little bits of life

Daniel Swims

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 18:55:00 +0000

Last summer, we opted to have Daniel participate in swim team with his brother and sisters. However, there are those things that, as a parent, you can't simply decide that it's time for your child to do. Daniel was straight-up NOT interested in becoming a swimmer. After several weeks of tears and screams during swim team practice every morning, the same through private swim lessons, and again anytime that Joshua or I took him in the pool to work with him, we admitted defeat.

And the rest of his siblings swam beautifully the entire season.

Fast forward a year. We decided again to have Daniel participate in swim team with his brother and sisters. Again we were met with his stout resistance.

Thankfully, Daniel loves attention. As the youngest child, he believes that the entire world is here to applaud him as he entertains us. He's also an extrovert who befriends everyone in his path. So. The coaches adore his nutty antics and his teammates encouraged him every step of the way and the kid finally decided that perhaps this swimming stuff wasn't so bad after all.

During the first meet, Joshua and I stood and basically held our breath to see if he would jump in the pool for his race. He did! I mean, the start buzzer sounded, and he jumped in without looking back and made it all the way across the pool. Dead last, but zero hesitation.

The next morning, he fell apart at the very idea of jumping in the pool and swimming. Since we have meets each week on Wednesdays, and he balked at swim practice every day between the meets, Joshua and I again stood on the sidelines and crossed our fingers as the swimmers in his event lined up. The start buzzer sounded and he jumped in, no problem!

But.

Each time he would grab the lane ropes to take a breath, he'd talk to the people cheering him on. He'd smile at them and look around. He went from 2-ish minutes to swim his 25 meters to 3-ish minutes.

Swim practice from there on out was a piece of cake. No reservations, all systems go. After practice, he'd slip into the pool house and hang out with any lifeguard who wasn't on the stand. He turned up his charm to full tilt with his swim team coaches and was dubbed Mini Coach Dan. And basically basked in the attention of All The People in his fan club, despite the fact that he was working backward.

It was the third meet that completely undid me.

He was the first to splash into the pool at the starting buzzer. I was at the end of the pool he was swimming towards cheering for my little guppie just as loudly as I could. He got to the middle of the pool (finally) and grabbed onto the lane ropes to catch his breath. His feet were still kicking, so I guess maybe he thought he was still swimming? His coaches were cheering for him and telling him to "Go! Go! Go!" His teammates were cheering for him and encouraging him. The Whole Swimming World was focused on this little blonde imp in the middle of the pool.

And he was waving to them!

But wait, it gets better.

He spied me at the finish line and smiled and waved.

Then blew me a kiss.

The timer was still running. The other kids were already all finished. And here's my cutie, blowing me kisses.

His time went up by another entire minute.

Competitiveness is clearly not one of his personality traits.

Fast forward a few weeks and at the last meet, he wound up in a heat by himself (which may have been intentional or may not have been, I haven't bothered to ask) and his time improved by over 2 minutes.

We're just so proud.

November 9, 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 15:41:00 +0000

Dear my Children,
Yesterday, after months of hearing about these people, these 'presidential candidates', we took y'all with us to the polls. You'd watched a presidential debate where you aptly made note of the likeness of the candidates and 3 year olds. You'd heard snippets and snatches of radio personalities, your parents, and other adults and you had definite opinions, though you knew enough to know you didn't know anything.

And so you were right on par with the vast majority of the voting population, just minus cynicism and experience.

Last night, y'all stayed up late to watch as the results started coming in. You asked questions and some of them were really excellent questions, too! Some of those questions I would love to know if the average American voter was asking. When we sent you to bed, nobody had any idea what the outcome would be yet.

But Daddy and I sat up to watch. We listened to the talking heads for hours. We talked trash over Skip-Bo - game trash and political trash. It was all intermingled with the curiosity and the prayer and the tired.

Here's what I know, kids: Yesterday, there was a lot of uncertainty. It's been the hallmark of this election. Who knows what he'll say or what she'll do. Today, there is a lot of hurt and a lot of fear. Because now who knows what he'll say or what he'll do. Fact is, though, he has the nation's stamp of approval to go forth and be our Commander in Chief.

But guess what? That was the order for today regardless of the outcome of this election. Fear. Hurt. Uncertainty.

This year, like never before, I feel like there was no real choice for America. Neither one of the candidates who were put forth exhibit the qualities that we most want the leader of the free world to embody. Honesty, integrity, wisdom, humility. Here's the truth of it (as I see it, of course): He stinks. She stinks. There are evils associated with each that terrify me.

And really? I don't believe that most people voted for a candidate so much as they did against a candidate.

I know that as I sat there with the ballot in front of me, I realized I'd been holding out until the very last minute for something, anything, to change to make my voting experience a more palatable one. With the tangible weight of voting on my shoulders and you kids watching me, asking questions about the ballot and the whole process and who was I going to vote for, I buried my face in my hands. My eyes cried tears and my heart cried out to God. I did the best I could with the information I had, which is all that can ever be asked of anyone, when I made my choice.

My choice was what I hoped would be the best for your future. Because, like anything else, voting for this person or that person to have such a role in our future's history takes on a whole new meaning when you have kids or love kids who are our tomorrow.

Oh, my children, I want so much for your tomorrows. I can only pray that our yesterday brought about the best decision for our tomorrow. For your tomorrow. And for your children's tomorrow.

Today, though, today I'll give you all hugs as I tell you who won the election. Today, we'll do math and language arts and science and run errands while election talk and what-ifs pepper our conversation. Today, we'll discuss again why it is so important to honor the office and pray for the man. Today, we'll do laundry and clean the kitchen and mess it up again.

Today, we'll do the best we can to give you the tools you need for the best tomorrow.

A Few Months Worth of Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 00:23:00 +0000

Our Herd - Swim team 2016. We log a lot of hours at the pool during early summer!

Towards the end of swim team season, the coaches put on a huge fun day for the kids. Shaving cream wars are a big it. Here's Sarah Grace and I *think* that's her bestie, Abigail.


Sarah discovered her love for back-stroke and participated in the city-wide meet. We were all proud of her hard work!

Killing time at city meet with Abigail.

This little dude did NOT do swim team. He spent his pool time wooing the life guards and monkeying around during meets.

Flag foot-ball with Thomas was another summer activity. It was his last year to play and he really enjoyed every aspect of it.

Shenanigans on the sidelines.

Daniel.

Sarah was often found doodling away during football games. Or spinning stories for the rest of the family.

The undefeated 2016 Packers!

Elizabeth's mission in life is to steer clear of the lens, but here's a true to life picture of our little Sunshine.

Talk Like a Pirate Day, 2016. It's a thing. And Krispy Kreme gives free donuts to visiting pirates.

This beauty has lows in the night on a semi-regular basis. While it's not the way I would recommend getting one on one time with a child, it has proven to be a sweet time with her. She has such a wonderfully good attitude, even if she occasionally has to be prodded into being awake enough to eat something.

Speaking of sweet, these two have such a special bond. They play together so well and their laughter is loud and contagious. Here they are on their patiently awaited McWane Center date. Full disclosure: I took this picture as we were going in just in case one of them wandered off.

This little girl went to Camp Seale Harris' diabetes day camp this summer. This was just before her first day - she was SO excited and loved every minute of camp!!

Elizabeth Hope Freeman. This little lady was baptized at our annual church retreat.

Shopping sisters.

This picture, y'all. It's perfectly captures the spirit of the relationship these two sisters have.

This kid. He makes me crazy some moments, but I'm so proud of him. I love him to the moon and back.

We participated in the Kids Bowl Free program this summer. It was a lot of fun but our favorite time was when my Dad came to bowl with us!

