Today’s prompt was {Do}, and I captured these shots of what (some of) these people I love do:

play

build

read

And some bonus shots from life at our home:

sweet 3yo

love my mukluks

my view

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

A while back, I read this tip (I’m fairly certain it was on the Sonlight forums), but at the time my girls were still too little and it didn’t really work very well for us.

However, this week when the girls have been fighting, we make them sit in time out and hold hands until they’re ready to be kind to each other, and this is pretty much how it goes every time:

So far it’s worked every time!

What do you do to foster strong relationships between your kids?

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

In Winchester, VA, the cutoff for fall birthdays for Kindergarten registration is September 30th.

In our county, it’s August 31st.

In some places, it’s July 31st.

It sure would be easier if they’d all agree to one date!

When we made the decision to put Pumpkin Doodle in Kindergarten last year, it was both an easy and a hard decision. On one hand, I knew that staying with the four year old preschoolers at church was not the right decision. She was so used to always being the oldest, the smartest, the bossiest (as the oldest of four little girls) that she was going to plow right over all of the other kids in her class.

On the other hand, I spent weeks analyzing what it would mean for the future — when would she start college, when would her two little sisters (who also have fall birthdays) start school, and so on.

I was torn between wanting the extra year with her at home — an extra year to teach her and build a relationship with her and an extra year for her to mature before heading off to college — and wanting her to have the same opportunities that I have had because I graduated both high school and college early (I graduated with a bachelor’s degree just a couple of months after we got married when I was 20, and we were able to start our family without worrying about whether I’d be able to finish).

As the year progressed, she learned to read and moved easily through her math and language arts curriculum. We noticed that socially she was very confident with other kindergarteners but that the older kids, even 1st graders, were intimidating to her.

And I continued to waffle about  our decision.

Then Dorothy from (Sub)Urban Servant said something that offered the perfect solution to everything I was feeling. She talked about how some of her kids are advanced and with that comes a juggling act similar to the one she goes through with her children who struggle with FASD and learning disabilities. Many of the things she mentioned were similar to the things I was trying to think through, and her conclusion was that through dual enrollment at a junior college during the last two years of high school, she’d be able to keep her kids challenged and moving forward without sending them off to a four-year college at 17 years old.

I realized that was the exact solution I was looking for, and we decided without hesitation that Pumpkin Doodle would stay in Kindergarten this fall.

She won’t actually be repeating the year, as we’re going to continue moving forward in both math and language arts, and we’re switching to an entirely new curriculum anyway, but she’ll stay in Kindergarten for another year.

I’m actually very relieved about the decision, and the two little ones (who both have mid-September birthdays) will both do two years of Kindergarten as well (because I do like that we started language arts & math at 5).

And as Dorothy says, “And the best part? It’s all a grand experiment. If we wake up tomorrow and something is not working we can just change it – moving ahead or behind a year with nothing more than an agreement between Robert and I.”

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

Creative genius at work.

One of my favorite “parenting” books. Rereading it again.

On a call in my office. The bottom shelf is going to be a picture shelf as soon as I get frames. Yes, my Keurig coffee maker is under my desk.

Not the best picture quality, but I love it!

My Snap Totes bag from Tara of Deal Seeking Mom — I love it!

This made us laugh — driving down the highway with the life jacket flying behind their canoe!

Our favorite family restaurant, where we went to celebrate my birthday!

Don’t you just want to eat her up?!

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

Baby girl woke up early and played in her crib for a little bit before joining Daddy in bed. I realized after an hour that it was extremely quiet, so I went to check on them, and this is what I found!

Deer on the hill.

Our home. We’re hoping this is the year that we get landscaping in since we’ve been here almost 3 years!

On our way to swim lessons.

Our neighborhood used to be part of the neighboring ranch. The white horse is Pumpkin Doodle’s favorite, affectionately named…Whitey.

Look! I finally got dressed put makeup on took a picture of myself!

Doesn’t she look excited?

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

This is not really where we keep our school books, but after the weight of them came crashing down off the first shelf we put up, we’re reevaluating where to put them!

You can’t tell, but Pumpkin Doodle got her “habit reminder” appliance to help her stop sucking her thumb. She has the cutest lisp now, and so far it has been an easy transition!

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

Note to self: brush the two-year-old’s hair tomorrow…

Tylenol for the babies, the strong stuff for the daddy.

We really do eat dinner together. They just couldn’t wait for us to get to the table before they dug in!

Teaching her sister how to praise Jesus. Be still my heart.

Leading worship…

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.

I woke up yesterday morning with the stomach flu, so this is the only picture I took.

This was my view for most of the day, with my Kindle, a piece of paper for writing notes, my old cellphone as a clock, a mug full of ice and some toys that the girls and I were playing with. I’m thankfully feeling better this morning, so I’m hoping I’m over the worst of it!

©2012 Doodles' Place. All Rights Reserved.