Many of these ideas I’ve implemented are not new. They are just new to me actually using them! And if any of these ideas help any of my readers, all the better!

*Firstly, I wake up each day and write down what absolutely has to be done that day. In the order I need to do them.  And then I’ll add things I would like to do. Knowing they probably won’t get done. But, a girl can wish! I also try not to stress or worry about those extra things that probably won’t get done. They’ll get done eventually.

* I’ve had to learn to overlook messiness, unbrushed hair and non matching clothes.

*Even though I stay home, I’ve started laying out everyone’s clothes the night before.  And some days I let them pick out their own clothes. Hence the non matching clothing comment above. That way the girls can get up, get dressed right away and not have to wait for me. And If I  have an idea of what I’m wearing and what Jocelyn is wearing it saves precious time. Mornings are probably our most hectic times right now.  We’re all hungry (or starving. Me.) for breakfast, Jocelyn needs to eat and I need to pump. All first thing.

Not a good combination. I hate making Katelyn and Madelyn wait forever for me to get around to meeting their needs.  So, whatever I can do to make breakfast time run more smoothly I will do it.

*One thing my girls are constantly asking for is something to drink and a snack. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right?

Well, when those things are asked for 10 times a day and you’re constantly saying ” In a minute!!!” and then forgetting to follow through it does become a big deal!! So, I filled several bottles with water and juice, labeled them and put them in the bottom of the fridge. That way if the girls are thirsty they can go get something to drink themselves. They love this and I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner!

By the way, these colorful bottles are not working out so well. The girls can’t seem to keep track of the lids. So, I’ll be getting different ones. These were on clearance at Target for 40 cents so no huge loss!

I also created a snack shelf in the pantry. I opened every snack box and put the snacks in individual snack baggies, ready to go. This way at snack time, I tell the girls to go grab a snack from the pantry.

I plan on doing this with veggies and fruit in the fridge too. Just this simple step has  saved a lot of time!

* I start getting in the van about 10 minutes before we actually have to be pulling out of the driveway. You don’t realize how long it takes to get everyone buckled in and settled in your vehicle until you look at the dashboard clock and see that you should have been pulling out 10 minutes ago. This has helped me get places on time more often now.

* I keep an extra supply of diapers, wipes, formula and bottled water in our van.  For Madelyn, I keep extra undies, pants and an emergency pull up for accidents. That way, if I rush out and forget something, I’ll have it in the van. It has definitely saved me a couple of headaches, that’s for sure.

* I keep one of pretty much every cleaning supply and diapering supply on each floor of my house. (We have a two story house and a full basement. We use all floors to the max!!) This saves me from running up and down to get one thing. Which is super annoying!

* One word: Babywearing!

That has kept me “hands free” at the times when I’ve most needed it! I have an Ultimate Baby Wrap (Similar to a Moby) that I didn’t use with Madelyn but now use every day with Jocelyn. She loves loves loves it. She curls right up on my chest, stops fussing, and looks around or goes right to sleep. This has helped during school time and trying to cook dinner. I’ve learned that the trick to it not hurting my back is to wrap the sling around you as tight as you can. It may seem too tight but the fabric is stretchy enough to snuggle to baby in safely against you but not allow them to slowly slide down. The sliding down is what causes extra pulling on your back.,

I still have a few more tricks I need to learn but just these things have helped keep me on track.

Most of all I try to remember to cherish every second with my girls. My house will most likely still be messy when they’re twenty so why stress about it now?? I need to tell myself this MANY times a day!!

Do you have any other time saving or organizing tips? Do share!

Why is that?  Hmm…something we’ll have to work on!

I wanted to share a few more pictures from the hospital that I didn’t get to put in my last post.

Here’s a shot my parents took of my girls right before they left for the hospital to meet Jocelyn. I love it! You can see how excited they are!

Geemaw and Jocelyn. (Also a picture my parents took. Many of these you’ll see are ones I stole from my parents. They got better shots and angles than we did in the hospital. I think it was a couple of days before *I* got a picture with my own newborn daughter! It’s so true what they say…the third kid gets the least amount of pictures….)

