a little family update….

I know, I know…. it’s been a while… try over a year since visiting this tiny corner on the web. Once we started homeschooling. blogging just took a backseat.  Forget that, it got lost in the trunk. I’ve thought about it many times, with much in my head to type and say; yet the time and drive to do it just eluded me.  I don’t know if signing into WordPress today will inspire more posts in the future, or if it’ll be a once a year thing, but I place my fingers on the keyboard today with news to share. Most news is best said, yet when you have snippets of Facebook statuses or 140 characters on Twitter, it makes it hard to share news. Some news requires information or disclaimers, or like this one – a little back story. 

As most of you know, we have three precious children – Cade (9), Benjamin (7), and Harper (4). At the beginning of this year we were feeling that we weren’t quite done having children yet. We went back and forth, not really sure where God was bringing us to in our thinking. We finally concluded that our family would be richer with having one last babe. Unfortunately, God had other plans for us as we dealt with an early miscarriage in February and again another one in April. We didn’t share the news with hardly anyone – I think we felt disappointed and I can identify with feeling a sense of shame at my body failing. It was a rough time but we knew that we were okay and we just dealt through it and moved on. 

Just as we decided that we weren’t going to risk going through that again, we found out in June that we were expecting again. Yesterday we had an ultrasound that showed a moving and kicking baby with a strong heartbeat. Sweet baby # 4 will be arriving to the Richards family estimated March 1st. We are ecstatic to have another arrow that God has gifted us with, now we are praying for a healthy baby and an easy pregnancy. 

And yes, we know what causes it. It’s already crazy around here. My hands are full but so is my heart. And if you wait until you can afford kids, you won’t have them. Are we done? Probably, but we don’t need to have an answer to that now. Any other questions?? 🙂

 

taking care of mama

Starting 2012, I had a list of resolutions, or “intentions” as I like to call them. Doesn’t seem so weighty then. 🙂 As I reflected over them, I saw a common theme amongst many items; items like “make time to create weekly,” “go to bed early, wake early,” “go to yoga 2 times a week,” etc. The common theme was that I am craving caring for myself. As I get carried away, from the moment I awake, to the demands of mom, wife, housekeeper, educator – I forget to make time or priority to care for me.

However, if I don’t care for my needs:

• physical
• spiritual
• emotional
• intellectually

then I can’t possibly be caring for the needs of others in the best way possible. BUT, I find it SO hard to take care of me! Why? Before I had kids, I thought nothing of reading a book in the middle of the day or going to the gym. Confession: I like my family and being with them. I feel guilty at doing my own thing while everyone is together. But I NEED to be okay with it. I NEED to be okay with my husband taking the kids to the park while I have quiet time at home. I NEED to be okay with going to Starbucks a few hours on Saturday to do planning while he has the kids at home. I NEED to be okay with letting go of tidying up for the night so I can go to bed early. Once I actually break away and do it, I feel more relaxed and rejuvenated. I know I respond better to those around me and show my family my best, when I’ve given some of “me’ to me.

Some ways I plan on being more proactive in this area for the year are: planning a girls weekend away to refresh and relax, spend a few hours each weekend away from the house – planning for the week ahead, and creating time in my week to sew, create, craft, read, for yoga, and homemaking. The first thing was to decide it was a necessity for me and the second thing was to get my husband’s support.

Mama’s we don’t have to do it all ourselves. Go out, take a break, slow down, and take care of yourself. You’ll feel better for it and your family will appreciate it.

learning in the everyday

Often I find myself falling into a trap that has me thinking that the only successful days I have in homeschooling are ones that have a clear, organized, subject-filled plan in place. I’m okay following a day like that about 3 times a week. However the other days I am itching to get out of the house, explore the world around, run errands, and meet up with friends. When I fall into that trap, on those days I think about how the kids aren’t learning, I’m slacking in schooling, or they’ll never get x, y, z. I forget one of the main reasons we homeschool our children is so that they will see that learning happens all around – at any place or time. When I stop and reflect on that I remember that –

the brothers playing legos together this morning in a peaceful manner were working on social skills and math concepts in using the legos

free play led to the boys drawing maps of a friend’s home and yard, complete with a plan for spying on chickens

putting together the pieces of an animal habitat led to research about triops, crustaceans, and the observation of a roly poly

uninterrupted time inspired quiet reading of new library books

openly available art supplies inspired artwork, drawings in sketch pads, and chalk drawings

Sometimes I need to remember my own thoughts about learning happening all around — those lessons could be the richest ones that my children learn. Sure a plan is great, curriculum is a wonderful help, and I still feel the pressures to meet standards and “get it all in,” but I can step back and see that just daily living is not done in vain when I make myself available for the littles, provide resources and opportunities, and encourage them to explore.

