Expectations

Growing up I had few if any expectations. I knew times were hard for my family. We had little to celebrate on most days. Simply making it through the day was enough. School was not at all important to a little girl who lived well below the poverty line. Things like food and safety were weighing on my mind.

I look back on those times and wish I could whisper in that little girls ear "just wait, your time is coming". I had no idea what dreaming was when I was young. In fact it wasn't until my senior year in high school that I started thinking past today. I remember that moment perfectly. Riding in Aaron's Honda he asked me what I wanted to "be". I was a little taken back. My response..a teacher.

So as I start another school day I will endeavor to teach my children not only math and grammar, but the joy of dreaming.

My Dad is AWESOME!

With our recent move we were forced to leave our swing set behind. The kids were getting a little big for it anyway. When they all used it at once it would come close to tipping over. So the search began for a wooden swing set.

We found what appeared to be a great deal. We went to Menards picked everything up and then figured out why it was a great deal- no predrilled holes, no pieces cut to length. We were about to despair when we remembered my dad. :) I asked him to come and be the brains behind our project. He did one better. He came and did it all. I am blessed to have such a giving and hard working father :)

Everyone told us this would be a huge project that will take days to complete. Dad pulled in at 1:30 and left at 8. Six and half hours was the total time it took to put up this awesome swing set! My dad never stopped working. It was great to spend the day talking and joking together. He is very talented and makes the impossible look easy.

Here are some pictures of our day.

Everyone wanted to help!

Joshua looking through the telescope...

The starting point..

Dad cutting all the pieces to length.

Elliana and Asher playing on the slide while we were building.

Joshua helping Grandapa build the tower

The tower- in progress

The finished product- the kids LOVE it!

Grandpa and the kids :)

Quick Update!

Things are going great in the Nelson household :) We are loving this wonderful weather. Everyday the boys ask if we can go for a bike ride after school. You all know that I scream YES!

I have also fallen in love with an exercise video. I am normally a gym girl. being around other people tends to motivate me. But this video is HARD! It is called Biggest Loser Last Chance Workout. It is killer and I just cannot get enough :)

School is going wonderfully. Our poet this week is Carl Sandburg. The artist we are viewing is Claude Monet. Joshua is learning about Adoniram Judson, personification, fractions, spanish, and he is reading Naya Nuki. I am reading Calico Bush as our current read aloud. Asher is working on addition and subtraction. He is also learning about David Livingston, how refrigerators work, spanish and I am reading James Herriot's Tales as his current read aloud. Elliana is loving her school :) She memorizes her bible verse each week and sits quietly for her read alouds. I just love teaching this little girl :)

We are busy with Life Action every night for the next two weeks. So far it has been wonderful. I look forward to what the coming days will bring.

My Baby is 3!!!!

It is a very special day in the Nelson household :) Elliana Helen turns three today!!!! At our house we celebrate birthdays all day. When the kids get up they open their presents from us. We spend the rest of the day doing things that the birthday boy or girl likes.

Elliana watched Diego after breakfast (her FAVORITE video). We ate lunch at dads work (a traditional birthday activity for the kids). After lunch I took them to the gym to swim. Elliana loves to swim :) Tonight people will be stopping by to wish her a happy birthday. A great day for my little girl :) Here are some pictures of her special day...

Bright in early! She is ready to open her presents...

Joshua made her a dress, crown, and slippers made entirely of construction paper. Yeah, he is cool! She LOVED it!

Elliana telling me she is three...

Training Update

I have many activities on my schedule this summer.

June- triathlon, 5K

July-Century bike ride, triathlon, the Bix

September- 1/2 marathon, 30 mile bike ride with Aaron

I have been training pretty strictly for some time. I have been listening to my body and all the aches and pains that go along with pushing yourself. As a result I have backed off when I needed to and have been injury free!! This is my training schedule..

