A Good Monday

I actually did have a good Monday. And after some really bad nights around here, some sickness and some general hard parenting times, and that missing my Girl really bad that finally hit me,  that was a welcome thing.

A good friend really let me talk out some problems I've been having in parenting my two little boys, ages 3 and 5. It's so good to have friends who listen, give you lots of grace and unconditional love and great suggestions! So I am reading little people books, snuggling more, communicating better, being calmer and that is really going a long way with disciplining these little guys. Me, the CM nut (children are persons treat them as such) forgets that my little men are people and get gruff and angry and horribly tired and impatient with them. It has been a good reminder.

My two older children, 14 and 12, spontaneously decided they needed to work more independently. WOW This was great as I am feeling stretched very thinly these days, see paragraph above. They have always schooled at level together, but my almost 15yo son is in high school now and has really matured lately. His sister is not so mature in some ways and I am not anxious to rush that. Because then this happens:

Sigh. And then she will grow up too fast and move far away to somewhere cold and crazy like Minneapolis and I will miss all the long talks and coffee runs and new music she was always bringing me and drat if they don't become  your friends and then you are just supposed to live without them?!.


Ahem. Back to my Monday.  They also decided that he should pull ahead. Maybe she is more mature than I realized.

This is great. I could have pushed this sooner but said 12yo daughter can be extremely stubborn (don't know where that came from) and having this be partly her idea was very helpful. We quickly scanned the shelves for her own history and literature books, scaled down a notch, and found the perfect fit in quite a few books. Curtiss quickly pulled ahead and I am offering him a few more books I was holding back so as not to overwhelm Grace. Oh, it's beautiful.

The best son a mom could want. And totally by the grace of God, not by my parenting.

And lastly, my baby turned 4months old today! He is almost a whopping 20lbs and learning to use his little hands so well. His gift to me today? He took my face in his little hands, very systematically. So SWEET!

Wonder where he got those cheeks?

This picture really captures how he looks well!

Little somethings I am making and selling. Exciting!