Our Schedule is Adjusting Yet Again...

Another season of change....that seems to be the only constant around here.  Natasha is now 20 months old and she is out growing her two naps a day.  She has always been a great sleeper by going to bed at 6:30pm, sleeping till 6:30ish then taking a morning nap from 9:00-11:00 and then another nap from 2:00ish till 3:30.  Well, now she is ready for only one nap and here is the delima: we usually get a good chunk of school work done while she naps in the morning but it is also really nice to have all three little girls take a nap at the same time.

So this week I have been keeping her up in the mornings and then she goes down for a nap with the girls at 1:30 and she will sleep till 4:00 so that is nice!  I love her dearly but she is a busy little monkey so I do look forward to her naps as well.

We have tried incorporating her in our morning school routine and it is quite the challenge but she is doing okay.  I am going to have to add in some time where each of the kids take a turn of about 15 minutes doing an activity with her.  They all will love this and that should help a lot. Because otherwise she is trying to perfect her life skills all on her own.  She is very good at emptying the dishwasher (whether it is dirty or clean), filling the dog's water dish and using lots of towels to wipe up her spills, cleaning out the pantry, and taking off her diaper when it needs to be changed...

Here she is saying the Pledge with us

and praying before we start our morning work

Don't let the cuteness fool you...... 

Jadon is 3 months old

I love this picture!! Look how big Jadon is getting. He is fitting right into our family making his own nitch. Everyone at church is so amazed that he can sleep right through the drum playing but then I remind them he is number 6 and it is never quiet at our house (except nap time and night time ). I just wish he was more consistent sleeping at night. Some nights he goes 4-5 hrs before waking up and other nights it is every two hours like clockwork. Mama needs more sleep!!!

Jadon has started smiling and cooing and responding to us it is sooo cute!

Tasha wanted in on the action too!

The Renaissance Festival

Jay's sister came in town this weekend and we all went to the Renaissance Festival together. (It is nice having connections as she was able to get us all in for free!) This was the first year we have ever gone and the weather has been cold and rainy We usually are smearing on the sun screen and are hot. Despite the off and on rain we still had a good time.

It was really exciting for the kids this year since we are studying this time period right now. I love hands on field trips!

A picture with the King and Queen

Sir Joshua

Playing with some toys

Aunt Jutem and all the kids going on a ride

We met two fairies while we were there and the girls were completely enamored. This fairy played bubbles with the kids.

Cousin Jocelyn

This fairy gave the girls each a special rock that had fairy dust on it. It is now their favorite "treasure"

We also went to the jousts, ate turkey legs, corn on the cob, candied almonds and visited different shops. HUZZAH!

Co-op School This Month.....February

I actually got to teach Anastasia's class this month for Co-op. It was my first time teaching in there. I decided to do some of the same things we are doing at home with Knights and Castles. The kids worked on making a large castle together, we talked about Knights and armor and the Armor of God. On the last week we made bread and had a medieval feast for lunch.

Their castle

The Feast

Joshua's class learned all about Presidents and they each had to do a report and give a presentation on the last week. Joshua picked John Adams so we got some books from the library and read them together. Then he put together his poster board. It was also a great learning lesson for him to learn to pray for people even when we might not like them or agree with them. He was bound and determined not to pray for President Obama during class. (now understand, Obama was not my choice for President but we never really discussed it much with Joshua. He formed his own opinoin and is still waiting for John McCain to be President. LOL) So we have had a lot of discussions about praying for all people even our enemies (I am not saying Obama is our enemy ) and I will just leave it on this note that Joshua's teacher's said on the last week he did actually pray for President Obama but said he doesn't want to do it again. Can you say stubborn!

Savannah and Alexa's classes talked about president's and they also did Valentine's activities.

Our Family Valentine's Dinner

This year since Valentine's Day is on Sunday we had our family dinner on Saturday. I love Valentine's Day because for us our focus is family and our love for one another. We have made it our annual tradition to have a special dinner complete with the "good" china and glasses. Then we always have chocolate fondue for dessert followed by goodie bags for the kids. My other favorite part is the pictures. We always take picture of Jay and I kissing each of the kids. I need to post several year's pictures side by side and really see how the kids have grown.

The goodie bags. Isn't that giant card great! It is from Papaw and Grandma Carson.

The kisses...

It's Jadon's first Valentines.

My boys

Daddy and his girls

Me and my Valentine

Dinner was Kung Pao Chicken and rice....Yummy!!

After dinner the kids opened their goodie bags

Anastasia was thrilled with her "New Moon" Valentines

After our dinner settled some it was time for dessert...

Happy Valentine's Day!!