End of October Through Beginning of November Photos

Rosemary is getting really into family worship. She's a pro at playing Fred the Egg!

She never snuggles when she's awake. But, Andy caught her in the act. I cherish this photo!

That FACE!!!

The kids set up the tent for Rosie with all of her favorite toys inside and then had her climb through the tunnel to get to her prizes. She had a blast! They love her so much.

This just about sums Joseph up to a T! He is ALWAYS writing notes, making us cards, gifts, you name it. He decided to put a sticky note up on our fridge to each person in our family. I got such a kick out of Rosie's. All the hair on it and the spell. Then he made one for himself.

My precious little Ebba Sue.

I was out one night and came home after the kids were in bed. Joseph had run out of tape so he clipped a clothespine to the picture and then hung a string between that and another clip to the door. He's a genius in my eyes. Then he wrote "Joseph did." So I knew he did it. Haha!

We don't celebrate Halloween but while the kids were outside playing that night a neighbor offered them a piece of gum. Samuel has been asking us recently about if we thought he was old enough for gum or not, and we said sure. Then he gets some from a neighbor. I think they were more excited about this gum than just about anything else in their lives. Oh to find this much joy in the little things in life. Not sure how Annabelle got away with having a piece too, but she did. Lucky girl.

 We played scrabble with scrabble cheese its. A HUGE hit.

I cannot get over this picture! It looks like she is really thinking hard about her next move. Look at the rolls on her arms!!! I just want to EAT HER!

I made a bag for a friend for a shower gift.

Sporting a new sweater from my Mama.

Joseph decided to take his quiet time downstairs with me one day and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. He must have gotten tired too. The little couch had some things on it so he went into the school room, read some books and then took a nap. Haha! I have no idea why he just didn't go into his bed to sleep.

Me and my precious girls! I love this photo so much.

Girls Weekend / Boys Weekend

The boys went camping with Papa Bear while the girls stayed home. Annabelle and I had such a lovely weekend together. I will always cherish it. We had a full day on Saturday. A slip and slide party and a going away party during the day. There was a ton of leftover cake from the going away party so we brought some home for us and then to share with the boys. Our night was filled with chocolate cake and sewing. Perfect in every way. I love spending time with her one on one. She is maturing so much and I can really feel our relationship changing. I can't believe I'm getting glimpses of what our relationship with look like in the years to come while she's three, but it's happening. Time is flying.
 

Here she is modeling her new baby carrier. She wore it to church the next morning.

The boys after they got home.

Birthday Beads

Something that I just love about our boys is that as rough and rugged as they are, they absolutely love doing girlie things as well. Annabelle got a bead set for her birthday. I got them out for her one night to get into and the boys came running. They were so into it. They made necklaces and bracelets for each of us. They love making ladies feel beautiful. It's quite adorable.

Joe (our in house reminder of good photo ops) wanted me to take a close up of all of the colorful beads.

Indoor Campfire

When I need to do something with just one of the boys for school the other does something with Ebba. Their recent form of entertainment is creating an indoor fire pit and sitting and roasting things over it. Haha!

I was reading a book by a woman who has 10 or so children and homeschooled them all who was commenting about how she looked out the window to see her kids playing "thin air football". She never realized they didn't have a football. She went out and bought one the next day for them. They never played "thin air football" again and in fact never played real football either. The fun was in the creativity.

I wholeheartedly believe that my kids have more fun creating things out of other things than when they actually have the specific object. I find such joy in watching my children use their imaginations to create.

A House of Wood

Andy and Joe building a house together out of yet another medium.



Dress Progress

Joseph and I had a date night one night and he wanted to work on the dress. So cute! He just loves to construct things, even if they are dresses! We had a blast. Lots of progress is being made.

 



Gaining Momentum

Since it had been so long since I've done any sewing, I wanted to do a quick pick-me-up project before I dove head first into the dress. In our living room we have a chair and 2 couches, all dark brown, 2 bookcases and an entertainment center, all dark wood. The walls are light, but everything else is pretty much the same color. It's just very uninteresting to me. So, I tried to add some color and made some bright pillow covers. A nice start, I think.



Now, onto the dress!

Sewing Challenge

For Annabelle's 3rd birthday and for a wedding in late June, I'm making her a dress. It is significantly harder than anything I've ever tried. Darts, lining, collar, you name it, this dress has it! I found this dress pattern and fell in love with it and figured I mind as well tackle all my fears at once and get out of this sewing funk I've found myself in. If I can pull this off, I will be one happy woman.

Marker Obsession

My budding artists are really making progress. It's so fun to watch their skills improve. This artistic mommy is thrilled they love drawing and crafts as much as they do. I love being able to share interests together with my kids.



Annabelle's Earrings

Annabelle and Kim have the sweetest relationship. She calls Kim Grasshopper and Kim calls her Ladybug. Kim was over one night, and while we were doing our nighttime routine with the kids Annabelle asked her to make her some earrings. Annabelle felt like such a big girl. It was precious.