Thomas and Sarah got ENO hammocks for their birthdays this year. A LOT of time has been spent doing school work, reading books, giggling, and just hanging our in those hammocks. I'm especially partial to when they stack them like this.

Sarah had a big birthday bash at the lake this year and we learned that the hammocks were also a LOT of fun when used in the boat slip!

Joshua and all the kiddos inside a B-17, a War World II bomber.

A pic of my sweet friend, Bethany, and me at the beach. She's wearing Peter, her 4 month old cherub.

Lizzie making sure that Peter got to put his toes in the water.

My guy. I'm so thankful he likes me!

Beach Camping

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 15:36:00 +0000

Last year, we tried something new with our family. We all went camping.... at the beach. We enjoyed it so much that we reserved spots for this year and did it again!

Here's the thing about beach camping: packing is a bear. You're packing to go camping - tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear, food, all the stuff. BUT. You're also packing to go to the beach - towels, swimsuits, beach toys, portable shade (for me!), sunscreen, all the stuff.

So by the time your ready to actually roll out of the driveway, you basically have half your house packed to go with you and it's time to find a place to cram all the people.

It's a really good thing that being there is so fun because getting ready to go is nothing short of exhausting.

But get there, we did! And with the added bonus of friends! 16 people, 14 bikes, 6 coolers, 5 days of vacation, 4 tents, 2 vans, 1 trailer, 2 campsites, and a partridge in a pear tree. Florida has beautiful state parks and we enjoyed the scenery, the short bike ride to the beach, the shuffle board courts, and the freedom to just relax. Plus we took a day trip to another state park, Eden Gardens. Just gorgeous!

Sarah Grace as a Mermaid

Daniel and Lucy

Lizzie

Eden Gardens

Lillianna, Anna, and Lucy

Anna spent a fair portion of the week learning to cartwheel. I have lots of pictures of her upside down with her legs thrown in the air and haphazard angles!

The younger crew stayed closer and were easier to get pictures of. The older kids walked up and down the beach looking for beach life and played out in the waves for hours at a time.


Meal time was fun.

The little girls kept us in supply of treasures to use as centerpieces for the tables.

The only picture I took of Thomas - he was so rarely to be found sitting still!

Sarah Grace and Caroline. These two girls loved their 'extended sleep over'!

Managing the Money

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 19:25:00 +0000

When Joshua and I got married, we had no idea how to really handle our income. We spent what we earned and vaguely thought of a savings account. "Budget" was a dirty word, and even if we'd realized it wasn't, we didn't understand how to implement one.

We knew we wanted to carefully consider finance training with our children, but we weren't 100% sure where to start.

Joshua and I agreed that we don't really want to pursue the route of 'doing chores equals income'. We want our children to understand that our house is a blessing and we should care for it as such, making it honoring to those who live here and all those who visit.

In short, we aren't willing to pay them to keep their rooms clean, help stack dishes, or wipe down the bathroom. We deem these things as a necessary part of being a responsible human. We wanted more than 'just do your chores' to factor into the allowance equation.

But that left us with still no idea how to allot money to them. It's challenging to teach monetary responsibility when it's all theoretical and no practical.

When the kids started getting old enough to want their own pocket change so they could make their own purchases, I turned to the ever-reliable Internets to explore how those who had gone before us handled 'allowances'.

Y'all, the Internets had a lot to say about How You Should(n't) Pay Your Child and Why You Should(n't) Pay Your Child. It was oh.vur.well.ming.

You know how when you read parenting books and this paragraph resonates bigly but this paragraph is just so far beyond all that makes sense that you wonder why you ever picked up that book to begin with? Well, how and why you do or don't pay your kids is the same way. We took in a ga-jillion different perspectives, gleaned the parts we liked the bestest, modified it all to fit our family, then jumped in.

The three older children have a jar. Each jar contains 30 one dollar bills. We keep these jars sitting in the middle of our school room table, highly visible to their owners. The kids have the opportunity to keep all those dollars or lose them based on choices that are either responsible or irresponsible.

The thought here is that one day, these not-as-little-as-they-once-were people of mine will go out into the world and get jobs. In the workforce, your boss doesn't sit down with you and tell you he'll pay you 'x' amount for this task and 'x' amount for that task. He agrees to pay you an hourly wage. If you don't do your job well and right, you lose it. Responsible people do their jobs well and right and have an income to show for it.

So now we had to define what our kids' jobs were. In our family, the job of the kid is to do their daily chores using initiative (making the first move without being asked) and diligence (working hard to accomplish a task). To be thorough (completing a job all the way) in school assignments. To responsibly (doing what they know they should do) see to self-care.

As children meet these daily expectations, they keep their dollar. Obviously, there is room for grace and mercy from Joshua and I. We all have bad days, and on those days, we look at the heart of the child to determine whether the dollar stays or gets pulled.

On payday, I sit down with the kids and we count out the ones that are remaining in their jars. They are required to put 10% of the full thirty (even if they actually get less than that at the end of the month) into savings and another 10% of the full thirty towards giving. As I give them their spending money, I always ask if they want to put any extra into savings or giving. Then I record their savings in our record log.

Here's the part this kids love: At the end of each quarter, Joshua and I make a deposit into their savings account equal to everything they've put into savings that quarter. Realistically, we'll have to cap that at some point, but for now, it's so fun for them to see their savings matched dollar for dollar and their account grow.

After the first month or so, Anna began to understand what was going on and really wanted in on the action. We have a set amount for her each month, though not as much as the older three, and she has proven to be our most frugal child. She puts into savings only the minimum amount, but she then pockets the rest. And then, aside from the occasional pack of gum, she just lets it accumulate. She's saving for something, but she doesn't know what yet.

Naturally, Daniel needed to have his own savings envelope and record log. We put two dollars a month into his savings for him and he keeps a dollar in the wallet that his brother gave him. It's the same dollar from month to month usually, but he's just thrilled to have his own money. When he is old enough to cycle into the game, he will have a little bit in his saving account to give him a boost.

This money that the kids are saving? It's for down the road. Unless they break a window or lose a library book, the money is untouchable for now. There will be trips and big ticket items the kids are interested in as they travel into their teen years. This particular savings account is to help with things of that nature.

There have been a few tweaks along the way. I'm positive there will be more at the kids get older. But for this moment, this is what is working quite well for us. I'm so thankful to be able to do this with them and I look forward to studying stewardship with them in another couple of years. I want my kiddos to walk out into the world as young adults with a mindset of money management rather than managed by money.

Here's to a plan to start with...

8.1.16

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 19:11:00 +0000

The baby. He winds us around his little fingers so intricately, ensnaring us in his clever charms, ensuring forever our laughter and devoted love.

What I really mean is, 'This kid, y'all. He kills me!'

And I come back for more.

Currently, we're in the midst of the Great Belt Crisis. Kid loves him a belt. He slips it through (most of) the loops and has a knack for buckling it somewhere off to the side. His zipper is usually down and his shirttail gets shoved in the band of his underwear in some places, between the belt and the actual pants in others, but rarely between the pants and the underwear. On a particularly stellar day, the shirt is right side out and the tag is in the back.

The shoes are forever on the wrong feet.

The problem with the belt is that, while he can get it on and buckled, he can't unbuckle it when he needs to go potty. This throws us into crisis mode as he yelps and flails about in the bathroom looking for all the world like a rabid dancer.

It's tough to be five.

He's so little still. But don't tell him that. One of his favorite people in the whole world is one of the young lifeguards at our pool. In appearances, they remind me of Chester and Spike, though Lifeguard David is not surly at all.

He's got a string of young female lifeguards enchanted with his goofy grin and sweet heart. In fact, there's a wedding in the planning with his favorite, sweet Gracie. He's pronounced her his 'marrying girl'. I'm not sure he asked - in fact, I am of the understanding that he informed her of their pending nuptials. We've got some work to do with this young man...

