Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are doing well! We've been busy doing school and fitting in as much outside time as possible. Here's what we've been up to...
We celebrated Daddy's birthday last month. He's the best Daddy in the whole world! Dedicated, loving, fun, and devoted. We couldn't ask for a better one!
Daddy was King for the Day!
Liza just wanted the scepter of power.
The King got to draw a name from a hat in which our new pet fish would officially be named. Blake's suggestion was the winning name: "Blue Jay"
Liza update..
We hit the 5 month mark a few weeks ago now. She is so much fun and adds a ton of joy to our family!
It's not always obvious, and you can see it better in this picture, but Liza has one eye that is almost totally blue and the other is hazel like the boys. It's so unique, I hope it stays that way.
This is what happens when Mommy walks away for even just one minute! She likes to be able to see me at all times. We are working on how to be content with some toys while Mommy takes care of other things. It's not easy! :)
Liza hit 14 pounds last week! Yay!
Our little neighbor girl brought her doll stroller over and we let Liza try it out. So cute!
The past two weekends Micah has been working with the boys to build a tree fort. (I've been instructed that it's definitely NOT a "tree house" it's a "tree fort". :)
The best Daddy in the whole world!
Finished!
Pulley system
Micah even made a trap door to keep "the enemy" out
Doing school...
A disclaimer before you see the pictures below in case you are tempted to think that we just have it all together I'm going to be honest and REAL here: homeschooling is probably the most challenging long-term thing I've ever done. There are definitely moments here and there that I think, "I can't do this!". Like the other day when Liza was screaming because I was sitting next to her on the floor and not holding her, Owen is having an ugly tantrum because Seth looked at him, and Blake and Seth couldn't remember a thing I just read in their lesson for the past thirty minutes and phone was ringing with a call that I had to take. :) We have our moments and sometimes just bad days, but overall, (with God's help and Him giving me grace!) I would say it's going well. We are making it through our curriculum one week at a time and lo and behold, Seth is even starting to read five-letter words. I didn't think that was going to happen for a long time! Evidence that God is working :)
Lots of outside time! Exploring and talking about what we see.
Lots of reading! Blake is reading like a whiz and gobbling up just about anything I can throw at him. The curriculum we are doing together encourages family reading time of classic books that are related to the time period we are studying. The real-life stories bring the information alive to them and make it so much more in enjoyable. We are learning about early US history at the moment. Sometimes Blake will take over reading out loud if I have to leave the room to go change Liza's diaper. SO nice!
This picture is not necessarily an accurate representation of "school" for us. Mommy has only allowed finger painting ONCE so far this year and that was for Daddy's birthday. :D We do complete occasional arts and crafts projects together though.
Tricorn hats. (I didn't know what a "tricorn hat" was!") The boys pretended to be George Washington and Benjamin Franklin for the rest of the day. Owen was....well, we aren't sure exactly. Superman mixed with Johnny Tremain and a little Lone Ranger thrown in too.
The stars all aligned the other day and we just HAPPEN to hear about a colonial reenactment in the area and we actually managed to make it there for field trip! My second ever outing (besides errands) with all four kids by myself. One of the families we know was participating in it. Blake is standing next to Daisey. The look on his face is so cute. :)
Pretty cool musket loading demonstration.
Apple cider press
Most of our school time is a slightly less glamorous than cool field trips, but I'm so thankful we get the privilege of learning at our own pace and in our own way. Blake and Seth are writing summaries of what we learned about Ben Franklin.
Lots of recess time! I have read several credible sources about the importance of kids having enough unstructured time to play and especially play outdoors. So, we definitely try and implement that around here!
After several days of being stuck indoors because of rain, we just couldn't wait any longer for the mud to dry. :)
A friend of ours took this picture for the church website and she did such a good job I thought I'd include it. Micah is a few months into a year-long elder training process at church. At the end of that time we will re-evaluate and see if this is a good time for our family to become part of the elder leadership team. We feel very humbled to be asked to consider it and we would love to be an encouragement to others in that way.
Work is still going well for Micah. He got to take a business flight out of town (to Wisconsin) last week which he was excited about. Most of this year, work has been fairly busy for him, but he really enjoys it and God has blessed him with a great job and excellent coworkers.
Uncle Jonathan returned from Afghanistan safe and sound. We are looking forward to seeing him next weekend for Thanksgiving!
Funnies...
"Mom! I saw a whole galaxy of birds!" - Blake
We were playing a game in which you look at the clouds and try to find shapes of various objects. Seth found a ship and a car. Blake said, "That one looks like the German god holding lightening bolts!" :) Zeus doesn't mind being German, does he?
Owen and I have been working on memorizing Psalm 23 together for, hmmm... almost a year I guess. His two year old self comes out every time in the first verse and we can't seem to relearn it the correct way. His version goes, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want to!" The Bible according to all two year olds. :0)
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
Micah, Kari, Blake, Seth, Owen and Liza
