Hi Friends and Family!
Here's what we've been up to lately...
Liza hit the 9-month old mark and has gone from starting to crawl to pulling herself up and cruising along the furniture quite handily. It won't be long until she's running right along with the boys. :)
Seth's reading skills have taken off! Here he is holding his first completed chapter book.
First swing experience!
Art class
Uncle Jonathan got to visit us briefly on his way back from pre-deployment training in South Carolina. We went to a children's museum in town and here Seth is preparing a special meal for him at the restaurant. :)
Jonathan will be deploying any day now for six months. His previous deployments have been four months so this will be a longer one for him. We will miss him! Let me know if you'd like to get his deployment address to mail him letters.
Celebrating Uncle Jonathan's birthday. The boys crowned him King for the Day!
Owen "helping" to keep Liza quiet in church on Sunday morning. :)
Blake said the other day while climbing, "Mom, I think God has given the gift of climbing!"
Liza and Nana. I am SUPER blessed to have a wonderful Mother-in-law! She takes the kids for one day every week so I can run errands, rest, or get things done around the house. Not sure what I'd do without her help!
Liza has been doing much better at playing and being content now that she is more mobile. Owen is slooowly learning how to play gently with Liza. It's an hourly struggle unfortunately. Pats vs. hits. Hugs vs. strangle-holds. :)
A super sweet note Seth wrote for me during quiet time one afternoon. Just about made me cry. The end says "I love you so much the whole family likes you. By Seth" :,)
It has begun!
More books completed! Seth is really blossoming in his art skills lately too. It's neat to see him using different dimensions and mediums to create his masterpieces. I'll try to include some examples of his art in my next post.
Prayer time after breakfast. The boys usually pray for Uncle Will, Uncle Luke, Uncle Jonathan, Uncle Scott, Pappy and Daddy every morning. :)
Look who turned three!
For Owen's birthday we made the boys a sandbox for the backyard
I'm so thankful to have a husband who has construction and handyman skills. It makes it easy to get my endless list of projects done and he can pass along his knowledge to the boys.
Getting the sand. When the man running the tractor heard that it was Owen's birthday, he reached in his pocket and pulling out a handful of change, gave it to Owen. :)
We took the kids and Auntie Susanna to the mall to ride the...well, I'm not sure what you'd call them? Basically, stuffed animals with wheels that you can ride. Random, but really fun!
The boys also trying the Superman jump. I love Blake's expressions for the first few seconds of the ride. A mixture of elation and terror. Thankfully, the elation won over and he loved it!
Owen loved getting the cards from family members. Thanks everyone!
The boys have loved the sandbox so far!
Still Owen's daily attire. :) Owen likes to pretend a lot lately. He especially likes it when I "pretend" to be the mother. So when he wants to play pretend, he'll come up to me and say, "Are you the Muh-ver?"
Funnies...
- We are learning about the Oregon Trail in history right now (totally fascinating btw!) and I asked the boys at the lunch table a few days ago what they thought the pioneers would be eating for lunch. Blake said "Buffalo meat!" Seth said, "Indian meat!" Oh dear...
- Owen got distressed when the TV was on mute and the movie was starting, he yelled out, "The TV can't talk!" :)
- The boys started taking one class each per week with a local homeschool co-op. Blake is taking a piano class and Seth is taking a storybook and literature class. We are encouraging the boys to meet and talk to one new classmate per week. The first week we asked Blake how it went and he said, "I didn't know anyone there besides me." :)
Hope you all are doing well. We are staying busy with school and church responsibilities. God is really good and we have been blessed beyond what we deserve. We only hope that we can give back to Him the praise and service due His Name.
Love to you all!
Kari, Micah, Blake, Seth, Owen and Liza
