Life Lately

These photos are just all out of order but I'm hanging on by a thread, sleep wise, so it's what you're going to get. 

This was our first day of school photo. Claire is starting 3rd grade, Nora is mad (PreK), Eily is starting 2nd grade, and Elaina is starting 4th grade. 

This is our first Essentials class at our local Classical Conversations campus.

Josiah Davis, Catherine Hoelzeman, Isaac Jetton, Elaina Sacran, Alica Barr, and Kathryn Israel. 

This is just a picture I wanted to have posted. It has no blogging value other than it makes me laugh. 

As does this one. 

Eily and Barbara

They made a cute pair.

One Sunday, we had to take Daddy to the airport in Fayetteville so we made an afternoon of it at Crystal Bridges. They happened to have a kid's Plein Air event going on, which was very appropriate.  The sun was a little intense. 

Eily's masterpiece. 

The mayor throws a big 4th of July celebration so we went downtown to watch the fireworks, 

We moved to our new house and Eily looked cute in her pineapple pajamas. 

Nora discovered the art of The Selfie.

                                  So, I recently discovered that I have diastisis recti. This is what my stomach looks like on a regular day when I'm remembering to hold in my abdominal muscles.

This is when I forget. 

Yikes.

Rachel and I attacked Mom and Dad's pump house. Michael attacked this rat that we found in the process. 

Nora ran a fever for 11 days and woke up every night around midnight wanting to talk and visit. 

It was adorable and exhausting. 

Daddy is home for quite an extended amount of time and we are so happy to have him around again. School has started. 

The house is settled. 

The days and weeks just keep on passing by.

A Few Things

Sometimes it's easy to get carried away with parenting. So you have to take a step back and edit. Kind of like when you decorate a mantle. Throw your big ideas out there and then step back and remove all the excess and unnecessary.

School is around the corner. Guess how ready I am? None. Zero. Zilch.  And Jason is wanting us to go with him on his next trip which means I will have half a day to be ready for our first day of CC.  Nothing like adding a little stress to your first week. We aren't looking to have a smooth start to the year. But if I've learned one thing, it's that the year will still happen and everything will eventually fall in to place.

Jason comes home today. He's been gone a month so we are all very excited. He's never even seen our new home (as our home/he saw it twice as an empty building) and the girls are anxious to show him around the place and point out all their favorite spots. And I know he's anxious to catch up on sleep and family time. This traveling is rough on him because we can't treat his Lymes the way we need to and after this long of a stint, he's really feeling it.

It was 90 degrees at 8:45 this morning. What?!

Sunday Night

I wish I was a bedtime expert. Everyone has earned their prizes and that ship has now seemed to sail. So now I'm reverting back to the stern, I'm-going-to-scare-you-from-even-thinking-about-getting-out-of-bed routine. It's not my favorite and it's not the girls' favorite.

Trying to figure out school plans is for the birds. What stress. Which things matter the most? Which things are ok to let go but I just don't know it yet because I'm not to that point in life yet? Does one education beat out another education? Are they all good enough? Are they obviously not good enough? Is my patience and long-suffering going to completely leave me by the end? I think maybe yes on that last one. I feel like it's time for me to get settled on what my long-term plan is but I haven't been able to do that yet.

Our house is totally and officially unpacked. Now I need to move Jason's studio items and then get ready for our Classical Conversations parent meeting and then organize all the cabinets. If I think about it all at once, my chest gets a little tight so I'm trying very hard to just think about it in baby steps. Very, very small baby steps.

Long live the malt!

I hate to go on too much about what I like about living in this house because I feel like it's not fair to our sweet, old house that we had before. The truth is that I loved every moment of living there but I'm not going to lie- there are things about this house that I love even more.  So please just know that if I seem to be overly praising this house (it still needs a name, btw) it has nothing to do with how much I loved our old place. Everyone clear on that? Good.

We got a new refrigerator installed today. It was on the list of things to eventually get but then the old one started leaking stuff out the back and Jason said to us go ahead and bump it up to the top of the list. I knew I wanted one with the middle door, and the cheapest one came with a screen where you can connect to the internet. So now, I feel slightly embarrassed at our refrigerator fanciness when people come over, but I am loving having Pandora playing music all day.

We are basically settled in and functioning with a routine. I still have a lot of decorating decisions to make and I need to organize our schoolroom, but that's it.