Actually, a lot of work. He announced to Amy, another female lifeguard that she was his girlfriend and when Amy defended her friend Gracie and the supposed engagement of Daniel to Gracie, Daniel replies with "She's just my marrying girl. You're my girlfriend."

Words fail me.

500 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 00:18:00 +0000

500 days.
That's how many days it's been since Anna was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

I've always reacted slowly to things. I never got nervous until after a musical performance. Tests didn't freak me out beforehand but I was so nervous in the aftermath that I couldn't eat. Being pregnant and becoming a mom wasn't a problem at all until that first baby got here and All The Things swarmed into my head.

Anna's diagnosis was more or less the same way. I shed a few tears as I arranged for the other kids to be cared for while we were in the hospital. I held myself in check for her sake while at the hospital and reminded myself that this was a manageable disease and that my child was going home with me to live a full life with very few limits.

What I didn't do was start Googling T1D. I didn't immediately seek out others who had traveled this path before me. I really didn't even understand all the sympathy people kept showering us with. In fact, I clearly remember asking one friend WHY was everybody so sorry? Anna was alive and well and insulin injections would allow her to live a pretty normal life (normal aside from glucose checks and shots with every meal).

But the time came when I started researching a bit more. Slowly because I know that, as a mom, I can spiral to the dark places fast when faced with medical facts. I learned a haunting phrase, The Dead in Bed Syndrome, that says approximately 1 in 20 T1D children will die in their sleep from a sudden drop in sugar. They may have had a 'perfect' day as far as the readings on their glucose monitor go. There is no warning.

The time came when I became a part of an online T1D community - mostly moms of young T1D kids. Not long after I became active, an obituary was posted: a little girl had passed in her sleep. I was sad for the family's loss and held my little girl closer that day. Weeks went by and I interacted more with these other moms and learned more about them and their families. One morning I was on FaceBook and read that a little boy I 'knew' had passed away. Dead in Bed. I started checking Anna several times throughout the night. Fear driven to be aware and in charge.

500 days.

We learn more each week. Too much activity or too little activity can cause major swings in her numbers. Sunburns sway her numbers. Colds mess with her numbers. Stomach bugs can take her out and land us in the ER in a quick hurry.

Changes within her body that we can't see any evidence of will cause a fluctuation in how much insulin she needs. Puberty will have an added facet of 'fun' with Anna.

Birthday parties, potluck meals with our church, overnighting with friends or family. These are things we never gave a second thought to until T1D entered our lives. Suddenly these are big deals. The variables are many and she simply can't do any of it without the help of an adult who understands how to calculate all her formulas and carb-ratios. Diabetes math, while not all that hard, is more than a 7 year old can handle on her own.

500 days.

There are days when I have a new realization or read something or just have a stray thought and I hide in my room to cry for a bit. It took a long time to admit to myself that we did, in fact, lose something. It wasn't the kind of loss some people know, but it was still a loss. The mourning comes in fits and starts and I've learned not to shame myself for being sad. I don't dwell there in that sadness. Anna's life is so much bigger than her being a diabetic. But I no longer feel guilty when those moments come.

She is so much braver than I would have ever known. For the most part, she cheerfully pricks her finger and tells us her number (6-10 times per day) For the most part, she doesn't even flinch when she gets her shots (4-6 per day).

Sometimes, though, the mourning comes for her, too. Sometimes she wakes up hating everything about the pricks and the needles and not being able to have what she wants to eat when she wants it. Sometimes she has an old fashioned fit and scream-cries her displeasure over things. Those times are infrequent and we don't stop her. We hold her when she's ready and pray with her when she's ready. But we don't stop her. Mourning has to happen.

500 days.

She has danced, participated in swim team, enjoyed holiday feasts, learned to ride a bike with no training wheels, celebrated birthdays, camped out, spent sunny days on the beach, lost teeth, skinned knees, and everything else that a healthy 7 year old girl should be doing. Diabetes doesn't mean 'no', it means 'thoughtfully'.

500 days.

And, in His plan, there will hopefully be so many more.

Elizabeth Is Nine!

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 20:50:00 +0000

Nine years ago, the Lord saw fit to give us our very own ray of Sunshine. She came gently into this world one Friday morning and has been smiling at it ever since. We brought her home and laid her in a bassinet and she rarely stirred.

We often joke that she slept until her due date, being that she was a few weeks early. Thomas was 2 and Sarah was 1 and they barely looked over at her as they barrelled though the house screeching and whooping and being jolly little toddlers.

She'd just sigh deeply and doze on.

I often forget how adorable her little 'Hook 'Em Horns' sign was as she sucked on her fingers. When she was almost two, she burned those little fingers on a lightbulb at somebody's house. They blistered up and were too painful for her to suck on when she tried to go to sleep that night. She whined quietly off and on for about an hour, then popped her thumb in her mouth. I wondered if she'd go back to the two precious fingers when they healed up, but I'd say she never gave it a second thought. The thumb was just fine.

She enjoys the simple things in life and chooses comfort and has her own sense of 'cute style'. She loves skinny jeans and boots or flats and a soft, oversized shirt. She likes her hair in a tight little bun at the nape of her neck or in a braid over her shoulder.

She's tough as tough gets and rarely whimpers over pain and we find ourselves telling her to please let us know about things when they happen rather than two days later when we see a huge bruise on her! She just shakes pain to the wayside and works through it.

Lurking just behind her quiet demeanor is a quick wit that takes folks by surprise. I love to hear tales of how her sense of humor peeks through when she is visiting with people who haven't experienced our Lizzie before.

She adores cooking and baking and putzing around in the kitchen. She begs me regularly to let her make dinner or to teach her some new recipe. She'll outstrip me by the time she's twelve, if not sooner!

She's kind and generous and compassionate. She loves her sisters and brothers and it's fun to watch her relationship with each one.

I'm so thankful she was sent to us. Thankful for the opportunity to get to watch what God does with her.

Happy Birthday, sweet, sunny, Lizzie!!

A Brief History and a Tentative Promise

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 00:39:00 +0000

Back in 2006 when I started this blog, it was a way to assuage my guilt over not being a good baby-book-keeper. Not being a scrapbooker. I wanted to document the highs (and sometimes lows) of our lives for our family, and blogs didn't require glue or scissors or anything else that might get left out for the Munchkin Brigade to wreak havoc with. I could sit and type, walk away to do laundry, and come back and find things right where I left them with no blood or shredded curtains (not that we had any curtains back then). I'd plug in a few pictures, hit publish, and voila!!

Then blogging became a community to me. I 'met' all these wonderful folks and, between Twitter and blogs, we knew one another enough to sort ourselves into tribes when we attended blogging conferences. (Do those still exist?) Several of the friendships that were forged over bloggy fodder are still vital relationships in my life today.

A few years ago, I started having our blog published into books. One year per book. I loved sitting and flipping through each book as it came in. Words and pictures that testified to this life that God has so graciously given us. Around the time we had 2008's book published in 2014 (because I'm all about promptness), I realized the kids loved those bloggy books possibly more that I did.

I adore listening to them read the stories aloud to one another and laugh over the silly antics of whoever the story is about. They cut up and harass one another and I smile as I get all nostalgic about the short time in my life my children referred to me as 'Momalope' because somebody thought it was fun.

I don't spin out their stories as much these days as I used to. The lessons we are learning aren't always easy bloggy fodder. But because my kids love to read about themselves, I plan to make the effort again. I share that here because I tell my kids to write down their goals so they can be seen. Then work towards that goal. And so, here's to finding the stories to share and remember.

Because, precious children, this was always for you.

