Full hands

Little miss is 2 months old already, and Spring is in the air! Not really, but wishful thinking is. :-) It's February 6th and the birth month of my favorite Valentine, Bennett Shepherd. For his birthday this year he's chosen to do a trip to Great Wolf Lodge, sprinkled with a few other family things. Pictures to come-maybe(because, real life)! Fair warning this post may be a little stream of conscious, because it's nap time here, the coffee is hot and I was in the writing way.

I'm just loving this season of life at home with my kids. The big boys are growing into more independent and interesting creatures, and speaking of creatures we often joke that Asher is our "class pet." Those trying twos have hit in full force, but we are ready and the bathroom plunger is on standby haha! Thankfully the big boys are I make a nice team to tame the wild child that is our sweet and sour Asher Elliot(okay okay, he's mostly sweet!). I jest, but truly the poor toilet has seen its share of foreign objectS lately. Amelia is a doll baby. The boys, big and small, dote on her daily and she really is a dream come true. I am drinking in this baby stage now because it goes by much too fast. Already she's holding her head up more and more, almost rolling to one side and cooing up a storm. We think she's going to be one chatty little girl. Plus, I can't even with all the bows. #obsessed :-)

We are all forging forward on the homeschool horizon. The flexibility it's given us in this season of life is invaluable. The boys are continuing to thrive in our local CC group, and I just signed them up for Spring soccer. They are currently gearing up for the annual Pine Car Derby with their fun "Rangers" group at church(Bennett just joined as he is turning 6!) and Evan is enjoying his weekly piano lessons.  Also, Asher is officially registered for preschool for the next school year! Let the backpack brainstorming begin...

With four kids under 7 it's no wonder that life seems to be moving quickly. I'm relieved to add that having baby girl join our crew hasn't slowed us down or divided our time too much-those later babies just get more and more flexible! We seem to have found a nice, new stride and I wouldn't change it for anything. Even this morning was a pretty impromptu adventure, full of schoolwork for the bigs, lots of eukalale playing by Asher(it has been thus confiscated for the day), a trip to the library followed by exploring a new park and a mile hike around a new lake, and topped off with hot, heavenly McDonalds french fries. Currently the littles are quietly napping while the bigs are out back jumping on our trampoline with neighbor friends. If someone would just deliver to me a tall White Mocha from Starbucks, it might just be the perfect day!  Extra whip cream please, mmmmm...

At a recent marriage conference we attended through our church, Dr. Paul Tripp reminded me that "gratitude is the DNA of joy." What a great theme for me as I am planting seeds in the trenches of many small children. I am so so grateful for the opportunity have this front row seat to my kids everyday, every moment learning and growing. It's beautiful and fun and funny, give or take the tube of toothpaste in the toilet which I will politely ask my hubby to get out when he gets home. Have I noted that he is an excellent fisherman? ;-) Seriously though the boys did all get fishing poles for Christmas, so I do predict some lake trips in our future. He took them out for their first go recently and they caught some seaweed...everyone has to start somewhere!

PS-Our little piece of North Carolina was a winter wonderland just a few weeks back, and I just had to share these pictures for posterity's sake-and as a reminder to myself to pick up my real camera more often! I think a snow day blog may be in que..

Back to blogging

Hello dear blog, long time no see! Instead of trying to capture the last year that's flown by "unblogged," I'm going to pick up right here with the present. Tuesday, September 12th finds us living happily in Apex, NC, loving our church family at Sovereign Grace, homeschooling a second grader and kindergartener with a very active toddler underfoot and looking forward to the arrival of our sweet surprise baby #4-a girl!

Look at these handsome young gentlemen on their first day of school! This year we are excited to travel down a new road in our homeschooling journey and have joined a local chapter of "Classical Conversations." If you're not familiar with the methodology behind Classical, Christian education, I encourage you to click here to learn more. I mention this because it will no doubt color a big part of our at home studies and I hope to blog lots of fun CC resources in the future. Every Monday we attend our CC co-op and the boys have loved it so far! 

 

 

 First day in "Foundations."

Asher is quickly approaching the trying/terrible/tenacious/terrific twos(you pick) and is too stinking cute for his big boy pants. Just this weekend he transitioned out of our 8yr old beloved crib and into his own toddler bed. I'm happy to report that despite a few nap time gliches, so far so good. He adores his brothers, his special fox blanket, and all things musical. Interestingly, while he continues to grow into Evan's twin by appearance(the side by side pictures could be featured in "The Twilight Zone"), his personality is very much like Bennett's. For one thing, he was made for the shade and loves to be outside. While he goes by many nicknames(a record number really) his current is "cookie" because he a little cookie monster and has quite the sweet tooth-I must admit he comes by it honestly! Otherwise his favorite foods include strawberries, Chic-Fil-A, and playdough. :-)

As I mentioned earlier, we moved! And hit the jackpot of family friendly neighborhoods. There are so many kiddos on our cul-de-sac that my big boys spend most of their time outside riding bikes, scooting scooters, jumping on our trampolines and having all sorts of wild adventures with friends. All I need now is an upright dinner bell or megaphone to call them in every afternoon(and a blindfold for when I see them swinging on trees by sheets and bungee cords). You really can't put a high enough value on that!

