Four months later... Hey!

Well. Just like that 4 months have passed and I haven't blogged a thing. For a while I was just busy and didn't make time. Then I really didn't have the desire to blog, and I wasn't going to force myself to blog just for the sake of blogging. The last thing I need is another item on my virtual to-do list. Then I kind of started having the desire to blog from time to time, but it was just awkward after so much time had passed. Where do you even begin after such a long hiatus? Well, I still don't really know how to jump back in, but I figured I'd just start and see where it goes.

We are doing well here at the the Howie house! Life is busy. We're just in a new stage of life where our kids are getting older and starting to have interests of their own which means that we're doing more. Plus the fact that we, you know, have FOUR kids. (That still blows my mind from time to time.) The kids just keep us on our toes. We absolutely love it and wouldn't have it any other way, though!

We had a wonderful summer. We spent a lot of time at the pool, went to the beach, hung out with friends, and also had plenty of days at home with no plans. It was a perfect balance of activity and low-key family time. We are sad to see summer come to a close, but we're also looking forward to fall and the routine that comes along with that.

Aubrey is now in first grade and will be turning seven in just a few weeks. I mean, HOW did that happen so fast? We are still doing a homeschool program where she goes to school two days a week and we homeschool the other three days. It's been such a great fit for our family so far! She won't be going back to school until after Labor Day, but our homeschool assignments started this week. Thankfully we're starting slow and easing into our school routine. I'm excited about this new school year!

Jude celebrated his fifth birthday in July! He will be starting 4k after Labor Day at the same school as Aubrey. We will work on some preschool work with him at home, too. He has really gotten into "doing school" which has been fun to see. I don't push anything on him at this point. I want him to love learning and think it's a fun thing and not a chore. I don't think he'll be trying to get out of any school work when he sees me working with Aubrey :)

Alaina (who we still call "Lu" - Haha!) will be going to school for the FIRST time this year too! She'll be at school with her big sister and brother in the little 3k class. She's so excited! I don't think she'll have any problems making friends :) This will be the first time she's been away from me, and I'm going to miss her so much! But I'm really excited for her.

And Francie... oh, sweet little Francie. The one thing I regret the most about not blogging for so long is not keeping up with her monthly posts. She's doing so great! She's 10 months old now (!!!) and just the sweetest, happiest baby. Just ask anybody who knows her and they'll agree with me. It's not just because I'm her mom that I think that :) I need to do a whole post about what she's up to these days because she's changed so much in the past few months. The biggest news is that she's started school! This was a really hard decision for David and me, and we prayed about it and went back and forth for months. I was sad about the prospect of less time with my baby, but we ultimately decided that it would be in her best interest to go ahead and start school. She's going to a school for children with special needs, and they really work with these babies to hopefully prepare them to be in a typical classroom one day. It is our hope that Francie will eventually be able to go to the same school as our other children, so we think going to this school now will be great to prepare her for that. She started school last week, and we miss her tons when she's gone! Aubrey cried the first day Francie was gone because she missed her so much. She goes four days a week, and she's doing GREAT. They say she is just the happiest, easiest baby. See, it's not just me! ;) We're still adjusting to our new schedule, but I really do think this was the right decision. We really enjoy our three day weekends with her!

David and I are doing great too :) The kids pretty much take up all of our time. I've been going to the gym for the past month or so. I have always wanted to go to a group exercise class at a gym but have always been too intimidated to try it in the past. I finally just did it one day (with the encouragement of a friend) and I actually really enjoy it! It's nice to be able to drop my kids off in childcare for an hour and have some "me time" that's actually good for me! I'm hoping that I will be able to keep this up even after we really get into homeschooling. With Francie in school and the other three starting soon, I'll have two days a week with no kids (well, no kids until 1:00). This is the FIRST time I've had even one regular day with no kids since Aubrey was born, so it's going to feel so weird at first! I'm hoping to get a lot done during that time (grocery shopping, house cleaning, errands) so that I can be more present with the kids when we're all together. I think it will be a good change. But still! It's a change.

I think that's probably enough for now. I make no promises about the consistency of my blogging going forward. I do hope that I won't let QUITE as much time go by before my next post ;) I do miss recording little details about my sweet babies who are growing up right before my eyes, so maybe I'll rectify that!