Love,
Mommy

Boys Will Be Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Fri, 16 Oct 2015 03:30:00 +0000

The baby of the family gets a lot more leeway than any other child. Partially because we as the parents are so much more relaxed than we were with the first couple (and by 'relaxed', I probably really mean 'tired'). Partially because the youngest learns early on how to play their cards just so.

We've never had a four year old as the youngest in our family. Four year olds teeter on the brink of childhood. They are making that permanent break with babyhood but, thankfully, they string it out over a year. Pretty sure the Lord did that for the Mama hearts.

That year is proving precious beyond belief.

I was sitting at my desk sorting through the papers when he galloped over to tell me some story. I'll never know what he was going to tell me about because about three words in, he passed gas like a teen-aged boy. He began giggling, which increased his gaseous emissions, which increased his laughter and the circle continued.

Here we were, laughing together for all we're worth as the gas and the giggles kept coming. My camera was on hand to I grabbed it up and began taking pictures. Because those laughing moments are precious, regardless of what brings them about.

Flip Day

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 19:20:00 +0000

When we started our homeschooling journey, I had one student and our school day took about 90 minutes. Fast forward seven years and I have five students and our school day takes around six hours!

I honestly wonder sometimes what I did with all my 'spare' time, then I remember that by the time Thomas started kindergarten, he had three younger siblings. Apparently my days were filled with toddler antics. Honestly, I can't even remember where the energy came from (my energy, not theirs). Just the Lord's way of sustaining us in those early years!

Now that our school days are fuller, we struggle to keep up with the housework. I'm not talking about window washing and baseboard cleaning, y'all. I'm talking about vacuuming, mopping, clearing the clutter. Just having things in a general condition where I can (usually) walk without tripping over somebody's something or finding the couch for drop in company!

To mitigate the feeling of losing control over the house, we instituted Flip Day. On Wednesday or Thursday each week, instead of breakfast, kitchen chores, and straight to school, we get up and have breakfast then hit the floor running to clean up the house. This is mop day, bath tub cleaning day, room cleaning day, decluttering day. And we still make it to the school room by 10:30 or so.

It doesn't seem like much but it gets the job done. We appreciate the break in routine as much as we do the calmness of a cleaner home. And on those weeks when our routine gets totally thrown and Flip Day falls to the wayside? It's just not pretty.

Capturing A Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 15:03:00 +0000

That moment when you're watching your child do something mundane (like rolling up a map) and you see that he's struggling just a little (because it's laminated and slippery) and you offer to help and he says 'no, thanks, I think I've got it' and you know he does but now he seems so much bigger than he did just eight seconds ago?

He's just growing so fast. His face is still soft and full, but the curves are beginning to melt into planes. His hands are larger and more capable. He's tall and I see his ankles peeking out between the hem of his jeans and his shoes because we can never keep him in pants long enough. His heart is thoughtful and his laughter is quick. He's still ever so impulsive but I see an awareness that wasn't there before.

How did we get here?

I have these moments regularly. When I look at my kids and realize that we're not in Munchkin Land anymore in the House of Freeman. My heart catches and I want to wrap my arms around those lanky kids and hold them tight before they get all grown up on me. I ache to cuddle longer.

It's all as it should be. But I needed to try to shove this moment into simple words and wrap it up with pictures that don't do it justice.

Because these people are my babies. Always my babies.

The Nitty Gritty

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 13:20:00 +0000

Sorting through the sea of curriculum is only half the battle when considering the homeschooling year. The next part of the equation is fitting it all together and making it happen.

This year, we have two 6th graders, a 3rd grader, a 2nd-ish grader, and a 4 year old. We also have chores, band class, dance class, co-op, church, regular library visits, field trips, and whatever else to fit into our daily, weekly, and monthly routines.

Once I finalize what books we will use in the classroom, I start evaluating every aspect of how our school year days will look.

I start with what time the kids wake up naturally. That's somewhere between 6:30 and 7:15, depending on the kid. This means that it's safe to say that breakfast should be at 7:30 and our day is constructed from there. Currently, this is what our weekly schedule looks like.

This simply outlines the hours of the day that we know we will be out of the house, the hours that we know we'll be home, and a general guideline of how we will use those hours. On Fridays, the only school we will take part in is what goes on at co-op and then tie up any loose ends from the previous week.

Our daily routine looks more like this at the moment, but we're still tweaking through it.

In years past, I've had individual time slated for each child. This year, I don't have it scheduled into the day, but it's a natural flow of the way we actually do the day. When I cleaned out the school room this summer, I got rid of a TON of books and two bookshelves. We moved the whiteboard and suddenly I had an empty corner in the room that demanded a cozy chair. So we put a cozy chair in it (we happened to have one upstairs that was in need of being re-homed). I spend the entire school morning in that chair or at the table with the kids. I'm right there all morning long. They stay on task, I get a lot of work done, and I'm available for anything and everything. Daniel's little play area and desk is right beside my comfy chair, so it's easy to stay present with him while I'm relaxin', too.

Those pretty two charts up there? Those are actually one of the last things I do to prep for the start of the school year. Once I've got all my curriculum and resources in place, I determine what that subject looks like on a weekly basis, then break it down into daily segments. I am in love with Mardel's homeschool planner and take great joy in filling in all those pretty blank pages.

Word to the wise, y'all: Always, always, ALWAYS plan in pencil. White out on gray paper doesn't look as neat and tidy as white out on white paper. Besides... who ever knows where the white out is hiding when you need it?

Knowing what subjects we will be tackling each day and what the actual assignments are, I can then work in what chores to do each day. I don't get to pick the days for band and dance, since I don't teach those, so I pencil them into the calendar as soon as I know the date and time. Those are The Big Activities for the school year and we plan a lot around those. Then, like pieces in a puzzle, it all slowly works together. And, like a puzzle, you sometimes find that what you thought worked over here actually needs to be moved over there or flipped around a bit to fit just right.

Having the curriculum and the schedule tamed, I turn my attention to making things run smoothly. Organization.

My kids made color assignments easy years ago. They all have different colors that are their favorites. Kid you not, I now a family with four girls and all of them claimed pink as their very favoritest color in the whole wide world. Thankfully, my kids didn't go that route. We don't color code everything, but after talking to Lora about her Color Coded Classroom a little, I went out and bought orange, pink, yellow, and green washi tape. Thomas was handed a roll of blue painters tape because we already had it and it's basically washi tape. Then the kids each got their very own box of colored pencils, box of pencils, package of colored pens (the older three kids deemed it Scholastically Necessary to have pens this year) and their school box. They patiently went through and marked all their pencils and pens with their color of tape. I did the same with my stuff. Miraculously, I'm not experiencing pencil mysteries this year...

Last year, I bought milk crate type baskets for each kid to keep their school stuff in. I liked the way they looked standing on their sides with the books neatly lined up in them. Except that's not how they stayed. I'd get twitchy looking at the haphazard mess of stuff the kids kept in them. Everything from the school books that belonged there to junked up construction paper and old newspaper they were hoarding to be creative with at some vague point in the future. Candy wrappers, loose colored pencils, doll clothes.... it was like looking under a kids bed, which we all know you should never do. This year, I set those bad boys on their bottoms and pretend I can't see the disarray through the little holes.

It's all about compromise.

Finally, I keep the kids on track with their weekly assignment sheets. This keeps me from having to tell 4 people their different independent assignments every day. We've been tweaking this system for a few years now and finally landed on a super simple version last year. Each week, I fill out weekly assignment sheets for each kid and hand them over to their owners. The sheet tells them what their assignments are each day. They do them, check it off on their sheet, and turn the completed work into my Check Box each day. Since I'm in the room at all times, I usually check it pretty quickly so that by the time the next subject, I have the first one checked and they can make corrections or we can talk about it as needed.

