happy halloween!!

from Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and Pirate Evan (one of Captain Hook's maytee's)!







Favorite memories of today
1. Waking up to the sound of rain and wind outside and watching the sunrise (Evan wanted to, not me!)...
2. Dressing the kids in their costumes
3. Breakfast with Auntie and the kids at Village Eatery outside under the awning, listening to more rain!
4. Trick-or-treating downtown with the kids, watching them wide eyed as they turned every corner and saw all that candy in their baskets!
5. Eating lunch at Maria's...with three kids...not relaxing, but still fun.
6. Watching Auntie get "body-slammed" by Grant, over and over and over again while feeding Evan his bottle!
7. Nap time! :)

happy 11 month birthday, evan!

One more month until you're a year old...hard to believe!

loving this

Yesterday, we were homeschooling before the piano students began arriving. I'm trying to not put pressure on Madeline, just looking to change things up so that it stays interesting. Apparently it's working because when I told her it was time to stop she said, No, Mom. I want to keep doing more homeschool! So we went through the stack of phonics sounds photo library cards and she read the words to me, while telling me which vowel was in each word. Then she divided each card into groups by vowels. Then I gave her some mini magnetic letters and asked her to make some words. So she begins asking me to help her find letters and does even more than coming up with words...she makes a sentence!!

insightful beyond words

We went to the library the other day. Evan was strapped to my back, Grant was holding one hand and Madeline was holding my other hand. It was about 95 degrees outside, and I had my three little ones walking slowly, after I realized that I was so lucky to get a parking spot in front of the library because the front entrance was closed and everyone was being rerouted to the back entrance, the back entrance that was about a 7 minute walk in the horrible heat with my three kids. We finally made it to the library, picked up our goodies and then headed back outside for another walk in the heat. Later that day, Madeline asked me, Mommy, why did that lady smile at you? Taken back, I said, I don't know. I hadn't realized that anyone had smiled at me. Maddie said, I know why she smiled at you...because you have your hands full.

I can't tell how many times I've been stopped on the street or at the park or in a store where people look at me, smile, even laugh out loud and say, Boy, you've got your hands full! Granted, they're in shock that I would actually leave my house with three children in tow. But many people do it all the time. And I'm always looking for a creative response because I don't want my children to hear that sarcasm in their voices and wonder what is wrong with their mommy having their hands full.

While I knew that Madeline was just being her sweet little insightful self, I hope she knows that having my hands full of all three of my children is exactly where I want to be every day, even when I'm absolutely exhausted.

a sweet day

Yesterday I realized that I work myself to death, all in the name of being such a great mom. But what am I showing my children when I work so hard that I'm grouchy, complaining and unable to spend quality time with them? What am I showing them about a God who says His "yoke is easy and burden is light?" We've been reading through Experiencing God in our small group and Nathan asked us all to close our eyes and listen to the words of that particular Scripture passage. Such conviction fell upon my heart. Last week the Lord gave me the verse in Isaiah 30:21 which says something to the effect that whether we go to the left or to the right, it is the LORD standing behind us saying This is the way...walk in it.

So that's what I did today. I woke up and asked the Lord what He wanted me to do. I already had plans, but with each turn in my day, I asked Him what He wanted it to look like. Today we had peace. This is how I want every single day to look at my house.

I showered (woohoo!) before 4pm...imagine that.

Breakfast
Circle time (prayer time together)
Going to Lindsay's for homeschool play time
Came home and kids played outside while I prepared lunch
We ate together
Read books together
Rested together
Snacked together
Maddie practiced her letters
Went to the park and played with friends
Came home and ate dinner together
the kids helped clean up and prepare for the next day and didn't complain about it!(they are actually smiling in these pictures!)




























Bathed the kids and brushed their teeth
Read to them
Tucked them in
**Didn't stress out - enjoyed every moment!!

I know this is not realistic for every day, well, maybe it is. I'm not going to give up hope. I'm going to practice listening to the Lord more than to my to-do list and all my "have-to's" that are really rooted in my own perfectionism and have nothing to do with being there for my kids.

there it is!!

