As I moved around in the kitchen pouring separate bowls of cereal and buttering toasts, I noticed Ezra playing quietly with his legos at the table. It wasn't his quiet demeanor that stopped me in my tracks. It was the way his legs hung and swung under the table. The amount of space from his toes to floor that was empty and the space from his ankles to his pajama pants that were bare. These empty and bare spaces were symbolic to me in the fact that I have time with my babies. He may be growing out of his pants, but he still can't plant his feet solid on the ground. Time is moving quickly and a lot of time I feel like I will never catch up,that my boys are growing too fast to enjoy.
I HAVE TIME! I have all the time in the world because my children are my time in the world right now. This is exactly why I am so passionate about my decision to homeschool and I am getting SO excited to get our daily routine up and going in the fall.
Here are some things that we have been up to lately. Our lives have been so full with simple and wonderful things.
Ezra and Eli are at this amazing stage where they are actually and genuinely, finally, enjoying eachothers company. I feel like I have been waiting for this since Eli was born. I can trust them to sit and play quiety together during "quiet time" at our house and not have to worry about them fighting, arguing or doing anything that they aren't supposed to. They have been encouraging each other to do good and be good and they are so helpful to us. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments, but they are amazing kids. They are also learning to have fun with each other and I love it.
Oliver's personality is shining through thick as of late. He is SMART, He is Quiet. He is very aware of his surroundings, of our requests and of his brother's energy. He is the best little brother. He will wrap his little arms around Eli's neck and pull him down to the ground to wrestle. When you ask him where anything is, he will take you right to it. He waves and smiles to anyone. He brings you YOUR things that you may have left out. He is totally looking out for us. And this one, if he takes one of the boys toys and they grab it from him, he will fight you to the death, BUT if you calmly ask for it back- he will always hand it you no problem. He is strong willed and I love it.
I'm continuing to soak in all the moments Marshall has to teach the boys. I love how much the boys trust him and listen to his counsel and wisdom.
Family home evening's out on the deck on a summer night when the weather was perfect.
Eli in his "pirate patch" Going strong on our 15 hours a week of patch time.
He is either a pirate, Captain Red Beard, of Nick Fury.
Oliver is the best. He lets us put all sorts of accessories and costumes on him and he LOVES it!
We had our very first "family movie night" with the boys. Oliver sat and watched for the entire time. (This surprised me!) It took us forever to come to an agreement on which movie to watch. Toy Story 2 was a hit for the kids. This probably won't happen very often but it was nice to lay around as a whole family.
I took Ezra shopping for some new clothes for the year. He has gotten so tall that he hardly fits any of his pants! He LOVED shopping, He picked out his own clothes and got some cute little pieces. He has some serious swag.
The boys were a part of a simple little lego club at the library. For three weeks they went to the library with a bunch of other kids (boys mostly) and played legos together. Every time they would work hard to create something a little better than the last. I am glad they liked this. More than I thought they would.
We love the library and all the great free little programs that they have. We try to take advantage of what they have to offer. Toddler Obstacle course was a hit for Oliver, although I think it was aimed more for Eli's age. When we showed up there was probably 48 kids in there and then a minute after we got settled everyone ( almost EVERYONE) left. I tried not to take it personally, because I love that we had the whole space to ourselves. Oliver loved every bit of it!
Someone adorably sweet gifted this cute skirt to me this week, I still have NO idea who sent it, but I am grateful to be thought of! Such a sweet gesture!
On a particular day where I felt unusually stressed and anxious, Marshall came home with these sweet wildflowers. He said that he took a walk over lunch and there were a couple kids that said "Flowers for $1 or if you don't have a dollar, they are free!" I love so much about this and LOVED that he brought these home when he did.
Ezra had his very first piano recital and he did a great job. He was a little nervous but he did his best and it was great! I love how excited he was to perform. He was (almost) most excited for his bow after his performance. He practiced the entire week before!
Ezra has started his fall soccer league practices and games start in September. We may be more excited than he is, but it is so good for him.
Eli starts swimming, too. This time, he will be on his own and we hope he will love it just as much as last time (with Ezra in his class)
We are enjoying the last days of summer and can't wait to go the State Fair. The boys have been asking about it since last year!!
Wishing there was more to update, but we've been keeping busy with the fullness of our lives.
