Settling In

Hannah has been in school for a month now and still loves every minute of it. Her favorite part every day is recess, but she also enjoys her teachers and is making new friends. So she has settled in nicely.

Me, on the other hand, I'm still getting used to things. As a friend pointed out the other day, kindergarten is really about training the parents. We're the ones who have to set the morning routines, get out the door on time, check the backpack for important papers, sign the papers, pack the lunches, write the checks for the fundraisers, etc. Every week I feel like I am just keeping my head above water trying to keep track of the homework assignments and any special activities for the week. And I am still trying to figure out what to do with the small mountain of papers that is accumulating on my kitchen table. For a person who likes to be organized, this is a constant frustration.

Here's the current pile, you can't really tell how deep it is, just deeper than I know what to do with

So while Hannah is at school I am spending a lot of time with this guy:

Caleb has turned into quite the climber. Not only can he climb on the couch, but he can also get to the table next to the couch, on Hannah's little table, and then tries to climb on the buffet from the tabletop. Oh, he can also get on our bed by climbing on the ottoman at the foot of the bed. Nothing is safe, people. 

After cutting four teeth at once, he is now a happier child and much more fun to be around then at the end of August. Let's just say I'm happy that I'm not being yelled at everyday by a toddler anymore. 

Still, some days are hard (as any mom knows), some are better than others. But I've been reminded a lot lately, both through a book I just read and through scripture, to be thankful in all things. So I am trying to remember that; that in spite of all the challenges throughout a day or a week, there is still so much more to be thankful for if I can just take a minute to recognize those things. Something as simple as a sky looking like this out my kitchen window:

We enter the presence of God when we are thankful. Psalm 16:11 says, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

And how do we enter God's presence? Psalm 100:4 tells us, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name."

So there it is my friends, and this is what I'm trying to do, especially in this season we are entering. Let's come to God with thankful hearts in the midst of the busyness of everyday life (school lunches and all).

A New Chapter

A week ago today Hannah began the new adventure of Kindergarten. She was so very excited and has loved every day of school so far. 

After her first day, when we got home, she said to me, "Mom, I had so much fun I didn't think about you." 

Well my goodness child, I thought about you all day and even got a little teary, wondering what you were doing and how you were getting along. 

 I know it's a good thing she loves school so much, and I'm so thankful for her preschool that prepared her so well. This mama's heart is just not ready to see her grow up. I know each phase of watching your kids grow up is fun and exciting in its own way, but part of me still wants to keep her little and hang on to her innocence for as long as possible. 

This passage out of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp captures my thoughts exactly:

"Stay, Little One, stay. Love's a deep wound and what is a mother without a child and why can't I hold on to now forever and her here and me here and why does time snatch away a heart I don't think mine can beat without?"

Our prayer for Hannah as she enters school is that she will not allow others to influence her and change who she is out of a desire to be liked by her peers, but rather to continue to be who God has made her to be, and have confidence in who she is. 

One last Hurrah

We had a one week window to fit in a family vacation before Hannah started kindergarten this week, so we zipped up the coast to Cayucos. It was such a fun week of no-agenda family time and some much needed rest. The kids even slept great, which can be the biggest challenge when away from home. 

We got to explore tidepools at Moonstone Beach in Cambria, as well as eat lunch there one day, walk around Morro Bay, play at the beach, take naps, drink good coffee, get ice cream at the Candy Counter, go to Farmer's Market in SLO, enjoy a one day visit from Nona and Gigi, and have breakfast at the Sea Shanty. I miss it already.

Of course we had to visit the Avila Valley Barn on the way up, one of our favorite Central Coast stops

Hannah always enjoys feeding the animals at the barn

We spent a lot of time in our pj's

Drying swimsuits after at the beach, where Caleb's favorite activity was eating sand

One evening we drove up to the top of Hwy 46 and watched the sun set over the hills and fog, it was gorgeous

Me and my crazy boy taking in the sunset

Climber girl

God makes beautiful sunsets

The boys playing at the beach, Caleb especially loves the slide and giggles every time down

An extra blessing was reconnecting with a long time friend, a wonderful woman who discipled me part of the time I lived in SLO. While we only got to connect by phone on this trip, I look forward to seeing her in person next time we're there. Good friendships make my heart full.

