the first day

Yesterday was our first official day of school. And despite my morning moment of "i am not sure i can do this"...we had a great day. I realized within a few minutes of teaching that Ella is a sponge and is going to keep me on my toes.

The boys too...but in an entirely different way =)

Growing up, on our first day of school we would always read the book Stone Soup and then we would make it ourselves for dinner that night. The competition between my and my siblings to see who got the stone in their bowl was something fierce. I loved that tradition growing up and have extremely fond memories of those first days of school. I think it wasn't the book or the soup...it was the tradition of it. Familiar and comforting.

Wanting to start our own tradition for our family Jeremiah and I decided that we would do donuts for dinner for every first night of school. So last night that is just what we did...drove down to the local donut shop and enjoyed a round of sugar circles. The kids loved it. (and maybe us adults did too).

Here are a few pictures of the day:

Not Me Monday

I did not let my child eat cold pizza that was dropped in a parking lot. That is irresponsible.

I did not watch son #1 faceplant down the ramp at church.
Two seconds later I did not watch only daughter faceplant on top of son #1.
I did not knock son #2 over in my hurry to check on son #1 and only daughter.

And I most definitely did not laugh at the crying debacle we created that blocked all traffic and pulled all stares. That would be mean.

I did not eat the leftover crust of the above mentioned pizza. That is just gross.

(of course i wasn't crazy hungry enough for that pizza to look good because I always remember to eat three square meals a day.)

Not irresponsible.
Not mean.
Not gross.

Not me.

on its way

it might be ninety degrees outside today.

but there is no mistaking the obvious signs that fall is on its way:

apples are ready.
grapes are almost ready.
and our fields have been cut for hay.


































































p.s Thank you Pam for showing me how to get my photo's bigger! Now if only I could learn to take pictures like you.

Two Month Update: Eli (and all of us)

I cannot believe Eli has been in our family for two months today.

Wow.

As compared to the one month mark...I can now honestly say that I cannot remember life without him. It is still really hard at times but we have hit a new normal.

Overall he is doing great. Really great.

His vocabulary is really starting to pick up and he is able to string together several words..."Daddy's car or Eli night night or Ezra no touch". He still gets really quiet whenever we are in public or around an unfamiliar person, but is slowly starting to open up even outside of home. He has really gotten the hang of the word "no" and is not afraid to use it! (Therefore we are also working on "yes ma'am" now). I would say he is 95% adjusted to his new name of Eli. He doesn't even respond to being called Chala now. And just this week has started calling himself Eli when he sees himself in the mirror or in a picture.

His gross motor skills continue to improve. We still have a long way to go but he is getting stronger every day. He actually will get on the trampoline and jump now...which is such a huge improvement over clinging to the side and crying in fear. I make sure he gets a lot of physical activity and we ride bikes, jump on the trampoline, take walks, and go to parks every single chance we get. Jeremiah has been known to wrestle with him a time or two as well.

We seemed to have hit a plateau for his tantrums at the moment. I would say we average one to two a day. I can now see one starting to form and have gotten pretty good at short circuiting them when possible. If not possible (when I have to be firm and discipline because of deliberate disobedience) then I just hold him very tight and I rock him until he has calmed down. Usually they last only a minute or two at the most. Once he has calmed down I always tell him "Mommy loves Eli" and we move on. They can be exhausting (for both of us!) and the few times they have happened in public...embarrassing as well.

I cringe when I remember how I used to think that my kids would never act like that when I would see a tantruming child. You know...before I had kids.

Ella continues to do incredible. I cannot tell you the number of times she has humbled me with her sensitivity and compassion to Eli. They are best buddies.

Ezra continues to be Ezra. A lot of the jealousy issues have resolved...but the fact is remains he is an extremely onery and active little boy with a new brother less than six months older than him. I capitalize on every opportunity to create positive experiences for the two of them together. Again, exhausting. But the moments of them playing happy together (as few and far between as they might be) make it all worth it.

Jeremiah and I are doing well too. We are feeling more and more like Eli is "our" son and not just a friend of Ella and Ezra who is having an extended slumber party with us. I never realized just how much attachment is a two way street in adoption. I was prepared for it to take a lot of time for Eli to attach to us. I was not however nearly as prepared for how much time it was going to take for us to attach to him.

Our choosing to love him is slowly giving way to not being able to help but love him.

I was kissing his cheeks the other day and telling him "oh, I just love kissing your cheeks" (you know, as only a mom can do) and I realized...I really mean it. I didn't have to fake it. I love kissing his cheeks.

But I shouldn't be surprised.

