We have loved going to Justus Orchard the past couple of years, but we always wait too long into the Fall, so we enjoy the weather, but we don't get any apples from the trees. This year we decided to go a little earlier in September, and we got so many delicious apples, but it was way too hot! The cool weather lasted only for a very short amount of time first thing in the morning, then we regretted the long sleeves. Oops, we will have to head back again in October so we can get some cute family photos like the years in the past! 

sharing some sweet apples!

sharing apples can be tricky! ;) 

so glad my mom could come with us this year! She had never been apple picking before, like ever. 

me & my littlest apple in the shade before I took off the cardigan!

again, finding the shade.

& this boy living his best life. haha!!

Gigi was so sweet to buy the boys a ride on the cow train!

these cuties growing way too fast!!! 

& all three of my pumpkins!

Solomon // four years.

My big boy. I really don't know how we made it to four years old. My little mini-me boy is growing up so quickly and I don't even know how to handle it. Sometimes I have to go sit with him and just hold him in my lap, because I think about the days that are way too close, when he won't fit anymore. I'm trying my best to take in all the little things that make Solomon who he is as we get to know more of who he will become. I constantly pray for his sweet heart to stay soft and protected in this big world. 

Time flew by, but then again, year three was really hard for us. We had a lot of changes during the last year, and add in the growing emotions/feelings of a three year old, and we definitely had our challenges. The biggest change for Peter and I was figuring out what type of discipline we wanted in our home. As Solomon grew, we realized what we thought would work, wasn't actually working. We also realized that some of the things we were choosing to do, didn't help him understand his feelings and emotions. Instead of a time out, we started to model a form of "time in" and would get on his level and communicate what he was feeling and his expectations calmly. I can drastically see the changes in his behavior in just the past few months, and I've enjoyed seeing how he can articulate what he is feeling much easier now. He now tells us that he isn't happy because he is tired, or hungry, or even because he is mad or sad for a certain reason, then we can work together to fix the problem and he will be his happy self again. I love watching him become more brave with his emotions, and we are still working on using our words instead of our hands when he gets frustrated. I can see all the little lessons we have had in the past few months starting to shape who he is.There are definitely a lot of things we are still working on as a family, but I really love where things are heading. 

One of my favorite things about Solomon right now is how he is starting to show his kindness. He has started to go out of his way with me and Peter to say thank you, and I love you, and he has also become such a sweet and protective big brother. One of my favorite moments in the last month was a busy day when we picked up some lunch to eat at home & Asher fell asleep in the car. I took Solomon in to the kitchen table and opened up his food and told him to go ahead and eat and then I'd come down and join him after I put Asher in his crib. It took about 10 minutes to get Asher settled and then I finally came down to eat with him. He had this sweet smile on his face and said "did you see what I did mommy?" As I was going to sit down next time him he told me that he opened my food for me and got my silverware out and was waiting on me so he could pray. My heart seriously almost burst. For ten minutes, that precious boy sat at the table and waited for me to eat. It's things like those little moments that make me want to pinch myself. I really don't know what I did to deserve such a sweet and kind little boy. 

He's been talking about making new friends all the time, and loves to be out and about, but he definitely is a homebody at heart. He loves his routine and I love that too! It really is such a joy to have him at home with me everyday. I love how it allows me to see him changing and growing. One of the biggest blessings of our new homeschooling adventure is teaching the big life lessons as a family, not just the educational lessons. Learning how to work together and be together as a family, with a happy heart isn't always easy, but I do believe it is what God has called us to at this time. I'm so thankful that 90% of our time together is full of laughs and sweetness. I'm so proud of who this little man is becoming, and I will continue to pray for God to shape his heart into what He wants him to be, and use Solomon for His Kingdom.

eating // still a happy eater, which we are so thankful for. He will try almost anything and usually likes it. His favorite type of meal is when we share a bunch of different things, especially Thai food. He loves the soups and will eat off of every ones plate. He loves to connect events to food also, which I think it so cute. If we go somewhere and then we go get ice cream he thinks that place will always involve a trip to ice cream.... or if we have a family movie night, he always asks for popcorn, even if that only happened one time. Of course he still loves the normal kid staples like mac n' cheese and french fries and hot dogs and chic-fil-a. 