Imma try to be all high falutin on y'all - if you'd like to try the assignment sheets without the time spend in Excel, please just click here to print your own!

I mentioned the Check Box. When the kids finish up each subject, they turn it in to me to be checked over. This used to mean a pile of books and notebooks that made me feel overwhelmed in it's sheer volume and haphazardness. When I moved the bench seat to my place at the table, I placed a cute little file folder holder from Thirty-One on one end of the bench. I actually have two - one for teacher books and one for the kids turn in work. Right there next to me, easily accessible but contained!

I can practically hear a heavenly choir singing when I look at those cute boxes.

There's more. There's always more.....

School Reset 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 15:42:00 +0000

Home school moms are nerds.

This is absolutely, positively, undeniably true.

We take this whole back to school thing every bit as seriously as our public and private school teacher counterparts.

We contemplate the best place to do school - the dining room, the living room, do we have the space to have a dedicated school room?

Then we contemplate the atmosphere and aesthetics - how to make it attractive and functional for the people that will be in there, meshing it with the rest of our home so that it doesn't distract from the rest of the living we do.

Which is just funny because homeschooling really permeates every single crevice of life.

We make choices, conscious or not, about what the dress code for our kids will be on a day to day basis. Let's face it, for those who have the patience to help their little ones look cute and put a bow in their hair every day, the pictures are cuter. For those of us who want to foster independence in as many areas as possible as early on as possible, well, our pictures feature stringy hair and leggings paired with tank tops and cowboy boots.

Y'all, I have a kid whose hair I can put up on Sunday and she won't touch it for days. When I get to it to take the elastic hair band out, she has dust accumulating up there. Honest to goodness dust. That is not photogenic happiness.

But I digress...

Every home school mom knows, though, that the bestest, geekiest, hairiest part of home schooling is The Choosing of the Curriculum.

Awwwwww, yeaaaaahhhhhhh.....

We officially have the first month of school under our belts. Which means that we have just barely scratched the surface of any of the new stuff we've started. We're also a week away from the beginning of co-op, so we're still missing a couple of important subjects. So, you know, we're not quite full throttle yet.

As always, we've made changes in some areas and stuck with what has worked for us in other areas.

Math stayed the same. Anna is the only one using Math-U-See this year. She is over half-way through Alpha, cruising towards Beta. We stopped about mid-way last year because her reading capabilities hadn't caught up to the word problems she was encountering. So we paused to allow her reading to be the focus and she simply camped out with worksheets that re-enforced her addition and skip-counting skills. Over the summer her reading took off and since we've brought the Alpha back out, she's been zipping right along.

Elizabeth finished up Beta last year around March and we used the same website to create multiplication and more complicated addition worksheets for her. When we officially started school this for this year, she was thrilled to bump up to Teaching Textbooks. For us, we allow the 3rd grade work to be done all on the computer and don't even bother with a workbook. It's mostly just review and an opportunity to acclimate to the different system. Teaching Textbooks is a bit behind what I'd really consider grade appropriate, so we compensate by moving fast through 3, then taking all the time we need with 4th and 5th so be absolutely sure that basic multiplication facts are memorized. I believe that the whole of math is so much easier if those multiplication facts are stuck solidly in your head. Lizzie is flying through 3rd grade and on track to start 4th during second semester.

Thomas and Sarah are both pushing through Teaching Textbooks grade 6 and their goal is to complete 6th and 7th grade by the end of June so they can start Pre-Algebra next year. I'm holding this more loosely than they are, so it'll be fun to see how it works out.

My kids enjoy Teaching Textbooks and I LOVE it. There is nothing like that guy's patient voice saying to them when they've missed a problem, "No, not quite, let's try again. Remember....". Y'all, he doesn't have bad days, lunch to make, or younger children he's trying to work with. He's just always nice. I think the kids would be content if he taught everything.

We are trying a different approach with Language Arts this year. I bought Spelling Wisdom and Using Language Well from Simply Charlotte Mason. We're learning the art of dictation and transcription while enjoying excerpts from great sources. It's been interesting to see how the different writing styles are understood and interpreted by the older three kids. We're only four weeks in, but I think it's a winner for where we are right now.

We've loved A Reason For Handwriting since day one. Sarah finished the Transition book last year and her handwriting is so neat and fluid that she is done with the actual subject of handwriting. Thomas is smack in the middle of Transition and evening out quite well. Elizabeth has just started the cursive practice lessons in Transition and is pushing to move faster. She can't wait to write complete thoughts in cursive! Anna is in Book B, while Daniel will be starting Book K in another month or so. The kids all look forward to writing the verse at the end of the week and enjoy coloring the picture that is on the verse paper. I've been exceedingly happy with this curriculum choice and recommend it all the time to folks.

Elizabeth is using Houghton Mifflin spelling for 3rd grade. While Thomas and Sarah's vocabulary and spelling are pulled from the Charlotte Mason material, I really wanted Elizabeth to continue with a more structured spelling choice. We've used this curriculum choice for about three years now and I'm happy with the workbooks. They provide color and interest with a variety of exercises and I don't have to think or plan. I just hand over the workbook and review with her a couple times a week. She tests out on Thursdays and that's a wrap!

As a family, we are learning American Sign Language. I've always loved sign language. It's useful, beautiful, expressive. I have a friend who is an Interpreter and after she visited our co-op to share her skill with the kids last year, Sarah also fell in love. I giggled as several of our students from co-op finger-spelled to one another the rest of the year as a way of skirting the 'no talking in class' rule. My kids began to make up their own signs and use them in conversation. So when a fellow mom mentioned she was ordering, I jumped on board along with a few other families. The goal is to watch the videos at home, practice with our families, then meet together occasionally to use our skills. My sweet Interpreter friend has even agreed to come chat with us and encourage us all!

Daniel and Anna are enjoying Five In A Row, and the older kids still join in whenever they can. This is another favorite choice of ours. We've been using it for eight years! This is actually where we start the day - with the little ones and a book. We cuddle up on the couch and get some snuggle time in while we read and discuss the book. It's so fantastic on so many levels, there's just no way for it to be wrong.

Anna is working through another year of Explode the Code, another oldie but goodie choice. This has been a low maintenance phonics program for the kids and they have done very well. Explode the Code, combined with a lot of reading, has given the kids a pretty strong footing.

Next week , we'll fold in All American History. We were planning to do American History this year using a different curriculum, but our co-op history teacher (thankfully!) chose to teach American History. I bought the Teacher Guide and equipped us with lots of extra literature to read and we are already enjoying learning about Leif the Lucky and Christopher Columbus. I spent more time than I'd like to confess to making book lists on our public library's website, but now that it's done, I can go through and reserve a slew of age and topic appropriate books for the kids at the touch of a button. Within three days, I get an email telling me all the books are collected and are ready for me to pick up at my local branch. It's a beautiful thing and we are excited to be studying more current history for the first time ever!

We'll also be adding Apologia Anatomy and Physiology. Here's a fun twist - I'm teaching this class for the 4th through 8th graders at our co-op! I'm ridiculously excited to be teaching A & P (which I don't consider science as much as I do Just Plain Cool!) and have been scouring Pinterest and Google for fun ideas to fill our time with. Um, success!!! Thomas and Sarah are looking forward to science, but mostly, I think they're just looking forward to sitting at tables with their friends. They are blissfully unaware that it's embarrassing to have your mom as the class teacher.

Don't you dare tell them!

Anna and Elizabeth will be using Apologia Zoology 1. We all did Zoology 3 last year and had a blast with it! The kids loved learning about the animals. It was the first time we actually did science all year long on a real and regular basis. I am not teaching their science class, so it will be interesting to see how it works to have kids doing different science topics, complete with homework and projects.

