First half of November

There really hasn't been anything truly out of the ordinary happening the past 2 weeks. Just trying our best to survive over here. :) Life is so, so good. I'm just completely exhausted by the end of every day! When does that let up? Ever?

2 Saturdays in a row, I got to go out and do some window painting in this beautiful weather we've been having! Even though it's hard work, I'll admit it's nice for Richie and I to switch roles for a day or two. He gets to be at home with the kids all day, and I get to be Rachel, while still contributing financially. Win! More pictures on the window painting blog.


Another homeschool day hosted here. We were talking about what is now France and how the king of the Franks, Clovis, united all the tribes there to become one. As part of the "festivities" we dressed all the kids up like Clovis. Miles's face cracks me up!!


Miles getting Benson to laugh :)


Here's a few of Lindy and Benson. Lindy has really toned down her aggressiveness, thank goodness. Her only problem with Benson is that she loves him SO much. Way too much sometimes. She calls him "Bay Ben-Ben" (Baby Benson), and is always wanting to hold him. She only lasts for about 45 seconds, and then she is done. She used to just push him off her lap when she had reached a limit and that was scary! She's now learned to tell us when she's done. :) When it gets to be nap time, she lays down in our bed and always wants to cuddle him for a bit. Whenever I lay him down next to her, she sighs and says, "Oh..He My Beh-Fweh" (Oh, he's my best friend). Melts my heart. I hope these two develop a really strong friendship.


Miles took an art class with some homeschool friends at the community center last month. However, we were not all that impressed with the program. So this friend and I decided to do our own art class. We switch off, every other Thursday for 2 hours. It's really low key, no major curriculum or anything. We just want our kids to love art and have an instructive and fun time with each other. My first turn was last week and we are starting with the basics. We talked about Color and used Picasso's blue period as a jumping off point. We painted with different blues, made a giant color wheel, and each kid made an art portfolio out of poster board. I'm so glad I have my amazing artist/teacher mother as a resource here! If my kids live too far away to attend her art class, then I'm just going to try my best to copy what she does. :)


And a few more pictures of Benson just because.:) He had his 2 month check up recently and is tipping the scales at 14.9 pounds and 25 inches. Wowza! That means he has gained 5 pounds and 4 inches since he was born only 2 months ago! He's in the 98% for weight and height. The first 6 weeks or so after Benson was born were hard. He was not a natural sleeper, and trying to stay on top of everything was defeating. It's still an adjustment and it's still hard, but it's getting so much better. He is turning into a great sleeper and that makes all the difference in the world!! He used to be whining if he was awake. You had to constantly be working with him (or at least that's how it felt). Now he's turned into this super content (most of the time), and extra smiley baby. He has learned to fall asleep by himself, he loves to be swaddled up tight for sleeping, but other than that, he loves to be by himself with plenty of space. :) Sometimes I'm holding him and he'll get fussy and as soon as I lay him on a blanket by himself, he's as happy as can be! Crazy. He LOVES those black and white baby pictures books. His little body can't even contain all his excitement when I start showing him those pictures! He's "talking" to us all the time now, he's ridiculously ticklish, and is the king of blow outs. The king! Man, I love this kid so much.