Finally got a shot of your first tooth and then your second one appeared yesterday....and you absolutely LOVE brushing your teeth (well, chewing on the toothbrush and scratching your gums!!)...

my new favorite book

Since I decided to pull Madeline out of preschool and be fully committed to homeschooling, I was so excited to have my friend Lindsay recommend this most excellent book called The Well-Trained Mind which focuses on the classical method of homeschooling your children or one can simply use this method to expand on what their children are already learning at school. I can't put it down and it's not even fiction!

It has opened my eyes to see that I want to give this kind of education to my children as a gift. I only thought I could do homeschooling if I were in a co-op, but I believe so strongly in this method of learning that I now believe I will do whatever is necessary (whether alone or with friends) to give my children this kind of educational learning that I know is not available in the schools simply because there are too many children per teacher to get this kind of one-on-one teaching.

Very exciting...more to come on this topic for sure!

homeschool pride

Madeline has been very excited about homeschooling. I ask her to trace a particular letter and go over how it should look. And then she asks me to look away, while she surprises me. And this is what she presented me with - not just the one letter I asked her to work on, but the capital and lowercase letters she wanted to show that she's mastered. Her excitement is so encouraging, especially on days when I feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

happy 1/2 birthday, grant!

Just before taking this picture, you handed me a beautiful purple flower...on your 1/2 birthday! Yes, you are officially 2 and a half and it's hard to believe that at the beginning of this year you were still a one year old - unbelievable how time flies!

Some things that you love doing right now include copying everything your sister says. In fact, you went to a birthday party today and Madeline described how a certain boy made her cry and you repeated i cry! even though you hadn't shed a tear over some little boy being mean to you!

You are bound and determined NOT to have Evan invade even an INCH of your space, and so just to be safe, you make sure and watch him while he's crawling toward you and just to make sure he knows who's in charge, you smack him right in the face, before he even gets within a foot of your space! Yes, you spend much time in the corner, in your bed and in the "thinking chair" and I'm still trying to figure out how to help you learn the same lessons in a fraction of the time!

You have become very proud of your new "chucks", your little black converse that you insist on wearing everywhere.

Some of the things that you get frustrated with is when you try to use your words to describe something that is important to you and we don't understand you the first time. But you have also begun to realize that we want to help you, that we desire to understand your words and that we want to continue being invited into your world.

You are constantly walking behind me around the house saying, Wait me! And I have to sometimes stop and remember that you are only 1 year and a half ahead of your baby brother. You are still learning how to be a big boy...you still ask for luvies and to be held. Yet you are showing more independence these days, especially recently when you climbed up the stairs on the park playground and went down the slides (all by yourself) over and over and over again. You say, Ready. Set. Go! and then you run over to me and give me hi-fives!

You also just learned how to climb into the trampoline all by yourself just a few days ago - and you just beamed as your big sister cheered you on and congratulated your wonderful accomplishment!

You still love being outside the most. Just the other day while sister was at preschool, I gave you some scissors and encouraged you to cut some flowers for your sister. You cut some lovely green stems and so I added to your creation with some beautiful roses. Outside is where your little soul is nourished and comes alive!

I've also loved watching you walk around the house with books in your hands, looking for me to read to you. You always carry one of your other best friends with you everywhere you go, such as a dinosaur, a rubber snake, some cars, dinosaur eggs, dinosaurs and your other plastic animal friends.

You are a true boy at heart. And I absolutely love your heart. You have a strong mind, and a quiet presence. You are always thinking and sometimes you get frustrated when you try to get in a word and are unable to keep up. But you make your point and we notice that you sometimes need a little extra love and care, especially being in the middle. When you ask me to sit on the blue chair in your room at night, to rub your back and sing you the "Signing Time" song, I know that you are just needing a little extra TLC. Thanks for asking. Please don't ever stop. You are a treasure in my heart; I long to be close to you too.

what forgiveness is...

Forgiveness is releasing your hands from someone's neck...basically, letting God be the judge over those who have wounded us and not taking matters into our own hands.

This bestselling book The Shack goes into greater depth of what forgiveness should look like in everyday life. The tale is fascinating, hard to believe at times, yet very thought provoking. My dad kept asking me, Have you read it yet? Have you finished it yet?

