Happy Birthday, Kayla Lauren!!

She made me a Mama and she made me a NaiNai.

And Sunday was her birthday!!

We were super duper blessed to bring the three babies home from church so David and Kayla could have a birthday date!

We made them promise to be back in time for dinner so we could stick to tradition and make Kayla’s choice of meal and favorite dessert!

“Country dinner” was Kayla’s choice – and it was YUMMY.

We had an over-the-top sundae bar for dessert – with a song and sparklers!

What a wonderfully blessed day!

There is nothing better than sharing life with these ones that we love SO much!

Kayla Lauren, you are inspiring.

I am so privileged to be your Mama!

Happy, happy birthday!!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

The Move

One of the big things that has been happening around here is David and Kayla’s move to their new place – a BEAUTIFUL FARM!

They closed on the farm on Tuesday, March 27th, and the big move began.

I volunteered myself for the EASIEST and BEST job – watching the babies and making all the food!

I will admit, I felt a smidge guilty about this plan as the week went on – cause my hours were much shorter than everyone else’s hours, and I was having a bit too much fun!

This adorable young man….well, let’s say he does not like his NaiNai as much as his Mama, and he will not take a bottle – which made his time with me very short.

But I managed to get these cute photos!

These guys are growing up best of friends!

Makes my heart want to explode.

Tractors going by provide great entertainment.

Clyde was not too thrilled with his NaiNai for stopping his play time to sit for a photo!

Sorry, buddy!

We played upstairs, on the deck, and downstairs each day.

I read somewhere close to one thousand books, and loved every second!

When I would try to take a photo of my sunshine girl, Miss Ellie Joy, she would start to say “see, see, see”.

Reminded me so much of Eliza when she was two years old!!

I kept lunches simple and made snack plates!

There were a couple of times that week that I did not remember taking any bites myself, ahem.

But I did eat this snack plate one day!

I made a lot of the other food the weekend before the move started.

That was a great idea!

One evening I made the meal as we needed it though.

I loved cooking for all the workers!!

Someone enjoyed the pasta very much!

Friday night they had everything moved, so I jumped at the chance to take everyone over to the farm and take dinner there as well!

I was SO excited to see everything even though I had been there before!!

What a full, fun week everyone had.

I know David and Kayla had to be exhausted after all the work that got done.

We have a plan to send the painting crew back over there again for an evening to finish up a couple of walls that need one more coat!

Did I ever mention their farm is 11 minutes from Twin Oaks!!??

Ok, Just checkin’!!!

David and Kayla have a vision for this beautiful place the Lord has blessed them with!!

It will be SO exciting to watch it all come to fruition!!

Happy new home to our beautiful daughter and her crew!!

School Days

School.

It is a huge part of our world here, and I am still loving it!

Planning their days is such a joy for me!

Age is mellowing me and making me a teacher who is not focused so rigidly on a check-list, but more rigidly on running with their interests and keeping their hearts….all three things I have always focused on through the years, but the priorities seem different now!

I am hoping by fall that I have a vision for what the Lord is laying on Blake and my hearts – and can visually see the rhythm of how our day will go.

We were learning “or” and “ar” sounds one morning, but Eliza wanted to know if the bottom left word was supposed to be “shunt.” Most six year olds don’t know what a shunt is! SO cute.

Lately I have been running with a unit of some kind for the youngest three kiddos, but am thankful when Chad likes to jump in with us too!

When a unit idea pops into my head, I go to Pinterest first and search for a book list.

For example for Easter I searched “Easter book list for elementary age.”

I pulled up a second tab on my computer screen and started to search on our library website for the books that I found through that Pinterest search.

I ordered all the books that I could find, waited till they were all at our local library, and ran and picked them up!

We are in the midst of a huge butterfly study (more on that later!) and I just ordered a whole pile of books for a bird study next!

We spent the week before Easter talking about it, reading Easter books, and doing a few Easter related crafts.

This was a sweet, sweet time with Tate and Eliza, as all of this is still very new for them!

This book was SO sweet.

Sparked a lot of good conversation!

I also loved the book The Tale of Three Trees.

There is always read aloud in our days.

Here is our stack right now – for Tate and Eliza’s sake, because they have never heard them before.

Something else I enjoy SO very much, is Bible time with the kiddos.

We start our school day with 30 minutes of Bible time.

First we sing together – and no, I cannot sing!

We are learning songs together this year, and it has been the sweetest time ever.

We use You Tube as our accompaniment.

If you are homeschooling your kiddos, I encourage you to do this!!

After our song, I have a devotion I read, then we read some verses from Proverbs, and then we have a prayer time.

We go around our “circle” and each one of us prays out loud every time.

To hear the voices of my children lift the needs of others before the throne of God is the most rewarding thing.

It certainly is the best part of our day!!

What a joy to spend my days with these precious blessings!!!

Age has also shown me that time is fleeting!

I am holding on TIGHT and purposing to enjoy every. single. second. before the years are suddenly gone!

Home school Mama’s – I hope you are enjoying your days too!!

April Showers

Last Tuesday brought some showers to our neck of the woods – snow showers that is!

Yes, I checked, and the calendar said April.

Tuesday afternoon when it all started I took this photo.

Wednesday morning when I looked outside, I took this photo.

Six inches of snow is on the ground!!

Grant was out all night Tuesday night plowing and hauling snow!

Crazy!

It was beautiful though, and brought lots of little customers to our bird restaurant!

Wednesday ended up being the most beautiful winter day!!

We woke up to more snow just this morning, but only a dusting this time.

I looked ahead – and our weather looks a little bit hopeful for spring!

But only a tease for a few days before it says more cold is on its way!

Living in Wisconsin and having four distinct seasons is a blessing – but spring, we are ready for you!!