So, I know I said I was taking a break...

But we're having so much fun, I just had to share a few things!

We're having such a great time with our tadpoles.  I've been printing out some pictures and the boys are writing the dates and things to keep in their binders.  The first page was a photo of their habitat. 

Ezzy wrote, "I will always love my tadpoles!" next to his picture.

Kai decided to write step by step instructions.  He wrote:

How to make a tadpole habitat
sand - water- rocks - muck - container
step 1 - put sand in container
step 2 - get water from river or lake
step 3 - get tadpoles in water and muck
step 3 - pour the water and muck into the aquarium

Next is this photo dated November 28.   Ezzy wrote, "Today my tadpoles have legs."  Kai wrote, "This is the day my tadpoles had back legs."

This is one of our tadpoles on Dec. 2

And now on December 3, this one is really starting to look like a little frog - amazing!

 Here's another little activity I made for Jude - some black-eyed peas in a bin

 He wanted to pour some water and stir, and add some color, so I let him do this in the kitchen, this is with cracked corn.

Well, then I started wondering if I could dye the beans Jude was playing with.  So I looked online and found some instruction - simply soak them in rubbing alcohol and food coloring.  Let them soak for one hour, stirring every fifteen minutes or so to distribute the color evenly.

Then let them dry for the rest of the day.

Here are the results!  This is a mix of cracked corn and black-eyed peas. 

 Perfect for just playing with or all kinds of art projects, mosaics, etc.

 So then we decided we wanted to dye some noodles.  We got a variety of types.  You just place them into ziploc baggies, add the tiniest bit of white vinegar and food coloring, mix it around inside the bag, then open the bag to let it dry.  It dries fairly quickly. 

 Here are our results.

 We made some necklaces and strings.

Good fine-motor skill practice.

 And a happy, chubby baby watching everything!

I pulled out our Christmas tree and stockings, which were under our bed.  Kai was very excited about this and got inspired to dress up like Santa.

Ezra made this decoration all by himself (notice the dyed beans for buttons!)

This is Ezra's gingerbread man.

Kai's gingerbread man decoration.

And Jude's.  Yeah, Jude doesn't really like coloring very much, but he wanted to be included!

I had another thought this week.  Have you ever heard people talk about how much more they are able to enjoy their grandchildren once they are grandparents?  Well, I was thinking - let's have that enjoyment now!  I don't want to wait until I'm a grandparent to truly enjoy my offspring!  But the question is - how to do that?  There are so many stresses and pressures to face each day.  I think most times the answer lies in allowing God to transform my character, my reactions, my responses, to create the kind of home environment I want and be able to really love and enjoy my boys each day. 

Taking a Little Break

I am sad to say that I am taking a little break from this lovely space here.  I have absolutely loved my time spent blogging - it's helped me to process, to document, record and remember all the precious moments of our days and learning.  But, I have another project that is consuming me and every spare moment that I have, so I'm going to have to put this on hold for a little bit. 

Thanks for bearing with me, I'll be back soon!  And in the meantime, I'm sure I will find time to at least post some fun pictures every now and then, because I won't be able to help myself! 

Infant Care

My fourth baby boy is turning one next week, so I think I have earned the right to share my advice about caring for an infant in the first year of life (a hot topic for moms, I know!).  Well, after having four infants I do have some distinct opinions about how to make the most of that precious first year that will come and go in the blink of an eye.

And that is my first piece of advice - this time goes so fast.  Don't waste the time focusing on the wrong things.  Throw away your watch, your clocks, your books telling you how to schedule your baby's sleep, eating and awake times.  Sound extreme?  Well, here's why I say that.  Those well-intentioned books are in reality killing your mother's heart.  There is nothing more natural than caring for an infant.  As long as they're intact, your natural instincts know what to do.  What feels right and good in your heart?  Do that. 

Advice #2 - Nurse your babies if at all possible.  It is not only the best food for them, but also an amazing source of comfort.  If you are nursing you always have a powerful way to comfort your baby when he is in distress.

