8 weeks...


wearing her "fancy" dress to celebrate.

i have been so busy and largely absent here. i have started a tumblr blog to post family photos and interesting pictures i find online. for the moment it is easier for me than putting together a full blog post. check it out here.

back to (home) school...



well, our year of trying out traditional schooling was quite the adventure. we have made so many great friends and loved many aspects of it. in the end though, we realized it just wasn't right for our family. perhaps not the best timing with a new baby in the house, but we are committing ourselves to homeschooling again!

we won't "officially" start for a few weeks but as we are really unschoolers at heart, learning takes place every day of the year. in anticipation i am slowly trying to clean up the playroom and set it up as more of a multifunctional space where we can do some of our learning. this is a difficult task with baby in tow! i had hoped to paint but i just can't see how this will happen right now. i thought i'd share a few photos as a preview of what i'm working on, with more to come.






one of the challenges is setting up a space that works for both an almost 10 year old and an almost 7 year old... not to mention a growing baby. i ordered a few new books that i thought might be interesting to the kids. we have started reading the story of the world, which both kids seem to enjoy and i also ordered the work book to go with it for my daughter, as she enjoys more structured learning. really, the age difference isn't the biggest factor but how different their approaches to learning are. i will work to create an environment that appeals to them both and of course that will evolve over time.

we will also find classes, take trips and have help from relatives... like my father-in-law who is a great wood worker and loves doing projects with the kids... like the house my daughter made below.





i will share more with you as the room... and year progresses!

* alphabet cards in the first photo are available for free download here.

changes...



it's amazing to see how quickly they change! the first photo was taken july 12, the second today august 11th. i can't believe she is five weeks old. it feels so hard and you wish them to get a little bigger and easier and then suddenly you realize how fast it is going by. i look into her eyes and wish i could freeze this moment in time. you think you will never forget just exactly how they look and sound, but you do. each phase is replaced by a new one, and then another. i find myself staring more intently at my older children as well, trying to capture this moment of theirs. i love watching them grow but as every mother knows deep to her core, it is oh so bittersweet.

life as we know it....









1) lots of little naps (longer during the day than at night at this point)...
2) milk drunk...
3) getting more curious about life...
4) fight with the bottom of the pool, ouch...
5) lots of this too...
6) olympic watching gear...
7) we subscribed to television for the first time in over three years just so we could watch the olympics. crazy, huh?...
8) she has her sister's big eyes.

*obviously i have given in to the instagram craze! how about you?