The Buddy System

I thought I would explain the signage from this post a bit more.  First a confession, I do enjoy reading and watching the Duggars.  I have no desire to be like them because they are who God has made them to be.  And, well, our families are not going to be the same.  Ever.  That's just how God has made us.  So, please don't ask me if I'm "aiming for a reality show," or "trying to be the Duggars."  We may joke that we're competing with Mark's brother and his family (We'll win, we're younger and started sooner ;), however, it's not a competition.  We trust the Lord for our family and follow His lead.

Anyway, back to why I confessed.  Mrs. Duggar discusses the buddy system in one of her books.  I loved the idea and when Ceili Rain was born, it was perfect time to make a buddy system that worked for our family.  Big buddies help little buddies learn chores, buckle up, and stay safe in the parking lot, and when the little buddy is old enough, they help them get dressed.  Big buddies can change diapers if they want to learn but that is not a requirement.  Little buddies have to cooperate with big buddies and help their buddies with jurisdictions.  It makes life super easy when we can call out, "Grab your buddies!" and do a quick head count if we are out somewhere.

We also call "Ducks!" if we're walking through somewhere we have to be single file or it's very crowded.  Daddy duck is in the front, mommy duck in the back and the ducklings in the middle in no particular order.

Man, this post is full of rabbit trails.  Sorry.

So, Zoe and Ceili Rain are buddies.  Ace and Bryant are buddies.  Liam and Malachi are buddies.   And Josiah.

Well, he's been my buddy. As soon as we brought Malachi home from the hospital, Josiah has made sweet remarks about how he didn't have a buddy.  He never whined or complained.  Just in a matter of fact tone noted that he didn't have a buddy yet.  We told him he had to pray about that and ask God to bring us another baby.

We just knew he would be thrilled to find out he had a buddy.  I forgot that Josiah isn't big on expressing his emotions (he's his daddy if ever any of these kids were).  But, I still wanted to get their reactions on film.  Tracy was great with it and did an amazing job.  And although Josiah didn't hop up and down and yell and scream with excitement, he did carry around the announcement all day.  The next day he asked me where the paper was.    He also told me that he couldn't sit by his buddy in the car (because he has to ride in the back).  This is about as excited as Josiah gets about anything.

I totally wouldn't have it any other way.

And yet another rabbit trail, Big buddies do not immediately become big buddies.  They have to be seven years old and their little buddy has to be around 1 or so (usually walking independently and weaned) before they can take over full buddy duty.  In the in-between stage the Big Buddies love entertaining their little buddies and grabbing a diaper or burp cloth or paci when needed.

Goodbye Saturn, Hello Taurus

In March, amidst the flooding and such, we noticed Mark's car was a bit more temperamental than it usually is.  It's a '97 Saturn that we'd had for well over 8 years.  It's been a faithful car and Mark has truly driven it until it started falling apart and then some.  We had already replaced the transmission, and so when it started jumping between gears and when we backed up, we knew what the issue was.  A trip to the car doc confirmed it.  The transmission was about to go.  Mark listed it on Craigslist and within a week, it was sold.  I just really didn't think we were going to be able to sell it that quickly!  The Lord truly provided.  

 In another area of the Lord's provision, one of Mark's co-workers had a spare car and allowed Mark to borrow it until he got another one.

We were quite surprised when we walked on to several lots, offered a set amount of cash and told that they couldn't help us.  No one was really willing to help us when we were paying cash.  It became the same, "Well, if you finance, I can get you one for this amount of money."  We had both determined to not go in to debt to purchase a car.

So, we were left on our own to search.  By the way, there are a ton of scams on Craigslist so ya'll be careful when searching for a car there.  Big time scams.  The Lord protected us from those as well.

Mark finally found a car after about two weeks of looking and after having a friend who used to be a mechanic check it out.  He was sold.

Now, here's the thing.  We were paying cash.  It was a Saturday when Mark decided to purchase it.  We do not use a brick and mortar bank (it's an online bank).  There was no where to go to take out a money order and our bank only allowed a certain amount out at a time.  So, Mark went to the bank, dutifully, for several days, put some money down with the dealer and eventually, we had our car.  We found out later that our nontraditional bank will overnight cashier's checks for a small fee (well, small compared to the cost of a car).

So, here is the car the Lord has blessed us with!

