Queen of procrastination

Despite being a first born who generally abhors running late and not having a plan, those who know me well (aka Mom and hubby) know that I am a class A procrastinator. Add that to life being busy with three then four children and now you know why I haven't gotten around to posting at all in the past, um, two years. See? I haven't even checked when the last post was.

Almost everyone who reads this blog either follows our life on Facebook or is family that remains connected and aware of all events in the past few years. SO I won't spend too much time updating all that.

Here we are--almost the end of August 2014--ready to begin the school year with one third grader, one first grader, one in prek, and one smiling 6 month old who will hopefully be appeased with being a lap partner and reading buddy. We're embarking on the fourth year of homeschooling (no way can that be right!) and our second year at the parent partnership program school Five Mile Prairie. The kids are excited to go back to Five mile two days a week and see their friends, old teachers, and meet their new teachers for the year. I'm always excited to begin curriculum and start off fresh. This year will be a fun year as we are going to be fairly busy with school, church, sports, and renovating our new home. Sometime I'll have to post more about living in a home during renovation and keep our far away family up to date on how that project is progressing. (See how I didn't put a timeline on that? haha.)


As soon as I get to the phone and camera, I'll post some pictures from our summer! 

Poolers in Yakima

Wow! The last post I wrote for this blog was for Ryan's birthday which was almost six months ago. I would love to say that I will backdate all the happenings of the late spring and summer months, but come on, it took me almost six months to get back on here, so I'll just be honest and start from last week.

As many of you know, Ryan received a new job offer with Walmart at the end of August. He accepted it and we faced the reality that, in less than a month, we would be packed up and headed to Yakima WA. I moved often as a child and moving has never been easy for me, but this move was particularly difficult because I knew that at least two of my children would be upset by the news. In the two years we lived in Wenatchee, Oliver and Lorelai developed quite a few friendships through church, Bible study, AWANAs, Head Start, Valley Academy and playdates. We've also been blessed to have family nearby for that time.

Oliver was the only one who was affected before we moved. (Everyone else waited until we had moved to Yakima before the tears and tantrums came...mommy included.) When I was packing, Oliver would sit next to me, look over at me sideways, sigh loudly, and then say "I just keep thinkin' about it."
I'd reply, "Thinking about what?"
"Thinking about moving and leaving all my friends." Droopy face.
We therefore had a lot of conversations about visiting, attending parties in Wenatchee whenever we could, calling people, writing letters, and keeping up with everyone via Facebook. Ryan and I also tried our best to emphasize the exciting things God was blessing us with--the chance to find a home with a grassy yard to play in; the chance to meet new people and find a new library, bookstore, new parks, and new coffee places for mommy. 

Bob the cat and Ellie

And after a long month of packing, cleaning, and sneaking in as many playdates with friends as we could sneak in, we are finally settled in Yakima...for the most part. I still see boxes to unpack in the living room, and sometimes it feels as though we've never been more disorganized, but at the same time, we are enjoying the more relaxed schedule, our quiet neighborhood outside the city, and our new friends Bob the tail-less cat and the fifty some chickens (and one rooster) behind our backyard fence. If you ask the kids, those animals are the best things about living in Yakima.


The first week here, Oliver and I jumped right into BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) and I'm loving the fact that I get to spend Monday night with my son singing hymns and talking about all the things he's learned about God in the book of Genesis. He and Lorelai also started AWANAs last week and were happy to have met some new friends there as well.

Oliver's new favorite spot

Between unpacking, homeschooling, and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather while it is still here, our days are feeling just about full enough. But I've managed to find time to enjoy a cup of coffee out on the back deck in the mornings. I'll try to use some of my free time to upload some more pictures!

Ryan's birthday party wagon

On a typical work day, Ryan drives around our 87 Nissan Sentra. The kids have dubbed it the "mouse car" because, well, it looks a bit mousy, and because when we first inherited it, Ryan found a mostly decayed mouse. This small, gray car smelled horrendous at first until Ryan took it apart and went to work at it...vacuuming, steam cleaning, and scrubbing down the inside. After cleaning, its still our "mouse car" but not smelly and not filled with the skeletal remains of tiny rodents.

For his 27th birthday, the kids and I decided to decorate daddy's car, just like mommy did when she and daddy were dating and he had turned 18. We hopped over to Walmart after Awanas the night before his birthday and picked up the "secret" supplies. The kids were practically skipping out of the store with excitement and ideas of what we were "gonna do" to daddy's car. Despite being up late that night, the kids insisted I wake them up when I awoke the next morning to decorate the car. So, at 6 am, an hour before Ryan was scheduled to get up for work, the kids and I tiptoed downstairs, blew up balloons, wrote on his car with a window marker, and decorated it with streamers.

