the Middlest – Page 7 – Today's Legacy

I’m super due for a homeschooling post. We’ve been doing some fun things, but I’ve got to be honest, with the “twins” to balance amongst homeschooling instruction and catering to my two year old, I don’t always have time or hands to take pictures.

So soak in the rarity of these moments. 😉

Learning about gems.

A fun science experiment about filtering water through “things God made”:

Shake up the nasty dirty water.

Shove cotton balls in our pop-bottle filter.

Time to add the sand on top of the paper towel and cotton ball layers.

And yes it can get a little messy, but we love it when she helps. =)

Now for the dirty water…

Try not to look so excited about watching it filter through…

Whatcha think? Drinkably clear?

Pretty clear, but certainly not drinking it. Hehe.

Rock exploration/comparison

Free drawing with Mommy’s teacher board.

And a lovely manger scene. =)

Well that’s all our homeschooling adventures for now… you know, cause worksheet pictures are less entertaining. 😉

To the Table of Moms sitting beside ours at the children’s museum,

First of all, congratulations on expecting your second children in the household. The thrill of a miracle growing inside of you is indescribable, even in those last few months of “bumping into everything”. And your toddlers may not have any idea what’s coming, but they’ll learn to enjoy the company of another little smiler.

But even in your excitement my heart breaks for you both. I saw your glances and while it would be easy to brush you off as judgemental, my heart is really saddened.

Yes, Big Guy spilled his cup of juice because he wasn’t paying attention. He’s only been to a children’s museum twice that I know of and it’s a lot to take in, even when wolfing down lunch in anticipation of playing with legos. Yes, Little Man was fussing. What you didn’t know is that he had already been fed and freshly diapered, he was just having an impatient moment while I was nursing Hannah. And yes, the boys do not look like me… or my girls. In fact, to a deeply judging eye they could mark me to look like an unfaithful woman… or a woman in a really biologically confusing mess.

But my heart breaks that you didn’t really see my kids. You didn’t see Abi’s utter bliss at the chocolate covered pretzels we got as a special treat from the shop downstairs. And you didn’t see the twinkle in Big Guy’s eyes that even though he forgot his money that he brought to buy a special snack, he got to share a bag of Buggles with all of us after eating his cheese and crackers (the unsoggy ones). And you didn’t see the progress that Little Man has made in only fussing a bit and being responsive to my touch and my words to calm himself down.

You didn’t see where my boys were two months ago and how much they have moved from being constantly attention-seeking and fearful to secure and excited.

Yes, we are a noisy bunch sometimes… many times around eating time. And there are still needs to remind Big Guy to sit still and that just because he’s not touching it right now doesn’t mean he’ll never get to. And there are still needs to balance nursing my Hannah with rocking Little Man into comfort.

But my heart breaks for you, Moms, that while you may be there in your hearts some day to take in a child that needs someone while their world gets a little more under control… you’re not there right now. But right now there are Big Guys and Little Mans out there… waiting for Children’s Services to intervene and remove them from their crumbling worlds.

Tomorrow we’ll probably still be noisy, and a little bossy sometimes, and a little over-the-top excited and needy, but I am so thankful to God that tomorrow these precious boys know that they’ll still be safe. And loved. And snuggled. And told that “we’re praying for your Mom and your Dad” while they wait to see who will rescue them and who will fade away into a memory.

Sweet pregnant moms, my heart breaks for you.

Please take another glance.

Please.

Because sometimes you just have to dress them all in matching outfits and try to take a picture…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Oh and did I mention that to keep their attention Daddy shot a balloon at them?

– Love catching their delight. =D

– 4 yrs, 2 yrs and 4 months are so much fun!

No, our house is and was not a dump, but I wanted to take a chance to dump some lovely Christmas pics on here with minimal explanations. – That’s how I roll, people. hehe.

Actually, I think the pictures don’t need lengthy explanations and I just don’t want to forget these moments…

so Abi.

sisterhood.

Christmas carols.

I wore this dress for my first Christmas too.

love ’em.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 2012

Post-service. 😉

– Thanks, Mom, for the pics. =)

Just wanted to put in here a catch-up post from homeschooling. We’ve been taking a break due to Christmas for nearly a month now –That’s a nice advantage of homeschooling. But I wanted to share a little discovery fun that Rachael, Abi and I had on one of our homeschooling nature walks.

We had been discussing light and the affects of light on items. We discussed shadows and took the opportunity to check out some shadows at various times in the day. Along with our shadow viewing, we decided to take our magnifying glasses and observe plants up close. We also collects items that would fit in a sandwich bag in which to make nature pictures.