Starting off a New Year

Welcome to 2016

To kick off this year we simplified.  I am always into simplifying around here, I just love it!  So we purged each room of the house as we cleaned up from Christmas.  It felt so good to take the house back from the mess and chaos that had accumulated.

TJ has been listening to some stories at the Reading Rainbow Skybrary.  He listened to one story several times over.  He came to me and said "I can see why some people prefer a simple life.  Less stuff to worry about and clean up."

We also simplified our schedule down to the bare minimum.  The boys and I are still going out and doing things, but only when we feel up to it.  Less mandatory scheduled events has reduced our stress and opened us up to many new possibilities.  We'd like to go swimming for fun and go for hikes more.

TJ has finished reading 30 more books.  He is feeling much more confident with his reading, and even helps MJ on occasion. He received an amazing Mechano robot for Christmas.  TJ and daddy to a few evenings to assemble it and now we are having fun playing (check out some videos on Facebook).  TJ's favourite show at the moment is 'Highway Through Hell' which is about two trucks in Alberta.  He has been setting up his own wrecks to recover with all his toy trucks, including Max Tow Truck that MJ got for Christmas.

MJ is starting to take an interest in reading, although he is worried about not getting word correct right away.  He loves playing with baby JJ because the baby laughs at him and is a great audience.  MJ is truly a master builder with Lego!!  He is always coming up with interesting creations that he's made.

JJ is consistently rolling onto his tummy to play.  He is spending more time on his tummy and also loves to grab at everything.  JJ is also amazing at communicating when he needs to go to the bathroom.  Yes our little 5month old uses the potty often.  JJ is always so smiley.  I am hopeful he'll start sleeping in some longer stretches soon (mommy is tired).

Snapshots of December

In 2015 my word for the year was JOY.  I wanted to seek more joy in the moments of our days.  I determined to slow life down and savour all that I could.  I think I did well with that, though not consistently.  Something that really helped was the idea of "1000 gifts".  You can look it up, but basically I kept a gratitude journal.  The boys and I benefited a lot from reflecting on things we were thankful for.

Okay so these photos are all out of order and only show some of the fun things that December brought us.  We had some wonderful family get togethers and a lovely Christmas.

Actually aside from the fun, December was a hard one for our family.  Our schedule was all off, sleep was out of whack, no one was eating regular foods... so tension and tempers were high.  We did our best and learned a lot about each other and move forward.  

Hanging out with cousins

Baking cookies.  MJ made one with baby JJ in my tummy

Cookie baking with Nanny

Oh look JJ is on his potty.  He is so good at communicating when he needs to go.

Funny photos.  We posed these guys so often this month

Visiting Santa

We found lots of local festivities

Finally a good photo of the boys

The boys love playing with baby

MJ has a great audience with baby JJ

TJ pretending to be a dog

I love my wild Things

Fun bowling for my birthday!  Yup I'm a New Years Eve baby

So now you may be wondering what my new word for 2016 is?  I have reflected a lot and am going with HOPE!

Want some home right now?  I encourage you to head over to Hope for the Weary Mom and grab one or both books they have written.  They are such an encouragement to me and the new devotional has just been released. (It's awesome!  I got a preview copy and can't wait to read it again).

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Hope for this weary mom

I want to share with you all an amazing book and devotional. Now I haven't been compensated for this or anything, although I am reading though a pre-release version of the devotional with an amazing group of mom's so that we can get the word out.  I can't wait for my copy of the book to arrive so I can re-read it and share it with other mom's too.

Hope for the Weary Mom is a wonderful book refreshes the soul.  Brooke and Stacey  both have so much to share.  They are real moms with real children, just like many of us.  I have truly been blessed by reading this book several times!!

What a joy it was to me when I found out that there was now a Hope for the Weary Mom Devotional.  With 40 lessons relating to topics any weary mom could relate to, they all point directly to the One who can give us hope to carry on. The devotional has different stories and information from the book.  I'd get both if I were you!!

