cute kids and a psychotic break

We just returned early from a trip to Idaho. 7 days of fun, sun, & nervous breakdowns. Man if we don't have some good looking littles, though.

 Cousin Kace

 Cousin Kiel

 Cousin Koen

 Uncle Tee

 Not happy about a group photo.

 Parker and Kaleb had their first jump off a diving board.

 Sweet P!

And I got to meet Miles! He was such a happy baby, no matter if this is the only photo I snapped.

Good Will

This cute kid is Will. He kind of saved the Seattle Experiment. When we first moved the pain of not having friends was overwhelming for our boys. One in particular, even struggled with wanting to live at all. So I was super grateful when Will wandered up to Matt working outside one day and asked if there were any boys living at our house. Jackpot! Boys are one thing we have in abundance. Will made fast friends with all the boys, he is 11 but does great with everybody. Will has made a huge difference in the boys feeling accepted in this new community of ours.

It was a hard thing for a mom to watch her kids experience and not be able to do a thing about! Since the move the friendship building is still slow-going, aren't all the really worthwhile things though?

project-ish

Small steps happening over here. Like cramming all the art supplies into baskets on shelves.

Craigslisting some of the vintage furniture that came with the house. (Don't worry, the turquoise couch is staying!)

 More putting of things onto shelves, I know, my skills are legendary.

 We were given a patio set! I tell ya, Seattle is the land of free furniture. The cushions were rotted out so we found these red ones at Pier One. Wanna come over?

 I painted a bulletin board from MY childhood with chalkboard paint.( I tried to encourage the children to seize the day but Collin promptly run his hand through it. )

 My attempt at growing things. Have you heard of this green onion trick? Apparently you can trim the green part for cooking then put the roots in water and they with continue to grow new green parts?!

And I continue to fall more and more in love with this beaut.

That is where things stand at this point. Not much to cheer about, but we grabbed paint chips last night & we are nearing a decision for most rooms in the house. Hooray for House 2.0!

school's out

  We watch a lot of PBS at our house. It is free and educational and Mom can take a shower. Win-win-win. There is a particular show called SuperWhy that  Collin watches with baited breath.The super heroes are readers that help fairytale characters change their story. 


  Changing your story. Hmm, that grabbed me one afternoon because I think that is precisely what the Seattle Experiment has been all about. It has also been the driving force behind our plunge into online homeschool. 


  As we wrap up the school year, (I know all you Idaho lucky ducks are done already, I am trying to be happy for you.)  I thought I'd share a bit about our journey.

I got to be home all day with my boys! Also, I had to be home all day with my boys :( 

It was always bittersweet. I loved all of us, sleepy eyed and still in pajamas, diving into ancient Rome or the Metric system together. I did not love a lot of it, though. People just grate on you, given enough time together. 

Matt jumped in most days to help. He tackled Math and Science frequently, he remembered a lot of it from his school days! 

The boys and I read the same books. Harry Potter, as I blogged about, was the favorite but also the Hunger Games and the Gregor series (also by Suzanne Collins). We are now going through the Kane Chronicles at the same time. I feel connected to them the most this way and it brings up some great conversations. 

I am looking forward to just being Mom next year, and not also Teacher. Teachers are seriously such bad@sses! It is hard work, under appreciated and underpaid. I thought I knew this from substitute teaching, I was reminded for sure. 

I learned each of our 3 boys in school has a different learning method. One small example; Kaleb's handwriting will get really sloppy unless he has a mechanical pencil. These lessons I learned about them will be invaluable next year, even in the public school system.

Being home all day brought about a lot of natural curiosity... okay, maybe they were just bored. Anyhow, it is exciting to see them investigate and explore.

Their storytelling was a bright spot in my day, everyday.

Homeschool also forced some interaction with Collin that did not happen otherwise. Instead of me just catering to Collin, the boys took turns playing with him while I worked with the others.

 Parker went back to public middle school in April. He loves it & he has all A's. I felt a little defeated when he wanted to go back but then the school switched his teachers (kind of a last straw for me). He has a healthy competitive spirit when it comes to academics and a traditional brick and mortar school brings out the best in him. (The photo above shows some of the art he created in the online school.)

Aden enjoyed art immensely this year. The picture is his self portrait from Sept. verses June. He even sold some drawings at the park!