Geempaw and Jocelyn

I think this is such a sweet picture of my girls watching Jocelyn get changed into her first sleeper at the hospital. They were enthralled! Katelyn kept asking to “see her body”. Haha. She was so curious to see what a newborn baby looked like naked. Can you blame her? They were also curious to see what Jocelyn had in her diaper each time she got changed. Especially if it was a poop! The things that fascinate my girls are kinda…weird…. (They get that from their daddy’s side of the family.)

Papa with Jocelyn

Nana with Jocelyn

Meeting baby sister for the first time! I love this picture.

Big sister Maddy holding Jocelyn.

Big BIG sister Katelyn holding Jocy.

Are these not the cutest, wittle feet?? I love baby feet!! Thanks again to my parents for snapping this photo. I cropped and played with the color a bit.)

And the chubbiest, sweet face?? (Her face has actually slimmed down since this picture was taken)

Daddy and Jocelyn waiting to go home…

Happy mommy to have her baby in her arms!

And lastly, I’ve enjoyed doing some baby wearing! And I took this photo of myself with our new iPad 2 that my husband was able to miraculously get the day before I went in to have Jocelyn. Go me!

I hope you enjoyed this post! It could be the last one for a while. I hope not. But it might!  Or not.

Hope to see you very soon!!

8 pounds 14 oz and 21 inches long.

Born March 23,2011 at 8:53 am

This is my dad holding Jocelyn a couple of hours after she was born.

Big sisters Katelyn and Madelyn love her to death. They held her as much as they could when visiting in the hospital.

It was great to have both sets of grandparents there for the birth. My parents flew in from Texas a couple of days before to stay with us for two weeks. I was thrilled to have them with us! They took wonderful care of Katelyn and Madelyn while I was in the hospital for five long days.

My parents and girls meeting Jocelyn for the first time. Can you see my girls were thrilled??

Mommy and Jocelyn

Daddy, Jocelyn and Katelyn

Now for a little pre-delivery humor! Mike was enjoying himself way too much.

And a not so flattering picture of me…

The two hours before the c-section went by so fast. And Mike and I had a good time together waiting. I just couldn’t believe it was already time for our newest princess to be born!

And now we’re a family of FIVE!

I honestly don’t know how the mommy bloggers who have just had babies blog every day. Jocelyn is two weeks old today and I’m just writing my first post! And there’s going to have to be a “Part 2″ since I have more pictures and must go feed the little princess.

I need to come up with a new picture for my header!

We thank God for our newest little blessing!

More to come!

]]> http://www.simplymelsblog.com/introducing/feed/ 14 http://www.simplymelsblog.com/10-memorable-moments-of-2010/ http://www.simplymelsblog.com/10-memorable-moments-of-2010/#comments Mon, 03 Jan 2011 03:02:26 +0000 SimplyMel http://www.simplymelsblog.com/?p=2703 As I was trying to think of a Top Ten Tuesday post for this week I thought what better way to “close out” 2010 than to write a post of  top ten memorable moments for me this past year. When I say “memorable moments”, it doesn’t mean that they’re all happy moments. Many of them are. But not all of them. These happy and sad moments touched my life and emotions this past year and I will never forget them.

1. Not selling our house- Last January  were spent looking at houses and getting ready to sell ours. It seemed liked everything was in place and we had found several bigger houses in better locations for us. When it came time to put the house on the market our Realtor told us that after doing a market analysis for our area we’d have to sell our house for waaay less than what we planned because of how the houses in our area were selling. So, super disappointed, we made the decision to wait. And now it’s a year later and we’re still in the same house. I learned a lot about contentment last year.