Yes, I have read it and I can only hope to be changed by what I read. It comes at a very opportune time in my life when forgiveness is a must in order to be a healthy wife and mother.

favorite books

My children love their books. And it's fun when they go through cycles and just have to read the same books over and over and over and over again.

Grant's favorite right now is But No Elephants and we play this little game when we read. I read the part of Grandma Tildy and say that of course I would like to buy this or that animal and then I point to Grant and he proudly says, No Effants! He thinks that is so much fun and so we finish the story, and then he says, Weed again!

Madeline is very fond of the Fancy Nancy series, one of which she got for her birthday. This is an adorable story of a little girl who just thinks her family is too plain and so she has to give them lessons in how to be fancy. Madeline walks around quoting parts of the book saying that things are stupendous...that's a fancy way of saying 'great'... And she uses her best British accent! Plus, there's a part in the book where Fancy Nancy goes out to eat with her family and they all call each other "darling" and eat with their pinkies up. We do this while we eat lunch sometimes...even Grant enjoys the story so much that we point to him and he says, FANCY!

Books, books, wonderful books!

words, words, words!

Just the other day Madeline said I love the way Grant talks! Why does he talk different? He's still learning how to talk and to figure out how to express himself so that he's understood. He gets frustrated when we don't understand him the first time, but he's learning that we need him to repeat things so we can understand and better help him.

Other times he speaks so clearly, like yesterday morning when he came into my room and said, Mommy, wake! Eat bweakfast! The clearest thing he says (or yells out) every single day is, NO, BABY!

Here are a few of my favorite words/phrases spoken out of his cute little mouth:

Thorry Thither = Sorry, Sister
Gwaant = Grant
Dienore = Dinosaur
Daddy wuhk = Daddy's at work
One, two, fwhee, foh, five, sic, seven, ate, ni, ten! = 1-10!
Tak uh - Thank you
Pops Firetruck = pretty self-explanatory
Unco Wohbuht = Uncle Robert
Wuvies = Luvies, meaning he wants to be held close
Weed books, Peez = Read books, please!
When he's told something he doesn't understand, he asks, WHOT? in almost a whisper and you can see his little mind processing whatever was just said to him...such a luvie!

And then I sing part of a song and he responds...
Me: You are my
Grant: SHUNSHINE
Me: My only
Grant: SHUNSHINE
Me: You make me
Grant: HAPPY
Me: When skies are
Grant: GREAT
Me: You'll never know
Grant: DEAH
Me: How much I
Grant: Wuv you
Me: Oh please don't take
Grant: MY SHUNSHINE WAY

true worship

When I hear Madeline singing spontaneously, Indescribable, uncontainable...You are amazing, God! and Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Your perfect love is casting out fear...

When I hear my Grant singing (without being coached), Oh no, never let go...thru the calm and thru the storm...

Every Vote Counts

I sent this little story to Dennis Prager, conservative talk radio host...

Hi Dennis,

My husband and I really enjoy your show…thanks for speaking up for conservatives everywhere!

Recently, I invited my five year old daughter Madeline to pray with me for the upcoming elections. Trying to scale it down to her size as much as possible, I explained about the difference between the candidates and how we are supporting McCain because he “believes in Jesus the same way that we do” compared to Obama, who says one thing but his actions don’t match his words. I have also explained that while we desire McCain to be in office, that we still pray for Obama that he will begin to see and speak truth.

Later that same day, we were visiting my friend and Madeline asked her out of the blue, “Who are you going to vote for, Lindsay?”

Taken back, Lindsay responded, “Well, I’m not sure yet.”
Madeline said, “We don’t want Obama because he doesn’t believe in Jesus!”
And I quickly added, “He doesn’t believe in Jesus the same way we do.”
Lindsay laughed and then turned to Madeline and asked, “Who are you going to vote for, Madeline?”
And very proudly she said, “I’m voting for Dennis Prager!”

She knows of you because my husband “takes turns” with the kids whenever he drives them somewhere during the day. He lets them listen to one of their favorite songs, and then takes his turn by tuning in to talk radio.

If you were running for President, you would have at least one five-year-old’s vote!