Tomorrow the girls have their initial visit with a new pediatrician. I've been wanting to get in with this guy for years so I'm really excited about making the switch. Then we are heading to Little Rock to pick up my cousin, Kathryn. She is going to spend the week with us and help me decorate. She will also be spending a chunk of time with our grandparents helping Grandma take care of her house and of Grandpa. He pretty much needs constant attention these days, unless he's sleeping. Which is a good portion of the time, actually.

I have been dreaming of PW's malted chocolate chip cookies for several days now and I broke down tonight and made some. Well, I'm actually in the process of making them.  It's very pleasant in the kitchen right now. It smells like cookies. The dishwasher is making a quiet humming noise. Michael Buble is playing on the fridge . (chortle, chortle) The countertops are clean and shiny. I'm sitting at the bar enjoying my time on the computer. The only thing that would make it better is if Jason was here with me.

I had a nice visit with some of our neighbors this evening. They have lived here for years and said when their youngest girl was little, there were four different families with girls her age in the cul-de-sac. I think that would be so neat, but right now they are all the middle aged parents of those original young girls who are now grown-ups themselves.  I think there are two families with young boys but we haven't met them yet. We do have good friends with little girls that live just up the road, but they told us today that they may be moving away soon. That always happens to us. In fact, the 6 days that we have lived here are the longest we have gone without someone moving away from us. Usually, they move right before. Doesn't make us look to good, does it. Lol!

That's pretty much all that happened today. Wasn't too bad of a day. Had a visit from some family. Got a musical fridge. Ending the night with cookies. Hard to beat that. :)

New Home

We are in. And I have to say that the unpacking is going incredibly well. I need to organize my closet and the schoolroom and then we will be settled. There is still the matter of decorating but my cousin, Kathryn, is coming for a week and she has a knack for that sort of thing. I really, really, really want to paint a couple of the rooms so that they can be officially crossed off the list, but the budget says that's going have to wait. And that's ok. We also have a very empty den because we ran out of furniture. But that's ok, too. I don't mind and Jason won't either. It won't stay empty forever.
We have had a lot of quiet moments in this house so far because ASPHALT. The girls have been obsessed with riding their bicycles and scooters and once again, I have no problem with that. They can ride to their hearts' content. I also have gotten back in to the habit of going to bed with a clean kitchen. I think it's the dishwasher that makes the difference for me. It's like I'm cheating. It's too easy.
I've started bribing my children. If they go to bed five times without any fuss or calling out for me, they get a prize. Well, actually they have to immediately brush their teeth and get pajamas on when I say it's bed time, and then go to bed easily for it to count. No asking for food or having an onset of 100+ ailments. And the bribing is working so I have had very easy bedtimes since we've been here. The prize is nothing major, just things like a new plastic cup (.89 cents at Target) or a tube of chapstick, but it is such an exciting thing to them and that's what matters.
So that's pretty much it for now. I have a ballgame in my near future and I'm going to try to remember to take the good camera. That gives inspiration for new posts.

P.S. Our house needs a name. Help.

Harmony Hill 2015

My brain has just stopped working today. We went to Harmony Hill last week and it's the first year I've gone with the girls that I really didn't take any pictures. I enjoyed just watching the memories happen instead of trying to capture them (I was going to add- all on film- but I don't think that applies anymore.) :)
We've been having a busy summer. We are trying to get ready to move and have had some traveling throw in the mix with all the packing. I have really had a lot of opportunities to practicing not getting overly uptight and just going with the flow of things. I haven't always succeed, but at least there have been a few times where I was able to remain cool and laid-back when I would normally feel my chest tightening with panic. Hurricane Bill coming through the area the one week of the year I live in a tent was a good example of that. Water Everywhere. Mess Everywhere. Non-organized tent. Stinky, wet clothes Everywhere. And through it all I just kept reminding myself that it was supposed to clear up by Thursday and I would have time then to get it all put back together. And I did and it was all ok. So I get to count that one as a victory. Yay for calmness!
I miss blogging but I can't promise that I'll be posting regular yet. It's a season of life where I'm needing to let some things go for a while and the blog is one of those things. But I'll be back. Someday.

There are no pictures of Elaina because I basically never see her when we are at HH. She's too busy socializing'. 

