Getting Back (Trying Anyway...)

It's been quite a long time since I've last blogged. I'm full of excuses always. I started this blog three years ago in an attempt to document our homeschooling journey. Isabelle at age 5 was starting kindergarten, and Melina was a delightful toddler. Then a surprise pregnancy halfway through that school year, a new baby at the start of 1st grade, and now here I am with a 3rd grader and a pre-K-er with an almost 2-year-old toddler in the mix.

I originally planned to start our new school year the day after Labor Day, but both older girls were excited about their new curriculum and wished to start this week, so we began yesterday. Since they were eager I figured I'd best grab that enthusiasm before it went away.

Wow, I'm exhausted. Two days of doing school while chasing a toddler (and Melina too for that matter), and I'm wondering how I'm going to make it through this year. But it will get better, we'll get our routine down (the TV wasn't turned on once I'm proud to say). Today was the first day of CHER (Christian Home Educators of Ridgecrest) homeschool classes. Isabelle is taking Orderliness of Science and Hebrew, and Melina is taking Art. They'll continue in these weekly classes until end of November and then resume again end of January.

Melina got upset with me this morning when I asked her to change the dress she was wearing (her favorite sundress, a size too big, and falling off the shoulders). This prompted her to not want to attend her art class, so she hung out with me in Isabelle's classes (I was Mom's helper--glad to have that over with, now I can drop Isabelle off the rest of the semester and pick her up at 2). I'm Mom's helper in Melina's art class next week, so I know she'll attend then, and then hopefully she'll be willing to go to class so we can get our money's worth.

After class, the afternoon really didn't get much better with Melina, lots of yelling and screaming (we've really been working on trying to get her to use her words instead of scream or yell), lots of kicking Michaela, just not easy to get along with, very disagreeable, bath did not go well, finally she was asleep after 7:30. I think it's the age-FOUR. I remember doing a lot of praying for Isabelle when she was 4--I really struggled with that age, now here we go again. Yay, 4-year-olds!!! Ugh!! Although I'm sure when I'm dealing with a 13-year-old or a 16-year-old, or whatever teen year, I'll be thinking that age 4 was nothing! :)

This past weekend we just got back from a 10-day camping trip in Mammoth with our new trailer. So much room compared to our old small Cabana, but I loved that trailer. It was our first one, and we have lots of memories of camping in it. Our Weekend Warrior is great too, especially lots of sleeping room--gotta love that!

Okay, this blog post was just some random thoughts to get down in hopes that I'll start documenting our journey again (I hesitate to say "writing" because I really struggle with writing--I never know what to say and I feel I don't express myself well at all).

Here's to a new school year!! I try to always tell myself to find the joy in it all!

Art

I'm getting antsy for fall weather so the girls painted fall trees this week, taken from one of my favorite blogs
In the last couple of weeks, Isabelle came down with a fever that lasted about a day, and a few days later Melina got it. I used this activity to reinforce good handwashing techniques, since I'm a little paranoid with illness and having a new baby in the house. Can't find the link to the blog I used for this activity, so basically I sprinkled cinnamon on Isabelle's wet hands to represent the germs and then she washed. Melina did it too, but the pictures aren't exactly G-rated since she didn't have any clothes on.
And, since we had the cinnamon out, we used a few more spices and did this craft:

Baby Girl #3 at 37 weeks 2 days

Visiting with Uncles

Uncle Mike visited us Labor Day weekend and Uncle Harvey came this weekend.

Montessori Activity

Got this Montessori idea from this blog
awhile ago and decided to try it. It is a matching activity. Each balloon contains either cornstarch, rice, pinto beans, or popcorn kernels, and the idea is to match them by how they feel. A little too old yet for Melina; she just wants to play with them and put them in her mouth. And now there are 2 balloons missing. Oh well, will find them soon and will just put this project away and pull it out in a month or two.

Daddy Love!!

The girls love to shower their Daddy with lots of love. Here they are before they go to bed one evening...

Combined Birthdays

Since we would be camping on Melina's birthday, Isabelle decided it would be okay to have a combined family birthday celebration. We kept it simple, Isabelle's favorite chicken sandwich from Jack 'N Box for dinner followed by opening presents with Grandma, Papa, and Mackenzie, and then cake and ice cream.
Melina absolutely adores her Papa and sat in his lap while blowing out her candle. She even cried when he left!

Wordless Wednesday (I never tire of these sister pics...)

Spring Craft

We made spring trees yesterday. Last fall we made fall trees that were lots of fun, and I thought the spring trees looked even prettier. Here's how our Monday morning went:


To get the great effect for the tree, you are supposed to blow the paint up your paper with a straw.

I skipped this step with Melina and just gave her the paintbrush.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

Melina:
Isabelle:

This is what we've been doing since I found out I was pregnant...

Like my pregnancies with both girls, I had lots of nausea that lasted all day with extreme fatigue. Same thing this time around, although the nausea didn't seem quite as severe. I've made it through the worst and at this point am only having nausea for a few hours in the evening, usually after dinner. Thankfully, it should get better from here on. As I usually get on the computer and do any blogging after the girls are in bed, I haven't blogged but one or two times since I found out I was pregnant because I usually go to bed too right after they're asleep. Jeff is outside on a beautiful spring evening with the girls right now so I have a little extra time to show everyone what we've been up to (not much though).


One day when I was getting dressed in the bathroom, Melina found a lipstick that had fallen out of my pants and gladly helped herself:

I can't get enough of these sweet pictures of the girls sleeping together:
Painting with watercolors:
Playing the piano together:
Making Valentines:
Sorting pompoms and putting them in the ice cube trays kept Melina occupied one afternoon while I got dinner ready (Isabelle was at gymnastics and Jeff was bringing her home)
Happy Valentine's Day:
Enjoying a beautiful day:
Enjoying some quiet weekend morning time with Daddy:
Melina wishing she could ride Isabelle's bike:
Both girls are infatuated with ladybugs right now. We've had some very beautiful weather, so they are out in abundance. Isabelle has been catching some each evening and letting them go in the morning. Melina "helps" her.

Also this past week we planted some seeds in our front yard. Wow, LOTS of patience is needed with a 1 and 5 year old. Something I was quite lacking that morning, but we made it through thankfully!