It's a Ford Taurus.  I could talk about how cute it is and how great it runs and all that...but that's boring.  The main reason I wanted to post this was to have a record of how the Lord has provided for us in so many ways...especially in March!

A Real Gem

We took a quick field trip in March to the Gem and Mineral show.  It was quite interesting and the kids really enjoyed seeing all the different types of rocks and minerals out there.  Ace, my budding geologist, was in heaven!

 The kids were able to do a gem dig outside for a very good price.  We got all sorts of gems and minerals.

They worked very hard to find them.  We were introduced to the Gem & Mineral clubs around here and are hoping to one day participate as a family.  I love seeing my kids find something they enjoy and pursue it!

Happy Easter!

Yes, I know Easter was in March of this year.  I know I'm late.  No worries.  At least I got them in.  

 Annual Easter Egg Dying.

 Malachi...while trying to take pictures and hold him at the same time.

 Mark hides and the kids attack.

 "Hm, what is this thing and why are they hauling it around?"

 I love his face!  He's still not a big fan of grass on sock or bare feet.

 The kids decided to hide and Mark had to find them.

 I made hot cross buns on Good Friday.

 I made Zoe and Ceili Rain's Easter dresses.  The girl standing by Zoe has a skirt out of the same fabric.  Totally not planned.  Miss S. joined the picture because she matched!  I think they all look beautiful!

Look closely, that's Liam.  In a big Magnolia tree.  Zoe got higher than that but I was more concerned with her getting down in one piece (she slipped climbing down ya'll) than I was about snapping a picture.

To the Zoo

Ceili Rain's birthday fell during the week.  That meant she had to wait a few days until her actual party.  We decided to make the day special by loading up and going to the zoo.  It just so happened that that day was the day our Mother's Helper was scheduled to come.  I asked if she wanted to venture out with us and she willingly agreed!  Brave soul.

 Up first on Ceili Rain's agenda:  Feed the giraffes.

 Except she wouldn't feed them.  Thankfully, Miss C did!

 Malachi loved seeing them.  He grunted and pointed the whole time.

 Liam, aka Mr. Adventure, willingly fed them.  He didn't like the tongue licks though.

 Then we had to see the stinky elephants.  Bryant has a stuffed elephant for his cuddly (of course Ceili Rain's is a giraffe...do you see the theme?).  Bryant was thrilled beyond belief.  He was very intense watching them.

 One of my personal faves is the Kangaroo Walkabout.  The kangaroos are right there by you!  This time an amazing docent was there with a kangaroo hide to touch.  Liam was the only one who was willing to touch it for awhile.  Surprisingly, no one has a stuffed kangaroo for their cuddly.

 Ceili Rain got a stamp.  Big four year old birthday girl!

 Malachi, sling, and me.  Thanks Miss C for documenting I was actually there!

 The gang's all here!

As a reward for surviving the zoo with seven "monkeys" and a mama bear, we rewarded Miss C with funnel cake.  She was very thrilled!

PJ Day

Contrary to popular homeschooling myths, we don't do school in our pjs.  All the time.  We do occasionally have pj days but those are a lot less than our dress in real clothes days.  So, when PJ Day at Bruster's rolls around, it's quite the celebration.

Especially when it falls on your youngest's birthday!

 He enjoyed every bite.

Our neighbors ventured out with us (that's the cause for extra people in the picture).  As a bonus, Grandmere and Papa went with us too.  They were with us at the last PJ Day but that was a couple of years ago. Sorry, missed getting pictures of them.  But they were there!

First Haircut

If you looked at Chi's basket pictures, you will notice he is not lacking in one major area.  Hair.  It was with great trepidation, that I decided to cut Malachi's hair the week of his birthday.  My main reason for being so hesitant was the curls.  The boy has some beautiful sweet curls in the back of his head.  They are gorgeous I tell ya.

But, he needed a trim.  The poor boy was starting to look like a girl.

Off to work I went.

 This is precut.

 Okay, he really has curls.  It takes a few days after washing and they come out but guess what happened when I trimmed it in the back?  It got curlier.  One day I'm going to trim it all around and see if the whole head of hair goes in to curl mode.

Yes, this was quite an adventure.  I think I did this the day the house flooded and Mark was trying to talk to the water clean up guys and the kids were running around everywhere.  I'm never one to run from a challenge.

I will get pictures of those curls.  I promise.  Just be patient it may be a little while.