2. Financial Peace University/ Becoming Debt Free- In March we took a Financial Peace University class at our church and by the end of June were DEBT FREE. It was a HUGE achievement in our marriage. We learned so much about how to manage our finances and to really control our spending. We spent 9 years struggling with debt and having no control over our finances, despite the good salary my husband receives. We learned better communication over our finances and actually work together now. This is the first time we’ve come into the new year with NO DEBT and it is an awesome feeling. We paid cash for Christmas and have no more credit cards. Did I mention how HUGE this is for us?

HUGE.

3. Pregnancy/Miscarriage- In April of last year we found out that at after almost 2 years of trying to conceive we were finally pregnant! We were elated. I even posted this picture of the girls on Facebook and on my blog to help announce the glorious news. (I’m not one to wait….)

Six days later I miscarried. Although I hadn’t been pregnant for that long I was devastated and angry. The night I started spotting I went to one of our Financial Peace classes. I was developing a migraine and worried but didn’t want to miss a class. One of the couples in our class had  had their fourth baby a few days before I miscarried and they brought him to class that night to show everyone. I thought ” How ironic! They’re bringing in a new life and I’m losing one.”

4. Pregnancy Round Two- After much struggling and anger at God for not letting us sell our house, allowing me to get pregnant in the first place and then allowing me to lose it, I started calming down as Spring wore on. Summer came and we were all in a good place. I was settling in emotionally and in a happy place. Then, in July, to our great joy, I found out I was pregnant AGAIN!!  We had been hoping and praying it would happen again but weren’t sure how long it would take to happen this time. It could have taken another two years! But, praise the LORD, it didn’t!

We were so thrilled and thankful. And I’ll be 28 weeks this week with baby girl number 3! She’s due in March!

Oh, and a month later my sister found out she was pregnant with her second. A girl, due in April! We’re a month apart!

5. Going On Nana and Papa’s boat for the first time: We took the girls on my inlaws’ little boat for the first time this past Summer. It was so fun! I had been on it before, but they never had. It was quite the memorable and fun day. Granted, it was an overcast, cold, rainy day when we went. We didn’t let that stop us from having fun!

6. Anniversary trip to Salem,MA- I’ve always had a huge fascination with learning more about the Salem Witch Trials. So off we went this past August to spend the day in Salem, MA to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the Salem Witch trials that day and had a great, romantic little getaway with my husband. Unfortunately, my camera battery died at the very beginning so I have no pictures from that day!

7. Homeschooling- Last year was the year we decided to try our hand at homeschooling! We purchased the Kindergarten curriculum from Christian Liberty Academy and started homeschooling our daughter the second week in September. I have absolutely loved homeschooling thus far.It has been a challenging, frustrating at times and rewarding experience so far.

These were taken the very first day we started homeschooling….

I also do preschool work with my 3 year old daughter every day. She partakes in the art, Bible, science and field trip activities we do.

My husband finished our homeschool room in the basement not long after these pictures were taken. Now we do school every day in our little school room. We  love it!

8. Singing In Our Church Choir- This past September I started singing in our church choir. I hadn’t sung in a choir in ages and I had scheduling conflicts the previous year so I was unable to join. I have so enjoyed it! We’ve caroled, done  a Dessert Theater and sung almost every Sunday. I’ve had many opportunities to sing solos, duets and trios and it’s been so fun! We have a very talented bunch of people in our choir.

9. My Family’s Visit For Thanksgiving- I was so blessed to have my whole family visit for Thanksgiving week! My sister, husband, niece, brother and parents all flew up from Texas and stayed in my house for the whole week. It was a tight fit but an awesome time together! My brother in law had never been to New England so this was a new experience for him. My sister and I got to “be pregnant together” while she was here. We spent a day at  Boston Museum Of Science and had a blast. That is a memory that will live in my mind forever.

The girls are with their Geempaw in this space shuttle replica.

My parents with their three current granddaughters. Two more coming in the Spring!

10. The Passing Of My Uncle Mike- On Christmas day we received the sad news that my uncle Mike had died after a long battle with Lymphoma. He was a great, godly, man and will be greatly missed. We were all blessed by who he was. His family has also been a great testimony in  their peace and attitudes. They are sad but also filled with hope since they know where Mike is and that they will all see him again some day.  He’s in Heaven, cancer-free with Jesus!  I will certainly never forget getting the phone call about his passing.

