365Project.2014 | Weeks 36-37ish

Time, it is a flyin'! It's been a crazy busy couple weeks around here. Exciting and fun, but really, really busy. Enjoy the ride! :) (It's a lot easier in retrospective pictures.) ;)

Day 243. Just waiting for the "done" light on the battery charger ... he sat there watching for about 20 minutes.  

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Day 244. Not many of these flowers came up this year ...

But Peter wanted to make sure I saw this one. ♥

And this is how we've been rolling. SO thankful for the Moby wrap. It settles our little girl when nothing else will. And lets Mommy continue to function as Mommy ... and teacher ... and everything else.

Day 245. Last picture of the girls together in their special shirts ...

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Super excited for a unique opportunity Hannah and Peter have to be involved in a full-scale production at our local theater!

Auditions were a great experience!

Day 246. K4 is so much fun! :) According to Matthew, "It's much funner than the bigger kids' school." :)

And here's a random question ... is it a common thing for pre-schoolers to draw pictures without defining lines? The colored marks to the right of the large "M" are the head lights, tail lights, siren, door, and red cross of an ambulance. I watched him draw his picture, explaining each part as he did so, totally expecting him to draw the AMBULANCE at some point, but it never appeared. A couple days later he drew a tiger in a similar fashion--just the stripes, no outside edges. I don't remember Hannah and Peter drawing like this, but maybe they did and I just wasn't paying attention. Anyway, I find it intriguing. :) He's not worrying about staying in the lines ... he's just skipping lines altogether!

Today we learned how to mail a letter (especially exciting since Grandpa's trucks might help get it to Grandma!) :)

What a hoot! He was having the best time ever beating Mommy up the hill!! :) (And take a look at that driveway ... it's going to look VERY different very soon!!) :)

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Day 247. The big kids get really excited over even Abby's littlest milestones ... "sitting" in the chair by herself was definitely noteworthy in their opinion. :)

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 ♥ Snuggles ♥

Day 248. Art class! So thankful for a good video program!

Day 249. Saturday was a pretty full workday ... with the big kids each giving their own special contribution. :)

Hannah hung out with Abby ...

And Peter hung out with Daddy. :) Between Hannah and Peter, I'm really not sure who enjoyed themselves more. :) But we were thankful for both of our big helpers. ♥

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Day 250. Thoroughly enjoyed lunch with friends from church! :)

Day 251. Big sister definitely gets more hold time, but Matthew and Peter enjoy their snuggles, too. :)

Day 252. Chore charts. I've lost count of how many iterations we've been through, but we have FINALLY landed upon one that's working for us and working WELL. In case you're in need of inspiration, here's our chart at the beginning of the day ...

Each of the kids' has their own sticker (Hannah - butterflies; Peter - bikes; Matthew - monkeys). When they complete the chore, they flip the magnet over to reveal the star on the back. Mommy knows at a glance who has/has not completed their chores.

At the end of the day, the chart looks like this (or at least it should). ;) I have an alarm set on my phone for inspection at 4:30, and I note on my chart whether they've earned that day's "commission" by satisfactorily completing each set of chores. (I created a master list of all of the chores grouped by room throughout the house, so it's really easy to do inspection.)

After having had so many unsuccessful attempts to maintain accountability for chores, it's a huge blessing to finally have something that's working! I'm happy to share more details/files with anyone who's interested. :)

Day 253. Happy six weeks, Little Lady! Your smiles are melting our hearts!!! ♥

Day 254. AND THEY'RE HERE!! Our driveway has deteriorated significantly over the last couple years, and this spring it became apparent that we would have to do something and soon. Well, "soon" dragged out to be a six-month process, but this week we finally got a large part of the driveway resurfaced. It was definitely a fun day for the kids. :) (Hannah and Peter were HIGHLY motivated students that morning--they were both up and working on schoolwork by 7:15 and finished by 9:00!)

No, I am not posting the 200+ pictures I took. (You're welcome.) But, without much commentary, here's a dozenish pictures capturing the essence of the day. :)

Umm, the boys were just a little excited to run on the new driveway. ;)

  

And the men thoroughly enjoyed a fresh pan of Hannah's brownies. :)

Day 255. When Daddy's in charge of bed time ... :)

Day 256. And here's our new view! :) SO incredibly thankful!!! I'll have to get pictures this next week, but the kids have been having a BLAST riding their bikes on it!

Daddy and the big kids enjoyed attending Patch the Pirate's 35th Anniversary concert ... It was especially cool to see the "people" behind the characters. (I stayed home with Abby and used her nap time to sew the skirt for Hannah's costume.)

 Day 257. All dressed up for "Baby Day" ...

Day 258. We think Matthew's been eating bricks. He's somehow gotten a LOT heavier since Abby was born. ;)

Day 259. Seven stores later, I FINALLY found all of the pieces we needed for Peter's Pilgrim costume. Who would have guessed how much trouble we could have finding black knee socks and a black shirt!?!? I'm SO thankful I was able to sew Hannah's skirt, or I'm sure I'd still be looking for that.

And while Pilgrim costumes are cute, I personally find this toothless grin ever so much cuter! :) I'm cracking up every time he smiles or talks right now! :)

And such be the whirlwind of life in these parts. :)

Thankful for daily grace and strength.