And that wraps up our choices for the year, I think... I always feel like I've forgotten something, but
I'm pretty sure that's the high points.

Now the school room is all set up, the books are all in, fresh supplies in each child's school box, and everything is all organized and laid out for the first three months. We're rockin' and rollin' and finding our groove for the year. I'll come back next week and tell you about how our daily schedule is running this year. It's feeling WAY more relaxed than last year and, so far, seems to be working smooth like buttah'.

And really, after 6 years of home schooling, it seems like we should have a well-oiled machine, right?

Wanna talk more about the books we've chosen or tell me what you're family is using? Join me on the FB page and let's speak (home school) geek together!

The End of an Era

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 21:12:00 +0000

I've been whispering this to close friends, afraid to shout it from the rooftops like I truly wanted to do. It's still early, and I'm still reserved about saying it out loud, but the fact is, it only gets better with each day.

We are officially a home with no diapers or pull-ups.

Oh, sure, we have all been sporting underwear during the day for over a year, but this is about being done at night time, too! All five kiddos. Well, Joshua and me, too, if we're talking about ALL of us.

3,952 days.

That's our official count. From day one of the first child to the last day of pull-ups for the last kid. For most of that, we had multiple children in diapers at the same time. I clearly remember the days of three kids in diapers and how we switched to cloth diapers.

I'll miss the sweetness of a padded little bottom a bit. But I'm loving the milestones, achievements, and explorations of my big kids.

Sweet Summertime

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 15:11:00 +0000

Summer has always been a string of unorganized days haphazardly filled with whatever falls in our laps and doesn't interfere with nap time too much. An entire decade of this as our summer strategy, y'all.

But the winds of change have been slowly blowing across our family. I now have 'middle age' kids rather than the Munchkin Brigade. Nap time is way more optional now that the youngest is four instead of the oldest being four. Summer is a whole new world full of possibilities and mosquitoes.

We hesitantly committed to swim team. This is huge for our family. It's a five-day-a-week commitment, plus a meet each Wednesday night. Thomas, Sarah, Lizzie, and Anna are all participating in swim team and Daniel is taking swim lessons so he doesn't even sink some of the way. We're at the pool from 8AM until 11AM for practice and lessons, then we hang out and play for a bit.

Y'all, this means we're out the door by 7:30AM. Um... we don't usually roll out of bed until 7:30 and now we're up, breakfasted, and in swimsuits with our stuff gathered and walking out the door.

Now, even on Saturdays, I'm waking up by 6:30. Who the heck am I?

Sometimes, the early mornings get to Daniel and he rests wherever he finds an empty towel.

It also means that my kids are all cute and tanned out. It means they sleep well at night. It means we are getting in the habit of getting up and getting going earlier in the day. It means they are growing more confident in the water.

It means that the vast majority of their summer wardrobe is made of swimsuits and t-shirts. I'm in laundry heaven!

So here's the thing: I really thought I'd dread every single morning, waking up, pushing the kids through a morning routine, spending hours a day at the pool, hot-sticky-hotness, and the smell of chlorine stinking up the van.

Let me tell you what I've learned here at the half-way mark in our swim team season.

We pretty much love this. It's team sports and individual sports all rolled into one. I was afraid that our kids would balk after the first meet. They'd had a full seven days of strokes training behind them (until swim team started, we were doggy paddlers for the most part) and I thought they would be discouraged when they didn't fare well in the races. But they weren't. I mean, yeah, maybe a little, but they were all so very proud of themselves for swimming the entirety of their races, regardless of where they placed. They love hanging out with their team-mates between their scheduled events.

Our coaches are amazing, patient folks. During time trials, when Anna swam three-quarters of the length of the pool then firmly attached herself to the ropes and staunchly refused to do anything but cry and cling to that rope? Coach J went to her and coaxed her off the rope and then he swam next to her to the wall, encouraging her all the way. When Sarah had a melt down over not knowing how to do a certain stroke, a coach jumped in the water and worked with her individually until Sarah had the concept down pat. The parents, the coaches, and the team members are just a great group of folks to be spending time with. Good thing, too, since we see them about 20 hours per week!

Possibly my favorite part of all of this, though? Our team mascot is a cow.

Go, Cows!!!

Daniel is Four

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 04 May 2015 16:30:00 +0000

This Parenting of the Youngest Child is a little bit heart-breaking, y'all. I've had little ones in the house for so long and I know now that I've taken a lot of it for granted. These years really are just a momentary vapor... even if you have a three or four year old for seven years in a row...

But enough naval gazing. I've got a New Four Year Old to celebrate!!!

Our church takes an annual retreat to Fall Creek Falls State Park where we spend a glorious weekend in cabins that surround a large grassy area. There's a little stream just down the road that's perfect for canoeing and swimming (if you're a polar bear!) and baptizing. The adults take turns helping with meals and the kids are responsible for clean up afterward and that's about all the responsibility any of us see for three days.

For the past two years, Daniel's birthday has fallen while we are enjoying the respite of the woods. As we were coming home last year, he told us how much fun he'd had at his birthday party. It took me a few seconds and a couple of questions to realize that the little squirt thought the entire church retreat was in honor of his birthday!!

His lack of self-confidence worries us.

This year we baked 150 cupcakes and took them with us on the retreat to share with all his party attendees and everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to him. He wore his brand new Superman shirt and sat on his Daddy's shoulders, beaming from ear to ear as he was serenaded!! Alas, my fantastic camera was not at hand, and I have only my memory to look back on and see that sweet face! He was high-fived at every turn all day and reveled in the spotlight as only the baby of the family knows how.

Later that afternoon, we all trekked down to the creek for baptisms for those who had accepted Christ's life-changing salvation over the past year. The kids and adults sat or stood along the bridge as the little ones played in a little rivulet off to the side. Daniel, after seeing the first dunking, couldn't wait to get in water deeper than his ankles. As soon as the baptisms were over, he was hot on the heels of the older kids who were headed to diving boards that were positioned over the deeper part of the creek.

Y'all, he had an adult with him. They were walking along the canoe launch and Daniel overbalanced and fell in. The sweet gentleman who was walking with Daniel grabbed him out of the water quickly, but told us how quickly Daniel was sinking for those several seconds.

Daniel's version was "I didn't sink all the way, I just sinked some of the way." This was explained through chattering teeth as he was held bundled in a towel and being carried off by a mama who was praising God for His mercy and for our village.

Daniel, I love you to infinity and beyond. I love every cheesy smile and silly antic and sweet little boy kiss you bestow upon me.

And this year, you'll have some serious swim lessons!!

Elizabeth's Eighth

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 02:58:00 +0000

It's hard to believe that our little bundle of sunshine has been with us for eight years! She's no longer a little babe that tucks in close to snuggle her day away. She is a long-legged, opinionated, sharp-witted, lovely little lady.

She's the one who craves simplicity the most and when asked what she wanted for her birthday, she replied with 'I don't know. But I want Granny and Grampa and Memum and Pepop to come to it."

And so they did. Our little Sunshine child was all sparkles and shine surrounded by family as we feasted on ice cream cake.

Happy Birthday, sweet Lizzie!

The Time Disney Saved Me From Certain Death

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:41:00 +0000

I don't know how Winter's been treating you in your neck of the woods, but here in North Alabama, things have been... cold. And wet. And cold. And snowy.

Which always leads to ice.

Now, if you're from up North, I appreciate the fact that you think drivers on our side of the Mason-Dixon line are all inept when it comes to the white stuff. You're kind of right. We just don't get enough snow to have ever learned to deal with it appropriately. We don't have snow shovels and tire chains and all that jazz. What we do have is the ability to come to a grinding, screeching halt at the mere mention of a Winter Event.