There are so many other moments I’d love to mention but since I’m pressed to keep the list at ten these are the ones I chose.

Do you have moments that defined 2010 for you?

This post is linked to Top Ten Tuesday hosted by Oh Amanda.

TWO days until Christmas!!!  How exciting is that?

Even though we’ve had a rough few days with the stomach virus and migraines we still have the Christmas spirit.  Mike now has the stomach virus and is laid out in bed.

Hopefully we’ll be well by Friday and we can have a sick-free Christmas!!

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas around here.

I decorated for Christmas very simply this year:

Due to the lack of room I couldn’t take out of all my decorations. But, I think I like it better this way. Less for me to put away!!

This is where I hang all of the wonderful Christmas cards I get every year.

If you sent me one, can you find yours? *wink*

We’ve also continued to focus on Christmas activities during our homeschooling time. We’re taking next week off!

Our self-drawn Nativity Scenes. I loved my girls’  imaginations and creativity on this project we did.

Here is their rendition of The Nativity Scene with Barbies and Bitsy Baby playing star roles:

This week we’re trying to get school in around the sickness that’s going around our house.  We’re doing some baking and making birthday cards for Jesus.Gifts are almost all wrapped.

Christmas is coming and we’re sooo ready! It’s really looking like Christmas around here…

This post is linked to Wordful Wendnesday hosted by Parenting By Dummies.

Yesterday feels like a black hole of time to me. From about 1:30 am Sunday morning Madelyn started vomiting every hour and half to two hours.  Seems she caught the stomach virus that’s been going around. She went through all of her clean sheets and several pairs of  pajamas. I thought an explosively puking child was bad. Turns out an explosively puking child in the middle of the night is worse. She couldn’t sleep because she was miserable and every time she did go to sleep, starting to throw up would wake  her. That is not a pleasant way to wake up. Since the girls share a room Katelyn woke up every time Madelyn threw up and started crying.

None of us got much sleep that night. Finally by 6 am Madelyn came crying into my room and asked if she could get in bed with us. I’m usually very strict about not letting my children sleep in my bed but the poor thing was miserable so I let her snuggle in. Of course, I was worried about her throwing up in my bed too, but I figured I have many more sets of sheets than she does and it was 6 am already. Almost time to get up. A few minutes later I heard the pitter patter of little feet and Katelyn asked if she could get in bed with us too.

The more the merrier!!

Madelyn did throw up twice more but thankfully I had a large bowl for one of the explosions. The other time I wasn’t so lucky.

We all got up after that and decided none of us would be going to church yesterday. Mike started feeling a little sick himself. Thankfully he didn’t get much worse than that.

We rested the rest of the day and Madelyn threw up many more times. Finally by the afternoon she was able to sleep restfully in Mike’s lap on the couch. She was exhausted and pitiful.

I dozed on and off the recliner in between bouts of  Maddy’s vomiting and having to get Mike and Madelyn stuff they needed. ( As Madelyn would not get out of Mike’s lap). Let’s just say I couldn’t wait for the girls to go to bed that night so I could go to bed!

During this whole ordeal yesterday Katelyn was having a hard time with all of the attention Madelyn was getting. She was getting into trouble left and right. Wouldn’t leave Madelyn alone. She kept wishing she was sick too. Was pestering us, complaining and misbehaving.  Mike finally sent her to her room. She went stomping up the stairs, making quite a nasty face.

After a while we noticed we hadn’t heard any noise from upstairs. Since I had to go the bathroom (again!!) I went up to check on her. This is what I saw when I rounded the corner….

“What the …??”  I thought. Katelyn had decided to put her pillow in the hallway and lay on the floor. She fell asleep this way. She did not want to be removed from us in her room so she thought the next best thing was laying in the hallway!

That kid….

