Off to Africa

"Off to Africa" is code around our house for "going to the restroom". (Ellie made that one up.) We were off to Africa in a different way last week when we visited Kalahari Indoor Waterpark Resort in Sandusky, OH. I wish I had more pictures but water parks don't really lend themselves to getting snap happy, what with all the...water. So here's a picture of our arrival. Of course, the Africa theme was over the top with these life-size animals. Daniel was VERY impressed with this elephant (after he got over his initial fear of it). The other three were so excited at this point! We had been looking forward to this get-away for a long time, and we weren't disapointed. The water park was really huge. All the kids loved the wave pool and the Lazy River. The water slides were OK, but the girls weren't even tall enough to go on most of them. I made a mistake the first night we were there and took Joe and Ellie on one that I thought would be pretty tame. It was called the Rippling Rhino, and I figured anything with the word "rippling" in the title was going to be OK. I couldn't have been more wrong. We were hurtled at what felt like 60 mph through complete and total, pitch-black darkness. The kids are screaming and crying, and I'm just afraid that they're going to let go of our tube, so I'm trying to yell louder than them, "Hold on! Just don't let go!" Boy, were we a sight when we finally hit the splash pool! Ellie was shaking so badly she could barely walk out. And it's funny that I was afraid they wouldn't hold on because the whole time we were in the wave pool, they were clamped onto me and nearly dragging me under. There's nothing at all wrong with their grips! Anyway, after that water slide, Joe and Ellie were pretty skeptical of any others that I tried to talk them into. They each went down one more big slide, but after that we stuck to the lighter attractions. The important thing was that we all got to play together, and that was such a blessing!

Tidbits That Made Me Smile

Here are some odds and ends from this past week that made me smile.

Daniel discovered the joy of sidewalk chalk. It's a good thing I got that "lifetime supply" back in July...he's got a lot more clothes to color.

Joe has been working on his juggling. He still has a long way to go, but he's getting better. Today, as he bent over to pick up his juggling blocks for about the 50th time, he said, "I know how to juggle, I just can't do it!"

And Erin...just as ravishing as can be!

Five Year Old Girl!

As I continue to replay our week, I am now to last Saturday afternoon when we had Erin's fifth birthday party. We had grandparents and one aunt come as special guests and did all our usual birthday things. Erin got to wear the birthday hat (and her sparkly dress!) as she blew out her five candles on her pink kitty cake. (We called it "Sweetheart Kitty" since the party was on Valentine's Day.) Some of Erin's special gifts were "Coconut" (the American Girl dog), some clothes for her Build-a-Bear, a new Easter dress, and a pinafore (just like Laura Ingalls'!). She had a great day and loved being the guest of honor!

I used to make 10-12 scrapbook pages of the year and present them to each child on his/her birthday. It was always nice to pass around at the party (and it was easier for me to let them turn the next age, knowing I had a lot of the previous age recorded). Then last year, I went to digital scrapbooking and each kid got a hardbound book with their pictures and stories for the year. I still haven't gotten Erin's done yet, so during her party I had a slide show playing on the computer with her special pictures from the year. What is it about looking at pictures while listening to music?? I could hardly watch it without getting all teary-eyed! I've never been so far behind on having the scrapbook done, so I really need to get going on that, but the slide show was a nice alternative.

Flashback Friday

November, 2007

I'm always amazed at how perfectly this picture came out. It's not that long ago, but it was taken during a blogging hiatus, so it's new to the blog. Just wanted to throw a little perfection into this otherwise topsy-turvy week. That, along with this precious promise:

"For I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:6.

Thankful Thursday

For tonight's Thankful Thursday post, I'm rewinding back to our homeschool Valentine party held last Friday. (This is the beginning of the week in rewind, but it works out that it is something I'm truly thankful for, too.) Last Friday morning we got all ready to go, the kids all toting their Valentine boxes with them....

Yes, they are all pretty cute, but I was mostly thankful that they were DONE for another year!

Then, the party...this is one shot that shows one of the things I'm most thankful for about homeschooling.