sleeping // thankfully he is still a great sleeper. He doesn't nap at all most days now, but if he does it's still very hard to get him awake, unless I catch him right after he falls asleep. He still likes to wake up in the morning (or sometimes in the middle of the night) and crawl into our bed with us. He's gotten pretty good at it, and sometimes we don't even realize he's there till morning. I still love waking up with him between us! 

wearing // 3T (and some 2T shorts still, skinny boy!) but his pants are going to need 4T for Fall I think. We'll see when the weather cools down. 

loves // still loves coloring, puzzles, playing pretend with any kind of toy (which I LOVE to listen to), reading books,  swimming, singing songs, constantly playing with legos and building things and he really loves to play a few video games with daddy on the weekend. We have learned it is a great perk for him having a good week and being a good listener. The meltdowns have died down drastically, except for when we are leaving somewhere when he's not ready. That is still a big struggle we are trying to work on. 

& here are the answers to some questions!

favorite book // LEGO instruction books (he will seriously read them all day long)
favorite food // Chicken Salad Chick
favorite song // Sleeping Bunnies 
favorite toy // all his legos 
favorite thing to do // play hide and seek 

Solomon, Buzz and a lot of friends.

It's really surreal to think about how much this boy has changed in the last year, and as much as I welcome his 4th year of life, it's still so hard to see it come so quickly. This precious little soul is so excited to be four. He's been talking about it for months, and he hasn't stopped talking about it since Saturday. It really is such a privilege to get to mother this sweet boy. I can't wait to see all the things he will do with his life, but for now, he's still my little guy, and he'll always be my baby! He was so excited to celebrate with family and friends with a Buzz Lightyear party. It was the easiest, stress free party we have thrown, and I loved it.  

Big smiles, and ready for cake!!!!  

love this picture that Peter's brother took!

So much love on our couch, and this was after two sweet families left!

I hate that we missed the five kids that left early, but I honestly don't know if they would have fit?!?

We love you SO SO much, Solomon & we can't wait to see what your 4th year will hold!

taking stock // 019

Obviously, this space has taken a MAJOR backseat in our busy world. It makes me sad, but it is what it is. I've always said that this blog was mainly just for my memory sake, and now that truth is even more evident. I don't have time to sit and write and edit photos and pour a lot of time behind this laptop screen, and that's ok. Now I only take time to track the big things. Monthly updates for Asher, Solomon Says, Day in our Life, and the random life update posts like this one. It's such a great way to bookmark what is going on in our crazy full life right now, and I love that! 

Making // the playroom ready for school time coming up in the next few weeks!! 

Cooking // as little as possible. It's a problem, especially for our restaurant budget. 

Drinking // cold coffee, all the time. Priorities, right?

Reading // this amazing book, Teaching from Rest, it is so wonderful!!

Wanting // a vacation to Charleston so badly!

Looking // at so much laundry that needs to be folded, that’s a goal for today.

Wishing // for that glorious Fall weather!!!

Enjoying // watching the boys play so well together most of the time. It’s super sweet to watch! Especially how they love to color together, the way Asher watches Solomon is my favorite!

Liking // how Solomon is so interested in reading, I’m excited to start working on some sight words with him. 

Wondering // how long both my boys will be wearing the same size shorts?? It's kind of hilarious how they both can fit in 2T so perfectly. 

Loving // football on the tv, the best season is about to start! 

Hoping // my quiet time will become more consistent once our new school routine picks up.

Marveling // at how the Holy Spirit has been moving within friendships and speaking truth and affirming things in my life recently. It really is such a wonderful gift, and I'm so thankful for the people God has put in my life. 

Needing // a to purge some toys desperately.

Smelling // the geranium essential oil in the house. It's my favorite right now mixed with a little lime, grapefruit and stress away!

Wearing // pjs for as long as we can, which makes less laundry, so it’s a win-win in my book.

Thinking // about how fun the holidays will be this year with Solomon being 4 and Asher almost 2! 

Bookmarking // different bunk beds that I love for the boys. I'm so excited to have them share a room soon in the next few months! 

Opening // all the windows in the car recently and the boys love it! 

Giggling // at all the crazy things that Solomon has said recently, and I'm working on a post about them next week.

Feeling // preparation stirring.

homeschooling plans.