What?! What?!

I’m blogging! I know it’s a crazy thing, since most of you think I’ve fallen off the face of the earth or something. But you know, New Year’s Resolutions and all…. I’m going to try to be more consistent with writing. You know when life gets busy, something has gotta give. And for me the past 6 month, that has been blogging. But I miss you guys. I miss the conversations, the encouragement, the dialogue between us. I love knowing that my words inspired someone. Or that I was encouraged by a comment left. So. although it’s been crazy around here — I can see a light at the end of the tunnel (I hope!). I love sharing about our family, my crazy kiddos, my heart , and what the Lord is doing. I will continue to do so in 2012. Call it a resolution or something. I actually call my long list of things “intentions.” That way I don’t feel so bad when I don’t carrying them out. 🙂 Hehe. No really though, I feel more give about working on them, not such a failure on January 10th. You know that feeling….

Anyways, Happy New Years, Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, and all the other sentiments I missed wishing you. 🙂

Let’s catch up…

all the way or not at all

this summer in Washington DC

I am one of those people who likes to do things all the way. I pour myself into something trying to make it my best. That sounds great, doesn’t it? People should try to do their best at all times. But along with that there is a tiny problem I have…if I can’t do something all the way, the way I think is best and needs to be done for me, than I lose interest or don’t do it. Sometimes I’ll work and try to be the best I can be – I read articles, books, blog posts. I talk to friends, experts, etc. on the subject at hand. I’ll spend countless hours making things “just right.” But there’s that pesky side that gives up.

Enter in blogging. I have this romantic notion of blogging each day, great posts, that everyone loves to read and comment on. I enjoy blogging to keep a record of how God moves in my life and my family, I like keeping the memories of my children and our family at hand, I enjoy the community that comes from the blogging world. Anyways, this summer was a whirlwind for us that to be honest, I think I’m just starting to come out from. Right after our whirlwind summer of travel, funeral, and church changes, we started the school year. Added to the school year, and for a homeschooling family, that means many different things…but I started teaching at a really neat school for homeschool kids two days a week. At times I have felt so overwhelmed. I have had to readjust my priorities and for many months blogging just couldn’t be the priority.

However, all through this I have learned many valuable lessons. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that I don’t have to do it all on my own. I have to turn over things to God to help me through. I place such pressure on myself to do it “just so” and that becomes heavy. I’ve learned to give up some things that really aren’t that important. I’ve had to evaluate my time and what I prioritize.

Anyways, all this to say, I enjoy blogging for the various reasons I blog. I’m going to keep going on in this tiny corner of the web with my thoughts, wishes, and ideas. I may not blog daily like I once did, but I am aiming for 2-3 times a week. You guys are such a blessing to me, and I know God uses my words to be a blessing to others that I want to make time for this.

Love y’all!

seasons of life

At the beginning of summer we knew we would be busy. We had 4 scheduled trips for our family to embark upon: a working week at a camp in Tennessee, a family reunion in New York, a family reunion in Michigan, and a beach trip to Amelia Island, Florida. Little did we know that within those weeks we would also have our church, that my husband planted 6 months ago assume another church in our area that was closing its doors and that we would attend a funeral for my husband’s grandmother.

Our summer of crazy and busy just turned into a summer of almost unmanageable. We would drive 13 hours for a trip to have my husband fly out of that airport 24 hours later to go back to church to do what he had to do. Then he’d fly back into town 24 hours later for us to drive the 13 hours back home at 6 am the next morning. Not even an hour after his grandmother’s service for her funeral, he flew home to be there for church. That time I decided to stay on with his family with the littles for the week and had a much needed respite.

I remember my sweet husband turning to me as we drove back from Michigan asking me if our life would always be so crazy. “Was this the new normal?” I couldn’t imagine that.

