Summer Fun...A Little Early

Although today it is cloudy and barely 70-degrees, all of last week it was sunny and hot and wonderful! The kids cooled off in the sprinkler and had a blast!

Even though we loved the super warm and sunny weather of last week, we are thankful for the cooler weather this week - hoping that it will help our grass seed to grow!

Getting Ready

It's so hard to believe that it's almost time for school to begin again! Abby starts in just a little over a week, on August 28th. Noah and Ethan will officially begin their homeschooling year on September 8th (that is the start date for WAVA), but we will unofficially begin the same time that Abby does.

We haven't received the boys' curriculum yet, but we have started getting ready for the year by rearranging our family room a bit and getting a little work area set up for them. About 20-25% of their schoolwork will be done on the computer. So while one is working on the computer, the other will work at our kitchen table. Hopefully this plan will work as planned!

I am excited to see what this next year will be like for our family, but also a bit nervous when I think about trying to juggle everything that I will need to get done. I would so appreciate your prayers for us all as we venture into the unknown ...

Summer Fun

Here are a few random pictures from the last week or so. I think I'm realizing that with football starting, summer is quickly coming to an end, and we better enjoy our last days of sunshine and free time!

Noah and Abby riding the "little loop" around our house.


Ethan and his friend Gabriel (from school). Gabriel came over one day last week to help Ethan conquer Smash Brothers on the Wii.


Abby, Cole and I went to a concert in the park in Lacey on Tuesday after piano lessons while Mark, Noah and Ethan were at football practice.


On Wednesday, the kids and I went to another concert in the park here in DuPont with Papa and Gramma.


And yesterday, Abby, Cole and I went to the new park that just opened in DuPont while the other three were (again!) at football practice.

Here are Abby and Cole on our way home ... shortly before I was, once again, awarded the mother of the year award. Why? Well, yesterday Cole had found his Cars knee pads in the garage and wanted to wear them on our ride. I told him that he never falls on his scooter and didn't need them (because I was SURE that about a block from our house, he would decide he didn't want them and I would have to carry them all of the way to the park and home again). He agreed and off we went. Well, of course, he fell twice! The second time was on the way home and he REALLY messed up both of his knees! So, in the end, I ended up carrying Cole, his scooter, and his helmet most of the way home. You'd think after four kids I would be smarter than this ...

Swimming Lessons!

It's that time of the year again ... time for swimming lessons! And this year Cole gets to go, too!

Last year Noah, Ethan and Abby all took lessons at a private athletic club in Tumwater. This year they are taking lessons through Lacey Parks & Rec at River Ridge High School. Noah asked today why we are taking lessons at a different place this year. I told him there are two very good reasons: 1. It's closer (10 minute drive from our house instead of 25) and 2. It's cheaper (I paid less for all four kids this year than I did for three last year!) We all agreed those were very good reasons!

Cole is loving lessons and is more than willing to do everything his teacher asks him to do!

Abby is a little bit more unsure of the whole thing. She's gotten a ton better at just getting her whole head in the water this year as compared to last year, but she's still not crazy about the jumping in part. With a week and a half of lessons still to go, though, I know she's going to get it down and is going to be so proud of herself once she does!

Ethan has improved sooooo much since last year! His confidence just keeps building and he's more and more willing to try new things.

Here's Noah and his good friend Colton. Noah is already swimming pretty well, but is learning some new strokes and breathing techniques that are going to help him really improve what he already knows.

post #5 from the road...

as i sit here at the laptop for another post... i am amazed at what we have done over the last 13 days... our tripometer is at 3066.7 miles with about 1400 0r so left to go... we leave in the morning for bozeman, montana... our trip home...
greg, gwens brother takes abby for yet another motorcycle ride... this is something all the kids love doing when we come out to mott... to visit grandma and grandpa... abby is wearing a vintage helmet that belonged to her mom when she was a kid...
noah and i rode along...
grandpa on his goldwing ready for another trip around the town...
cole poses by "doc"... he loves the movie cars so this was a real treat...(medora, nd)

mini-golf in medora... i think grandpa won... at least thats what noah says...
grandma and grandpa, greg, and us... at the madora musical, pitchfork fondue... this was a great time....
we had a wonderful time with the grandparents, it always goes to quickly... and visits to north dakota are always a treat... thanks for the great times... they wont be forgotten...

Decisions

So, I mentioned in my last post that we have decided to homeschool Noah and Ethan next year. They will be in 4th and 5th grade. Our decision was not based, in any part, on negative feelings toward public schooling. Our kids have all had fantastic public school experiences. Has it been perfect? No. But, all in all, it has worked really well for our family. As I talked about in a previous post, our kids all shared their faith numerous times with school friends, they built some wonderful friendships, and have learned so much. All of this to say, our decision to take a different path with Noah and Ethan is not because of anything bad or difficult that has happened to them in our public school.

