Ever

Everyn is 15 months now.

She is taking a few steps.

She is getting all of her molars (poor baby has been drooling and chewing- but not really crabby, despite them all making their appearance at once).

She likes to cuddle and laugh.

She watches her siblings for a reaction while taking stuff from them.

She says a few words, but not too many.

She says "Mama" and "Da"

She says her own name, "Ever" and something "B" like for banana, bottle and Berean.

She says things that sound like questions when she wants to know something.

She makes sounds that sound like exclamations when she wants to tell me something.

And she screams all of dinner and refuses to eat if I neglect to give her a fork.

She is a good eater and will eat lots of different things.

Her siblings adore her, and she them.

6 miles

I haven't said anything about this on my blog, because, well, mostly because I haven't said much of anything on my blog.  My silence does not mean that things aren't happening.

They are happening.

Still trying to figure out house stuff, yard stuff, maid stuff.

But really, who has time to figure out any stuff when there is always stuff that must get done now?

We had fun with friends yesterday at the Children's Museum. 

Because of that, today was a work day.  Sorting toys, organizing rooms, shredding paper.

Love it.

And running, because really, that is the point of this post.

Guess who ran 6 miles today without stopping or walking?

yep, that would be Noah!

I am so proud of him, he has been embracing running, losing weight and pretty soon we can be one of those couples that run together :)  Maybe we can even get matching jackets. 

But probably not.

We really aren't into wearing matching attire.

But then again, I never thought we would run together either.

The "running together" window may be short, though, because if he continues to run and to lose weight, there is going to be no stopping him.

And me, well, getting better and faster seems really hard.

My 9 year old just ran a 8 minute 5 second mile for gym class.

I can barely beat him in a sprint.

sigh.

I am old, and I am a girl.

Guess it is just going to be the way it is.

And do you know what? 

I am ok with it.

(but that doesn't mean that I am going to quit trying to win!)

Berean turns three!

Children's Museum!

In honor of Berean's 3rd birthday, Noah took a day off and took the girls to the Children's Museum.

Noah's sister, Genna, went along for the fun.  There is a special Dora/Diego exhibit going on right now, which Berean especially loved, seeing how obsessed she is with those two adventurous cousins.

I have to admit that I flipped out a little bit when I got home and saw the pictures.  I had carefully laid out one of Bre's favorite outfits and had made sure she put it on before I left.  She was excited about it and got dressed in it on her own first thing in the morning.  However, sometime between when I left and when they left she decided that her clothes were "wet" and insisted on a change.  So, what you get is Noah's attempt at a 3 year old girl outfit, although, in his defense, I am sure she had a lot to do with it. [I'm sure, in his defense, Bre had everything to do with it -N]

Everyn likes to push buttons

Berean really liked the costumes

She wore her hat the whole time

More costumes!

She was fascinated by all the things to do!

On the Pirate Piggies ship!

Yep, Ever sticks out her tongue when she is concentrating!

Giving Baby Jags a bath!

Berean loved putting the animals in the scanner to see if they were hurt

Ever just wanted to scan herself

Big baby!

Berean with her favs!

Sweet Ever :)

It Doesn't Take Long

The other morning I got home from work and went to sleep.  My mom was over to babysit, but she couldn't stay a really long time, so I was pretty tired when she woke me up.

She told me that the baby was in her crib and still napping, and that the other kids had been fed and were just playing.  I could hear them all playing happily, so I took my time getting downstairs. 

I took too long, I guess.

The above picture is pretty much what I found when I came downstairs.  Well, except for the baby.  This picture was taken a little bit later, after she woke up.

Yes, in the space of the few minutes after my mom had left and when I could just hear them and not see them, they managed to pull both mattresses out of their room and up one flight of stairs, rearrange the living room furniture, haul all the blankets and pillows out of their room, haul down all of the blankets from storage and proceed to have a jumping jamboree in the middle of the living room.

They can be extremely productive when properly motivated.

Summer

School is not done yet, but we are drawing ever nearer to the conclusions of our primary text books.  Of course, because of that, my thoughts are during to spring review plans and summer review plans.

And I am also just looking forward to a lot of time outside.

Summer.

How I love the summer.

I already told Noah that we must order a running wheel for the Burley, and he also needs to teach me how also to attach it to the bike.  I want to be mobile. 

I don't have a baby, I don't have a newborn.  Parks, beach, hiking, camping- it's all going to happen.

But, we also need a little time for schoolish activities.

I think this year I am going to use a gimmick.

I am not a gimmick person. 

Gimmicks require time, effort, follow-through and some measure of creativity.

And none of those things are my strong suit.

But this year I am going to try it. 

My plan is to have 3 jars, each with a variety of slips of paper in them:

School A jar will have these items:

1. Recite States and Capitals
2. Recite Presidents
3. Recite continents and 3 countries on each
4. Recite planets, kinds of rock and examples of each kind of rock
5. 5 kinds of vertebrates and examples of each
6. Something physics related
7. Answer timeline questions
8. Write 5 sentences about any topic
9. Books of Old Testament and New Testament
10. Awana Verses
11. All About Spelling phonics review

School B jar will have these items:

1. Multiplication flash cards
2. Division flash cards
3. Addition flash cards
4. Subtraction flash cards

Job jar:

1. Wash chairs
2. Wash windows
3. Kitchen helper
4. Clean up yard
5. Clean up deck
6. Entryway organizer
7. Woodwork scrubber
8. Vacuumer
9. TV/walls cleaner

Every morning we will take 3 slips out of jar A and do them, 1 slip out of jar B and do it, and each kid will have to take 2 slips out of the "job jar" to work on during the day.  They also each are going to have to read everyday and we may do a fun geography program or weather program.

We will plan on doing this 4 days a week and they can have Fridays off.

I am hopeful that this will encourage (and I will be able to encourage) getting up early, getting this stuff out of the way and getting out and about to enjoy the day!  We shall see!