Internet and Buttons

We are in the process of trying to buy a house. Every couple of days I'm having to e-sign this and scan that. Yesterday, I had to scan a copy of the earnest money check to our realtor and a copy of a tax document to our mortgage lady. I sat down to load the documents on the printer and noticed a pajama shirt of Claire's that she had left on my desk. The button had come off and so I grabbed my sewing basket and started sewing it back on while I waited for the printer to do its thing. I guess I should explain here that we have the worst possible Internet and therefore tasks that should take three minutes end up taking thirty. So anyway, I had some time to work on the button and the irony of the situation struck me. Here I was, using modern technology to scan and email papers, and sign important documents, but at the same time, I was utilizing a sewing basket to repair my family's clothes. A sewing basket that held the same items that women 100+ years ago used to fix and repair their families' clothing. And there was something very sweet and comforting in the whole scenario. Yes, the world changes and gets faster and more convenient and trickier, but there are some things that technology just cannot do. And I know that there are machines that sew on buttons, but there aren't machines that can give the time, love, and attention to my children or my husband like I can. They can't provide for them in the way that I can. They can't pray for them. They can't hug them or kiss them. So there are some things that time doesn't and/or cannot change. And it seems that those things are the best things.

So take that technology. You aren't as swell as you sometimes seem to think that you are. 

Love,

Mama

P.S. But if you could use your fanciness  and tricky ways to speed up the Internet at my house, that'd be great. 

It's National Sibling Day!

A Poem of Sorts

blinking cursor
what to write
nothing new
boring blog

busy all the time
seems like there should be things to report
isn't life funny that way
busy yet not

Nora in bed with me
Jason in Florida
Claire in bed with Eily
Audrey in bed with Elaina


Except I think the older two are not
I think they are writing a newspaper
but I closed the door and said goodnight
they can sleep late in the morning
seems like a fun memory

Snowy Days

I thought we were going to sneak by this winter without having to deal with a snow storm. I was wrong. But honestly, it hasn't been that bad. The rumor was that we were going to have a very heavy winter with all kinds of precipitation, so I planned ahead. I bought snowsuits. I bought proper snowshoes. I bought gloves that don't make your hands cold when they get wet.
And then we got spring all winter long. And I was totally ok with that. I loved it, to tell you the truth. But as I stood at our front door this afternoon, smelling the hot cocoa and soup on the stove top and watching the big, beautiful flakes just keep falling while Jason and the girls had a snowball fight in the front yard, I decided I was thankful that the snow came. I was thankful that we were able to use the snow clothes at least once. I was thankful that Jason felt well enough to go outside for a bit. I was thankful for a sweet, homey environment that our fun, old house seems to just keep on providing.
It was a good day and one that will make me grin when I think back on it.

Swish

You know what's a crazy job? Being a mom. Of course it's great; I'm not trying to complain. I'm just saying...sometimes it's like being in a twirly ride at the fair. Three to four people asking you a question at the same time or asking for help, or just talking to you about something they find interesting. It's all good and lovely but I can get a little dizzy. So I have found a win-win solution.

I drink a lot of water.

The more I drink, the more often I have to make trips to the bathroom. The more bathroom trips, the more moments of quiet I can fit into my day. They are small moments, but they are precious. 

Meet the Sacrans

Hi there. We are the Sacran family.

My name is Rebekah.  I'm the Mama Bear and I like things neat and orderly. I like to decorate rooms in my mind, I like to solve Algebra problems, and here lately, I like to eat two eggs fried in coconut oil with some avocado on the side every morning for breakfast. I do not like pancakes, cucumbers, or folding laundry.

Jason is our Papa Bear. He's an artist, a hugger, and resident picture hanger-er. He likes art, movies, our kids, and soup. He does not like algebra, raw onions, or tying shoelaces.

We have four little female cubs.

Elaina is the eldest. She's tall like her Daddy and skinny beyond reason like her two grandmothers were at her age. She loves art, eating food, and sports. She has a heart the size of Texas and will do everything in her power to make everyone around her feel appreciated and loved. She does not like tomatoes, ballet, or making people mad.

Claire is the oldest-middlest. She's built and colored a lot like her mama. She has a natural mothering instinct, a great eye for color and design, a very dramatic flair for all things fashionable, and is as sassy as can be. (Bless her beautiful hide :) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, anyone?) She dreams of being a ballerina. She does not like t-ball, mushrooms, or being quiet.

Eily (eye-lee) is the youngest-middlest. She has somehow remained tiny, even as she continues to grow. She loves black olives, washing dishes, and doing schoolwork. She can fold laundry and sweep a floor like nobody's business. She does not like scary music, having a messy room, or waking up early.

Nora is the littlest and "though she be but little, she is fierce!" She is all things energetic and loud. She's almost caught up to her older sister in clothing size and she loves to change those clothes forty times a day. She also likes to eat a lot of bananas, and do any and everything with her daddy. She does not like going to bed, vegetables, or being left out of anything.