Blessings to you,
Mrs. Christian Nichols

bittersweet

Madeline rarely gets in trouble. I can see in her little eyes, devastation, when she is caught in wrongdoing and suffers a consequence. Tonight she did something to Grant (can't remember what at the moment) and was corrected for her behavior. I held her close and whispered in her ear, Why do I correct you? I reminded her that I do it because I love her and want to teach her. I explained that while she makes great choices most of the time, there are times when she forgets and it's my job to remind her.

Then out of the blue she blurted out, Does everybody sin? Why do we sin? Why did Adam and Eve have to sin? Blown away doesn't even begin to describe how her words affected me. Her little heart was frustrated with her poor choice, enough to recognize that while we want to do things right, we sometimes fail. And when we fail, our right response is to repent and make changes.

Five years old and beginning to see the difficult cycle we all struggle through on this earth.

weekend getaway

Sometimes I forget that we're married, that we actually fell in love and used to take weekend trips together 4 times a year, and used to have dinner out at restaurants or that we used to have complete conversations that were not chopped up and interrupted by cute little monkeys who dance around our feet every day.

Tom and Debbie offered to babysit our little ones so that we could get away for the weekend at Orchard Hill Inn in Julian. Wow. We hiked in the mornings, ate country breakfasts, and just sat and talked for two hours on Saturday, catching up on all that has been going on. It's amazing that you can live together every single day and not know so much about the one person you love the most. It's not intentional, it's just that life demands your attention be diverted into so many other directions. And we were so grateful for this opportunity to have the time to strengthen our marriage so that we can be better parents and better spouses in the years to come.

Thanks, Tom and Debbie, for a much needed getaway. The kids had a blast with you and were thrilled to be invited to stay over and wear you out!

music to my ears

Grant, do you want me to read you a book?

mini monet

I asked Grant if he wanted to paint! Yes, and he was so excited. So I dressed him in clothes I don't care about. Then I went to his bedroom and carried the easel all the way to the laundry room at the other end of the house. Then I walked back to his room to get the little gate, and carried that back to the laundry room so that Evan wouldn't bother him while he painted. Then I laid out newspaper all over the floor. In the meantime, Grant keeps asking over and over, Paint? Paint? Paint? I tell him, Yes, you can paint. Just let Mommy... and I go through the exhaustive list of all the things I need to do to just to prepare for his paint time. So then I get out the brushes and pour the paint into the cups and he's so excited he just can't contain himself. So he begins to dip his brush in one color, then another, then another. Wook, Mama, Painting! He was so proud of himself. He painted for an entire FIVE minutes. Yep...then he asked if he could go outside and play.

Five whole minutes. But every one of those five were worth it to him!

i miss you

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Grandma! You've been in heaven for 4 years now. So many new lives have come into being, so many changes have come to us, with and without our permission. I've been thinking about you lately because my heart has been sad for one of our lost loved ones, someone you loved very much. I don't know what you're aware of up in heaven, and I know that there isn't any room up there for tears. We have plenty of those down here. Heaven is becoming more and more real and desirable to me. Sometimes I can feel my heart filled with wonder and excitement of the prospect of heaven - what will we do there? Who will we see? I suspect that we'll miss nothing of this world. I talk about heaven with the kids all the time - Madeline always asks me when we're going. I'm glad I don't know that yet - too much to carry. But I'm thankful to know I'll see you again, and that I'll finally get to meet Great-Grandpa Fred and Great-Grandma Antonia.

I miss our talks on the phone late at night, and the times when we laughed so hard you had to cover your mouth and shut your eyes tight! I miss your prayers and your hugs. There is so much I want to catch up on and share with you. And yet, while I miss you for my own selfish reasons, I know that you are exactly where you are supposed to be. Hug Jesus for me! Thank you for introducing me to Him so many years ago. That was the most wonderful gift you could have ever given me. And I'm passing on that gift to your great-grandbabies. I love you, Grandma. See you in Paradise!

