This year. This year wasn’t sad.

This year wasn’t filled with tears and pain and the bewilderment of my life having tipped over.

This year I chose to remember my daughter. Her birth. My sons. The blessing of their short lives. My unborn child. The hope he brings to us.

This Mother’s Day, we spent it as a family. Simply. Quietly. Thankful for a year that has brought so many revelations.

I found peace and strength this year on a day that isn’t going to be carefree or really about me ever again. I prayed that God would give me eyes of gratefulness for what has been placed before me, even briefly.

I’m so blessed to have this little family of mine. Who wants to shower me with love even though I’m a cranky, short tempered, half hearted mother and wife so often. I don’t deserve it. Yet here they are with me.

Thank you Lord that you gave me the chance to be a broken, desperate, human mama to 4 little ones and a wife to a man I can’t even begin to explain how proud I am of. Let them look back and see your grace through my mess.

Yes.

You read that right.

Just don’t tell this crazy chick from 2 years ago. She might throat punch me.

As we near the end of our stay here, there are things in nearly 2 years that I’ve grown to love and become used to about this place. I’d have never thought that any part of me would be sad to move. While I’m beyond excited to head to North Carolina and TREES AND GRASS AND WATER – I’ll never think back on this place as one I hated.

After those first few months.

So here’s my list so I don’t forget:

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I get a lot of questions about homeschooling on IG, Facebook, Twitter, and in real life. Most of them are along the lines of, “It seems so overwhelming. Where do you begin?”

I have been stuck writing this post for forever because I get frustrated with my own answer. There simply isn’t a place to begin except to talk to people who are homeschooling, research, go to a curriculum fair if there’s one near you, call different curriculum providers you have an interest in using and ask them questions, search blogs, and read, read, read about it. Also ask lots of questions! Then dive in. Really – you can change it as you go.

I want to tell you my A., B., and C., but homeschool is such a personal journey that my choices and style probably wouldn’t work for many of you or your children’s needs. On that note, before you click away and tell me I just wasted 5 minutes of your life I’ll share with you about what we’re using, how it works, etc.

What we are using this year: Five in a Row for our basic curriculum

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21 weeks. Tired Bella. Tired Mama. Both headed to bed. Please to enjoy the bathroom shot.

And if this shot is any indicator, along with having a baby in August, I’ll also be exploding.

Did I mention I actually love being pregnant and huge? I do. I really do.

 

• Find out our top ten boy names choices for this baby (is one of them your kid’s?)
• High risk pregnancy? Going insane? Here are my tips for how to deal in the long weeks ahead.

 

 

This weekend I got the urge to clean all the things (thank you second tri energy for FINALLY KICKING IN) and started with the bins of clothes I have from Bella.

People.

I can’t fathom why on earth I saved so many of her clothes, but it’s insane. Like 6 full bins of clothes that are newborn to two years. Crammed full.

Anyway, realizing that I have zero desire to move 6+ large bins to North Carolina, I started to go through them to save and for Goodwill. Then I wondered why I was saving girl clothes as we’re having a boy? This pregnancy has been so stressful, so intense, so physically hard up until just a few weeks ago. It would seem obvious to anyone we would be done.

Then Saturday night Sam took us to shopping and dinner. After, on a whim, we let Bella jump on the splash pad and get herself soaked. It was about 80* out but once she was completely drenched it was freezing to her. We didn’t have any extra clothes or a towel in the car so I ended up stripping her down, wrapping her in a scarf to protect from the car seat straps and then covering her with a blanket. I laughingly told Sam to remind me to pack her a bag of extras for the car from now on, saying, “I did better at this when I was a nanny of 3!”

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