March Happenings

This month has been nothing short of exciting and full!

This little guy turned 7 months old and is sitting up like a champ! He is successfully traveling forwards and enjoys riding in the front of the stroller for walks. Any time outside is fun for him, but he really loves crawling/scooting off of the blanket and eating grass! I've given him food off of the spoon a couple of times and he pretty much hates it, so all of this chub is just from nursing! Also, he has slept through the night the last couple of nights! So big!

B is riding his running bike with excellence. We went for a walk today and he was gliding all over the place.

Here's the whole gang at the park on Sunday.

C was a ring bearer in a wedding this weekend. He did great! He had to walk down the aisle by himself and I was so nervous! He looked so handsome, yet so little in his tux. I think it is really good for me to see him as a little guy every once in a while.

O turned 2 last week! Where has the time gone? I made her a strawberry cake and put some strawberry juice in the butter cream icing. I could have eaten the whole thing! I am so thankful for her and the excitement she adds to our life!

Here she is on her last day as a one year old.

In other news we have one more week of school and I have been searching out materials for next year. I think I am going to type up my own teacher's guide. It will take a lot of work this year, but I'll be able to use it for four years. I may do a post about what I'll be using, but I am waiting for a friend's opinion on everything first. It is really exciting though and I can't wait to place my order!

Doesn't this basket look like fun. Hoping to win it for O's birthday which is just around the corner! Happy winning!

February at a glance

Well, it's been a busy month again. Out of four weekends in February, our family was split in some way for three of them. That is more apart time then we've had in the last year! I am tired and ready to just hang out at home, wrap up school and enjoy this beautiful untimely weather. I planted some bulbs last week and can hardly wait for them to come up, but it should still be cold outside. We all had a little sunburn last week. Isn't it winter?? The flies are back already. Now, I know it's too early for that. We are really enjoying the beautiful weather, but it does seem a month or so early. What does this mean for summer??

Enough talking, here are the troops.

Albert received an award for "Flight Instructor of the Year." He and I were invited to a formal banquet. We had a great time and a delicious meal and left all four littles with a babysitter. It was a BIG night!!

CJ's latest adventures are sitting up, rolling all over the floor, spinning on his belly and trying to army crawl to the nearest toy. He is so fun and makes all of us smile so so much!

C is a crazy as ever. We are down to the last six weeks of Kindergarten. He is enjoying it and learning a ton. Last week we had an assessment of how high he can count. With a tinge of help he counted to 130! More exciting than that is how easily he is memorizing scripture and growing in his love and leadership of his younger siblings.

B is our silly boy. This picture is not what he usually looks like, but it depicts him perfectly. He is also memorizing scripture but needs a bit more assistance and likes to add in extra words like "poop". "Our Father in heaven, poop." I do correct him on this and am trying to teach him to show respect to the word of God, but it does make me laugh on the inside. He is just silly 99% of the time and so enjoyable!

O is the princess around here. She and I have started having weekly or bi-weekly tea parties. The boys participated in the first couple, and they are invited if they are around. Last week the 3 big boys (Albert, C and B) were on a "boy's trip" and CJ was sleeping. I thought that would be a great time for a girl's only tea-party. Instead of having tea we had m&ms while sitting on the floor. O scooped black beans and played while I read "The Princess and the Kiss" and the first part of "God's Wisdom for Little Girls". I really enjoyed our time together and hope to make this a weekly special time.

So big! CJ is 6 months old already! This is the crown I made for everyone back in December. Not sure if I ever posted a picture.

Matching Js from the Auntie A.

Our lives are full these days and I wouldn't trade it. I am finding the most contentment through being at home managing the troops and seeking time with the Lord. March is already feeling full and it hasn't even begun yet! I am thankful February is drawing to a close though, it was just way more busy than my liking.

Plan: revised

I have been thinking and praying a lot about this blog. Not just blogging, but time on the Internet, f.acebook, surfing. All things computer related. It has taken me a long time to transition into having four little ones. I have asked several friends, countless times, for tips and any glimmer of guidance they might have. I recently purchased "Organized Simplicity" and "Large Family Logistics." After reading a portion of both of them I have felt convicted over killing time on the computer. I mean, I need to be able to mentally check out a little each day, but why not do something profitable rather than hide in my bathroom with my phone and check the face.book status of all these people I never talk to? If I were truly concerned about them, I would write them an e-mail or call them. I am just wasting time and being nosey. For me, this is sinful and I must change. I first felt convicted to get off of face.book. I have been tossing it around, hoping that was not what I really heard, but I think it is. If I don't respond to the small acts of obedience the Lord calls me to, will I hear Him on the big ones?

I have also felt challenged with this blog. I have a lot that I'd really like to write and I would love to have all of these followers and comments, but it just isn't me. At M.OPS this month we made a journal. I am the girl who started probably 20 journals as a young girl and never wrote much. I am now using the back for a prayer journal and slowly filling up all of those mostly empty journals. But this journal, I feel led to write the happenings of my children. The things I would blog about, but I don't want the negative feedback. I can be completely honest and write whatever I want. And, when my children are older, they will have a journal (hopefully several) documenting their childhood, written by their mother's hand. It's a noble ambition and I hope I follow through.