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Sunday- rest

Monday- 1 hour of weights

Tuesday- 16-20 mile bike ride followed by a short run

Wednesday- 1 hour of weights

Thursday- 16-20 mile bike ride followed by a short run

Friday- 1 hour swim

Saturday- 5 mile run

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In the afternoons the kids and I have been going on bike rides. I am pulling about 60-70 pounds for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Two or three evenings a week I do a quick 2 mile run after dinner.

I have been running 10 miles every couple of weeks. But I want to make sure that my knees are in good shape for my triathlons. My longest distance will be 5 miles until July. At that point I will go back to 10-13 mile long runs.

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I am definitely getting in more than enough activity:)

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Now for some cute pictures of my kids...this cat is well loved..and very patient :)

Wonderful day!!!!

The kids worked hard all morning to get their school work finished early. They had big plans for this afternoon. As I have mentioned before, we LOVE our old neighbors. They are just wonderful people. The boys decided it would be fun to surprise a good friend of theirs after school. I was super excited to see the adults in the neighborhood :)

We were able to spend a lot of time playing and chatting :) It was a wonderful afternoon!

We have also been able to spend time getting to know our new neighbors. They are wonderful and we look forward to learning more about them :)

The kids during an art lesson this afternoon...

Week 28

We have a lot going on this week!

Joshua-

We have been studying the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Joshua will be writing several articles about this adventure for a newspaper that he will be putting together this week. Last week we examined Protozoa. This week we will study food, air, and water cycles. Joshua has been doing very well in his Rosetta Stone Spanish program. It is awesome to hear him speak the language while he works. We will continue working on punctuation this week (specifically quotations). But I am adding in some review of simple and compound subjects and predicates. Joshua is reading a "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". He will also begin reading "Sarah Whitchers Story". The artist we will be focusing on is Van Gogh and the poet is Kipling.

Asher-

We have been investigating mountains. He has learned about the animal and plant life at various elevations. Asher is doing great with math. He has picked up addition and subtraction easily. We are working on Spanish vocabulary daily. We throw in some Rosetta Stone Spanish periodically. Asher is a great reader! I love setting him up with a bunch of books and letting him go :) As with Joshua the artist we will be focusing on is Van Gogh and the poet is Kipling.

Elliana-

I started Elliana on the Sonlight preschool program two weeks ago. She is loving it! I love listening to her as she repeats her bible verse each week. Each day we read Mother Goose, Little Treasury, Lion Storyteller, Bernstein Bears Big Book of Science, and a bible story. She is great at listening while I read. Just about everyday I look up while I am reading and the boys have wondered in and are listening to Elliana's stories. Reading aloud just beckons them to come.

Read Alouds for this week-Wizard of Oz, Justin Morgan had a Horse, and Lewis & Clark Expedition.

Some things I want to improve on this week:

-More time of indivual reading. I would love for the kids to spend at least 2 hours daily reading (1 hour alone, 1 hour read-aloud). More than one hour of individual reading would be great. I hope to accomplish that this week.

-Go back over past topics for review.

-Lower the noise level during school time. I am shooting for a quiet atmosphere, hard to get that with three kids. But I know it is possible :)

-Spend some time each day exposing the kids to the world outside their front door. It dosen't take long and it is so important.

Aaron leading family devotions this evening.

Things are changing...

Elliana biking at the old house..

It has been a crazy two weeks. We packed up the U-Haul on a Wednesday (with the help of my brother, dad, and step-mom-they were awesome!). We slept in sleeping bags on the floor of our old home that night. It was not at all comfortable. But I would not have stayed anywhere else :) The next morning Aaron got donuts and we ate our last breakfast on the kitchen floor. It was wonderful. We heard a knock on the front door. It was a little girl from next door. She wanted our new address. I could see that she was a bit upset. She has become a great friend to my kids. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and her little sister. My heart was breaking when I saw her little lower lip tremble. My kids do the same thing when they are upset.

Later that morning we said our final goodbyes to our old home. We knew it would be hard to leave, but it wasn't really sinking in that we would not be coming back. We spent the last 8 years of our life coming and going from that point. Could any place else really be home? We were about to find out.

