Ready! Almost. Not really…

If you follow me on Instagram, then you’ve probably already seen the crazy schedule that I’m going to attempt to keep up with beginning next Tuesday…

After I took that photo of it, I butchered it some more. Then I made a to-do list including: things to print, things to buy, things to organize, things to plan, and things to research. All before school begins. Ha! Ironically, it will be one very busy Labour Day long weekend.

I have seven kids in school! I know that I did last year as well, but I said it to someone recently and it just hit me. I remember when I felt overwhelmed with four in school. I’m so thankful for God’s grace. I’m so thankful for His strength. There have definitely been days when I was ready to throw in the towel. When I literally hid under the covers of my bed and begged Scott not to tell the kids where I was! There have been tears on both ends, harsh words, impatience, but most of all grace. I’m thankful for a merciful God and loving children, who are willing to forgive and start fresh with me every morning.

Everybody needs love and forgiveness…

Her hair is crazy… And when she sees me with a comb- before I even touch her hair- she starts yelling, “Ow! Oowwww!” The girl has some serious tats. Like, her hair breaks the teeth off my combs kinda tats…

It’s hard to believe that summer is over. Last week, the four oldest girls were at camp and I only had 4 kids for the week. The boys were such a huge help this year! From Elijah getting up early and making Lily some breakfast one morning, to helping her put on her shoes every time we went out… to Jeddy helping me in the kitchen, and Ella keeping her little sister happy… we did alright without the girls! We baked cookies. They taught me how to play Little Big Planet… and let me just say how annoying it is when your 5 year old finds it funny to slap you over and over again in the game while laughing hysterically and you can’t figure out how to slap her back! We went to the park, where Elijah helped her down slides, pushed her on swings, and let her ruin his sand moat too many times to count. I had a blast spending some time with my 4 youngest. It’s easy to spend time with Jeddy. He’ll cook with me, garden with me, pretty much do whatever I do. Ella loves to read books with me, and she’ll colour or just cuddle with me. Elijah likes video games, lego, ninja books… I realized that I don’t spend as much one-on-one time with him because we don’t have as much in common. It was really great to see his personality a bit more, and just have time to hear him talk without his big sisters talking over him. He is my strong and silent one. He mentioned to me that he liked being “the oldest” for a week. It made me see how responsible he can be and how overbearing it must be to have his four sisters trying to mother him at times. We had a bit of a chat this week, and I'm thankful for that week of observation. I think God allowed me to observe some changes that needed to be made and will hopefully resolve some sibling conflicts we’ve been dealing with.

Speaking of changes… Lily is changing so much! My baby is talking SO MUCH! Her new favourite word… “No!” Actually, it’s “Mo!” But she knows what she means. When I give her the look, her tone immediately changes to “Mo tank oo!” and “Yes, pease!” Although most of the time she just answers, “Ya!” She can say everyone’s names now. She calls Keona “Coo coo”- that’s my favourite. Makes me laugh every time I hear it. This girl also has her pronouns down pat! Here’s a recent convo we had…

Me: Lily, say “I”

Lily: I

Me: Love

Lily: Love

Me: You!

Lily: Me!

She is a sweetheart. So what if she hits, kicks, and pinches her brothers and sisters when they try to bring her somewhere she doesn’t want to go!? At least we haven’t had anymore fits in the grocery store…

And she likes to squat while she eats…

So next week we start fresh. New schedule, new grades, new goals, new blog?… Not really, but you will see some changes happen around here. When I look back to 2008 and read all the stories about the kids, and 2009 with all the trouble Jeddy and Ella caused together- and then 2013 with twelve blog posts and barely any pictures to show for it... Well, it made me realize that I need to shake things up a bit and get myself re-excited about this whole journaling thing. I have a feeling that I’ll be glad I did a few years from now.

But for now, I’m off to hunt for more Canadian geography and music print outs!