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!

Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart. and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Hath won my affections, and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy I could not live here;
Sin would reduce me to utter despair;
But, through Thy free goodness, my spirits revive,
And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart,
Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart;
Dissolved by Thy goodness, I fall to the ground,
And weep to the praise of the mercy I’ve found.

Great Father of mercies, Thy goodness I own,
And the covenant love of Thy crucified Son;
All praise to the Spirit, Whose whisper divine
Seals mercy, and pardon, and righteousness mine.

John Stocker/Sandra McCracken


Happy Thanksgiving!

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!

A big update from us: we're moving! I'll share more details when the process is complete. But, we found a place in which we are really excited to start a new chapter of our family adventure. Our cottage has so many beautiful, dear, precious memories written into the walls and I've had so many ugly cries about our time here coming to an end. Our baby house. Truly bittersweet. It went on the market on Quinn's birthday so that added to the sentimentality. 

We had Quinn's birthday party at our house. And there was a showing 30 minutes after the party!! But our girlie had requested a pajama pancake party with her dearest friends so we couldn't cancel. She planned the menu which included whipped cream, berries, sprinkles, and bacon as toppings, vanilla milk to drink, and decorating pillow cases with markers and glow in the dark stars as the activity. It was a very sweet time. 

A lot of the kids at the party were neighbors and I just have to say we will miss our neighbors so much!! The husbands, wives, and children have been such a formative part of our development as parents and were such a gift from God. It's been nice in these final weeks that we've had lots of celebrations with them all. The moms went out for 7 hours (woohoo!) of girls night out time to celebrate a baby on the way. The kids and I also made a special trip for donuts with the expectant mom and soon-to-be big sister. There have been dessert nights, pizza nights, and many park dates. We also went to the pumpkin patch together for the fourth time in a row. (Photos at age two and this year)

Yes, those are their shoes beside them. First thing they did after choosing a table was take off their shoes. I guess one must be comfy to eat donuts? Quite a curious pair these two.

Our growth group has started up again for the year and it's shaping up to be another great group. The kids had their doctor check-ups and Quinn is 5 inches and 5 pounds bigger than Archer. She is about 20th percentile and he's about 80th. It will be interesting to see what their growth patterns are like in the future. 

Jonathan and I spent our date night in September writing an offer for a house and we had a nice date day last week going out to brunch, eating ice cream, and wandering home decor shops. I'm so grateful to get to live life with this inspiring, thoughtful man.

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. 

The past few months have been quite eventful for Archer. He can climb anything. He's trying to say a lot more words - for a long time he was more of a grunt and point kinda guy. He's thrown some impressive tantrums. He got four molars and one tooth in one month. He earned the nickname Wild Card for his unpredictable, rascally ways. I think he grew an inch while we were in Niagara Falls because when we got back he was suddenly able to get enough leverage to turn door knobs and his pants are all too short. He does some sort of bear/lion/monster impression to chase us around the house. He's really good at tackling. We are just smitten with him!

Here he is in all his 18 month old glory!

Last week I went to Niagara Falls with the kids and my parents to visit my grandparents. I felt like a traveling circus the majority of the time because, you know, young kids on planes, in airports, in hotel rooms, in homes with lots of breakable antiques, etc. But all in all the kids did really well. Quinn could strike up a conversation with anyone or put on a song and dance performance. Archer showed off his sprinting skills and his new favorite word: poop. My grandparents have a really old, super bouncy bed that the kids loved bouncing and wrestling on and Raffi videos on youtube saved the day in the car on many occasions. My parents and I have a lot of very special memories from this trip that we can laugh about now. It was wonderful to see my grandparents interact with my kids, especially since Pa's health has been declining in recent years and Grandma June was just diagnosed with lung and brain cancer. They are in our prayers constantly.

The week before, Jonathan traveled for work to San Diego so I visited family in Eugene. Quinn got to say, "Play ball!" on the microphone to start the Eugene Ems game and get high fives from all the players in the dugout, which was pretty exciting for her. We also went camping with our church growth group which was such good fellowship. There were lots of fun wooded paths and places to explore. Archer, being the adventure seeker that he is, was bitten by a tick. Completely disgusting, but he's fine. 

