Has it really been nearly 8 months since my last update? Why yes, yes it has. Oh dear. Life got busy, and I got tired. Excuses, excuses, I know, but it's true! So why now, why today? Well, for one, school is cancelled due to extremely cold weather and unforeseen circumstances. Then you ask, "don't you homeschool?" Why yes, yes I do! Secondly, I have the cutest baby girl that simply needs to be shown off to the world. Then you ask, "don't you have Facebook?" Why yes, yes I do. So here we go:


Anna's 2 Month Old Pictures

 

A shot summer, a few birthday parties and trips to the zoo made for a busy and fun summer. Because Anna was so young and Tom used his vacation for paternity leave, we did not venture to the Jersey Shore. However, there will be a trip here in 2014!

  




  

Over this past summer hubs and I decided to homeschool our children. Right now only Ry is of school-age, so we figured starting with him is a good trial period. We joined Classical Conversations, a program with a classical education approach. We meet once a week with other kids who are doing the same curriculum and they get to "school" together. The rest of the week I get to be the principal, teacher, school nurse, lunch lady and janitor. So far I am really enjoying it, and I think Ry is too? As any homeschooling mom knows, there are days where you wonder if you're doing the right thing, if your child is learning and if you're really cut out to be their teacher. The truth is, sometimes kids don't want to do the classwork! Shocker, I know.
   But then there are days where they are absorbing everything, cuddling on your lap and asking to do more and learn more. They are excited to do whatever it is you've planned. I only get my children for 18 years, then they're gone. The rest of their life is away from home learning everything on their own. I love that I get to be a part of their life this way. And the season of homeschooling may come to an end before they reach middle school or high school - who knows? The Lord has specific plans for my children, and He may direct them in such a way where homeschool may no longer be the obedient thing to do. Like I said, who knows? The ONLY thing I know is, is when I graduated college I knew I was never going to be in school again. I was done! Four years later I'm enrolled in a vocational college for Medical Assisting. Okay, after graduating 7 months later as valedictorian I was truly done then. And now? Now I am not only teaching school, but I am pretty much going back to school all over again...from the beginning... Someone tell me I'm not nuts!



 Then came the hot Fall season and with it trips to the pumpkin patch, farms and enjoying our backyard before winter comes. For Halloween Ry and his BFF neighbor were pirates. Brooke and Anna were cupcakes. Adorable. Of course, that night it was cold. We ran from door to door and I barely got any pictures, but it was still fun!



 Over the summer I gained a leadership position with my local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. I am a discussion group leader, which basically means I lead discussions at my table. And by lead I mean chat. Let me tell you how hard it is to get about 8 women with babies and toddlers to start chatting... Not everybody talk at once! No really, we all talk at once. The hard part is stopping. And I love it. I remember being a new mother and hard it was for me. I didn't know what I was doing. I still don't, but I have a better idea of how to manage the chaos that can fill my life. I love these women, and I love being to help reach those mothers who might be hurting and needing a place to belong. Plus, we get free breakfast and childcare for 2 1/2 hours! So with this position simply comes a few more things that are added to my schedule. It brings more play dates, more friends, and more ladies who need help.



7 Months Old

   All the while Anna is just growing and growing. She is so happy. I truly love a happy baby. The only time she cries is in front of me, so no one is the wiser! I've had fun taking a few pictures (okay, a million pictures) of her and the kids. My love for photography has been reignited by my ability to purchase a new camera 2 years ago, and now a couple of new lenses and editing software. It's fun for me. It's my thing. So when you see 20 pictures of same thing, just smile and nod.

5 Months Old

 

Then came winter and Christmas! It was rather busy, but a fun time of course. Ry got the toy car he asked for (Jeep Powerwheels), Brooke got princess stuff, and Anna got her first doll. Ry gave Santa a big hug, while Brooke is still rather shy. She also doesn't like the Chic-Fil-A cow, and would only get so close to Cinderella when she had the chance. Ah, to be 2 years old again! And now, trying to remember just how hot some of our summer days were, I am sitting here in weather that is about -5 right now (not including wind chill), longing for those hot days again. It was so cold, in fact, that Tom's Green Truck just couldn't run anymore and he broke down on his way to the airport today. Thanks to a good friend and AAA, Tom got to work and Green Truck is tucked safely in our driveway awaiting a diagnosis. Yippy! And this, my friends, is what homeschool is all about. The planned day goes caput, and we spend the morning learning life lessons about cars and helping people when in need. We also got to look at planes take off using Ry's binoculars. 



 

Anna, Emalie and Brooke awaiting Christmas...apparently in a swim suit

Nana and her girls at Christmas

 

Now it's 2014, and I certainly hope to keep this blog rolling as much as Coloradoans are now rolling joints legally. Yes, that's happened in the last 8 months. Also, the Broncos had an AMAZING season! They broke all kinds of records and beat all kinds of teams. They won the AFC championship game and went to the Super Bowl! Ahhh, it was awesome. And then it was time for the kickoff...and the rest is record-breaking history! The only problem is that the history was made by the other team who was able to demolish our offense. We lost. Bad. It wasn't even a good game. And that sucks. Bad. I blame in on Joe Namath. He had the privilege of tossing the game coin. When the ref handed him the coin Namath tossed it super high. The only problem is that no one called heads or tails yet. That was probably the toss that would've set the game in the way of the Broncos. Instead, they had to re-toss, and the Seahawks won, deferred, and it was all over from there. The only thing that went the Broncos way was the safety the Seahawks scored against them. They were lucky it wasn't a touch down. And that was the first 12 seconds into the game. You get the idea.

Studio Amy Luna family portrait shoot