Reading

He asked to read me a funny book in bed tonight. 

Honestly, the book is not funny, but his laughter is.

And I love him...and the magic of reading.

Busy Box

What is our Busy Box? 

Well, I'll tell you, often it is my saving grace in our days. 

It is a basket full of games, mind teasers and fun.

I've had a lot of questions on what is in our box and how I use it - so here you go:

I use it when one child needs my attention on school work and another is waiting, not so patiently.

I also use it during read alouds for something for their hands to do.  (Although I will say most of our games require more concentration than is possible for read aloud time. 

But I'm working building that aspect of our box.) 

All the kids love it, from Lauren down to Torrance. 

I really only use it during school time. 

I got this idea and a lot of the game ideas from another homeschool mom. 

Thanks Holly!

I've had several requests to know what we use so here is the post where I share what we have. 

Its also really fun to find new pieces to add. 

1. We keep some of our math manipulatives and sewing cards in this box. Those would include counting pieces and Color Sorters as well as Math Cubes. 

2. RUSH HOUR

3. Candy Fix - not one of our favorites

 4.Math Dice

5. Soltaire Chess - very fun if you're into chess like my kids

 6.Lazer Maze - fun but pricey game

 7. Spot It - Awesome 2 player game. 

 8. Hoppers 

 9. Kanoodle - definitely a favorite

 10. Cubebot - mindless fun while listening to me read ect. 

11. Mighty Mind - Great for the little two and mindless fun for the older ones. 

 12. Mosaica

13. Bananagrams - We play this as a group and also individually. 

Not clear

It's obvious that school is back in session around here. 

The baby

Sometimes it seems even she forgets how old she is...

She chases after the big kids and is involved in everything they are...

She does not slow down. 

Except when the busy, busy day is drawing to close...

Then she puts that thumb in her mouth and realizes she's the baby. 

And we love her for it. 

Winds

The olive tree is such a picture of why our hearts must go through the crushing times.

First, in order to be fruitful it has to have both the east wind and the west wind. The east wind is the dry hot wind from the desert. This is a harsh wind. So harsh that it can blow over green grass and make it completely wither in one day. 

The west wind, on the other hand, comes from the Mediterranean. It brings rain and life.

The olive tree needs both of these winds to produce fruit… and so do we. 

We need both the winds of hardship and winds of relief to sweep across our life if we are to truly be fruitful…

- Taken from a devotion by Lysa TerKeurst

State Volleyball 2014

The whole family spent Saturday cheering for Lauren at State Volleyball. 

It was a long day but we had fun watching her and saw some really great volleyball. 

These girls are good. 

The little ones spend their time playing with friends in the bleachers and in the hallways. 

They play on every electronic device known to man. 

If you have a phone on you, be prepared, a child will be playing flappy birds on it at some point in the day. 

And they LOVE a good selfie.

To be honest, Im not sure how anyone would survive 8-10 hours in a gym without these electronics!

The kids are goofy. 

Goofy!

And they cheer loud!

Go Bo-bo!!!!

 We are so proud of Lauren. 

And most of the reasons have nothing to do with how high she can jump...

or how good she is at volleyball. 

Good job Spartans! 

And the adults?

Well they crash after that long in the gym!

Hope comes in the morning

I'm sure my last post could have left people thinking, 'well that was sure uplifting, thanks!'

But, I'll tell you its true. 

I'll never be the same girl I was on June 1, 2006, the day before my dad died. 

And I'll never be the same girl I was on April 3, 2013, the day before my mom died. 

That girl is gone. 

This new girl...

She is so very different. In hard ways. 

I ache now, I mourn, happy things can make me cry, I have physical pain from what I've lost, I spend time being so very angry, I have trouble pulling it together somedays. 

But. That. Is. Okay.

Because this new girl, she has HOPE. 

Hope that even though my healing will not come this side of heaven, it will come. 

I Corinthians 2:9

'But, as it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, 

nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.'

I Peter 5:6-7

'Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 

Hope that there will come a day when my tears will be wiped away forever and 

my faith will be my eyes. 

