Back to school in the Gowins house! We just wrapped up our first week back in the school routine. It was a very enjoyable week. I planned out a little block system for what I hope to accomplish each day while still keeping life flexible. This summer I trained the kids on some basic chores so they can easily do them now. Each day begins with some simple self care items, breakfast, and chores before our morning meeting. Morning meeting includes praying with the Voice of the Martyrs prayer calendar, reading a Bible story, and working on Awana memory work. Then we do a little Math three days a week, or go to CC. Twice a week both kids have swimming, and the other days we try to run an errand or have a play date. Then we settle in for lunch, followed by quiet time, followed by some writing/language arts. After that they help me with a little dinner prep and then we cozy up for some read aloud time until Jonathan gets home.

The highlight of the week was on Quinn's first day of kindergarten. During our morning meeting, she had some questions about our Bible story. Through the discussion she realized that she believed all the things we were talking about (and has for a while) but wanted to officially tell God. We prayed, admitting that she knows she sins and thanking God for sending Jesus to take the punishment for her sins, for adopting her into His family and preparing a place for her in heaven forever. Then we talked about the Holy Spirit and how all God's promises in the Bible are true for her and always will be. I did not anticipate that conversation at all. I can't believe what a huge blessing it is to be enjoying Jesus with my daughter as part of her first day of kindergarten. 

We wrapped Summer with a neat little bow after a couple days in Sunriver with my family. There was a ton of bike riding, baseball, eating, and just tromping around. Jonathan and I even got a little date brunch. I'm so thankful to have that getaway each year.

Today marks two months of homeschooling and one month of Quinn being five. Both have exceeded my expectations and been a lot of fun. 

Our homeschool routine is broken into two parts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I initially had an agenda planned out for tidying up, eating breakfast, starting school early, etc. but the reality is that my two cuties wake up wanting to play for an hour before doing anything and they play so very well together first thing in the morning that I feel like it's vital to just give them this time. So, we get our "morning meeting" done before noon, so it's technically still morning. But I've relaxed the schedule. The morning meeting consists of prayer, Bible story, calendar/weather discussion, and Math lesson. Probably the most meaningful part of our day is the prayer time. We are praying with the Voice of the Martyrs prayer calendar with the map right behind us so we talk about the country and what hardships the people there might experience. Quinn also asks what words like discipleship, persecution, and church plant mean from the prayers listed. Pretty deep stuff and so satisfying to my soul to discuss this with her. For the calendar, I whipped up some laminated weather cards, a thermometer card, and a person to draw weather-appropriate clothes for each day and we're working our way through the Saxon Math Kindergarten curriculum. So far, it's honestly a bit too easy, but Archer is enjoying learning the days of the week. He joins us for morning meeting with a little white board and pen and seems to enjoy it. We do a Math lesson from Saxon too that Archer joins. The lessons have also been too easy for Quinn, but luckily I can find ways to extend and deepen the concepts. Quinn is really into graphs and fractions so I usually go that route or make a story problem. I also have Archer do a small letter of the week activity and he's remembering lots of letters.

The second part of the day happens five days a week. During Archer's nap, Quinn and I work on language arts. She just finished "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" on October 18 and her reading is progressing rapidly. When we wrapped up that book, we started "Cursive First" which will lead into "Spell to Write and Read". We spend about 15 minutes on this, then I have her read a book to me, and then 15-30 on a fun read-aloud together all cozied up. We are about to start the last book in the Little House series. 

One day a week, we are at Bible study all morning. The kids really like their classmates and are learning a lot. Another day each week we are part of a homeschool group that has been such a rich time for all of us. Both kids are singing history sentences, Latin, skip counting, and all sorts of surprising facts. 

We also make sure to fit in playdates, ballet and swimming (just graduated up another level last week), art projects, and outdoor time. 

For Quinn's fifth birthday, we had a laid back "drop-off" party. Six little five year old buddies came over to play Lego games, make Lego art, and eat a Lego cake. It was very sweet. We also had a nice family breakfast and special dinner that day. Quinn is such a bright, bubbly, capable, glittery little lady. It's been a joy to watch her discover reading and to see her excitement for learning. She is still on the petite side at 40 inches and 36 pounds and I just love her tiny, delicate hands. She has a heart for truth and goodness and so much love in her heart. We couldn't be prouder of our girlie!

