The last week of February flew by in a flurry of sunshine and snow showers!
We started Sunday in a couple of different directions. I rode with my folks and Andrea to my cousin Angela's wedding and enjoyed getting to see and catch up with family. I didn't take a single picture all day until I got home and snapped one of the backyard sunset.
The kids had played outside a lot after church and were ready for showers and a game together before bed.
Evalynn loves books and story time right now. This is such a fun, magical stage. All the children seem to have a favorite book right around this age, and her's is Now That's a Hat.
She can "read" it and is quite charismatic.
I have been trying to be intentional about teaching Evalynn fingerplays and nursery rhymes. We worked on Itsy Bitsy Spider for a couple of weeks and now are trying out Where is Thumbkin. She eats them up!
Monday was a beautiful day. First breakfast. These food picks are really helping Evalynn stay in her chair and eat her food.
I don't mind children needing a snack, but I do mind not eating your meal and wanting to walk around munching all day, and for some reason Ev's wiggly little body is wired this way. We're working on eating most of the meal and asking for less snacks. She is getting fuller and not wanting to munch as much!
We hustled through the bare minimum of book work and then out the door we went. The children logged over 6 hours of outdoor time on Monday.
Before I went outside I mixed up a batch of sourdough rolls to go with supper. My starter is established enough to actually raise breads and dough!
My sourdough starter. Look at those healthy bubbles!
The rolls, unlike the biscuits I made last week, did have a more distinct sourdough taste, but were not overpowering. They were dense but soft and everyone really enjoyed them.
Roll pics from supper....because I was proud that they turned out well!
Monday afternoon and early evening ended up with Evalynn and I in the ER. She was fine and we were grateful, if only a little annoyed. Ha.
It's a good thing she's a cute faker. She did limp on into Tuesday but whatever was twisted up seemed to work itself out.
We were supposed to have mom's group on Tuesday but got freezing rain instead so didn't get out. Natalee did have early morning therapy, but once I picked her up we were in for the day.
Play doh kits kept these three entertained for a lot of the day.
We finished reading By the Banks of Plum Creek and moved on to By the Shores of Silver Lake. Everyone is loving the books so much that we have a hard time stopping once we get going.
{Xavier doodled a water fall while I read.}
I had the big kids lend a hand getting taco Tuesday supper in order. I made enchiladas for Mike while they made beef tacos. Xavier is mixing up taco seasoning but multiplying the recipe by 4.
Clean up crew!
Holding this beauty through an episode of Little House to end a cold night.
Ameliya had gymnastics Wednesday morning. It was a chilly morning so I put jeans on Ev since I thought they'd be warmer. She wore them about 5 minutes and then asked if she could take them off because they didn't bend. Ha. She ended up in fleece lined leggings.
Natalee had an afternoon zoom appointment but otherwise we were in on Wednesday. That was kind of the theme of the week and it was nice.
Thursday morning school with my first grader.
Natalee had hippotherapy so we bundled up in hoodies and sweats to get out.
Representing Emma's new college!
Everyone came along so we could stop at the thrift store to look for sports cleats - baseball for Xavier and soccer for Ameliya (Zayden has an old pair of Xavier's for baseball).
A storm was brewing so we didn't loiter. We got home just before it hit hard and were in for the rest of the day. Instead of nap, Evalynn and I had a chair snuggle while the big kids watched a couple episodes of Little House. How much longer will I get to hold her for a naptime?
We got several inches of snow that continued to pile up through the evening.
Thursday night funnies with Evalynn...
I taught the kids to play Kings in the Corner while we were in Dauphin Island last fall, but we found the game board to go with it when we were at the thrift store, so that prompted a game night while Dad read with Evalynn.
Friday the kids and I cleaned our bedrooms hard. We moved furniture, vacuumed under beds, filled boxes for donation, and tried to eradicate all dust (where does it come from!?). I have no pictures to show for it except my bed all made up with fresh linens and the sun shining in on it. Back when we lived in our house in Missouri I sometimes selfishly prayed that one day Mike and I would have a "real" bedroom (we slept in a loft attic split into 2 rooms, so the kids walked through our "room" to theirs and we didn't have a door or windows). We're two+ years into our move, and our bedroom is still something I appreciate so greatly. There's still a lot I want to do in our room...a headboard, matching night stands....but for now I'm content and thankful.
The kids alternated taking turns doing some spring painting tutorials throughout the day for our art frames. Their work is beautiful.
Ameliya's spring kites.
Natalee's country church.
Zayden's spring bouquet in a vase.
Evalynn's handprint flowers. I cut the sun and clouds out of a piece of paper she painted and added them above the flowers.
Xavier's reflection rainbow.
Evalynn caught on that the kids were going downstairs to paint and asked me if she could. I was cleaning so I offhandedly said "after nap you can." As soon as she woke up she said, "can I paint now!?" I love her voice and her chatter at this age and took an 8 minute video for myself, just trying to bottle it up. She was so happy to do a painting and be included. We did her handprints first, then she painted two papers and chattered the entire time.
Friday night Natalee had swim and Mike took the others along to run in the gym while she swam.
Saturday I was up bright and early flipping sourdough pancakes and frying sausage to get a good start on our basketball day. Zayden had a big cheering crew - Maggie and Ed, Granny and Papa Beeler, and our pastor, Zach, were there, along with Aunt Penny and Uncle Denny. Zayden and cousin, Rogan, played each other for the 9:00 game. And I took zero pictures.
Granny and Papa treated us+Zach to lunch and we took over the back of the local Mexican restaurant.
Thank you, Granny & Papa!
After lunch it was back for Xavier's basketball game. The boys played a great game and came out with a win. Xavier got some points up on the board!
{Evalynn was quite impressed with the new sweat suit I ordered her. "It's soft and has a pocket!"}
Posing while we were waiting for Xavier's game to begin.
We visited with Granny and Papa after Xavier's game for a bit, then they headed out and Mike headed to the church to worship practice. He took Xavier and Ameliya along and I shamelessly gave Natalee and Zayden some screen time while Evalynn napped and I just....sat.
This week seemed both a blink and a thousand days long. Many pieces of it were lovely and restful and many pieces were just plain hard and stress filled. There is nothing - a book nor advice nor knowledge that truly prepares you for the daily "hard" of giving up yourself to be a mother. It's beautiful, sure, but sometimes beauty is heavy. I am praying continually that God can redeem my messes for His good.
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