 

The Westward Movement

We've been studying about the Westward Movement in history. They have always loved dressing up in their Cowboy and Indian costumes, but this study has taken their interest to a new level. Daddy jumped on their enthusiasm and built them a teepee, got out his bow and arrows set to teach them all about archery, and then made some bows for the boys. They now have targets set up in the backyard. It's a very big deal around here.

Eating dinner by the fire, because that's what the Indians did.

Rosemary - 18 Weeks

A dress I made for Annabelle now fits Rosemary. It's so nice to see stuff that I made be used again.  It's been quite awhile since I've done any sewing, but pulling out of storage the baby clothes of Annabelle's that I made makes me want to make more. I struggle with already having so much on my plate. How do I add yet another "want" when the needs are so pressing?

I know how good it is for me to create and continue to invest in myself, but it's hard to justify it most days when there are so many pressing issues. When I think about it, it seems so superficial to sit down at a machine and sew a dress for my daughter when I could easily go and buy one for probably cheaper than it cost to make one. And then during that time I could have been chipping away at a number of other things that actually matter in the scheme of life. Oh, the struggles of a mom...

Kids Creations

I just love the extended periods of free time that homeschooling allows the boys to explore and create to their hearts content. Toilet paper rolls, popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners are crafting favorites in our home. These are astronauts with their space ships.

One of the dozen of pictures I get each day. This is a picture of Joseph giving me a flower. The box around my neck is Rosemary in a carrier. Haha!

Mama's Craft Buddy

I am just now getting back to working on the braided rug. In theory it would have been great to braid while I was constantly nursing at the beginning, but I just couldn't manage them simultaneously. Rosemary was too squirmy from the start. I was however able to get through several books I had on my list for this year. So that was a plus. I still don't have a plan for when I will actually work on this rug, but I am hopefully a few minutes here and there will eventually add up to what's needed to finish it before I realize it's a complete waste of time. We shall see. At least my craft buddy is super cute.

Tool Time

Joseph wants to be a builder when he grows up. It is the perfect job for him. He loves to create things. Whether it be train tracks, crafts, wooden/Lincoln/lego houses, marble mazes, a meal, you name it. He loves to make it. Daddy and Joseph have had some very special times over the years doing wood working projects together. Joseph got a wood working project for Christmas and they were both so eager to start working. Here they are building a train together. Look at those happy faces. I think Joseph is looking more and more like Andy each day.

 

Braided Rag Rug

I've cut what I think might be all or most of the fabric for the rug and have started braiding it. It's been really fun. You see results quickly which is encouraging to this 41 week pregnant mama. I've needed something to keep my mind off of the fact that we are still waiting on her arrival.

I'm making it quite light in color. The new flooring is quite dark so I'd like to balance it out with a light rug. I'm doing 2 strands of off-white and one strand of color in some parts and then 1 strand of off-white with 2 strands of color in other areas, but all pretty much pastels. All the furniture in the school room is painted white, so hopefully it will go well together.

Gingerbread Houses and a Stable

It's a yearly tradition now to get together with the neighborhood kids and make gingerbread houses around Christmas. Last year Andy was there and just Joe and Sam made them. This year, we had more kids making them and half the help.  Mama is not as good as Daddy, so we had some major structural issues but the important part is that they all had fun. Joe and Belle were content with flat roofs, but Sam was determined to figure out how to make a peaked roof.

Annabelle's stable

Joe's

Sam's

Kid Approved

The kids wasted no time to christen the room. They love the flat surface for cars, puzzles and drawing. Daddy is happy.

School Room: Complete!

In typical Andy fashion he finished at the 11th hour and it looks amazing! Never in my life have I seen someone work as well under pressure as this man! I'm so pleased with the result. As tempting as it was to stress about it all, it was such a joy to watch him work. He just loved figuring everything out and working into the wee hours of the morning finishing. He has learned so much doing this.

Now our precious little one can be born into a warm home with no cold drafts, thanks to Daddy!

Andy spent so much time at Lowe's the past 2+ weeks that he became such good friends with one of the workers there, that this worker let Andy borrow his miter saw.

Daddy's work space... our kitchen table!

Oma came in and saved the day! She came today, brought us lunch and dinner and painted the entire room! Then helped us get all of our Christmas decorations out because we can start decorating now that the living room will be less crowded. She had some cans left over from projects around their house and one of the cans of paint was almost exactly the paint we already had in the room. It just looks amazing. Such a blessing.

Andy is moving the furniture back in the room as I type. He still has some transition pieces to lay down and officially kill the electricity in the old electric heater, but nothing is stopping us from moving everything back in.

I am now mildly obsessed with making a braided rug for the room. I've been researching them and they are so expensive. I could literally make it for free, but it will just take lots of time. Coincidentally, I will have LOTS of idle time sitting on the couch once this baby is born. I think I just might give it a whirl!

Woohoo! Exciting times!