Squish's Big Day!

Here in the midst of coronapocalypse, I thought it would be nice to share some fun news to take my mind off everything going on in the world right now.

So last Saturday, our sweet little Squish had a big day! He {finally} transitioned from a crib to a toddler bed! This sweet boy will be 3 in about 10 weeks, and while he was fine in the crib for the most part, there had been a few instances where he found his way OUT of the crib. Most recently, about a week ago, we heard a loud T-H-U-D during afternoon rest time, followed by Squish casually walking out of his room and heading downstairs. We thought it was hilarious, and while we were super grateful he must have stuck the landing, we figured it was about time to get him transitioned to a toddler bed.

My mommy heart was dreading it just a little bit. Squish has been our littlest baby for so long! But alas, with his little brother's pending arrival in less than 12 weeks (!!!), I begrudgingly decided it was time to start referring to him as my "big boy" instead of my baby. *cue tears*

When I went upstairs last Saturday to get him up following nap time, I was armed with a set of 1,382 different sizes of allen/hex wrenches, prepared to remove the four screws that held the front panel of his crib. He sat in his bed and was all kinds of curious as to what I was up to. I managed to successfully remove the screws, and then we counted to three! Check out the video below. Please note the insanely adorable sound he makes when the front panel is first removed. LOVE.

((Please disregard the missing section of wall paper on the wall behind his bed and the fact that his crib was in the center of his room. He pulled off little sections of the paper when his crib was against the wall, so hubs cut out a large rectangular section to replace it. That will be done... eventually.))

Squish was super excited about the new bed situation! He loved the freedom to get up and down as many zillion times as he wanted. I did put up a white mesh panel that covers 3/4 of the side so he wouldn't fall out of bed at night. Here he was the first night at bedtime. He couldn't be more proud of his big boy bed!

And get this, y'all: he didn't make One. Single. Attempt. to come out of his room after we put him down for the night. Not one. He played in his bed, and I'm not even sure he got out of it at all that first night. And apparently it was a great situation for him because he slept very well. In fact, he was still out cold at 9:21 AM the next morning!

The rest of the week has been just as awesome! In fact, after rest time, he will wait for hubs or I to talk to him through the monitor to give him the a-okay to open the door and leave his room. How courteous, amiright? And most mornings he just chills in his bed until we either come up to get him, or tell him to come downstairs through the monitor. This kid is winning, y'all!

I just love this crazy sweet boy of mine, and I'm so proud of how well he's been doing with his new bed! He loves to play with his cars (and shoes in the closet) during his afternoon rest times, so he pretty much no longer takes any sort of nap in the afternoons. He might be a little bit more grouchy than usual by bedtime (aren't we all?), but it doesn't matter to me! He goes down each night so well and sleeps so soundly!

I'm glad we were able to make this happen now so he has a good three months to settle into this routine. Once Cinco arrives, things will change up again as we add a crib to their bedroom and start (eventually) making preparations to welcome our newest and final family member!

LO's 12th Birthday

We had such a wonderful day celebrating our sweet girl's 12th birthday today!

LO was adamant about NOT wanting a birthday party this year. She's turning into such a pre-teen, amiright? She didn't want all kinds of attention on her with people singing and what-not, so I agreed that we wouldn't put together any sort of party. Just a fun, relaxing week of family time!

This morning began with our gold standard: birthday pancakes! Miss Thang is old enough to handle the fire stuff herself now, thankyouverymuch, but not so old that she can't pull off wearing adorable bunny pajamas. 😂

Seriously. Twelve. 1-2. I desperately tried convincing her to go with turning "11 v2.0" but she was pretty set on 12. #sigh

My gorgeous girl! In case you weren't aware, girlfriend got herself some braces 2 weeks ago today, actually. Only 30-something months to go...

Make a wish, sweet girl!

So many candles, y'all! 

After breakfast, we went to her violin lesson, then home for some Minecraft fun. After that, the family hit the road and grabbed lunch at Culver's (this should not come as a shock to those of you who know us well). After lunch, we headed downtown to The Children's Museum of the Upstate! One annual family pass later, and we're in! We had a bunch of family fun! It was Squish's first time at the museum, so he had a really great time checking the place out.

Back at home, we enjoyed MY favorite time of every day: quiet time! Squish went down for a nap and the big 3 went to their rooms for quiet time. This gave me a chance to get things ready for our evening.

The birthday girl requested steak, mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans for dinner. And rather than cake, she actually asked for a chocolate chip pie! That's her daddy's favorite dessert, so it didn't surprise me too much that she wanted the same. But the BIG SHOCKER for all of us??