Do you now a weary mom who needs refreshing?  Why not give her some Hope today!!

Project Video Game

We follow our boys interests with what we learn and the projects they do.  MJ is currently interested in obsessed with Super Mario Brothers and video games.  He love Luigi because he has a green hat (MJ's favourite colour). He also loves another game the boys have been playing with daddy called RayMan.

I am amazed at how well the boys play the games.  I never really grew up with video games.  I played a few times at a friend's house but that's about it.  So when I loaded Super Mario Brothers onto the Wii, I gave control over to the boys and let them figure it out alone.  They are awesome! Seriously they have figured out so much.

Aside from playing the Wii, the boys have also take an interest in the old TV show.  They both have taken the characters, and scenarios into their imaginative play.  It is really fun to watch and join in.

It started off simply enough, a little Wii time here and there.  Then he wanted to play all day.  MJ would wake up first thing in the morning asking TJ to play Mario with him.  If he didn't get his way there was a major melt down.  I also noticed that after too much screen time, both boy were far more aggressive/physical than usual.  We held a family meeting to talk about my concerns.  The boys agreed that they wanted to do other things during the day too and it wasn't healthy to just do one thing so much.  They decided on their own limits and asked me to remind them if needed.  I think TJ was more on board than MJ as he understood it all better.  Unfortunately MJ still had major melt down every time he played Wii.  Not everyone will agree with me (and that's okay) but we decided to give the Wii a break.  I did buy the boys another Mario game for Christmas so we'll bring it back soon.

The Wii break also corresponded with the boys and I being home a little more often than the past few weeks.  We had been out every afternoon for weeks on end and I was starting to get to us all.  Being home more often with unstructured free time makes such a difference to our week.  We aren't so rushed to get packed and out the door.  Everyone has more time to do their own thing, get more deeply involved and feel relaxed.  By the end of the week the boys and I made video game characters out of plasticine and felt to play with.  MJ and I made Super Mario worlds out of felt and wood blocks.  It's been beautiful to be part of. The boys have been incredible creative with their story lines and play.  They have been playing together more too.

While we were stacking wood one of the boys gathered some bark.  I mentioned that it would be good for fairy houses.  That led to gathering more wood and supplies.  TJ focused on making a larger fairy house near the tree that we make fairy houses every year.  He created a fire pit, and stocked the hollow with wood, seeds and nuts.  MJ built multiple dwellings, a fire pit and long house.  Then he asked me to call the fairies and Rayman to come visit.  We ran inside so that we wouldn't scare them off.  He is so cute!

Do check us out on Facebook to see more of what we have been up to!

Catching up with you - October

Wow where did the month go?  I can't believe October has already come and gone.

We have been busy as usual here but starting to get into a groove.  Each week we spend time at Learning in the Woods forest program, Swimming at the YMCA, local homeschool activities, YKids gym time and exploring local nature areas.  Now those are just our outings!  At home we have been playing lots of board games, reading, creating, baking, caring for baby and playing outside.

Here are some photos from the month...

MJ up late with stickers on his fingers

The boys carved pumpkins all on their own. Okay mommy took out the guts

Lots of nature walks

Baby JJ's first Autumn

Visits to farms in the fall

Baby JJ in the swing

The Jackson 5

Apple picking

Baby JJ and Mommy outside lots

Adorable brothers together

A magical little spot at the local gardens

Harvesting and investigating sun flowers

I'd love to hear what yo are up to! Do share with us.

Those not so blog worth days...

Have you ever noticed that most people only post their shining moments on social media?  All those happy kids, perfect crafts, tidy rooms...  I made the decision a while back to only post when I had something to say.  As you can tell my blog and FB page have been rather quiet.

Today I thought to myself, what about all the other days? What about those not so stellar, plain ordinary, or horribly disastrous days?  Don't they count too?  Are they to be forgotten?

Every single day is important!

Take a moment and think back to some of those times.  I bet you could find something, anything, that did go right.

