First Day of CC!

Just a quick post to document that today was our first day at our Classical Conversations (CC) community! We started our homeschool at the beginning of August, but our co-op fun started today! I'm not sure why, but I was nervous about our morning. Lots of reasons, but I'm pretty sure one of them was because this morning was my first time leaving the house with all four kids by myself! Yes, if you're keeping track, Squishy is already 2 months old. What can I say? I have a super awesome hubby! But I wanted to take all of them for our first day, even though it would've been way easier to leave Squish at home with daddy. ;)

I'm excited about the year of CC we have ahead of us! It's going to be awesome! I know God has big plans for my family and I simply adore watching my kiddos soaking up God's Word and learning all about Him and the world He made. Homeschooling is the bomb!

Of course I have pics of the kiddos...

First up? My NEW-TO-CC little BABY boy, E! Can you believe he's already in a K4 program? Oh, my heart!!!

Next up is Chase, rocking out 2nd Grade!

This little beauty of mine is -- get this! -- in 5th Grade! What?!

She loved her twirly dress for our first day!

My sweet little loves!

We arrived at CC (a few minutes early!) this morning so I could take a picture at the church as I have done each year. Let me just add here: All of you AWESOME mamas who get your kids up, fed, dressed, and out the door to school with backpacks and lunches packed FIVE DAYS A WEEK are my heroes. I barely managed this morning. Just ONE morning. And with a VERY helpful hubby. I literally napped for two hours when we got home from co-op. Y'all are literally all kinds of amazing!

Here's their 2016 pic from last year (my apologies for the terrible lighting and lack of editing!):

And their first year at CC from 2015! Look how little!

I'm happy to report that we survived our day! I still feel a bit anxious about our CC year, but I think it's mostly due to the work I need to do with the kids at home this year (LO most specifically). But I trust God, and I know He brought us to this place and that He will equip me to be the very best teacher for my sweet kiddos. I pray for their hearts as well as their minds as we see where He leads us. Now, let's see how much sleep I can stockpile before our next early morning next Tuesday! :)

Squish is Two Months Old!

My not-so-little Squishy is two months old! He's just the sweetest! Now, first of all, please, let's all take a moment to publicly recognize the fact that this boy was technically 2 months old thirteen days ago. I admit. Having four pretty much sucks up every. single. moment. of life. Seriously. While I do have a ridiculously annoying persistent reminder to take his monthly photo on my iPhone on the 13th of every month, I found myself opting to be reminded the next day, then the next day, then the next day... until I find myself here, almost two weeks past him turning 2 months old, and just over two weeks from him turning 3 months old. #momfail #dontcare

While I'm being honest about my (innumerable) shortcomings, let me acknowledge the completely awful lighting on Squish's 2 month pic below. Mama was tired. Mama had (and still has) 1.2 zillion things on my To Do List. Child chaos encircled me. Editing the image was a luxury of time I could not afford. Did I mention I was tired? And 13 days late in taking the pic in the first place. Y'all. It's terrible. I admit it. Please don't shame me. The good news is, that's one heckuvan adorable baby right there!!

Did I mention it was important to me to be sure his THIGHS made it into the pic? Those thighs! Bigger than my wrist! I'm so not used to having a baby with rolls. I can barely handle the squishiness!

Check out his latest stats...

One Month:

• Length - 22.25" (91st %ile)
• Weight - 10 lbs. 15 oz. (65th %ile)

Two Months:

• Length - 24.5" (96th %ile)
• Weight - 13 lbs. 3.5 oz. (72nd %ile)

Overall, he's on par with expectations for two month old babies. He's a super awesome eater (see thighs above), and typically has 3-4 hour stretches between feedings. He's worked his way up to several 5-6 hour stretches both during the day and at night, depending on his mood. ;) And he's an excellent sleeper. Essentially he's only up twice during the night. He typically eats around 10 PM or so, and we usually go to bed around midnight or 1 AM. Then Squish wakes up around 3 or 4 AM, and again around 7 AM. I usually roll out of bed around 9 AM. It's a tough life having an uber helpful hubby who works from home a bunch. ;)

Did I mention we're over 3 weeks into our 2017-2018 homeschool year? That's been going AWESOME, but whew is it ever keeping me busy! I'm rolling into my 4th year of homeschooling, and I feel like I'm just now starting to find my groove. I guess that's equates to a big ol' OOPSIES to the past 3 years? Haha! But I'm so on point with the lesson planning, the classroom instruction, the FUN science experiments (major mom points!), and I'm feeling good about where this year will take us. Our Classical Conversations co-op starts next week, and we couldn't be more excited to see our old friends and make new ones! I'm praying that this will be our best year yet!

Now, it's 12:49 AM (almost bedtime!) and I've got a full day of sewing projects lined up for tomorrow, so I'll leave y'all with these adorb snapshots from the GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE this past Monday, August 21st:

Back to School 2017!