She is definitely a piece of work sometimes!

Thankfully, Madelyn is feeling better today. And Katelyn is ….well….being Katelyn!

To be honest, I’ve kind of been in an energy low for the past three weeks or so.  Yes, I know I’m pregnant. It comes with the territory. However, this low energy, non-motivation seemed bad even for almost 6 months of pregnancy. I’ve just been a bum! Last week I was lucky if I brushed my hair most days. I think I skipped a couple of showers too.  I went over to my neighbors house in clothes I would never have been caught dead in!

Picture this: Me in some random, unflattering t-shirt, capri yoga pants ( because they were stretchy and I can still wear them) long, white compression socks and bright pink crocs! That’s pretty much how I look all the time at home now. I’d be so embarrassed if someone stopped by. I think it’s because I really have no good, casual maternity clothes. I don’t have many maternity clothes period!  It feels like a such a chore to find ones that actually fit my short frame. I usually have to order them online.

Boo.

And sleeping! Boy…did I sleep a lot. It was like I was in my first trimester again. I’ve  actually been sleeping in a lot here lately. Not just last week!  Way later than I usually do. Some mornings I don’t get out of bed until 8 am. And even then I feel like I have to drag myself out.

Did I mention I’ve been eating like a pig? My appetite has grown! But only for stuff I probably shouldn’t been eating as much. This week I’m focusing on eating healthier foods that will give me more energy.

I haven’t had my morning devotional time in about three weeks either. And I think my mood is missing that. I haven’t spent nearly enough time in prayer and I think it’s affecting me. For some reason I can’t get into the habit of reading my Bible at a different time of day. I have it set in my mind that it has to be in the morning before everyone gets up and if I miss that time frame…..my opportunity has passed. And since I’m not having my devotional time it also means I’m not having my blogging time either. I’ve been doing a lot of my blogging while Katelyn is doing worksheets during school time.

Since Jocelyn’s arrival is really going to  drastically change my schedule I guess I need to learn some flexibility!

Aside from my foul mood and funk the Christmas spirit has been alive in our house.

We saw  a great Live Nativity this past Friday night. Here the girls are warmly dressed and ready to go.

They have their coats on backwards, in case you didn’t notice.

On Saturday we went caroling at the Senior Center and in the town center where our church is. We sang for the Tree Lighting ceremony. It was so fun to be able to do that as a family and with our church family. We got to sing carol about the true meaning of Christmas to hundreds of people.

After all the trees were lit, Santa came around on a fire truck with a bunch of other fun characters.

Here’s our Christmas Tree. I call it the “ghetto tree” because half of the lights on our pre lit tree burned out this year so we had to string lights with a green cord on our white tree. The girls also had a huge hand in decorating it. And let’s just say *cough* that it’s definitely not how I would have decorated it. But they love it and had fun. And that’s what matters most.

How is your Christmas season going? Have you had any “funk” moments yet?

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. I had the week “off” so to speak. I barely got on the computer. My whole family came from Texas and we had so much fun together. I only get to see them once a year (if that!).

For my Top Ten I’d like to share some of my favorite fun/funny/silly pictures from my family’s visit.. I took several sweet, family shots that would  take several blog posts to show you. If you’re friends with me on Facebook you’ve already gotten to see them! But for the sake of keeping things simple, I’ll show you my favorite fun pictures from last week.

1. This picture was taken at the Boston Museum Of Science. We went on Tuesday of last week and had so much fun together. We ended up buying a yearly membership there. I figure I’ll use it for ” field trips” in  during homeschooling years.

2. I thought this was pretty clever self portrait taking.

3. This picture is of me, my sister and my girls. My sister commented that it’s like seeing her and me as children and her and me as adults!  ( Her and I??) Everyone always comments that my two girls remind them of me and my sister as children. And, as an interesting side note, my sister and I are a month apart in our pregnancies. This is the only time we’ve been pregnant together.