The kids enjoyed a morning at Aunt Leah's while Aaron and I attended both closings. After the second closing we picked up the kids and headed to our new home. We were all very excited. The U-Haul was on its way, things were going to get crazy. Dad and my brother came to help unload and set up furniture. Without them we would not have been able to make this move. It is wonderful to have loved ones! A friend of mine brought all her kids to help us unload. She then started unpacking my kitchen for me. In no time at all it was completely set up and functional. So much stress just left at that moment. The hardest part for me was going to be setting up the kitchen. She did it all, far better than I would have :)

In two days the house was unpacked and everything was put away. By the end of the next week the garage was organized. We still have a few things to pick up from Aaron's parents, but other than that we are moved in!

Our last home was a whopping 1000 square feet with ONE bathroom. Our new home is quite a bit larger with more than one bathroom! I am happy to be in a bigger space. I know my family fits physically better here. But I have shed many tears.

We LOVED our old home. The cul-de-sac was ideal for playing outside. The neighbors were wonderful. I miss them so much. We knew the sounds perfectly. I could tell who was pulling in or out by the sound of the engine. The sounds at our new home are...new. I don't know any of them. My new neighbors are all very nice. But my old neighbors, they have my heart.

So many times I have regretted this move. We are not the type of people that think bigger is better. We know a home is not a building. We would be happy living anywhere. Which is why I wonder if we should have moved. We left behind people we adore. People that have shared a part in our life for 8 years. They watched my kids grow up. Cheered them on when they learned to ride their bikes. We shared so much. It is so hard to walk away from that.

Although at times my heart questions our decision to move. My mind knows that it was something that will be beneficial to us in the years to come. The kids are not getting any smaller, interest rates will go up after April, house prices are low. More importantly we feel that God has given us this home. We waited 3 months for our home to sell. During that time many people wanted to buy this home. But each and every time it fell through. God kept shutting those doors and opening them for us. It is wonderful to be in a place that God provided.

In time my heart will heal. We will make new memories in our new home. But we will never forget the home that we leave behind.

And it begins...

Loading up!

Grandma Sandy teaching Joshua all about horses :)
Kids blowing bubbles outside our new home.

Elliana and the newest member of our houeshold, Ben

Elliana unrolling the paper towels, she was "helping" :)

I love our basement. It is set up to be a place for my kids to create and make messes!

Update!

We are in crazy mode over here! I will have no time to update the blog for the next week so I thought I would give a brief overview of our crazy life at the moment.

We are moving in 3 days. I have packed about 120 boxes in the last week :) Everything is ready to go, now we just wait.

In the midst of packing I realized that this is the summer for Asher to learn how to ride without training wheels. And we will be leaving our cul-de-sac in just a few days, the perfect place to learn this skill. So you know me and my over achiever craziness..I taught Asher to ride his bike!!! Yeah Asher!!! He learned in 3 days :) When he rides he grins from ear to ear, so cute :)

The next few days I will be cleaning and packing up the last minute essentials. Then we will be off to the next journey God has placed in front of us!

If you think of us, here are some prayer requests-
-safety for everyone helping us move
-moving will run smoothly and some awesome, fun memories will be made
-all the details of the move just fall into place
-we will have great neighbors, we will truly miss the neighbors we have now

The next time I post I should have some great move-in pictures!

121. The house inspections have gone smoothly.

122. A father who drops what he is doing to come and help his daughter.

123. Elliana's attachment to me. It is something I will always cherish.

124. The stillness of school days.

125. No screen days- I love watching my kids play, pretend and create without any outside influences.

126. Aaron playing cars with the boys. He is such a great dad.

127. My type B husband who enjoys his type A wife :)

128. How far God has brought me in my life. I never dreamed that I would be where I am today.

129. Brushing my daughters hair. God blessed me so much with this little girl.

130. Joshua's love for his little sister.