We officially kicked off our FOURTH YEAR of homeschooling last week! Our homeschool journey began when LO was in 2nd grade, and she's starting 5th this year! Chase is going into 2nd grade, and E will now be joining us as a K4'er! I can't believe there will be three of them... I'm so outnumbered! And of course I've got little Squish to entertain in between lessons. It will certainly be an interesting year!

Check out my sweet not-so-littles:

LO

LO will be starting 5th grade. She has one more year (after this year) of Foundations and Essentials in our Classical Communications (CC) curriculum before she starts Challenge A as a 7th grader. This is our first year in Cycle 3, and we are all thrilled about it because it's U.S. History and Geography! I taught LO the states and capitals when she was in 2nd grade, and she can't get her hands on enough U.S. history and geography books, so I'm pretty sure she's gonna LOVE this year! We won't begin CC for another 3 weeks, but I wanted to get the kids grounded in the courses we're doing in addition to CC. My hope is that they won't be overwhelmed when we add in our CC memory work! I'm confident LO will excel in ways beyond my expectations as she is such an incredible student with a never-ending thirst for knowledge!

Chase

This handsome fella starts 2nd grade this year. I can barely believe it! He has grown and matured in so many ways just over the past 6 months or so. He's so responsible, and he actually follows instructions now without massive meltdowns! WIN! One of my most favorite things about this kid is his love for organization. Yes, I said it! My 7-year-old son loves things to be organized! When I was cleaning up our schoolroom in preparation for the new year, I was sorting through art supplies (endless crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc.) and this guy asked if he could help me! Of course I said an emphatic YES! He sat patiently and sorted through the mess of school things. So yes, he's like a mini-me! #swoon While he was putting the glue sticks in a storage container, I helped him out by putting one in (upside down!) and he immediately removed it, turned it right side up, and put it back in the container. Seriously, a man after my own heart! LOL! Chase has already taken a MAJOR interest in math, and he's proven to have some pretty incredible coding skills as well. I'm looking forward to seeing him continue to develop and excel in the areas that he enjoys, while also hoping for his continued cooperation (minus meltdowns) with the subjects he's not too thrilled about (Ahem ---Grammar --- I'm looking at you!).

E

The Class Clown is officially starting school! This little dude is always keeping us laughing. I'm not exactly sure what school is going to look like with E as I haven't homeschooled this young yet, but I'm pretty sure it will involve lots of ABCs and 123s! Although he already knows his alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and more, so it will be interesting! I think the key here will be finding ways to get LO and Chase working independently so I can focus my time and attention on E. In addition, I will also have LO and Chase working with E, reading to him and working on his basic skills. It's nice that as the kids get older, they are more helpful with the younger ones! This will come in handy in 4 more years when Squish joins our homeschool class!

~~~

I'm really excited about our new school year and can't wait to see how the kids learn and grow over the next 9 months! And I'm so glad I opted to start a few weeks early so we can solidify our extra curriculum before CC begins, while also adding to our flexibility to take days off once the weather is actually cool enough to enjoy the great outdoors!

When I think about our homeschool journey, I can't help but be amazed and so very grateful that God has led our family here. I remember how difficult the decision was at first -- I didn't think I was qualified to teach my own children! God promised me that He would be with us and bring us through that first year, and He certainly was faithful to His word! Each year I've told myself I would reevaluate and pray through the decision about whether or not to continue homeschooling. Thankfully, God has placed it on my heart to continue this journey through high school! He continues to meet our needs and provide for us in ways I don't expect, and I couldn't be more thankful. To have the privilege of spending ALL.THE.TIME. with my precious kids so the years don't pass by in a blink... To see firsthand as they learn a new concept and light up with excitement to finally understand something new... To carefully craft curricula that expands their knowledge and love for learning while keeping GOD at the very center of our studies... there is literally nothing like it! Praise be to God for His perfect plan for our family!

Bring it on, 2017-2018! Let's do this!!!!!

He's Official!

I finally sent out Squish's birth announcements last week, so, he's finally official! LOL!

I love the pics I took in the hospital for his birth announcement, as I simply adore the detail of his tiny fingers and toes. I'm just so happy I was able to squeeze in a newborn session with him before we went home just 26 hours after his delivery!

My little piggy is heftily up from his birth weight of 8 lbs. 1 oz. to a whopping 12 lbs. 2 oz. (as of 3 days ago, so add a few extra ounces!). He will be 8 weeks old this Tuesday, and as you can imagine, it's safe to say he's a very good eater! He'll fit into our family just fine with that attribute! Hahaha!

The past 7 1/2 weeks have been simply amazing, to say the least! We are all getting into a pretty solid routine, even if it's not a scheduled routine (I'm trying my best to be okay with that!). Squish is such a happy and content little baby! He stays pretty chill unless he's hungry. He sleeps and eats so well! And he's pretty much just relaxed and cuddly the rest of the time.

It's so crazy to see how much he's changed in just 7 1/2 short weeks. One word, folks: THIGHS. This boy is growing some super solid thighs! And chins, too! I just can't get enough!

I'm hoping to get into a more scheduled routine with him soon, as we started back to school earlier this week, so I have a LOT to take care of in addition to my sweet Squishy! Send prayers! :)