No Sleep November

We are definitely in a routine with homeschooling now.  I'd say about one day a week we struggle with the appropriate attitudes that would allow learning to take place, but despite those hiccups, I have to say that I can already see big leaps and growth in all three girls since we started the year back in September.  It is exciting to watch how slow and steady increments of learning can add up to something really big.  Here we are below, in clockwise order: doing school at the kitchen table, Emma soaking her feet while reading a book, soap that my friend and I made in our crock pots outside while the kids played on a random weekday, Lucy ready to go to yoga class, and Violet who likes to "draw" as she calls it.

The girls like to help me in the kitchen.  Here they are below, mixing, cutting and arranging.  We made homemade cheese crackers, chicken pot pies, three berry pie, carrot and apple muffins and chicken stock all in bulk this past month.  It is much quicker to cook by myself, however I am hoping the positive experience I try to impart when my little helpers want to be with me in the kitchen will pay off big when they set a home cooked meal they made from scratch in front of me at the table.

Lucy and Emma proclaim that they are each other's best friends which is music to my ears.  When they are apart and come back together, they tell each other how they missed each other and have even established a secret code for when they need to discuss something that they don't want me to hear.  I am choosing to be happy about this, as one of my greatest hopes is for them to be life long friends.  In the top left hand picture below, I found all three girls snuggling in my bed one morning.  To make the picture sweeter, Lucy had a stuffed animal that I got at my baby shower for Luke to represent Luke in the sibling snuggle.  I received three stuffed animals at my baby shower - a yellow duck, a teddy bear and a grey hippopotamus.  Each sister has claimed a stuffed animal as their own, and Lucy and Emma both sleep with theirs cuddled close every night.  I often wonder how Luke would be with his three sisters.

I also wonder if Luke would have taken after Will.  Will handles his role as the only earthly male in our family with grace and humor.  In the top left hand picture below, I couldn't help but take a picture when Will called me into the bathroom to inquire as to why his shelf space keeps getting smaller and smaller in a bathroom that only he uses.

Our cat is a boy, but Will claims this doesn't count.  Charlie is such a friendly little guy and I'm guessing if he lived in our house he would be borderline annoying.  But, since we only cuddle him when we are outside, his affection is mostly appreciated.  Now that the weather is colder, Charlie comes and sits at our front door and watches us go about our day.  When Violet notices that "YarYar" is at the door, she goes to the kitchen and takes out a mini paper plate that we feed him his wet cat food on and then begs Lucy or I for the wet cat food to go and feed Charlie.  In the bottom two right hand pictures, Charlie is playing with the kids with balls and also showing Violet how to breach the security net we have in place.

 We had quite a blizzard this past month and the kids loved playing in all of the snow it brought.

Charlie followed us on the sled rides, whining the entire way for us to go back home.  Violet played in the snow for the very first time and got a kick out of the sled that is just her size and how her fingers felt stuffed into her mittens.

 We had lots of fun with friends this past month, and made sure to take a day off with them when they had a day off from school.

 Will and I attended a nice dinner for his work and the girls and I all got haircuts from Will's cousin in the comfort of our kitchen.  She even humored Violet and pretended to cut her hair so that she felt included.

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving.  We played games, did crafts, colored together and enjoyed lots of food.  Violet was miraculously healthy for a brief time and we even got out and shopped the sales on Friday afternoon.  In the bottom left hand picture Violet was putting random toys into the cart as Lucy and Emma browsed.

Before November, I had offered myself into various volunteer roles and was feeling pretty excited that I was finally able to contribute to something outside of my own family.  All of the things that I had extended myself for took place in November which is when I realized that I was in no position to volunteer my time beyond my little family.  Violet was sick for most of the month and our already precarious sleep was reduced to almost nothing.  I was able to graciously get out of some commitments, but others I still had to fulfill.  This was super frustrating to me to realize that I am not capable of much besides taking care of three kids.  On my paper calendar (and in my head) it seems to me like three kids should not take up every bit of the 168 hours we are each given in a week.  But the reality is, for me, they do.  I am still coming to terms with this, but I am telling myself that this is a season in my life and it won't be like this forever.  This season of my life is exhausting mostly, but scattered throughout my days are small moments of pure bliss with my babies.  The joy comes in short bursts, strung out farther apart than I would like, but it is just enough to keep me going and to continue to put my all into this little life that Will and I are building.