Advice #3 - Hold and snuggle that baby as much as you possibly can.  Because before you know it, he'll be wiggling off your lap and crawling away to explore.  So enjoy those moments while you can!  You will NOT be spoiling him.  Actually, you'll be doing the exact opposite.  Through all that bonding and closeness you are laying the foundation for discipline - which is connection - and setting the stage for a fabulous time with a connected two year old. 

Advice #4 - Let child development guide you.  Erikson says that in the first year of life babies are learning trust and if that is learned correctly, they develop the attribute of hope.  Every time the baby cries and you meet his need he learnes to trust.  He learns the world is a good place and his conscience is developed through this process.  When he cries and his need is not met, he learns the opposite - despair.  I've got to take care of myself.  I'm on my own. I can't trust in others.  To me this learning process is what's most important in this time - not how often he feeds or how many hours he sleeps or how perfectly timed his naps are (which, by the way, sorts itself out quite naturally and settles into a steady rhythm all on it's own).

*a note about "self-soothing" - it is not learned through crying themselves to sleep.  It is learned over time as they are soothed by someone who loves them.  When babies cry themselves to sleep they are not self-soothing, they are giving up hope.

So, above all, enjoy every moment because before you know it's over and you can never go back.  Be true to yourself and,

"Let love be your highest goal."  1 Corinthians 14:1

More information here:
On Babywise:  Regrets...I've had a few @SortaCrunchy
On Sleep Training:  Crying it out:  10 reasons why it is not for us @PhDinParenting

and I thought I had nothing to say...

One year ago today I started this blog.  I was hesitant to start it because I really didn't know what I would possibly come up with to write about.  I thought it would be pretty boring.  But, I was just craving a little space to share my experiences, especially embarking on this new adventure of homeschool and having 4 boys.  Well, needless to say I have come up with lots to talk about, and amazingly YOU have actually read it!

Thanks for following along, for your comments and encouragement.  It's been fun - and a much needed outlet for me.  My friend Tracie expressed it perfectly - being a verbal processor, and being at home so much now, it really helps me to write things out.  When in doubt about my capabilities as mom and teacher, it helps me to see the pictures and words and realize, yes, we are getting things done, we're learning, we're growing, see - things aren't so bad afterall!  And to get that feedback and encouragement in comments?  It's a definite boost!

And so, reflecting on a full year of blogging, here are a few of my favorite posts from the past year (in no particular order):

Learning to Enjoy

A Homeschool Afternoon

What I Love So Far
 
Koa

Our Learning Lately

Crayon Melting Madness

Playdough Fun

Help for Writing

Today (in photos)

A Better Day

Spontaneous Math

Peacemakers

This Gave Me a Really Good Chuckle Today

My Night

Friendship

My Little Surfers

What a year it's been.  A new baby, a big move, and a new adventure in homeschooling.  Now I'm looking into Blog2Print to see about making this into a memory book because this little site has turned into something really special to me.

So to my readers that have their own blog - what's been your own favorite post this year?  Leave a link for me in the comments, I'd love to check it out~!

Sometimes it works out like that.

Making a batch of playdoh first thing in the morning = 5 minutes.

Happy playtime for Jude and Ezra = 1 1/2 hours straight. Literally. Yep, it was worth it!


And, by the way, here are a few links that inspired me this week:

I totally related to this post, No More Complaining, "I Feel So Tired."   Tiredness is just a fact of life for me, so I might as well get over it and stop whining about it!

This post, Motivating Learners in Your Homeschool inspired me in my homeschool endeavors. 

And I love the way Misha described motherhood with all it's sacrifice in her article, Enough.  She also has a fantastic booklist of her Recent Favorites.  I added a bunch of these to my amazon wishlist!

And this article, Practicing the Art of Whisper, is just great.

Jennifer is reading Playful Parenting, too! - and has written reviews for chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 so far.