So, my new plan is to post pictures of the children around the third week each month, that's when all of their birthdays are; 18, 19, 22, 22. And an undetailed update on the happenings of the Ducks. We have a large amount of family who live far from us, and I want to be better about sharing pictures with them. I hope the three of you who read this understand and still love us. It isn't you, it's me! I just can't manage my time with the computer zapping it all away!

In Christ,

Robin

Book List

Here is my book list for 2011 so far:

Finish: Ginger Plowman's Don't Make Me Count to Three

Martha Peace's The Faithful Parent: A Biblical Guide to Raising a Family

Terri Maxwell's Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit

Voddie Baucham's Family Driven Faith

Julie Ann Barnhill's She's Gonna Blow! I'm not actually sure yet if this one is on the list or not. I have started it, but I might put it away without finishing it.

Wendy Horger Alsup's Practical Theology for Women

Pam Forster's Instructions in Righteousness

I am sure more books will be added throughout the year, and hopefully I can check some off! My goal is one chapter a day. So far so good!

What are you reading this year?

On Order

After that last post I promptly scrubbed the kitchen floor, some of it with a toothbrush and some with a rag, cooked dinner and folded and put away that mountain of laundry! The floor is dirty again, but it was clean for a couple of hours!

I just ordered two books. I can hardly wait for them to get here! One is Large Family Logistics. It is sort of a text book on how to operate a large family. Just the title has me thinking. Are we a large family? How many children makes a large family. I've come to decide this:

1-2 children = small family

3-5 children = medium family

6+ children = large family

This is my own personal breakdown, so please please do not take offense if you do not agree. Having four children has opened the door to me finding several other families who have four children. It is much more common then I once thought. At first I thought our shock factor was having four children, but now I think it is the time span. I never have been the sort of person who likes to do something for shock value, but it can be fun to see people's reaction to my littles if my perspective is right.

This has been a VERY full week for us. Monday we did school, went to Jo.Ann's and I made a floor quilt for CJ. Just doing school and going to the store is HUGE! for us. Tuesday we went to M.OPS and the commissary. I packed a lunch and we ate it in the mini before we left M.OPS. Then I gave the older three a lollipop to suck on while we walked around. It went really well. We had several people comment on us, but one lady stuck out in my mind and I hope I never forget her. As we were coming down the peanut butter aisle, near the end of the trip, she clapped quietly a couple of times and said "you're doing good". She just warmed my heart and was an encouragement to me.

The second book I ordered is Organized Simplicity. I wish I could just look at these books and have all of the knowledge soak into my brain! I just don't think I can read them fast enough! With the beginning of the year, I have been cleaning out like a mad woman. Clothes are the main target. We have VERY loving and generous grandparents and all of the children walked away with a mound of new clothes. After washing everything, buying more hangers, and hanging it all up, I felt completely overwhelmed. It was just too much. The boy's closet was full wall to wall and O's closet was 3/4 full for one very small person. I called my dear friend, K, and asked her to give me some numbers. She also has four small children and does an excellent job of pursuing simplicity. (She's the one who told me about this book.) Her suggestion was 2 options for church, one outfit for each day of the week and one extra. I decided I would break it into seasons. I haven't gotten them completely down to 10 summer shirts and 10 winter shirts, but I have cut their clothing down by almost half. It is embarrassing the bags of clothes we have to give away and I think for us, it came to the point of being sinful. I feel so much freer having cleaned out so much! I know cleaning out our clothing is a continual process, but one big purge feels so good! The children weren't the only ones to shed a few pounds of cloth, I went through my closet too. Wow, I think I could clothe another woman with what I pulled out. Albert and I are hoping to get our clothes down to one dresser and our closet and we have an entire shelf in our closet that is empty. I'm sure we still have a ways to go in simplifying, but this is a start!

The Rest of The Story......

After my sweet friend L's comment on my last post and K's response this morning at M.OPS, I feel obligated to confess the rest of the story.

In order for me to accomplish a single craft, all other activities must stop. I have hardly cooked dinner for the last three weeks. A couple of times we ate with my parents, (Christmas and New Years). We ate out a few times (way more than normal) and I stretched what we already had for as long as possible. We ordered pizza for B's birthday and I think we ate it for about 4 days! I have touched a broom maybe once in the last three weeks. The bathrooms, let's not even go there! I have kept the laundry washed, but have been terrible about folding it and putting it away. In fact, a nice huge stack is waiting for me right now.

So please do not feel anything about yourself because of my last post. I am just so excited to have something accomplished along with feeding my children and brushing my teeth, that I had to share it with you.

I have had a terrible time adjusting to four little ones. Two felt hard, but was still manageable. O came in without a hitch. CJ has been a wonderful baby, but it just has taken me four months to feel like I can buy groceries when I need to without activating the entire fleet! I am still trying to figure out when to clean our house. (Don't look at my floors!!!!) And when to make important phone calls without sitting my big littles in front of the television. I just hate doing that. There is always something to be working on and I am thankful for these little tokens of accomplishment. It may be another six months before I have any other crafts to share! I hope not though since O's birthday is just around the corner!