4. The guys! My husband, brother and brother in law. They spent a lot of down time doing this….

5. We went to a Festival Of Trees in our area on everyone’s last day here. Madelyn was so done taking pictures!

6. My dad and the Grinch. Each of the trees was beautifully decorated with a different theme. The Grinch one was cute.

7. My parents and their three granddaughters. The littlest one belongs to my sister. Katelyn was done taking pictures by this time.

8. My husband and the Grinch. They were having a bonding moment.

9. My brother and his new girlfriend “Bertha”. She was cooking up some yummy treats apparently. Then he decided to dump her because she was thinking of “leafing” him. Har har!

10. Stayin’ alive by this funky Christmas tree. Love this picture of my girls!

Aaand a bonus #11 picture of my girls and their cousin Brooklyn. I just thought this one was so cute.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving week like I did!

This post is linked to Top Ten Tuesday hosted by Oh Amanda.

Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures! I had planned on having them ready for this post but, alas, I don’t. Next week I’m going to post a Wordful Wednesday post which will have pictures of my pregnant self.

I’m 19 weeks. Almost half way there. Can you believe it? I mean….really? It’s starting to go by faster. The first trimester really felt like it dragged.

How I’m feeling:

I can’t really complain too much about how I’ve felt along the way. I’ve had a little nausea every now and then. Usually, it’s caused by something. (Usually a smell. My sense of smell is super sensitive!!) Mike had to clean out my freezer a few weeks ago because there was a horrid smell that was making me GAG every time I opened it. He threw out all the ice and anything questionable looking in there. What a difference!! I was very thankful he did that.

I napped or rested on the couch for the first three and a half months or so. I got a lot of the “Anne Of Green Gables” series read this way. I’m on the fifth book now!

I’ll have to admit, I did go through several bouts of fear that something was wrong with the baby. Lots of prayer and just “trying not to think about it” got me through that.

After seeing a wonderful ultrasound of our baby GIRL (Jocelyn Abigail) and seeing that she was right on track with her growth I’ve felt a lot better. Plus, I’m consistently feeling little nudges and flutters so that’s reassuring.

My left leg looks deformed. It started turning purple from varicose veins almost from the moment I found out I was pregnant. Mike even pointed out that if there was any doubt that I was really pregnant all I had to do was look at my leg!! This has been typical for me with my other two girls too. It’s pretty painful this time around and the pressure when I first stand up is pretty bad. I’ve been wearing diabetic/compression socks and those DO help. My the veins feel hot and itchy a lot. Some days my left feels like it’s going to explode!

But…enough about that.

**TMI alert!! If you’re  man you may not want to read this part.**

Unfortunately, the varicose veins are getting higher up my thighs this time so you pretty much know where they’re headed. It’s making things pretty uncomfortable  “down” there. I feel lots of pressure already “down there” and I’m wondering how much worse it’s going to get as time goes on.

**TMI done!!**
Weight Gain:

I’ve only gained 4 pounds so far. ( I think) My scales say I haven’t gained anything when I first weigh in the morning. I always do well in the weight gain department.

Have I exercised AT ALL yet??

Nope!

I was so planning on that too!! I really wanted to make that a regular part of this pregnancy.

Maybe after the holidays…..?

<sheepish grin>

What’ we’ve been up to (You know…while pregnant…)

I have been working hard at getting this house ready for another baby. It’s really gotten pretty cluttered and messy all the time. I hate it, but that’s how it is.

I’ve been getting the third bedroom cleaned out for my family’s visit for Thanksgiving. At least that’s motivating me to get it cleared out a lot quicker.

Here’s an embarrassing picture of what it’s looked like:

Ew.

This is where my sister, her husband and daughter will be staying in about three weeks.

Uh…yeah.

Thankfully it only looks half this bad right now.

The room is very small so I’ll be doing some simple decorating and really pairing down what’s going in Jocy’s room. ( Yeah…about the nickname…the spelling may change frequently. I’m trying out different spellings of the name “Josie” for Jocelyn’s nickname. Long story…)

There will be “after” pictures when it’s ready for Jocelyn!

