Baby boy #4

Here's a quick update on my youngest boy.  He's just popped his first tooth!  I think he's working on another, but I'm always glad to get that first one over with for some reason.  He last weighed in (8 months) at 21 pounds!  He is a chunky monkey!  In general he's pretty happy-go-lucky so long as he's fed, has had enough sleep and doesn't get bored.  I can tell that his inability to move his body forward frustrates him.  He can scoot backwards across a room, but not forwards.  He seems incredibly fascinated by his big brothers, and I can tell that he's itching to join them in their fun.  He says "mamama", and "dadada".  He also says, "num num" when he eats his baby food.  As with each addition, we can't imagine life without him.  He's a blessing!

You may be wondering why I am suddenly updating my blog...

Me too!  Well, not really.  I've had this hope that I could make scrapbooks for the kids, but days go by, and I can see that this is something I'm just not going to find time to do right now.  I realized that I can keep this blog as a simple scrapbook of the kids as they grow up, and maybe I'll toss in a few of my random thoughts in here and there.  The convenience of the cell phone camera is not lost on this mommy, either.  It's quite simple to snap some photos and upload them here.  Maybe when I'm old, or at least not in such high demand, I will have time to actually make real scrapbooks.  I don't know how well I will keep this blog up, but I hope that I will.  Memories are precious, and they pass by so quickly!

Speaking of memories; I happened upon this gem of a moment a few mornings ago.  I had just discovered blue ink all over my couch cushion, no doubt the work of Isaac the artist, and turning to see this scene helped to put the temporary frustrations into perspective for me.  God is good like that.  What a blessing to see these little ones learning to be kind, learning to be friends!

Keeping it real on Easter

There's no LaRock family Easter picture this year.  The reality of my sons is that they hate to dress in more than shorts and a t-shirt.  In all honesty, they prefer to hang out in their undies.  I had "nicer" clothes set out for them, but as I was in the bathroom getting ready I heard loud protests from all three of the older boys regarding the clothes I had set out for them.  Needless to say, I am severely outnumbered here, and some battles aren't worth it to me.  I wore a pretty Easter dress, and my men wore comfy pants, flip flops and super hero shirts.  Thankfully, dressing up is not all Easter's about, right?   Thankfully it's also not about coloring eggs and Easter egg hunts.  We had some fun with those activities (see below), but I'm most thankful for Jesus on Easter!!  I'm grateful for my church family who came together over the weekend.  We remembered the sacrifice, the pain that was suffered so that we can be God's kids; so we can stand before God with our sins washed away.  Then Sunday morning we celebrated because we know that the tomb is empty!  Jesus is alive and He sits at the right hand of God, and one day He will come and make things right again.
I was very saddened to hear of the bombing in Pakistan as Christians were celebrating Easter together.  I have hope though because my redeemer lives, and His work on earth is not done.  One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!

 

 

 

 

We had a fun day with the LaRock cousins!

Babies bring out the love...

One thing my parents always encouraged their kids in as we were growing up, was to care for, respect and serve those older than us.  I really enjoy older folks.  Today at Costco as I was trying to feed my four boys, and wolf down a little lunch myself, an older lady at the table next to us began to chat with me.  In the middle of our conversation, Isaac decided that he had to pee.  We had literally just come from the bathroom.  This dear woman offered to keep an eye on my three other kids while I ran Isaac back to the bathroom.  What a blessing!  They continued with their meal and I didn't have to lug all 4 back to the bathroom.  When I returned she told me how she'd had 2 sets of twins, and ended up raising them on her own because her husband was an alcoholic.  She totally related to the challenge of the potty run(s) on one's own.  She told me about how she had just remarried last year after being single for over 40 years.  Her new husband apparently had never experienced Easter celebrations as a child.  She said they'd been decorating eggs together and were going to have an Easter egg hunt together tomorrow.  I love it!  Still kids despite their ages.

The gentleman in this picture works at our local children's museum.  He and Conrad have become buds.  Conrad will snuggle him and love on him, and it is one of the most precious things to watch as a mom.  I get plenty of negative comments about my family, or just plain silly ones, but the ones I typically appreciate the most come from older folks, who, in their wisdom, understand how truly fleeting time is, and truly appreciate the blessings I have in my children.  They help me remember to stop and enjoy my kids.

The beauty of flexibility

Peter's new job has him off on Thursdays and Sundays and working on Saturdays.  This has taken some getting used to, but it has its unexpected blessings.  Yesterday was warm, sunny and beautiful! Sam's been studying plants and animals in science, so we went to a local park.

 

 

We went fishing, observed Mr. Turtle sunning himself.  We checked out some cool water bugs, explored, had a picnic lunch and enjoyed a beautiful spring day in God's spectacular creation!

There is such peace to be found in God's goodness amidst this crazy, mixed up world which is so tainted by sin.

The Silver Chair by firelight

I have countless blessings and things to be thankful for.  One that I am especially thankful for is the love and blessing of my husband.  My boys are so fortunate to have a father who loves them so well and strives to love them better each day.  Last night, after a stressful day at his new job, we had a cookout.  The boys love to sit around the fire, and we all find it generally relaxing.  After we had eaten, Peter suggested that they read The Silver Chair out by the fire.  The boys were thrilled!  

3 years old!

Each time my kids turn another year older, I am amazed at how quickly the time goes by!  It seems only yesterday that this little one was born.  When it snowed here a few days ago, I was reminded of the year Isaac was born.  I remember looking out the window the day after he was born, and there, before my eyes, was a March winter wonderland of wet snow.

