Going for a walk!

Things have been so busy around here this spring, but they’re busy in a good way…the kind of busy that comes as you prepare for changes, which makes it exciting and exhilirating rather than tiring and oppressive.

I’ve realized that while fall is by far my favorite season, I often forget that in the spring, and we are loving playing outside, watching the tadpoles on our property grow, discussing and examining bugs (let me just say that this is a great microstudy in how motherhood changes you, because…ew). Sean is working hard on a walkway and patio out back, and I can’t wait until they’re done. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not thankful to live in this house on this lot in this tiny neighborhood in the boondocks!

Watching the caterpillars turn into chrysalides!

In other news, I am still transcribing, but we are working feverishly towards a goal of transitioning completely out of transcription and into freelance writing and other web endeavors by the time Sidney joins our family (just 3 months or so away!). Organizing Your Way continues to grow, and I’m working as the forum administrator for the Deal Seeking Mom Forums, and I am about to launch a new, very, very, very exciting project that I can’t tell you about yet (but I really, really want to!).

It means that for now I’m working two jobs on top of being a wife and mother, but my husband is incredible and incredibly supportive, and I know that it’s a short-term thing that will allow me more time to homeschool (we officially start kindergarten in the fall!) and just enjoy my girls, so it’s worth every sacrifice. I’m thankful for transcription and the opportunity it’s provided for me to be home with my girls, but deadlines and unexpected delays and working with headphones on are getting harder and harder to balance, so this transition is definitely something I’m looking forward to!

Making notes in our "Tadpole Observation Journals"!

My strawberry plants are thriving, but my veggies all died mysteriously. I’m debating replanting them and giving it another go versus waiting until next year, but I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do.

I just started reading Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, and I can hardly put it down. I’ll be discussing it with the other members of the Sound Mind, Sound Mom Book Club (hosted by Simple Mom) in a few weeks, and I can’t wait because there’s already so much to think about and I’m only a few chapters in.

I was blessed to have attended a Montessori school for 13 years (from 2.5 yo until 8th grade), and we spent hours and hours immersed in nature. That is the kind of experience I want for my kids – and one of the reasons I love our home – and there’s a lot of really great information in this book to think about. I’d highly, highly recommend it!

She LOVES to color...

Pumpkin Doodle is still sitting on the verge of learning to read. She has – oddly enough – started writing words, but gets frustrated when we focus too much on sounding words out on paper, so we’re taking that slow. She’s beyond excited to “officially” start school when Sidney arrives, and we’re easing into that as I make plans and decisions about what school is going to look like as well.

Monkey Doodle is, well, three. Our sweet girl is testing the boundaries and learning to be an individual, and I can’t help but laugh when she gets mad, stops for a second to think, looks at whatever object happens to be in her hand, looks at me, and then very purposefully throws it to the ground to show us just how mad she is. She’s busy trying to keep up with her big sister but usually not too busy to stop and spend time with Sweet Doodle. The two of them are peas in a pod, and it’s so cute to watch this special relationship between them continue to grow.

...and to fly!

Sweet Doodle is now 20 months old and so. much. fun. She makes us laugh all the time with her regular attempts to talk, her nonsensical singing and her funny mannerisms. Unfortunately, her name is very misleading, and she has proven to be the most difficult of our three girls in other areas. When she’s unhappy, she’s very, very unhappy. We went through a period of headbanging, and she still throws temper tantrums like none other. Thankfully, the sweetness still outweighs the fits, and when I’m transcribing, she’ll often come sit next to me, hook her arm through mine and lay her head on my shoulder to watch Mickey Mouse.

So there you have it, life in a nutshell.  It’s busy, but good. I go to bed tired (and sometimes wake up that way too!), but I’m focusing on just enjoying this season and being thankful for it all!!