We are the Sacrans. We are loud at times, we always have a lot of laundry (thanks for that, Nora), and we have our moments of disagreements. But we are so fond of each other, have the best time being each other's friends, and love to live our lives together.

Sometimes I try to think of something to write about. And I end up staring at a a very white screen and then eventually I read or watch something. And that's not interesting to write about at all.

Which brings me to this point in my post. The point of nothing else to say. So I'm going to push through and try to get a few sentences put together.

We have been in the car far, far too much this past week.  We also have somehow managed to still complete a full week's worth of schoolwork. I'm proud of us.

This has been the best winter. I am loving all the spring-like weather we've had this January and February. You won't find me complaining about the lack of snow.

Today the girls learned about not ending sentences with "at".

Thanks to Nora, we now say patacular instead of spectacular. It's a really fun word to say.

I think that's about it.

Sorry.

I really love being a mama. 

Vail, Colorado

Jason and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on January 8th of this year. We decided to celebrate a few weeks early and flew to Vail on December14th. (That gave me Saturday to clean up after our at- home Christmas and put everything away and then drive the older three girls to Memphis on Sunday to meet Jason's parents. They stayed with them while we were on vacation.) 

We had an easy trip getting to Colorado. Everything went according to plan and we arrived at the Four Seasons late that evening. 

We had a nice little balcony off our room but we didn't go out there except to take these pictures. 

That first day we slept in as late as we wanted and then walked around town all afternoon.  There was an outdoor ice skating rink that had a fresh layer of snow on it and I ran out there and wrote a message. 

We also found a little movie theatre that served you delicious food while you watched your movie and so we ate our lunch and relaxed. Later on that evening, we went to supper at a nice restaurant where they had made personalized menus with our names on them. We took our time eating and then walked back to the ice skating rink. Ice skating is one of my most favorite things to do and Jason had never been, so it was fun to get out there and watch him bambi around. :)

Then next day started out bright and early. We had made a reservation for a snowmobile tour. I wasn't sure how much fun it would be but it proved to be better than I had hoped. 

We had a great tour guide and the scenery was just unbelievable. I know it doesn't seem that amazing in the photos, but I promise it was. It was all so fresh and pure- and quiet. 

Driver man only tipped the snowmobile once. :)

The rest of the trip was filled with more walking around, sightseeing, and fun restaurants. Our early flight out was cancelled so we ended up getting home much later that anticipated. As in 10 hours later. We stopped to get Nora from Rachel's house and just transferred her little sleeping self from the house to the car to our house. While we had a great trip, it was so wonderful to be back at home with her tucked in between us. 

The next morning, we were pulling out of the driveway by 9am and heading for Tennessee to have Christmas with Jason's family. 

And thus begins part three of my holiday recap...

Life

The three older girls are playing basketball. It's a lot of fun to watch them learn and it's fun to see the different ways they approach the game.
Elaina just loves playing sports. She puts a lot of heart into her game and smiles the whole time.
Claire is such a funny mixture of approaches. She is very prancy and proper with her arms and her running, but after her first game, a fire was lit under her and she has a very strong passion to learn how to play well and really has a desire to win. I will say she's been a very good sport and hasn't let losing get her down. They won their first game tonight and she was on a major high.  Very, very hyper little girl.
Eily just wants someone to tell her what to do. Tonight, she almost got hit in the head with the ball because she was motioning to her coach, "Is this the exact spot where you wanted me to stand?" WHACK! Eily needs rules and needs to follow those rules. I'm curious to see if she loosens up by the end of the season.

Nora is still just Nora. She is constantly charming. She is constantly in trouble. And she found a tangle in her hair so she's convinced she is a grown up now. Only big girls have tangles.

Jason has been officially diagnosed with Lymes Disease. I have just started all my researching and to be truthful, I feel a bit overwhelmed. He also had carpal-tunnel surgery on his wrists. Poor guy- he's had a rough start to the year.

I hope you are all doing well. I would love to hear from you. 

Day 7

It's 9:56am and I am still in bed.  I should clarify that I've been working on computer things for the past hour- not sleeping. Although I've thought about sleeping. I've also remembered some important things that have to be finished by this weekend that I had forgotten about so now I've added those to the every growing list of despairs. Nah. I'll do it. I always do.

We had a crazy December. We had to celebrate our "at home" Christmas on the 12th because it was the last day we would have together at home before the new year.  That evening we went out for dinner and a movie and then stopped at Creekmore Park to ride the Christmas Train.