The God of this universe has lavishly poured out his love on me. It fills me and up and overflows. And he just as lavishly loves Eli. And has worked in my heart to help provide him some of that love.

I cannot explain the privilege it is to be his Momma.
To be allowed to show him the love of his creator.

Happy two months home Eli!

Thursday Thoughts

The kids and I made an apple pie together this week with the apples picked from our trees here at the farm. They (and me) had a blast. Eli kept trying to taste everything. Sneaky boy.

Here is our winning recipe:

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Filling:
6-8 apples
1 1/4 cps sugar
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cp sour cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 9" unbaked pie shell

Topping:
1/2 cp sugar
1/3 cp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cp chopped pecans

Fill unbaked pie shell 3/4 full with sliced apples.
Combine sugar, flour, vanilla, eggs, salt, sour cream and cinnamon and pour over apples.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.
Prepare topping by mixing all ingredients together. Remove pie from oven and sprinkle over all.
Return to oven and back another 15 minutes.


Seriously, so (so) good. Even better shared with a cup of coffee. And a good thunderstorm outside.

I am ready for fall (if you couldn't tell). Ready for hoodies and hot chocolate and no more bug bites. Alas, fall doesn't really come here in North Carolina until late October. Patience.

Another first for Eli this week was the discovery of play doh. He is not real good at pretend play (yet)...but his brother and sister made sure to show him what you do with play doh. Mostly make a big giant mess that has me second guessing why I ever thought it was a good idea in the first place.

















Ella made me breakfast and showed how well she knows her momma: scrambled eggs and coffee.

















Eli was not sad or scared as you might think by looking at his face. No. He was singing. With all his heart and all his emotions backed up behind that voice. I'm telling you, the boy has a dramatic side. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't end up in country music.

















And I''m cutting it short today in order to write out an adoption two month update for tomorrow because this weekend marks two months since we brought our Eli home. Two months. Wow.

Craziness.

Happy Thursday!

Fresh Off the Easel

"Ariel" by Ella McKay
August 2010

Teacher Work Day

As I wrote about last week, I had two whole days to myself to plan out Ella's kindergarten year of homeschooling. After spending over a year slowly researching different curriculum options, teaching methods, etc...I finally put it all together into a cohesive plan for our first year.

Well...cohesive to me, that is.

First, I prayed about my attitude and heart as I prepared for the school year. That the Lord would will in me to honor him in my effort. Then I looked at all the end of year kindergarten standards of learning, just to give me an idea of what we needed to cover. Then I asked Ella what she would like to learn about this year. And, of course, I always have two crazy little three year old boys to keep in mind...so the idea of teaching themed units where I could incorporate them as well was a big part of my planning process.

I did not buy any specific curriculum for this year. Instead I have bought a few work books, borrowed a lot of Montessori math manipulative's (thanks Kristen!), art and craft supplies, and will take advantage of the local library and all the resources I already have. Oh yeah, and the tiny little thing called the internet might help out just a bit too.

I laid out my unit ideas through the end of the year, then planned specific themes for each week of school. As we study each theme we will incorporate science, Bible, reading, math, and of course (my favorite) art into each theme. I also have at least one field trip planned into each month: apple orchard, pumpkin patch, bakery, fire department, etc.

For example, our first week of school we will be studying apples. We will take a field trip to the apple orchard (in our front yard, ha!), use apple seeds to count with, add and subtract, learn about the cycles of an apple tree, read books about apples, make apple prints, write a story incorporating apples and of course...bake an apple pie. For the boys we will learn to identify the letter A and its sounds.

It was wonderful to get everything laid out and to feel prepared. For this list-maker...a whole two days to make lists = heaven on earth! Oh yeah, and my buddy Tasha was able to be with me for one day of planning. And no, we didn't have any fun together. Stuck strictly to the books. Ahem...yeah.

















I want to put out here that I do not feel that I am choosing the only "right" way to homeschool. I have several friends who homeschool and they all choose a variety of different methods, books, ideas, and curriculum than me. That is the beauty of teaching your own children...you can allow yourself to change as you see something working or not working. I was able to take into account the three distinct learning levels of my kids as well as personalities and giftings the Lord has built into them.

So. Ready or not. Here we go.

Photojournal: A Day in the Life

I thought I'd start a new tradition and once a year take a day and document it with photos. After all...these days of having three littles is only temporary and I know I would love to look back on them and remember all the details.

One thing: I decided not to focus on getting "good" photos and just try to capture our life.
Second thing: This is truly photo overload. Consider yourself warned.

Here goes...

6:58am

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































10:00 pm
Goodnight!