7 Quick Takes (#50)

--- 1 ---

Missed us???

I'm so sad I can't keep up with blogging.  I am stuck in a rut with zero sense of humor.  Part of it is three children and no discipline.  And the other part is moving across the country to a new city.  90% of the time I feel like I am in 9th grade all over again, trying to fit in and  trying to replace friendships that took decades to develop.  Summarizing who you are and what you are all about with three kids interrupting and pooping their pants is proving to be a little tougher than I thought...

On the flip-side, I'm not homesick.  I still LOVE our new city.  But I am Disneyland excited to go home in a few weeks and visit friends and family!!!!  I can't wait to spend the entire week with family.  I have exactly one week to convince them that Tyler, Texas is the bees knees and they should all follow me here...

Also - who has time to blog when they are focused on keeping an orderly and tidy home?!

...fail...

--- 2 ---

A couple months ago, I received a letter from my neighbor in Maryland.  I stuck to the fridge and swore I would get back to her when my head was above water again.  I FINALLY got around to it a few weeks ago, but I was lame and emailed her instead of writing a letter.

I was so excited to receive another letter from her this week.  Isn't it beautiful??  I love hand-written notes.  I just wish there were a more convenient way of sending messages that didn't require finding stamps and walking out to the mailbox in my mom-uniform...

Credit

--- 3 ---

We ordered Leo's Kindergarten homeschool curriculum!!!  I have been so nervous about trying to teach Leo.  Uhhh...let's just say he is easily distracted and...uh...hard of hearing???

But, over the last few days we have been testing the waters with him and doing some work with him to see how ready he is.  We started with some workbooks and numbers.

"Leo, what number is that?"
"Uhhhhh...E!!"

It's gonna be a great year.

Just kidding - it really is!  Jason unloaded a bunch of books gifted to me by my sister a week ago.  They were all homeschooling books along a similar curriculum we chose, so we scored!  I found 5 Magic Tree House books and thought we would see how his attention span has changed in the last year.

We have already read 3 of them out loud to him and he LOVES them!!!  He sits still and listens quietly the entire time.  This is definitely a major milestone that I never predicted would ever come for him.  (If only the other two would be quiet so I could get through a sentence...)

As incentive, and reward, we went to the library and let Leo pick as many Treehouse books as he wanted.

We already started science class too.  

We found a cicada shell outside and brought him in to be our pet.

Our scary, disgusting pet.

--- 4 ---

This kid talks!!!  And talks...and talks...and ta....  I know - where did he get it from?!  ;)

He is learning about 10 words a day now and speaks the cutest jibberish ever.  I am still nursing him throughout the day and probably will until he is at least 2 years old.  But now that he can talk, he is demanding to be fed loudly.  In public places.  Like church.  And every time he does, all I can think of is the British "I want bitty" comedy sketch.  (35 year old man still nursing on demand.  My future...)

--- 5 ---

Completely normal, right?

--- 6 ---

A couple posts back I showed you my homemade fermented foods.  Out of the three, the only thing that wasn't thrown away were the sourdough crackers (which were amazing!).  

As I found out, fermenting veggies isn't just a matter of throw it in a jar and eat.  But, I am starting to master sourdough!!

These pancakes are DELICIOUS!!!!!  They will be a recurring breakfast item in our house for sure.

And this loaf of sourdough is worth its weight in gold!  It takes about 5 minutes to prep and 5 minutes hands on to bake.  But there is an 18-24 hour rise period so you can't have instant gratification.  

I bake it in my huge dutch oven and then just use what we don't eat to make breadcrumbs.

--- 7 ---

And now I have to share my favorite thing in the world.  I woke up the other day with Leo showing me a picture he just drew.  It was me.  Coloring with crayons.  I am so proud of it that I covered it in contact paper so it would last forever.  But when he originally drew it, the "paper" square in the middle was blank.  When he realized that he forgot to color on the paper, he got really worried.  But then I told him he can draw on the blank square in the center whenever he wants (that blue happy face can wipe off!).  It is ridiculous how happy that simple picture makes me.

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