Happy Friday! Here I am blogging a second time in the same month. I don't know if it's because Ira is more regular with his schedule but I feel very peaceful about days as a family of 5. The main thing is scheduling for me. I have this binder where I write my whole day out, naps for the kids included. It isn't strict but it allows me to stay focused. The days that I don't do this just end up being longer with lots of me sitting around wondering what to do with the time. I thrive on tasks and time slots. It may sound silly but I even have a section of the page for drinking water, I'm working on getting 8 glasses a day. The binder is handy with sections for notes and thoughts. On the back I have chores organized into days of the week. I'm working on adding a bottom section for just daily things. Once I've worked out all the kinks I'm thinking about printing it and putting it in a plastic sleeve to check things off. There's something so rewarding about a checklist. It is also very affirming to see that I've accomplished something or a few somethings. 

I've noticed what a helper Owen as become and I do my best to tell him how helpful he is. Even Lyla wants to chip in a lot of the time. They love watering the garden and finding out what things they can do around the house. I even showed Owen how to hold the hose nozzle lightly so that he doesn't blast the plants and he is now an expert gardener.

I love the friendships that are forming in our family. They can be so compassionate and generous all on their own, but they also need reminders just like I do. One day I was making felt boards for the kids with simple art canvases, blue flannel, and a staple gun. I pulled out some old felt pieces that my mom had used at her preschool. The book was The Friendly Beasts. It has a song with it too, which Sufjan Stevens covered. I was watching the kids become immersed in the felt scenes and Mark put on the song. It made me cry tears of longing and sadness. It was one of those days where I wished my mom was around. Owen told me later that he was sorry that my mom was gone. He even said, "I can be your mama." I told him that was very sweet of him to say but what I really want is for him to be my Owen. He laughed and I laughed to. It was a sweet moment.

Ira continues to be easy going about everything. He still doesn't seem real. I love the way he claps his toes together and kicks so much when he's happy. It isn't hard to get him to laugh. I take him with me most days on my runs around town. Both he and Lyla love to kick back and watch the world go by. Owen likes to tell me that I'm not running fast enough. 

 These shots below are from this morning. Fridays I let the kids stay in their pj's. It's our little tradition.

She was saying, "it's too wet, mama!" We had to get some shoes on to handle the grass outside.

Ira goes down for his first nap at 9 and the big kids have snack time at 10. We love to all sit together on the kitchen floor and talk about our plans for the day and the weekend to come.

Ira usually wakes up after snack time. I love hearing him chatting away in his crib. Owen and Lyla love to run in the nursery and great him. "Goodmorning Ire!" I love the nicknames that come from siblings.

Today I thought I was being sneaky by rolling up peanut butter and jelly in tortillas, but my clever children discovered that you can unroll tortillas and lick the pb&j straight out of there! I had to do some close up shots of their faces.

Happy Friday everybody and have a wonderful weekend!