ten on tuesday

1. I will be in San Antonio this coming Sunday if you or anyone you know is interested in a session in the area!  Email me at lstradtner@mac.com for details.

2. The last few weeks have been crazy for us.  We were in Dallas weekend before last.  It was the first time our family has traveled together, overnight, in several years.  The last time we traveled further than a day trip with duder was over 2 years ago and that trip caused him to regress.  It scared us when the demyelination returned and we had to do a lot of healing.  Well, a lot of healing has happened in the last few years and the time finally, finally, came to try again.  We hit the road to Dallas and Legoland and stayed 2 nights.  Jude did amazingly well.  It went great!  Traveling with 6 people in one car is challenging though, whew!  And 6 people in a hotel room, cooking dinner for us last minute as we discovered the salad bar at whole foods wasn’t organic.  One little burner we plugged in, hacking in to a tomato with a plastic butter knife, that’s the stuff memories are made of!  But we did it and fun was had by all.  It was so fun for all of us to go and experience something “normal” families do.  We’ve come a long way in the almost 3 years since his vaccine injury…..a very long way.  Oh!  And it was May the 4th (Be With You) Star Wars day at Legoland.  Nerd holiday heaven!!!

3.  I took the good camera on our trip and took a ton of photos at Legoland….but have zero extra time to edit personal photos.  So, a few from my instagram it is….

4.  This.  I mean, seriously.

5.  My mother’s day was AWESOME.  The best one in years!  First of all, my mom was here for a visit.  We had a relaxing day, I received wonderful cards, homemade ones from the little kids and Jason made dinner for us.  And, if you are a long time reader around here you might remember that my husband and I have an ongoing battle over trees.  Every year I ask for a tree to plant in our yard for Mother’s Day.  Every year he promises one and well, it just never happens.  That is because part of the gift is that I get to decide where to plan the tree since we can *never* agree.  Then there was the year a tree mysteriously appeared right where Jason had been wanting to plant it…on the other side of our fence, out of nowhere.  I KNEW he planted that damn tree, I KNEW IT.  But….I couldn’t prove it.  At least until he confessed during our photo shoot with Bonnie Berry last year.  Quite a few mother’s days have passed and I’ve never gotten a tree, so I didn’t have high hopes, but this year, he came through and in a big way!  I got not 1 but 2 very tall big trees and he paid to have them planted!  I am so excited!  And I get to pick where they are planted!  Yes!

6. Jonah is so fun right now.  I am loving this age.  He waves and fake laughs.  He gives big open mouthed kisses upon request.  He hates having his diaper changed and getting strapped in the carseat.  He loves the Mei Tai Babyhawk.  He loves rolling from one end of the living room to the other.  He’s sitting up so well and for longer periods and while he isn’t crawling yet, manages to get where he wants to go.

7. Adobe caused quite an uproar last week when announcing that we will now be charged a monthly fee in order to use the Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.)  I’m not happy at all about renting software, it actually infuriates me that they have taken this route and it really sticks it to the small business owners out there.  $50 per month to use editing software, when I’ve already purchased an expensive  license for use is just unreal to me.  If you agree please consider signing this petition.

8.  Have you seen this photography project by Jaime Moore?  I love it.  Definitely worth a click over.

9. I finally went and got a haircut.  It’s been a long time, almost a year maybe?  My hair was getting way too long and unmanageable but I’ve really tried to avoid the whole new mom haircut I always regret.  So, I went in, asked for 3 inches.  7.5 (?!?!?!?!) inches later I left in tears.  Gah!  Bad haircuts are the worst and I miss my long hair.  When you only get one haircut a year it’s supposed to be a good one.

10. The Non-GMO Project contacted me last month and asked if my kids would like to kick off their challenge for the month of April and Earth Day.  I jumped at that chance and we had each of the kids choose their own challenge and follow through.  Taryn’s was to teach her homeschool enrichment class about GMOs.  I helped her put together a presentation and she did an AWESOME job.  It was a big deal for her and she feels so much pride over it.  She passed out buttons, stickers and brochures to 50 kids!  You can check out the kids pictures for their submissions to the challenge here, here and here.

