Sometimes I strongly dislike (because I don't like to use the word "hate") Mondays. Other times I'm really excited because Monday is like a new chance to get it right. It's like a new beginning. The 1st day of a new week. I LOVE structure and LOVE getting back into a routine. It's so hard to have structure and routine with 5 young ones.
Today I woke up ready to take on the new week and make it a great one!! We had a pretty good school day in a totally "Charlotte Mason" kind of way. (I LOVE that I now really understand what a true "Charlotte Mason" day looks like!! Thanks, Heather!!) We did a little reading, a little math, had 2 nature walks, and worked on character through a variety of important and necessary tasks!
I LOVED that today was the first full day of Spring! I LOVE Spring!! We spent quite a bit of time outside today, and it was a perfect day for it!
(Grandparents, hide your eyes and do not look at the next picture!!)
Look at how Luke is in this tree today. OH.MY.GOODNESS!!! And he wasn't even done climbing yet! This does scare me, but Wesley insist it's all part of being a boy, and for thousands of years millions of boys across the whole world have done this same thing so I have to just let him be a boy. Weakly I say, "oh, well OK then, if you say so..." And for those of you who know Wesley, you know that he is a super protective and safety conscience kind of guy!
OK, Grandparents, no phone calls, please! I told you not to look!
I LOVE my wonderful and AMAZING husband, and LOVED that we all took a family walk tonight at 7:30 PM and did our family devotion while we "walked along the way" (Deut. 6:7) It was almost completely dark, and I left dishes in the sink to go walking but it was totally worth it!!
I LOVE that 5 precious kiddos call ME Mommy!! Here's just a recent cute picture of the Grace, Mary Ruth, and Bella Peace playing dress up.
I LOVE watching Elizabeth explore every new thing with such zeal, excitement, and awe!! She's the most precious 6 month old since, well since Bella Peace was 6 months old!! Just look at how this little girly has her foot kicked out in these next couple of pictures.
I have GOT to get this girl a new baby swing! I had hoped to pick up another used one at the recent consignment sales, but I did not get to go until the public sale started and by then there were no more. We had one that we got used when Luke was little, but last summer the rope cable actually broke because of all the years of wear and tear and the elements. She's been in a baby swing a couple of times and of course just LOVE it!!
Elizabeth's personality is already shining through so boldly! She's not scared of anything. She's determined. She's social. She LOVES being outside. All of this is adorable in a 6 month old, but experience tells me that she's gonna be a hand full when she gets big enough to start getting into trouble!
Today when we were outside, Buddy (our dog) licked Elizabeth's leg and feet. That's something that would have made Luke hysterical when he was a baby, but Elizabeth just kicked and laughed and reached out to get hold of Buddy!
As the day was winding down tonight I got a great idea to do something special with my big girls. Grace has had a few rough days, and it occurred to me that some special "girl time" might be beneficial. So after Wesley and I had tucked all the kiddos into bed, I went back into the big girls room, got Grace and Mary Ruth up, and we had a girls night tonight!! I took the girls in their PJ's to a new family video store close to our house and we picked up a movie that I've been wanting them to see..."Ramona and Beezus". Then we picked up a couple of snacks and headed back home. I'd heard a lot of good things about this movie, had read some good reviews, and decided that it would be OK for us to all watch together. We LOVED the movie!! In fact, it could be a new favorite for us!! If you don't know anything about this movie, it's a movie all about family and 2 sisters are the main characters. It was just perfect for us to watch together!! I think that quality girl time did us all good. I'm hoping that it doesn't back fire on me tomorrow when they are super tired from being up too late! No pictures from tonight... :-(
Another thing that I have LOVED about today are the beautiful flowers that are gracing my mantle. I'm not much of a flower person, but once a year Wesley and I have the altar flowers at church placed in memory of the three baby boys that we never got to know outside of the womb...Samuel, Isaiah, and Joshua. It's not much, but then again there's not much you can do. After the Sunday services, you get to take your flowers home. So yesterday they graced the altar at our beautiful church, and today they have served as a beautiful reminder of my babies. There are many dates that we could chose that would hold special meaning, but we always chose a Sunday in March. March 25 was my due date for Samuel. March 18 was the date that we delivered Isaiah. A lot of times these anniversaries can be so very hard, but this year it's not been too bad. I think it's just because I've been enjoying and appreciating my family so much. I know that God had a purpose for giving and for taking 3 of our precious baby boys, and this year that's given me great peace. I also know that He's grown me so much through these losses. They have help shape me into the person I am today. So anyway, I had these beautiful flowers on my mantle today and probably for at least a week (if I can stand the smell - they look pretty, but I don't love the smell!).
So there you have it...my "terrifical" (a word from tonight's movie) Monday! Hope yours was super "terricical" too!!
so much to be thankful for!
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