September 2023

Holy cow!  I took so many pictures in September.

We started the month off with our sweet Lucy’s third birthday.  It was a magical day.

She had been talking about her “pink buhfday” for a few weeks and I think it was just about perfect. 

Her brothers decorated for her the night before with hearts all over the walls and pink streamers.  Atticus baked and decorated her cupcakes pretty much all by himself. 

Their cards were SO stinking cute! 

After breakfast and presents they got her all dolled up and then took her for rides in a “carriage” (the bike trailer) to the “ball.” Hinckley was the “footman.”

She loved it all! 

In the latter half of the month my mom came to visit.  We definitely had mixed feelings about her visit.  It was absolutely wonderful to have her there but a few of us weren’t feeling well so I was worried the whole time that we’d get her sick (and that she wouldn’t enjoy her stay!)  On top of that poor Atticus couldn’t play soccer while she visited, so he felt very disappointed.

Still, the children and I loved having her more than words can express.  She sat and read...and read and read some more with them.  She baked and cooked international foods with us, did Indian rangoli art with us and music class. She washed and washed dishes and washed some more.  

I’m sure she was relieved to get home and rest!

We haven’t had a visitor for a pretty long time so we are so grateful she came with her sunny smile while so many of us were under the weather.  Come back soon, Mimi!

Israel turned 7 months on the 21st!  

He started sitting up (for real), which is so nice, especially for his reflux.  Speaking of his reflux, the doctor was surprised that it’s still around but I’m happy to report that it is better than before.  So we’re just hoping it continues to improve.  

He is scooting and twisting all over the place.  He LOVES bath time.  I think it’s his absolute favorite time, although he is warming up to finger foods.  (He doesn’t love being fed.)  He still doesn’t sleep well (during the day or night) and he wants to bite us more than we’d like but ohhhh, how we love our squishy, bouncy, happy little boy. 

As I mentioned at the beginning, Lucy turned 3 this month and, like her brothers, has been much more difficult for us.  She often won’t take her nap, wakes up early and will wake up her older brothers if we don’t catch her beforehand.  As if that weren't enough, she has been throwing more and more tantrums.  Boy, is she loud!  She’s definitely louder than the boys were!  

She is still hit or miss about going potty.  She watches the Daniel Tiger episode about going potty a couple times a week but still isn’t motivated to go all the time.  It’s almost like she wants to surprise us and keep us on our toes.  One day she’ll ask to wear a diaper all day.  The next day she’ll put on undies and I’ll randomly find her shorts and undies on one side of the house and hear the toilet flush as she quietly went, used the toilet and washed her hands.  It’s a little exasperating but at least we know she’s perfectly capable. 

Listen to Lucy:

• I’ll be on my way!  (After going potty. It’s from the Daniel Tiger potty song.)
• You calm now?  You not mad?
• We can fix it!  With glue!  With tape! (After she broke her closet door.)

Hinckley is still louder than he should be at his age but I felt like he tried harder to be less needy this month.  He is doing so well in soccer.  It’s fun to watch him grow in skill and confidence, although we had to get on to him about messing around at practice.

The biggest thing that happened this month for Hinckley and for our family, really, occurred on the 26th. We nearly lost him when he got hit by a car on his bike. 

I have been worried about him for months.  I had forced both boys to wear their helmets for a few months but then with the coming of a new baby I let it (and many other things) slide.  So for the past few months neither of them were wearing helmets while riding way too fast in our little neighborhood.  I had had the idea nudge me numerous times that he was going to get hit by a car- he was just too little to be going so fast and recklessly.  I tried to show him how to ride and explain but he just wouldn’t listen, telling me he was too fast for a car to hit him.  

On that fateful day Hinckley cut a corner, riding on the left side of the road.  A driver who didn’t fully stop at the stop sign hit him.  The rest of the story is a miracle.

  

Dane just happened to be leaving the house to go running just as it happened, so he was able to arrive on the scene within a minute or two.  What a blessing it was to have him there so quickly.  He scooped a very frightened Hinckley up in his arms, gave the driver a piece of his mind in a way only Dane can and called an ambulance so Hinckley could get checked out.  

What they found was also miraculous.  Although he had not been wearing a helmet, he hadn’t hit his head.  In fact, all he had to show for his experience was a small scrape on his neck and a bruise on his ankle.  After it was all over we went home as a family and knelt in prayer, weeping in gratitude that our son’s life had been spared.  

You can bet that they are wearing their helmets now- every day.  What has put this even more in perspective just occurred at the beginning of October, only a couple weeks later.  A little 5 year old boy was hit and killed by a car while exiting his car to go to school.  It was a very sobering thought for the whole family.  Hinckley is five.  That could just as easily have been him two weeks previous.  Once again, we knelt in prayer as a family, this time praying for that little boy’s family who, for whatever reason, had not been spared.  We’ve told Hinckley that God has a purpose for him.  I hope he can take that to heart and discover what that purpose is.