 

   

6 months old | leander baby photographer

Dear Jonah,

It’s hard for me to believe that you are already celebrating your 1/2 birthday.  6 months, the days have flown by.  I remember the days before you were born, wondering who you would look like and daydreaming about all the little details of your personality.  I’ve loved every minute of discovering who you are.  You are sweet, snugly, such a good baby.  When I pick you up your immediately snuggle your face in to my neck under my chin and simultaneously pinch my neck on the other side with your hand.  It’s your thing.  You love to lay your head on my chest and snuggle at random.  You love peek-a-boo.  Sometimes when you are nursing I’ll absent mindedly rub your back and arm.  If I get too close to your belly you will crack up laughing, sometimes spitting milk all over both of us.  Sometimes, if I rub your back while nursing you’ll grin up at me, waiting for the little belly tickle, hoping it will come.  You do great in the van as long as one of the bigger kids are back there to entertain you.  You say “dada” and are on the move.  No crawling, but definitely on the move.  I can’t figure out who you look like.  Every now and then I think I see a smidge of Teagan Jude in you, but I think that is mostly your sweet little kind demeanor.  Red hair and blue eyes, I never saw that coming!  You are a blankie boy, the blue, soft one is your favorite, just like Taryn’s when she was a baby.  You instantly freak your freak when I walk toward the changing table.  And you instantly kick your little feet in to a frenzy and squeal when I walk toward the bathtub with you in my arms.  You love the water.  You gave me a big, open mouthed, slobbery kiss for the first time this week.  You wave bye bye and sometimes put so much in to it that it takes both arms.  We have delayed solids and you are just now starting to get some nourishing, gut healing, bone broth.  You are so ready and I’m so proud of the way we are prepared to feed you.  Maybe it’s because you are the 4th baby, but you are so easy.  I can’t wait for the next 6 months, to learn even more about you, who you are, all the little fun ins and outs of your personality.  I love you my sweet baby boy.

Love, Momma

Michelle - I can’t stand it….the smiles, the tongue peeking out, the cute little chin, the expressions…..what a beauty.

Susan Bibula - Oh my goodness, that brought tears to my eyes! It’s crazy, but watching Jonah grow, and you photographing him, I feel like I know you! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to to your page JUST in the hopes of seeing a new photograph. Your love and tenderness is so beautiful and present. You can see and FEEL his sweetness…
I adore your work and thank you sincerely for sharing these precious moments with us!

Susan

   

simple little things

Someone is obsessed with my camera strap.  I finally let him “catch” it the other day and he had a good old time.  There are so many simple little things that make him…..him.  When you add them all up, they equal a whole lot of wonderful.

   

peek-a-boo

Peek-a-boo is big at our house.  BIG.  And hilarious.  Luckily for Jonah, there are lots of people willing to jump around every corner for a quick “boo!” throughout the day.  It never gets old.

   

earth day

I decided on Earth Day to add a last minute Earth Day lesson to our homeschool day.  A quick pinterest search brought me to this.  We listed to Jack Johnson’s 3R’s song, talked about how we can reduce, reuse and recycle.  We planted our thyme and rosemary plants that came in our Greenling CSA boxes.  I felt pretty good about our little last minute lesson for one afternoon.  Until yesterday.  When I heard Jude in the kitchen, fussing at Jason…..”Daaaaaad, paper towels are bad!  Here, let me put that roll in the trash for you…..”  Hmmmm.  We might need to revisit….

   

easter snapshots

Just a few snapshots from our Easter Sunday.  We had a chill and easy morning at home.  The kids all got outside play stuff in their baskets so we spent our morning with them in a new pool, even if it was a little chilly.  In the afternoon we met up with two of our favorite families for a 2nd annual food free Easter egg hunt.  It was a blast as always.  Ty was our bunny…I was surprised he agreed…although I did have to pay him well this year.  Worth every penny.  He’s such a good sport and so so good with little kids.  I love that about him.

And this totally cracks me up.  What is Duder doing on the end?!  Where did he learn that?  It’s all zoolander with a side of fish lips lol!!  Crazy kid!  You can see last years version of this same photo at the bottom of this post.  So fun to see how much the kids have grown plus we added Jonah!

 

Leyna - Ha! There’s all kinds of awesomeness in that pic! Pretty darn cute.

   

6 months | leander baby photographer

Oh what a difference 6 months makes.  Top photo of Jonah and I in an herbal bath on the day he was born – taken by my amazing birth photographer, Leilani Rogers.  Bottom photo by my sweet husband.  Jonah loves taking baths with mommy so today we took a few photos to mark his 1/2 birthday.  I love that he was born at home, in the water.  And I love that water always calms him.

I woke up this morning to him nursing on my elbow, smiling and giggling.  He thought it was so funny and had Jase and I cracking up laughing.  Oh funny baby, it seems like you were just born yesterday, but it also feels like you’ve always been here.  You fit in seamlessly.  I love you sweet boy.

And because I’m feeling brave tonight….a few more….

Jase did such a good job, I’m so blessed that he was willing and able to take these for us.  I’ll always treasure them.  And this sweet little boy.

Michelle - Thanks for sharing! Just awesome photos!! Happy .5 Jonah!

