Something to Celebrate

Last week was an awesome week for the Lockhart Clan.  On Tuesday Becket kicked off birthday season by turning two!

He was anything but cooperative for this pictures...or anything else for that matter.  We had some cake and frozen pizzas.  BOOM, he's two!  He doesn't seem to be slowing down.  I am hoping that he will follow in Simon's foot steps and mellow out a bit by age three.  But this mother is not holding her breath.

And though a child's birthday is a wonderful thing to celebrate, Chris completing flight school was a close second...if not a tie.

Wednesday Chris' parents arrived around lunch.  Chris took Amelia and Becket to family day to see the helicopters.  Becket is obsessed with helicopters.  Chris said he was so excited to be there.

That evening we had the ball.  Chris has been in the Army for almost eight years and I have never attended a ball.  There is a lending closet on post where I was able to borrow a dress for the ball.  All that I had to do was have the dress dry cleaned.  Done and done!  My mom lent me the wrap.  A friend was so kind to come over and do my hair for me.  I had black shoes in my closet.  So, I was winning on being cost efficient.

The ball was fine, but I didn't know anyone there other than Chris.  So, I made the most reasonable decision and went to the bar to order a bottle of wine before going through the receiving line.  We eventually made it through the receiving line were we shook hands as they welcomed.  We returned to our table to pour our glasses that we would need for the toast and made small talk with the other couples at our table.  There are some formalities that we had to remain standing for like presenting of colors, prayer, and the toast.  I don't like saying "formalities" but I couldn't think better way to put it.  And I don't remember all the details.  Please forgive me.  I really do enjoy the traditions that come with military events.

Then it was food.  The high ranking officers went through the line first and then the started calling table numbers.  Table one and eleven were called first, and we were at table eleven.  So Chris and I got up and went to get food at a completely normal pace.  We were almost to the buffet and realize that everyone from our table were taking their time.  So we tried slowing our stride so we didn't look like fat kids.  But our efforts were worthless because in true fat kid fashion we were halfway down the buffet before any other couple entered the room with the food.  We did wait for the others to get to the table before digging in, but dang.  Our table was right beside the "important people".   I kept joking that it was the adult table and we were at the big kid table...clearly I deserved the little kid table.

Sneaking a picture of the "adults" as we waited for the others from our table. And the sweet potato casserole was bangin'.  Just sayin'. #wearefatkids

Another tradition is presenting the spouse with a set of wings.  A necklace we bought. Side note: the owner of the jewelry store was a super sweet German lady.  Seriously, Ingrid needs a little shout out! ;)

Remember that bottle of wine we bought...Chris only drank the sips for the toast to be responsible.  So I had to do the responsible thing by not letting the Merlot go to waste. 

They concluded the event and welcomed us to dance.  I have never seen a room empty so quickly.  Chris turned down my request to dance as he always does and we headed home.  

The graduation was at 10:00 the next morning.  We got ourselves ready and out the door my 9:20.  My mother in law had had surgery on her foot so we needed some time to get from the car and to a seat.  The graduation was quick.  I stood in the back because Becket insisted on yelling at me if we were at our seats.  

Chris's dad pinned his wings.

And then we had a brand new Army Aviator. 

After the graduation we went home a hung out with his parents.  He graduated on Michaelmas, the feast of the Archangels.  We specifically celebrated St. Micheal since he is the patron of soldiers.  I made chicken and angel hair pasta and devil's food cake that we stabbed with "swords". 

 We are extremely proud of Chris.  When I wrote this post graduation seemed soooo far away.  It's crazy how long it felt even though it went by quickly. Now we are waiting for the next step.  He has another course to take.  It's a special duty course for equipment inspections or something.  Anyway, that course and some briefs for our upcoming move is all he has left.  Then we head to Hawaii. 

Becket Roger Lockhart: The Birth

For some reason I love to write out my children's birth stories years later.  If we have anymore I will try do it while I'm in the hospital or something.  Then again, I may not.  I am full of the best intentions and lack follow through.

For those of you reading two years ago you may have remember that Chris was out of the state for the last two months of my pregnancy.  He was taking an Army leadership course and graduation was on Becket's due date September 26th.  My mom flew up to New York a few days before my due date and stayed a week.  All of my kids prior had been three to four days late so I felt like it was likely I would have the baby while she was there.

Muma arrived!

I had an appoint that day and was four centimeters dilated. She said I would likely have the baby in the next 24 hours.  And sure enough I did.  After the appointment I was having contractions, light and manageable.  We went home to wait it out.  I napped while Mom took the kids for a walk.  

