A First Friend at 9 Years Old

296-314 Gifts

Living the fullest life with the One who came to give us life to the fullest.
Being thoughtful on how to spend my time.
Gathering with others to worship.
Smiles and compliments to us about our beautiful boys from strangers.
A little boy telling me I am beautiful.
Counting down to a 3 year old birthday.
That same boys' newest phrase, "you silly goose"
My husbands' carmel eyes looking deep in mine
My dad reading to me his words stirred from God
A curious puppy
Folded laundry
After meals Bible reading
Oldest boy having a friend* (story below)
Preparing for a winter storm
Breakfast quesadillas
Beds made
Cozy socks
A book that dares you to live
A life of Eucharisteo

* A boy with a friend. After school on Friday, I had a friend of mine with a little boy in Jaiden's class drop us home. We so desperately want them to be friends, to notice each other. A mama's prayer on both ends. The life of having special needs kids. Jaiden got in the back seat of their van. S (my friend's son) sitting in his seat in the middle of the van, took notice that Jaiden was riding along and quickly jumped up and sat in the back with Jaiden. Jaiden smiled big. I looked back and S was relaxing with his feet on Jaiden's lap haha. He showed him his Wiggles cd. Jaiden smiled big. Jaiden asks to see S every day now. We will start carpooling soon. Jaiden has made his first friend. A first friend at 9!

For more firsts please read A first birthday at 9. 

Our School Days

It's been a while since I posted about our school days, and what we've been up to. We have had a wonderful month of school! Kind of strange, but almost every single day has gone smoothly.

We have been doing a ton of reading. Tibby is doing so well. It is starting to click with him, and he is actually enjoying it! We are also using Explode the Code daily, as well as other sight word games and writing practice.. We love those workbooks. Our chapter book this month is The Boxcar Children.
Jaiden has been going to school, and when he gets home he has his down time, and we do 20 minute computer based reading program, and reading books and lesson.

We are continuing through The Story of the World for History. It is a wonderful book. We have learned so much!

Brighton is finishing up the letter K. We have done many activities with the letter K that include kites, kangaroos, and keys. He seems to be adjusting to his new school routine prety well. He has also been working on the numbers 1-3.



 



Our number scavenger hunt:

 

Making his age with playdough:

 

We are learning all about plants. How they work. How they're good for us by producing oxygen and how we help them by giving carbon dioxide. God sure knows what He's doing! Tristin loved that water is called H2O, and asked daddy for some H2O...just to see if he knew what it was! We also created a terrarium for our science project.

We've been doing these Bible Studies every morning, and I just LOVE them. Our boys are really soaking it all up. Wonderful for character building!

We learned about MLK Jr. Tibby, just fell in love with his story. He realized that he was a strong man, and that he may not be here today if it wasnt' for King's courage to stand up for what was right. I could hear Tibby reading the books about him to his brothers. He was intrigued.

 

We've been doing different math games, and are gearing up to buy a math curriculum soon. Tristin can add and subtract in his head, and is learning fractions, and money.

Our theme at the begining of the month was snow. And boy, did we have fun with that!

Our sensory tub filled with cotton balls, blue and white jewels, and penguins and a  polar bear.



Placing things under, above, and beside the ploar bear. A great chance to learn about Northern Lights.



Number practice. Two snowman made out of peppermint "snow" playdough.

 

Art projects. Clean and messy!

 

 

 

Tibby has been practicing his cooking and food phography thanks to Ratatoulle and Pioneer Woman's Food Photography challenge ;)

 

i heart faces

This weeks photo challenge at ihearfaces is Innocent Wonder. This is one of my favorite pictures, because of how playful he is in it. This picture was taken this past summer while eating an early morning breakfast outside. I love this memory!

1000 Gifts

283. Reading One Thousand Gifts along with many others
284. relaxing weekends
285. a good first week of school
286. listening to a daddy read to his boys
287. a morning drive
288. music that captures enough to make you dance
289. the heat of the sun
290. Quiet Sundays
291. planning the week spent with my boys
292. slipping into a bed with cool, clean sheets, and just laying with my husband
293. a smile from across the room
294. a fresh new day
295. little boys and their cars

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being (showing the character of God), sustaining all things by his powerful word.
After he he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Hebrews 2:3

296. purification for sin
297. the character of God
298. this song that brings me to worship. Inspired by His word above.






 

Love Is In the Air

We're getting ready for Valentine's around here. I love this holiday, because for one, it's all about love and in 1 Corinthians 13:13 is says Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.

It's a wonderful time of year to teach our children how important it is to love one another.

I also, love that it's closer to Spring! Yes, around here, I pretty much consider it Spring  in February.