The past month or so has been such a relief for me. Quinn and Archer have reached a point developmentally and in their relationship where they actually play well together. The phase of battles, shouting, and tears was starting to feel like it would last forever. They had to be supervised constantly. I prayed about it, sought the advice of parents one step ahead of me, read books and all signs pointed to it being a phase and that I need to stay strong and be consistent. I didn't want to have an expectation that they be best friends, but I wanted them to act respectfully. Well, I think Archer beginning to follow directions better and Quinn growing in empathy and using her words have finally brought us to where we are now. About a month ago I noticed the change in Quinn and pointed it out to her. I asked her if she had any thoughts about what had changed and she said, "Well, I learned and learned and learned about being nice and, finally, it stayed in my brain!" So, there you go. I'm sure it will ebb and flow, but for now I am soaking up how cute it is when they play together.

Right now, a big favorite is they both stick a ball in their shirt and run around bonking into things and each other. They also pretend to be animals, set up picnics/feasts, be a mommy or daddy to their stuffed animals, build with blocks, perform concerts, and lots of dancing. Today they pretended to ride horses that were really just garbage bags full of hand-me-down clothes and held onto the ties as reins. Also, playing inside the coat closet is popular.

Quinn's imagination continues to amaze us. The quotes I have recorded lately from her are so surprising. The other day we were playing Star Wars and she told me Chewbacca packed us a snack. I asked what it was and she said "not dirt and mice like Chewbacca eats, but Italian food, candy, and French Toast." She is really curious about Star Wars. While perusing the ballet section of the library, she spotted a Star Wars book and that kicked it all off. She has had Jonathan tell her about all the movies, knows tons of vocabulary and characters, and is constantly incorporating it into life. She requested to be Princess Leia for Halloween so we obliged. And Archer was an Ewok with a hand-me-down bear costume.

She has been doing great with our home preschooling and is enjoying writing a lot. At the start of the month she requested thankful leaves to start again and has taken the job of recorder for the family. She has also had some great questions lately about death, forgiveness, and other deep things. It's been amazing to be starting to sow the seeds of the gospel with her.

Archer continues to be loud, fast, and physical. He can disassemble the vacuum cleaner parts and reassemble them into a sword and can make a more realistic gun sound than me. I'm also starting to see his compassionate qualities really develop too. He'll often find two similar toys and bring one to another child to try to initiate play. If a child is crying, even a stranger, he'll go check on them. At a playdate he was heading toward a slide and a girl younger than him got there at the same time. He stepped aside and let her go first. 

We feel pretty blessed to be parenting these two! It's definitely challenging at times, but such a gift! 

We went to an awesome parenting conference a couple weekends ago that was a good refresh. We also went to Eugene that weekend to visit family. Quinn went to the Sleeping Beauty ballet with her grandma as a special treat. 

Halloween was rainy but we braved it trick-or-treating with the neighbors. Quinn was pumped about her seven pieces of candy, haha. 

Last weekend we spent the morning visiting some friends who just moved back to the PNW. Their house was so lovely and the kids all played so well. Otherwise we've begun packing, selling stuff, and planning what to buy for the new house. Jonathan has the day off so we are going to have an Ikea date and run some errands while my mom is visiting. Thirteen days until closing day!

My baby girl is four! We had cinnamon rolls with our eggs for breakfast to start the day. Jonathan took the day off and we took a picnic lunch to a park. We had a playdate with Quinn's neighbor buddy. Quinn picked Burgerville for her birthday dinner and then we had cupcakes at the park for dessert. A pretty good day overall I'd say. She seemed pretty pumped about it.

She went to a Mary Poppins performance with my parents last weekend and gets to see the Sleeping Beauty ballet with Jonathan's parents in a couple weekends. 

Our darling Quinn is such a treat to be around. She has a very full vocabulary, a very joyful heart, and loads of passion. She purposely mismatches her socks so that she can wear the most colors/animals at one time possible. 

Her favorite song is "Shut Up and Dance With Me." I know, parenting fail. But it's just such a good dance song for our pre-dinner dance parties. While singing it the other day, a seven year old friend informed her that shut up is not a good thing to say. Oops. 

Instead of just an imaginary friend, she has an imaginary city. It's called Doshington, and with the frequency she talks about it, you'd think it's real. She tells even tells complete strangers about it. Her children, Malia and Morris, and her husband live there and she works as a nurse there. It's a three mile walk from New York City. When we flew to Niagara Falls, she looked out the airplane window and shouted, "There's Doshington!" 

