A Beautiful Mess

The remains of breakfast--isn't this beautiful?

I haven't been around much lately. Life has been a bit overwhelming. Nothing terrible, just busy family life. With 4 little ones (I guess Jared's not so little anymore), some days I feel like a jack-in-the-box--down one minute, only to pop up seconds later. I don't intend to answer to their every beck and call, but they're young. They think their needs must be met immediately. Even having to stop what I'm doing to tell them to wait a minute or two interrupts my train of thought. And if their response is a little temper tantrum, then I'm completely lost! I'm constantly on the move trying to figure out what I was headed to do next.

Here are a few things that have kept me afloat:

• Daily Bible Reading with the help of Kay Arthur's Inductive Bible Study series
• My in-home Friday date night with Phil (because he doesn't need to study on Friday nights)
• Baking something every now and then
• Making a latte every afternoon
• Reading this post over and over, and I just found this one today.
• Spending Saturday mornings in a coffee shop.

Beds didn't get made this morning and my kitchen floor looks like a toy box just exploded. Yes, we have a toy box in the kitchen. I'm not sharing all of this to complain. I am thankful to have a home full of happy, healthy children. I'm thankful for the little faces I see around the breakfast table every morning. I'm thankful for the times I get to hear the kids laughing together.

Just wanted to check in and let all of you know that we're still here and didn't get buried under a pile of snow!

Time to Reflect and Refresh

I'm thankful to have a wonderful husband who takes such good care of me. He comes home from his long days at school and helps with dinner, laundry and bathing the kids. And if that wasn't enough, I'm able to spend Saturday mornings hidden away in a coffee shop reading, planning the week's activities and taking a little break from the busyness of home life. This morning I got a much-needed haircut, had coffee, did a little shopping, and went to the library. I love to browse the children's section with my kids, but today I was able to browse the adult section. I found a great art book, a soup cookbook, a couple of decorating books, and a book about vintage kitchen glassware.

This morning I revisited Honey for a Child's Heart. This book is a great resource for children's literature.

I love to pack my bookbag on Saturday mornings and head out the door for a good cup of coffee. Even better are the smiles and hugs I receive hours later when I return.

Three Cornered Hats, Four Smiley Kids

"My hat, it has three corners;

Three corners has my hat;

If it had not three corners,

It wouldn't be my hat!"

Life in These Parts

Here's what we're up to these days:

Jared: He loves to build with Legos. He'd play on the computer all day if I'd let him. He loves to read up in his bed, which resembles a fort. He wants to learn how to play the piano, so I just started giving him lessons. I'm going to teach him everything I know, so we'll probably get through at least part of the 2nd book. :) He enjoys doing Science experiments. He asks if we can play charades every night before bed. He's really into AWANA and loves working in his handbooks.

Caleb: He also loves to read. Sometimes I find him walking around the house with his nose buried in a book. He enjoys playing Legos and computer with his brother, but it's so sweet to see him wander off by himself and do "Caleb stuff," like play with his lambs or with his cars. Caleb wants to be a shepherd when he grows up. He takes such good care of his stuffed animal sheep--he calls this his practice. His favorite color is yellow.

Gracie: Recently potty trained and very proud of herself. Her new favorite is kitties. She enjoys playing with her stuffed animal kitties, as well as with her Littlest Pet Shop kitties from her cousins Morgan and Lindsay. Her favorite color is pink, and she MUST wear it every day! She enjoys "doing school" like her brothers. This involves doing a workbook page or two. She enjoys baking with me and having tea parties with her kitties.

Lily: She's fascinated with Dora! She dresses herself everyday, usually in several different shades of purple. If you hadn't guessed, purple is her favorite color. She enjoys doing puzzles by herself. She'd watch t.v. all day long if I'd let her--mostly her Donut Man videos. She enjoys going to her new Sunday School class. She makes friends easily. When I pick her up from Sunday School, she's usually holding hands with another little girl. She enjoys acting out scenes from the Little House books--particularly the scenes where Nellie Oleson is doing something naughty. It's kind of cute!

