The Suits Sisters

 To my Audrey Anna, You are TWO! What a smart, funny, sneaky, cute girl you are. We've been drilling you for months, "How old are you going to be??" and by now you have it down pat, "DO!!!" Out of all the "babies", you win the coveted awards like, most likely to fall off the bunk bed, most likely to snort a pea/marble/barbie shoe up your nose, most likely to help yourself to milk and processed cheese from the fridge (only the last one has actually happened...so far) You make all of us laugh, give great hugs and snuggles and keep us on our toes. We're excited to jump into the next year with you and all of the learning that it holds. Potty training, learning to obey, playing, YAY! I love you AudiAnna! So glad you're part of our family Love, Mommy

First day of Classical Conversations 2019-2020 The big girls are in the same class (I sit in with them and learn too)  Audrey hopefully cries in the nursery less and less as the weeks go on (ugh)  The unsung hero! Always getting us out the door with a smile on his face

In a perfect world... Artwork and pictures would pick a perfect place and hang themselves so there would be no need for decision making and no nagging of the husband to hang them Chick fil A would accept Monopoly money Painted fingernails would survive more than one dishwashing session before chipping off Things like peanut butter, pound cake and chocolate would settle in your heart and not on your hips I could consume copious amounts of coffee, both hot and iced, well into the afternoon without it keeping me awake until the wee hours of the morning wherein I Google search homeschooling methods (again), find five new recipes that I'll never cook and delete all  a handful of duplicate pictures that I've taken

(because Five on Friday never happened) 1. How to deal with a cranky butt toddler when you want a clean(er) house and it's 4PM on a Friday  2. Sometimes you stop by the thrift store when they're having a 50% off sale intending to buy one thing (huge, brand new white board//$5) and end up with a chair that helps your kitchen nook look a little more matchy matchy and it makes you smile more than a white board would have//$3  3. We accidentally fell into the Dark Hole of American Girl when I  checked out The American Girl Encyclopedia (no joke). I thought the girls would skim through it and move on, but Caris has memorized every page and has her heart set on Julie . I've explained, in kind words, that while extremely cute and fun looking, AG wants to rob us of all our money ("No hun, Julie and one outfit is $115. Julie + her " egg chair " would be $215") It's given us a chance to talk about saving money and if nothing else, day dream t...

We're 6 days into our first "real" year of homeschooling and I'd like to hash out my deep, well thought out ideas about homeschooling and hopes for the year in a future post, but for starters, here's a glimpse into our Morning Meeting (coffee, jammies for some, hymn, prayer, bible verse, calendar work, weather chart, read pictures books) Before I blog about anything else related to homeschooling, I thought it'd be helpful to see my assistant for the year. Let's zoom in on the picture to find....   THIS wild woman. I gave her my to do list because she wanted her own hymn sheet and she returned the favor by graciously taking off her sunglasses for the picture. Thanks, hun, it's gonna be a great year {awkward smile}

Today we had a couple over after church. We fed them barbecue and homemade browned butter chocolate chip cookies and talked for three hours. Last Sunday I was back in my jammie shorts by 12:30 and fed my kids bologna sandwiches on leftover hamburger buns.  There's grace and space for both  Last Sunday my kids read books while I got ready for church. This Sunday they watched a lengthy Sesame Street episode. Last Sunday they picked out their outfits and this Sunday I had them in smocked dresses. Grace and space. (Also, their hoarding tendnacies surface on Sunday mornings- they all gather bags and purses and stuff them full of treasures. In this picture there's an untold amount of books, fairies, necklaces, barbies and other trinkets under the blanket)   Unrelated::Happy 9th birthday Patch!  (Notice the dog shirts on Caris and Liza for the occasion-  that was their idea and it made this festive Mama PROUD) He celebrated with a donut shaped dog bone t...

I wear fancy shoes while reading books next to my sister  I recently asked to wear a princess dress for the first time  I try to put on my sisters' panties when they're not around  I eat cereal with a spoon like a big girl  I "help" mom sort laundry by taking one pile out of the basket and putting it in a different (wrong) basket, all while naming the person that the article of clothing belongs to "ehyaehya DADDY ehyaaah MOMMY....eeeeMINE...."