In this picture the kids are doing a little game to split up into teams for relays. Just look at the teams...that's what I love. See all the ages mixed together? These kids are such a blessing to be around! At one point, Erin was playing with some girls when she fell and hit her head on the floor. I saw it happen, but before I could even get to her, one of the teens had swooped her up and was comforting her. Wonderful! The kids played lots of games, then one of the moms led devotions (and that part was so well done the kids even remembered it that night at supper).

So...lots of fun for the kids. I don't have that many pictures of it because while they all played, I was having a very encouraging time talking with the other moms. That's something I'm super thankful for!

Yes, the valentine party post definitely belonged on a Thursday.

Flashback Friday

My five-year-old's...

Joe - June 13, 2005


Ellie - Feb. 28, 2007

Erin - Feb. 12, 2009

Thankful Thursday

Tonight I'm very, very thankful for our little Erin who celebrated her fifth birthday today. We knew she was five because she was so much bigger...when she woke up the first thing she told us was that the ground looked farther down today because she had grown! She had a wonderful day, and it was a joy to be able to bless her in so many ways. First of all, Joe and Ellie had doubled up some of their school work yesterday, so we could take the morning off of school to play and have fun with the birthday girl. This meant Erin could stay in her pajamas a little longer than usual which was truly a treat for her. She loves that! Her gift that she got first thing in the morning was her very own Beta fish.

She named him Rainbow, and I would say she loves him about as much as a fish can be loved. She got to wear a special outfit of her own choosing, choose all our meals for the day, have a little extra video time and an extra long story time, got a couple more gifts through the day (including her first two-wheeler), and basically, just got made much of! Ellie took on the role of "professional" (as she called herself) and made a checklist of all the birthday activities, which was very sweet.

So now I no longer have a four-year-old girl. To me, five is a milestone, which ends the little girl years and starts the schoolgirl years. What a joy to see it all!

Feeding the Flock

We've taken up the hobby of birding this winter. Did you know that it's no longer called birdwatching? I guess that's politically incorrect or something. What we've really done is set up our birdfeeder and kept seed in it since the cold weather started. Since the bird feeder is conveniently located just outside our schoolroom window, and the birds are, apparently, more interesting than phonics, the kids have gotten really well-acquainted with our neighborhood flock. They've actually given titles to the birds. The male and female cardinal are the king and queen of "Feederville", and whenever they are spied, the kids call out, "Hail, King/Queen Cardinal! Hail!" (Did I mention our kids are weird?) The tufted titmouses (titmice?) are the prince and princess, while the bluejay is the knight. The juncos are the duke (pronounced "doo-yuke") and duchess, and the mourning doves are the pastor and his wife. The Bewick's Wren is the nurse/teacher and the plethera of sparrows? The commoners, of course. There's also a red-tailed hawk (the evil villain) who flies in and stirs up the kingdom every now and then. Our occasional squirrel is also on his side.

Ahhhh...with entertainment like this, who needs phonics?!

Pass the Lysol, Please!

I was going to write a real post last night, but I ended up nursing a vomiting Erin...all night. I think she's through the worst of it now. It's a bright, sunny morning, and I'm wondering, "Who's next?" Looks like it'll be Ellie. She's sharing the couch with Erin right now.

Flashback Friday/Sunday

OK - so I'm a few days behind...

Erin Lee, December, 2004

Just a Couple Erin Stories

I don't have much to say today. We've had a busy weekend and are very glad we get a bonus weekend day tomorrow.

I thought I'd just share a couple cute Erin stories. She's been really fun lately. The picture is from when we were bowling over Christmas break. She was very enthusistic about each turn she took and definitely put all 35 pounds of her weight behind each ball. What was so funny was she could never remember which two fingers went into the holes in the bowling ball. Each time it was her turn, she'd go running/jumping right up to the ball then she'd have to stop, turn around and yell back to us, "Is it these two fingers?", holding up two fingers of her bowling hand. She was right about half the time. It was so funny because she asked every time!

