Gosh, Y'all....

Thank you so much for your comments.  It's SO nice to see you all back again! Each comment brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart.  Really.  Thank you for letting me know you are still out there and checking in on us.

* And a quick question from this novice~ how do I make my photos a little bigger???? I'll need very specific responses. :)

I'm wanting to do some catching up~  "This time around" we are really working at giving our children a very simple childhood.  And we're doing things quite differently.  We're out and about much less, and have also cut backn quite a bit on our children's activities.  Not that we're sitting in our house doing nothing all day; we're just trying very hard to be intentional with what we choose to spend our time and resources on.  Still though, we've had a few fun things going on these past few months that I want to document in this, our journal.

So going back to May, here are a couple of highlights~

We've chosen to have Kate participate in dance both last year and this. Kate is our little princess.  She is all things girly and feminine.  She's our little pixie who skips and twirls through her days.  Dance is PERFECT for her and she loves it. We are BLESSED to have her participate with a wonderful Christian dance studio that is nearby.  One where costumes are modest and where the music brings glory to God. This year, Kate's class danced to Jesus Loves Me, and it was SO precious. Our little Kate did a wonderful job and did her whole dance through without missing a step. She was the oldest girl in her class of 3-5 year olds, but the tiniest, and I think people were surprised at how well she did, not realizing her age, but only looking at her size. Unfortunately, I am sorely lacking in photos.  Emily was actually home for Kate's dress rehearsal (she left for camp the following morning; the day of the recital) and she took a ton of photos, both at home and during the rehearsal.  And then, off went Emily to camp at 4:30 the next morning and we had forgotten to download her photos.  So, the photos are on Emily's camera and with her at camp.  Bill got one photo after the recital, and though it really doesn't do justice, it's all I've got at the moment.

    

Another highlight of our month was Grace's piano recital.  We are so proud of Grace!  I don't think she loves playing the piano, but she faithfully practices every day without being reminded.  I LOVE Grace's piano teacher.  She is mom to 3 school age children and wife to our youth pastor at church.  Mrs. D. is SO patient, kind and fun.  AND she comes to our home.  And oh, how I LOVE that!  Not having to load everyone up and then kill time while Grace is at her lesson is HUGE in my book.  Anyway, Mrs. D. gives a candy treat each week, if the student has practiced for 30 minutes 5 times a week.  Well, Grace's mama, being the type of mama she is, added the stipulation, that Grace must do her practicing WITHOUT having to be reminded, in order to get her treat.  Yes, I am just that way, but honestly it has been GREAT because I don't have to nag.  The first week we implemented "mama's rule" Grace had trouble with her remembering and missed out on her treat.  So, we came up with a time of day where she would automatically know to go and do her practice time without having to be reminded.  We determined that directly after she finishes breakfast would be a good time~ easily remembered, and it wouldn't be an interruption to other things that would be going on during our day.  After the first week of not receiving candy, Grace has never again had to forgo her treat.  Her diligence has payed off, and she played her recital piece through perfectly.  Mrs. D. had asked Grace to go first, and we talked about how nice it wold be to go first and be finished and able to enjoy listening to the others play without worrying about her playing.  So, Grace went first and did beautifully.  I asked her afterward if she was nervous, and she very matter of factly stated that she wasn't nervous because she knew her piece well and just wanted to play it. So there you go!  

We've decided that we'll have all of the children take piano lessons, and so next year AnnaClaire will be ready to start. This is something we feel is worth our time invested and our $.

I don't have any photos of the other four from that evening, but they were a very attentive and polite audience.  I'm so proud of how they sat through all the piano playing quietly and clapped enthusiastically after each piece.   Afterwards refreshments were served, which they knew about ahead of time, so that was probably very motivating for our crew. ~ smile 

That's all the catching up for this post, but there will be more coming soon!