Chris graduated from his course and hit the road.  He did take a detour to DC on his way home.  We were texting here and there as he drove home and overall he made pretty good time.  He showed up at the house around midnight chatted briefly and headed to bed.  I got in the bath and timed the contractions I was having.  They were still weak but closer together.

Waiting for Chris to get home...so a dressed up!

About 1:30 am there was a significant change.  All the prior contractions felt like Braxton Hicks these were stronger (not terrible just stronger) and about five minutes apart. Chris didn't get any sleep.  We told my mom we were leaving and headed to the hospital.

Unlike my other pregnancies, I had zero pain between contractions this time.  For a solid five minutes, maybe more I was able to talk, walk, and breathe without a problem for a pregnant lady.  So in the labor and delivery room I was telling the nurses at the nurses station that I was a little bummed because I'm use to coming in and 30 minutes later having a baby.  It didn't appear that was going to be the case this time. 

It was about 2:30 am and I was taken into the delivery room.  The nurse was a lovely lady, but super chatty and seemed to be taking her time with the normal procedures.  I went the bathroom to change.  As I was walking to the bed I had a contraction that was painful and I knew we had just entered the last phase of labor.  

I was check and only 7 cm dilated.  I was bummed since Amelia was 9 on her first check and Simon was 8.  Though it was still better than Owen's 4.  There was that.

The nurse tried getting the monitor on my belly and I smacked her hand away.  My belly was more sore than normal, apparently.  I reacted.  It's not usually like me.  The doctor offered to break my water and I agreed.  Contractions got worse, and within minutes I was able to push.  

The doctor directed me to push more efficiently and I did.  I pushed five or six times and he began to crown.  It was a circle of fire!  All I could think was this next contraction was going to be the last because OMG Becky, that was terrible.  And sure enough it was!  At 3:20 am the doctor put him on my belly and waited to cut the cord like I asked.  He waited there gleefully because he could not wait to weigh Becket.  He said his biggest vaginal delivery was 10 lbs 6 oz.  I was like, dude I broke that record...that was the weight of my smallest kid.

Chris was quiet, supportive, and tired.  I know I had just delivered a baby...but he had been up for nearly 24 hours.  We admired Becket and they did all the measurements in the room.  Becket Roger Lockhart was 11 lbs 6 oz and 22 inches long.  It was after 4 o'clock and Chris was trying really hard to stay awake.  I told him to take a nap since I couldn't.

Becuase, I felt it should be documented

Eventually we were moved to a maternity room where we both slept.  Around 9:00 Chris headed to the house to pick up my mom and the kids.  The stay was relaxed.

I promise, Chris smiles sometimes...

I could have stayed an extra day (and I would have) but I wanted to get home and visit with my mom before she headed back to NC.

I would like to add that I LOVE the newborn stage.  After having a baby I want to have another one because I know that the new born stage is so fleeting.  It took 24 hours for me to recover from the "circle of fire" that I experienced with Becket.

Welcome to the world Becket...2 years later.  We are so glad you're here!

He's wearing a diaper!!!!

Owen's birth story.
Amelia's birth story.
Simon's birth story. 

Little of this, little of that

Hello interwebs!  I hope that you have had a great summer.  Things around here have been changing, but mostly staying the same.  A quick update and some pictures it is!

Chris is wrapping up flight school this month.  He's flying the Blackhawk, and we have verbal orders to Hawaii.  Basically we've been told where we are going, but it can always change.  So for now that's what we are planning.  To be honest, we weren't thrilled when we found out, but we have come to terms with it and we are looking forward to some place new.

Love this guy!

We are still homeschooling.  Owen is in 2nd, Amelia kindergarten, Simon preschool, and Becket terrorizing the village. Right now I am trying to get as many lessons done as possible before week move.  I'm not sure how long we are going to be living out of suit cases. I'm trying to get as much covered as possible in case we can't can't carry our material with us like I'm hoping.  We are schooling 5-6 days a week currently.  It's not as bad as it sounds. The kids are doing really well.

Donuts on the first day of school

Sweet co-op friends

  

Last week I put our family on an actual schedule.  If you know me you know how much I hate being ruled by the clock.  I have may alarm set for 7:00am and we begin Morning Time by 9:00. The schedule wasn't perfect, but school was completed and the house was clean.  I was exhausted.  I'm not sure why, because our day isn't packed with tons of stuff, but I was tired.  I've even be going to bed by 10:30 which is almost unheard of for me.  #ilovethenightlife.  Week 1 was fruitful, but I feel like we have to stick with it several more weeks to really know if this change is blessing our family.  