Homeschooling is going great! We’re keeping up a steady pace. We start our day anywhere between 8:30 and 9:3o and end anywhere from 10:30 and 11:00. I haven’t been on the ball as much with starting at 8:30. But, that’s the joy of flexible homeschooling!

Soccer will be done this coming Sunday for Katelyn. Thankfully. It’s getting really cold! And we would like our Sunday afternoons back.

Dance is going wonderfully! That will be a continuous Saturday morning event until May. Both girls love it.

My Wednesday night Mission Friends class will be done in a couple of weeks for a long break. It will start back up for about eight to ten weeks in January or February.

I’m loving being in choir again. I’m helping direct the skits for our Christmas Dessert Theater in December. Our church does lots of fun Christmas activities which really helps drive home the true meaning of Christmas.

Did I just talk about Christmas? It’s next month already!!!

So….there you have it. In case you were really wondering about all the details of my pregnancy you can now be in the know.

You’re welcome!

So in lieu of a boring, long update on exactly what we’ve doing here lately (other than sleeping and trying to keep a handle of my messy house) I give you (cue introductory music)……

Our Life (as of late) In Pictures.

Our homeschool room is finished and I’m putting a few more finishing touches on it before I post the pictures. We are super proud of it and my husband did an AWESOME renovating it.

Our first official week of homeschooling is behind us.

It was fun, challenging and not without  a few tears.(Katelyn’s, not mine.) Katelyn has stated a couple of times that she “wants to go back to her old school/ REAL school!!!”. I’ll admit that it does bother me when she says that but we’re pressing on. She is struggling with handwriting and not liking when I make her write things over again when she does sloppy work or work with a bad attitude. I knew we would bump heads somewhat. She enjoys every other subject except for handwriting. So, I’m trying a few different approaches.  I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t think of praying over our homeschooling time until well into the middle of the week. That probably would have been a good idea!! So, now I start out our homeschooling time with prayer. It really helps!

We’ve been enjoying the last dregs of nice weather before the cold of fall and then winter (yikes!) really set in!

We went fishing again a couple of weeks ago….

and caught TEN fish! Not bad for first timers, huh?

Katelyn started soccer last week. This is definitely a new experience for all of us. She is having to adjust to following the rules and understanding that it’s not all about her! There are several kids on her team who are faster and more adept and handling the ball and that is frustrating her a bit. Soccer isn’t what she thought it would be. (Her scoring goals all the time. Her getting the ball a lot….you get the idea.) She is dying to score a goal and prays every day that she will score one at her next game. We’re trying to teach her that making a goal isn’t everything. This is also teaching her patience and perseverance. All things she is NOT good at. It breaks my heart to see her get upset when she finally does get a chance to get the ball and it’s quickly taken from her. But, that’s how life is and that’s how the game of soccer is played. Good lessons for all of us!

Here’s my soccer player-

The girls started dance this past Saturday. It was a first for Madelyn! I wasn’t sure how she was going to do. Especially since she doesn’t like being in groups and usually takes a while to adjust to new situations. She did fabulous and loved it!

My dancers-

After dancing we went apple picking. It was a perfect day for it.Of course, I took so many pictures of dance class my battery started dying so I didn’t hardly get any of apple picking.

We’ve started attending church on Wednesday nights again. I’m teaching Mission Friends for three years to Kindergarten children at church. It’s like a Bible club but it’s focus is on teaching children about missionaries and how we can all tell others about Jesus. Katelyn is doing the children’s choir on Wednesday night which will run until the end of November. Then she’ll be in my class. After Mission Friends and children’s choir is over Mike picks up the girls and I head to choir practice myself!

So, we’ve been pretty active and busy. But it’s been a good kind of busy.

Happy Fall, friends. I can’t believe it’s here already!

Thanks for stopping by my little ‘ol blog again. I really appreciate you all taking the time and interest in reading what I have to write. Without you guys it would just be me and the computer!