That time I yelled at the kids (okay many times I've yelled).  It was also filled with apologies, re-connection, problem solving and family meetings.

Those many times when the boys fought with each other gave them plenty of opportunities to work things out, practice patience and forgiveness.

A trip to the grocery store can also turn into a chance to bless a stranger.  Hold open a door, pick up a dropped item, let someone else go first in line.  Your children are watching you intensely as you model this behavior and kindness.

No one can tell me that my unmade bed is a problem because the half hour I played "tickle monster" with my boys was one of the most precious parts of my days.

Well loved and live in

See the pictures of my messy house?  I swear to you we paused part way though the day to tidy. But this is what happens when you are living life.  So here I am posting a real home on a blog!!

Since baby JJ has been born I often feel like the boys have had way too much screen time and don't burn off all that extra energy.  I know it is only for a season and I will be able to give them more attention as we settle into life.  They prefer to be outside when an adult is out there with them.  I could feel guilty or stressed (and I do some days).  But, I also know that my boys have secretly been learning a whole lot behind my back!!  First of all their hand-eye coordination is amazing.  They can also read more than they realize.  The boys are working together (sometimes), and incorporating some of what they see into their imaginative play afterwards.  Life here has been all about Super Mario recently.

Didnt I just tidy in here

I have been finding it rather difficult to balance everything around here.  We have a little baby (almost 3 months old now), I home school the boys (unschooling really), I do the office work for our family business (hubby is an electrician and fire alarm technician), there is a house to clean and meals to make, I am also involved in a local forest school program and a home school group.  Add on top of that the YMCA, church, garden plots and playdates... Wow that's a lot.

Those who know me best also know that I'm a doer.  It makes me really uneasy to be standing around not keeping busy.  Baby JJ has blessed our lives by slowing mommy down.  I have already said no to several other homeschool groups in our area along with lots of other activities that we could be involved in.  All of them are good, but it can be too much.  A day at home focusing on time as a family is always time well spent!!  My boys are going to be excellent fathers when they get older.  They are already amazing big brothers.  They each have a special way with the baby and are a huge help to mommy.  We are learning a lot about working as a team.  Doesn't always go as I'd hoped, but I am trying to remember that we are all still learning and trying our best.

So I want to encourage you all that no mater what you are doing today, it is important.  You are impacting someone. Something good can come from that if you try.

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Inukshuks

This morning MJ drew a picture for a craft he was organizing for us to do.  It seemed like the idea came from out of nowhere, but then I don't know what connections he was making for himseslf.  He drew some rocks but couldn't explain what they were.  Next he asked for my iPad so he could show me on a game.  MJ used the atlas on my iPad to look up what he had been thinking about.  (We love this atlas app from Barefoot Books) He asked for some help looking for rocks along a shore.  We had fun searching the globe until he found the picture of an Inukshuk.  We listened to the description and looked at the photos. MJ wanted me to print a photo for him to keep.

Next we looked up pictures of Inukshuk on my computer and chose a few to print.  We also read more about their meaning and where they are found. Then MJ remembered that he had some rocks in his bedroom.  He ran to get them so he could make his own.  I reminded the boys of our rock pile in the yard.  They happily ran outside with a bucket to gather more.  For the next little while the boys made Inukshuk figures inside. After a while I put on a video that showed a man balancing rocks in a river which inspired more designs and discussion.

We talked all about building, balance, the meaning behind them and more. Earlier we had been reading bible stories MJ asked if Samson in the bible had built the big ones we looked at because he was so strong. So we looked on the globe again to see where the Inukshuk and Sampson were found.  The interesting connection was that we had also read a story about Jacob who set up stones as a reminder of a dream he had.  So we talked more about what different cultures do to commemorate big events or to remember something special.

We had a wonderful time this morning following MJ's lead and curiosity. I have been feeling like we haven't been doing as much recently because of the baby (although I know they have been continuing to learn in their own way).  I was particularly pleased to share in their discoveries today.