Today Matt Matt read Erin a story before her nap. (Naps are a love/hate thing for Erin. She'd really rather not have to stop and take them, but we really pay the price when she doesn't.) When Matt finished the story, he sort of laid back and closed his eyes...Erin saw he opportunity. She kissed Matt on the cheek, then said, "Good night, dear one," and tried to sneak out of the room! He caught her and the nap was taken...by her...and by him, eventually.

Thankful Thursday #4

Tonight I'm thankful for cold weather and warm memories. When we bought these sweatshirts at the Outer Banks last summer the temperature was close to 100... that would be a 100+ departure from our air tonight! In July, it was hard to believe we'd need these extra layers someday, but I knew that when we did, we'd be thankful for the bright colors and the sunny memories they evoked.

It is incredibly frigid out there tonight, but even that is a reminder of God's faithfulness to His promises.

"While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And summer and winter,

And day and night

Shall not cease."

Genesis 8:22

On a lighter note, I have one more thing that I'm thankful for. Behold...

It's my laundry room floor! I knew it was down there somewhere. I finally found it today. It feels good to be caught up. Now nobody is allowed to change clothes for the next five days!

Father Ducks

You always hear about the Mother Duck... Here's a picture of Matt and the dad across the street leading the neighborhood brood down to the park for some sledding today. There's a total of five kids there! The Mama Ducks were home with the babies this year, but next year, there'll be seven kids in the line-up!



The report was that the sledding was OK. It's VERY cold and the floofy snow was sort of hard to plow through. We're loving it, though. Doesn't it look beautiful?

Matt's school had an early release today as the snow didn't arrive until after the buses ran in the morning. Maybe tomorrow will be the snow day.

Fun Day!

Matt's school had a 2-hour delay this morning. We started our day on time, but then took a long break this afternoon to do a little of this...

...and this.

Snowy smiles all around!

Thankful Thursday #3

Tonight I'm thankful for my weird kids. Actually, I should say, I'm thankful that kids are weird, and I get to live with four of them, whose unique brand of weird-ness I totally enjoy.

One aspect of their weird-ness (probably my favorite) is the way they play. We first started noticing this when Ellie got a little family of toy lions for her fourth birthday. Those lions were the only thing the kids played with for days after that! The lions were everywhere, having all kinds of adventures. Other animal families later joined them, but now all have been replaced by what the kids call "lizard'ns" and "frog'ns". They are these little rubber, stretchy lizards and frogs that we buy at Wal-Mart (88 cents for a pack of 15!). There are different colors and varieties in the packs, and the kids have names and character traits for each one. They even speak in different voices and accents! What's really funny is the kids think I know the names of each one. They'll come up to me and ask if I've seen "Susan Lizard'n"...as if I could tell Susan from any of the other 50 lizards! Lizard'ns and frog'ns are sort of like action figures and Barbie dolls rolled into one cheap, little, gender-neutral package, and they've provided hours of fun in this house. For more than a year now, they're about the only toys we've needed.

See? You just don't get that kind of weird with grown-ups.

I got this picture of what appears to be a lizard'n and frog'n pow-wow. Mode of transportation at the bottom right corner.

Family Christmas Pictures

Here's a photo recap of our family Christmas get-togethers. I always think I have way too many pictures, but then I go back through them and I see that I haven't captured many dear faces and special moments that I wish I had. We truly felt God's abundant blessings in our time spent with family for the holidays!

The Mailing

This morning my clerical staff and I got our Christmas cards ready to mail. If you get a card that has a return address label stuck on upside down, or a stamp slightly askew, please understand. I did my best at quality control, but we were having fun, too.

Flashback Friday #1

"Flashback Friday" is an idea from my cousin Julia ("Jewels of the Kingdom" on sidebar). I think I'll have some fun with it. We'll start out with one of my favorite Christmas shots...

Christmas, 2004 - Joe with his T-Rex, Ellie with her ballerina doll, and Erin with her great big smile!

Peanuts!

Tonight Erin made a styrofoam peanut chain. God really knew what He was doing when He created static electricity. That's fun every time!