In Our Home

In Our Home

We do second chances
We say prayers
We do I'm sorrys
We play hard
We do loud really well
We give hugs
We do love

We Are Family

One Year Ago Today

As I was posting the last post I ran across this picture of the boys and noticed it was one year ago from today.  It seems like it was yesterday. As I stare into there eyes in this picture I think of several things.  The curls are gone.  The amber necklace has broken (soon to be replaced).  The toothless smile is now full of ten teeth.  The content on my back and smiling baby boy is now on the run.  I can do it myself is heard more than "Mom, will you help me."  Oakley sleeping all by himself and happily going to bed alone.  Asking to go to school and play dates without mom at friends houses without any tears.  The fourth and second year approaches.  Please, oh please let me be still in the moment and endure it all.  I pray that I can take it all in and enjoy what really matters. . . .Help me guide them as they grow and teach them by example.  Help me to be authentic, Lord. 

Thursday: Our School Day

On Thursdays we drive up to St. Pete to attend the St. Petersburg Homeschool Co-op. This is our first semester attending and so far we love it. We were unsure if it would be worth the drive and money, but so far every minute has been worth it. Its our day to get away and have school. Some of Oakley's friends attend school regularly and at times Oakley will ask where they are and I will respond that they are school. He often responds saying he wants to attend school so we thought this would be a fun way to have school, but also be involved. We are unsure on what we are going to do when the time arrives when school truely begins. A lot of praying going on for that subject! I do know that the times are so precious and we have our entire lives to be in school so I don't want to rush it!


We leave the house at 8:00 am at the latest. Sometimes that means eating breakfast in the car and Baron taking an early nap on the ride up. We enjoy early conversation discussing what the day may bring us. It takes us about a hour to get there so lots of time for praise and worship in the car and talking about anything that Oakley would like to talk about. I really enjoy car rides with him. We tell stories and talk about our friends and those we love. He sometimes is able to talk to family on the phone as well.


Once we arrive around 9am we get ready for the first class at 9:15am.

Teacher Doug (we call him) is our Science and Nature teacher. He is very friendly and always bringing one or more of his friends to share with us. Today we learned he has 60 animals total that he cares for! I believe most of them are reptiles and more on the exotic side. You can tell he loves animals and takes very good care of them. 


Today he started the lesson with the song, "The Old Lady That Swallowed a Fly". He had a doll that looks like the old lady in the book of this story and had all of the animals the lady consumes in the story as well. What really through us for a loop is when he started taking the animals out of the old ladies mouth to help save her so she wouldn't die (his personal version) when he got to the spider a live terantula came out!


We were all a little startled at first, but after Teach Doug asked if anyone wanted to be tickled by the spider the line formed of all the brave and adventurous girls in the class. It is funny how the girls are fearless and the boys in the class always hesitate to touch the snakes and spiders. We learned that Matilda the terantula excretes silk from her abdomen. She actually released some while Teacher Doug was holding her. He said she hasn't ever bitten him the 20 years he has had her. We were all amazed.


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Teach Doug is holding the brown terantula Matilda in his hand here.

The next animals Teacher Doug shared with us was a few lizards after a brief lesson on our lungs and how trees release oxygen and "eat" the carbon dioxide released by us. Of course the lessons are very basic since the ages range from 3 to 5, but I believe it is a fun way to lay the foundation of these lessons. Science was always my favorite subject through my years of school.




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Brief Lesson on Lungs. Learned that some snakes only have one lung!


The lizards he brought today were timid and scared. He was very careful with them because they do bite and also will scratch you. He mentioned that many Floridians have Iguanas as pets, but they have problems sometimes when a female human in the home goes through her monthly cycle the Iguana can sense it and gets really aggressive. I personally don't understand why anyone would want a lizard for a pet. It is not something I picture cuddling up too! lol.

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Teacher Doug putting the Iguana to "sleep"

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A Chameleon that can hang from trees like monkeys.


After Science and Nature class we have two hours of free play on the nice big and somewhat shaded playground. Oakley has met a friend that he really loves. His name is "Zeke". Zeke is short for Ezekiel. Zeke and his mom Amanda are very nice. They live in the St. Pete area and are believers as well. I have really enjoyed them on our school days.

Baron is taking off now that he is walking. Playing with a ball that is just a big as he is here.

Oakley's favorite part of the playground is the tire swing. I get sick watching them go round and round.

After some play we have lunch. We usually bring our own lunch, but today we took advantage of the pizza and homemade soup they sale. It was yummy. After lunch and more play fourth period is our second and last class of Waldorf Inspired Art and Handwork Class. Mrs. Yarrow is very sweet and patient with the young artist. We have painted with wet on wet watercolor, made leaf prints with vibrant beeswax crayons, and have made and decorated our own paper. Here are some pictures of Oakley making paper from recycled white paper.

Thursdays are long, but very fun days for us.  I am so thankful that I get to share this time with the boys.  They fill my heart with joy seeing them learn new things everyday.

Lovin This Weather

The weather has been gorgeous since Saturday and we are just praying that it stays this way for a long time.  Summer for us is like winter for most people.  We stay inside in the air conditioning and only get out in the early mornings or evenings.  The bugs are so bad in the evenings sometimes we even stay in during that time too.  We have been in much need to get out and play.  We are not inside folks.  We are happiest when our bare feet are in the grass or sand and when we can breath some nice fresh air.  This time of year we have picnics outside, spend more time at the beach, and more time at the park and Children's Garden.  So glad the nice weather is here.  The boys are much happier when outside as well.  Now lets go out and play!

