Hi Friends and Family!
This spring is whizzing by as usual. There is something about April. It's of those months that sneaks by and is gone before you realize it's there. Almost like it didn't happen. :) Here is a little catch-up of what we've been up to since January.
We had a huge snow while Micah was in Moldova on a mission's trip. Quite an adventure. We also happen to be quarantined a home for the flu, so I suppose if you have to stay home for a week in the winter, you might as well have a nice big snow fall to help the time pass.
Owen's hammock/acrobatic skills.
Liza and "Smotey" as she calls him.
We are finishing up the last book in the series "Little Britches" by Ralph Moody. It's a fascinating real-life account of a man born in 1900 who's father passed away when he was ten making him the man of the family at a young age. It's such a great series and teaches many great morals and common-sense.
We haven't been using the stroller much anymore. So Tink and Tigger have taken over.
Liza has definitely come out of her shell lately and we are getting to see her personality blossom. She is quite expressive, dramatic, (loud), and loving. She and Blake actually are a lot alike.
Owen turned 5 in February!
Owen has been doing a little bit of pre-school curriculum here and there and we are slowly learning out letter sounds. Our curriculum focuses so much on letter sounds, I'm not sure he knows his letter names yet at all, but hey, you have to start somewhere!
Guess Liza realizes she's a bit on the loud side. Found her taping her mouth shut the other day. :)
Owen and Liza are (finally) getting along better these days and after our reading and Bible memory time in the morning, the two of them are (usually) happy to play together while I do school with the boys.
When you don't finish your breakfast before we have to LEAVE!
We had the pleasure of driving up to Maryland to visit Jonathan and his newly purchased home in February! It was great to see D.C. again!
Jonathan and his ex-military-freedom-hair. :)
Wouldn't you know it, the one day we visited ALL the museums were closed because of a wind advisory. So sad! Thankfully, we were able to come back the next day to see a few of them, but we felt really bad for the the many families we passed who said they traveled all the way from Europe to and only had one day to see D.C.!
"My hair is tazy!" The trampoline has been SO much fun for the kids and a great energy outlet especially for all these boys! I wish we would have purchased one several years ago!
We had a bit of a shock when we came home from a friend's house on a Sunday afternoon in March. Our backdoor had been kicked in and several valuables missing from the master bedroom! Our neighbors who have lived on our street for 16 years said this is the first break-in they've ever heard of on our street. We were very thankful that we weren't home when they came and no one was hurt.
You can't take any material possessions with you when you leave this life, so in the end, it's all just "stuff". Unfortunately for us, what the burglars thought was a fire safe full of valuables was really ALL our personal information like passports, birth certificates, you name it, it was in there. So, that made for a unexpectedly very busy several days as we scrambled to put our credit on hold, and begin replacing all the documents. We are super thankful that our insurance covered much of our loss. It was pretty surreal to see detectives and getting footprints in our living room, but I feel like God gave us a peace through it and I haven't felt fearful since then.
Easter!
Blake and Seth are knee-deep in rehearsals this week for their upcoming show "Charlotte's Web". Blake plays "Fern" and Seth plays his brother, "Avery". They are doing an excellent job working on their lines and honing their voice projection and enunciation skills. They have a total of seven shows this weekend! I'll be sure and include pictures of it in our next update.
Who knew Easter egg hunts could be so exciting?!
After getting past a rather dramatic episode when we thought "turlers" were painful, we finally listened to Mommy and got to experience the fun of trying out the spongy wonders.
Quick update on some of the other Shoemaker family members....
Dad and Jonathan got to experience a weekend survival camp in...hmmm... can't remember which state, somewhere cold! They said they had a great time learning who to survive with their fellow campers. Except for the freezing rain, of course.
Here is Joy and James Beeman with darling little Clark and Charlotte. Aren't they precious?!
Kate's three boys, Roger, Bryce, and Ryan with their Daddy. How CUTE?!? I love being an auntie and feel certain that none of my nieces and nephews could ever do anything naughty. I could just squeeze them!!
And saving the best for last....We have an exciting announcement...Baby Fox Five is on it's way! I surprised Micah with the announcement when we were at a restaurant several weeks ago. He was definitely surprised! :) We are super stoked and the kids are excited too. Liza keeps asking if the baby is still in my belly. And now she is saying that she has a baby in her belly too and Daddy has one in his belly too. :) Baby Fox Five is due to arrive sometime around November 2nd. Couldn't be happier!
Funnies
Micah was pretending to shoot a bear while playing with Liza yesterday and she said, "Daddy shot da bear as dead as a door nut!"
Owen saw an old couch on the side of the road the other day as we were driving the boys to their class. He said, "Mom! That couch was FILLED with dirty!"
Hope you all are doing well! Micah and I will be celebrating our TEN YEAR wedding anniversary next week! Can you believe it?!? I'm so very thankful for him. He's the best husband I've ever had! ;)
Take care!
Micah, Kari, Blake, Seth, Owen, Liza, and Fox Baby Five :)
