I kept a friend’s little girl yesterday. She’s the sweetest little baby. It’s so funny to see babies react to all the boys in our house. Usually, they’re content for hours, just to watch and listen to them run and play and laugh. Most of the time, even the quietest babies start to babble and respond to the boys. Katie Mae was no exception. She laughed and smiled and followed them around on all fours. It was so sweet to watch.

We picked up Katie Mae’s big brother after school and I told the boys that Avery would have to do his homework before they could all go play outside. He only had one assignment and that was to read his library book, a picture book about extinct animals, and then write a short summary/report on it. Avery had the sweetest idea to have everyone pile onto the couch and he could read the book out loud to them and then do the written part of the assignment when he finished. The kids were so good as they all listened intently and asked an occasional question. The funny thing is, Avery was homeschooled for a little while and during that time, his momma had the opportunity to teach him ‘real’ science, not the evoluntionary “the Earth is millions of years old” stuff that public schools teach. So every few pages when the book would claim that a certain extinct animal was millions of years old and had evolved from some animal none of us could pronounce, Avery would put the book down for a second and explain to my boys how that page was incorrect. I was very impressed. Tara, you done good girl! I managed to snap a quick picture while Avery was still reading to the rest of the kids. It was so sweet.

I couldn’t help but think, “Yes! That’s the way I like it! This is how it should be!” If we teach our children to love learning and love reading and love sharing their new found knowledge, then they will take pride and joy in teaching what they know to their younger siblings and friends. That’s exactly what Avery did on the couch. Moments like this really encourage my young, new readers and for that I am very grateful.

Yes, Owen is pant-less. Remember? Potty Training Boot Camp?
Day two is going well. No accidents yet!

~audrey

Last Thursday, it rained and rained and rained, all day long. It was awesome. I took the boys to the library and when we got home, we all got back into our jammies and piled into my bed to read and do school work. Even when we finished Joshua’s school work, we stayed in bed and Joshua drew pictures and read his Science Encyclopedia while I read my new library book, “The Well-Educated Mind”.

It’s a great book on learning the classical model as an adult. Hopefully it will help me as I teach my boys classically at home. That reminds me, in efforts to be on top of things this year, I already sent in our registration and tuition for our local classical co-op for the fall. I’m very excited since we missed it last year. I think the added accountability and structure will be a good transition for Jesse as he goes from real school to homeschooling again. We’re all really looking forward it. Our relaxing, rainy day made me even more excited about having everyone home next year.

Joshua likes to doing copy work. This particular day, he learned about the moon.

It was a little treat having Jesse home for one more day while he made it to 24 hours with no fever and no meds.

Jesse was home from school on Friday and today with a virus. His fever got up to 104.7 on Saturday night. It was crazy. I let him fall asleep in my bed. I don’t know why, but I always remember my parents’ bed making me feel just a little bit better when I was sick.

Here we are, another Monday. Can you believe this is the last Monday in January!? This month has flown by. How are you doing on your goals for 2010? Don’t let it be one of those years where you sprint to the finish in December because you slacked off during the other 11 months. Make it a nice steady marathon. For us, this year will be full of new financial discipline, hopefully welcoming two little girls into our family, and just learning how to relax and enjoy our time at home. We stay way too busy and I’ve come to really appreciate my time at home with the boys during the day…even the rough days. :)

Today is Potty Training Boot Camp: Day One. Owen has done exceptionally well. I’ve had him in a pull-up all day because I’m not real fond of cleaning up urine (it’s even worse when you can’t find where he peed!!). He hasn’t had a single pee-pee accident today. The ONE time I let him go 30 minutes with no pull-up, I found poop at the bottom of his pant leg, which fortunately was the kind of pant leg that had elastic on the bottom, so the poop was contained. Other than that, I’d consider day one a success. I do NOT plan to buy another package of pull-ups. By Wednesday, I’m putting him in big boy underwear. I don’t play around with the potty training. All or nothing baby, and we’re going all the way this time…especially with the prospect of two more bottoms to diaper in the near future.

Happy Monday!

~audrey

Church was great this morning. Worship was intense and the Word was powerful. Our pastor taught out of Acts, when Jesus gives the disciples instructions, but then tells them: WAIT. NOT YET. There was a LOT more to the sermon than the one sentence I just wrote, but it really struck a chord with me. I know what the Lord has promised me. I know what I’m suppose to be doing in this season of my life. Unfortunately, I am forced to just WAIT a lot. I’m learning more and more with each waiting experience, to just trust Him. Many times, I see later, that if I had rushed results, I wouldn’t have had what I needed to handle the situation properly.

That is where I am right now. Daily, I’m praying for these two little girls. Protection, peace, healing, love, security. I’m fighting the urge to pray for MYSELF or MY family. I want to say, “KEEP MY DAUGHTERS SAFE, LORD!” But I know I have to wait. They may never make it to my house. But I’m committed to pray for them each and everyday for the next week. There’s incredible power in prayer and I’m believing for a miracle.

I’m reminded of the Casting Crowns song, “Praise You In This Storm”:
I’ll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
you are who you are
no matter where I am
and every tear I’ve cried
you hold in your hand
you’ve never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I’ll praise you in this storm.

Now, I’m excited to go sit down with my two Sunday papers and get started with my hard-core couponing this week. :) I look forward to sharing some great deals with you!

~audrey

Maybe it’s a psychological thing, but I do feel a change in my mood and my overall well-being since I’ve been taking vitamins and Juice Plus+ the last few days. On top of that, I’m down another pound this week. It certainly isn’t a big pretty number, but as I said in the first post: One pound a week will still add up to 52 lbs. in a year, so I’m aiming for a pound a week and anything more than that will be just awesome! I’ve been doing terrible on exercising consistently, so that is my goal for next week: EXERCISE!!

Now, for the really important stuff:

We got a call from our foster agency on Thursday afternoon. We’ve been presented with the opportunity to receive two little girls into our home and we’ve accepted. We would love for them to be a part of our family, but most of all, it’s important that they stay safe and are in a loving home. I don’t even know their names but I would love to have you pray as we wait. We’ll update next week when we hear something.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

~audrey