The Hambrick Family Not-So-Bummer-Summer List 2012

Last summer I was very very very pregnant and consumed with Eli's surgery, transitioning to a new church, job, and house.
Needless to say...I was quite the fuddy-dud.

I am in a completely different place this summer and very excited about it. Survival mode and Mommy fuddy-dud no more!

With the ending of school, I wanted to create a list with the kids of things they/we wanted to do this summer. All of us are excited to see if we can knock everything off the list.



Therefore, without further ado, our 2012 Hambrick Summer of Fun list:

• Go to a baseball game.
• Roast smore's.
• Have a lemonade stand.
• Make an outside obstacle course.
• Go to the beach.
• Make a movie.
• Go camping.
• Make a bird feeder.
• Throw a block party.
• Tie-dye.
• Read 100+ books (Ella's goal)
• Keep a summer journal.
• Map our neighborhood.
• See fireworks.
• Make homemade ice-cream.
• Learn the alphabet in sign-language.
• Fly a kite.
• Catch lightning bugs.
• Make up "God loves you" bags for the homeless and give them out.
• Get sno-cones at Pelican's sno-balls.
• See a movie at a theatre.
• Go hiking.
• Make orange juice.
• Go to an amusement park.
• Pick blueberries.
• Plant flowers.
• Camp out.
• Make homemade bread.
• Go to a local VBS.
• Ride a slip-and-slide.
• Write 10 letters to friends and family.

It was fun to see what each kid was interested in and most excited about doing: Ella was all about making a movie and the lemonade stand, Eli was all about the ice-cream and seeing a movie in the theatre, and Ezra contributed the orange juice, blueberry, and sno-cone ideas!

What fun things are you excited about for this Summer? I'd love to hear!

Homeschooling: End of Year Report

Last Friday was our last "official" day of school for this year.
(I say official because we've got a lot of fun un-school plans for this summer!)

I am so proud of each child for how well they have done and what they have learned this year. We (emphasis on the we) all learned so much and had fun doing it!

We spent some time this week looking back on what we learned this year and it was a wonderful moment to me as their teacher to see them realize how much they have learned, what skills they have improved on, and to find out what their favorite moments of school were.

Ella loved learning about the planets, Ezra liked writing his letters in his bug journal, and Eli liked learning about the cheetah's. No surprises there!

As much as I have moments of frustration, being overwhelmed, tired, or uninspired...I really do enjoy teaching them. More than I ever thought I would, actually. Watching a lightbulb moment happen in my child's life is a gift. Seeing them work hard at something they don't just "get" is ample opportunity for character growth (especially on my part, ha!).

Watching them grow to love learning is an incredible process...and one that makes it all worth it.

And now...lets...


Bring on the Summer!

Memory Monday

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39


Excerpts from The Ministry of Motherhood, chapter 6, Inspiring a Sense of Purpose:


Jesus' work in a persons life always begun with a call to leave behind the goals, purposes, and distractions of this world and to say yes to a whole new way of life, a new way of thinking. There is no return to "normal".

By Gods standards my children will be successful in life if they are willing to love and follow Christ wherever they are asked to go. And that is an attainable goal. What he has called us to do he will give us the ability to complete.

I can train.
I can teach.
I can strive to be an example.
But it is Jesus who calls them, just as he calls me.
And they, in the end are the ones who must make the choice to follow him into extraordinary life.

Jesus,

Help me to understand and remember how brief my life on this earth is. How quickly my children are growing up. Help me not to get so bogged down in the mundane parenting tasks that I forget to focus on my children's hearts or your kingdom. More than anything, give Ella, Eli, Ezra, and Zoe a passion for you and your purposes. Amen.

zoe elizabeth: 9 months (the particulars)

Her walking is exciting stuff, but I know some of you (if you are like me) enjoy the details too...

Zoe is an ounce shy of 20lbs and according to her doctor is absolutely perfect. But, then...I already knew that.