Jonathan has been training big time for the Tough Mudder this weekend. He's been going on longer runs with friends and got to run along the beach in San Diego. I'm so glad he's healthy and strong and able to do stuff like that. 

Quinn started school today. Home school pre-kindergarten that is. I'm doing a daily learning notebook with her with some basic calendar, weather, time, and math elements. We'll also do Bible verses, some Montessori practical life activities, and follow her interest with reading and writing. She just wrapped up gymnastics and we'll be doing ballet and Bible study again and possibly swimming. She shared a Bible verse with me that sounds generally theologically sound except for the reference:
"Don't be afraid and don't be grumpy of your soul." John 23:5 - Matthew 2:13-4

Today, we played Trash the House. Quinn won.

This is the title I give to those wild days when we stay in pajamas a long time. When I don't suggest important life skills like putting things away before starting something new, we just go from make believe activity to baking to game to painting nails and leave chaos in our wake. The whole day blurs into a seven hour stretch of noise and imagination. 

This week has consisted of a lot of time away from our home and a lot of people in our home. When both kids woke up early and the clouds were drizzling, I knew it would be a Trash the House day. Quinn started the day grumbling and headed to nap time with a full love tank and heavy eyelids. 

I'm mostly recording this in the hopes that I will reread this some day in the future when I need to be reminded that God gave us this house to enjoy it, to use it, and to share it. This house serves us, we don't serve the house. The glory of a homemaker is to watch loved ones fully immersed in the home-y-ness of a home.

Mr. Bright Eyes Archer Man. This cheery guy has three teeth now! His bottom two just came in and his top right is working its way through. He's been a real trooper. He is full of da-da, ma-ma, dee-dee, ba-ba sounds these days and baby lion roars. He giggles constantly, even when he's alone. He has the most munchable cheeks and the softest, feathery fluff hair. He is still loving solid foods and seems disappointed if he notices something different on his plate than we are having. There have been a handful of times when I have given him a piece of fruit or vegetable because whatever we are eating would be tough for him to eat and he'll grunt and groan until I give him some of my food. Jonathan and I constantly find ourselves just watching him and then looking at eachother and chuckling because he's just so cute and goofy. 

A lot of fun memories the past couple weeks. The kids dressed up in Halloween costumes four times this year. It was starting to feel a little ridiculous, but they had fun. Quinn's top two choices for costumes this year were Mary Poppins or a midwife. It was close, but she ended up going for Mary Poppins. She really wanted Archer to be Bert with her and we just happened to have all the elements needed to throw together a chimney sweep outfit for him thanks to hand-me-downs. We went to our church harvest party, a pumpkin carving party, the library's dress up day, and trick or treating with our neighbor kids. Jonathan carved a perfect Mary Poppins pumpkin too, but we forgot to take a photo. Probably because our power was out for 30 hours. Fun times.

Archer got his first tooth and turned seven months old. He is such a lovable little guy and full of laughter and funny faces. I feel like he has really strong legs. I guess he has since the womb, really. We finally broke out the jumperoo because of his love for jumping and I think he might pound a hole through our floor. And beware of the splash zone when he is in any water, yikes. This dude is a little power house. But also so sweet and mild the vast majority of the time.

My parents took Quinn to Disney on Ice and that was quite a magical experience for her. There has been much skating around our living room with her Cinderella doll ever since. I took the kids to Salem to meet up with my sister and nephew. I'm so glad they live close!

Quinn and I went on a shoe shopping date courtesy of my grandpa's birthday gift card. It was love at first sight with these gold beauties.

Jonathan has been busting his hiney at work and around the house. He is an awesome husband and great with our kids and we seriously would not function at all if it weren't for him. He also bench pressed 205 the other day. What a man!