She wants to be a nurse, pediatrician, and veterinarian when she grows up. She also talks a lot about Star Wars and Marcus Mariota. One of my favorite things she says regularly is, "Mom, I'm this tall today!" I have a huge document full of all the surprising things she says.

Quinn, we love you. We have been so blessed to have you as our daughter for these four years and we'll be thankful to God for every day we get going forward. You are a real treasure. 

Today was the end of an era. Archer Man gave up nursing. Surprisingly, it all unfolded almost exactly the same way weaning went with Quinn. It came down to giving up the final morning one at just shy of 16 months and replacing it with a mug of cow's milk. I'm a little sad my nursing days are done, but most of all I'm so grateful to God that my body was able to feed two healthy babies for almost 32 months! Before I had children, I had no idea how everything would work out in this part of my mothering journey. What a gift!

Since I last wrote, we had the wonderful Littaus visit from the bay area. They just make us feel so loved and I'm so glad our kids can get to know them. 

We celebrated our ninth anniversary by walking to a favorite restaurant for a lovely meal. I love you hubs!!

The kids and I met up with some friends at a creek for some swimming and there were ducklings swimming there too.

We went to our friends' annual Fourth of July bbq. Quinn held about a dozen sparklers and Archer laughed at all the popping sounds from fireworks. 

We had another Sundae Sunday party with roasted strawberry and goat cheese ice cream.

We grew a strange conjoined twin zucchini.

We went camping with a couple neighbor families near Lincoln City. It was our first time in a yurt and it was pretty fun. Archer was mostly into practicing on the stairs, testing out bikes, and climbing into kayaks. Quinn spent most of her time playing ponies with the neighbor girls and picking flowers. 

Today we went to Oaks Park with the neighbors. Quinn went on a ton of rides and had so much fun! I was amazed how brave she was. Archer went on the hot air balloon, carousel, and train rides and seemed to like them.

Two weekends ago we had our first Sundae Sunday party of the summer. We made a delicious vegan chocolate coconut ice cream with just cocoa powder, maple syrup, coconut milk, and arrowroot starch. The kids ran all over the backyard in the overgrown grass and picked cherries off the tree in the golden sunlight while the parents chatted. So nice.

We went to a splash pad, a pool, and spent many hours in the kiddie pool. I'm so glad both of my kids love the water. We also went to Cottonwood Beach on the Columbia River with neighbors and the kids loved it. We went strawberry picking with the neighbors too and Quinn did really well. All in the bucket, none in the mouth and she was very selective about which ones to pick. She spotted bird poop on a berry at the start, so I think that contributed to the caution. Our garden is past the strawberry and raspberry season and half way through blueberries. I think the berries have only actually made it into the house twice. My little harvesters pick some every single day. We've been enjoying many carrots from the garden as Quinn likes to pretend to be a bunny. We made it through our out-of-control spinach harvest and kale is almost done. 

We finished up a special version of the game Risk with the Johnsons. It took almost a whole year of playing, but there were many laughs, desserts, and surprise victories. 

Quinn started gymnastics this week and loved it. Huge grin the whole time. We, of course, had to get gymnastics books from the library and now everything in sight is something to climb or jump off. 

I think it's safe to say Archer is officially walking now. He's been taking a handful of steps in a row for a while, and will walk forever holding a hand, but still wasn't taking the risk to really walk. At library yesterday during the bubble time he started walking all over the room because he was so excited about bubbles it distracted him. Since then he's been walking all over the house and even walked on bark chips last night. Here we go! He's down to just nursing in the morning, so it seems he's getting close to leaving the baby stage behind. Today he was playing with the shoes (his favorite) and covered his face with dirt. As his own idea, he took a break and came across the room to give me a huge hug and kiss and then went back to playing. So even though he's growing up way too fast, I think he's still going to be a cuddly love. For a while anyway.

My Mom came for a nice visit and my Dad was up twice for continuing education. Quinn is still really into practicing writing and she worked with my Dad on creating Em's baseball tickets for each family member for at least an hour. She was so focused. I'm so glad my kids know my parents well. And with Father's Day ahead, we are extra grateful for lots of time with Boppa this week. You are an outstanding, impressive person, Dad! We are all so immensely blessed by you.

And speaking of great dads, Happy Father's Day Jonathan! Quinn decorated a card for him with a questionnaire inside (thanks, Martha Stewart) and I feel like her answers are so telling of how much she can tell Jonathan delights in her. We all feel delighted in by you, Jonathan!! You are a caring, thoughtful father and we are all better because of you.