When Ryan woke up and came downstairs, Oliver and Lorelai couldn't wait to show him their efforts. We took him outside to see the car. He laughed and said thank you and looked like he wasn't sure he wanted to drive it, but he drove it anyway, with the four of us cheering and screaming as he drove out onto the street.

His report when he got home: only one car honked at him. But, he did get lots of looks. Mission accomplished!

Lorelai's 4th birthday party

Tomorrow is Ellie's birthday and I am just now getting to post about Lorelai's party. Ahh, the joys of a busy life.

Birthday pancakes!

Ellie with her favorite birthday accessory

Waiting for cake

Lorelai is definitely girly and loves all things pink, so it was easy to put a party together for her. "Princess, mom. I just want a princess cake." Ok, princess it is. Toss in some "knights" and we've got a girl/boy friendly party.

Ryan helped me out by making swords out of the pool noodles I bought and the kids got to take a whack at some helium filled balloons that we tied to tires in our garage.

Her new big girl bike!

The kids also had the chance to make necklaces and decorate shields. As you can see, a lot of fun was had by all! 

Lorelai is 4!

Almost every time I drag all three kids to the store with me, some well-meaning older person comments on how quickly children grow. I've heard variations of this statement but my favorite one is this: The days are long and the years are short. Truer words could not be spoken. Sometimes the monotonous routines of the day make this mama weary and anxious for naptime or bedtime. Thankfully, God subtly reminds me of how precious these days are--that one day I will miss the endless laundry, the messy kitchen, and the clutter that frequents every room in the house. I will, one day, have a cleaner, neater house, but it will be quieter and a bit lonelier. I pray that He will remind me again and again of the amazing gifts He has blessed me with and that I will place the dishes and worries aside for a while and just snuggle with my growing babies. 

All these feelings surface again tonight because my middle child is turning four in just a few hours.

At age 4, Lorelai takes dance class once a week and twirls at home whenever she can.

first day of dance class

She wholeheartedly loves Jesus and will tell you everything you need to know about Him and what He's done for us. She is the first to offer to pray for others and usually one of the first to show that she knows her Bible verse.

She's quite the stickler for routine, order, and perfection...perfection according to her.

As a baby she used to rub my chest or shoulder while she was nursing. At age 4, she still wants to rub my arm to go to sleep at night.

She wants to do everything her brother does and go everywhere her brother goes.

Lorelai loves girly things: purses, necklaces, scarves, hats, dress up clothes, dolls, hair, and the colors purple and pink.

There are times when, after not getting her way, she will throw a tantrum until she is so tired that all she can say is "mommy, will you sit with me?" And once I sit with her, she collapses in exhaustion and all is over.

Enjoy these pictures from Lorelai's first 4 years! It's been wonderful for me to look back over them again!

Letting Aunt Cheryl hold her

Here she is snuggling with her aunt.
As a baby she was so calm, she slept often, and she loved being close to us. Many assumed that she would be rather quiet compared to her rambunctious brother, but she was simply waiting for her opportune time to develop those vocal chords a bit more. As soon as she began inching forward to crawl, her temperament seemed to take on a more independent bent.

Little Lollie

 

 

 

 As the next three years have come and gone, Lorelai has grown into quite the little  lady. She began speaking early and hasn't stopped since. She loves singing, telling stories to her siblings and to herself, and enjoys making up her own languages. She was even the star in her own video that was entered in America's Funniest Home videos--we're still waiting to hear about that one! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cruella's scrumptious puppy

 

 

 

 

 

 

She still makes that face!

Her beauty routine started early

Looking spiffy with her brother Easter of 2010

Lollie's lolly

Lorelai in her hip spica cast after breaking her femur

swimming in Keller

Happy birthday lovely Lorelai!

It is hard to get a blog off and running when one is busy chasing around 3 youngsters aged six and under. But this blog is for relatives and friends to stay in touch with the Pooler family, so a quick post here and there is easy enough to accomplish.

As of today, Oliver is 6, Lorelai will be 4 on the 30th, and next month little Ellie turns 2. Yikes!

More later...here are some pictures to enjoy!

Girls playing under the table

Oliver likes to style his own hair and be a rock star