Little Man turns 15!

Yes, I can't believe it either!

He seemed pretty excited about his presents.

Especially this one!  Yes, our last child has now gone through driver's ed and is practice driving.  Where did the years go?

He had a bunch of friends over, and they watched "Princess Bride."

Happy birthday, Little Man!  We can't imagine our lives without you!

Fall 2019 - Photo Dump!

 Despite my silence on the blog, we DID do a lot this past fall!  School, of course.  Here Little Man is working on his math.

And reading literature.

Our dog Gucci loves to do school with us!

I am going through "Who is God and can I really know Him?", a worldview curriculum, with Little Man.  We went through it with the older kids when he was a preschooler, and before I pass it on to someone else I wanted to go through it again with him.

Both our boys are in my high school English class at our home school co-op.  I developed a four year cycle of what I would do with my own kids at home, and then offered it as a class at our co-op.  This is our year for "the long and the short of it," two long novels and several short stories.  The novel we spent the entire fall on was the 1600 page book, Les Miserables! Almost every day I could find each of the boys in this type of reading situation.

 Here is my co-op class!

Of course both boys played fall soccer with a homeschool team (fall soccer is when boys play for their school, and spring soccer is when they play either recreational or travel/club soccer).  Early in the season son C was tripped during a game and ended up breaking both bones in his left arm.

Sister G, when we visited her at her apartment one weekend, had to sign his cast!

It was an odd break, and the orthopedic doctor had an MRI done on son C's arm to make sure there was no soft tissue damage.  (there wasn't!)

7 members of our home school team are seniors this year, so we designated one of our game days as "senior day."  We had a special time to honor each one, and to pray over them.

We played a LOT of games that were kindof far away.  Falling asleep on the way home was a common occurrence.

We got to go to the home school National Tournament out of state!  Super fun experience.

Son C (#19) with the ball.

Also this fall we squeezed in two different college visits for our senior.  School #1....

....and school #2.

He would really love to play soccer in college.  We are praying and waiting and trusting that one of these two schools will offer him a spot on their team.

Halloween 2019 - Little Man and his boys small group from church dressed up as the fellowship of the ring!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving weekend, when daughter G was home, we went and bought our Christmas tree!

Son C (second from left) at our co-op Christmas party.

First Day of School 2018

And finally, after all the college kids were situated, WE started school at home!  We are down to just two students in our home school  Weird and wonderful.  Son C began his junior year of high school, and Little Man began eighth grade!

Our traditional breakfast out.....

......followed by the making of cookie dough maps.  This year we began our history studies with the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt so we made cookie dough maps of New York State, where Roosevelt was born, raised, and served in many capacities before becoming president.

For detailed instructions on how we make our cookie dough maps, please go here.

Son C's before.....

...and after.

Little Man's before....,.

....and after.

 How I love learning with these two!  Here's to a great junior and eighth grade year!

Sweet time with friends!

Little Man got to spend a week with his "brother from another mother," and I got to spend a day and a half this "brother's" parents!  We spent a fun afternoon at a park, playing with their dog,

biking, creek walking,

and fishing in a catch and release pond!

Andrew's friend caught two and Andrew caught this beautiful little fish.

Releasing it was kindof gross, and kindof cool all at the same time.

We are thankful for lifelong friendships!

Vacation Bible School - 2018 Edition!

Myself and three of our boys served at our church's vacation Bible school this year.  I LOVE serving at VBS, as I get to be the first and second grade story teller, and it is such a privilege to teach children about Jesus.  Son G and son C both served on the worship band (son C was also a small group leader), and Little Man was a small group leader of first and second graders.  One of the unique things about VBS for us this year was that son C had recently sustained a fracture of his fibula (smaller of the two bones in your lower leg) during his last soccer game of the season, and he served the entire week on crutches and while wearing an immobilization boot!

Son C is on the piano, and just behind him you can see son G in the drum cage.

Little Man was greatly loved by the kids in his group, and ended up "wearing" one during every large group session!

I love serving God alongside my children!

Here is a video of some of their music.  It is the "canned" music that plays as the children are entering the auditorium for the closing session at the end of the morning, but it shows the worship band guys on the platform "dancing"....my boys are on the far left and the far right.  And you can see Little Man near the back of the auditorium at the end of an aisle, singing and interacting with the boys in his small group.