It was actually a few days after the dreaded Winter Event that Disney saved my life. Or at least my bumper.

I was traversing mostly-melted-but-still-a-bit-of-ice-Nashville with my big ol' van full of people. We were attending a training class for doTERRA and had carpooled for fellowship (read: entertainment!). We pulled onto the lot of the hotel in which the training was being held and followed the flow of traffic towards the parking deck.

Keep in mind, my snazzy big van needs about an 8 foot clearance. I was watching for signage telling me what the clearance was in the garage, but there wasn't anything. There were, however, several valets watching me. I suppose they were taking bets on how well the redheaded girl in the big van was going to maneuver the narrow driving passages with huge columns of concrete on either side.

I'll tell you what they weren't doing: Flagging me down to say I was too tall to get in the garage.

Maybe they didn't know.

Puh.

Clearance was 6'9". I'm over a foot too tall for that mess, but I didn't know until I was at the entrance to the garage. I had weaved between the columns in my oversize vehicle, banking on a sign or a valet to let me know if I could get in the garage or not.

Maybe no one could tell by looking at my vehicle that we were too tall.

For my part, I couldn't see the stinking garage opening until I was all but right up to it (lots of ginormous, cement columns).

When we did pull up to the opening, I jumped out of the van to look at the situation. Too tall to go in the garage, six cars behind me, nowhere for anyone to go except for everyone to back up out into the road.

There was an alternate outlet that I could have used if we could have backed up just 20 feet or so, but an over-sized vehicle was parked there, blocking the way.

At this point, a valet came over and very helpfully pointed out that my van was too tall for the parking deck.

I was hyperventilating at the thought of backing through all those ding-dang cement columns, but the valets sweetly began directing traffic so I could do just that.

I squeezed my eyes shut, climbed back into the driver seat, and put the Beast in Reverse. I rolled my window down because the super-helpful valet was now going to guide me out. I asked him if there was any way we could just get The Other Over-sized Vehicle moved and he (helpfully) shrugged at me. I glanced at the reverse camera screen, noted that I had 'plenty' of space to move, and put my foot lightly on the gas pedal.

I'd moved about 4 very cautious feet backward when my phone started ringing. At exactly the same moment, the extremely sensitive sensors built into my van (the ones that tell me I'm too close to something) started their high-pitched beeping. I glanced at the camera screen again and at the valet and saw that, while I was close, I had about five feet of maneuverability on either side of me.

The valet kept hollering at me to 'come on back, keep coming', the phone was making noise, the sensors were sounding, and then one of the ladies in the van started telling me to "Stop, STOP!" (in her defense, her view of things was very different than mine, and she didn't know I had a rear camera).

Y'all. I'm a mama to five children. I know noise. I am accustomed to lots of sensory input.

However, I'm usually sitting on the couch or standing in the kitchen when data overload happens.

NOT strapped into a seat of a moving vehicle with seven other people, stressed because I don't exactly enjoy backing large vehicles through ridiculous spaces.

I don't even remember what I hollered out, but I do remember feeling instantly like a jerk.

That's about the time somebody magically appeared with keys to The Other Over-sized Vehicle. I managed another 10-ish feet backwards, sighed in relief as I transitioned to Drive, and started pulling forward.

My helpful valet pointed down a side street and told me I could just remove the 'Reserved' cone down the hill and park there. I smiled and relaxed as I turned onto the one way street and started towards my parking spot. My Reserved parking spot. I flexed my fingers and felt the return of blood flow into them. My very own, all for me, great big vehicle, Reserved spot.

Y'all remember I opened this post talking about snow and ice and cold?

The side street was completely in the shadows of two tall buildings and all but totally covered with ice. I had a stretch of about 25 feet of ice in front of me and, once again, nowhere to go. There was a useless strip of naked road in the middle where the ice had melted off, but the cars parked on the right side of the street prevented me from having any access to that ice-less strip.

We all debated what to do and it was decided I should go forward. There was no backing out at this point - the turns had been very tight and traffic was getting heavier. Plus, they'd parked The Other Over-sized Vehicle back in it's ridiculously inconvenient place.

I slowed to almost a stop and we all held our breath at we felt the change from traction to traction-less as the front wheels, and then the back wheels, rolled onto the ice. Since the downhill grade was pretty steep, gravity took care of our forward movement.

About halfway down, we started sliding towards the left where there was maybe three feet of space between the curb and the building. I could feel my blood pressure rising again, my fingers once again clutching the wheel.

And that's when it happened: I could clearly see Doc Hudson. I could hear him telling Lightening McQueen to turn into the slide.

I did just what the Doc ordered; I turned into the slide. We stayed straight, not moving any farther away from the wall, but not any closer. When the front wheels hit pavement, the van jerked horribly. I giggled out of sheer nervousness, pulled into the parking spot assigned to us, and thanked God for Disney!

I'm pretty sure that some book or driver's ed instructor or even my Daddy told me to turn into the slide. But y'all, I'm just sayin' that if it weren't for Disney movies, this scenario could have turned out very differently.

I'm Thinking of Hiring a P.I.

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 04:03:00 +0000

The kids love a good mystery book. My girls are head over heels for Nancy Drew and Thomas will read just about anything that keeps him guessing at 'Who dunnit?' I'm not much of one for mysteries, though. That being said...

Several weeks ago, Friday afternoon found me looking incredulously at the children in my family and wondering if their eating habits had changed and nobody told me.

It was the pencil can and it was empty.

No bigs, right?

Except it kind of was because I'd just filled it with twelve fresh, sharp pencils the previous Monday.

They even had their erasers in tact. (I know y'all know what I'm talking about.)

The kids looked at me blankly when I asked them where the pencils were. I sighed and pulled out another pack of fresh pencils.

By the next Friday, they were all gone. Not a single one to be found come spelling test time.

"Children, what hast thou done with the pencils?" I inquired.

Five sets of beautiful eyes looked up as me and blinked cluelessly.

Out came another pack of pencils. Round and round, ground and ground went the pencil sharpener.

Guess what? It's another Friday and another empty pencil can.

The mystery continues...

The Cheeseball

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 03:42:00 +0000

Daniel. He's the baby of the family and he knows it.

A couple months ago, he wandered up to me and asked to be allowed to do something he knew I'd say no to and then he pulled this hilarious little face. He scrunched up his nose, squinted his eyes, and pasted on a fake smile.

I laughed a great big, belly laugh, pulled him up in my lap, smothered him with kisses, and said, "No, Cheeseball."

Since then, he'll do the Cheeseball face on command or according to his whim. He occasionally pulls the Cheeseball when he's trying to get out of trouble. He still gets in trouble, but I do have to work harder at being Serious Mama when he gets all comical on me.

He's a stinker, but he's my cuddly, chuckle head stinker.

For Christmas, my sweet friend Bethany made him the most awesome super-hero cape. He loves it and wears it every single day. He especially loves to pair it with his fireman rain boots.

While we were at the beach this past fall, my brother-in-law found this little Superman figure in the sand and presented it to Joshua because everyone knows my husband is a Superman. However, Daniel spied it and once he got his little boy hands on it, he's not let go too many times. Notice he's actually holding it in the above picture.

We call Daniel SuperDan. If you ask him what his superpower is, he'll tell you "Make noise and shoot away!"

These are good days, y'all. Good, good days.

Guess What I Got For Christmas?

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 12:30:00 +0000

This poor blog has suffered for nearly nine years from not only a lack of good photography skills, but a lack of a real camera.

Not that the dismal skills have anything to do with the ownership or non-ownership of a camera. But I'll try to stay on track here.

Guess what I got for Christmas??

(Do you find it ironic that I just took a picture of my snazzy new camera with an iPhone?)

I'm reveling in my ability to have more and better pictures of my people, even if my skills are sub-amateur. It makes me happy. See?

