A Flashback and A Goodbye

My little dumplings, how you've grown. This is a photo of you three that I took this week. I like to call it "mornings at the Houle's". Everyone looks happy, rested and content to sit for a moment while your mother takes a chance to capture the moment.
This is photo of the three of you from a little over a year ago, July 2006 to be exact. Elias was still a pudgy little doughball-of-a-baby. Nicolas, you were a newly-turned three year old who couldn't say his "R's", "Th's" and "F's". And Sophia, you were still FOUR years old, not even a Kindergartner as of yet. But still, a very nurturing and caring "big sister".
It's true what they say- "time flies". Sometimes I don't believe it until I look back over old photos, gauge pencil markings measuring "heights" on our schoolroom wall, hold you each in my arms and feel the weight of your frames and listen to how clearly, descriptively and oh-so sophisticatedly you can speak now (except for you Elias my dear!).

We will be taking our first big FAMILY TRIP since Elias has been born. We leave bright and early Saturday morning and will be flying down for a week in Orlando with some close friends of ours. Let's just say that the "magic" of Disney World has already taken over our household. We are on different time now. A time where every boy wields a dagger and can fly to NeverLand on a whim and a place where every girl is ruler of he own land and has her own castle (oh wait, that's just about EVERYDAY here in our house!!!!!).

Granted, we, the parents, are still busily filling our suitcases with bathing suits, suntan lotion and "activity bags" to keep our kids busy on the flight down. And if I've said it before, I'll say it again... "I am changing my name to 'Laundress'! Just how much laundry can one woman spin in a day????"

But I can tell you it will only take one inhalation of that tropical, balmy air to switch Mom and Dad over to "vacation time". I am welcoming the change of pace.

See you all next week...

Some Very Serious Blueberry Picking

What a gorgeous day for picking blueberries! We had a morning out with some dear friends and instead of just visiting a really fun store (Creative Toymaker) we also set out to Belltown Hill Orchard for some blueberry picking.

Noah and Lily are very special to our family. I spent my childhood practically side-by-side with their father, Luke. In fact our mothers probably have photos of US standing together at a young age eating blueberries! The bonding doesn't stop there though. Luke's parents and my parents have known each other since their teenage years. This makes for LOTS of history, numerous funny and embarrassing stories that are retold again and again and a very strong like-family bond between our families.

Nicolas, Sophia, Noah, Lily and Elias stopping for a quick photo between
enjoying blueberries straight off the bush!

The kids and I picked almost EIGHT pounds of blueberries. Sophia and Nicolas were SO very helpful and nearly filled half of their pails with berries. They were taking their jobs pretty seriously.

Thankfully Elias just meandered in the vicinity of wherever it was that I was picking berries. Praise the Lord... a morning where I actually DIDN'T have to chase him about! I jokingly told my friend that I should go berry picking EVERY DAY. It was actually quite relaxing.

The proud big sister and her very aloof and distracted
berry-eating little brother!

Noah, Nicolas and Sophia living it up on the tractor ride.
Don't you just love the Croc in the pail?

At one point my friend offered me her extra pail so that I could pick more blueberries (next time I will bring MORE pails up). There were about a handful or two of berries in the pail and I offered them back to her saying that she picked them so she should keep them. She chuckled and agreed to take them. I told here that if we were Pioneer women we wouldn't let one of our berries go to waste lest we should chance starving over the winter. I think that I TOO was taking my berry picking a bit too seriously.

One Last Hoorah (at the Beach)!

We met up with Mike's parents and nieces at our favorite beach, Watch Hill, yesterday for some fun in the, well, it wasn't sunny, but it was a splendid day of generational bonding!
The skies were overcast and gray but the kids still
swam,
built "swamp"castles out of seaweed,
rode waves,
rode the carousel
and ate ice cream.

"Pepere and his grandsons!"

Mike's Dad has been blessed with more granddaughters than grandsons and was so thrilled to spend the day watching Nicolas and Elias being "boys" at the beach. He even got "slimed" by Nicolas' seaweed and had sand sprinkled on him by Elias.

This was Elias' first time really enjoying the ocean. We took him to the beach several times last summer as an infant and dipped his feet into the water. This summer he was curious and loved watching the waves roll in and out but did NOT enjoy actually feeling the water. He REALLY became brave and daring (a little too much for me) and was practically catching a wave everytime he went in. He also wanted to be right in on the action with the "big kids" too... digging a sand ditch, piling seaweed and running from the "big" waves. What a big boy!
Nicolas was so focused on piling seaweed onto his lump of sand that he wouldn't even stop for a quick picture! He was begging me to buy him a new shovel. You know, the one's with the long handle and larger shovel. I guess he's outgrown our little tin set...
Sophia was pretty daring and swam out into the ocean farther than she had ever before. I guess that's what passing "Level 1" of swim class can do to a six-year old's confidence! She also made a few new friends (and their parents) on the beach as usual. Mike and I are still trying to figure out where her extreme outgoing-ness and lack of intimidation come from!! Nevertheless, we are very proud of our little extrovert!

I now can check "one last beach trip" off of my summer wish list of places to go and people to see. And although it was cloudy we still felt refreshed from a day at the ocean.