Today as I sat on the beach, watching my littles love the water, my husband relax in a chair to the tune of the ocean waves, and my family that I love so dearly around me, I realized that this is a season of life. I know Ecclesiastes 3 tells me that “there is a time for everything and a season for every activity.” To this I have to hold firm to. Things will change and we’ll find ourselves in either a new season or back to where we were. I won’t feel overwhelmed, broken, lost, and wanting. Hopefully by the end of this season I will embrace the conviction I’ve had this summer that I need full reliance on Him, the one who created me, the one who knows these are fine details, not the big picture – on God. Maybe we’ve had the chaos this season to remind me I cannot do it without Him. I need HIm. I need to get back to my reliance on Him.

I’m going to embrace this season and learn all I can from it. I know as I sit on the beach these last days that summer is coming to a close and soon it will be a new season. I will embrace it. I will turn to Him. And I will learn. Learn from it, more about me, more about Him, and more about my need for someone I can depend on.

 

I need your help! (& a giveaway winner!!)

Sooooo…… I’m sorry I didn’t post the winner last night or earlier today. I’ve been swamped with many many things going on, hence the lack of blogging lately. Traveling has gotten me all off routine, between laundry and packing/unpacking. Now I’m starting to get busy planning for next school year as well. Anyways……Thanks to all who listened to Erin Elisabeth Aubrey’s music! If you didn’t get to at least hear it, go back to HERE and check it out. She is a gem! I really think that many of you would resonate with her style and talent.

Okay, the winner of the CD giveaway was comment #3, Deanne Boswell!!

CONGRATULATIONS DeAnne on winning!!! I’ll get the CD to you this week.

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Alrighty: I need some help from y’all! I’m having a hard time focusing on issues and ideas to blog about lately. I think I’m just so busy right now with so many things going on and using up my brain cells, I cannot focus. So, help me out! Leave a comment below (or on Facebook) and tell me what you want me to write about! Maybe it’s homeschooling questions or information, maybe a crafty idea, a decorative idea, a follow-up to something I’ve shared previously, a kid concern. Whatever it is, let me know and hopefully it’ll give me some juice these next few weeks until things settle back down.

I love y’all! I hope and pray you’re having a wonderful summer!!

traveling with kids: some creative ideas & a giveaway

I feel like I’ve spent the better part of the past few days at home doing laundry to prepare for our trip this week to Michigan. Whew! Once this summer is finished and we’re home for good I’ll be so thankful. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved our family time and trips and all, but home is home sweet home. In preparation for our trip to New York last week I put together some GREAT travel boxes for the littles to do in the car and they had a great time with them. I highly suggest making some like them if you’re traveling with littles.

My children are 2, 5.5, and 7. In my boxes I put the following:

     For the baby – stickers (as seen above!), paper, a toy microphone, a travel magna doodle pad, a book, post-it notes, fruit snacks, a few candy treats, and a toy horse

     For the biggers – stickers, a notepad, colored pencils, a roll of aluminum foil (for sculpting). a pack of  pipe cleaners, a roll of tape, post-it notes, dry erase markers (for window art and a laminated Bingo game I made), a new book, a hidden pictures book, a book of mazes, fruit snacks, fruit roll ups, and a few candy treats

Some of the items I wrapped for the joy of opening them. I used the plastic shoebox sized boxes from the dollar store and I wrote each child’s name on the lid with a marker. When we go on trip 3 out of 4 of the Richards Family Tour next week, I’ll definitely be loading their boxes back up for our long car drive!

I also had read about doing a fun thing to help the kids pass the time and not ask “how much longer?” every 10 minutes. Out of colored paper I cut rectangles. On each rectangle I wrote “Travel Ticket.” Then I put a travel ticket for every 30 min. of our travel time in a plastic bag for each child. Every 30 minutes I would ask for a “travel ticket” and the kids would hand me one. You could even have them trade them in for a treat. It was great because they’d realize that they had 4 left in the bag and that would be 2 hours until we got to our destination. I don’t think they asked “how much longer” a single time. They were able to see how much time had passed and how much time was still left.

Hopefully some of these ideas will help you in traveling this summer with your littles. I think after we finish our 4th trip next month, I could write a book about traveling with kids!