This is what we call 'The Cheeseball'. He pulls this face out at any random moment of the day, but generally when he wants something (like a snack or your undivided attention) or wants out of something (like picking up his toys or putting on his pajamas).

Just because he was spinning me a fabulous tale and he's little and it won't last forever.

Still trying to figure out how to take pictures inside without getting all those major shadows. Got any tips?

We celebrated Anna's 6th birthday a bit late, but the finery knew no bounds. Her sisters set the table with my grandmother's china and served blueberries and string cheese for snack.

We're pretty proper here - tea parties are a part of our daily life.

Sarah Grace has an amazing capacity to include this little guy in whatever it is she's doing. He loves the attention!

The Freeman home hasn't evaded the Frozen epidemic. These adorbs little hats were made by our sweet friend Angel and they get a TON of wear.

Kid loves his 'heh-mut'.

New Year's Eve. It was late....

She makes kitchen chores entertaining! A spoonful of sugar, right?

Just a few days before we chopped all her hair off - it was also FREEZING outside!

Hot chocolate. Because I have a new camera and I can.

That time it took me two days to think to check her ears when she kept complaining about a sore jaw and neck? Totally used my essential oils and she bounced back in less than 12 hours.

Little Bits of In The Trenches Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 17:01:00 +0000

It's the end of another day. It hasn't been a horrid day, but neither will it make my list of Super-Fab Days I Want To Remember Forever.

We had good moments and bad moments and in-between moments. Quiet moments and loud moments and crying moments and laughing moments. They all came fast and furious and made up this one little day.

Some days seem to wear on forever and others are over before I know it, but the truth is, all the pages on the calendar fly by and I can barely breath as these years spin away so quickly.

I want to slow the clock. I want to squeeze every ounce of joy into a bottle and savor it. I want to remember the rainbows, though I think I want to forget most of the rain. Not all, because balance is necessary, but fewer memories of days like today would be okay.

There were sassy remarks.

Lots of unkindness and bickering amongst the kids.

A handful of training moments due to not listening the first time.

Plenty of disrespectful moments towards Mama.

Several temper tantrums.

No lack of whiny people (them and me).

Lots of prodding to get through with school.

A few sobs over hurt feelings.

More than enough unthankfulness for what we have so generously been given.

There was one child who was up in my grill All. Day. Long. Child and I spend a lot of time going in circles with one another. We miscommunicate as our primary language, we get on each others nerves, we just struggle with one another on so many points.

It's hard. I love Child with all my heart. Child makes me laugh, amazes me with abilities, and is a cuddle bug (all my kids are, and I love this in big ways). Child is in the moment and tends to not think about how actions in this moment will effect the next moment or the moment two hours down the road. Child is kindhearted and wants to be of help, but Child will frequently hatch a brilliant-to-them plan that is way off base from my expectations or even my specific directions.

Child is so very capable but needs almost constant monitoring.

And so we dance. These days that aren't horrible, but just wearing. Emotionally, physically wearing. In my mind, Child should be beyond this kind of childishness.

Which is why, among other reasons, Child needs me. To point out those childish ways.

I'm in the business of raising children into adults. Don't get me wrong: I want to enjoy every single moment of their babyhood, toddlerhood, little person, medium sized kid, adolescence, young adulthood, and any other phase. Ultimately, though, I want the kid to walk out of my house with a heart for the Lord and confidence in their step and a mind that can think for itself!

I don't have a pretty bow to help wrap up this messy package of thoughts. I don't have any words of wisdom to share about how we are making the most of these swift days with Big Moments of fun and frustration.

But I place my faith in a God who is so much bigger than even the Big Moments. He is faithful to carry us when we wilt and cry out to Him. When we hide under the covers for a few minutes of peace, He gives us the courage to come out again and carry on His work with His children that He has entrusted to us.

I know it's okay to have All the Feelings about today. I know that our entire family is being refined every day. And I know I'm thankful that He loves us enough to change us for the better.

And tomorrow? Tomorrow I get to wake up to a fresh day full of His promises. Tomorrow we dance again.

Some of All The Things

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 04:15:00 +0000

Y'all, it's been a bit of a busy last couple of months. I mean, all months are busy, right? But I feel like November and December came careening out of nowhere with all their Things To Be Dealt With. Some of those things were wonderful and fun. Others of those things, well, not so much.

Early in November, our friend Jennifer was stateside. Jen's family serves in Costa Rica as missionaries and we miss them tons, so it was big fun to get to take off on a last minute trip to see her in Atlanta. The goofiness knew no bounds, and the heartfelt conversation among friends was balm to all our hearts.

While I was in Atlanta, I got a call from Joshua. It was the kind of call that every mama fears getting, especially when she's away from home.

"We've been in a wreck."

My hear stopped, y'all. I excused myself from my friends and went to listen to my husband.

"Everyone is fine, though. No injuries."

The van was totaled but everyone involved in the wreck was fine. It was the best case scenario.

We drove four different vans (rentals and loaners) over the next two weeks, then bought this bad boy on Black Friday.

That would be our new 12 passenger Nissan NV. We've been eye-balling them for a couple of years now, waiting for all the kinks to be worked out since their release in 2012. We were also waiting on our van to die or for our kids rear-ends to outgrow the super narrow 3-seater bench in the back of it. Our checkbook would have preferred we wait another year or so, but ultimately, a lot of things came together at once and this baby fell in our laps.

A week and a half later, we went to the hospital with Anna. About the time we recovered from the barrage of information and lack of sleep that comes with any hospital stay, it was well and truly Christmas!

And just like that, a new year is looming with all it's possibilities.

Our current plan for this weekend is for me to send my husband and kids off with big hugs and kisses as I focus on working through the first rendition of the 2nd semester schedule and plot out the next six weeks of school. I have big plans to get more done, too, but realistically, the school prep will be MORE than enough.

I'm ready for things to even keel and for all the excitement to die down so we can find a routine again. I'm ready for dance classes and co-op and bible study to resume. I'm looking forward to the new year and thankful for the Lord's provision in this last one.

Dear My Brave Anna

noreply@blogger.com (Aubrey) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:16:00 +0000

Dear Anna,
You're amazing. This past week has been a rough one for you, and you handled it like a champ.

On Monday, you were sent to the ER with extremely high blood sugar levels. The folks in the ER took stock of what was going on with you and we were admitted to a room where you received finger pricks and insulin shots and I curled up next to you and slept with you all night. Daddy was close by on the couch because neither one of us wanted to leave your side. The needles scared you and made you cry and it all hurt our hearts so much.

Tuesday was a parade of dieticians and diabetes trainers and sweet family and friends coming through your room to see you. We also got to see Santa Claus!!

On Tuesday evening, I gave you your insulin shot. You were so brave, sweet girl, and I was and am so thankful that this particular shot brought no tears to your sweet eyes.

Your sisters and cousin Layla came to see you and were all so relieved to see how well you were doing. The girls chose to stay with Daddy that night so they could spend the next day with you. They were very concerned about you still. I curled up with you again and we slept between the nurses coming in to check on you.

On Wednesday, you started doing your own finger pricks. I'll admit to biting back tears while your eyes shimmered with pride. Daddy learned to give you your injections and nurses started saying maybe we could go home. Sure enough, because you were so brave and so willing to help us take care of you, they let us go home that afternoon.

Anna, it's hard for your Mommy and Daddy to know that our little girl will have to deal with this disease called diabetes the rest of her life. But baby girl, this is the Lord's plan for you and He's had it in His hands all along. He KNOWS the plans He has for you, Anna. Plans not to harm you but plans for your future.

And Mommy and Daddy? We're just thankful we get to be a part of your story, the one He created especially for you, Little One.