Summer: Full Speed Ahead!

I started this post a while ago, and I'm finally getting around to posting it.

 (First of all, I didn't want to blog without acknowledging the Little family as their beautiful, 6 year old Molly has gone to be with Jesus after close to a year long battle with DIPG. I personally know their family as Julie and I grew up together.
 If you don't know about DIPG, please familiarize yourself with it. It's a horrible disease that there is currently no cure for, and we can all take action by donating to help fund research so that a cure can be found! 
 Molly's parents and sisters--Peter, Julie, Samantha and Clara--are grieving now and it's something that they will never recover from. Their faith has been solid and it's amazing to watch them as they give God the glory through everything, but I cannot fathom the pain they are feeling now. Please keep them in your prayers. To find more information about how you can donate and see their Facebook page full of beautiful pictures and updates, please click here.)


The school year has finally wound to a close and I'm looking forward to enjoying days with the kids with no schedule. With younger kids not in school, the days all run together and are the same, but when they are school age, summer is anticipated and every free day cherished. It baffles me how parents can look forward to school starting again so the kids are gone every day and they have their "freedom" back. I mean yes, everyone needs a break from their kids now and again, but seriously? Great way to give your kids the impression that you love spending time with them....

 That's another blog post in itself that I should probably never write. ;)

 Moving on.

 I have a lot of thoughts mulling around in my head right now that I hope I will have time to turn into blog post soon. I love how God can use something small said by someone else, the line of a song, a verse in his word, or a snippet of a sermon to start a work in our hearts--if we are open to it. I'm so thankful that God doesn't just save us and then leave us to fend for ourselves. We are a constant work in progress that he is molding and making into what he would have us to be, often through ways that we don't like or understand.

 But like I said... I hope to type out my thoughts soon. :) For now, some recent pictures of our crazy, wonderful life.

The day after Mother's Day... Un-matching pjs, holes in socks, yellow lighting. It's perfectly imperfect and I cherish it.

Seeing them read thrills my heart

He's 9 months old now, pulling up to his knees on everything, smiling 80% of the time, getting ready to pop tooth number 2 and wearing his eye patch 1 hour a day for another 7 weeks. Progress has been made over this past month so we are happy for that!

Kindergarten really clicked with him the last month or so of school. I'm so thankful for God's grace this year--I shed so many tears feeling totally incapable but thanks to a lot of hard work, support from Nate and a huge dose of God's grace he passed Kindergarten! On to 1st grade!

This one keeps us on our toes. He doesn't require much sleep, has a very stubborn will and is totally independent. He's also melt-your-heart sweet and loving a lot of the time which makes him totally irresistible. ;)

His first mischievous act was committed this month. He was having fun!

Brooke with 2 of her teachers at the awards ceremony

Her end of the year project. We had so much fun working on this together, even though I probably micro managed way too much. This was a great year for her and a learning experience for us as well. We will be homeschooling this upcoming year and even though it's not easy, it's what is best for our family and what we feel the Lord wants us to do. I feel like I missed out on about 9 months of her life with her being gone 10 or more hours per day, so I'm looking forward to getting to know her again this summer. Birthday post for her coming soon as she just turned 8... what?!

The rain here has been crazy to say the least. Homes have been destroyed and several people have died--devastating to say the least. I'm thankful that the Lord has kept us safe. Each time it starts raining I think that even the Lord can't go very long without crying for sweet Molly's family.

Have a safe weekend, friends. Hug your loved ones tight.

Halfway Through

Isn't is crazy that we are over halfway through the school year? I have to admit I'm starting to get the summer itch, which probably isn't good seeing as though we still have a few months of school left.

Having 2 in school this year has been a mixture of challenging and fun, especially since one is homeschooled and one is attending Christian school. Teaching Joe kindergarten has been very different than teaching Brooke. He's a little math whiz, but catching on to phonics takes a little longer. However, once it clicks he's got it and I'm so proud of the progress he's made! He's worked really hard on neat writing as well.

Krispy Kreme gives a free donut for every "A" on a report card. I was so proud of Brookie when she came home with half a dozen!

Even though school has been a big adjustment, she's doing very well and I'm excited about the progress she's made this year. We are still praying about what education path we will pursue next year. 

Of course, doing homework instead of holding her baby brother is pure torture, so she decided that she would do both at the same time

How is your school year going? I would love to hear about it!

I hope you all are having a great week so far! Happy Friday Eve :).

Our Village

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and boy do I have the best village. After I had Nicolas, it was reaffirmed to me again just how many friends and family we have, surrounding us with love and support. Of course my Mom was here taking care of everything at home, while my in-laws watched the kids for us for a few days and my sister-in-law took them the next week for another little extra break. Friends brought over delicious, home cooked meals, presents for the baby and me, specialty drinks, homemade baked goods, take out lunches and I was constantly receiving texts. “Congratulations, he is beautiful!” “How are you feeling?” “How is the baby?” “We miss you!” “Can’t wait to meet him!”

 Even a month later, I’m still feeling the extra love as friends offer to bring Brooke home from school, ask if I need anything and we even received another meal the other day, just because. Now that I’m out an about more, everyone always asks how I’m feeling and how we are adjusting. Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more loved in all of my life. Our village is full of the most caring souls on the planet and it makes the page to the new chapter of our lives turn a whole lot smoother than it would have had we been alone.

 We are so very blessed.

Quick photo dump from the past few weeks:

Hands near mouth, always

"The boys"

Baby blues

He has been such a good baby for us--happy, peaceful and content for the most part ;)

Before my Mom left, we celebrated Joe's birthday a little early. She made ice cream sandwhiches with him and gave him his presents.

I know I'm a little biased, but does he not have the perfect face?!

I'm curious what color his hair will end up being...

No words needed. She's my hero and my kids adore her.

She's adjusting great to going to school every day, and we are settling into our new routine. The first week was really rough on me, not gonna lie, but it was definitely the best decision for us right now and I'm adjusting!

Leaving you with baby toes.

 Happy Friday!

P.S. We have our yearly anniversary Sunday coming up this weekend, and we are praying for many souls to be saved. Please pray with us, would you?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

A Post of Firsts

School started this week, bringing big changes for our family. This is Brooke's first year attending our church school. She is loving it so far--me, not so much. I miss her, and 9 hours a day is a long time! I'm hoping I'll adjust to it soon, but for now, I'm just glad that she loves it and seems to be doing really well.

 I'm teaching JoJo Kindergarten at home and learning that boys are very different to teach than girls! He's doing great, though, and we're both enjoying it! I'm usually holding the baby during school, because he's not too keen on taking longer naps by himself. Some might say I'm spoiling him, but I prefer to say I'm enjoying him. I just can't resist his little snuggly body curled up against mine! (Which is where he is right now, because I can't stop)

First day of second grade!

First day of Kindergarten!

Other firsts...his first Sunday going to church, wearing a tux, because duh, when you're two weeks old style is important! And look, he's already praising the Lord!

The cutest little face ever

His umbilical cord stump fell off at only 6 days old (just like his sister!), so he got his first bath, which he loved and never made one peep!

It was a family affair, which pretty much every new baby event is in this house. This baby is oh so loved! 

My Mom leaves tomorrow, and while I'm dreading the goodbye, I am so, so thankful for the 3 weeks she was able to spend here. She has spoiled us rotten! Because I have such a big family, we don't get much alone time so time with just her after I have a baby is very precious to me. Hey, maybe I should start cranking out babies more often!

 Just kidding.

Tomorrow's Friday! Have a great weekend, friends!