We have been spending a lot of time with our neighbors lately. There are four main families that we see the most, and two of those we have been close with for quite a while. A lot of nights we meet at one of the parks near us after dinner and a lot of weekends we end up congregating to hang out and bbq in someone's yard. It really is a huge blessing to a part of this community. This past weekend, I went out to lunch followed by ice cream followed by wandering Alberta with the other four moms. It was such a nice luxury and we definitely need to make it happen more often. Sunday, we hosted some kiddie pool time in our backyard and then grilled up some dinner for the neighbor families. Monday I went to the zoo with one of the neighbor families. It was Archer's first time at the zoo and he was very entertained. He seemed to enjoy the fish and turtles in particular because they moved so much right next to the glass. He also liked the giraffes and lions a lot.

Jonathan's parents came for a visit last weekend. We saw the author of The Pout Pout Fish at the Beaverton library with some friends a week ago. Archer loves that book and consistently says, "blub" whenever he sees it. The marvelous Changs were in town from the Netherlands and we were able to have a very long brunch with them. Quinn made a welcome sign for them. Ever since writing her name, she wants to write a lot. She'll ask me to write out a phrase on a scrap of paper and then vanish to her little desk to write it out. Yesterday she asked me how to write "mommy loves me" and reappeared with this.

She wanted me to put it on her door. My heart almost burst. Sometimes it's easy to wonder if I'm doing "enough" for my kids. When I'm ready to collapse by 8pm everyday, it confirms to me that I'm being busy for my kids. But do they know why? Do they feel loved? Am I just managing them or am I nurturing them? Us moms don't get annual reviews or grades. To me, this totally counted as the feedback my heart has been hoping for. Thank you, Lord. And I hope she never forgets that it's true.

We went to Sunriver last week with my family. It was such a nice time away. The kids woke up so early though, maybe because they were eager to play? We spent lots of time outdoors, went to the pool, I got two runs in, we played pickleball, we played cards, and ate lots of good food. The kids all got along well and it felt like we all got some quality time together. 

Quinn developed some new tricks this week. She can talk to lady bugs,

hang from high bars,

and write her name!

On her own, she realized she could do Q, I, and N so she wanted to learn the rest. The U was giving her so much trouble but she stuck with it. So proud of you girly!

It was a lovely Mother's Day weekend. Friday night I took Quinn to a mother daughter pajama party at our church. There were so many nail polish colors that she had me paint a different color on each nail so she wouldn't have to choose. Saturday morning we had a babysitter come so Jonathan and I could have brunch at our favorite place. After brunch, we had a picnic lunch in our backyard and the kids played for two hours in the kiddie pool. We spent the rest of the day at our neighbor boy's birthday party. Sunday we went to church and had a leisurely day around the house. Jonathan gave me a beautiful bouquet of peonies and Quinn surprised me with this gift on Thursday.

Archer took steps by himself for the first time as a gift. Jonathan and I had him bring us a ball back and forth while Quinn recorded it. It seems he needs a task to do or he gets impatient and wants to just crawl to his destination. 

It's a pretty big blessing getting to be these two cuties' mama. There are definitely highs and lows and everything in between, but I'm so grateful to God for my babies.

Kiddie pool season has officially begun at our house. We busted it out last week and the kids loved it.

We cooked on the grill for dinner last night and ate outside, it was so nice! It feels funny to be typing that while it's raining outside though. We try to take advantage of the sun whenever we can. 

We went to our neighbor boy's first birthday and our neighbor girl's fourth birthday. My mom came for a visit. I'm almost at the one year mark for running regularly. It feels longer than that! I think my favorite months to run were October through January which I was actually a little nervous that I would quit during those months. The kids had a little cold bug last week so we all took it easy to recover. 

Archer (finally) got his sixth tooth, so no more goofy asymmetrical grin. He has a sweet new dance move that looks like flapping his wings and then shaking his hair upside down. He's attempting some animal sounds - I've heard dog, cat, duck, and cow. Not accurate, but consistent. He regularly requests "Barnyard Dance" and other animal stories to be read to him.

Quinn loves to stand up tall and say, "I'm this tall today!" She asked me to measure her yesterday and she's almost two inches taller than she was on her third birthday! Yikes! She is still in constant narration mode and does multiple voices for her stuffed animals and alter-egos. She frequently talks about wanting to be a nurse, pediatrician, and veterinarian when she grows up.