homeschooling

Well, I think we're going to completely join the homeschool community. After going to the CHEA conference last summer, I felt excited and deeply challenged to move forward. But I know myself well enough that I won't be able to do homeschooling without other moms/kids, just for the sake of sanity. I know that every family is different, and I've been struggling with what to do. For the first time ever (of course!), Madeline is really enjoying her time at preschool. But I've been trying to balance homeschooling and preschool which is way too hard. I feel like we've been flying by the seat of our pants and then when it's time to breathe again, we have homeschool work looming in the background, waiting to eat all our energy and time up! Well...I talked to a couple of friends this week who are very ready to begin a homeschool co-op together. My friends Lindsay and Carrie are both credentialed teachers and both have a passion toward teaching children at home. While this is still a work in progress, we're very excited. I'll be calling Madeline's preschool director on Monday to explain that we have appreciated all they've given to us, but that we're going to try something different this year. Madeline is at a great age to start this, since she's in between pre-K and Kindergarten. I just pray that I will be organized enough to begin this journey well so that she will realize all she can receive by doing homeschool. I'm nervous, excited, overwhelmed, scared and much more - I hate taking risks. But this could potentially be a wonderful gift for our children.

"i 'cared"

Grant said this to me last night as I tucked him into bed...I 'cared! I asked what he was scared of...Tree...Lion, he explained. I reminded him that the lion was sleeping at the zoo and that his lion and tree at home were just toys, not scary. He argued Lion, Zoo, WAKE! I had nothing to argue back, but he eventually let me leave the room and slept just fine.

Uncle Robert

Uncle Robert came to visit. Too short, but always enjoyable. We headed down to Newport today to enjoy the last days of warm weather, and the beach was just beautiful. The waves were big enough for Robert to boogie board for long stretches of time. I look at him and can't believe he used to be a little monkey, now that he stands about 5'8". Now when I look at him, I'm always looking up. He's very patient with the kids, doesn't complain or ask for anything, just goes along with whatever the plan is. He's very proud of his football team and the position he plays, as well as the bruises that come with that territory. Grant follows him around calling him Unco-Woburt, while Evan is perfectly content to be carried around with him, and Madeline enjoyed having him bury her in the sand. Nathan just enjoys harassing him, just to get a reaction (which Robert takes in stride). One thing I hope he went home knowing is just how much we love him and look forward to every moment we have him with us.

Evan's 1st tooth!

I have no pictures of it because every time I try to get a good look at it, you stick your tongue out at me, almost to say Get your hands out of my mouth, Mommy! The one right next to it is on it's way to popping up soon...we'll be watching!

band-aid boy

Grant: Band-aid!
Me: Where's your owie?
Grant: Whiiiite dare! (pointing to an invisible injury)
Me: Right here?
Grant: No, whiiiiiite DARE! (pointing to the invisible injury again)

Well, band-aids are the new favorite toy in our house. And apparently, Grant was able to get some sympathy from Madeline and got her to put band-aids on all of his invisible injuries. And it's an even bigger deal when a big sister shares her princess band-aids with her little brother!

time with the boys

Pops picked Madeline up and took her to Grandparent's Day at preschool. I was absolutely exhausted and fighting some scratchiness in my throat. This gave me time to just be with my boys. It amazed me that they were completely satisfied just sitting outside on the grass, taking turns drinking out of the hose. Grant kept taking the water in, spitting it out, laughing out loud and then offering some to Evan. It was warm, breezy, calm and peaceful - and WET, but everyone was happy.

disney princess dream world

For your 5th birthday, we gave you a choice: a birthday party or a day at Disneyland. Yes, pretty much a no-brainer, but we wanted to let you decide. So we invited Makayla and made reservations at Ariel's Grotto, where we dined like royalty and spent special time with each Disney Princess...Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty. Miss Teseena and I lived vicariously through your cute smiles, giggles and royal gowns. When each princess was announced, you turned your back to them and said I want to be surprised! I thought you might burst with excitement! Jen and Becca met up with us and showered you both with princess love and attention. Miss Teseena and I even got to ride California Screamin' together (which she says she'll never do again...). We played in water fountains, had our tummies tickled on rides and ate yummy corn dogs - princess style! We even found two more princesses to share our day with - Pocahontas and Jasmine - wow! We ended our day at the beginning of main street in a circle of flowers, waiting for the parade. We watched you dance together, each clutching your princess dolls, waiting for the grand finale. The parade extravaganza full of lights, music, beautiful costumes and sweet magic arrived at the perfect moment...I teared up watching you run around in awe at the beauty all around you. I was so thankful to share the moment with you, my precious girl. Thank you for making it a most wonderful day with you, sweet Madeline!