However, our "little" public school has grown so much since we first moved to DuPont that, even after a huge addition just a year ago, there is no longer enough room at Chloe Clark Elementary School for 4th and 5th grades. Next year it will be just kindergarten through 3rd grade. So, the plan is to bus 4th and 5th graders to an elementary school in Steilacoom. Due to the length of the bus rides (45 minutes to 1 hour each way depending on where you are on the bus route) and just our decision to not bus our kids, this wasn't an appealing option for us. We talked about driving the boys to school, but I would spend a minimum of two hours in the car each day just driving the kids to and from school. Plus, we have made it a priority to be involved in the kids' school by volunteering weekly and going on all field trips, etc. This would not be difficult, if not impossible, to do with two schools so far apart from each other. And, so, after a lot of talking and praying and talking and praying (we've known about this situation for several months), we finally made the decision that it would be better for our family to keep the boys home - Noah for just one year and Ethan for the next two years. A brand new middle school with 6th - 8th grades will open this next fall just down the street from us. And if the situation hasn't changed by the time Abby reaches 4th grade (there is talk of building another elementary school here in DuPont), we will probably keep her home for those two years also.

We have decided to enroll the boys in Washington Virtual Academies. This is a fantastic program that is run through the public school (fortunately for us, it is actually our current school district that runs the program for the entire state - so I can just run up to their office up the street if I need to!). All of the curriculum is laid out very clearly, and all of the books, workbooks, art supplies, science supplies, everything is provided completely free of charge and delivered to your front door. If you finish a subject early, you can move ahead to the next level. A teacher is assigned to you and you can call with questions any time, as well as submit work for their review. There is also online instruction for the students. I am really excited about this new adventure (although, if I'm honest, also pretty nervous). I will continue to work from home, although I may have to get up a bit earlier in the morning and work again later in the evenings if necessary. Mark is completely on board, too, and will definitely be a huge help to me. Our plan now is for him to do their science curriculum on Mondays when he is off, leaving one less subject for me to be in charge of the rest of the week.

I will certainly do another post again in the fall once we begin and let you know how it's going! In the meantime, I would greatly appreciate your prayers that I will not feel overwhelmed, that God would miraculously multiply my time, and that, most of all, He would be glorified in all that we do.

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed

The kids all had a fantastic year at Awana this year. They all memorized tons of verses (and, consequently, so did I!) and are learning the many joys of hiding God's Word in their hearts.


Noah finished his second TNT book and so he earned The Excellence Award.


Ethan finished his first TNT book.


Abby finished her 2nd Sparks book and also earned her Review Patch, which means that she did the entire book twice plus an additional seven verses.


Cole completed his first year of Cubbies and his first book.

We are so proud of all of our clubbers!

Mark also received his 1-year pin for serving in TNT this year, and I received mine for serving in Cubbies. We both hope to be able to help out again next year. Mark, Noah and Ethan will again miss the first couple of months due to football practices. I am hoping to be able to manage it as we have recently decided to homeschool Noah and Ethan next year. Long story for another post, but it's been days, weeks, and months filled with prayer and seeking counsel, and struggling to make the best decision for our family. More on that later . . .

It's All About Jesus

This post is honestly and most sincerely not intended to be a debate on home-schooling vs. public schooling. I am not "for" or "against" either. I think that either or both can be completely the "right" answer for each child and each family. Mark and I talk about it and pray about it each year, and make our decision based on what we feel God is leading us to do. So, for now, our oldest three children have all gone to our local public school. And one of the things I love about that choice, is that they are able to share their faith and their love for Jesus with their unchurched friends at school. Their boldness has amazed me so many times. It has encouraged me and inspired me. I love that, because our faith is so much a part of everything that we do, that it's completely natural for them to share that faith with anyone and everyone.

Here are a few of the projects that Abby has done for school this year, which have reminded me that, no matter how or where our children go to school, or how or where each of us as adults spend our days . . . it's all about Jesus.

This was Abby's "dream" on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.



This was Abby's response to her first grade class project of drawing a picture of what they love the most for Valentine's Day. This picture was posted on the bulletin board in the main hallway of the kids' school for the month of February. (As a side note, this project was to be done at home. When Abby drew her picture, her big brother Noah looked at it and said, "Abby, that's not what Jesus looked like." Abby, without having to think for a second, said, "when I close my eyes and see my Jesus, this is exactly what he looks like.")

This was Abby's response just this week to an assignment in class to write a paragraph on how they could change the world and make it a better place.

Abby is 7 on the 7th!