Isaac is the second to be inducted into our Passionate LaRock Boy category.  I have had to grow, mature and be humbled in new ways with this little man.  But, despite his knack for tantrums and picking fights with his big brothers, he's a sweetheart.  He loves to play outside, bounce on trampolines, be patted to sleep while we sing, "Somewhere Out There" (just like big brother Sam), give precious hugs and kisses, play on playgrounds, explore and build things.  He likes to do "school" like his big brothers.  Although he's a bit small in stature, he makes up for it in personality!  He wants to be one of the big boys so badly.  He is also fearless!  He wants to try everything and pick up every bug he finds; dead or alive,

He is a loved little boy, and he adds so much to our growing family!  Happy birthday, Isaac, we love you!

They finally like to swing!

My first two boys would always avoid the swing when we would visit parks.  They preferred running around, imagining, sliding and exploring.  Isaac was the first to really take to the swing.  Now that the oldest can pump their legs, they now enjoy the swing, too.

 

 

On exercising my brain.

Over the last several months, or to be more accurate, since I began home educating my oldest son formally a year ago, I have been thinking more often about my own ability to teach and the quality and aptitude of my brain to provide him with a good, solid academic education.

I had a high school education, and I often feel intimidated by those who have a college education.  I see them as very smart and capable, and I see myself as pretty average.  My husband assures me that I am smart, and my kids do appear to be thriving so far, but the struggle to "feel" intelligent is real. This is not a post to debate whether or not to go to college.  Some are able to and others are not. There are so many variables about college attendance, and I, in no way wish to delve into them right now.  What I have to embrace for the now is what I have to work with, and I've been thinking about ways to further challenge my brain.

Pursuing college right now is not an option, but that does not mean that I can't continue to work my brain and develop it.  I am a big advocate of physical fitness and health, but my brain also needs some working out.  I spend a great deal of my day wiping bottoms, changing diapers, breaking up fights, cleaning up messes.....cleaning up messes.,..cleaning up messes, cooking food, nursing my infant, carrying my infant, and I'm sure busy moms could add a whole list!  They are necessary tasks, but often mundane, and at the end of the day I tend to feel a little brain dead.

In this post I just want to share some fun ways I've been giving my brain some exercise lately.

First: I have been focusing on good reading.  I have a friend who regularly blogs about the books she is reading, and it inspired me to read more.  Then, I discovered Susan Wise Bauer.  I'm sure many in the classical education circles and home school circles have heard of her, but I stumbled upon her books in the library.  This is a very brief explanation of what I'm learning so far because as you know there will likely be a mess to clean up soon...
She teaches average moms like me how to provide their kids with a solid, classical education, and in another one of her books, The Well Educated Mind she helps moms like me learn how to read good, classic books, think about them with logic, and reason with others about them once the books have been read.  So, naturally, I started at the beginning of her suggested reading list and began Don Quixote.  I am 100 pages in to the nearly 1000, and I am really enjoying it!  My husband is reading along with me, and we've had some fun discussions so far.

Second:  Peter and I have been taking some theological classes at church.  The one I just completed was on Soteriology, (the doctrine of salvation) and I even had to write a paper at the end!  It was taught by a Dallas Theological Seminary graduate, and one of the pastors on staff at our church.  I am so thankful to have been a part of this class.  One day I want to blog about the highlights.  What we discovered in this class is what many in the Reformed line of thinking call, "easy believism", and tend to view negatively, but wow, when you understand that "salvation" has more meanings than just "saved from hell", James, Hebrews, John, and so many other things in the Bible I have been confused about for years, make sense!  I don't worry about "losing my salvation" anymore.  I finally feel at peace about my eternal home, and I have an fuller understanding of the doctrine of rewards.  I'll stop there because I could go on and on.  Maybe next blog post!  We are currently taking a class on how to study the Bible.  I'm excited about this one, too.

What about you?  What are some things you are doing to exercise your brain?

Firsts

I think one of the things I like the most about parenting are the times we get to observe the "firsts". Watching the kids learn to crawl, then walk, then talk and all of those things they learn to do is so very rewarding!  I especially enjoy it when they potty train, can I get an amen?  I digress...

The last few weeks we've been letting them try some new things and we've been able to observe firsts.  I read once that boys will try pretty much everything especially if it's daring or crazy, so why not teach them to do things the right way as much as we can.  I tend to agree.  My third born is especially fearless!

We took them bowling a few weeks ago.  While not very daring or dangerous, it is fun!  We had to wait for 45 minutes for a lane, (it was dollar night), but the boys hung in there and when it was our turn, they had a blast!  Sam got a strike, and enjoyed the fact that mommy barely beat him.  Yeeeaaahh....

They all declared it was the most fun they had ever had.  Imagine their surprise when a few weeks later we took them roller skating!  This quickly became the newest favorite activity.

They fell a lot at first.  Marcus especially had a hard time relaxing, but by the end of the night he was skating with much more ease.  The 2-year-old seemed to grasp it the fastest which is always fascinating to me.  

A few other fun firsts:

We introduced Sam to the game Settlers of Catan a few months back.  That has quickly become one of his favorite late-night things to do with mom and dad.  He usually asks regularly if we can play.

Peter started reading them the Chronicles of Narnia before bed.  This has been a delightful first.  They really love a good story especially when it engrosses the imagination like the Narnia adventures do.

I look forward to other firsts.  This summer it'll be time for Sammy to ride a bike without training wheels.  Conrad will learn to walk!  It'll also be time to introduce some new sports.  We'll probably camp out by the ocean and spend time fishing and hiking.  While not firsts, they are favorite activities.