• Still no teeth and her big gummy grin makes me smile.
• Has learned how to drink from a sippy cup.
• Can wave bye-bye and play "so big" and "peek-a-boo". When she wants too, of course.
• Loves tomato's, spaghetti or anything covered in marina sauce, kiwi, mexican burritos, yogurt, and sweet potato's. Doesn't like bananas.
• Takes 2, approx 2 hour naps a day. When she doesn't feel like naps are for babies.
• Sleeps 7pm-ish to 7am-ish. Not unusual for her to wake up 1x because of a lost paci.
• Has gotten very attached to her green blanket.
• Is busy, busy, busy. The girl really doesn't sit still for anything these days. Although, she does let me rock her to sleep at bedtime. Which is bliss. And balm to my heart because this girl just seems so hell bent on speeding through the baby stage.
• Loves wrestling with her Daddy and being carried around by her big sister.

And since I seem to have written a lot of letters to Zoe asking her to please stop this growing up so fast thing...and it obviously isn't working, I thought I'd change tactics and try some reverse psychology. Shhh, don't tell her though.

Dear Zoe,

Keep growing up girl, faster and faster! Don't slow down. At all or ever. Please.

Love forever,

Your Momma

p.s. You are loved loved loved and cherished and enjoyed.

Happy Nine Months sweet girl!

thursday thoughts

It can't be Thursday again?! (can it?)

Jeremiah and I celebrated 9 years of marriage yesterday. It can't be 9 years? (can it?!)
Man, I love that man.

Sweet picture.

Just because you've been married for 9 years doesn't mean you can't still have fun together. And take stupid pictures. I think it says something about our relationship that we have more pictures like this one than the first?!

Thanks to friends (thanks again Matt and Dana!) we had almost 24 hours together...just us. It was wonderful. And relaxing. And it's good to re-remember that you really do like each other and would choose the same person all over again. We finished the day up eating "special pie" (as the kids called it) and watching our wedding video with them. I even modeled my wedding dress for them. Ella got quite the kick out of it and told me she wants to wear it when she gets married.

Yeah, I don't think that is really going to happen seeing as she is getting really close to surpassing me in height at 6 years of age. Or the fact that we have to make it through the teenage years and I'm pretty sure her tastes will change. 

Can I admit that I am a little to happy at the fact that the dress still fits? Ok, I admit it. I did an internal happy dance when the zipper went up all the way.

 Look who is happy to be our new work out buddy...



I have been a very busy bee working on a new project-slash-venture that I am excited about. (Hence the lack of blogging this week.) I hope to unveil it later next week!

And, finally, I will end this with my favorite photo of the week.
I found them all like this one afternoon...

Makes my heart all mushy.

Happy Thursday!

snapshot: formula for a quiet moment

Milk + graham crackers + national geographic show on bats = a (rare!) very quiet 30 minutes in this house.

zoe elizabeth: 9 months (first steps edition)

I'm so happy when I'm crawling...

...But, I think I'll stand up...

Ok Mom, since you got me looking all cute and you got your camera all ready...I will go ahead and...

...take a step for you!

And another...

And another...

thursday thoughts

Thursday already?

Anyone else with me on that one?

The week has flown by. 

We had quite a few rainy days this week and the boys were going c.R.A.z.Y! I decided some intervention was necessary for the survival of all. Hence, the pillow pile was created:

Crisis averted.

Zoe took a step (or two) this week. This may or may not be the reason I am late posting her 9 month update. I am just in denial. And I've been busy sewing weights into her pants.

Zoe also had her 1st time in the pool recently and as usual...she was fearless. I am noticing this trend with her. Jeremiah may just have his roller-coaster buddies in his daughters. 

I managed to make it out to Harris Teeter this week to take advantage of their triple coupons and did really well! I got $150 worth of groceries for $36! Its been a while since I've had that kind of a trip and I admit I was a little too excited. Check here for the best deals list.

Have you ever been totally and completely kicked in the butt by a scripture verse? 

Yeah, I have. 

This week. 

I have been silently struggling this week with feeling like I had absolutely no down time, no "me" time. And that everything I did during the day just had to be repeated the next day...which, can be a bit depressing to realize. 

And then...bam...Mark 8:34 "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me."

Deny myself. 

That can be such a hard concept to accept, to embrace. 

 If I am really honest I will admit that I am really really bad at it.

But in realizing that, in embracing it...oh, freedom. Relief. From myself and the limits of what I can do by myself.