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NOTE: Don’t forget to go to THIS post and listen to Erin Elisabeth Aubrey’s music! I will be giving her CD away tonight at 10pm to one of my blog readers who comments on THIS post. There haven’t been that many comments so your odds are GREAT!! 

Great Giveaway! Win a CD from Erin Aubrey!

While we were in Tennessee a few weeks ago, I had the privilege to meet Erin Elizabeth Aubrey. She was leading worship for the week of camp at Appalachian Christian Camp that we were a part of and I fell in love with her, her style, and her voice. I wanted to share this with you guys because I think you’ll like her, especially if you like music that has a different sound than mainstream pop. She has a sound that is much like Ella Fitzgerald and Norah Jones.  So, today I’m giving away one of Erin’s CD’s titled, “All These Ours.” But first, I want you to meet Erin and see a little bit about this sweet girl!

 How long have you been singing?

I’m pretty sure I started singing before I even started talking.  I was in the church kids choir by age 3 and singing into the mic even when there were no designated solos 🙂  

 What is your favorite thing about making music?  

My favorite thing about making music is that moment after a show when a girl comes up to me and says, “I can tell by your music that we’ve been through the same thing.  We should do lunch sometime and talk about it.”  To know that people can listen to my music and know that they aren’t alone, that makes it all so worthwhile.  I love the magic that words possess, and I love the art of stringing them together in a way that can speak to another human being.  

 What are the artists that inspire you?

My favorite artist is Ingrid Michaelson, but I am also very inspired by Norah Jones, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Feist, and Zooey Deschannel.

 What’s a fun, little known fact about you?  

Fun Fact: At night and on the weekends, I play shows all around Nashville.  But during the day, I am a preschool teacher at a Montessori school!  I am in charge of activities and love to make up songs and dances for the kids!

 You can go HERE and listen to a sample of Erin’s music. Then come back and leave a comment below to WIN a CD of your own. You can enter up to three times by (1) liking “Erin Elisabeth Aubrey” on Facebook, (2) liking “Mommy Needs Coffee” on Facebook, or (3) subscribing to “Mommy Needs Coffee” (check the right hand side). Leave a comment for each thing you do! I’ll select the winner by random on Sunday, July 10th at 10pm.

back in town

Part 2 of our 4 part Richards Family Tour has been completed. We returned last night after 15 hours in the car, from a 1450 mile round-trip to New York. My husband has family in New York and we went for a great family reunion. Being that we’ve never had the resources before, either time or money, we felt that this year we needed to make it a priority to be there and we were happy we did! Our kids had a blast playing with cousins, seeing family, and exploring new sights. On the way to New York we were able to stop and stay in DC for the night. While we were there, we went to two of the Smithsonian museums – the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. They were great!

the US Capitol

We also saw the US Capitol building, the Washington Monument, and the White House. A crazy thing that happened was that we had best friends, Steve & Elizabeth Martin that lived here in Columbia, SC. They moved several years ago to Texas. Well thanks to Facebook, we found out they were flying into DC the same night; they were going to be there on vacation. We got to meet up with them before we left and had lunch. So great!

Times Square

After DC we went on to New York where we spent 4 nights with family. We went into the city on Saturday and brought our kids with us to Toys R’Us, Times Square, Central Park, on the Staten Island Ferry, and to see the Statue of Liberty. It was awesome! The train driver from Long Island (where we were staying) into downtown Manhattan, let us sit in the front with him and he gave us a tour as we entered the city. We really had a great time! Between DC and NYC we rode a bus, taxi, subway, ferry, train, and walked 10 miles.

riding the Staten Island Ferry after being in NYC all day

cousins

We’re home for a week and a half before heading to another family reunion in Michigan for my family. Today I feel like I have vacation hangover. I’m tired and just trying to get things back in order. of course, 3 hours at the pool helped with that some! I’m looking forward to routine and regular day to day living!

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Tomorrow on the blog I will have a giveaway for you! While on our first trip to Tennessee, I met a young musician, Erin Elisabeth Aubrey. She shared a CD of hers with me for you to have! Tomorrow we’ll meet Erin, hear what she has, and have a chance to win her CD. Trust me: you don’t want to miss this! So come back tomorrow and be ready to leave a comment or two!