105/365...enJoy

We recently decided to take the plunge and obtain a membership to Costco. With this crew of boys (who already have hearty appetites) and their sister (who can certainly hold her own) only getting older and bigger, we're hoping the bulk shopping will help us out a bit. My hesitation to join the club all of these years has been due, in part, to a certain tendency to get lured into "good deals" on this "awesome thing" (ask Jimmy about our collection of highlighters in the early days of our marriage when we had a Sam's membership). So, we've both determined that we're still going to buy the same types of things that we always buy so that we really do end up saving money.

And then the kids saw the enormous box of Goldfish. And the huge tub of animal crackers. Two things that I haven't bought in a long, long time. And I caved. They were a good deal. I told them they could choose one to have as an occasional treat and when they were leaning towards the Goldfish I casually mentioned that Daddy really liked animal crackers. That swayed them unanimously and before I could even blink we had a 4lb bucket in our cart. 

Jimmy was like a little kid when he made the discovery this evening and was super excited to make his fancy coffee and have it with his treat. He called it poor man's biscotti. It's the little things in life, right?

Simple pleasures joy...

104/365... enJoy

I know that as a mom who is "in the trenches" day in and day out, it can become all too easy to miss the growth and change in our kids. It happens so gradually and it seems like there's always something to be working on, so we can easily miss the very real progress being made and the hearts that really are being shaped and changed.

Recently I've been able to stop and really notice the growth in my sweet Sam and I'm so grateful. The very things we've been praying for most in his life are beginning to show fruit and that has encouraged me so much. He's grown in his thoughtfulness towards others, his willingness to kindly and gently help his younger siblings (without even being asked!), and his ability to accept and acknowledge when he's wrong. And I'll admit, it's a sweet reminder (and a huge relief!) to me that the Lord works in the hearts of our kids despite our weaknesses as their parents.

Sweet Sam joy...

103/365...enJoy

These tired feet got to cash in on a huge treat today. Jimmy purchased a one-hour prenatal massage for me and I was so incredibly grateful to get to take advantage of it this afternoon. This nine-month pregnant body thoroughly enjoyed such pampering. I just hope I didn't snore 'cause I'm pretty sure I fell asleep within the first five minutes.

Thoughtful pampering joy...

102/365... enJoy

After we told them about the baby eagles in Iowa, Grandpa joined Jack in his obsession with watching them. Weeks later, Jack still begs to check on "babies" on a daily basis, and now (thanks to GaGa and Grandpa!) he has his own little eagle to carry around and love. And he truly loves this little thing already! Right after he opened the box and found the "eadle!" he wanted to introduce him to the babies.

Watching the eagles with his eadle joy...




101/365...enJoy

Bug Soup has been on the Kyker family menu for as long as I can remember. It's been cooked up at my feet by all of our toddlers and has bought me time to make more... appetizing.... meals more times than I can count. I've gotten really good at pretending that Bug Soup is my absolute favorite thing in the world to eat. The truth is, I actually do love Bug Soup (but for reasons other than because it tastes good).

Bug Soup joy...

99/365...enJoy

One of Trav's birthday gifts this year was a model rocket that actually launches. He was pretty pumped. And then promptly bummed when a necessary component (the launch key) was missing from his kit. And then missing from the replacement kit that the company sent us. Yesterday, two replacement launch kits arrived in the mail, both containing launch keys. : ) Excitement filled the air as the entire neighborhood came out to witness the long awaited event. And it did not disappoint! It went higher, faster and farther than any of us expected. I think it was definitely worth the wait.

3, 2, 1.... Liftoff! joy....








98/365...enJoy


My fabulous friend and sister-in-law has offered to help us ease into our Life with Six by having our two little boys over for frequent play dates at their house. They completely love it over there, so when I surprised them this morning with the news that they would be heading over they were beyond excited. I loved knowing that they would be having the time of their little lives with their cousins.

I also loved that it meant a good, solid chunk of big-kid time, which is a rarity around here. There were no spills or tantrums over specific spoons over breakfast. Everyone was able to dress him or herself quickly. School was uneventful and finished in time for us to go to their favorite park (the one I won't take them all to by myself because it's too big and crowded for me to keep up with everyone), and then we still had time to pick up some art supplies and head home to paint with "real paint" (not watercolors). And none of it spilled!

It was so easy and really fun to get to just BE with the big kids for a few hours. And it made me laugh that we talked about the little boys many times and wondered how they were and what they were doing.

Big kid time joy...



97/365... enJoy

One of the many things that was important to us as we were making our homeschool curriculum decisions was that whatever we chose would be full of good books. Jimmy and I both love to read (the fact that he can't usually stay awake for  much longer than a few pages at a time does not diminish his love of good books), and we wanted our kids to love to read as well. We think one of the ways to ensure that is to saturate them with good books right from the very beginning. 

Imagine my delight when I found one of my very favorite childhood books on our reading list for this school year. It was hard to see it on the shelf and have to pass by it whenever I was looking for a new book to read aloud to the kids, but I was determined to wait until it came up on the schedule and fit into the time period that we were studying. And this week it finally came. It had been so long since I'd read it, but I was already tearing up in the first chapter remembering how it was all going to go! Fortunately, the kids are used to me becoming emotionally involved in our stories, so their usual laughter and eye rolling (and offers to read for me) were no surprise. We flew through it pretty quickly and I think they enjoyed it almost as much as I did (evidenced by the fact that they were willing to sit and listen to more while being able to see the neighborhood kids playing in the back yard).  Good books make school time cozy and fun.

Good books joy...




96/365... enJoy

One morning when our school reading time just wasn't working out too well, I remembered that Travis used to have what we called "crib time" when he was a toddler where I'd turn on some music and give him a pile of books to "read". I remembered him loving it and it gave me a chance to have a few minutes to accomplish something knowing that he was safely confined. And any mother of an almost-two-year-old boy knows that safe confinement is a very, very good thing. 

So, that morning we revived crib time and my little Jack completely loves it. I'll tell him it's time for music and books and he goes running, climbing the stairs as fast as his little legs will carry him, starts the cd and begins tossing all of the books in his little basket right into the crib. It buys us a good 30 minutes to get our reading done and I think he sees it as his little mid-morning quiet time. And he's always excited to show me his books when I come to get him.

With a new baby coming we've been talking about moving Jack into a big boy bed (he's our oldest child to still be in a crib), but our new-found love of crib time has me thinking he might just stay in there a little longer. Baby won't need the crib for a while anyway. : )

Safe (and happy!) confinement joy...