End of the school year, we did it. We told a different tale. It was painful and difficult but I feel much wiser for it. And, Matt & I have some seriously smart kids. Go us!

 A couple weeks ago I read this blog post about how our children can show us the idols we have in our hearts. The need we have for others to approve of us and feeling like our plan is always best or right or wanting control no matter what. The words hit on something tender in me, a sore spot because this is my struggle with Collin. He is learning and growing and becoming just the person he was meant to be. It just looks nothing like I think it should.

He is wild and loud, and in my face all day. I was filling out a form for Kindergarten that asked for strengths and weaknesses. There were so many positives that came to mind but I fail to meditate on them because I still think I know best. Instead I choose to focus on where he falls short or is different from other 5 year olds.

But I am left feeling quite convicted and ready to ditch my plan. This is the redemptive power of a family. Collin is no more able to be quiet than to turn into an elephant. He will however, be loved and accepted in this home. This love will change him. It is all that ever changes us, grace. And his Mama has found it to be good for her journey, much better for heart change than a kiddo that will "shut up and color."

Another round of pics, courtesy of Instagram. Also, Parker calls cayenne pepper, Kanye pepper. So there's that.
 
I am looking forward to the weekend, I get to see Kylee! Eep! She is artsy & cool, basically the most on trend person I know. Cannot wait to get her input on that knotty pine debacle. (basically everyone says paint it, besides Marcela- I bet if I striped it blue & orange she'd get on board)

Thanks for all your suggestions on the house. I want to be decorating & doing the fun stuff but 70% of the boxes still need unpacking, yowsers, I better get off the blog. If any projects go down, you'll be the first to know so stay tuned.

woodsy

You ready to talk house projects? Good, because I am. Let's chat about the knotty pine that covers the four walls and ceiling of the front room. Folks we've talked to seem split right down the middle on this look. Loving it or hating it. So it is a great thing that Matt & I both wanted it gone. ( We were split on the huge brass doorbell hanging on the wall but it is gone now. I'll let you decide who won. ) It feels like a cabin to us which is not our style and none of our stuff is moutain-ish.We talked about removing it and possibly doing so in a way that we could sell it.

 When we moved in I set up a few parts of the room to see where things stood. We thought we'd give it a fair shake but we just cannot do it. One of the big selling points of the house is the beautiful hardwood floors & they were getting lost in the Pine Palace. And when we really thought about trying to carefully remove the pine, store it, & find somebody to buy it, eh we returned to our faithful renovating friend; paint.

 I paused for another picture because I know some of you just died a little at the thought of painting wood. The nail in the pine coffin was news that Ellen was coming up to help us settle in to the new place. She is The Paint Wizard & is up for ANYTHING diy. The whole room will be painted but as a first step in this beast project, just the trim got four coats of glossy white.

Oh! what a difference already. We have a gorgeous view out the window that is framed out so nicely now. I've said this before, good clean trimwork is like eyeliner for the windows! (not the best pictures- sorry)

 Even the hall molding & door were painted.  With four of the Lost Boys running around, that is no small feat.

After Ellen went home I felt so inspired, I got to work on the sun room off the kitchen. This room is such a bonus for us. It has been kind of the overflow room from all that happens in the kitchen. We have worked on school, watched movies, & the couch can foldout for guests.

It seems our house is just not a home until that big letter A makes it onto the wall.

What do you think? Were you rooting for the knotty pine? Paint color suggestions?

aden

Dear Son,

  You are eight today and your mother has some things to say. Your blonde hair is still around & you have freckles on your round cheeks. You continue to have the cutest gap in your front teeth. I stare at you a lot, I am smitten as ever with you.

  Most days you prefer to be plugged into a video game device. I think that world just makes more sense to you. You are very much like your mom, needing everything to "line up." You have been dancing lately, without much inhibition I am happy to see. I am excited for the day I might join your dance parties but for now they are touchdown dances, meant to be observed & applauded. That, you get from Dad. You also have the storyteller gene from Dad. You love to re-inact funny lines from movies.

  The third born in four boys-whew! Life is really hard for you sometimes. You are busy trying to be older and you internalize a lot of the chaos around our house. You are wicked smart & you look like a Gap model, I am so lucky to call you mine. I think we are all getting the better end of having you around. Happy Birthday, I love you.....more!