Finding Joy

How do you find Joy on the hard days?  What small things rekindle it in your heart?  I feel like this is something many of my friends and myself have been dealing with this winter.  So I thought I would write out small ways I have been doing this, to remind myself now and sometime in the future when I have yet again forgotten.

First I fill my diffuser with happy oils

I research ideas for my preschool class and try them out with the kiddos or I have quiet time with God and ask him to show me the Joy in my life

 Which I then journal about, or list things to be grateful for or even instagram a picture (little things like hummingbirds at my feeder, sunshine through the window, dreams of my summer garden....)

If that doesn't work its time to join the kids in play.

Phone calls with JoJo

New stretching poses and exercise with O

Building planes from trash with Ferd

And everyone's favorite, ridiculous snap chat faces!

 And last but not least, photo shots with these adorable faces!

What are your go to Joy seekers? Exercise, stretching, chatting with friends a good book? 

well Hello again

After our move to CO I pretty much stopped blogging, life got hectic, the computer was in an strange place and I just let it go, pretending like Facebook was enough. But now that we have been in WA for almost a year, the baby is almost two and the computer is accessible, I though it was time to start keeping track of life again.  I can sit in my bedroom, next to the window, watch the wind blow the trees in our backyard and spill life onto the page, what could be better then that?

Life with four little people is so much fun (crazy, challenging, hard, nutty, but fun).  They are at the age of wonder and joy in life, in the world, in God. Its amazing to watch and hard to answer all the questions.  It seems we are constantly on the go, mostly forget to snap pictures and trying hard to please and help so many little people all the time.  Things (and sometimes people) slip through the cracks but out kids have become good at reminding us that they aren't happy in said cracks, lol.

Christmas this year was magical and holy.  The kids believe with all their might, they love the stories of baby Jesus and St Nick and they love keeping and sharing surprises.  I could not have asked for a better Christmas and I think Matt would say the same.

As we adjust to life here in the Pacific Northwest, the mountains and beach call us constantly.  Orson loves to visit the city and every one of us love having Grandparents and family near by.  Matt and I even got away for an overnight on our 10th anniversary.

Our new house is big enough for me to craft and bake in and I am loving exploring sourdough and gluten free baking, creating blends with essential oils and making Christmas/Advent crafts and Catholic Saint peg dolls.

Matt is with a new company and spends quiet a lot of time commuting all the way out to Nike headquarters most days but he loves the job and enjoys all the new challenges it is bringing him.

Orson is in 2nd grade and the middles are in pre-k together at an awesome outdoor school.  Jo Jo wants to go so bad but she has another year till she is old enough.  We have settled into routines and adventures.

Its been so long that I decided to upload random pictures from the last year and not even try to make them fit into the narrative.  Its so amazing to watch these little people grow and flourish.

Its been a long time!

I was looking at old posts today and realized that I haven't updated since Josephine was born! Life with 4 seems to just float away.  Being present for the kids at home means that I spend less time here.

What can I say, the kids are all bigger and crazier and more loving and more everything.

Orson is half way through 1st grade at Douglas and loves it.  He is starting to really get letter sounds and reading, he is great at math and wants to be an engineer, he loves everything outside and fast, art, music/rhythm and is figuring out swimming.

Ferdinand started preschool at St Louis this year.  He comes home with something new every time he goes, letters, numbers, potty language, friends, art, you name it! He is such his own little person now. Full of wonder, delight, emotions and attitude.  He has learned how to ride his bike, hiked over 5 miles on his own two feet and loves music.

Theodore is getting so big, he has had his first hair cut, is jealous of Josephine, loves to cuddle, copies his brothers, using complete sentences and sometimes paragraphs to tell us stories, still screams like a daemon but is so very, very loving. He is figuring out his tricycle, loves to go on hikes as long as he doesn't have to walk, swimming and starting to get into coloring.

Josephine has grown like a weed.  She has brought so much joy into the house.  The boys all love her and Matt is smitten.  She is crawling and cruising, eating solids, has 6 teeth and more on the way, been in the water and loves it, goes for hikes with the family, played in the snow, been on an airplane and brings smiles to everyone she meets.  She is super chill and loves to just watch.

And some family shots from this year

I'll be back just after Christmas with an update, I promise!  Should have lots to talk about by then ;)

Josephine Amelia Ewalt

Oh my goodness, number 4 has arrived and is already a month old!!! We were blest with the arrival of Josephine Amelia on Feb. 10th 2015 at 5:30 in the morning after a few days of labour.  She was born at home and weighed in at 8lbs and 21 inches.  She is my smallest and only SHE :)  We are all in love with her. Labour was long but easier than with the boys, she is nursing great, sleeps (with eating breaks) for most of the nights and is all around chill.  She must know she is number four.  We all love to cuddle her and it is a toss up between Orson and I on who is more excited to welcome a girl into our lives.  We have also been blest by our community here, I didn't have to cook barely any meals for this first month and baby girl clothes have been arriving on our doorstep (new and passed down) as if by miracle (or via my moms groups, bible study and out of town friends).  Lafayette is a beautiful community to be living in and all our friends spread all over the world are so amazing to us.

Pictures from her first day:

 As you can see Ferdinand and Theodore were very excited!

 Pictures from life the last month:

 Love baby feet!

 Silly hats!

 Her "I'm peeing in my diaper face"

 more toes.

 And pictures at a month.  She is up to 10 lbs and already losing her newborn face

We are all in love with our adorable girl

and fill so blest by all our gifts from God.