So now our summer break is officially over as Hannah started kindergarten yesterday. More to come on that soon.

Summer Fly-By

So after our month of illness in June we have jumped in to summer, just in time for me to realize that it is almost over. Hannah begins kindergarten on August 20 which I think is way too soon. What happened to starting school after Labor Day? Sheesh.

4th of July in Cayucos with the cousins

  So now I am panicking inside thinking we have not done enough this summer and are we really enjoying it? What else should we do? Am I taking time to enjoy and play with my kids? It seems like I am mostly just chasing Caleb and keeping him out of things and off of things, like the coffee table, the stairs, stepstools, etc. He started walking about two weeks ago and is giving me a run for my money. 

Yep, he made this mess by himself

But we have done some fun things already, like a trip to San Diego at the beginning of the month to visit SeaWorld and the Zoo. And what's better, we got to make the trip with Mimi and Aunt Megan, and stay with Aunt Vicki and Uncle Rich. Needless to say my kids were spoiled.

Caleb and Stella the cat were somewhat interested in each other.

The one thing Hannah really wanted from SeaWorld was a sword

Caleb and Uncle Rich relaxing

 We also got to take a family hike on Monday to Rose Valley, a new place for us. It's a short, kid-friendly hike that ends at a waterfall. Well, in the spring it ends at a waterfall and in July it's a trickle. Which was actually a good thing for us because it meant Hannah got to do a lot of climbing and Caleb got to play with the water too.

And to continue the summer festivities Chris and Hannah are gearing up for VBS next week. And we'll take a trip to the upcoming Ventura County Fair. Maybe we'll make it to the beach this summer, if I can work up the guts to lug two kids plus gear there and back. I don't know if I'm that brave.

And now that I look at all these pictures in one post, I think we are enjoying summer, more than I realized

False Start Into Summer

I have been anticipating summer and looking forward to this season of being home with my kids, but alas it has not gone as I had hoped so far.

One or more of us has been sick ever since our camping trip over Memorial weekend. I realize it has only been three weeks, but that has felt like an eternity. All four of us had a trip to Kaiser within a two week span (Chris twice, for different things). And the funny thing is, we have all had different ailments. So many people have told me, "Well, that's what happens when you have a family, you pass things around." Somehow we have managed to keep our germs to ourselves but have brought in a good variety.

Spending a lot of time in our pj's

Let's just say, it's a good thing I bought the Costco pack of Kleenex. And thank the Lord for Clorox antibacterial wipes. 

I am worn out, and tired of being tired. At first I wasn't sleeping well because of my cough. Then Hannah was waking up during the night with congestion and a hurting ear (ear infection). And then it was Caleb's turn to rouse me from my sleep. A couple nights ago I finally got 6 straight hours and it felt glorious. 

I have been wiping this nose a lot

So, Lord willing we are on the tail end of all this and can start enjoying our summer soon, which for me will (hopefully) include rest.

Two Week Camping Trip

We took our first camping trip as a family of four over Memorial Day weekend. We've camped with Hannah a couple times, but this was Caleb's first venture out. So, because we were taking a one-year-old, two nights at Lake Lopez was just enough of the camping experience for now.

You may think I put a typo in the title of this post, calling it a two week trip, when in fact we only spent two nights at the campground. But no, the full camping venture was two weeks when you take into consideration the prep time, actual camping time, and clean up/pack away time.

