Village Home

Most of you know that we have been homeschooling Jackson this year. It has been in a success in very large part because of the classes he has taken at Village Home, a homeschooling resource center in Beaverton. They were featured in the Oregonian today. You can check out the article online. Some of the parents have also produced a great video about Village that you can watch on their website -- http://www.villagehome.org/index.php. If you look closely, you can spot Jackson twice.

3 Posterior Babies

Yesterday was a wonderful Mother's Day! Mark and the kids served me breakfast in bed with lots of snuggles and hugs. After church, we had a yummy BBQ salmon dinner. We watched home videos of all the kids being born while we ate homemade popcorn, made with my new stove-top popcorn popper. I am so thankful for each of our children. They are each a miracle.

After watching Sarah's video, Bennett wanted to watch a movie of his new baby brother. He was so disappointed that he cried! That boy is excited for this baby!

Watching the videos brought back a lot of memories. The thing that surprised me was that I had totally forgotten that Bennett was born posterior. His birth was so fast and easy compared to the others (who were both posterior with longs back labor) that I was totally convinced that he was anterior. However, the doctor clearly says that he was born in the posterior position. Now I cannot figure out why his birth would've been so much faster -- because if I'm going to have yet another posterior baby (which sure seems inevitable) I'd love to know what I could do to make it fast and easy!

I am grateful for a wonderful family -- a sweet husband and great kids. My own mother is one of most wonderful people I have ever met. She is amazing! And I could not have a better mother-in-law. She is one of my closest friends. I have incredible sisters and sister-in-laws. Not to mention friends who are great examples of faith and love. I feel very blessed. Thank you to all of you. Happy Mother's Day!

We love the Property!

We went to Central Oregon this weekend to help with needle raking and clean up. The weather was fabulous. Everyone had a great time, even though there was a lot of work to do. It is such a beautiful place. Just being near the water is so relaxing and the air smells so good. Jackson loved playing with all of his younger cousins. He is such a great kid! Here he is snuggling with Cohen.
Thsi is what our family will look like very soon!
Great-Grandpa asked Jackson to help set up some things on the roof of the RV. It wasn't any fun at all!
Myah and Sarah playing near the water.
The kids had a great time playing cards in the tent. (Mark and the boys camped out, even though it was very cold. Sarah & I stayed at a motel in Sisters with Emily and & her girls where the owners was EXTREMELY concerned with the number of human bodies in the room, regardless of whether or not they slept in a bed. Luckily John & Wendy were sleeping next door so that Bailey could officially sleep with them so only 4 people were in our room. -- We won't be going back!)
Aunt Kathy and Grandpa John taking a break.
The moms taking a break with little Cohen.
Sarah was excited and happy to be outside.
Playing in the dirt was the main activity for all the kids. Pure joy!

Mom & Grandpa, manning the burn pile.
Sarah drives the tractor with Grandma. No one wanted to go home at the end of the day. The kids are already asking when we can go back.

Mother's Day Tea

I was priveleged to attend "Mother's Day Tea" at Bennett's preschool on Thursday. Bennett was so excited for days and days. So cute! The tables were all set with paper placemats and placecards. We made a necklace together. We ate little snacks. They passed out darling gifts that the kids had helped make.

Sarah found Bennett's "paper doll" that he uses for check-in. She was thrilled by it and kept kissing it over and over.
Bennett was so excited to sing in their little program. He talked about it every night before bed. But when the time came, he did not sing a word. Just stared.
Sarah, on the other hand, was very in to the program, dancing and clapping along. The best was that afterwards, Bennet kept saying, "I loved singing for you, Mom!" I guess he was singing loudly inside his head! What a darling kid.