I love how C.S. Lewis writes about this in Counting The Cost:

"The goal toward which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection; and no power in the whole universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. That is what you are in for. And it is very important to realize that. If we do not, then we are very likely to start pulling back and resisting Him after a certain point. I think that many of us, when Christ has enabled us to overcome one or two sins that were an obvious nuisance, are inclined to feel (though we do not put it into words) that we are now good enough. He has done all we wanted Him to do. And we should be obliged if He would now leave us alone.

But this is the fatal mistake... The question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us....

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you know that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself!"

Good stuff, eh.

On a completely different note, I taught Ella how to play M.A.S.H. this week. Anybody remember that game from middle school? Oh, the memories it brought back. How crazy is it that I have a daughter old enough to get that game? She ended up living in a mansion, with 6 kids, driving a limo, working as an author, and marrying "some boy" from our church. I am choosing to have "some boy" remain nameless for his protection from my husband. He is in denial that Ella will ever notice a boy, much less think they are worth talking too. 

We have a video of her agreeing not to get married until she is 52. Think it'll hold up in court?

Happy Thursday!

florida photojournal: its the little things

The beach and the zoo was fun.
Lots of fun.
But it's really in the little moments that the real memories are made...

Making the now-a-tradition stepping stones with Grandma.

Lolipops, cousins, How to Train Your Dragon...made even better on PawPaw's lap.

florida photojournal: beach bums

My favorite part of the trip...the beach.
I love the beach.
I can feel my heart rate slow down as soon as I smell the heavy salty air.
And this day, Zoe's first trip to the beach, did not disappoint.

Zoe loved it and was characteristically...fearless.

I have a thing for goggle pictures. They just make me laugh.

This kid is very serious about his sand soup.

She would love nothing more than to turn into a mermaid.

Zoe was making sure that PawPaw didn't burn the burgers.

See. You laughed too, didn't you.

This boy is always writing his name. Everywhere. Anywhere. All the where.

All tuckered out and time for a cat nap.

I'm ready to go back.
Yesterday.

florida photojournal: jacksonville zoo

Of course I have a ton of photo's to catch up on. Prepare yourself.

One of our favorite spots to go to in Florida is the Jacksonville Zoo. Its not too big and has adequate shade and bathrooms and those cool mist areas. It also has a great splash park, carousel, and playground. The animals aren't bad either.

memory monday

On this Monday morning I am especially grateful that my Savior's faithfulness is not contingent on my faithfulness.
His love doesn't hinge on mine.
And his promises aren't fulfilled because of my worth.



The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies are new every morning.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore, I will hope in him!" 
Lamentations 3:22-24

Repost: Confessions of a Mom on Mother's Day and Emaye

** This was written last Mother's Day...but pretty much sums up again how I feel this year so I thought it bore repeating.**

Mother's Day.

Oh, the pressure. I really just wish sometimes we didn't have holidays built around these things.

Because...how really am I supposed to adequately thank my mom for all she has been in my life?

And...how really am I supposed to thank my mother in law for all she means to me?

And...how really can I adequately communicate to my adopted mother in law how grateful I am for her influence in my life?

A card? Some flowers? A phone call?

Yeah. Didn't think so.

And so I don't. And then I feel like a slacker.

And since I am several hours and states away from being able to actually visit any of my mom's...the pressure just intensifies. Not from them mind you. No. Remember, they are all amazing and wouldn't ever put unnecessary pressure on me. The pressure comes because I want them to know just how much I love them. And a day built up around telling them how much you love them creates a lot of pressure.

And then I feel for Jeremiah. Mother's Day always falls on a Sunday. Which, for a pastor...kinda sucks. I know he'd like to do the whole breakfast in bed thing...but he has to be gone before I even open my eyes on Sunday mornings.

And lets be honest...my kids are still too young to even (really) get the whole Mother's Day concept. So my mind builds up unrealistic expectations of a whole day filled with no fighting and happy hearts and homemade cards. Which are, of course, dashed upon the rocks before breakfast is over.

So I choose today to let my husband off the hook. After all, he does an AMAZING job the other 364 days out of the year for making me feel appreciated. And my children are a blessing...based on their position of just being my children. Not because of something extra they did for me today.