I start prepping for a trip about a week ahead. I'm not actually packing anything yet, but my mental list is going. Starting to think about what food I need to buy. Where are the flashlights? What do I do with a crawling baby in dirt for two days? Make SURE to pack the percolator (one of our favorite parts of camping is camp coffee. It usually looks like sludge because I can never get the ratio of grounds to water right in a percolator, but it always tastes so good). Then later in the week the camping box comes out and I sort through that, adding anything it's lacking from last year. And then the actual packing of the car the day before. I didn't know if we were going to fit everything in the car, since we were bringing the dog too, but we made it! It kind of feels silly, packing an Explorer to the brim for a two night trip, but that's the thing about camping: whether you're going for one night or five, you pretty much need almost the same amount of stuff. 

All loaded up ready to go, with a sliver of rear window clear to see out the back

I think the most difficult age to take a child camping is one, which is precisely what we did. Partly because they're old enough to not be content just sitting on someone's lap or in a play pen and would rather crawl in the dirt the whole time, and because of all the extra stuff you have to bring for the smallest member of the family. 

Caleb was in his element and thoroughly enjoyed the dirt. To my surprise, he didn't eat as much of it as he does at home in the flower pots.

All in all it was a fun trip, despite the difficult nights of sleep and me getting sick right before we left. I'm happy my kids get to have this experience, of spending all day outdoors playing with friends, getting dirty, seeing nature and wild animals, playing in the lake, enjoying campfires and s'mores. 

Amy taking the girls out

Heading home and worn out

And as I'm writing this post, Hannah just walked up and said, "I really want to go camping again."

Growing Up

Both my kids are growing up so fast. Which, I guess is obvious, but I've been reminded of it a lot lately.  

Hannah lost her first tooth. This was both traumatic and exciting for her. We were at lunch when it happened. She took a bite of her cheeseburger and out it came. She held it up and showed us, and immediately broke in to tears. Chris and I were trying trying very hard to reassure her and not laugh at the same time.
That night when she wanted to put the tooth under her pillow, she asked me to do it because she didn't want to see the tooth. The tooth fairy brought her a dollar. We weren't sure of the going rates for tooth fairies. The next morning I realized the whole losing teeth process will be expensive for us.
For those with kids losing teeth, how much does the tooth fairy bring your kids?

It may have been traumatic to lose the tooth, but now she will happily tell anyone she lost a tooth, even strangers, and show them the new one coming in.

The other reminder of the kids growing up was celebrating Caleb's first birthday. I only had about two weeks to prepare since I had put everything on hold until after taking my last licensing exam on April 29.

I went with a bear and camo theme, since we call Caleb our little bear because of all his grunting and growls. 

I searched the kids rooms and gathered all our teddy bears and bear books. Each table had a boquet of flowers and a bear book. This one also got my left over camo fabric as a runner. By using things I had in the house it made the decorating super cheap, always a plus!

This is the banner I made with bias tape and fabric. Super easy to do!

This guy sat on the food table. I found the paw print paper underneath at the Dollar Tree. I also found camo print napkins at the party store

I hung a string of twine on the back fence and attached a photo of Caleb from each month with clothespins.  Again, cheap decorations

This is the cake I made for Caleb to smash in to. The camo underneath is a blanket we have

The cake for the rest of us, banana with cream cheese frosting. Bananas are Caleb's favorite fruit

Hannah was very excited to help Caleb open his gifts. I had to keep reminding her to keep the package in front of him and show him what each gift was.

Wearing his new hat. I made his shirt too with the same fabric I used for the banner and table runner. No sewing, just heat bond

Getting ready to dive in to his cake

Once he got into the cake he loved it and started laughing. That boy loves to eat

The end result, I think he ate most of it.

Happy birthday Caleb Samuel! I love your smiles, your giggles, how much you love to play peek-a-boo, wrestle with Dad, and play chase with your sister. You are a talker, and will babble all day long (sometimes loudly). You just learned the sign for "more" and use it when you are hungry, saying "moh." Sometimes I can't feed you fast enough. You are such a joy to have in our family and I am honored to be your mama.