How do we produce change in our lives?

Sometimes God comes in and boom!  Instant transformation!  More often, though, it's a gradual, daily walking it out.  It seems like lately this is my heart's cry:

I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it.  Instead, I do what I hate.  ...I want to do what is right, but I can't.  I want to do what is good, but I don't.  I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  ...I have discovered this principle of life - that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  ...Oh what a miserable person I am!  Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

From Romans chapter 7

I'm really trying to change some of my parenting responses.  Yelling, frustration, irritibility.  It seems like when things get stressful and tensions rise, I start yelling in order to get compliance.  I want to be less harsh in my responses towards my children and more kind.  More patient.  I know this is a good commitment to make and I'm praying each day and asking the Lord to help me.  I want to do better. 

The process of change is excruciating.  It's not just a matter of replacing a bad habit with a good one, though that is part of it, but more than that, it's a matter of changing your character - your very nature and personality.  The Bible is clear about how to do it - but knowing how and doing it are two different things.  Failing in my own strength, needing to rely on Christ, to die to my own selfishness, to call out for help, to let go of my pride.   All I can do at times is just fall down and say, "I can't do it on my own... in my own strength I cannot... I repeatedly fail..."

But, you know what, I started praying this prayer two months ago.  And I started journaling my better moments - moments when I distinctly did the opposite of what I felt and what the result was.  I'm looking through my journal today and I can honestly say I think the positive moments are becoming more and more frequent.  I think that change is truly happening, though at a slower pace than I would like, it is happening.

And so, I take heart.  And press on.

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."  Philippians 1:6 

embracing my limitations

I'm sharing my thoughts from A Mother's Heart: A Look at Values, Vision, and Character for the Christian Mother this week.  This quote is one that hit home with me.

...we sometimes view our children as a hindrance to our involvement in God's plan. Anyone who has tried to lead a Bible study while keeping a toddler entertained or counsel a distraught friend while a baby cries in the background knows how difficult it can be. We need to remind ourselves and each other that our family is our primary ministry and not a frustrating obstacle to "real" ministry.

This is a good reminder for me.  I'm in a season of saying no, staying home and focusing on these little ones.  It's not what I necessarily imagined I would be doing.  Sometimes I have moments where I think about my giftings and talents, things I'm good at that I'm not doing.  It can be a little frustrating.  I'll hear of a need in church or somewhere and think, "I could do that."  And then remember, no, I can't do that, not now.  Maybe later.  I don't know when.  I don't know when this season will end.  I'm sure at some point I'll feel able to add something to my plate, little by little possibly as the children become more independent.

In the meantime I am determined not to miss out on this precious time while I'm at home.  I want to make the most of it because I know it won't last forever.  That's part of the reason I do this blog.  To visually see the things we're doing,  document these days, share the successes and triumphs, get encouragement through the tough times and find a connection.  Thanks for reading along, by the way, and sharing in our journey!

It is encouraging to view this season with purpose and excitement.  Here's something to remember when the day seems to be dragging.

The aspect of mothering that excites me most is knowing I am making a permanent difference in my children's lives. I am a woman of influence. I impart values, stimulate creativity, develop compassion, modify weaknesses, and nurture strengths. I can open life up to another individual. and I can open an individual up to life.

When I read my child a story I am doing far more than entertaining him. I am expanding his world with language, words, thoughts, and imagination.

When I sit beside my child's bed at night to talk and pray, I'm doing far more than cultivating a bedtime ritual. I'm tuning in to what he is thinking, catching up on his day, listening for fears, hopes, and questions. This personal time gives me an opportunity to point him to the Lord Jesus Christ and His relevance to the situations my child faces.

My trip home

This month I got to take a trip back to my hometown of Falls Church, Virginia. It's been almost 3 years since my last visit, I can't even believe that. It was such a special trip. It was so fun to just have Koa and enjoy time with him, my last baby. I got to see family, friends and enjoy the goodness of life in the U.S. of A.

