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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Snow Daze

'Hey Lora, we're coming to the McWane center next week.  Can we come stay at your house for a visit?'

That's how it all started.

The day came and I managed to get all the kids in the car and we were on our way before 8:30AM.  Halfway there, I realized my wallet had somehow not made it into the car.

Strike One: I forgot my wallet.  No cash, no ID, no membership card for the science center, no any of the 'necessary plastic' people keep in their wallets.

I called my mother in law to beg to borrow some cash (she lives on the way from our house to Birmingham) and then I called the family we were planning to meet at the science center to let them know we'd be a bit late.

While we were at her house, I buzzed the science center to see if they could look up my membership (our membership isn't actually through them, but they do the reciprocal thing with the science center we are members of).  'No, ma'am, we have no way to verify that information.  I'm sorry.'

Strike Two: We can't get into the science center without paying a fortune to do so.  (And I'm NOT paying to get into a place that I have FREE access to... if I had my wallet, anyway.)  

I called my friend, Bethany, whose family we were meeting at the science center for the day and she said,  'Um, we're turning around and going home.  I have a sick kid.'

 Strike Three: Our planned outing has now completely crumbled.

Perhaps I should have seen the signs.  Perhaps I should have turned that van around and trucked it right on home.  

Instead, I called Lora and told her what was going on.

'Y'all come on for the whole day!  It'll be fun!'

So she called in an order of chicken nuggets that I picked up on my way to her house.  When we arrived with lunch, we threw chicken and carrots and grapes at the mob.  Y'all, we ate the whole stinking tray in one sitting. 

When we picked up the chicken, Sarah Grace commented on the 'tweezers to pick the chicken up with'.  Also, the last time we had one of these chicken trays?  We ate on it for two meals and still had leftovers.  My, how the times are changing. 

It was 60 degrees outside so we voted the older kids out of the house and they happily ran about for the afternoon while we put the youngest three down for nap.

The day was full of laughter and fun for all of us and it was a tired bunch of kids we tucked into bed Monday night.  Lora and her sister, Rebekah, and I sat up and chatted into the night, clueless as to what was ahead.

Tuesday dawned cold and bright.  By 9-ish, the snow started falling tentatively.  We double checked the weather sources to be sure I wouldn't have any issues with our planned departure (after lunch so the kids would sleep all the way home!) and continued on with our visit.

'I'd love to see my house all in snow,' said Lora.

Y'all, from her lips to God's ears.


The snow started falling in earnest, but the reports we'd checked earlier said things like 'dusting' and 'flurries'.  About noon, we fed the kids and checked the weather channel and Twitter again.  Birmingham was a mess of standstill traffic.  And as the snow and the temperatures continued to fall, we made the decision to stay put.

We watched all afternoon as reports came in of people abandoning cars on the roads to seek shelter, schools full of students and faculty spending the night in the school buildings.  Y'all, it was unreal.


I'm gonna go ahead and admit I had a little bit of a break down: I had a plan and knew what all I needed to do this week, but suddenly, I was no longer in control.  I cried as Lora assured me that our being stuck at her house was a good thing.  I knew in my heart she was right, but in my head, I felt like I was imposing greatly.  She pointed out that we were staying in her guest house and that, if need be, we could easily have our own space and give our kids a break to settle down and rest as needed.

It was pride that brought on that fit and I know it.  Ugly thing, that sinful nature of man. 

My 'crisis' was short lived and we had a wonderful (if noisy!) time.  I raided her school books and managed to pull together school stuff for my kids because what home-schooling mama thinks to schedule things like weather days into her calendar??

The calm after the storm - the part where we turn on the telly and slink away to enjoy the quietude.  Twelve kids.  Three adults (all introverts, no less!)   



I can't think of a better way to be snowed in (except to have our husbands with us!).  We're tired and the noise.  Oh, the noise.  But we're safe, warm, well fed, and happy.  And we have had SO much fun!

For those of you who've been around for a while, I felt the need to document the fact that I did more than lurk at windows to watch the kids.  I VOLUNTARILY went out in the snow and played for a few moments.

I'm still at Lora's.  I hope to get home tomorrow because, as much fun as we've had, I miss my husband something fierce!  Her Andrew made it home late this afternoon and has laughed at the three of us ladies sitting around playing with our computers and not saying much.  We're all just ready to sit and be by the time we get the gang down for the night that it takes an hour or so to recover and find the need to speak again...

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

About Us

Y'all, this is always the hardest part of the blog for me to keep updated.  I have a hard time knowing where to begin when considering how to introduce myself and my family.

How 'bout I start out with WHY a blog.

When Thomas (our oldest child) was born, I watched all the moms around me being all creative and crafty with scrapbooks, carefully documenting their children's lives.  They were so pretty and neat and fun, but I was plumb confused when confronted with all the paper choices and whatchamacallits to fancy it up.  I took loads of pictures, though.

Then we found out we were pregnant with our second child just three months after the first was born!  I'd still been playing with jumping into the scrapbooking arena, but that little surprise made all thoughts of paper and scissors and whatchamacallits fly straight out of my head.

So I started a blog.  The pages aren't nearly as pretty, but the stories are there, and usually well documented with photos.  I print it all out once a year and my kids revel in reading of their past antics and achievements.  

Who are we?

'We' started as Joshua and Aubrey.  We met when we were 19 years old and married when we were 25 (well, I was 25.  He was 24.) 


Ten short months after we exchanged vows, we welcomed Thomas into the world.  He is our spunky, silly, people-loving 11 year old.  He lives in the moment and would give you the shirt off his back.  His heart is big and he leads with it always.  


Not quite twelve months later, Sarah Grace came along and pink exploded onto the scene.  For ten days every year, she and Thomas are the 'same age'.  It's a source of great entertainment!  Sarah, age 10, loves to dance and read and is quite thoughtful.  Conversations with her turn deep in a hurry!


Elizabeth, or Lizzie, is just 20 months behind Sarah.  She is our Sunshine child, full of goofs and giggles and has the amazing ability of folding herself into a teensy space!  She is 8 and dances and twirls about, tells silly jokes, and loves to dress up and play pretend.  She has been a little mommy since she could walk and loves being around young children.


Another 20 months later brought us Anna Joy, currently age 6 but counting down impatiently to 7! She can usually be found in dress up clothes taking good care of her dolly children or stuffed animals.  She is extremely compassionate and loves hard.



29 months later, Daniel arrived.  You never know how incomplete your family is until The Baby arrives on the scene!  This kid has a big personality and keeps us rolling.  Waffling between being a baby and becoming a Big Boy, this 4 year old is all boy.  Noise, superheros, and dirt are the name of the game!



And that's us.  We live our lives loudly and with lots of love (and chocolate!) in the South.  Glad you found us, hope you'll stick around.  Wanna keep up with the mini-updates?  Please come join our Facebook community.

Pictures courtesy of Jenni M Photography

Homeschooling

Homeschooling was a natural course for us.  When we were first faced with what path to take, the school system options we had weren't exactly favorable.  Private school was simply not an option so homeschooling became the road we took. 


Six years later and I still can't fathom doing it any other way.

I'm just like any other homeschooling mama, though.  I have moments when all in the world I desire is to load them up and ship them off. 


At the end of the day, though?  I want them home with me.  I want to be the one who sees them make discoveries.  I want to be the one who sees their eyes light up with curiosity and passion.  I want to be the one to help them dig into those things that interest them.  I want to be the one who helps them process information and parse how it fits into their worldview. 

Curious what our days look like?  Or how I prepare for the upcoming year?  And if you just want to read more about our homeschooling journey, then check out the school category

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