Robert Austin Fitch Photography NYC - What amazing photographs! Jonah looks so happy & peaceful…absolutely gorgeous!
What I would have given for a bathtub with such beautiful natural light when my babies (7 & 9) were little like Jonah….
Cheers, Rob

   

teething

Cleaning out more of my March folder today.  The next two weeks might just eat me alive, things are about to get very busy around here.  So I’ve gotta blog before they do.  My sweet little man was teething this day, but still entertained a few photos.  He sucks on his bottom lip when he’s teething.  This is also the day he got a little pink sitting out in the sun soaking up some Vitamin D.

   

quarters

Teagan Jude is my hard worker.  He keeps his room clean, he picks up after himself more often than not, he asks for extra chores so he can earn quarters to buy legos.  He loves putting money in his jar.  I love it when he dresses himself.  <3

   

a few favorrite things: homeschool edition

Dare I say it?  We seem to have hit a good groove with homeschool.  Taryn is working hard and consistently, thriving with our new curriculum.  Jude hit the ground running and sped off!  Ha!  He’s been in kindergarten for 6 full weeks and is ahead in most of his subjects.  I’m definitely going to be supplementing with more art and subjects of his choosing very soon.  The great news is that after just a few weeks, he’s starting to read!  So thrilling!  So, since all 3 of us are happy with our new curriculum and thriving, I thought I’d come share a few of my favorite homechool things!

First, we are LOVING  the one day a week fitness class both kids attend.  Its been so good for them!  Taryn is also attending an enrichment program that covers music, art, pe, drama, character building and spanish.  It has been so great for her and I’m excited for Jude to start in the fall as well.  They are currently registering for fall and if you are in Cedar Park and interested message me and I will forward you the info, its a great program!

As for our core, Timberdoodle has been great for both of the kids so far!  And me, which I now realize is also really important.  We bought it before they made major changes to what they offer.  Now you can get a stripped down basic core option, then a middle of the road option and a deluxe option.  I love that they are customizable and we could get exactly what we wanted and needed.

Another great thing about Timberdoodle is that you can do customized schedules on their website.  It’s free and you can use it even if you don’t use their curriculum.  Just plug in your stats, how many school weeks you plan on, how many lessons total and it will break it down by the week for you.  I did scheduling for 2 kids for a year in about 30 minutes total.  And I can change it as we go throughout the year if needed.  It keeps us on track and I can easily see what is left for the day and the week, at a glance.  There is something so gratifying about putting a checkmark in a box as they complete their work.  I keep both the printed sheets for each subject that comes with their curriculum outline and their weekly schedules in a loose, easy to flip and view 3 ring laminated “binder” similar to this one but ours is red and brown.

In addition to our Timberdoodle core curriculum we love to supplement with games and other fun items to keep the kids engaged and excited about learning.  Here are a few we are loving right now:

  • Hear Myself Sound Phone – we use this while doing phonics and speech with Teagan Jude.  It helps him to better hear the sounds he’s making when he speaks and I was really surprised at how effective it is in helping him say words correctly he otherwise mispronounces.  We use articulation worksheets provided by his speech therapist.
  • Free Customizable Handwriting Worksheets – these have been great for all kinds of things including teaching Taryn to write her name in cursive, teaching our address and phone number, etc.  The possibilities are endless!
  • Rory’s Story Cubes – these are great to encourage story telling
  • Sum Swamp – fun math game my kids love
  • Inchimals – Jude loves these – they encourage math and measuring skills
  • Wrap Ups – we have these for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
  • Free Book Report Template – we do weekly book reports and love this free template
  • Silly Starters – another fun way to get kids involved and writing
  • Write & Wipe Pockets – these really reduce the amount of consumables we go through.  With younger ones coming up behind in each grade, these will end up saving us a lot of money!  If pages are not perferated for easy tearing out, Office Max will cut the binding off of any book for a small fee and then you can stick it in a 3 ring binder.  Then just remove the page your student needs, put it in a pocket for them to complete and then it is as good as new to return to the binder for the next child down the line in a year or so.  We don’t do this for every consumable, but the more expensive ones, yes!
  • Calendar & Weather Pocket Chart – we also use these free weather graphs from Confessions of a Homeschooler to graph the weather each day.
  • United States Bingo (free download)
  • Teachers Paying Teachers – this is an open marketplace website where you can download just about anything you can imagine.   Many are free and some are low cost.  It’s a great way to support teachers sharing templates and it’s truly and endless resource!

A few things currently on my homeschool *if I had more money to actually spend on fun homeschool stuff* wishlist:

Want more homeschool ideas?  Come follow my Pinterest homeschool board!  If you have a homeschool pinterest board, post in the comments and I’ll follow you right back!

Jane Lee - Great list. I will definitely be buying some of these things for your “classroom”!