone, put away into more appropriate places!  He even changed the kids' bed sheets! 

It was a wonderful feeling walking around a picked up house and rejuvenated me with a desire to keep cleaning harder each day.  Ok, ok I'm not making any promises but just saying that currently, I am in a much happier mood and do want to be a wife Matthew will be proud of by keeping a tidy house and making this a place we are happy to call home.

All that being said, I'm going to sleep with a spotless sink!  Some of you know how I've struggled with housekeeping all of my married life and how I've tried 3 or 4 times to follow the FlyLady's system (www.flylady.com) only to bail out a few weeks in.  Her number one rule is to go to bed with a clean kitchen sink.  Seems funny but I'm going to stick with it and see if it rubs off onto a better grasp on cleaning the house in general.  Also, need to make time to sit down and right out a monthly chore chart for the kids and me.  I'm still hanging in there with my daily schedule I created after reading Managers of Their Homes (www.titus2.com) but only successfully sticking to the schedule until 1pm.  The afternoon hours are still getting off track because I don't have the schedule printed out in front of me and every day seems to go a little different from the others. 

Ok, more to come about how things are going these days... we've enjoyed meeting twice now with our once a month 1st grade co-op, read through Charlotte's Web and then saw the play, began attending Children's Choir with Philip in the choir and Kim leading a 4th grade class through their rotations, spending a super fun weekend in the Georgia mountains, having fun and learning at the same time at an apple orchard and an aquarium, and watching our newest little Brooks grow by leaps and bounds overnight!  And I'll throw a picture in now and then too.

Ok, here's one picture!

We were visiting a bear attraction/zoo in Helen, GA.  I love my three bears!

Happy Half Birthday, Juliet!

I seem to be struggling every day to keep up with laundry, dishes, school and not dreading starting it all over again each morning.  However, I'm taking a moment (at midnight) to say Happy Half Birthday to my sweet Juliet!  She technically turned six months old last week on the 17th.  How these six months have flown.  I praise Jesus for you and for the joy you bring to our family.

Back to Football... and to School!

Matthew and I started watching the Carolina Panthers play football on TV together when were dating. It was something fun to do and he taught me everything I know about football. Can't say I've followed them closely ever since but they are still my favorite NFL team. The team actually does its preseason training in our town so we decided to take our little Panthers fans to their opening day celebration!

So that was Saturday, July 30th. A good end to our official summer vacation and therefore it was time for school to begin. One of my favorite pro's for homeschooling is that I make our schedule, both class days and materials used. August 1st seemed like a good day to begin and so we did. This year, we are using My Father's World for Philip's 1st grade Bible, reading, writing, and science lessons. For math, we are continuing in Math U See. Braewyn is working with Hands On Homeschooling which I used when Philip was 4. And both kids are using a critical thinking skills workbook called Building Thinking Skills. For these workbooks, I decided at least two pages each a day but more if they chose. Braewyn has been doing 6 or 7 pages a day and she loves it! Very encouraging to me because last week she was telling me that she NEVER wanted to do school and that she would just take care of Juliet all of her life.

So far we're one week in and things are going fairly well. I think it's a large part due to the Managers of Their Homes scheduling book I've mentioned before. I've made out a daily schedule for the kids and I from 6:00am until 1:00pm. It keeps things moving along smoothly. Now I need to make time to nail down 1:00pm until 10:00pm and we'll be set.

Beach Trip -- Day 2

After the long post below, I wanted to throw some more beach pictures up here. So here goes Day 2. Pretty self explanatory!

My brother Mike, sister-in-law Andrea and nephew Holden arrived Monday night to spend the rest of the week. That last picture with the ferris wheel still makes me cringe. For about 30 seconds, I lost Philip in the middle of downtown Myrtle Beach. There was a kids' night at the boardwalk with blow-up bounce houses. Philip and Braewyn went into one which had a slide out the side. Braewyn came out and back in about 5 or 6 times. I told her it was time to go and she needed to get Philip. She said she didn't know where he was. I called for him with no answer. I asked the man "working" the bounce house to find a boy with black shirt and red shorts. He pulled out a 3-yr-old! I was beside myself as it was now about 9pm and there were hundreds of people all around us. I think either Mike or Andrea finally noticed Philip through the mesh still inside that bounce house. He could see a nearby stage from the top of the slide and was watching a magic show! My sweet, attention-focused boy had scared the life out of me! I cannot imagine really losing a child. Praise God we didn't that night.

My Time Spent Wisely in a Different Way

Last week, Philip attended science camp each day from 1-4pm.  It was my plan to arrange play dates for Braewyn, take Juliet with me to the science center, and spend the time waiting on Philip reading my schedule making plan book.  Well, the week didn't go as scheduled but I can clearly see it was according to the plans God had for me instead of the plans I had for me.


Monday, I took Braewyn across the street from the science center to a water fountain park.  It was a lot of fun until another little kid ran right into her and she literally skidded across the concrete.  Bandaids on both knees and one forearm and then we were headed home.  Matthew thankfully only works two blocks from the science center and so he was able to bring Philip home.

Tuesday, Braewyn did play at a friend's house while I spent three hours attempting to read through my scheduling book while Juliet napped on a bench.  Alas, I didn't know dance camp would let out in the hall where we were and Juliet ended up awake most of the afternoon, happy yet attracting lots of attention from passersby!

