This baby of mine is officially six today! She’s such a big girl, but still very much a baby, my baby. I tell her, “You smell like big kid now.” She replies, with stern determination, “But I’m still the baby!” She won’t let anyone forget that she is the littlest love (Amorette is her middle name, which means “littlest love”) and that there should be no more that come after her.

I’d by lying if I didn’t admit I miss having a baby, and I have asked Ben, “Should we do 5?” But we both agree, 4 feels good. It feels like it’s our number. Thus, the littlest love she’ll always be, unless God decides to surprise us one day (let’s be clear though, it ain’t in our plans).

Happy birthday to our sweet and quirky Glow! 

“God’s will is gratitude.”

That simple statement during Sunday’s sermon shot straight to my heart. It was a painful, but sweet shot. All I could think of after that was all the times that I failed the previous week.  Most vivid in my mind was Friday, the girls were at school and I was cleaning their rooms (like good cleaning to get rid of stuff while they aren’t there to contest my decisions). As I was discovering bags, drawers, and crevices stuffed with junk, those f-bombs were flying out of my mouth freely. I even texted them to Ben.

There are plenty of other things that came to mind… certain roles I have that I wish I didn’t have, the insane heatwave, things that need replacing in the house, people, etc.. My heart is full of complaining and grumbling.

This morning, I was reminded in I Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.”” Gratitude is an area I am most definitely weak, but Christ’s grace is sufficient to help me fight an ungrateful heart and find joy in all.

I definitely want to fight it, and I know as I choose gratitude over complaining, I will taste the sweetness Christ even when things don’t go my way.

My baby turns 6 in a few days (it seems like she was just born yesterday!), so we’re in overdrive prepping for her celebration. Right after her birthday last year, she declared that for her next birthday she wanted a “shape birthday.” I know, kind of random. I thought for sure she would change her mind, but it stuck. I’m finding more and more that once she has her mind set on something, that’s it. She’s a girl that knows what she wants, so shape birthday it is!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

The Saxon Math program has been a hit with True and Brave, but I think it’s a little easy for them. I’m thinking about adding in Math-U-See into the mix. Anyone have any experience with that program? Math is the subject I struggle with most (patience-wise), so I like the idea of a video teaching them.

Thankful for staying on task this week; we got a lot of school and even ahead of the game for next week.

Loving my kidless Fridays! The girls all go to school on Fridays now, so it gives me time to get things done. Unfortunately, I had to spend most of my first Friday cleaning their rooms (and getting rid of junk while they aren’t there), but hopefully I’ll get more of my own work done next time.

We had such a fun time doing an outdoor movie night with our neighbors. We had popcorn, nacho bar (think fancy nachos topped with chorizo… yum!), hot dogs, candy and chips galore. It’s funny to think we lived next to our neighbors for 9 years and all we ever did was wave from our driveway. It’s been a blessing this past year to step out of comfort zone (houses) and spend time getting to know the people we live next to. You can’t love thy neighbor, if you don’t know thy neighbor.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this space and how blogging has changed so much since I started. I have mixed feelings about it, so much I still love, but so much I’m “eh” about. I ought to sort out my feelings in a post. For those of you who still check here often, I’m thankful for you (and thankful for those who’ve invested time in the past too).

If you’re a denim dress lover like me, pick up one in the WOVENFOLK etsy shop and cause use the code CAKIES for 10% off denim currently in the shop.

This vintage silk blouse is awesome. Someone get it.

Glow turns 6 this week and she requested a “shape birthday” celebration, so I ordered this book for her.

We’re in Halloween prep mode. The girls have costume requests and I have lots to do. Oye!

To those affected by Irma (or in Irma’s path), Harvey, the Mexico earthquake… we are praying for you. So much heartache and devastation recently, and while it’s easy to forget while living in this busy bubble of raising small children (and the disasters not personally seen), the hurt and devastation is real out there. We are all but mere dots on this earth and life really is such a vapor, but we can’t live our lives ignorant of others and the pain they feel (racism included). It’s especially easy to ignore the issues of the world (and our own country) in the plush comfort of capitalism USA. I too fall in this trap and become insensitive to the needs of others. Let’s all start with the simple act coming out of the comfort of our own homes and getting to know our neighbors. Hear their stories, get to know their backgrounds (learn from each other), and be active in serving one another.

