First Day of School!

Hello Friends!

My poor, little blog has been neglected for months, and not for lack of having things to say!  Almost daily, thoughts and experiences are floating around in my mind that I want to capture and write, but it has not been happening!  We had our precious Olivia in May, decided that we were moving just weeks later, and then spent our June and July packing up her house, making repairs for a renter, finding a renter, and moving into our NEW house!  Then August was spent unpacking and organizing, celebrating two of our children's birthdays, going on a camping weekend with our church, and starting up our fall activities.  September came with more house projects and with a big birthday party for those two August birthdays, inviting lots of our family and friends and our church family since we had the space!  And so, today, we are finally starting school for the year.  I have gone back and forth between slight guilt that we are starting "late" and the knowledge that this is the freedom of homeschooling, and I have landed on the second.  We have been morning to night, every single day, busy busy busy and we just needed to have less on our schedule!  So school has waited but it is with an incredibly joyful and excited and somewhat nervous heart that we officially jumped back into our homeschooling life today!  My kids have been so excited, and Zach took a vacation day yesterday for me to plan, pray about our goals for the year, and get our curriculum in order.  Our things for the walls got hung and we felt ready to jump in today!!!

Here are the annual "First Day" pics...

And, of course, our smiley little Olivia, along for the ride...

Our new house is pretty much a miracle (more on that later), and one of my most exciting parts is a homeschooling ROOM!!!!  So, so fun.  Here are some pics of it all set up, and I can't wait for our walls to be covered in artwork and projects and maps!!

I think one of my favorite parts of the new house is the space for a homeschooling CLOSET!  Amazing!  There are two coat closets on the first level (who needs two coat closets??!) so we made one into a space for crafts and projects.  So thrilled to have this (especially with a door knob cover to keep Sophia out!!).

Sophia loved learning about the color RED today and painted three different pictures with three different kinds of red paint!  Ella got in on the fun, too!

 The kids each did an "About Me" page, too, so we can capture their little selves at these ages.  Love these.

These are some of my favorite moments...when Sammy brings his math to the kitchen floor to be close to me while I make lunch, and then when I have to drag him away from his math to stop and eat lunch!!!  As I have said before, we are not "anti-public schools" or anything like that.  We just choose to homeschool because we feel called to this lifestyle for now.  We think it is the best fit for our family, and I am thrilled to have this privilege.  I am excited for a new year of learning along with my kids and trying to figure out their gifts and strengths.  I am asking God for the daily strength, wisdom, creativity, patience, and perspective to carry out this responsibility each day.  And I can't wait to see how it will all unfold. :-)  Stay tuned.  

Blessings to you on this new school year! 

One Month

One month (and two days) ago, I was going about my day like any other day.  My sister-in-law was in town for work, so she stopped over for lunch, and my in-laws joined us, too.  Besides the contractions that came all day, the day felt quite normal.  Dishes.  Laundry.  A walk around the block.  Company for lunch.  But as contractions came closer together, I wondered if it would be "the day," and sure enough, it was.  Olivia Grace joined us on May 6, 2014, at 10:18 pm, and we were overwhelmed with love and joy and gratitude for her little life and her entrance into the world and our lives.  Now, don't get me wrong - her birth felt so hard and traumatic and painful beyond description, but there is this amazing mystery of birth that seems to happen each time.  No matter how awful it is, it is always worth it, it is always put behind you, and you are instantly on, what I call, "the other side."  You are through the hard part, and at last, you have your baby!!!  Now, a month later, I cannot even imagine our lives without her.  Isn't that funny how that works??  You suddenly have a new person in your family, and just weeks later, you already can't imagine life without her.  She is such a part of the fabric of our lives.  She fits in beautifully, and we all adore her.  She brings beauty and peace and reminders of God's miraculous ways into our home.  How can one ever look at a baby, so perfect and intricate and delicate, and not believe in the power of God??  This cannot be chance.  This precious little life...it is God.  It is proof of goodness and beauty and hope and all things new.  Babies are truly wondrous.

Being born into a big-ish family, there is always someone who wants to hold or touch or kiss our little Livi (myself included).  I am a big baby fan, so I love to hold her or wear her in our carrier as much as possible.  Sophia wants to hold Olivia all the time, too, or squeeze her arm, shove her paci in her mouth, poke at her face, etc.  This is, by far, the busiest part of having a newborn - her two year old sister.  We watch Sophia constantly, and although she loves her like crazy, she certainly is testing the waters of what she is allowed to do or not do.  Lots of training going on around here these days!!!  The boys love to hold her, too.  They are excited when I let them carry her across the room or something.  So cute.  And Ella loves helping me pick out her outfits and headbands.  She always notices what she is wearing, whether it is clothes or pajamas, and she exclaims over the cuteness daily.  

Olivia nurses great and is already sleeping a 5- ish hour stretch at night, which feels heavenly!  Her dark hair is so much like Ella's when she was born, so we'll see if it stays dark or lightens up to match the rest of the Schmidt children.  She is already growing and is alert more and more each day.  So fun to get to know this new precious daughter of mine!!!

