My sister and her friends wanted pictures before their Junior Prom.
We met at one of the friend's house
and I was instantly in love
they had a barn full of chickens and piggies
and the most amazing wrap around covered front porch with a porch swing!
I did what I came to do and got lots of pictures of all the pretty ladies
then while they were gossiping and ooing and ahhing over their dresses I wondered off to take pictures of whatever my little heart wanted.
But I didn't get too far because I found something that just melted me
Belle very dramatically did this.
I asked what she was doing and she said she wanted it to look like she was laughing at a joke Julia told. the best part was she wasn't making a sound. she knew pictures don't have sound so she just had to "look the part".
I didn't want to leave!
it was my dream house and the girls just made themselves at home too
she did all the cutting and got to use the stapler
We had all the kids make ribbon wands to dance around in the sun but instead it rained so we danced in the rain.
we practiced with her numbers and made an ice cream cone counting to 10.
Then we did a science experiment using corn starch, water and food coloring.
mixed it and then poured into an ice tray to freeze overnight.
Thankfully today is sunny! still not summer warm but warm enough to melt the ice chalk we made.
in her work books she learned more about taking polls and estimating.
we worked with the letters B,C, and D
I am going to write a big blog post soon about what I learned my first year of home schooling very soon. but I have to say it has been such a blessing and I encourage every parent thinking about doing something like this to do it!
Happy Summer! now if only the cold and rain would leave again we have TONS of summer plans!
I love this family! and they welcomed another baby girl!
but before she arrived we found a nice wintery creek and took some maternity pictures.
this was all Alicia's idea and I was so excited because I knew they would look amazing but getting there was a little tricky. we may have fell through a few times and I slipped a bunch. We were careful and laughed at ourselves. looking back I really wish we would have video taped us :)
Last year we purchased this swing set for the girls.
My in laws picked it up and delivered it to us.
then we had a baby and winter came.
I spent much of that time staring outside the windows dreaming up ways to make it pretty.
Finally the snow melted and warmer weather was here to stay!
So I grabbed my little artist buddy and we got started
of course the other two wanted to help but quickly got bored and ran off to play.
Miss Belle and I spent a whole day painting flowers, a sun, grass and even a bee along the house part of the swing set. we had music playing and ate Popsicles. it was perfect!
After the painting was complete I got to stain the whole thing!
I have never stained anything before so I found it fun.
The roof was missing and I was racking my brain on ways to fix it without spending any money.
Then My aunt Debbie showed up one morning with a HUGE container full of water proof ribbon. she said she knew I would figure something out for them.
So I weaved and weaved
I am crazy in love with how everything turned out! our back yard looks closer to my dream back yard.
So I wanted to really focus on teaching Miss Belle what to do in case of a fire or really any emergency
We talked a lot about 911
I made sure she understood it was only for real emergencies
I would give her different scenarios and ask if she should call 911
like if her sister isn't sharing or if mommy fell down and couldn't wake up
she always answered correctly
so I am not nervous about her making prank calls like when her big sister learned about 911.
We also made a paper that has our address and phone numbers so she could read this to an operator if she needed to call. we posted it on our refrigerator.
We listened to this real life 911 conversation to let her know not to be afraid of calling because they are very nice people that want to help.
Miss Belle is very shy and talking on the phone is not one of her favorites. sounds very familiar to someone else I know pretty well.....me lol
the next day we talked more about fires and all the tools out there to help. we made a scavenger hunt and drew pictures of what each thing looks like. then while at the stores, school, our walks or even at home we pointed out what we saw.
we made a little fire man craft
and most importantly for my own anxiety relief we made a map of our house and practiced where to go in case of a fire. we practiced how to check doors and crawling low, shouting out a window and not grabbing any material things. we got out of the house and made a meeting place. we also practiced stop, drop and roll!
we also worked on making a graph
she asked all her friends what their favorite pets were and we made a graph based on the info she gathered and answered questions.
She is working on her new reading workbook and going over uppercase and lowercase letters and the sounds each letter makes.
I can only hope and pray that she never needs to use the things we learned this past week but I am so thankful we learned them anyways.
Hazel is bald and like most babies in my family she probably won't have much hair until she's well over a year old.
Someone asked when I was going to just get her ears pierced so strangers can tell she's a girl.
I laughed and was taken back in time to when Julia was 3 years old.
We thought it would be a great birthday present to get her ears pierced.
she screamed and then after a few days ripped the ear rings out and didn't put any back in until THIS YEAR!
that whole experience got me thinking.
What kind of message am I teaching my kids by paying money to have them hurt and put a hole in their body because it's pretty?
Before I had kids and was working I started saving money for a nose job and chin job. I am always so self conscious about my looks and dreamed of what it would be like to have the face I thought was perfect.
Then I become pregnant with Miss Belle and I wondered what if she inherited my nose or chin. what kind of message would I be sending her if I got mine fixed but she was stuck with the ones I thought were ugly?
Julia is turning 10 soon and she's getting more and more interested in her looks. making sure she's wearing the right clothes, her hair is done and constantly pointing out any "pretty" girls on TV or in public. She will try on an outfit and ask me if it makes her look beautiful.
I tell my kids everyday that I think they are beautiful but lately I have been shying away from it.
Do I want my kids to think they only matter if they are beautiful?
That they have to change things to fit in
They have to spend money and physically alter themselves or they are not good enough.
they will only be loved if they meet the beauty standards.
I want to be intentional in what I teach my kids.
I want them the know they are smart, loved, brave, fun, kind, polite, sweet, cleaver, creative, strong, good and children of God.
and all these things are what makes them beautiful.
I talked to my husband about how I never want them to think they can't do something because they don't fit in the mold.
I want them to learn things so they can be independent.
change a tire, balance a check book, use a chain saw, build something, apply for a manager position, negotiate for a pay raise, walk down a dark alley and know how to defend themselves, cook on a grill, and pretty much anything else that might qualify as a "boy's job"
yes my girls are gorgeous.
yes I love to get dressed up and wear make up
yes I want my girls to depend on their husband for support
yes I spend lots of money on my hair
yes my girls love princess dresses and wearing high heel shoes
no you are not a bad parent if your child has her ears pierced
I just want to give my girls the confidence build up they need to succeed in whatever path they choose.
and that's so much more than beauty.
it's doing what makes you happy because you want to be happy.
