happy Friday!

 Happy Friday from these two goofs!  

photo from our cabin trip last weekend 

What are you doing this weekend?  Which day will you rest?  I'm hoping for a Saturday of planning house projects and a Sunday of worship and rest.  

Kelly

morning

July 6, 2020

ten on ten - August 2017

So funny that I didn't blog all "summer" (it's still summer but my last blogpost was about finishing our math book - hence homeschool year for 2016-2017 and today we began our 2017-2018 homeschooling year!)  

I wasn't planning to start school today.  I have been planning most of the summer and have quite a few things ready but yesterday due to a sewer back up at our house - bleh - we had to be out of the house for a while so I spontaneously took the kids school supply shopping.  

They each chose a spiral notebook, something fun to write with and some kind of adhesive (both ended up choosing glitter glue!) :) 

They were so excited about their new supplies that David asked if we could start homeschool right away so we did!  

This morning there was a scavenger hunt with clues to find their spirals.  I had written a note to each of them and David wrote me back today!  Yay!  I think this is going to be a neat avenue of communication for us in addition to a way of handling assignments, practicing writing as well as a place to cut and paste in things we are learning, etc.  

We have had a TON of rain lately!!!  It is mostly nice but I could also feel my mood lighten when the sun came out for a while this evening and was shining through the window as I was working on dinner.  

I woke up at 5:50 this morning and texted my neighbor who I have been walking with weekly to say that maybe we'd better reschedule since I heard rain and thunder from my cozy bed but after deciding that we would reschedule, both of us ended up texting back and saying "let's do it!"  The thunder had stopped and so had the rain mostly.  

When I got home we ate breakfast and did our Bible story about the 12 spies over breakfast and did a small feast of books, cleared the table, free time, scavenger hunt to find spirals, reading what I wrote and then writing me back with ideas of field trips he wants to take this year.  

Next we did math and it went great today!  One page together, Cora wanted right in there too so we did math together on the abacus.  

Then I sat outside on the swing and prayed and read my Bible while they played an improvised game of soccer inside. 

We ate lunch.  Cora made a fruit salad for us to enjoy! We read more/watched some YouTube and then Mama was done!  We have just finished a big road trip, plus three sets of company and the aforementioned sewer back up + starting school so I finished a novel I started yesterday and took a nap while they had quiet alone time. 

drying out the carpet after our incredible carpet cleaner enzyme treated it for us!  

We did laundry after that and they watched Wild Kratts and then we did some math aloud on the white board all together during dinner and Adrian did one page with him as we were finishing up.  I'm really thankful for how this first day went and am looking forward to the different things that we are going to be adding in this year!  

I was so wiped out and not planning to start today but I realized that this is such a sweet reminder from our God that I don’t do this in my strength!  *I* feel like I have absolutely nothing to give right now but I feel quite confident that all of this is in His Hands!!  I feel excited that He is leading the charge on this journey and that He took our day and will take our entire year and make it what HE wants. 

Happy beginning of school to all of the rest of you reading who are teachers, students and administrators!  

Kelly

May recap

Well bummer!  These pictures loaded all out of order.  With so many I am not going to try to rearrange them.  

Here is a little bit of what we were up to in May after school let out!

Our family of four + Nana and Ducca went to California to visit my grandma, aunt, uncle and cousins and to go to Disneyland.  My dad worked there once upon a time and it is a special place to our family!  

During our California visit, Nana and Ducca agreed to keep the kids for a day so that Adrian and I could have a date day in L.A.  We had such a good time being together and eating all the things.

  

We rode the train in and so we walked quite a bit and also uber ride shared around the city.

It as fun to explore different neighborhoods and areas.  

We revisited a favorite taco shop, Guisados, that we had discovered on a previous trip.  It did not disappoint!

We enjoyed Little Corona Beach for the first time!  

Earlier in the month we enjoyed a lovely morning at a friend's house.  I tried out a new technique as I hope to grow our ability to be active transportation participants.  We drove part of the way, parked about a ten minute walk away from our friends' house and nature walked the rest.  It was really nice and we even found a gorgeous - already hatched out of - robin's egg on the sidewalk!  I truly thought it was Easter candy at first!  Such a vibrant color! 

I am enjoying so much learning more about God's creation through nature!  

Over Mother's Day weekend we made a trip down to New Mexico to visit Adrian's great grandma, aunt, uncle and cousins.  We had such a good visit with all of them!!  We had such a good time that I managed not to take any people pictures but I did snap some pics of our dinner spot on the way down.

We had a couple of places in mind that were closed for various reasons that day/time so we ended up at Pat's Place and I really, really enjoyed it! 

These two cuties at "the train park" in Santa Fe.  Adrian remembers visiting this park as a child and we had a good time there with our kids!