Lots of traveling since I last wrote! After Archer's birthday, Jonathan went on his annual Canada trip with his longtime buddies and had a lot of fun. It's such a great group. I took the kids to Eugene for some extra help. We had a fun time with both sets of grandparents and were able to see my sister's family too. Archer made the switch to standard crawling and started walking all over the place with a push cart. It seems like with his gross motor development is so sudden. He goes from no attempts to mastery in a couple hours. He has funny little skills now too. One of my favorites is when he senses we are getting ready to leave, he pulls my shoes out of the shoe bench and he starts trying to put on his own shoes. He has turned into a real bookworm too. He doesn't seem interested in his toys anymore, just looking at books and trying to climb.

And he keeps trying to escape.

One morning, I heard Quinn calling from her bed, "Mom, come see this!" repeatedly. I'm always surprised by what I find.

I taught her how to say I Love You in ASL and she wanted me to see that she had gotten both hands in position and balanced her panda on her head. Wow.

Quinn and I went to a pinterest-worthy birthday party the Saturday before Easter. Our neighbor girl is interested in volcanoes right now, so the party was a volcano theme complete with a dry ice volcano cake, erupting volcanoes for each guest to decorate, and a live concert by the amazing Red Yarn. Quite an event. We also did a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and Quinn and I made empty tomb cookies. They may not sound appetizing, but they are just pecan meringues that are hollow inside. The recipe steps go along with Bible verses and the Resurrection story. It seemed to really make the story come alive for Quinn and I definitely plan to make it a tradition. We tried to host a potluck for our home group people, but it didn't work out this year so we just had a quiet, simple Easter Sunday.

This past weekend, we went to Eugene for my niece's birthday party. She was such a cheery little birthday girl.

We also saw my sister's new house - we are so excited for them! And we saw my dad throw out the first pitch at the Oregon Duck baseball game. 

Otherwise, we've just been enjoying the nice weather when we can and having fun together. Quinn's rope swing is truly magical right now with the cherry blossom petals falling.

Quinn requested her first drastic hair cut last week. She woke up Tuesday morning and said, "Mama, I want a cute little bob." After verifying fifty times throughout the day, I cut her hair that night and she's loving it! It totally suits her chatterbox, peppy personality. It makes her look a little older than Jonathan and I were ready for though, (sniffle). Here's the before and after:

Quinn just had her final dance class for the quarter last night. She loved it! She definitely wants to take more ballet soon. She requested many ballet books from the library leading up to the class and practiced all her poses. Each class she would get excited about choosing a different leotard and tutu combination and ask me to take photos of her different poses. During class she was totally in her element and very focused. Watching a bunch of goofy tiny dancers each week was heart-melting. 

Last weekend, Jonathan and I went on a date to a concert at church that was very uplifting. We went on a family hike with another family from church and had the Johnsons over for dessert and board games. Jonathan was in Wisconsin this week for work which always makes for an adventure around the house. Luckily, my mom and Jonathan's mom came to give me a hand.

Quinn and I got our first round of seeds into the garden today. Our current crops include five blueberry bushes, one golden raspberry bush, ten strawberry plants, a cherry tree, a rhubarb plant, a Jonathan apple tree we just bought as Archer's birthday gift, and hopefully some carrots, spinach, and kale. Archer tries to help in the garden too, but he mostly likes eating dirt and army crawling all over the grass.

Archer was dedicated at church at the start of the month. He giggled when we got up on the stage and he saw everyone looking at him. And he didn't fuss when he was handed over to the pastor, phew! Archer, we pray every day that God will make His love clear to you in your heart and mind and that you will choose to follow, serve, and love Him. That is our greatest hope for you above anything else. 

My parents were able to come up and we went to our favorite restaurant for brunch. It was a nice weekend overall.

This past weekend, we headed to Eugene for a visit. We spent some good time with Jonathan's family Saturday. We had an indoor picnic and Quinn got to live out her Robin Hood dreams with some help from her Grandpa.

We spent Sunday with my family. Activities included lots of loud piano playing and the usual making of a huge mess.

A neighbor family hosted a zebra-themed Valentine's Day party for the kids today that was a blast. Our neighbor and her daughter are quite the creative hostesses.  Quinn's been working on Valentine's cards for days. We had a date night last week and will probably do something as a family this weekend. And Jonathan has Monday off, hooray!