And I make a mental notation for me to be more intentional about communicating to all my special moms just how incredible they are to me...all throughout the year.

Not just on this designated day.

____________________________________________________________________



**And this one was written way back in 2010. Geesh, what a different place I was in then.**

I thought of the title of Emaye (Amharic for Mother) that I hold for Eli right now - a role I only fulfill on paper. I long for (and am scared to death of) the day when I will be his Momma. In the flesh.

I thought of Eli's birthmom. His first mom. I know next to nothing about her - and what I do know doesn't tell me any of the questions I truly want answered. Yet, I will forever be inexplicably tied to this woman through our son.

I longed for the little girl I only got the privilege to mother for four short months. I was surprised and completely caught off guard with the strength of my sadness for her, felt fresh today.

I thought on my own role as mom to Ella and Ezra. No other role in my life (perhaps, other than wife) has shown me the depths of my capacity for selfishness. The task of mothering little ones is exhausting and draining...and exhilarating and fulfilling...somehow all at the same time. I realize how completely dependent I am on my Father's guidance to do this. How utterly incapable I am of getting this right in my own capacities.

And finally...

I thought of the three incredible moms I have been blessed with. Truly, my cup overflows when I consider the ways these women have loved and poured their best into me. I share so much more than just genetics and family history with these women and I count them as friends.

______________________________________________________________________________

Happy Mother's Day!

roadtrip photojournal: south of the border

We spent last week in Florida enjoying a visit with Jeremiah's family.

With an 8 hour road trip each way we knew we were going to need to make the drive part of the adventure. Hence a stop at South of the Border was in order, complete with a ride to the top of the worlds tallest sombrero.

To explain the bottom right picture, Ella was looking down a vent that led all the way to the ground...she wasn't just looking at the floor, ha!

The place is more than a little run down, grimy, full of gaudy and cheesy shops, and dripping in color...so, of course, my kids thought it was awesome. Don't worry, I bathed them in hand sanitizer and they seem no worse for the wear.

Be prepared for lots of vacay photos coming your way next week!

snapshot: wax on, wax off

Channeling his inner karate kid in sunny Florida this week.

Homeschool: A Bug's Life

Oh, April...how you have flown by. We are now in crack down mode to finish up all our books and meet all our goals for the year so that we can officially take a summer break. It is getting so close...

Focus, Jenn...

We had a great month of school. Our science theme for the month was bugs. And let me tell you, my kids are crazy about bugs! They have no fear, bug are their friends, and they have been all about some bugs this month!

I've decided bugs make for an incredible unit study because there are so many ways to incorporate bugs into all the other subjects and it is easy to separate the activities into the different academic levels of my kids. 

Of course we did crafts...for this one we diagrammed the parts of an insect.

We made several field trips to various parks equipped with magnifying glasses and bug jars, and recorded their findings in their bug journals.

They enjoyed making clay replica's of the bugs we were studying. Ezra really got into this activity and made clay bugs for days. In true Ezra form he would get frustrated when he couldn't "get the thorax right." That boy is such a perfectionist.

We learned about the similarities and differences between a moth and a butterfly and made an illustrated chart to display them.

The kids had fun acting out what happens when an insect sheds its exoskeleton...I fed them snacks until they burst out of their own exoskeleton, ha! 

The highlight of the month (according to Ella) was her receiving letters from the insects. Which had to be read with a magnifying glass of course, since insects write very very small.

It was only fitting then that our author of the month was, of course, Eric Carle.  I'm such a sucker for his colorful illustrations. And all his bug themed books fit perfectly into our month.

I found this website as a great resource for e-books and even a fun printable game, which Ella totally kicked all our tails on.

In non-bug related breakthroughs I have to document the fact that Eli has finally mastered writing his name! It may not sound like much to you, but this was huge progress for him (and me)! He now writes his name with confidence and I couldn't be prouder. I may or may not have taken a video of this...

Also, in other non bug related learning, Ella made up a "smart chart" which is basically a 1-100 chart. It has been a good tool to use for games (put the seashell on the sum of 11 + 9, etc...) and for help with all those counting by 2's, 3's, and 4's we have been working on.

One more month to go!