DADDY MADE THE CHOCOLATE CHIP PIE.

Whaaaaaaat????! I'm pretty sure this may have been the first time my husband has ever baked a dessert in almost 14 years of marriage. Way to go, hubs!!!

After dinner, it was time for gifts!

The stash!

She's a little bit excited. 😉

My sweet girl LOOOOOOVVVVVVEESSSS crafting! All things crafty!! She asked for Amazon gift cards because she planned to buy more crafting supplies. I went ahead and hooked her up with a few things.

A book. This is her opening a book. She was super thrilled just at the mere fact it was a book. She didn't even know which book it was at this point. There's just so much excitement here!

She loved this book: The U.S. Constitution and Other Key American Writings. Yes. You read that right.

She's especially excited about this one because she's studying for the US History I CLEP exam, and this is just right up her alley!

A new violin book!

What could it be?? She's so excited!!

She's SOOOOOOO excited!!!

Literally. Have you ever seen someone so stoked about some canvases? This was like $7 for 5 canvases, and it may have ben her most favorite gift! LOL!

Hmmm... maybe THIS one was her favorite! hahahahaha!

She loves creating things, and this modeling clay is her favorite.

We were so grateful to have my mama stop by to bring LO her birthday gift tonight. 💖

Almost done with the gifts... 

Oh how exciting! A ukulele book! But she doesn't have a ukulele!

Or does she?? LOL!

Super random, but an impromptu hug occurred between these two and I had to document it. This NEVER happens, and it warmed my mama heart like crazy to see it!

Time for birthday pie!

Back to work, sweet birthday girl! That's a LOT of candles!

She approved! Daddy did an amazing job on the chocolate chip pie!

This guy loved his pie and ice cream. But apparently watching Elmo on TV was more important than paying me the slightest bit of attention.

This little bro loved his pie, too!

Oh! And this one, too! Sweet smiley boy!

Back to the uke! She flipped through a few pages in this book and started playing a bunch of songs... after she tuned it first, of course! Good girl!

Happy 12th Birthday, sweet girl!

Your mama loves you bunches!

💟

Snow Day // 2018

// Still playing catch up on the blog... posting on 6/7/19. Better late than never?

- - - - -

It snowed in December. We felt obligated to enjoy it for the one day it'd stick around, especially since the entire county shuts down here in South Carolina when a single flurry is spotted.

O was excited about his first time playing in the snow...

...until he had to gear up! As you can see, he wasn't a fan. LOL!

The older three didn't have any issues with the snow.

O was still not a fan.

He didn't find any joy in the white stuff.

Nice side-eye to the snow-covered roof, O. LOL!

Look out! Chase nails 'em!

O? Still. Not. A. Fan.

An Open Letter to the Moms of the Girls on the Softball Team My Husband Coaches

Dear Moms of the Girls on the Softball Team My Husband Coaches,

Even though our season just began last week, and we’ve only played two games, and still have ten more games to go, I feel it necessary to help you help yourself be a gracious human being by sharing the gems of advice below:

1. Please do not permit your daughter to arrive at a game with bronchitis. We appreciate you telling us that she loves the game that much — to show up with back pain and her chest on fire — but we aren’t interested in forfeiting the rest of our season because all of our players mysteriously contracted bronchitis. Boundaries can be a helpful parenting tool.
2. If your daughter has been upset and in tears late into the night because she didn’t get to play her preferred position(s) in a game, that is not my husband’s fault. You need to help her learn to adjust her expectations. With 12 players on a team, you should have expected this. It’s called rotation, and it will happen a LOT this season. Please adjust your daughter’s expectations accordingly.
3. Yes, you are correct: My husband does sacrifice a lot of time coaching our team. However, he cannot be expected to teach your daughter everything she needs to know to be an outstanding softball player in only 3 short practices. Parents should anticipate the need to practice with their daughters at home if they are interested in improving their softball skills. Even if they have been playing since they were 4, there’s always room for improvement.
4. I’m sorry if your daughter’s confidence was so shaken by her position toward the bottom of the batting order in a particular game that she could not connect with the ball when she was at bat. Please see #3 above. Please also recall the previous game where she was one of the first 3 at bat, which resulted in the same outcome. Numbers don't seem to be the issue here.
5. Regarding your daughter being heartbroken at the thought of not playing for an inning: We are talking about ONE inning. Because we have 12 players. And can only have 10 (sometimes 11) on the field at a time. And again, this will also rotate throughout the season. It will impact all of the players. Everyone’s daughter (including our own) will rotate throughout the season, and chill on the bench for a single inning. This is called life.
6. Let me remind you: We’ve played only TWO games this season. Apparently you have not provided my husband with an adequate opportunity to demonstrate to you that players will rotate field positions as well as batting order during our remaining TEN games. I’m confident that even though it’s been hard on you to watch your daughter suffer so terribly, she will have plenty of opportunities to play her desired position(s) and bat right smack dab at the top of the order. Trust me. My husband knows numbers, and he knows how to be fair.
7. We’ve had 3 practices and 2 games. While we appreciate your daughter’s desire to show that she is a good player, if it were in fact true, it would have already been demonstrated by now.
8. Do let us know what you expect my husband to do when the other 10 players’ moms send him an email asking him to consider giving their child more opportunities on our team. I’m curious to know exactly how he is supposed to appease All. The. Moms.
9. Thank you for asking but no, there is nothing you can do. My husband won’t be persuaded into giving your daughter preference over his other 11 players. All of these girls deserve the same opportunities, and will receive the same opportunities. See #8 above.