Hinckley speaks:

• “Know what I love about you?” (Me, glowing with pleasure, “No, what?”) “That when you sit down in the car, the chair goes down.  When Daddy sits down, the chair goes up.  But when you sit down, it goes down and I can stretch my legs.”  (Me, disappointed, “Oh.  That’s what you love most about me?  Out of everything?”) “Yup.”
• "Mom!  The soft spoken parent!" (As he could see me starting to get ready to yell about another mess.)
• "Now I can POOOOOP!" (While running to the bathroom as soon as the prayer was over.)

 

A poem Atticus wrote early in September for our poetry group.  I only helped a little.  He is always surprising us!

Atticus didn’t just make Lucy’s birthday special.  A couple days later he dressed her up again, donned his church suit and pretended to be her butler.  He announced we were having a tea party for her and called her “M’lady” the whole time.  I was delighted!  I pulled out some herbal tea and poetry books, along with some snacks and we had a wonderful poetry tea time.  

Hinckley joined us just a few minutes later, informing us he was “Bruce.”  “Bruce Wayne?” we inquired?  The answer was affirmative.  So Atticus waited on both of them as “Alfred.”  It was adorable.  

Atticus continues to wow me with his growing abilities in art and music but the area that stands out to me the most this month for growth relates to soccer.  I actually would say he took a step back in soccer.  Don’t get me wrong- he’s still very good but his confidence took a hit.  For various reasons I can guess at, he just wasn’t feeling very good and then after getting sick he just felt tired... and his emotions began to get out of control again.  It has been so hard for us to watch him seemingly regress and go from playing all the time to sitting on the bench a lot.  We understand- his team can't rely on him when he's in this negative mental state- but it’s a painful life lesson.

We are trying to help him restore his confidence and emotional control.  As of the beginning of October he is watching more soccer and training on his own more (which he just wasn’t motivated to do for several weeks.).  It’s an ongoing story but we are hopeful that this will help him make the mental shifts he needs to enjoy the sport he loves once more.

We did so many cool things for Homeschool this month!  It’s been a little dizzying to try and keep up with all the wonderful resources we have through the Belle Ame at Home program.

Japanese soba noodes and snow peas.

Scallion pancakes

We studied the following areas: Japan, China, India and the 13 colonies.  We made sushi, Japanese soba noodles and snow peas stir fry, the boys drew anime and we made a cherry blossom craft.  

The boys drew tigers, we made delicious Indian Dahl, curry and naan bread, the boys drew tigers, and had so much fun trying to make rangolis with colored sand.  

Rangolis

We made Chinese scallion pancakes and ate egg rolls, watched Mulan and Kung Du Panda again.  

The boys drew turkeys, we made Pilgrim strawberry cornmeal cake, made hornbooks and read so many fun books on all the topics. 

 

We learned beautiful Indian and Chinese songs ("Chandamama Raave" in Telugu and the Kangding Love Song in Mandarin.)  

We also went to the planetarium and LOVED it!  We'll definitely be doing that every September.  Here are the boys sitting on a wheel that actually touched the moon.

Attticus's cherry bloosom art.

Some of our favorite homeschool friends at P.E. class.

We went apple picking with them.  So much fun.

Attempting to do so much has been almost dizzying some weeks but oh, how we love it! 

August 2023

August had a difficult beginning but by the end we were having a whole lot of fun.

Dane went on a campout with the young men in our ward over the first weekend. He had a blast and we did okay without him.

He came home for a day and a half and then left us for four more days of training.  That second absence did us in.  I was so grateful when he got home!

The school district in our area began school shortly after that on August 7.  While I usually try to sync our schedule with the schools, that was just way too early for my liking, so we decided to wait until August 14 to begin.  Since then, we've been very, very busy!  

A week after we started school over here our sweet Baby Israel turned 6 months!  He got his third tooth (his top left) a couple days later.  

He is still struggling with reflux, which makes daytime and nightime sleeping difficult and unpredictable but he is such a sweet boy!  We love his smile and laugh and easy manner.  He has been in love with his feet all month- he holds them all the time and has even started sucking on one of his toes.

Midway through the month Dane and I decided it was time to give our mad scientist a haircut.  I held him and let him chew on my finger while Dane wielded the clippers.

He didn't love the clippers but was tolerant.  He has such a sweet, even-tempered personality. 

 

What a difference a trim can make!  

He also got his third tooth a week or so later, right after he turned 6 months.  We paid for it dearly.  He got a fever, runny nose and was up even more at night than usual for a week and a half or so.  Boy were we happy when his top left tooth broke through!  