Baron is Walking

Baron is almost 14.5 months old and now walking more than he is crawling.  I can't believe my baby boy is walking!  He was not in a big hurry to walk it seemed, but you can tell that he is very happy and proud of himself when he does.  His world and our world are both about to change.  I was excited for him to start walking, but in my heart a little sad as well.  My baby boy Baron is getting so big! Tonight, he was taking a shower with Oakley and decided he was all finished and walked wet and naked to me in the living room.  It was so cute.  He is such a joy to us and we love him so much.  Here is some pictures of him lately taking his steps.

So happy to be walking now!

He walks like a monster.  It is so adorable.

Baron is a Big Boy!

Now that he is walking all he wants to do is play with Oakley and his big boy friends.  Here he is playing in the sand at the Children's Garden with Forrest, Oakley, and Oliver.

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Friends

Around ten years ago when I left home to go to college a few weeks before some of the most memorable years of my life were to begin I was with my new team mates in the Pisgah National Forest taking a dip into the French Broad River.  Our coach would take us up into the moutains to go swimming and hiking.  He felt strongly about us being close and having fun together off the field.  I remember wearing my favorite burgundy chaco sandals and noticing a girl on the team had an exact pair like them.  Seemed elementary of me to think this, but I thought she must be cool to have the same shoes as me. (lol).  As we swam in the chilled clean and clear water I pulled myself up on the rocks to take in all that was happening around me.  I felt alone and was homesick, but excited about the times to come.  Some of my new team mates were even farther away from home than me.  It made me feel grateful to live only 4.5 hours from home and if I had too I could drive down the mountain back home before season started.  As I'm sitting there a new transfer from VT on the team came up to me and starting talking with me.  She was full of life and energy.  From the small bit of observation you could tell she loved life and was a happy and fun gal.   I always gravitated to people like this in hopes that I could be more like them I guess.  She picks up a medium sized rock and says, "listen to this".  She throws the rock up into the air and then it falls heavily down into the river making a loud and funny sound.  She says, "thats an elephant fart".  We both laughed.  I was in need of some good laughter over something childish and silly like this.  I knew from right then on that we would be friends.  I know its silly, but sometimes you just know when you have a certain connection to someone.  Chacos and elephant farts were only the beginning.   The season turned into seasons that we got to play soccer together.  We went on our ways trying to follow the path that God had paved for us.  Meg accepted Christ into her heart during these precious years and her faith and love for Christ grew so much.  We both married our college sweethearts and in my heart deep down hoped and prayed that we would one day get to laugh like that again together.  Meg and Jeff lived in Kentucky for a while before they moved to Arcadia, FL.  John and I lived in Rockford, IL until I finished school.  We then moved to Bradenton, FL for me to attend an internship to receive my licensure and registration as a dietitian.  We were a hour from each other now.  We were very thankful and excited to be so close.  Busy lives with work and such made it challenging for our families to get together.  We were thankful to only be a hour from each other, but it was more than a tease than anything.  Then about seven months ago my husband told me that Meg and Jeff were moving to Sarasota.  I couldn't believe it.  Jeff had not yet told Meg in hopes to help her maintain composure while he figured out the details.  I couldn't believe it.  I was so excited and couldn't even talk to my best friend about it.  Once Meg knew they were moving we then talked about how great it would be and were counting down the days till the move.  I couldn't be more blessed to have one of my best friends from college back in my life.  She has not only motivated me to make time for myself and get back into the gym, but she has made being away from family (once again) a little easier by being such a genuine friend. Our friendship makes me stronger when that feeling of homesickness that is so familiar sets in.  She is a friend that I can pray with and study God's word with.  I am so blessed to have her back in my life.  Our children are laughing and playing together and it is a joy to our hearts to see this.  We sometimes doubted that our paths may never cross again, but thankfully my prayer was answered.  Thank you Lord for my friend Meg.   I'm so glad that I get to share these special moments with her.  I pray that I can be what she needs from me as a friend.  I pray that I will never take our friendship for granted.  Here are a few pictures of Sommer and Oakley playing together today. 

We Are Back

It has been a very long time since I have blogged.  I am sad looking at the past post and knowing I have a huge gap of time lost here.  It has been extremely hard for me to take the time to blog, but my goal is to get back to it and start up again.  The boys have changed so much since the last time I blogged.  I started to get teary eyed looking at the previous posts and realizing again how much they have grown so quickly.  This week my family is visiting and we have had a blast so far.  We are all staying out at Siesta Key and having so much fun.  The weather is beautiful and the ocean is perfect.  I can't believe we live here.  It is paradise.  Baron is starting to take a few steps here and there.  He also loves the water and is fearless of it.  Oakley is learning to boogie board and enjoying time with my mom (Mommaw Judy), my cousin Bruce, and my Aunt Linda.    We miss family so much and take in every minute to the fullest when they are here.  I have decided to do nothing in our normal rythym of our week and instead spend every minute with them. 

I could go on forever because I feel that I have so much to share, but in the meantime here are some pictures of the boys the last few days. 

Oakley 3.5 years old learning to boogie board

Oakley has turned into a big boy.  It amazes me how fast they grow up.

Baron loves the beach.  He is 14 months old here.

Oakley with his friend Sommer.

Oakley and Aunt Linda walking on the sand-bar together.