Currently

Earlier this fall I felt prompted to not participate in MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) for the first time in three years.  When I took the plunge to unenroll, I was a little disappointed and unsure of how exactly I was going to fill our time since MOPS has long been the highlight of our week.  As it turns out we are in the middle of our busiest (and most fun) fall to date! We've had copious amounts of park dates with friends, a new Bible study to attend and lots and lots of time playing outside.  It's been a good change of pace for all of us, especially because Jonah and Nicole have had so many opportunities to share new experiences together.  I am watching their friendship deepen and grow in both challenge and reward daily.  Love covers a multitude of sins and we are learning big lessons on love and forgiveness regularly around here.

In light of our change of schedule, I thought I'd take a minute and fill you in on some of the current happenings in our household.

Streaming Seeds Family Worship. A good friend of mine recommended Seeds Family Worship to me a couple of months ago and I immediately ordered Nicole a CD for her room.  Upon further browsing I discovered that I can stream many of their albums for free with amazon prime music.  The mission of Seeds Family Worship is to have God's Word in every home so they write all of their music from Bible verses.  We are really enjoying the music and I love knowing that my kids are soaking in the truth of Gods Word each time we listen.

Participating in swimming lessons for Nicole. If you've been a long time reader of South of Home then you know that Nicole and I used to teach parent-child swim lessons together for a local YMCA here.  It was great for us in that season but once Jonah arrived it was time to part ways for the indefinite future.  While Nicole is very comfortable in the water, she doesn't yet have the skills to swim independently.  Shawn and I have been waiting for Nicole to voice a desire to swim on her own before we enrolled her in any kind of formal lesson.  Our beach trip proved to be the conduit for that conversation as she asked numerous questions about when she would know how to swim by herself.  I looked up lesson information on the way back from the beach and we decided to give one, 8-lesson session a try.  So far Nicole is loving it and I couldn't be prouder of her bravery, hard work and excellent direction-following.

Completing Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Even though I'm not currently working as a teacher, I am trying to maintain my license.  It's almost time for me to renew it but earlier this fall I was severely lacking the continuing education units needed to submit my application for renewal to the state of Minnesota.  After many hours of figuring out how to renew as someone who is both out of state and not currently teaching, I made a game plan and got to work.  So far I have been able to complete all of my hours online, which has blessed me and my family tremendously.  It has taken a lot of diligence and required basically all of my "free" time but I am so happy to be sharpening my skills and working toward the end goal of renewal.  As of today, I only have 49 hours out of 125 left to complete and I'm finally feeling like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Reading board books. When Nicole was a baby we read stack after thick stack of board books together.  She'd sit on my lap and we'd read for an entire hour without getting tired of the activity.  Sometime last year we tucked away our board books and filled our book bin to the brim with picture books instead.  While we still snuggle up and read picture books together before nap time and bedtime, our spontaneous reading is always protested by a little brother who does not appreciate the length of Nicole's books just yet.   I was finding time to read separately to them both until one day I noticed that Nicole always comes running when she hears me reading board books to Jonah.  So now, instead of trying to balance separate books for separate kids, I always reach for a board book first. Our read alouds are just as rich and fun, but much better suited for sharing a story together.   

Eating pumpkin energy bites. I need to admit that we are navigating what feels like an endless season of picky eating right now.  I keep having flash backs to my own childhood when my mom was visibly discouraged by all of the complaining my siblings and I did at the dinner table.  She would always say, "don't complain about the food I made you until after the dishes are done".  I now completely understand that sentiment because it is profoundly discouraging to have my children reject the nourishing food I worked hard to prepare for them, especially when the dishes from said food are still piled in the kitchen.  Shawn and I refuse to give in to the pickiness, no matter how disheartening it is, so I keep on introducing new foods and new textures.  On a lazy Saturday afternoon earlier this fall, I pulled out our food processor and blended up a batch of these pumpkin energy bites for the first time.  We sat around the table and these bites were disappearing as fast as I could roll them.  A few minutes into the activity, Jonah parked himself right next to my chair so that his quick little hand could shoot out for more as soon as he saw a finished energy bite in my hand.  I was so relieved to have a healthy and desirable snack to feed my kids that I have been making them on repeat ever since.

Anticipating Nicole's 4th birthday.  Our sweet and responsible 3 year old is turning 4 in just a few days.  She has been counting down to this birthday ever since she turned 3 last year and we're all feeling excited about the celebration ahead.  Birthdays around here are simple and intimate but even still they are packed with fun.  Nicole's "4" candle has been purchased, her cake has been requested and the day is rapidly approaching.  I am feeling extra excited about this birthday because it's the first one that Jonah is old enough to fully participate in.  They really do grow up fast.

Now it's your turn.  Pick a topic and fill me in on what's currently happening with you!

Love,
Erica