Wednesday, Braewyn and I joined a friend and her daughter for a swim date at their neighborhood pool.  It was a relaxing afternoon and a special time to catch up on what was going on in each other's lives.  She also lent me a precious baby float.  It makes Juliet look like she is floating in the middle of a flower!

Thursday was intended to be a day to drop Braewyn and Juliet off at my mom's and return home to clean.  Well, I ended up staying as my parents bought one of those plastic baby pools and it was too much fun watching Braewyn "go underwater" in one foot of water!

Friday was a great day for Philip and I to spend together.  A field trip was scheduled for this last day of science camp.  Maybe I'm overprotective, maybe I'm appropriately protective but I wasn't going to sign the release form for Philip to ride with an insured parent whom I had never laid eyes on.  I decided upon receiving that form that I would be the insured parent and drive him myself. It worked out well as I drove Philip and another 7-yr-old boy just 5 minutes down the road to a beautifully landscaped garden which I'd never been to before.  It was a fun day and a nice unexpected escape from my busy life.

However, I have been plugging along with reading the scheduling book and have written out mine and Juliet's Daily Activity sheets.  On this, you list all the activities you feel God wants you to do in your day and state how long each activity takes.  Here's the rundown on my typical day.

Quiet Time with the Lord -- 1/2 hr
Nurse Juliet -- 3 hr (obviously not in one sitting!)
Prepare breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Eat breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Prepare lunch -- 1/2 hr
Eat lunch -- 1/2 hr
Prepare dinner -- 1 hr
Eat dinner -- 1/2 hr
Exercise -- 1/2 hr
Laundry folding -- 1/2 hr
Morning chores -- 1/2 hr
Afternoon chores -- 1/2 hr
Sleep -- 7 hr
Computer time or read -- 1/2 hr
Time with Matthew -- 1 hr
Shower/hair/makeup -- 1/2 hr (we'll see if I can stick to this!)
School (Philip 2 1/2 hr; Braewyn 1 hr) -- 3 1/2 hr
Kids' bath or Book time -- 1 hr
Individual playtime with Mommy (Philip-T/Th, Braewyn-M/W,Together-F) -- 1/2 hr
Evening family devotion -- 1/2 hr

It feels really good to get it down on paper!

My Favorite New Book

More beach pictures are on the way but in the meantime, here's what I have going on this week. Philip is attending Science Camp this week each day from 1-3pm. He chose the Invertebrates (bugs!) camp to attend. It's for ages 6-11 so I'm excited to hear about what he gets to do and any new friends he meets. Since it's two hours long, I plan to drop him off and then spend my time wisely reading my new favorite book, Managers of Their Homes.  A friend gave it to me and I felt like it was a literal gift from Heaven!  It's a thorough manual with other real moms' sample schedules and a scheduling kit for me to use.  I'm excited to begin our third year of homeschooling however with Juliet's schedule added to our family and the neverending housework (I'm really trying to overcome my feelings of archenemy as my house is such a blessing from God!), I was really in a big need for some schedule overhauling!  Therefore, I'm going to bring my book along and scan through it this week while Philip is in camp and Braewyn is either dropped off for a playdate or entertaining Juliet with me.  The following two weeks (last two weeks of July), I'm working HARD at nailing down our own schedules (yes, every member of our family will receive a schedule; Matthew's on his own although their is a chapter in the book for Dads to read about how to support and encourage Mom in sticking to her's and the kids' schedules).  School will begin the first week of August and I pray to hit the ground RUNNING this year!  I'll keep you posted.

Just a picture to post...

Juliet LOVES this Bumbo seat. She's simply overflowing with joy!

Back to June -- Beach Trip, Day 1

So we left the kids' dance / tumbling recital around 5pm and arrived at Cherry Grove Beach at 10pm. We vacationed at this same beach and the same condo building three summers ago so we knew the place when we got there. Only difference this time was that our room key didn't work! Yes, three tired kids hung out on the balcony with Mommy until Daddy returned with a resort employee 20 minutes later. Actually my mom and dad (Nana and Papa) arrived at the condo just 5 minutes after Matthew left to go meet the resort employee.

The next morning, Braewyn and Philip were all smiles. They loved being at the beach!

And she's all suited up and ready to hit the beach!

Juliet tolerated the sun and sand very well. Too bad she won't remember her first beach trip.

However we did make sure she felt the sand in her toes!

Philip was a ball of energy on the sand. Thankfully the kids had lots of room to run!

And now Braewyn will herself remember being at the beach as she was just one year old the last time she was there. She had a ball running around. Cherry Grove is a wonderful, family-friendly, non-crowded beach! We'll probably never go anywhere else (in the Myrtle Beach area that is.)

Juliet snoozed comfortably under her own little cabana which I borrowed from a friend. It made staying down on the beach a possibility with an infant.

The sun and water wore us all out that first day at the beach. I am so thankful that I came across this great, low-priced condo as it has everything we need and is oceanfront! Can't beat that! (Click on the picture to enlarge and you can see the ocean out the window.)

Juliet is such a happy baby. I think Cherry Grove Beach got a big thumbs up from her -- great place to sleep and eat!