I also need to brag about my girlie. She had been talking about wanting to learn sports for a while so I had my parents sign her up for a sports class at the community center for a birthday gift. First thing, the morning of her class, she wanted to get into her sports clothes and was asking when class was every five minutes. She was wearing every single color of the rainbow even down to her socks. Seriously, she mentioned it in the car ride there. You would think based on appearances that she was going to be running the class.

But when we arrived, she suddenly became extremely overwhelmed and refused to leave the bench. It was soccer, which she was most excited about too. If there was any suggestion that she leave my side, she would wimper and cling on to me. I definitely questioned whether this class was a good idea. But I remembered that even when she was a little baby she had this tendency to want to observe at my side for 20-30 minutes before being held by someone else or exploring near other kids. So, the next week, I dragged her to the class again. It was rock climbing day and she insisted that I stand right next to her while she watched the other kids at the wall the whole time. She actually touched the rock wall for a total of about three minutes which I felt like was a small victory. Week three was basketball. She plopped on the bench immediately and when I or the coach would ask her to try for the first couple minutes, her response was, "Not yet, not yet." I got the idea to play up on her recent interest in echos and told her that bouncing a basketball in a gym was really fun because it made a loud echo. I plopped a basketball in her lap and told her to try. She dropped the ball and it made a loud sound and she smiled. I smiled back and told her to go get her ball, she hopped down, and joined in the class. Such a huge relief! I had misty eyes watching her try to dribble and shoot. Her physique isn't the typical basketball build, but she was so cute! 

After class, there was a froyo reward and proud smiles. The following classes were lacrosse and tee-ball and she joined the other kids immediately. It was so moving watching my baby girl overcome her fears.

Quinn keeps sitting behind Archer to "watch over him" and I had to snag this photo the other day.
She told me, "Archer is my best friend and I'm his best friend and I'm singing because I'm happy about it."

Over the past week, I've seen Quinn and Archer's friendship begin. It makes my heart so full. Archer's always loved watching her, but he's starting to try to interact more now. They were sharing a bath the other day and Quinn was splashing water everywhere. He would laugh so hard which made her laugh really hard too, which then made me laugh, of course. If she'd stop splashing, he'd look at her and start doing little splashes until she started splashing again. The whole moment was a real treasure, hearing baby, toddler, and my own laughter echoing off the walls of our tiny yellow bathroom. Quinn has been inviting Archer to play games, read stories, and join in the pretending. It's a joy to see their little relationship developing.

They had their doctor check-ups together last week and their stats were hilarious. Both are in the 50th percentile for weight, but Quinn is in the 5th percentile for height at 35 inches and Archer is in the 92nd percentile for height at just over 28 inches. I love it!

We went to the coast last week with Jonathan's family. It was beautiful weather and we were able to play at the beach four different times. Playing in the sand was Quinn's top priority. Archer got his toes in the sand and ocean for the first time. He's been to the coast twice prior, but was asleep in the Ergo both times. He seemed to like it a lot too. It was also nice to get some quality hang out time with everyone. Thanks, Jerry and Nancy for treating us to a nice getaway!

(bottom three photos by Jerry Gowins, http://www.jerrygowins.com)

We are thankful for a healthy baby

BOY!

All family members have now been told. We are so excited to meet this little guy. Quinn talks about and to baby brother all the time. "Show you run fast, baby brother?" and off she races. "Like book, baby brother?" He's still giving me a pretty easy time and likes to practice his dance moves all day.

Lots to be grateful for, thanks be to God! Quinn says, "raindrops" right away every time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I'm glad it's Friday! We had some busy weeks around here.

Jonathan was in NYC for a couple days for work last week so Quinn and I ate lots of brinner and macaroni and cheese. But we made sure to have lots of outings too. We were both glad to have Jonathan back though!

This week Jonathan's mom came for a visit, Quinn had her first dentist appointment, we had some crafting playdates, we played outside, and we had home group at our house. I also finished stamping fabric for the baby's curtains. I couldn't find anything just right so my pregnant brain decided to make my own fabric. Glad that's out of my system now, haha! And I've begun my secret Christmas elfing projects, so fun!