Today was a big day for Abby, as it was her golden birthday! She turned 7 years old on April 7th. She was a bit bummed, because this week is spring break for our school, so she didn't get to celebrate her birthday at school with all of her friends. But, we tried to make the day special for her. I asked her yesterday what she wanted for her birthday meals, and she said, "pancakes!" I said, "for every meal?" and she replied, "YES!" I agreed, so this morning for breakfast she had a giant pancake with a candle, and afterward opened a few gifts.



Then her wonderful big brother Noah made her this beautiful crown, so that she could be a princess on her birthday. He did it all on his own, and I thought it was so incredibly sweet of him!


Then, time for lunch, so . . . . more pancakes! Does the strawberry make up for all of the syrup???


Lunch was followed by a little jump rope with Noah during a brief time of sunshine in between all of the rain!


Mark had agreed to make Abby swedish pancakes for dinner, but . . . when dinner rolled around, even Abby agreed maybe three meals of pancakes would be a bit much for one day. So, she chose McDonalds instead, followed by getting together with our friends, the Fears (and her two best buddies Biz & Miki), at Cold Stone for a special treat. (Sorry, I forgot the camera for this part of Abby's day!)

And, the kids ended the day by having a sleep-over in Noah's room and watching Curious George. They have a Friday tradition of the sleep-over, moving from one of their rooms to another. But, since it was spring break, and Abby's birthday, we let them have one on a Monday night! And we love that they still love this tradition and want to hang out together!

All in all, a pretty special day, I think!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL MARGARET! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Just one more reason why the kids all love Daddy better than Mommy :-)

Easter Sunday 2008

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen."

Luke 24: 1 - 6

Crazy Hair Night

This week was crazy hair night at AWANA.

Ethan, Abby and Cole's hair was courtesy of mom. Noah's hair . . . well . . . that was his brilliant idea and Mark's skills . . .

He said he wanted to look like Terry Bradshaw . . . what do you think?

Cole started out with a super cool mohawk . . . then started to cry that he didn't like it . . . so I did this . . . he agreed . . . but as soon as we got in the car, he wanted to know if we could wash it out as SOON as we got home!

Needless to say, it was a late night after AWANA of finishing Noah's hair (check out his blog later for his version of the "do"), and washing out lots of gel :-)

Snow Day

These pictures are a little overdue and are actually from almost two weeks ago now. We got a couple inches of snow (that is probably being a bit generous), and since it doesn't usually last long here in the Northwest, we decided we better play in it while we could. Thankfully, the snow fell on a Monday, which is one of Mark's normal days off, so he was able to join us for the fun. I know that you friends & family from the Midwest will laugh, but with this much snow, school was actually canceled for the day! Crazy, I know, and it's honestly still something I haven't gotten used to yet. The kids always love it when it happens . . . but don't always love it so much when they have to make up the school day in June!

Cole is admiring Ethan's snowman. And, I think, trying to decide if he should knock it down the next time Ethan turns his back on it.


Notice the snow on Cole's head? Someone hit him with a snowball . . . who was it???


Noah trying to do some sledding/snowboarding on the snow/grass.


Abby and Mark playing catch.


Abby, Cole, and Mark playing monkey in the middle. I think Cole really thinks he has a chance to grab that snowball.


The Fabulous Four plus one.

Crazy Hats

This week was crazy hat night at Awana, and the kids were more than happy to do their part to make it a super fun night. These hats were courtesy of Auntie Holly . . . . thanks Holly!! As a Cubbies leader, I wore an enormous sombrero hat. Seemed like a good idea until it kept hitting the door frame every time I tried to go through a door :-) Noah and Mark haven't been able to join us for Awana yet this year because of football practice. A difficult decision to make. But they will both be joining us in a few weeks, Noah as a second-year TNTer and Mark as a TNT leader. We can't wait to have them join us for the fun!

Conversations with Noah

Today was picture day for the kids at school. I had gotten this sweater for Cole awhile ago, but this is the first time he's worn it. Noah and I had this conversation about the sweater.

Noah: Cole's sweater looks like Joseph's coat of many colors

Mom: Yeah, I guess it kind of does. You're not going to throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery just because I bought him a crazy colored sweater, are you?

Noah: . . . (thinking) . . I don't think I really know anyone who would buy him as a slave . . . .

saturday snickerdoodles

there is nothing like coming home to the smell of baked cookies... especially when the baker is abby... after working a long shift, im tired and hungry... then i open the door... and BAM!!! the smell hits me in the face... it smells so good... and, she loves to bake with mom... its so fun to watch...mother, daughter working together... teaching and learning being done without any effort... and, in the end, a big smile and a warm cookie await me...