It was very hard for me to choose the picture for Evie's 9 month collage. She is such joy.
I love squishy chin pictures,
and legs up happy pictures,
and calm, formal sitting pictures,
and chiclet teeth shining pictures,
and exuberant laughing pictures.
Evie keeps us on our toes constantly. I'm always looking for what she could put in her mouth, or how she could escape the living room place space and get hurt. I dread bedtime because, although she's become an excellent napper, she's not so great at nighttime. We're working on it. The 2-3-4 method my sister introduced us to has helped us normalize and get nap time down, so I'm hoping that a good bedtime follows soon. (1st nap is two hours after waking, 2nd nap is three hours after waking from 1st nap, bedtime is 4 hours after waking from 2nd nap)
But, for as much ornery trouble as she brings, she gives even more joy.
Evie enjoys life and being with people. Her smile when you walk in a room makes you feel special.
She is messy, feisty, and gets into everything she shouldn't.
More importantly, she is love and light and beauty.
(Listen, you'll hear her say, "go," and "boom." Her little brain is very busy all day long!)
Evalynn Nancy, you are so very very precious to us. We are thankful for everything you've brought to our family, and we can't wait to celebrate 1000 more milestones with you.
Sunday, May 17th
Happy 40th Birthday, to my sister, and the kids' "Nannie"!
We had worship at home, and then just piddled around and enjoyed the day together. Mid afternoon, I drove down to Lancaster with an empty van and brought home a few pieces from Grandma Betty's house. Then I joined in a "birthday parade" for Andrea's birthday!
I talked to my cousin, Brooke, on the drive down, which made the time pass quickly, but the drive home was loooong.
Evie was waiting for me when I got home and we were up for way too late trying to get her settled.
Monday, May 18th
I officially canceled school and had the children help me clean, rearrange, and bring in our new to us pieces from Betty's house. This is the most favorite spot in the house now, curled up in this big wing back chair. The younger two are often in it together reading books or watching a show. The wash stand is also from Betty's, as are the nesting dolls.
We are very anxious to get the flooring in these rooms replaced, but with C-19, some things have been delayed. We're trying to be very gracious. And patient. And I vacuum pretty well daily. 😬
Evie took two long naps so I got a good deal of cleaning and rearranging down without her tearing down the place.
We got to SnapVideo with Theo and Lauren, which is always entertaining.
Monday was Mike's first day back in the office full time. It was an adjustment for us all, which was another reason for the day off school. After supper and showers, we played Scrabble, which is a favorite of the older two, especially Natalee, right now.
Tuesday, May 19th
I was going to take a video of how Evie decided she'd only eat off the silver spoon, not the plastic one, but instead it became a battle of wills because she's been hitting/smacking. We're working on teaching her the proper signs to communicate when she's done, wants more, etc.
It's obvious that the word no-no, even spoken gently, breaks her heart.
Tuesday was a big mail day at the Beeler abode.
Mike had ordered me a "teacher chair" for Mother's Day. I can often be at the table for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple more in the afternoon, working with the kids on their school. Of course, I get up and down, but I'd mentioned to Mike that I would love a comfy teacher chair like I used to have when I taught school. He went above and beyond. It's a beautiful leather chair and he even got a color to match our dining room chairs. The children struggled with some jealousy, but after Mike assured them that no one but Mommy is getting a fancy chair, even for their birthdays, they backed off a little. (For the record, the children are not required to sit at the table for anything besides handwriting or if they need to sit with me to work. They often move about and do school in the living room or their bedrooms.)
Natalee is sorely missing the library. She's been wanting to read the Baby-Sitter Club series and, while not ground-breaking historically beautiful literature, they're fun quick reads for her. She reads a lot of heavier material for school, so I think it's okay to take a brain break, as long as it's clean. Anyways, I had been looking around online, and found a "lot" of books for a really reasonable price. 79 books! To add to the excitement, I disinfected them, wrapped them up quick, and sang happy not your birthday, to you. Natalee's a little hard to truly surprise with excitement and she was very excited to receive these books!
Our library is downstairs, but when we rearranged, we moved a small bookshelf into the girls' room. We decided, for now, the BSC books can reside in there. She carried them all in, organized them by number, and was psyched to dive in.
Sweet siblings being excited for her!
Finally getting this one dressed for the day.
After the book sorting, these two had a bit of a tangle. They are getting right with each other, holding hands here.
"When you have done a great many good things, you forget to speak of them." Harry said. "It is those who do very little who must talk of it." This quote from our reading of Miracles on Maple Hill was poignant to me.
