Creating room for them to explore

The thing I think I've loved most about homeschool is being able to give my girls the room to be who they are. There's no competition between girls to have the cutest outfit or the best hair here in our home. The societal pressures are removed and they can be exactly who they feel like being that day. They can be moody and retreat outside to work on an assignment, or be involved and excited about a recent interest. I lose track of the number of times Katie runs to her room to cry for a minute (lots of emotions in that one right now) but it's ok because we're not on a tight schedule. They have room to be little and figure out how to deal with their thoughts and feelings.

Today Melody tromped into my bathroom where I was cleaning to show me the slug she found under a log in the back yard. I had to take in all there was to see for just a moment. She was wearing a dress up skirt she made last year, her winter boots, her vampire teeth (a recent obsession) and a dandelion necklace she had just made with neat and tidy pigtails holding a slimy slug in her hand. All I could think in that moment was how very grateful I am to be able to give them this childhood. I'm so grateful for the guidance and promptings that led us to the decision to homeschool. For Jared's overwhelming support and willingness to work so hard to ensure not only that I can stay home with them, but that we have everything we need to make learning fun. I'm grateful my girls have the room to explore who they are and what they like and don't like and become the individuals they want to be.

I'm back...kinda

Ok friends I've decided I need to put more effort into blogging and sharing our crazy beautiful girls with all of our friends and family. Since Jared finally set up my very own personal computer just for me that I don't even have to share I really have no excuse not to :) Honestly I can't promise how often I'll be updating, but I'm going to do my best!

I figured I'd start with our most recent exciting news. For those of you that don't already know we're expecting another tiny Meakin some time in mid-July. I have no due date, so don't ask. I've decided I fixate too much on dates so in order to not go crazy while waiting on this little one to make her appearance we'll just go with a general time frame. I'm sure most of you have already seen the video on Facebook, but for those of you that haven't we had a fun little gender reveal party with our family while my parents were visiting. My sweet friend Alison made the cake for us and it turned out just beautiful! It was so much fun watching the girls faces as the cake was cut. They all wanted a boy so much, so when we finally cut the cake and it was pink they were not quiet about their disappointment! Such a sweet memory to share with this little one once she gets older. Your sisters REALLY wanted a boy lol!

Playing with cousins!

For those of you who may not know my sister in law FINALLY had her sweet baby boy on Tuesday. Finn Schlaikjer came in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and 22 inches of cuteness! She was only 11 days overdue. She has officially earned her rockstar mom patch in my book! 

Because of this recent addition I anticipated lots of opportunities to play with Sophie and Mya while Alexis recovered. Today the girls came over for a few hours and we had lots of fun! The best was listening to Mya and Allie talking in the toddler language. I pretty much had no idea what they were talking about but it was super cute to watch!

Splash park fun

It's getting to the point where it's too hot to be outside unless your in the water. This is the splash park we practically lived in last year and we took this hot day as an opportunity to introduce our cousins to our favorite place.

Park!

My sister in law and her sweet family just moved here and are staying with us until they can get settled. On top of that my cute brother is staying with us until the end of June, so we have a very full house! (I'm just so grateful we have enough space to make it work!) Needless to say we jump on any chance to get out and enjoy some fresh air and elbow room ;) Today was our homeschool group meetup so we packed a lunch and a ton of water and headed out for some fun. It's not too hot yet so we can still stay at the park past noon and do the picnic thing my kids love so much. All five girls had a fantastic time and I'm pretty sure my brother had as much fun as they did. After all fourteen  year olds are really just overgrown five year olds! I snapped a few pictures between pushing swings and playing tag. Love me some family time!