goodbye winter, hello spring

this could be a lesson in how not to blog: take most of a season off and then update with snippets and LOTS of pictures. what can i say? i can barely keep up these days...because, you guys (those that don't know), i'm pregnant! hurray! and the morning-sickness is a beast. what's the point in trying to keep it a secret. we wanted to tell the kids and once they knew, people at church heard "my mommy got pregnant last night." or after the stranger at the grocery store sarcastically said something about how what i needed was more children because obviously my hands were not full enough, marit joyfully announced that her mommy was going to have a baby! the pure, unadulterated joy of children humbles me. would that we could all avoid becoming cynical and jaded. i haven't been to the doctor yet, but i'm about 10 weeks and due the same week as graham and miles' birthdays in october. we love big families and are so thankful for this gift from God.

it has been a good winter, but i'm surprised at how few pictures i have of our busy days. i'm still old-schooling it with the flip phone and an old cannon camera and i am having trouble capturing these rapidly growing and changing little people. so much happens so fast...the sweet, the challenging, the chaotic, and we are thankful.  and also, we have lots of friends, but somehow i always forget to take pictures when we are with them.  i promise, my homeschooled kiddos get plenty of "socialization" *wink*.

 my sister flew down to run the local half-marathon with me. it was right after i started feeling a little sickly, but she FLEW down and i had done the training (mostly with my sweet friend tara), so despite a little pre-race puking, the thing was done. char ran so well and beat me by a good bit and it was a beautiful day.

forts with auntie are super!

dr seuss had a bday

this is a falcon from a recent adventure.  birds of prey have been a fascination to graham lately and we have a nesting pair of hawks that like to hang out in our tree. we can see the nest from our yard. it has graham absolutely elated whenever they land in our tree. not too long ago they were both in our tree and the kids called me to see...they hopped around for a bit and then...a national geographic nature mating scene occurred...i said "ummmm" graham said matter of factly "they're mating" and marit said "how sweet, they must be married" needless to say, i was not prepared for that nature study!

this is their newest obsession: chess!  adam had to look up the rules, but they actually caught a little of it.  we are thinking checkers might be a better place to start...

we finished the chronicles of narnia and the kids listen to the audio versions sometimes at night.  i love the ideas their imaginations have been opened to through these wonderful books.  below they are dufflepods and i will often overhear funny expressions as they play "by jove!"  or "i trust that you will give me...." we are trying to decide what series to start next.  suggestions?

this is old, but i forgot to post how pax took advantage of our alternate sleeping arrangements while we were working on the kids room.  marit LOVES a cuddle.

volcano time...probably the highlight of graham's homeschool experience so far!

cracking the geodes auntie char gave us for Christmas...went along great with the rock section of our science.  we have really enjoyed our classical conversations co-op and curriculum this year and are going back for more next year.

such a mild winter allowed lots of creek adventures and creature-catching.  i'm so thankful adam had a light month when i have felt sickest.  he is back to his regular random crazy schedule now and though he loves it, we are learning that the ER can have its emotional toll on its docs.  it's no surprise that our world is broken, but sometimes it seems so much more so there.  you can pray that i would know how to encourage adam as he deals with a lot of heaviness at work.  one thing that really refreshes is to be in creation with his family when he is off, so we do a lot of that!   

this sweet boy has really been tender lately, praying for the baby, picking me flowers...i love that side of him.  and i find that if i get him alone, he has a lot to say. 

two dudes and their dog

this kid is our bossiest, goofiest, most orderly child.  he keeps us laughing and has become quite a little chatter-box in his own right.  he likes to close cupboards, and clean up spills and i am not complaining!  he is becoming graham's little side-kick and that has been fun to watch.

silliness

another favorite activity is kite-flying since my uncle gifted us a kite a while back.  seriously.  y'all.  that is good exercise!

marit finished her reading book before Christmas and she is just reading to me every day now and doing so well.  i'm so proud of her hard work!  graham really wanted to learn too, so he is doing the book now too and i've learned that different personalities learn differently and also it helps if mommy has done it before!

sweet boy still loves his crib...he has a lot of changes before his 3rd birthday...got to get him potty-trained, eating a more varied diet, and out of the crib!

graham took this picture of me.  while adam took marit on a daddy-date, graham and i had hot chocolate, read books, watched the tale of samuel whiskers and chatted.  so fun!

we are so thankful for full days and grace that sustains and strengthens us to fulfill our calling.  happy spring friends...hoping the Lenten season has been a hopeful time of preparation for Holy Week and that Easter is a joyous time of celebration for you and yours.