Homeschooling. Something I always dreamed of doing but wasn't sure if I would end up doing it. If you would have asked me last year, I would have said HECK NO, but something changed over the last year. Really, just at the end of 2018, the Lord was really pushing my heart to do it. Or just try it! Solomon's birthday is September 14th, which is a late birthday for school, so that means he would be the oldest in his class. I think that is a good thing and I started to search for some preschool programs for him, just 2-3 days a week, possibly starting in January. I even went and toured one place but I left with such a heaviness with the idea of sending him somewhere. I wasn't ready, and I really didn't think he was either. He has plenty of time to socialize and be away from my at church and at my bible study once a week, so I wasn't worried about that. I just felt like we were in a really good place to try homeschooling and see if it would be a good fit for us, since he wouldn't technically start 4K until 2020, because of his birthday. So, we started it in January and I was honestly shocked at how much we both loved it. Now, here we are, almost in June and I am getting so pumped about buying a curriculum for next school year. I've tried to implement "summer" but he won't have it. He still asks for "schoolwork" everyday. The biggest gift with the last several months is realizing how his brain works. It is so rewarding to work on a common goal together and see him thrive. I'm so thankful for the opportunity that we have to give this homeschooling adventure a try! 

Now that my rambling is over.... ha, there have been several people ask what we are doing and what we are using. We are working on a morning basket now that seems to be going very well, and then we have his "school work" during Asher's naptime. This schedule seems to work best for us right now and I love the one on one time that it gives me with Solomon. 

my Erin Condren Teacher Planner that I'm loving so far.....

It helps me stay organized with all the different tasks that I have to complete throughout a normal day. I split it up into Morning Basket, School Work, my Color Street work, daily to do, and then meals. Its the best place for my brain dump every evening before bed and helps me plan ahead with school work also. 

Our morning basket is something we do almost everyday, even on weekends sometimes. This little basket sits beside the couch most of the time, but I love that we can carry it around the house with us, as we use it. Comfy on the couch, at the kitchen table while we eat breakfast, the school table, or even upstairs in Solomon's room. The following are all the things that we keep in the basket on a daily basis... 

We normally start with our daily devotion book. This Book is so simple and sweet, and it's the perfect way to start our day and I love how the prayer at the end is a little rhyme each day. Asher usually likes to listen to this part also and look at the pictures. 

Solomon also works on writing his name each morning. He's now doing Solomon and Eliya without any tracing, but I'm still writing Peter for him since we just added that to his practice this month. After the devotion, and the name practice, then we do his morning journal. Sometimes I tell him what to draw, but there are times when he asks to draw a specific thing. Like this morning, he wanted to draw a picture of God and Adam together. 

We have several bible verses that we have learned together also, which I love!! Whenever we add a new one, I write it out on cardstock and Solomon paints it. I'm going to laminate these also and make a little book for him to keep. We go over all the bible verses in the morning and throughout the day.

We are working through these two books right now with our morning basket, normally alternating the two and going in order from beginning to end. I've been trying to stay on the same stories also, since the Usborne Illustrated Children's Bible Stories is more in depth and the Jesus Calling Storybook is a faster read. They are both so sweetly written and I love the questions that I get to answer after we finish a story. 

The afternoon work is in these two books right now. I bought this Get Ready for School with this summer in mind before we start our new fall curriculum in September and we are LOVING it right now. All the sections in the notebook are fun and it makes it easy to jump around in different subjects each day. Starting this week, I'm going to a Tuesday-Thursday schedule (since I totally forgot Monday was Memorial Day in my planner above!) so we are going to focus on specific things each day. Tuesday will be alphabet, Wednesday will be math, and then Thursday will be shapes. I'll add in random things from tracing, manners, and basic knowledge from the other sections each day also.

This other book is something I found from the dollar store and I love how this is set up with one page a day. I pull this out on days when we need something a little extra and he still wants to do some school work. 

Lastly, I wanted to try a chapter read aloud for the first time with Solomon and I was shocked at how well it went. The chapters are short and there are a couple of photos to show and talk about as well. We are doing one chapter every other day right now, usually after we are finished with his school work in the afternoon before Asher wakes up. I'm so excited about all the possibilities of chapter books in the months ahead!! 

So for now, that is what we do. I love that there is complete flexibility with homeschooling and we can let Solomon lead the way during the summer days leading up to his 4K year. I'm also thankful that he won't technically be in a true 4K year until 2020, so we can take it slow and steady! Let me know if you have any questions or any recommendations!! We are definitely learning together as we go, but we love it!