Dancing through the ages

 

Eric was super homeschool dad today and took the kids down town to see the Nashville Symphony.  The theme today was dancing through the ages and there were dancers that went along with the music.  The girls couldn't stop talking about all of the pretty dresses. 

She lost another

 

This girl has lost another tooth- with 2 more wiggly ones to follow soon I am sure. 

Treasure Island

 

Our special date with Mathias included the NCT production of Treasure Island and dinner at Chuy's.  It was so fun to spend some time alone with our very talkative son.  We compared the play to the book he was required to read at the beginning of our school year and give him our full attention during dinner.

City blocks

 

A lot of building going on here this week.  These City Blocks are so simple yet so open- ended for imagination.  Those are our favorite kinds of toys these days. 

Dinner with Grandma Doris & Aunt Deb

 

Our sweet grandma Doris and Aunt Debbie were passing through our area on their way home so we decided to meet up for some dinner.  The kids were so cute chatting the entire evening with them.  It was too short a visit but sweet nonetheless. 

Mathias' lost tooth

Marie Kondo/Intentional Living Pt 1

 

Please excuse the blurry photos from my phone. 

This new year of 2017 I've been inspired by a movement of intentional living.  Not that it is anything new or groundbreaking but I've been inspired nonetheless.  Marie Kondo is a Japanese author with several popular books out, the most common being The Life- Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  In it she talks about only keeping things in your home that either serve a purpose or spark joy in you.  You start by getting all of one item (clothing, kitchen, books, etc) in a big pile and all together.  Then you sit down and pick up each item and determine if it brings you joy.  Even the kids got in on it with their clothing.  See that ridiculously giant pile above?!  That was their clothing.  WAY TOO MUCH!

Then you donate thing you no longer want and put everything else back- neatly. 

 

She has a special way to fold things so that it looks tidy and fits better. 

 

We have filled over a dozen large garbage bags full of stuff  and I am still working away on de-cluttering.  I have decided that my time and energy is better spent elsewhere than on stuff.  Having a smaller home has made that reality very clear.  And we love it.  I still have to go through toys, my closet and random nooks and crannies but overall our home is much more peaceful and empty of piles and clutter.  I will also post more pictures if I get a chance of the tidy spaces.

Baby Joni.

 

My sweet homeschool friend had her sweet baby girl and she could not be cuter.  Oh!  Be still my heart.  Love her! 

New hair

 

We finally had to chop my hair short due to all of the damage it went through to be silver white over 1 year ago.  It made me pretty sad as I love long hair and it's always been kind of my trademark.  But it kept breaking and looked bad and felt even worse.  So now it is healthy and the color turned out lovely.  It always grows back I suppose. 

Patience

 

In the midst of tears through the training of little hearts Mathias reminded me what patience looked like today.  This sweet boy and his love for his sisters amazes me on a regular basis.  Above he is attempting to put together our 1000 piece puzzle while Brielle jumps and hangs on him like the wild little monkey that she is. 

Allie's Lost tooth

Crossfit update

 

Laughing and learning my way through this program.  Some days I am the hammer but most days I tend to be the nail and come home humbled and weak.  The improvements I've made in the year that I have been participated are astounding and when lined up together make quite the accomplishment list.  However, when I think about all of the areas I need to work on and strengthen it brings me back down and lowers me to a humble state of posture.  I think anything that does that in your life is such a positive thing b/c it's in those moments character is built and edges are refined.  So, I will stay consistent and show my kids that things in life are hard, but when we do it anyway good things are built in our hearts and our bodies.

Bag kites

 It was super windy so the kids took it upon themselves to make kites and play in said wind.

Early morning puzzles

 

Brielle is sneaky smart and as we have been working this week on a 1000 piece puzzle on our coffee table, she will randomly walk by and place a piece into the picture.  Goober. 

Movie night

 

Daddy is off on his annual football watching night so the kids and I are watching Nim's Island and eating popcorn for dinner. 

Snow day

 Our first snow day of this winter.  The kids were bummed it was after christmas but Eric and I were not. 

Day 2 of Regular life

 There have been lots of tears today.  We finally restarted piano practice and between the 3 kids, 30-45 minutes of practicing turned into most of our morning.  It's the result of too long of a Christmas break.  And although we enjoyed our time off- it was just simply too long of a time to be so lax on routine, discipline and hard work.  We will get back into it and find our groove again but until then we will be making sure we sleep as much as we can and stay consistent.  Miss you Auntie Nikki (and puppies)!

Regular life

 

Today we started back at our school and it's been a bit rough.  We pushed through what we could and finally settled in to read aloud The Hobbit while daddy made lunch. Naps are on the schedule for sure today.  

2016 Reflections

Oh 2016- I rather liked you.  When I scroll through my social media feeds however, most people seem to differ greatly.  Reflecting back there are obviously some things I would do differently, but nothing extremely major.

Our fall semester of school was our most efficient one yet.  We are really enjoying our new curriculum and have settled into a regular weekly routine.  Tweaks are still being made every now and then but the overall school atmosphere is peaceful and productive.

Our entire family now participates in daily workouts at Combustion Crossfit and it's been a blessing to be part of that community.  The kids are loving their workouts and getting stronger- just like dad and mom.  And an extra plus and a very large factor in all of us joining was so that we could all be together in the evenings- as a family. 

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year.  I personally think that is huge!  I remember being 21 years old and just getting married, looking at all the couples who had been married so long when they were at their 10th year or so and thinking it was so far away.  It flew by!  Our 10 years haven't been all bliss and roses but 2016 was- I think- our best year yet.  I married the best man out there!

We purchased our own land.  We don't plan to build for a while but knowing it's ours to build one day is exciting.  The kids already have big plans for chickens and forts.  Eric and I are just picturing sipping coffee on the future porch overlooking our amazing views together.  Eventually.
We love Tennessee.  The people here are awesome- we really have a great tribe here in the south, the weather is so much better.  Even the hot blazing summers are a better trade off than the MN winters.  We have really enjoyed being located closer to our families as well and have utilized our central location to visit them all quite often.

Our children are healthy and growing.

Our home is small, yet cozy.

Eric's job is a wonderful blessing that continually stretches him and provides new opportunities we otherwise wouldn't have imagined.

However, we look to this new year of 2017 with great expectation and hope as our family continues to grow deeper in His love.  Happy New Year!

Some side notes:  I have deleted my Facebook app off of my phone as I believed it to be more of a distraction than anything.  I will still have my account but I want to devote more time to my blog as a way of communicating with my close family and friends instead.  I want to photograph more of the things I have probably been missing with my nose stuck to a phone screen.  I want our children to know that I am present in our day and in their lives and I just don't see that in the way I would like to.  So, by limiting my access to social media I am hoping that it will help reach some new goals of mine.