I wanted to go for a romantic feel in decor. Living with three little boys, a momma needs a little girly every once in a while!






Touches of whites and pinks with a little green.













I loved this quote, so I printed it and added it to our home for the season. "The price of love is simply love"

 

And this little table adorned with hugs and kisses. And love. And dust...=]

 






 Find more Valentine's Mantels at The Stories Form A2Z

Quiet Sunday

The boys haven't been felling very well, so today we stayed home and enjoyed a quiet Sunday. A day filled with pajamas, a new bloom, daddy reading to his boys, a little boy working on his Valentines, and the scent of homemade banana bread filling our home.



A good morning bloom filled with brilliant color.



Working on drawing hearts.



My extremely handsome husband with our little boys.





Fuzzy picture, but I'm in love. Can't you just hear what the cow says? "Mooo."



Building a city.




Love.



Time in the kitchen.





Winter berries.



And our curious baby Bella.



I hope you all have a beautifully blessed Sunday.

Small Art Station

In my effort to organize, I made the old record player in our kitchen our new art station. A roll of paper, chalk, crayons, markers, scissors, and glue are all easily available for the kids to get what they need.





I promise I dust. Black always looks dusty in our neck of the woods.

We really enjoy art, and having everything right there allows us to enjoy it even more!



 A little bit of art. The boys' MLK Jr project.



 More fun changes over at Annalea Hart

Peek Into The Boys' Room

All three of our boys share a room. We love it that way. We hear giggles for hours after they are put to bed. If I'm honest, it can get to me some nights, but most,  I just love that they are playful and happy.
Their room has very few toys and lots of books. It's much easier to keep clean, and I will share the way I organize the rest of their toys on a later date. (Remember my goal to organize the whole house....I've been working hard!)

I had one splurge and that was the shams from PB. They're full of color, and since I am creating a room for 3 very different boys, incorporating a lot of different colors was a must. There are bunk beds on the left of the picture.



I obviously need a lamp shade, and knobs. I don't spend money I don't have, so that will wait until I have it. Kinda makes projects last forever, but that's okay, it's what's best for us.
I painted that side table yellow, and lined the shelf with a map. The map above the bed is soon going to have pictures of family and friends where they live across the country.



I searched all over the internet for curtains. I found nothing in my price range. So, I just looked in my scraps of fabric and put these together. I don't know how to sew....yet, so I used the stitch witchery and ironed them. It took me about 1 1/2 hours. I really love them, they're simple and sweet, and free!



The blue on top is a ticking stripe, and the yellow is gingham. I tied them with the leftover striped fabric.

I still need to finish the walls with a few items and projects, and will post pictures of that when I'm done. This is the other side of the room. Their red chair is a nice comfy place for reading books. Those frames on top are empty. I have some little baseball boys that my great grandma stitched before she died, that I'm going to put in them. They are precious!



The green framed piece of metal was something Dan and I made last weekend. My dad gave me his leftover scraps, and Dan put those together while I painted the trip for the frame. It is now a fun place to make the magnetic marble run that they got for Christmas. It has a seam in it which really shows up in the picture, but we hardly notice when playing.


 

So, there it is for now. I can't wait to add the final touches and share. I've just had a wonderful in this room, and using mostly what I have. It really feels good to create. God has showed me so much, and learning to use what I have was one of the things. I used to put projects off because I didn't have the money to get started the way I wanted to. He showed me by looking at what I have, it all can come together, and He supplies the missing pieces!

Puppy Love Part II

Bella is here, and she is a doll! Everyone has just fallin' head over heals in love with this teeny girl.


She has (so far) proven true to all the characteristics I learned in my research, when we were looking and praying about the kind of dog to add to our family. I'm talking as far as being playful, loyal, and confident. After snuggling with her a few hours last night, I put her in her bed which is in a laundry basket. She played with her toy and rolled over and went to sleep. I didn't hear a peep from her until 5:30 AM when she, full of happiness woke up ready to potty, eat, and play.



She loves to explore. Every time we take her out front to potty, she always finds a leaf to chase, a scooter to climb on, or a bush to crawl under and disappear, only to find an exit on the other side.



She has also proved to be loyal, as she was standing on the front porch (the door was open) listening to the boys playing inside. I could tell she so desperately wanted to join them, but she hadn't gone potty yet, so I called her to finish. She wanted to go in so badly, but really didn't want to disobey. You could see the turmoil in her eyes, as she plopped down and barked. It was quite charming.



She, of course being a baby and all, breaks these boys' hearts with how many naps she needs. They can't stand it!

 






Needless to say, we are enjoying her.