Sincerely,

The Wife of Your Daughter’s Softball Coach

Back to HOMESchool!

I'm so excited! We still have a few weeks of summer left, which we plan to wholeheartedly enjoy with plenty of trips to the pool, the movies, the museum, the park... lots of play dates and fun still ahead!

BUT... we've also officially started our THIRD year of homeschooling! LO is now in 4th Grade and my sweet Chase is now in 1st Grade! And of course my littlest one, E, is in Pre-Pre-K -- haha!

It's been a great start to school... once I was finally able to get my classroom in order! I'm such a neat freak and have such insanely ridiculous OCD tendencies that it seriously must take me about 12 times longer to do a few simple things than your average person. I seriously have issues. But at least I admit it, right?? ;)

So I took a few minutes today to take a few pictures of my classroom now that it's (A) clean and (B) set up for our new year. I know it won't stay this clean and organized for more than a few days hours, so I had to document it while it wasn't embarrassing!

I haven't edited the kids' first day of school pics yet, but I hope to share those really soon!

Enjoy a little glimpse of our Home Sweet Homeschool!

First up: The reason I do what I do. These three are my heart.

This year we will be focusing on learning to tell time on analog clocks, so I decided to hang one above our white board.

I'm not afraid to reward hard work with candy, so here ya go! Skittles are also super helpful with our math games! Yum.

I love my rolling cart from IKEA! I'm using it as individual bins for the three kiddos. Can you guess which one belongs to each kid? Shocker: You may notice -- Chase is phasing out his Mario addiction!

I love organized, color-coded paper. Special props to LO for her mad sorting and organizational skills!

LOVE artwork by LO. Such a fun addition to our schoolroom.

Classical Conversations timeline cards! We love these things!! And I'm madly in love with them in these binders!

And all the organizing Type A OCD folks unite in glorious song! Check out these art supplies, my friends!

{{deeply inhales}} Breathe it all in, folks. The glorious goodness of organized Crayola. Is there anything better?

Lots of art supplies! I may be hating myself for this later, but last year I kept all of the art supplies out of sight in my homeschool cabinet. The kids (LO) were constantly getting into it and (LO) leaving the door open and (LO) making it a disorganized mess and (LO) never putting things away, so I decide to embrace their (LO's) huge love of all things crafty and create an art center right in the middle of our schoolroom in plain sight. I'm hoping I'll have the ability to keep an eye on E to make sure these don't end up drawing on walls, curtains, furniture, etc., but we'll have to wait and see!

I'm literally in love with these storage canisters from Oriental Trading of all places. Math games beware! We are stocked in the ping pong ball, marble, and math die categories! Bring on the fun!

I {heart} organizing!

Whew. This one is gonna be a biggie this year! LO will be adding Essentials afternoon classes with our morning Foundations classes with Classical Conversations. I don't know a thing about it yet, but I did know enough to basically leave an entire bookshelf free for all of the materials we'll be using. :)

I decided to add a few things on the walls this year -- just for fun! LO & Chase already know the Presidents, and LO knows all of the states and capitals (assuming she remembers them all from when I taught them to her in 2nd grade), while Chase knows all of the states. I guess it's time to start teaching E his US geography now!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this ginormous laminated map I hung up outside of our pantry (there was no room for it in our schoolroom). I found it at Hobby Lobby for like $9.99 I think -- but I used their 40% off coupon and it was literally the best homeschool purchase ever! I'm excited to start working on our European geography this year!

Never one to shy away from the camera, I had to include a goofy pic of my silly E! This pretty much sums up how I feel about finishing the prep work for a new year of homeschooling, knowing that all of my hard work will soon be destroyed by eager little learners! I couldn't be more thrilled!!