The countdown has truly begun down in South Carolina… That is where my stepsister is preparing for her upcoming wedding. Yesterday Ken sent off her gift from the siblings up here, I will post pictures AFTER the wedding of it (I am REALLY hoping it makes it in time…). I know I really would have loved to go down to be a witness to the events but they announced their engagement when I was either pregnant with Echo or had just had her and we were quite aware of the financial impossibility of my flying down there with not only Echo but Trinity to boot (there was talk of her being a flowergirl). That and the issues connected with travel on multiple flights alone with two kids… the 3 of us needing some place to sleep, transportation AND help with the kids. All things that would have been greatly complicated with the festivities. I am still hoping to have the whole family packed up in an RV and driven down there sometime in the next few years. We could go from here to Saskatchewan (my grandma and her family), to Minnesota (Ken’s family) and then down to South Carolina (my dad and his family). Of course that is a dream for when we are settled in our new place and have had the time to save up money for things like gas, RV rental and of course food. It would definitely be an adventure. I have been promised photos though!
I have been dealing with a lot of confusing feelings in regard to life in general, plans of the future and decisions from the past lately. But Ken put it all in perspective for me recently. I was talking to him about someone else buying a house… and how we have no plans to do so in the foreseeable future… he reminded me about how we had “planned out” our lives, how our plans for the future did not start and end with home ownership. In fact, most of our plans would be hindered with owning a home. When we married we made our decisions with eyes wide open. We wanted our babies before too long as we wanted a large family and the youth to enjoy it… after all our plan was to be done having babies before Ken was 35.
We have a definite wish to travel. There is the BIG dream – 2 yrs in Europe that is not yet attainable, the want to be able to visit all those family members I mentioned above. Add to that Ken’s personal dream of working for himself and having a corporation with close friends (a goal he is actively working towards daily). We have wanted to homeschool since before we even started trying to have children. With all the ups and downs our goals are not impossible and are exciting and personal. I look at homeschooling as my first attainable success. While the kids have their days of utter stubborn refusal to do as I please, we ARE succeeding. We are succeeding at OUR life and OUR goals and that is what is important.
Comparing lifestyles, goals, possessions, even children seems to be a common occurrence and one I really want to avoid. Take Echo for example, she is our pixie… while we want to be sure there is no underlying (and changeable) reason for her low weight we love her as she is. Her sweet little smiles, her miniature stature when she sits tall on her own… all the bits of personality we are seeing more of every day. But so many people are quick to say — compared to so and so she is SO TINY, or when is she going to look like that baby over there. If we take what the doctor says (she is fine just doesn’t gain quickly so lets test and see but otherwise NOT worry) and love her for who she is isn’t that better than sitting her down next to the other babies and trying to make her fit the mold? I in now way want to avoid the knowledge of something potentially wrong and maybe treatable but as her mother I am also fully prepared to continue as we have been and just love her dearly.
Hello Kitty!
We are now midway through the first week of May… I swear the days have just zipped by. Today all 4 kids worked on pictures and cards for their god-mommies and grandmas… the lucky things have THREE grandmas to love, and Trinity has TWO god-mommies… as does Echo… who is NOT working on anything right now but will send out BELATED photos 🙂 I just need the time and the ability to get to Superstore to develop them. I tend to go to the FisherPrice site to get our cards to colour and this time found this neat “Make Your Own Mom” set up. Very cute!
Colouring for God Mommies
Zander did another page for his Fat Sheep and Mommy story. We have mapped out the rest of the story so that he now has 3 more pages to do by Friday night to get it completed on time.
Zander's newest page
Gavin finished a paint by numbers he got for Christmas. His paints that it came with were dried out so he made do with what we have here… and made a bit of a mess on himself, the table and somehow his sister’s hair! Go figure… I swear Trinity is a magnet for mess.
Paint by numbers
We made our cookies though I am not sure if I miss counted my flour measurement (I was on the phone with She Chris AND the kids were saying random numbers AND I had a half cup measure instead of the full cup) but we had to add a few tablespoons of milk to the batter to make it… well batter. BUT I had the shortening to use and I didn’t have the butter. So it was a nice recipe to try out. And of course, the kids aren’t complaining. It was just the twins and I who made them this time. I figured doing it during naptime would speed the process and give Trinity and Emanuel something to wake up to. I got lazy towards the end and made a HUGE cookie.
I had the boys circle words they could sound out on their own off of the recipe
Giant cookie
With lovely weather they have spent a nice amount of time in the backyard running out all of that excessive energy. The boys are slowly sorting through all their toys back there to get rid of any broken ones. I thought it would be a one time quick thing but apparently it is not. Oh well, as long as we are tossing things and packing others it is all good.
Playing in the backyard
We decided to jump right in and give Echo a piece of crust. She seemed to enjoy it, well playing with it more than anything, but I am trying to expand her diet and put in some more fat content objects. She absolutely LOVES the Arrowroot cookies, but really, she can’t have too many of those. I think one of the other kids slipped her an extra one yesterday because today has been a nasty poopy baby diaper day.
Bread crust... yum
Today was the first dinner outside for the boys, something they have been dying to do since the first signs of spring. Actually, last year they ate MOST of their meals outside whenever possible. Definitely not something to complain about. I would LOVE to have a full set of patio furniture to do the same. Maybe next year.
Supper outside
I have started the pre cleaning for moving now as well… specifically the stove, deep cleaning the burners (and probably lining them all with foil), cleaning cupboards I have now emptied… that sort of thing. I do love it when there is a visible result to hard work!
Now to get in the groove with the backstitching I have to do on the ongoing, pack another box, and hopefully get 5 mins of quiet, idle time. I can dream right?
Kitty for the win!
