Seeing...red???

It's almost humerous how your self control flies out the window as you hormones increase; or at least that's what I've found to be true in the final days of this pregnancy.

"Do you know what you're having?" has been a common question as of late. I usually respond with "yes, a girl," smile politely, and leave it at that. I get a variety of reactions, but there is one question that has been surprisingly popular that has me really agitated:

"Shew, aren't you glad?!"

I hate that! It ranks right up there with "Wow, you look like you are about to pop. When are you due?!" or "You sure there's only one in there?!"

What are they really asking and how am I supposed to answer..."yes, I am really glad it's NOT a boy!" Or, "yes, I will feel complete now that I FINALLY have a girl!"

Is there something wrong with boys that I don't know about? Is my family broken or incomplete without a little girl?

I am thrilled to be having a girl. I am excited about the unknown, the pink frills, and the hope of the mother/daughter comeraderie I share with my own mom. I can't wait to see my husband go goo-goo in the palm of this baby, dance with her, and eventually walk her down the aisle.

However, I love my boys and would not trade them or the lessons they've taught me for anything! Yes, they are smelly. They are very loud. They make a mess, play with bugs, and drag in dirt. They play games that I find ridiculous or complicated. They pass gas and grunt. I'm not convinced they will ever flush without being reminded EVERYtime.

But they give awesome hugs, help me carry heavy things, and appreciate my femininity. They take responsibility for "yucky" chores around my house. They defend me mightily, even if they have to stand up to their dad. I love watching my husband wrestle and play the "knock-down game" with them, take them to the hardware store, and teach them about being godly men.

Raising boys is way out of my comfort zone. I question myself hourly and often feel like a failure. But I am so grateful for how God has used these precious humans in my life. That He has chosen me to be their mom. That He continues to refine me daily through their little lives.

So, yes, I am grateful for the little girl that will be joining our family in a few short days and all of the lessons that experience will bring. But it certainly doesn't trump the past 6+ years that I've had the pleasure of being the mom to boys.

Aa is for...

Here are a few things I've been able to capture from the beginning days of school.  The boys usually freeze when I snap pictures, but here's some of what we've been doing the pst few weeks...

 Studying the Letter Aa, so I tried to find some cool treats.  Here we have "Apples and astronaut ships" {Yeah , yeah that's not the technical name, but it works, right?!}

 Hudson is sporting his awesome homeschool shirt that my brother and SIL gave us for Christmas last year.  Aren't they awesome???

 Sweet T's math is coming from an awesome book called Developing Number Concepts by Kathy Richardson.  As a former math teacher, I LOVE LOVE LOVE her approach to primary math!!! Wish my algebra 1 kids had gone through her curriculum.  

 We are using Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as one part of our "Letter of Week" units this year. HudBug is putting up his very first letter of the year.

 Using his pom-pon magnets on the Letter A activity

 Prewriting skills using our awesome new Crayola Dry erase Activity Center 

 Sweet T working on some logic skills

 Bottlecap spelling 

 More logic skills

 Hud has a love/hate relationship with cutting.  This day was ok... We have been using the Kumon workbooks for cutting practice.

 My little Hud loves his Do-A-Dots!!!

 Numeral recognition and counting practice.

{These are magnetic numerals that we have acquired over time and they are sticking to a cookie sheet.}

 One-to-one correspondence activity from Kathy Richardson

 Practicing making the letter A with Wikki Stix

 Spelling his name with an alphabet puzzle

 Apple lacing card

 Reviewing AWANA verses 

 Picking out all the Aa's 

(with Do-A-Dot markers}

 We are using Window on the World for our geography/people group study this year.  We studied Afghanistan for the letter A.

A friendly {ahem, pretty friendly} game of Guess Who? to put all those logical reasoning and sight reading skills to good use!

I have gathered all of my Letter of the Week activities from these AH-mazing ladies who are generous enough to share all of their hard work with the rest of us:

Erika @ Confessions of a Homeschooler

Carissa @ 1+1+1=1

Jolanthe @ Homeschool Creations

Coming up next at Ledford Christian Academy:

Fall Fun Pack

Letter Bb

Nice try...

So I've discovered, I'm just not the blogging type.  {Collective gasp of utter surprise!} I mean, if I can't even get my daily household chores done, my kids schooled, and dinner on the table in a timely fashion, why in the world would I expect myself to stay on top of a blog?!  Silly me.

Though it isn't posted for all to see - and by all I mean the 4 people who read this blog - life indeed goes on in the Ledford house.  Hudson is completely boycotting school right now, so that portion of our lives is a little out of whack, but alas, we continue to plug along.

Here are some clips from the past few {ahem} months:

 Thad, Hudson, and the "big kids" heading our to conquer the arctic villains during our Christmas snow storm.

 Hudson and Uncle Joe creatively passing time while we wait for Christmas dinner to be served.  Apparently that bowl makes a pretty mean reflection!

 Thad enjoying one of his awesome new toys, Qwirkle  (thanks Bebe & Pops!) on the kitchen floor .  I even made it in a picture!!!

 Proof that school has indeed taken place since November! The boys love to use their Do-A-Dot markers.

 As a motivator to get Thad to read, he's been reading these cards and then taping them in place all over the house.

 Our first stab at Pick and Draw, and super cool game that came in Thad's stocking.

 More winter work...

  My attempt to beat the winter blues by being crafty! Hudson helped me sort some of my old crayons, back from my public school days, and we made homemade ones.  They took longer than I expected, but turned out cute.  I was more impressed than the boys, of course.

The End

Outfit of the day...

Just some evidence of my commitment!

To match or not to match

*****UPDATE*****
It was almost unanimous - let the boy dress himself. So, I have been and it is surprisingly liberating! I will still put my foot down for certain occasions, but plan to use them as teaching opportunities as well. Thanks for your input!

______________________________________________

So this post is a readers' poll - that instantly makes me laugh because I only know of like 2 readers, but none-the-less -

Thad has recently had an explosion of independence. He's now able to do things like turn on the spigot, get ice from the automatic dispenser, drag a stool to the cupboard and get out whatever he wants - you know those kinds of things. Some of them make me quite proud and, honestly, are very helpful. Others, well, not so much.

One in particular has placed me in quite a predicament - dressing himself. When he decides to actually wear clothes (you see nudity is the cool thing around here), he likes to pick them out and put them on himself. Wonderfully helpful when I am chasing around a quick footed, naked, potty-training 2-year old. So what's the problem you might ask. His fashion sense is, well, less than savory. I'm not talking slight fashion faux pas here people. I mean MAJOR law breaking.

In case you can't tell from this shot (the fact that I am working SUPER DUPER hard to convince my hubby that we need an awesome digital SLR is a whole 'nother post!) he is proudly wearing a loud striped T - backwards! - with pale plaid shorts.

So, what's a mom to do? Do I brag on him incessantly for taking the initiative to dress himself and simply overlook the hideousness of the outfit? Or, do I gently encourage him to find matching pieces and risk crushing the do-it-myself spirit he's exhibiting?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated!