So Long Ordinary

This has been quite the week. Desktop computer crashed. Internet wonky. Sean's camera broken. And a zillion other little things just not working out quite right. On top of it all, tears, sadness, and mourning for a lost loved one. It's just been a rough week. We'll be heading down to Oklahoma early this next week for Sean's grandma's funeral. When we get home, we'll be heading back out of town for a family reunion (my side). Another full week - with both grief and laughter sure to leave us exhausted. It's time for a little break from blogging. Besides, I'll be seeing pretty much everyone who reads this blog in the next week or so! When things calm down (and if we can figure out our computer problem) I'll be back with plenty to say, I'm sure! See you in a week or two!

This has been a busy, busy summer. And there are no signs of things slowing down. Maddie continues to be our little morning person. She's at her cutest, cheeriest, most talkative, and loudest state between 6:00 and 10:00 a.m. Paige is beginning to become more vocal about her needs. And she hates to be put down for any length of time. It makes getting things done doubly hard for Mama...but I don't really mind the chances to snuggle my baby. Forgot to close the door to the chickens' pen last night and woke up to them pecking around right by the house. I know they still spent the night tucked away in the coop but they were out early looking for goodies. I'm not worried about them running away (they don't seem to stray too far from their coop) but I am worried about the many creatures that could have gotten them. Guess we lucked out! This morning I went into the girls' room to find Brooklyn propped up in her bed, "reading" her children's Bible.

June 2004, San Juan Mountains, Brooklyn at 10 months June 2007, Hola Vida, Ecuador, Madison at 8 months July 2009, Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, Paige at 7 months.

On Saturday, we took a little family hike. It was more or less an experiment to see how our family of five would do in the mountains. The girls each did great. Brooklyn's our little trooper and led the way with Duke. Maddie really impressed us considering she's only two and a half. Every once in a while she'd stop and say she couldn't go any further. But we'd entice her with lunch and a cookie if she went just a little farther up the hill and she found the strength to keep truckin'! Paige really did great in the backpack. She fell asleep on Daddy's neck by the end of the ordeal. It was a hot day, with lots of sun, and lots of bugs. It was also just really, really nice to be up in the mountains, enjoying nature. We even saw bear scat. We think. We didn't stick around to verify that. Actually, I'm sure we were plenty loud enough to scare any bears or other wildlife off! If you've been around our family, you understand what I mean. Just starting ou

Sean got these pictures of Paige last week at the park. Oh. My. We've been really terrible at getting our Sunday baby pictures taken every week. It's been months since we've managed that. Oh well. Suffice it to say, she's growing and changing plenty fast. I can't believe she's already 7 months old! My baby ! She could stay this size as long as she wants. I'm in no hurry to see her grow up. I suppose most parents are this way when they know it's their last baby. Well, and Paige is so doggone sweet and easygoing - she really makes my job easy. Okay, easier . We all know that being mom to three little girls under 6 is a HUGE job. I'm beginning to feel just a tad bit underpaid. And just in case you wondered, yes, those cheeks really are as soft and sweet and kissable as they look in the pictures :-)

We've had some sort of plague of frogs lately here at our house. Literally hundreds of thousands of frogs hopping all over - and those are the ones we can see! Well, maybe they're toads. Honestly, I don't care. They're pretty cute little guys and my girls have been having a blast catching them. They caught over 30 the other night in just a few minutes. If we'd gone out to the road they could have caught twice that in half the time. It does stink where they've been run over on the road. And it's kinda hard to go for a walk without stepping on any of them. Ick. My guess is that they must be hopping out of the pond in a field not far from our house. Nobody in the neighborhood has ever seen them so thick and, in fact, until last year there weren't any frogs in this area at all. Wonder what happened in the balance of things to make these guys become so prolific around here? Like I said, the girls have had fun catching them and then releasing them.

I love the Simple Woman's Daybook . It really helps you appreciate the small details of life when you are taking the time to notice and record them. Outside my window... a bright green, lush backyard that we planted just this spring. Yay! I am thinking... too much. Sometimes it would be nice to turn off my brain. I am hearing... the sound of the fan and happy mumblings of children lost in their own little worlds. I am thankful for... a mom who listens so well. I am also thankful for... The help my 15-year-old niece was while she was visiting over the past week or so (we really miss her already). From the kitchen... dinner of Arroz con Pollo. A standard Ecuadorian/Latin American dish that is simple, quick, and satisfying. Maybe some pudding or a chocolate cake for dessert? I am wearing...a long black skirt (everything else was dirty) and a purple tee I am reading... Faith of My Fathers by Lynn Austin - a nice, easy fiction. I am hoping... that we can go for another walk

If there's one thing I want to remember about my Madison at this age, it is that innocent joy written all over her face while playing with a simple water hose. Look at those bright eyes. There's no discontentment there, is there?! Life is good, she has everything she could ever desire in life. Not a care in the world. As is typical Maddie, there's always that hint of mischievousness glowing in those blue eyes. She'll get ya, you can be sure of that. If not with her pranks, then with that face. Maddie, my precious middle child, you are a treasure. A "Cowprincess Stinkerpot," as you say. A Rascal. Rotten through and through. The source of some of my biggest tears and greatest belly laughs. You are a wonder - exactly who God created you to be and I love every little bit of you!

