Flying By.

Well, here we are in the first week of October.  How is that possible?  It seems like just yesterday I was running around like a crazy woman with my head cut off as I was trying to get everything ready for the beginning of school.  Now, six or so weeks later, I am still running around like a crazy woman. 

School is going really well.  Nora and Liam are really loving their teachers and classmates and classes.  And I feel like we have adjusted well to the rhythm and regiment of getting up, getting dressed and out of the house, completing the rest of our days and trying to get to bed at a reasonable time to do it all over again the next day.  Our homeschool days are going really well too.  I love having the individual time with Nora and the accountability that I have to making sure that we set that time aside to complete all of her work. 

Our weeks are going smoothly, but I feel like every week has been different and a little bit unpredictable.  We have had field trips, doctor's appointments, sickness, and a few days where I have had to go to work at Jonathan's office.  All exciting and great weeks, but they are not routine, not forseeable, which is something I typically like.  However, I think I am coming to the realization that this season of life is not going to be predictable.  Each day, each week will have it's own rhythm, it's own schedule, and it's own tale.  Honestly, I have enjoyed the differences, and I think that it what is making the time fly by so quickly.

So, while I am here, I am going to pause and reflect on what is happening in this still moment with  my little family.  As we are flying through this short season of our happy life, here is what is happening in the midst of our flock:

My sweet husband is hard at work--at the office, in our home, and at church.  We are both settling into what it means to own a small business.  He handles the stress and pressure so well, and we find ourselves often discussing what it means to trust the Lord with everything. 

As I mentioned, Nora loves school.  She is doing so well with her work and I love seeing her grow and thrive as she learns.  It's so funny to see how much like me she is.  Jonathan says all the time how she is my little twin.  Our homeschool days together consist of flexibility and acclimating to what's going on with the other two kiddos on those days.  Sometimes we do school in the morning, sometimes we start in the morning and finish during afternoon nap time, and some days we don't get to any of it until naptime.  This week as I am working at Jonathan's office, we've had to fit in her homeschool work in the late afternoon and evenings, but she never complains and seems eager to do the work. 

Nora went to her five-year-old check-up last week.  She is so grown up!  She had to get all of her vaccinations plus bloodwork and a flu shot, so she had a rough appointment, but she handles it so well.  I took her for ice cream at TCBY afterward because-let's be honest-ice cream covers a multitude of pains.  The next day, however, she woke up with a high temp so she had to stay home from school and rest for about 24 hours until it went away. 

Nora loves to ride her bike, run around, and play with her brother.  She is the sweetest big sister to Stella (and Liam, if her mood is right).  She is so helpful and patient; I am aware as I watch her what it's like to be the oldest of three.  She is such a gift.

Liam.  Our Liam.  How we love that crazy, silly, loud boy.  He is such a mixture of all-boy and tender heart.  Sometimes he will wreck on his bike and you would think it's the end of the world.  Five minutes later, he'll crash and make no fuss about it at all, claiming "I'm brave."  He is doing so well in school.  A few weeks in we started to get some reports that he was being ugly and rough when he was not getting his way with toys or on the playground, but lately he's been doing better.  We are all so thankful for his teachers and I can tell that he likes them and feels very comfortable there. 

Fruit from months and months of discipline seems more apparent.  I feel that in the past few months we have seen him mature and respond so much better than he had before.  I find that in parenting there are cycles.  You will have a really rough week where there are lots of fits/attitudes/disobedience, which requires lots of discipline/consistency/head and heartaches.  Then, it seems like after that rough week you will see some fruit of all that.  Better obedience, less trantrums, more kindness, etc.  For a while when Liam was younger, I feel like there were more rough weeks than good weeks.  But, it's been wonderful to see the growth in him as he gets bigger and older.  Hmph.  I don't want him to grow up and it's happening way too fast for me.

These days Liam loves to ride his "green bike."  You can always find him with a handful of cars or trucks.  One thing that his prone to do that I want to write down is that he likes to pile up all of his "people" and cars and trucks into this big yellow dump truck.  In the bed of the dump truck he will pile everything and anything he can find and then he pushes it around.  He calls it his "moving truck" like in Toy Story.  He has all of his Toy Story characters, any car and truck around, and then anything of the girls' that will fit.  Those are his prized possessions these days.  He also plays with Legos and Jonathan's Micro Machines from when he was a boy. 

Stella is growing up way too fast.  She was sixteen months on Tuesday!  She's crawling and cruising and gets herself to standing, but she is still not walking.  She says a few words like "What's that?" and "More," but besides her sign language, she mostly just grunts and groans to communicate with us.  We have started entering into the picky eating phase with her.  She typically eats pretty well, but she's forming an opinion and if she doesn't want to eat something, she won't.  I try to tempt her by offering her a fork, and sometimes she will eat whatever it is if she can stick it with a fork and feed herself.  She feels big that way, I guess!

Stella loves to be outside with Nora and Liam.  The poor girl looks filthy all of the time because she insists on crawling and playing outside, but it makes her happy and she loves every second of it.  She's our stealth ninja and can often be found climbing the stairs if I leave her unattended for even a minute.  She loves books and cars and babies, and she is just the sweetest baby girl.  She's a great sleeper and still takes two naps a day, although she can skip a morning nap and handles it pretty well.  It probably won't be too much longer before she drops the morning one altogether. 

Life with me is good.  I am just trying to appreciate this phase of life for all that it is.  I am learning to love my husband and babies better, and I am trusting God for grace each day.  Jonathan and I feel like the Lord is teaching us about perseverance in this busy season of owning a business and raising three young children.  We are doing lots of sowing and are trusting God for the harvest in His perfect timing.  I am so thankful for the friendships that the Lord has placed in my life these days.  I am so aware of how blessed I am.  God is so kind.

Well, that was quite a long post.  Thanks for bearing with me.