Thanks for checking in here, friends!

p.s. these are the blocks pictured above.

Let’s talk schedules. I’m a planner all the way. I itch when there’s no plan and I rarely diverge off the planned plan. I used to be spontaneous (oh to be young again), but once we had kids, it’s been all about schedules and routines. As the kids have gotten older, we’ve learned to relax a little bit, but planning makes my world go round. Well, at least it keeps me day moving forward.

Our school days are Monday through Thursday because the girls go to school all day on Fridays. This is what a typical day looks like for me/us:
5:30-6:15 Wake up/quiet time (me)
6:15-7:00 Work out with Ben
7:00-7:30 Breakfast/emails (girls wake up)
7:30-8:00 Get dress (everyone)
8:00-9:00 Language arts with Soul and Glow (True and Brave are in another room doing Spanish lessons via facetime with Ben’s mom)
9:00-9:30 Math with Soul/Instructional time with True and Brave (Glow leaves for Spanish)
9:30-10:00 Math with Glow/Instructional time with True and Brave (Soul leaves for Spanish)
10:00-10:30 Reading with Soul and Glow
10:30-12:00 Instructional time with True and Brave (Soul and Glow work on independent work and reading practice)
12:00-12:45 Lunchtime
12:45-1:30 More instructional time (or group project)

This is more or less what it looks like. It is pretty smooth and fluid, and everyone stays (mostly) on task. Though, they are kids after all (and I’m not always in the best of moods), so there are definitely hiccups throughout the day. Not every day runs how I think it’s going to run in my mind. Switching between instruction for the older two and the younger two is pretty seamless, especially since the older two have been doing this a long time and can work independently when I need to work with the little ones.

The rest of the afternoon is True and Brave finishing up. They have to practice piano, guitar, and Spanish. Most of the time, Soul and Glow are done by lunch. If they have any extra-curricular activities, they are scheduled in the afternoon. Activities used to be in the morning, but I’ve changed them to the afternoon, so that we could have uninterrupted learning in the morning.

I have 2 charts for the day (it’s on my clipboard that I carry around everywhere during the day, and I’m holding it in the picture above)… my daily lesson plan for the girls and I have my personal goals for the day, and I cross things off as things get done. This really helps me stay on task. Once instructional time is done, I am able to work on my projects (cakies, babiekins, wovenfolk, or catching up on emails). By 4:30ish, I head downstairs and get dinner started, and we have family dinner at 5:30. Kids get ready for bed a little after 7, and then have quiet reading time from 7:30-8:30. This gives Ben and me some downtime to finish up whatever else we need to. Usually, it’s garden stuff for him and online stuff for me. And that’s what a typical day kind of looks like!

Probably kind of lame considering we live in Southern California, but we really don’t spend time visiting the Pacific often. Ironically, Ben moved to SoCal to be near the beach, but we go to the desert way more than the beach. When we were dating, we spent a lot of time at the beach (first date, official boyfriend girlfriend moment, engagement, and lots of other times in between), but with the busyness of life (and California traffic), we don’t go out that often. Thankfully, we have an annual Navales family beach picnic, so right before we kissed summer adieu, we had one last summer hurrah at the beach.

The girls played in the sand and water all day long, Ben and I snacked and relaxed all day long, and we had a good time with family. These are just a few of the snaps I got, but I love all the negative space in the photos. It captures the vastness of the sand and the ocean. We are all merely tiny dots in the gigantic world and it’s pretty amazing. Not only are we dots, but life is such a vapor. These girls are growing up fast and I feel like I waste so much time not treasuring. Feels like the same old story and struggle, but I guess it’s that constant battle of fighting selfishness and intentionality in one’s life. These photos remind me to treasure this glorious earth God has given, the little girls He has placed in my care, and how great my God is. Also, while I love the carefree days of summer, God’s showing me I ought to delight in these days of homeschooling, and the brief moment in time I get to hold and disciple their hearts.