We have determined that we really enjoy driving small roads whenever possible while traveling.  It is just so much more enjoyable for us than interstate, more to see, slower pace, less traffic, more chill . . . 

On the way home from New Mexico we got a GREAT back road perk!  We were just driving along when we came across real cowboys doing a cattle round up of a few mamas and babies who'd gotten loose.  It was so exciting to watch them with their lassos!

Also in May, Cora began riding on a regular seat on our four seater bike and pedaling!!!  

She and David are on a tandem trailbehind bike so they have to coordinate and work together to pedal at the same pace.  We are super proud of how they have worked on communicating and working together on this!  

Cora pretending to sleep on Nana's lap on the plane ride to California.  

 Salt and Straw ice cream on our L.A. date day

curiously exploring and taking in all of the wonders of God's creation we got to see in L.A. as we enjoyed long walks and talking

another shot from Guisado's

walking into Disneyland

spying our first character on Main Street 

swinging in Tarzan's treehouse!

Looking through photo albums at Grandmother's house I found baby pictures of myself that I don't remember ever seeing before!  That was really special, especially now that I am a mom.  

 on the way home from California we had a layover in Salt Lake City and we got to see cousins and Uncle Edmund and Aunt Ceci and they brought us tacos!!!

on May 31st we celebrated both of my parents' birthdays (May 30th and June 1st) with a family trip to the snowcone stand!

oops, this one's sideways, family fun at home

one of the last true naptimes . . . 

We bought new chopsticks and there were PINK ones in the package!

mud play in the backyard!  David has dug a very impressive hole!  We even called the utility company out to mark gaslines and such so we could make sure it was safe!  

a few more pics from Little Corona Beach in California

second cousin bonding

Roasting marshmallows with Gammy on her new firepit on the back patio!

We are so thankful to have our grandmas, the kids' great-grandmas!  We got to visit my other grandma, Sweetie in June!

Kelly

ten on ten - March 2017

eating

pottying

bed making

strewing

playing

lunching outside

homemade granola making

sharing reading

listening

strengthening

hanging

swinging

We love frozen fruit from Costco!

Taking the time to read a book in the bathroom after most meals is what is working for us right now. So thankful for a pretty bathroom to be spending the time in AND we are getting in more reading aloud time so win/win right?!

Making beds and tidying rooms is NOT a strong point at our house!  We do laundry together nearly daily like champs but I'm just not sure what time of day to make this a priority.  Our days feel full already between meals, schoolwork, reading aloud and just having lots of time for PLAY!  It is so important.  I'm interested in hearing any tips + tricks you have!!

And while we are not great at picking up, we are pretty expert in making  messes.  :) 

Cora playing downstairs in our family room.  Our preschool is TRULY the best!  Her preschool teacher sent home with each kid a paper "Mt. Sinai" that they painted and folded and stapled and a fluffy tissue paper cloud like the one that God used to lead the children of Israel.  There were also folded paper tents for the Israelites to live in, etc.  We added our vintage Fisher Price Little People and she was busy for quite a while acting the story out that she learned from her amazing teacher!

The kids really love to eat outside.  It is good for their immune systems and allergies also to mix a little dirt, twigs and leaves in with their food.  ;)

In a continual effort to keep from eating sugary foods at least three times a day and to keep our grocery budget down so we can spend money on travel and other fun things, I tried my hand at making my own granola after reading about my friend Rachel doing it on instagram.  It wasn't nearly as time consuming/tricky as I thought and dates cut up into it were plenty sweet enough for me without adding other sweeteners.  And making it look cute only adds to the fun.  :) 

Can I just say that I love her in those overalls and that stickers on furniture has long (like pre-kids) been a big pet peeve of mine?  But him reading to her out of his really cool habitat book that he made at our one day a week classical homeschool academy was super sweet indeed!

This spring has wrought a new habit of me taking late afternoon walks while Adrian is finishing up work, Cora is napping and David is reading/playing legos in his room.  I have really been drawn into listening to podcasts.  Happy Hour with Jaime Ivey is one of my regulars as is That Sounds Fun with Annie F. Downs. I am really thankful to be regularly exercising again.  This is the most consistent I've been since my Jazzercise days pre-marriage.

Tricep work in front of the washi tape collection.  :) 

Adrian and I have also been doing some strength training together - different things but at the same time.  It is just a short snippet - less than 15 minutes a day but good time spent together and taking care of ourselves.  

Piles of folded laundry ready to be put away after my little monkey finishes hanging on our trapeze!  A Christmas gift from Nana and Ducca, this has proven to be an amazing asset in our home this winter/spring.  The kids have taught themselves so many different ways of using it and strengthened their bodies.  They have gained confidence and just have so much fun on it.  

I am really thankful for our life and our ordinary days at home.

Kelly