It's funny because living in Costa Rica, I kind of tell myself that it's really not that different. I mean, we have a KFC right down the street. McDonald's is only about 2 hours away. We have grocery stores, we have paved roads, we even have sidewalks.

But you know, the truth is, it is really different. It is totally different. I love living in Costa Rica, don't get me wrong, it is such a blessed life that we live. But at the same time, it is really fun to go home and enjoy my home culture and those things that we don't have here.

I especially enjoyed eating. I think I probably gained about ten pounds. My family kept commenting that I was eating like I had never eaten before in my life! My favorite eats included:

tomato Basil soup at La Madeleine
bagels and broccoli cheddar soup at Panera Bread
pita chips and rye tricuits with hummus and spinach dip
freshly grilled hamburger cookout at my Pop Pop's house
deep fried pickles on my mom's birthday
blueberries and rasperries
fresh tomatoes from my Pop Pop's garden
toasted english muffins with real butter
cinnamon bun flavored coffee creamer
chili cheese fritos
7 eleven iced coffee
swiss cheese on a sandwich
salmon

I also enjoyed some shopping. My mom and I hit up thrift stores. I about cried walking into Unique thrift store. Furniture, children's desks, chairs, strollers, you name it all for dollars. I couldn't even look at that section, knowing that I couldn't take anything that big home with me and knowing that I don't have access to anything like that here. I feel utterly convinced that I could live off of the excesses of American culture. That kind of excess just does not exist here. I did enjoy the toy section and book section of the thrift stores and found some awesome stuff for homeschool, including some great books, board games and toys.

I also cleaned out a bunch of stuff I have in mom's attic.  Wow, boxes of photos, letters, journals (I've kept a journal consistently since I was 10 - that equals a lot of journals), an extensive china doll and rag doll collection, which will now never be passed on to a daughter, but I was able to give them to my niece.  I wish I had more time to look through all the memories.  All I did was condense everything down to a few boxes and put them back in the attic for now.

But all of the fun of eating, shopping and digging through memories aside, the best part by far of my trip was spending time with the people I love that I do not get to see nearly often enough. And there were so many more people I would have loved to see, too.

Seeing Ellen, such an important person in my life, and meeting her son Charlie was extra-special!

Old friends are the best friends.  These ladies and I have known each other since before I even can remember.  Seeing them just feels like coming home.

At Panera Bread with one of my favorite families!

Hanging out with Laura, and meeting my precious godson, Jackson meant so much to me!  This is one of those friendships that stands the test of time and when we see each other it feels like no time has passed - I love that!

Sister time is the best!  Especially hanging out in mom's tent in her backyard!

My Pop-Pop and cousins.  What a special day to have all his grandchildren together in the same place at the same time.

My adorable niece, Sadie.  Just wanna squeeze her!

 Koa and Sadie enjoying their breakfast on mom's beautiful backporch.  Koa was one happy baby on this trip, being held constantly and getting so much attention!

My momma's birthday.  I love my family!!!!

Homecoming - lots of love!

Coming home has been harder than expected.  I've been getting some "payback" this week from the boys I left behind, especially from Jude.  Emotions running high, it's taken us all a little time to settle back into our normal patterns of relating and functioning as a family.   But we're getting there.  And Scott did so great taking care of three boys by himself.  He's such a superdad!   

The Intensity of This Season

When things seem hard, I look at the stage of life my husband and I are in and I think we are probably at the very peak of intensity level.  In terms of the ages of our kids (7, 4, 2, and 7 months) and their needs this is probably one of the most physically demanding and exhausting times in our life as parents.  We're still waking up at night several times, I'm still nursing, and the children need our help to do even the most basic tasks.  Sometimes just realizing this fact helps me to take a deep breath, suck it up and know that a day will come, probably sooner than I imagine, when there won't be four little people constantly needing something from me.

Getting there...