In other current news, we are almost 30 weeks along with baby girl!!! I've had a great pregnancy so far and though those annoying pregnancy aches and pains have certainly kicked in, I can't complain! After three boys we were over the moon excited to welcome a dash(or more like tsunami sized splash) of pink into our home. No doubt she will be a treasure to her adoring brothers. I'm so thankful for this gift of new life and very much looking to forward to not being the only girl in the house anymore!

Godwilling I will not completely fall off the blogging wagon again and will be back soon with a quick look back on our whirlwind summer. Like when we took this trip to the beach...

and this one...till next time! :-)

Presently

It's been a busy season of life(as always!), so here's a little catch up...

On the homefront, we're MOVING!

That's right, from Wilson to Raleigh we go. But first, we have a house to sell. We've loved this place of ours on Dover Street for the last four years-and calling Wilson home for the last almost six years, but are eager to be closer to Chris' new workplace. Did you catch that "new?" In December Chris accepted a position with a pharmaceutical health company in Raleigh, and is happily at work now coloring the world of visual data science. We are so thankful for all the years spent with BB&T and are really excited about our future with PRA Health Sciences. For the time being it's not big deal to commute as many people do, but we are eager to reclaim that extra 2 hours a day as a family and get back to our Raleigh roots. Big changes all around.

And so, for the last few months we've been hard at work cleaning house-fixing this, painting that, and so on.  It's been an undertaking, and somehow our list of home improvements has this magical ability to expand rather than get shorter! We've swap and shopped, de-cluttered our attic, cleared out the outdoor storage building, rebuilt our porch railing and painted, painted, and painted some more. I purposed early on for myself not to get overwhelmed or anxious about the process and transition, and so far my "day by day" plan is working for me. Especially when thrown crazy curveballs! We would have liked the house to be listed by now but are currently dealing with an unexpected issue turned yet another delay. But, I know that the Lord is at word behind the scenes and we're trusting his perfect timing.

In the meantime, life goes on. Bennett is back at school this week after a week long Spring break(over which the pollen invaded and left Evan a sniffling mess), and soccer season is right around the corner. Evan recently wrote his numbers 1-100, which is a pretty fun Kindergarten milestone. He will be finishing up his Swim America program soon, and we are all gearing up for a fun field trip with our homeschool group at the end of this week. 

We have spent a lot of time outside lately with the warmer weather and Chris's belated Christmas Kayak. Both boys love the water, but true to Bennett's outdoors-y nature he is for sure the biggest fan of the boat. 

Asher is our chubby cherub and is growing much too fast. He is getting stronger and learning new tricks everyday-dare I say we've entered the "supported sitter" stage and will likely start some oatmeal cereal soon. He is finding his voice, drooling up a storm and rolling from belly to back.

 I've gotten pretty tangled up with the house projects, school, the diapers and well the everyday "adulting" lately, but do plan on getting back to blogging more frequently. Until next time, here's a simple snapshot of daily life I don't want to blur over...presenting the classic peanut butter, jelly and banana sandwich. It's all the rave around here come lunchtime. :-)

 

Cheers to presently...

This week in photographs...

 

Giddy up Piper!

Snapshots of Lake Wilson

If there are hidden treasures of places to see in this small city of Wilson, "Lake Wilson" is surely one of them. It's a beautiful spot, and largely undiscovered. It has nature trails for walking and biking, an ultimate frisbee golf course, lots of picnic potential and of course, a gorgeous lake for fishing-that is, if your a fishing kind of gal(not I, said the fly!). 

So tonight we packed up the car, dog in tow, and took a quick trip down to the lake for a little fun and fresh air to end our weekend. Of course, while the weather was cool for an early September afternoon, the gnats were out en masse, and they were on a mission! Tired of battling with natures gnats, we cut the trip pretty short but managed a quick photoshoot on the way back to the car.

 

This is the best part about riding in cars with dogs...

 Goodnight sweet Sunday! I'm looking forward to a great week ahead, complete with MOPS, church care groups, storytime at the library, packing for PA and-drumroll please-our ultrasound on Friday!

3 Day weekend

Labor day weekend=A trek to Raleigh to "treasure hunt" those holiday deals for Evan's Fall/Winter clothes, many a miles logged on the car with trips to and from Greenville for our first Sunday at Integrity Church, too many trips to Target, visits to the great grandparents, Toys R Us and Noah's Ark Park, redbox rentals, frog finding, lawn mowing and a bit of rest and relaxation sandwiched in between. And of course, lots of picture taking.

 On Saturday morning Evan spotted a new green friend on our porch. Yes, I do believe we have a boy on our hands. I can do alot of "boy" things...however, frogs and other creepy crawly critters are not on the list.

 

At ToysRUs we picked up a new "big boy" basketball hoop for our ball lover. He's an excellent dunker at 16 months, and I fear sweaty gym socks may lie in our future-oh, say it isn't so.

    

This last picture below was taken on Sunday morning at the Winterville Amphitheather, where we had church at the park and a pig pickin' afternoon.

It's been a busy weekend and I'm thankful for these restful, rainy days ahead with not too much to crowd our daily agenda. Now to peruse the weekly grocery specials and brainstorm meals for this next week before we're off to PA for a family vacation!