The Crandalls: August 2014

Yesterday was the very first day of a new adventure for our family. Yesterday was our first day of homeschool. Honestly, I never thought I would ever say (or type!) that sentence, but I truly believe that the Lord has brought me to this place and I am excited (and somewhat terrified) to see what this school year will look like for three little people who mean the world to me!

Ella is now 7 years old and in 2nd grade! WHAT??? I don't like that she is growing up so fast but I am thankful for her health, and at times, her spunky attitude! :) I've been warned for years that times flies after your kids are born, I just never believed it...until now. It's been 7 years since she was placed in my arms for the very first time. It's been 7 years since David and I sat in our hospital room and stared at our only child for hours on end. I better stop...or else I will just be sitting here bawling. :)

Ella is our strong, energetic and goofy child who is constantly on the go. I love her imagination, her constant wardrobe changes throughout the day and even her little meltdowns. She is opinionated, but caring. She will do well in this life, of that, I am certain!

Next comes Eden. My little Kindergartner!!! She is an adult trapped in a 5 year old's body. She is tender-hearted, kind, bashful at times and always acts like a little "momma" to any child who appears smaller than her! She craves learning new things and is a fast learner so I am hopeful that this year will be a breeze for her. Oh, and she likes to clean with me (and without me in hopes of surprising me!) which just makes me SOOOO happy! :)

Next is my handsome little man - David Allen, or Bo as I have been calling him more and more these days. He melts my heart several times a day with his random "I love you, mom" and "you look beautiful today mom" comments. What 3 year old says that??? MINE and I love it! :) He definitely has his work cut out for him with two older sisters, but man does he love them. He wants to be involved in EVERYTHING that they are doing which is why he is starting Pre-K this year with me. There was just no way that he wouldn't get his feelings hurt if David and I left him out of the new classroom design!

Last, but certainly not least, my heart and soul...Ivy Noel. I wasn't sure what our life would look like when we found out we were pregnant with our fourth child (a third girl!), but like many others before me, I cannot imagine life without her now. The older three ADORE her and practically smother her from the moment she makes a peep on the baby monitor. Most of our sibling fights throughout the day are over who gets to go upstairs and get her out of her crib! I can think of worse things in life, so I try to take a deep breath and just enjoy that they love her. She is about to be 9 months old. Sigh. She just started crawling, is drooling on everything and smiles ALL of the time!

Do I have my hands full and feel overwhelmed most of the time? Why yes I do. But thank you Jesus for entrusting these four incredible human beings to me!!! I love the Proverbs that I used for my title. It is one that I hold dear to my heart as I find myself playing a new role in their lives - teacher. I wanted to make our homeschool classroom experience somewhat similar to a public school classroom experience because Ella attended public school for kindergarten and 1st grade and I wanted her to understand that this IS school and not just "play" school. Therefore, my fabulous man helped me turn our fourth bedroom into an actual classroom and I LOVE it! He spray painted metal chairs and a table for me, hung an annoying 4x8 whiteboard that I found on Craigslist for $40, hung new curtains, helped me create a reading nook AND screwed an oil drip pan onto the wall so that Bo and Eden would have a place to make sight words with letter magnets! He even wrote a special message for the kids to wake up to on their first day of school. Love him!