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good." Genesis 50:20

Getting to Jaco has not been easy. In fact it was one of the hardest things we've ever gone through as a family.

There was so much confusion, miscommunication and misunderstanding in finding the right home - even to the point of almost damaging important relationships in Jaco.

Then we struggled with our landlord to be released 15 days early from our contract so we wouldn't have to pay rent in two places. The stress of waiting to find out and not knowing what to do was overwhelming. We finally heard from our landlord the night of the 31st that we would have to be out by the morning.

We had to remain in San Jose for another week to finish up the children at risk school, but had no where to stay.

Scott severely injured his knee.

We all got hit - the WHOLE family - with a major stomach bug involving vomitting and diarrhea and sleepless nights going through that with all the children.

"...but God intended it all for good."

Yes, you could say it's been a rough few weeks. But in all these hardships and what feels like a spiritual battle, we have not been defeated. We win. And this is why.

In the midst of the confusion of finding the right home, God gave us peace and showed us clearly the house He has for us. He gave us a price that is unheard of in this area. All relationships are intact.

Even though we found out that we had to move at the last minute, we called friends from YWAM and over 10 people showed up the night of the 31st and packed our whole house up. They stayed til the job was done. A friend had a friend who has a moving truck and it all worked out. While Scott was with the moving truck in Jaco, other friends had the boys over to play. 7 more people showed up to help me scrub and clean the house so we could get our deposit back. We were never alone.

At the same time, a family welcomed us into their home and asked us to stay as long as we needed to. They cared for us when Scott injured his knee so I wasn't on my own taking care of everyone. They cared for us when everyone was sick. They loved us and our children and treated us like their own family.

Two friends volunteered to go with me to Jaco and help me set up the house ahead of time so it would be ready when we arrived with our boys. When I got sick in Jaco and passed out on the bathroom floor, they unpacked for me and when we couldn't finish, they even made the trip with me a second time so we could finish up.

I think the enemy was really trying to discourage us in any way possible, but God, using His body, the body of Christ, showed us love through these friends that were there for us in our time of need. It's humbling to be in such a place of need. But I am left completely amazed and overwhelmed and thankful. God used these trying circumstances to show us His love and power in an amazing way - through the love and care of those around us. We're home now and we're settling in and we're at peace.

moving in progress

I haven't been posting because we are moving and it's a crazy time to say the least. I'm not really great at transitions. Luckily I am so busy with packing and getting ready, I don't have time to wrap my brain around what is actually happening. People keep asking me if I'm excited. Honestly, I have so many different emotions right now, I don't even know how to begin to express it. So I won't. I'll just get busy and keep moving and I'm sure I will post more later all about it!

not enough time or energy...

I love this blog. I love sharing pictures, stories, it's so fun for me. I have so many things I want to write about and so many thoughts in my head. But there's just too much going on right now: moving really soon, trying to find a place, packing, finishing up the children at risk school, and homeschooling when I can. So, I'll just have to write and share more later. sigh.

A homeschool afternoon

Start out with a little "pool" because it's so hot!

When everyone's nice and cool we take our supplies under a shady tree on a blanket - alphabet blocks for the little ones, create-a-calendar for Kai and our read-aloud.

Everyone's busy!

I love these blocks - they have the letter and then a little something inside that starts with the letter - great for learning those letter sounds!

A happy baby!

Kai works on his calendar and I read him the last chapter of our book, The Hundred Dresses. Yes, I teared up a little at the end! These books are so good. They lead to some great conversations, too.

Time for a little snuggling!

Kai runs inside to see what our next scheduled read-aloud is and brings it outside to check it out - it's Johnny Appleseed. He's anxious to get started!

Some kisses from Jude

I love this boy.

Giggles.

He's still happy and talking away! I think he just loves being a part of it all.

We even manage to get some math done, too.

Way to go, Kai!

What a lovely afternoon. Time to go make dinner!

Photo Story Friday is here!