These early teeth have certainly been a mixed blessing.  A few weeks later he bit a huge chunk out of the skin on one of his knuckles.  It looked awful!  I had to put socks on his hands again to keep him from biting and sucking on it more.  Thankfully, it's starting to look much better. 

Boy, is this little boy on the move.  He is creeping backward all over the place and can turn in pretty much any direction.

He has tried lots of different kinds of food but it seems to cause him so much more discomfort that I've slowed down any exposure.  We have started him on a probiotic and have high hopes that it will help his tummy calm down.  Then we'll be ready to introduce foods with gusto.

I'm embarrassed to find that I don't have any photos of just Lucy this month.  I've already taken plenty of her in September so I guess it all evens out.

Her swimming skills are now off the charts.  She can take breaths as she goes, so she can swim anywhere in the pool  And, boy, is she fast!  It's unbelievable how fast that little two-year-old can go! 

She's been having more trouble with sleep this month.  She keeps waking up earlier and earlier in the morning and has been having trouble taking her naps.  It can be really frustrating.  Interestingly, after missing or taking a really short nap several days in a row, Atticus offered to put her down and it was the first time she took a good nap for days.  She also definitely seems to sleep better if she has been outside playing- especially if she's been swimming beforehand.

She still "lubs" pink and can't wait for her pink (birthday) "pawty."

Listen to Lucy:

• I need a ba-rella umbrella for rain
• Mom, you have a big bum.  (Not once but twice!- Two days in row!)
• You look beautiful!  (When I woke her up from a Sunday nap.)
• I stwong 
• No!  I lub it! (Whenever I say I don’t want Lucy to watch something that I consider too scary or too violent)
• I just lub Jesus!  He wants me baptized.
• (Whispered) I... lub... you! (Our little inside joke from a great book called How to Babysit a Grandma.)

Early in the month Hinckley decided he wanted to spend some of his lemonade stand money on a Spider-Man watch.  Since he wanted it to feature "Spin," the Miles Morales Spider-man, it took us a bit more searching to find it.  Once we found one we sent for it.  

I was dismayed to find that it wasn't just a watch.  It was a smart watch with games, a calculator, camera and a few other features.  He stayed inside and played with it for most of that afternoon so I was worried it was too big of a distraction but it didn't last too long.  He'll still occasionally ask me to help him put it on but he is so picky about how things fit that he rarely wears it for long.  It would appear that we have dodged the screen/technology bullet... for now.  He still will pull out the two wooden blocks that he calls his phones (Dane has two cell phones with him all the time- a personal and a work phone) and pretend to "scroll."

Something I have loved to see is how much more he plays with Lucy.  For a while there it seemed like Atticus appreciated and payed with her more.  Hinckley seems to have realized this month how much fun she is.  They build with Legos, they play with play dough, draw, paint and play in the pool together in the cutest way.  It's been wonderful because Hinckley has been hanging out with kids who are much older than him and he hasn't been his sweet, imaginative self as much when he's with them.

Speaking of which, he has gone back to liking Batman (for a while he only liked Spider-Man.)  That means he is talking with his adorable, gruff Batman voice again and this time it's even better because Lucy mimics him and they hold gruff little Batman conversations.  One conversation I've heard between them many times goes like this:

"Bahtmahn, you okay?" Lucy will ask.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Hinckley will reply.

In a minute or so, Lucy will ask him all over again.  Hinckley is usually a good sport about it for five minutes but soon he'll often get fed up with it.  I can't blame him, cute as his little side kick is.

My other favorite "game" he started this month with Lucy has been playing "Joy School."  We still have some materials from our Joy SChool groups and they will pull them out and Hinckley will be the teacher.  So far, Atticus has joined in and loved it, too.  

Hinckley takes it very seriously, telling me, "It's not a game, Mom.  It's real Joy School."  He has made handouts each time, even writing a book about Lions so he could read it to his "students."

He's had a lot of temper tantrums this month.  I'm happy to say that he has been less violent toward me but he is still so volatile and so loud.  He has interrupted naptime for Lucy and/or Israel so many times with his outbursts.  It is so aggravating!  I think that's another reason I've been so grateful for his sweet times with Lucy.  

Hinckley Speaks:

• "You can call me Mr. Hinckley." (Our first session of "Joy School.")

Thank goodness for Atticus this month!  He's not an angel but he has been so compassionate toward me as far as sleep deprivation with the baby and the other two kiddos' tantrums.  There have been times when Lucy has woken him up and he has changed her diaper and gotten her dressed.  Even though often Hinckley's tantrums were triggered by something Atticus said or did, Atticus also knows how to calm him down or motivate him so there have been plenty of times when I've asked him to do his "magic" to get Hinckley to come back as his nice self from his room.

