Good morning, last Tuesday of April.
This morning I feel fascinated over my experience with motherhood, how it came upon me slowly during those first few weeks of gestation, then later, intensely as birth occurred. And now, seven years in, we’ve settled into a family rhythm that continues to fascinate me.
Life around here is, how do I record this accurately? Life around here is taking my breath away. The mornings when I wake early and align myself with Truth, like today, help me do my mothering job well. Motherhood fascinates me and wraps me in gratefulness. Here are some of our recent joys…
Maxwell, 7 years / Marigold, 4 years / Natalie, 5.5 years / Landon, 22 months
Life around here looks like reading a lot of books. Here’s a short recap of what I’ve read recently, plus what I’m currently reading. My children are reading all the books on animals, dolls, dinosaurs. We have The Berenstain Bears on rotation, along with a new read aloud favorite: The Doll People.
When do I find time to read? During the week, it’s in the early morning hours (as in, 4:30-7am), occasionally during nap time (though I tend to doze off), and in bed at night. During the weekend, I read periodically throughout the day. I am really grateful for a husband who supports pursuing hobbies, engaging activities, and is fantastic at fathering. We are slowly training our children to join us in “quiet reading time” :)
Currently reading Own Your Life by Sally Clarkson, which is a powerful & encouraging read on taking agency over our lives, despite difficulty or uncertainty, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a re-read for me; you should consider reading it as well :)
Life around here looks like LONG morning walks. Some kids ride bikes, some sit in the stroller. Everyone whines or gumbles at some point, whether over the length of the walk, the temperature of the air, or over mama slowing to take a photo of beautiful yellow flowers. I don’t mind.
But! Grumbling or not, we all return home happy to have stretched our legs, and eager for a morning snack.
Last week, we returned home from a walk and I immediately walked into my boys room and re-arranged their furniture. Walks restart my mind to a healthy state. I need them.
(Keep reading, I’m answering a few FAQs at the end of the post.)
A few more notable scenes:
Pigtail french braids on the girls.
Buckets filled with water and garden rocks.
Easy dinners: quesadillas with taco meat, ham & veggie frittata, burgers on the grill.
Listening to my children read aloud!!!
Noticing the empty infant bucket swing. Landon doesn’t want to sit inside. Instead, he’d rather swing with me or ride with his siblings on the glider. My baby boy is quickly growing up! This is tender.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Are you still running? No, however I am walking miles and miles (usually with my children) and that is proving to be much more practical and enjoyable for me :)
What is your general routine with four little ones? I would love to expand on this in a separate post. Here is the nitty gritty for now: I wake up very early to read and write in quiet for a couple hours. My children wake up sometime between 7-8am, we eat breakfast, play, go on a walk. Some learning occurs. After lunch, the majority of our learning happens as a family while Landon naps. The afternoon brings upon quiet time, outside play, dinner preparation. Once we eat dinner we have more family time, then we begin the bath / bedtime routine. My husband and I are usually the first to fall asleep while reading aloud to the children ;)
What is your favorite plant? Of all my houseplants, my favorite is my ZZ plant. And by “of all” I mean of the 17 houseplants I tend… Oopsy.
How do you fight clutter? Your house is always so clean. Regular “putting away” helps tremendously. Every couple of weeks I go through the toys in my children’s rooms and return the excess back to their playroom. Probably 3-4 times a year we put away toys they’ve outgrown, or we donate. I love the saying, “Have nothing in your home that isn’t beautiful or useful; preferably both.” So that is my undeclared motto. Our living room and dining area are joined, and so we aim to keep just a few toys in there. While I do love a tidy home, I have to remind myself there are six people living in our smaller home. Yes, there will be mess! There will be clutter! There will be forts built, doll scenes set up, and lego sets spread out. I do try to keep a few areas of our home in somewhat of a peaceful state, but I do recognize too much tidying takes away from the beauty of breathing.
Do you follow a homeschool curriculum, or do you pull pieces from different places? We follow My Father’s World, which teaches from a Charlotte Mason influence. I really enjoy their approach to learning. I read a couple instrumental books, The Call of the Wild and Free by Aisnley Arment and Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie, and so I’m slowly learning how to incorporate a variety of practicals into a single concept. For example, Maxwell recently asked about our state bird. With this one question we can learn together history, art, penmanship, oral narration, and reading! I am thoroughly loving teaching my children (ages 7 years, 5.5 years, 4 years, and 22 months) and am surprised over how much I’m learning myself :)
How is your debt-free journey going? Fantastic! :) We are currently on baby step four. Click here to read our debt-free journey where we paid off over $65,000 in three years. Yippee!
Happy Tuesday to you, friends! xx
I mean I see three girls and one boy…what am I missing?
No, two boys and two girls.
Maxwell is the one with long blond hair and grey and green clothes. One of my boys likes to wear his hair long, too, and often is mistaken for a girl.
Ha! Turns out it keeps growing if you don’t cut it.