Today was our first day of CCD.  This year Owen will receive his first reconciliation and first Holy Communion.  We are moving so I'm trying to get in touch with the the religious ed director of the church we are moving to prevent any delays.  We're very excited for Owen.

I guess that is all for now.  I have more to share, but I'll wait.  

Until next time.  Hopefully sooner rather than later...no promises. 

Homeschooling on The Brain

Two months since my last post...WHAT!?! Every time I hit publish I fully intend to return within a week. Sorry!

Not much has been going on though.  We are waiting on Chris to be given an aircraft and placed in a course for the final part of flight school.  The next part will determine how much longer we will be in Alabama.  I hope that we are here through next May so we can complete the full year of the co-op.

 

 Homeschooling is what is filling up my time.  Planning, teaching, cleaning up after the teaching, reading about teaching, listening to talks about teaching, and building new habits seems to be taking up my time when I'm not changing diapers or feeding someone.  This is NOT a complaint.  It's easy for me to use this space to whine, but I'm not whining here.  Shocking, I know.  I am thoroughly enjoying it the process, as messy as it may be.

I have determined that we are going to be year round schoolers.  It make sense for us, and it gives me the flexibility to take breaks when my ENFP gets bored.  Or the Army wants to change the rhythm of our home.  My kids won't really know they difference.

Our days lately have looked like this, breakfast, chores/play, morning time, lunch, lessons, and clean up.  I didn't give you times because it varies.  Lessons after lunch have been great mostly because I can think better and Becket is napping.  Simon plays well alone during that time, but he's always welcomed at the table.  Assuming no one is dragging their feet we get get lesson done in two the three hours.  I was reminded this evening that Owen needs a list. He will have one tomorrow.

Nature walk.

Nature journaling is hard.

I've been trying to do more nature studies.  Julie at Nurturing Learning has been so inspiring.  Her love for God's earth has been encouraging for me to "do betta".  I appreciate nature, but I don't love the way she does.   My kids love nature walks, collecting items, and documenting them in their nature journals.  I am doing my best to foster their love and not limit them because if my own "nature deficit" as I like to call it.

Morning time has been so lovely this week.  Sadly, it has been neglected, but we bounced back with no problem.  The kids have been receptive, and it has been a beautiful.  I cannot say it enough that every family should have a morning time...homeschooling or not.  Your Morning Basket is an amazing podcast on morning time.  Pam is wonderful and each episode is full of information and inspiration.

For the past few months I have been trying to learn as much as I can about classical education.  This book, Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodness & Beauty by Stephan Turley, PhD is full of amazing passages.  It's more than just resource on pedagogy.  It gave me new perspective for my own life.  I have been commonplacing passages from the book and I feel I should just write the whole book in there. 

There is a local book club for classical educators which has been very fruitful.  God planted me here at just the right time (I don't want to leave).  We just finished reading The Tempest by William Shakespeare.  It's been so much fun to discuss literature.  The Book Broads is a book club with some online friends of mine.  We are reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgeson Burnett.  

The kids folding their laundry.

We have been working on habit forming.  And sometime times it look like the picture above.  But mostly it looks like the picture below.  So take solace in the fact that there is a strong chance that my house is in worse condition than yours.  And for some reason I posted it on the internet.

I will try not to stay away so long next time. But no promises. Peace, interwebs.

Lent in the Year of Mercy with Friends

Lent has begun. I feel more prepared than I have ever felt before because of the community and friendships that I have found over the last few months.  Thank you technology.  It is because of YOU that I feel ready this Lent. I'm so inspired by other people and their ability to love and serve God in ways I never knew I could. I am ready to reform my relationship with our Creator. I'm ready to pour love into my family and friends. And I'm ready to embrace the gifts that I have been given to glorify God.

"We are responsible for on another's holiness.  We influence each other all the time, and we should grown in the awareness of this.  It simply cannot be denied that we are conditioned and affected by one another.  Human beings invariably are.  Every Christian has a vocation to holiness. Now as we enter into Lent, I hope we will all deeply conscious of our involvement in one another's holiness, of our sharing of penance and of sacrifice, and very especially of our responsibility for one another's growth in holiness this Lent."  A Time of Renewal: Daily Reflections for the Lenten Season

 I worked with Ashley to create "Lent in the Year of Mercy", a reflection journal to pair with the book A Time of Renewal: Daily Reflection for the Lenten Season by Mother Mary Francis.  And not to toot our own horn, journal is so awesome.  And it has already been really helpful.  It stands alone even if you aren't reading the book with us.  Please download a copy.