Down Time

I thought this was a sweet little scene. Sorry for the blurry picture. I snapped it quickly so the girls wouldn't see me. I found them snuggling on the couch under a blanket. Gracie was playing with her Leapster, and Lily was "reading" the Bible she received from Pastor Ray at her baby dedication.

Long-Awaited Signs of Spring

I just wanted to share a few pictures of the kids playing outside in the slush this afternoon. We're finally beginning to thaw! Yesterday I awoke to the sound of birds chirping in the backyard. The kids and I stared out the window at dozens of birds pecking through the snow in our backyard, flying away with tiny red berries in their beaks.

Jared found this giant block of ice in his over-turned Frisbee. The snow thaws during the day, leaving puddles that freeze during the night. It looks like Spring is just around the corner!

Happy Valentine's Day

This has been an especially sweet Valentine's Day for us. The kids had a Valentine surprise waiting for them on their dinner plates tonight.

We enjoyed a yummy somewhat heart-shaped pepperoni and olive pizza (only half of us enjoy pepperoni).

We exchanged Valentines after dinner.

Then the kids dove into their treats. We hope you all had a very Happy Valentine's Day, too!

Playhouse Disney Live!

We had a wonderful time at Playhouse Disney Live!

We sat up in what many would call the "nose bleed section," just 3 rows from the very top. We'd like to think of it as the affordable section for a family of 6. The kids didn't seem to mind. In fact, when I took the boys to see the play Peter Pan, they were disappointed that we had to sit so close to the stage. They really wanted to sit up in the balcony.

Thank goodness for the zoom lens on our camera!

After the show we stopped by Sonic for slushies. The boys are playing with their Leapsters in the back row, not sleeping.

Housekeeping

Blogger only allows the administrator of a private blog to have 100 readers. I need to clean up my permissions list, because I'm getting pretty close to 100. I know there are several who don't check in with us anymore, but if you do and would like to remain on this list, please leave me a comment to let me know. I'm going to delete email addresses from this list to make room for more within the next couple of days. You may also email me at philovesjen@yahoo.com if you'd like. Thanks.

Playhouse Disney Live

Look where we're going this weekend! Phil purchased tickets for our family to see Playhouse Disney Live. The kids don't know yet, but they'll be so excited!

Joy

Photo courtesy of Whimsicalities.etsy.com

My sister, Emily, asked me to make a list of things that bring me joy. Many things come to mind, but here are a few of my recent favorites...

• Looking forward to Phil's coming home in the evening
  
• Devouring a new pile of library books with my kids
• Making my afternoon latte
• Drinking coffee with Phil in our bright, sunny kitchen
  
• My Bible study time
  
• Teaching my boys American History
• Reading the Little House series to my kids at night
• Music

Cello Concert

I attended a cello concert tonight at Spokane's beautiful St. John's Cathedral.

The guest artist, Kevin Hekmatpanah, is the chair of the music department at Gonzaga University, here in Spokane (where Bing Crosby attended college). He played selections by Boccherini, Schuman, Paganini, Chopin and Brahms.

Can you imagine sitting in this beautiful cathedral listening to solo cello music? It was amazing!

I Hope My Floor Was Clean...

The boys have been learning about Prairie animals in Science. After school today, they made a burrow with the kitchen chairs and played Prairie Dogs. I'm not sure what Jared's name was, but he called Caleb, Baby. They crawled around on the floor for nearly an hour, trying to dodge badgers, and other such predators. After a while, I decided these cute little doggies needed a few snacks.

This is a very organized burrow, as you can see, complete with plastic containers to organize prairie dog snacks.

Tea Anyone?

My Dad gave these beautiful tea sets to the girls when they were babies. Now that they're big girls, I thought it was time to pull the tea sets out and let the girls enjoy playing with them.

They were very excited to unwrap each piece and discover that one set is purple and the other set is pink.

Thanks, Papa!

Slumbering Sweetness

Don't you wish you could kiss those cheeks goodnight?

...so precious