Revelation 21:4

'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, 

for the old order of things has passed away.'

And I am held. 

Held so tightly even when I ache, even when I'm angry, even when I don't know 

how I'll put one foot in front of the other. 

I take fewer things for granted now. 

I treasure every day moments and I tell my family I love them more readily. 

I do not miss that old girl. 

She seems rather silly to me now. 

I don't want to go back and be her. 

Things I've known for years in my head are real in my heart now. 

Yes, this new girl has hope. 

This new girl clings to hope in her Savior in a way that she did not know before.  

Yes

There is no way around grief and loss; you can dodge it all you want, but sooner or later you have to go through it and hopefully come out on the other side. The world you find there will never be the same as the one you left. 

- Johnny Cash

(Not sure about Johnny Cash but this quote is so true. So what my heart is feeling right now. Real grief, real loss alters your world and changes it. Forever. And I am just now starting to edge my way into the real thick of it.) 

Spring Break 2014

We have had one fantastic break. 

We've had play dates upon play dates. 

We've played games, gone bowling, swam, played outside, watched basketball, cheered for our Cyclones, done some spring cleaning...
And I took practically no pictures...and Im fine with it...my camera and I will renew our friendship soon.

Today is really the last day...tomorrow we will spend the day cheering on our favorite Bo-bo in state volleyball. 

She will have one loud cheering section!

Then Sunday will be spent gearing up for getting back at school. 

We have 10 weeks of school left...and after this break, I'm confident that we can do it! 

These kids of mine...I'm not sure they can understand how truly amazing I think they are.

I get to spend my days with the coolest people. 

My littles

I love having 'big' kids. They are fun to talk with, play 'real' games with, study with, experience with...

I love my three 'big' kids.

But something about my time with my 'little girls' has been so sweet lately. I can't reason with them or expect as much from them. And they can't help me out as much as the 'bigs'.

But they cuddle, and sing and dance and tell me they love me out of the blue. They say the most adorable and hilarious things. And their bodies are so little and soft. 

And sometimes I do expect way to much of them...I forget that they are 5 and 3...thinking they are like their siblings and should act 8 or 9 or 12.

But right now I'm just enjoying their littleness and how much they love being near me. Their sweetness and their silliness. 

Clear

It's clear...for the next week there will be no books, pens, penciled, rulers, ect covering this table.

I didn't realize how badly we needed the break. But we do and we. Are. Pumped! 

My chant

Two more days til Spring Break...I can do this...

Just two more days!

Sin

There is no such thing as a 'little' sin.

Romans 5:12 'by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.'

Easter Season

Growing up and through my adult life I have never taken part in 

the season of 'lent'. 

I have never 'given anything up for lent'.
I know very little about 'lent', 'ash wednesday' ect.
Some of what I do know makes me a little squeamish but some of it I want to embrace.

Ive never liked that that Easter would sneak up on me before I really even thought about it. 

For the past few years I've been searching for a way to talk about the time prior to Jesus death and resurrection with my kids. We spend weeks preparing for Christmas...preparing both our hearts and our homes for Him. And it has started to seem so wrong to not be doing the same as we prepare to remember the awesome gift that was given when he took our place. 

So I was thrilled when a 'blog world friend' of mine announced that she wrote a book for just that purpose! Check her out here. 

The book includes daily devotions as well as (simple) activities to do with the kids. 

(And I mean simple...like I actually had almost all the materials in the house except for maybe 1 thing)

We started yesterday and I can already tell that I am going to love how it is turning our attention to what Jesus was experiencing as His time to climb the hill of Calvary grew so very close. 

Its not too late for you to join us in our journey. 

Buy the downloadable book from Leighann's blog and come along. 

I am hopeful that this Easter season will take on new meaning for our family.

Yesterday we discussed Jesus being tempted by Satan in the
wilderness and that man cannot live by bread alone...
The kids were amazed at Jesus' ability to resist the devil after not eating for 40 days.
(Im typically amazed if I can go 40 minutes without eating)

Elsa??

She wears Sullivan's coon skin cap and says it's her 'Elsa hair'.

And I really do not want to forget that she does that!