We're on track for a nice weekend ahead. Jonathan and I feel so blessed to be experiencing this season of life. So many joys.

I finished the quilt! Now I just need a bedskirt and some different sheets. The quilt is far from perfect, but was so fun to make. I followed a tutorial from a sweet gal we knew in college (check her out, tons of cute kids clothes). I used my favorite Amy Butler fabric that always makes me think of Quinn, a bunch of other fun prints in coordinating colors, and there are also some sentimental patches. The sentimental patches don't match terribly well, but I like that they tell a story. There is fabric from her nursing pillow cover (lots of hours spent with that beauty), her first birthday dress, her second birthday dress, and a patch from the baby sibling's fabric which is conveniently cropped out. We are telling my parents the gender in person this weekend. They are coming up to take us to Quinn's first hockey game, her idea by the way. The Canadian blood is strong. And we are telling a lot of Jonathan's family at Thanksgiving. 

We had a good week - date night swap, bible study, outings, a good prenatal check-up. Quinn is blessed with strong genes in the imagination department and they are really starting to show. She has been coming with us to my appointments and wants to reenact them over and over afterward. After the ultrasound, she started propping a book so it looked like a laptop to type on, laying a cloth napkin on top of me, and swiping a headlamp over my belly to "check the baby" as well as listen to my heartbeat with her ipod cord stethoscope and take my blood pressure with the head lamp band. Oh dear. She pretends the arms of her sunglasses are soap pumps and has us all "wash our hands" frequently. Every blanket in the house has turned into a "poody dress" to walk around in. We do laps all around the house pretending to go places. She pretends to crack grapes like an egg. Most entertaining lately has been when she makes me follow her around looking for a moose hiding in our house. She finds it every time, but I have yet to see it. I really really don't know how she came up with that one. And when we went to the pool today, I had her wear sandals. She told me, "Quinnie wears sandals, match Jesus." I guess it's true though.

I'm now one step closer to Quinn's room being nested. I wanted to get the majority of her projects done before I find out the gender of the baby and start attacking that room. With this week feeling really busy with responsibilities, this floor cushion was a nice creative outlet. I've officially declared sewing as my hobby. I never ever thought I'd say that. Now, that doesn't mean I'm saying I'm a skilled sewista, just look up close at this cushion and you'll see plenty of funky spots. I've just been taking more risks lately and having tons of fun with it. I wanted to use Quinn's nursery curtains to make a fun reading seat for her since the baby will have their own new fabric for curtains. I saw a floor cushion tutorial that looked pretty straight forward and cute, and after I saw it reviewed, I decided to go for it. Let me tell you, if you have a sewing machine and could use some floor seating, you have to try this. I did it without any shouting or crying!

And Quinn loves it! (Particularly dragging it around by the handle and pretending it's a suitcase as she goes to the airport.)

And Happy 20 weeks to me!!

Sometimes, your child thinks their daddy is so cool, that one of their favorite games is pretending to wait for the bus. If that's the case, and you have an empty apple box, then you just have to make a bus for them.

We went to our friend's annual pumpkin carving party this weekend. So fun!

The pumpkin bump in the photo above has been kicking me nonstop since 16 weeks, 6 days. I can't believe I will hit 20 weeks on Thursday! We are really looking forward to the ultrasound coming up soon. We visited our friends' newborn Eden this weekend and my baby kept kicking Eden while I was holding her. Maybe they'll be buddies one day.

Time for a bunch of photos!

We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend (big surprise, right?)

Otherwise we've been busy playing outside and making applesauce. And we started hosting a home group for our church which has been a big blessing.
Quinn has been wanting to swaddle her toys lately as well as be swaddled while she reads.

And if we ever thought Quinn was a chatter box before, oh man, she's turned it up a notch. She loves reading and singing and talking and playing pretend non stop. She's usually resistant to anything in her hair but clips. Today she allowed some pigtails. Every serious gardener wears pigtails.