Taco Tuesday! Evie ate her fill of beans and rice and some peas, too.
Wednesday, May 20th
Good morning!
This scamp woke up every bit as ornery as she looks!
School Time!
We used a candle to create carbon on the bottom of a ceramic plate and the kids got to mess in it a bit. This went with the older children's unit on atoms and molecules.
Finishing up another book!
The ornery girl got too spunky and her face duked it out with an end table. Poor dolly, that bruise spread to her eye quickly and she looks like a boxer.
Is it any wonder how she looks so rough? She's only 8 months old. She climbs over things, she crawls under things, she will try to squeeze through the tightest cracks. We worry about her safety constantly, and obviously mom failed on Wednesday.
Trying to climb on the chair. Wahhhh.
Pulled her toys out of the cabinet so she could get in it.
Oatmeal pancakes for supper! I like pancakes cooked on cast iron but I have to get all of them going to get enough pancakes made for our crew.
Thursday, May 21st
I'm sure enjoying working with this kid in his last weeks of preschool.
He's finishing up his cutting book, too.
Evie is really enjoying our Squigz. We only let her play with the big ones, and the ones that are a full moulded piece (not 2 pieces attached). She loves to chew on the green ones, and this week we showed her how to put them on the window.
Mia is finished with her reading curriculum, but we want her to keep practicing her skills, so she's reading 20 minutes a day. On Thursday she read to Ruby. Turns out Ruby isn't such an attentive listener.
I like to walk my cat. My cat's name is Ruby.
Continuing with our atoms and molecules unit, we experimented with oxygen. The point of this experiment was that oxygen is necessary for anything to breathe, including fire. Without oxygen, the fire dies.
Dad's lunch break!
We walked Mike back down to work after his late lunch break. Mia wanted to take Ruby. As it turns out, cats don't lead so well. We alternated carrying her, walking her, and letting her ride in the bucket. Longest walk ever.
"Mom, she likes carried like a baby."
All four children worked together to build a train track and then played nicely.
We ended Thursday with a FaceTime from Papa Curtis and Grandma Num.
Friday, May 22nd
Mike had Friday off as a floating holiday, although he did have some work that he did at home in the morning.
The children wrapped up their weekly school, largely outdoors at the picnic table and in the hammock. In the afternoon, I went to the greenhouse and bought a few annuals to put in the front beds. Eventually, we'd like to fill it with perennials, but we're hoping to find some starts from friends to lessen the cost. For now, we're excited to see our flowers spread and bloom so we can enjoy them all summer. While I worked in the flowers with the kids, Mike built a scooter stand, so that we aren't constantly tripping on scooters in the garage (just bikes,strollers, and skateboards).
Natalee did her 2 hour DAFO brace stretching outside in the sunshine. When Evie woke up, they chatted together.
I also picked up 4 pepper plants. We don't have a prepared space to garden, but we can grow a little here and there. We've successfully done peppers in pots before, so I thought it would be fun and a good learning experience for the kids. Grow it, eat it.
Saturday, May 23rd
Another end to another week spent at home. The kids watched their Saturday morning cartoons and then cleaned their rooms, as per our usual. Since the morning was gray and rainy, we settled down to the table with a couple of games. Mom remained the Ticket to Ride champion, and then after it we played Uno so that the younger 2 could play independently.
After games, the others went to play, while Mia and I put together her fairy garden that she'd gotten in the mail from Lauren, Lance, and Theo. It's a very cute set and we're excited for the plants to grow!
We sent the kids out to play and they put together a baseball game. I messed a bit more in the flower beds, and Mike hung our flag with the new bracket I'd remembered to order in our groceries. Then, Mike put some steaks on the grill and we had a big early supper. Evalynn loves broccoli, and ate most of mommy's share. She also munched a bit of steak and her sweet potatoes.
After we cleaned up supper and messy Evie, we took a nice long bike ride. We rode the bridge overpass. I highly recommend, even at 30+, riding yourself up a steep hill so that you can fly down it unrestrained. It's good stuff. When we got back from the bike ride, I gave everyone a fudge pop to eat outside so that I could slip inside and shower my sweaty self first. #momhack
Zayden and I sat outside alone for awhile, after my shower, which was sweet. I'd actually gone out to read alone, but he found me and asked if he could stay. He showed me some sweet trampoline skills and chatted and chatted. I didn't get much reading done. We all took turns FaceTiming with Kea and her crew, before getting the kids tucked into bed.
The weather is finally warming up, although we've had some wicked rain. We're anxious for more sunshine, even if that mean some heat.