Although I love when the children are all awake and we are together and everyone is loving on Livi, I also love when it is nighttime, the kids are all asleep, and it is just Zach and me with Olivia.  We snuggle her and exclaim over her and just soak her in.  I seriously can't get enough of her.  I think I say the same exact things to Zach night after night - how precious and wonderful and perfect and darling she is and how much I love her.  Like I said - can't get enough!!!

We have been out and about lots, as life seems to keep moving forward!  Here is Olivia's first walk... 

And her first sponge bath (where the girls sang "Let it Go" to her when she cried...). 

 This is a typical moment for us...cuddling on the couch as we read or school or after nursing...

 Olivia attended her first wedding...

And had her first real bath after her cord stump fell off...

 She is totally going with the flow already, letting her siblings hold her daily...

 And sleeping under the tree while we pull weeds and get the spring yardwork done.

Olivia went to a birthday pool party for my nephews and got in her first picture with all of her cousins!!!!  So much fun and so much love right here in this picture with Nana!

 Here she is at three weeks...

And her bath time when the kids all wanted to help!!

We took a field trip to the museum...here's Olivia taking a little stretching break in the stroller.  

 Her first smile...for Daddy...one day shy of four weeks.  We've seen a couple since then, too.  

How amazing when babies start looking into your eyes and really seeing you!

We got out our beloved Mr. Star playmat, and I think the other kids were way more excited about Olivia's first time on the mat than she was.

This is my "keep Olivia safe from Sophia" spot...yep...on the kitchen counter.  Right next to the window and coffee pot!

And this is Olivia tonight...one month and two days old.  Could NOT be any sweeter!

Olivia has had trips to the park, walked to get ice cream, gone to Starbucks, went out with me for Mom's Night Outs, done errands, watched her brothers' theater showcase, had lots of company, and has been to her auntie's nursing school graduation and a musical.  She's my little sidekick - going with me wherever I go.  I love it!

Olivia, my sweet baby girl, I love you so much.  I praise God every day for the gift that you are to us.  You are a treasure, and we are so very thankful that you are a part of our family.  You fill a most beautiful spot, and I can't believe you are OURS and that I am the one who gets to watch you grow and blossom every single day.  Thanking God for you today!  Happy One Month!

Homeschool Joy

I don't know exactly why, but I haven't been on top of blogging lately.  Maybe it's because I am big and pregnant.  Maybe it's because I have a two year old that demands oodles of attention and re-direction and training these days.  Maybe it's because our days are full and our free time is limited.  Not sure why, but blogging has taken a back seat for me, and I'm just embracing this season for what it is.  There will be time later to write more thoughts about life down.  For now, I am busy living in the day to day.

I am feeling so blessed by homeschooling lately, so thankful that we have chosen this path for our family.  It works for us so well.  I wanted to capture a few moments for us that have been rewarding and joy-giving.  I want to cherish and remember these sweet days of teaching and learning along with my eager-to-learn children...

A friend of my mom's was going through her classroom and gave us this 600-piece puzzle of the world.  The boys were excited to do a puzzle with so many pieces, but I must confess, Zach and I probably got into it most of all.  But it was a team effort, and we had fun accomplishing it together!

One day we were eating lunch and Micah all of a sudden had inspiration to make the phases of the moon with his cucumbers.  Can't stand it.  So cute.  

In one of our lessons for science, we were learning about the layers of the earth - crust, mantle, and core - and our book had us use a hard-boiled egg as a visual for these layers.  So cool!

This is a picture of real-life-homeschooling right here.  Some days are busy with other things, and we end up finishing schooling while I am making dinner.  This is Micah working on math while I sit peeling and cutting carrots for dinner next to him.  Had to capture this moment.

This month, we have been learning about volcanoes and got to "explode" a volcano with our friends in their backyard.  Even Sophia loved getting in on the action.

We also have been learning about the earth's plates and their boundaries and the different ways they move and interact with each other.  Here are the kids pretending they are plates and trying out the different things that happen at the plates' boundaries.  Fun!

And finally, we used play dough to demonstrate how mountains are formed, how earthquakes happen, and how the plates move and grind into each other, away from each other, or under each other.  Love hands-on learning!

Thankful for this season and for all of our amazing curriculum that gives us such creative ideas!  And I love learning along with my kiddos.

Happy Thursday to you all!

German Pancakes

Yesterday we tried the best and easiest new recipe, given to us by our beloved friends in Oregon, the Stillwells.  They make this German Pancake every weekend, and now we know why!!!  Seriously...with just a couple of minutes to throw together the ingredients, and only fifteen minutes in the oven, it was a perfect family breakfast.  All our kids liked it too...always a win!!

Here's the recipe so you can enjoy it, too!!!

German Pancakes

5 eggs

1 1/4 cups flour

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons butter

Melt the butter in a 9 x 13 pan while the oven is preheating to 475 degrees.  Coat your pan with the melted butter by tilting it.  Mix the other ingredients.  Pour into the pan.  Put your oven racks into the two bottom slots and bake at 475 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes.

Serve with fresh lemon and powdered sugar....this really makes it!!

Enjoy!