We will be on different platforms throughout Lent so be sure to follow us.  You can find Ashley on Periscope, Facebook, Instagram, and her blog Between the Linens.  And you can find me here, Periscope, Facebook, and Instagram.  AND we are chatting using the app Voxer, too.  Let us know so we can add you to the chat.  Even if you're not reading the book, you are more than welcome to listen and add to the conversation.

Instagram Prompts

We have some Instagram prompts using #lenting.  Please share and use the prompts, we would love to see how your journey is going, even if the picture doesn't quite match the prompt. :)

Happy Lenting!

Gettin' Our Learin' On

Since coming home from our travels to North Carolina, we have stayed put.  We haven't wasted our days traveling around town on an empty mission just for something to do.  During the week we have (mostly) remained at home.  It's a nice change of pace, though I have had a bit of cabin fever.  I can't claim to have been extremely productive in the home, either.

Last week we returned to our lessons.  It was rocky some days and smooth others.  We are still trying to find our groove.  Morning time is by far everyone's favorite, and has been the smoothest part of our school day.  We begin with the Morning Offering prayer and then into our memory work.  We are working from Classically Catholic Memory alpha year, and everyone seems to at least tolerate it.  I let the kids take the timeline cards and put them in order on the floor.  They have really enjoyed it.  We have also started using Blob Maps for map tracing with zero resistance from the kids.  We finish up by reading A Bear Called Paddington while they draw in their journals.  On Saturday I bought some marmalade for the kids to try.  Owen is the only one that seems to enjoy it.

I have been working my own thinking muscle.  Along with the eCourse on classical education, I'm reading Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodenss, & Beauty with some lovely ladies and discussing it using the Voxer app.  Classical education is so intimidating, but it pairs so well with our faith.  It feels like the best option for us.  But how do we have a classical homeschool?  I don't know.    I'm still working on that.  For now since classical schools do memory work...ok, we'll do memory work. Classical schools learn Latin...ok we'll learn Latin.

Reading and learning about classical education, I feel that I need to try and fill in the gaps of my own education.  Sadly those gaps are quite large...embarrassingly large, especially in literature.  I'm not classically educated...sometimes if feel barely educated.  So the past couple of months have been a bit emotional about homeschool and capabilities.  But I digress.  2016 I'm reforming my reading habits.  While reading the nonfiction with the Voxer group, I'm going to have a fiction book going as well.  So, I'm reading Little Women for the first time.  It has been so delightful.  I can't wait to read it with Amelia!

I'm working on a post for my education metaphor.  I have it, but I'm having a hard time crafting my words.  Choosing a metaphor has been really great.  It's made me really think about what education means to me, and what it will mean to this home.  Be on the look out for that.

Chris as has tomorrow off.  Exciting.  I can tell the day is going to fly by, but it's nice to have him home an extra day.  He's in the thick of flight school lots of studying.  When I can, I get the kids out of the house to give him some silence.

I hope 2016 is treating you well.  :)

Word of The Year: 2016

We are still feeling the renewal that the calendar provides each January, and I have chosen a new word for 2016.  In 2014, I choose a word of the year.  It has been the only time I have ever chosen a word, but in retrospect, I think 2014's word really needed to roll into 2015, so maybe that's why I was never struck with a word that year.

Facebook had a fun word generator floating around toward the end of December, and I could not resist the click.  It provided me with the word innovation.  There was a pause, but I didn't feel as if it was the word to guide me through the next year.  So, I Voxed Ashley to get her thoughts, and she recommended looking up synonyms and antonyms which was a lovely idea.

I read lots of words, and continued to Vox Ashley, using her as a sounding board, to determine my word for this year.  In the end I settled with:

I was not blown away with the word in the beginning.  When I hear reform I naturally think of political reforms, which is just makes me think of debates, and honestly leaves a gross taste in my mouth.  Once I got over that and really consider the word, I felt like it was kind of perfect.

Most everything that is going on in my life seems right, but the quality in which I'm doing things is lacking.  Praying, housekeeping, parenting, homeschooling, budgeting, community building, and personal development you name it, I'm not doing it well.  I feel like I'm planted where God wants me, but I'm not fulfilling these roles in the best way.

After going through Advent with St Benedict, I have a better understanding of my life, the mundane, being a pray that needs to be said everyday.  Meaning, my work is prayer.  Getting up and doing my job is a prayer that I need to be saying, or doing, everyday.  I know I haven't been.  Or at least my work has been poor and sloppy. 

By making paradigm shifts and using my strengths to foster my shortcomings will (hopefully) build my self confidence will slowly reform my daily life.  It's going to be a long year with lots of growing pains, God willing.