I want to blog something...but I'm not sure where this is going yet! Maybe we're due for a little family update? Good. Here goes: Paige now has two little teeth. It seems like she's jumping over all these milestones a little too fast for my comfort -she's the last one, you know, and that makes me awful sentimental. I'm enjoying every bit and piece of her babyhood. She's precious. It's hard not to squish her too hard. Does anybody else have that issue - when something is soft and squishy do you grit your teeth and nearly want to squeeze the pudding out of it? Poor Paige. Sometimes, I have to just set her down so I don't bruise her with love. She's very patient with all the kisses she gets on those soft, chubby cheeks. Maddie continues to grow too fast for my comfort too. She's mostly potty-trained and she has a very extensive vocabulary...because she talks so much. She's the wild one, always trying to get a laugh out of people. He

Sean caught these pictures of Brooklyn on our tree swing. Dontcha just love a leisurely summer day? Okay, Brooklyn doesn't. These three minutes on the swing were the only minutes she wasn't complaining about being insanely bored . What I wouldn't give for a day with nothing to do, no worries, and nothing but blank space. Isn't it so unfair? They are forced to play all day long, encouraged to go outside and enjoy themselves, don't have to worry about getting the laundry done or dinner on the table, and when they get grumpy, somebody makes them go lie down in a nice cool room in a comfy bed for a nap. Something tells me, that after a year of school, Brooklyn might just see the pleasure in a day with nowhere to be and nothing to do. At least for the first two weeks. Do you remember how looooong summers were when you were a kid? We're already halfway through our summer here. A month from now is registration for kindergarten and two weeks after that, schoo

When we lived in Shell, Ecuador, we lived in town just a few blocks away from the town park. Great location except for the bar across the street. We had a fairly nice little concrete home. We had hot water in the shower (not at the bathroom sinks, though). We had a large, comfortable kitchen for an Ecuadorian home. We had a bodega (building) out back that housed the washer and dryer and storage (and rats). We didn't have much of a yard, but grass is overrated in the jungle when it's full of bugs and the ground is always sopping wet anyway. Oh, I miss that house! Sometimes. We also had three citrus fruit trees in our front yard. Lemons the size of grapefruit (they were green, never yellow). Limes. Oranges that never really ripened right with so little sun. When we first moved into that house I was thrilled. Boy howdy I was gonna make me some fresh lemonade every ding-dong day! I think I made lemonade maybe once. Those trees became the bane of my existence. You see, a

"What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow.” ~Martin Luther

Sean is blogging again! I've added his link on the right but you can also get there by clicking here . Check in for lots of beautiful pictures and the occasional commentary of our life from The Man's perspective (which, in Sean's case usually means bugs or airplanes).

It was about time for a new look on this blog. I've been debating about what I really want out of this place. I've come to the conclusion that what I'm looking for is both a place to record my own family's life for posterity as well as a just a place to write when the mood hits me. I thought a new look would give me renewed inspiration in my writing. Maybe it will drag something profound out of me? If nothing else, it looks better than the dull look we had before and maybe I'll at least feel obliged to post more family stuff on here! I've also added several links to some of my favorite blogs and websites. And, I added a widget that displays some of the books I'm currently enjoying....or can't wait to enjoy soon! Is there something else you'd like to see? Any ideas you'd like me to write about? Burning questions you'd like me to answer? If so, leave a comment. Otherwise, the next post is up to me...and you never know what it might be.

Things might look kinda funny here while I work out the kinks on my new look! Thanks for being patient!

This nine dollar slip'n'slide didn't come with much slip or slide, but it was still a fun day out in our backyard a week or so ago. The grass is coming in nicely and, man, are we enjoying all the SPACE. Last year at this time we had nothing but a concrete back patio. However, as I recall, the kiddie pool we had back there was very well-used! It was HOT in Oaxaca, Mexico! We're enjoying our first Fourth of July in the USA in several years. Having been outside the country most of their lives, our children are completely unaccustomed to this kind of celebration. We keep trying to explain it to Brooklyn and it isn't really sinking in. We enjoyed a cowboy pancake breakfast and parade in town. Pure Americana! Our kids don't really know what to do with it all. We're looking forward to taking them to the fireworks show this evening. They have seen fireworks - on New Year's Eve especially - but not on this level! Happy Independence Day ! "You

Homeschooling vs. Public School has been heavy on my mind for a few years now. As Brooklyn enters those school age years, I find myself...well, freaking out . Because Brooklyn is my oldest, she's had to be a guinea pig. She's also had to suffer through a Mom with separation anxiety and control issues. Brooklyn is the most independent and socially brave little person you ever met. I'm always trying to hold her back. It's a major cause for tension in our relationship - my need to control and her need for independence. This summer has been a rough one for me. Brooklyn will start kindergarten in the fall. I've been on a bit of a rampage about whether or not we could send her to public school. If I'm perfectly honest, I'll admit that with my rose-colored glasses on, I really, really, really, want to homeschool. I love the idea of being there when my child learns something new. I want to do all those fun projects. I want to see the light of understanding