A Very Six-Year Old Week- Lollipop Cupcakes, Parties and Origami

This was a very "six-year old" week in our house. Sophia turned 6 years old on Thursday and we've spent the week celebrating in many different ways. We threw her a birthday party with TEN girls. It was a craft-themed party and we made "Penny Butterflies", "Windows to Fairyland" and colored lots of pictures. The girls had a blast!
I tried my hand at these yummy Lollipop Cupcakes inspired by Martha Stewart Kids. They were very easy and the provided lots of different ways for a child to obtain a sugar high... cake, frosting, sugar sprinkles, taffy and lollipops. Mmmmmm!
This is Sophia waiting patiently (yeah, right) for her guests to arrive. She couldn't even hold still long enough for me to snap a reasonable picture. Oh well. This photo shows off the "swingy-ness" of her summer top.
One of our gifts to Sophia was an Origami kit. She absolutely LOVED this "Origami and Kirigami" Set made by ALEX. She even shared it with her brother. These are the "bumble bees" they made using the origami paper and embellishments. They were quite proud of their work and were more than willing to show it off for the camera.
One of great things about a Charlotte Mason education is that "Handicrafts" is considered to be a worthwhile subject to learn. Origami definitely qualifies as a handicraft. Talk about using your hands, fingers and mind to fold, crease and shape this colorful papers. A time of deep concentration!

A Season For Every Activity Under the Heavens, Even Weaning

There comes a time in every boy's life when weaning is inevitable.
That time is now my son.

My little Elias... you are anything but "little". You had your 15-month check-up yesterday with your doctor and you are certainly healthy. Oh, and I lied, you are not 30 pounds, you are a mere 28 plus pounds. You are still taller than 97 out of 100 little boys your age and weigh more too.

Dr. Post says that you are really flying through those developmental milestones (using your spoon and fork like a proper young lad should, using several words, enjoying books, saying "please" and "thank you" at appropriate times, imitating animals, trying to make us all laugh until we fall down with your new "face", etc...) and that you have a temperament to match.

And no, you're not stacking blocks. I laughed when Dr. Post asked and just said that you didn't, couldn't, didn't want to, whatever. Just like I had to laugh when our old pediatrician used to ask me if your brother and sister could stack wooden blocks and how many. It was the same answer then as it is now. It must be a Houle family trait- absence of the toddler-block-stacking-ability gene.

You are obsessed with BOOKS. You bring them to your Daddy and I over and over and over again. Sometimes you sit for a page or two, sometimes the entire book. Sometimes we find you just sitting and reading, alone. Precious. You have taken to bringing us "big kid books" too... The Story of Ferdinand, Little Bear and such. You have also torn your share of library books (a test of my patience).

And now for the hard part. Weaning. I think it is time that this aspect of our wonderful and nurturing relationship come to the end of the road now. Nursing. It has become another obsession of yours. I feel as if you are a newborn again. Nursing during the night. Nursing at the library as your feet dangle down to past my knees. Nursing while we are trying to take a dip in a friend's pool to cool down. Clawing at me. Practically tearing my shirt off. And let's not forget the tantrums that follow if I am to ever deny you of your wish. I think it's best for both of us. It's time for you to be able to sit close to Mommy and be able to just sit, play pat-a-cake or read a story without you doing your patent spin, duck and jaw-opening in an effort to score some of your favorite cuisine.

I figure after 48 months of cumulative time spent nursing my three children I am entitled to the right to burn my nursing bras and easy-access tank tops, if not forever, for a very long, long time.

Going Crazy (Over Fabric and Beatrix Potter This Time Thankfully)!

For those of you who read about my quilt dreams, you know that I have been dreaming of making a quilt of my own lately. Well, after four hours of errands with the kids in tow I can proudly say that I am the proud owner of some basic quilting supplies and some gorgeous fabrics. Herein lies my story...

I tracked down a few of the Freshcut fabrics that I've had my eye on at a local quilting store and found a few other fabrics to coordinate. I am starting small. Really small. I'm putting together a baby quilt. If I were to say that the assembly of this beautiful and cozy blanket has not sparked a few longings for a new baby I would be lying! BUT instead I will sew this quilt just for the craft of it and perhaps let my three "big kids" take turns snuggling with it at night.

My almost-six year old, Sophia, took a real interest in choosing the fabrics with me. She has a real eye for color and took the process very seriously. Late this morning I found her in bed with a few scraps of the fabric I had given to her on her lap. I asked her what she was doing and she simply said, "I'm sewing in bed". She was using thread and a nail she found in her closet! Perhaps she will be the seamstress and quilter that I dream of being (it's never too late for an old mom, I mean dog, to learn a new trick, right???)!!!

Anyone who has read my blogger profile knows that I have a bit of an obsession with Beatrix Potter and her books. Well, I finally got my hands on the movie about her life that I've been wanting to see for a while now-Miss Potter. The movie came highly reviewed by a friend and after calling around to three stores, I finally found it at Blockbuster. This movie was filled with beautiful images- from the opening credits where "Beatrix" is dipping her paint brush into a bold blue watercolor and rinsing it in dainty glass of water to the "working farm" that she ultimately purchased in the Lake District of England in the early 1900's.

The images of Benjamin Bunny, Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck and the other "friends"of Miss Potter were precious. And to finally hear the story of how these characters came to be was most interesting. I could go on and on about Miss Potter and how interesting, imaginative and bold she was, but instead I would just recommend that you see the movie (remember, only Blockbuster carries it).

I liked it so much that I even let the Sophia and Nicolas watch a few scenes from the movie so they could see how those gorgeous images and words that they enjoy so much from Beatrix Potter's books actually made their way onto the pages. Sophia was really fascinated with the fact that Miss Potter started sketching, painting and creating tales at a very early age. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers as she watched "young Beatrix" sketch a rabbit in her bedroom. We've always used watercolors during our "art time", but I think Sophia has a new-found love and appreciation for them now.

She asked me to "set her up with painting" today and asked me if someday she might be like Beatrix Potter. I told her YES, YES, YES. And that with hard work and imagination (which she most certainly has) she could be anything she dreamed of being, even a world-renowned author and illustrator.