He did have some drama at church.  He has offended more than one child, enough that their moms have texted me to let me know. I was mortified and probably overreacted a bit each time... but I know he really is trying.  He has apologized to both parties and his Sunday School teachers have been trying especially hard to explain the times when "trash talk" is appropriate.  I just keep praying that his little heart can become warmer and softer.  I know it's happening, it can just be hard to see. 

One example of this (that I don't condone by the way!) is a punishment system he has worked out for himself with Hinckley.  I was informed recently that when he has hurt or offended HInkley he will allow Hinckley to spank him or do other things.  It's definitely not exactly what I am hoping for but it is well-intentioned... and it always makes Hinckley laugh.

His club soccer team has really taken over as far as time commitments are concerned.  SWith three practices a week on top of a game early in the month it felt very intense- too intense.  Fortunately, they have scaled it back so the kids only have two practices a week.  We still don't love how much time it takes but he is enjoying himself.  While he has had some trouble because the coach has him playing new positions he has less experience with (defense and winger) whenever he is playing striker he scores a goal.  In fact, in one game he scored in less than 30 seconds after the game began.

The most exciting night of the month for him was probably "Signing night" for his soccer team.  The players all wear nice clothes and sign a contract to be with their team for a year.  He showed up in his suit with his sambas and sunglasses.  It was adorable and he loved the attention so much that he has even asked me how much a tuxedo or a red velvet suit would cost in his size.

Two huge developments for him this month have been his new love for art and reading.

He has always loved stories (who doesn't?!) and has amazing listening comprehension, even for complicated books with difficult language but reading was not a love.  It was more of a have to.  It is happening more and more but I will catch him reading when he doesn't "have" to!  Thsi is the kid who once told me, "YOU love reading.  I like sports. I just don't like it, okay?!"  

My little boy is starting to love reading!  And I have some awesome books headed to our home that he's going to love even more.  Hooray!  

As for art, this month we got started with Belle Ame at Home, which I'll talk about more later.  It includes a weekly Monart class.  Hinckley enjoyed it but that was no surprise- Hinckley LOVES art and is alwys drawing something.  Atticus, on the other hand, has told me for a while now that he hates art.  I knew it was just the perfectionist in him talking but didn't know how to get beyond that.  Well, this art teacher knew how because he came out of the first lesson on cloud nine and has been drawing every other day or so since then.  He turns on meditation music and has FINALLY found a way to relax.  Anyone who knows Atticus will know that this is a HUGE development for him.

Atticusism:

"I have so much sleep to catch up on."

Yes, August was definitely a mixed bag.  There were really, really hard days and very sweet moments.  I just wantd to document one really difficult day, simply because by its end I was almost laughing at how impossibly terrible it had been.  

Israel went through four wardrobe changes, due to two blowouts and so much spit up that he was soaking wet.  He missed a nap not once but TWICE because he had siblings screaming nearby.  Lucy peed on the floor TWICE and Hinckley threw one of his biggest tantrums, ever.  

Here again however, was a sweet, teaching moment.  About halfway through the day, when Atticus saw me starting to tear up and hyperventilate, he quietly said, “maybe we should pray.” All I could do at that moment was nod and nod and follow him into the living room.  The two of us knelt by the coffee table, where he offered the sweetest, most specific and sincere prayer.  Not all of it was answered immediately but I felt peace right away.  

Homeschool-

Though we didn't start school until August 14, we did spend the first couple weeks of the month studying the South Pacific, including Australia, the Philippines and other islands.  

With our study of the Philippines we read the sweetest book.  It's called Tucky Joe and Little Heart.   I cried when we read it.  We also made pancit and learned how to make lumpia with our adorable Filipino neighbor, Cynthia.  It was scrumptious! 

We really loved studying Australia, reading a book called Our Little Australian Cousins, learning a fun Aboriginal song ("Inanay"), watching The Rescuers Down Under, learning about Captain Cook and reading many picture books set in Australia. 

We also watched Moana and The Other Side of Heaven again, as well as read a fun book called Call it Courage again.

We spent a good chunk of time doing a rock art camp and had plenty of fun creations:

Then it was time to officially start back to school.  We started a new tradition this year with schultutes (school cones) stuffed with back to school gifts.  

We took our first day photos and headed to a local indoor playground.  The kids had so much fun!!!

It was a great first day.

Since then, we have been loving the Belle Ame at Home program.  There are 7 different teachers, as well as so many materials, all of which are based on the Well Educated Heart rotation that goes all around the world as well as explores 9 different science units/topics.  This month we focused on Explorers, Vikings and Scandinavia.  It's been VERY busy but so, so awesome!  You can see some of the kiddos' creations below:

Swedish Almond Cake with Apple-Berry Compote

Viking Runestones

Hand sewing

Atticus's Sea Dragon

Hinckley's Moose

Hinckley's Sea Dragon

Atticus's moose

Until next month!