the kids
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amelie is 11 and a bedroom refresh.
Our girl turned 11 years old this summer! It seems like just yesterday she looked like this: Several of her friends have gotten loft beds in the past year or two, so that’s what Amie wanted for her birthday. Judah saw the plans we made for her room, and decided he wanted the same thing, so we spent July giving them each a little bedroom refresh. We have small bedrooms in the original part our house, and very small closets, so we’re always looking for ways to maximize space and storage. We’ve also found that our big kids really need their own desks for their school work that…
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our weekend.
David. Is recovering from hernia surgery, and his dad brought over the best get well gift ever: a rescued baby squirrel. David has adopted the squirrel, who Amie named Pip, feeds him from a dropper, and the two are now inseparable. Jules. I spent a happy couple of hours sitting on the back steps, cleaning my houseplants leaf by leaf. I’ve never done that before, but when I noticed literal cobwebs growing on a couple of them, I decided that the time had come. They all look much happier now. Judah. Is officially taller than his Mum-Mum, who feels like it was just yesterday that…
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soccer and chicks.
Amie is playing soccer with the Downtown YMCA this spring, and Saturday was her first game. She’s never played before and has been very excited about being on her friend Caroline’s team. It was cold and windy on Saturday! Which is funny considering that I’m typing this post on our back porch on an 80-degree afternoon. Amie jumped in there and ran hard for the whole hour. She’s still learning the rules of the game, but did a great job. Noah wanted to play soccer this spring too, but I needed a season to get used to the schedule and to figure out practices and…
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milo’s first bath (by amie).
I clean Milo’s cage about every two weeks. Noah holds Milo for me, and then Gabe helps me take everything out of the cage and empty the old bedding into the compost. He also keeps me company while I clean. The important part is the payment. Thankfully, I can take care of that! I have my own candy stash in my closet from Valentine’s and Christmas, so I can easily pick some candy and hand it to my brothers. They are quite satisfied with that! Yesterday we also gave Milo a bath. Did you know that you have to give guinea pigs baths? I didn’t! It was a quite fun…
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milo.
Friends, we’ve had some pet drama in 2019. And there’s been so much else going on that I haven’t even updated the blog. Allow me to fill you in. First of all, one of the chickens, Scarlett, was attacked by a dog while David and I were in North Africa in June. Grandpa and Mum-Mum were heroes for comforting distraught children and bandaging the ugly-looking wound. Then Grandpa sent David and I a very detailed email about the experience which made us laugh until we cried. And Scarlett lived! When we got home from our Gentino reunion in the mountains in July, Amie’s beloved pet python, Luna, died. We woke…
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camp interview: judah at deerfoot, 2019.
Can you tell us a little bit about Deerfoot? Basically, Deerfoot is a wilderness discipleship camp for boys. It has lots of cool challenges and it helps boys going from childhood to manhood develop wilderness skills and learn about the gospel. We have daily devotions that focus on the journey to godliness. Where is Deerfoot? The first Deerfoot Lodge camp was started in the Adirondacks, which is in New York. Later, after about 90 years, they made a second location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which is in North Carolina. I was part of the first group that went to the North Carolina Deerfoot. Where…
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gabe’s birthday weekend.
Gabe turns 8 years old tomorrow, on Memorial Day, so we started the celebration Saturday with a visit from the boys’ birth family. Christi, her boyfriend, Jon, and her mom, Kim, drove to Columbia to spend time with us. They came bearing gifts and we had a great day, despite the fact that it was 99 degrees here. It was very nice to end the day with a trip to Gabe’s favorite place, Pelican Snoballs.
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snickerdoodles and kitchen news.
Amelie has been on a baking kick this spring. She really wants to be able to make a batch of cookies completely by herself, so I told her to pick one recipe and we’ll make it over and over and over. That’s the best way to start, I think. Her choice is Snickerdoodles, which are pretty much a universal crowd-pleaser. Amie is a born servant. If I had to guess her Enneagram number, I’d say it’s a 2 (Helper), although I’m doing my very best not to peg my kids. She’s kind-hearted, generous, and loves to serve people. And so it’s perfect that her growing love of baking…
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judah’s book club.
So, Judah started a book club! The idea has been marinating with him for a couple years now, and in 2019 we were ready to make it happen. We chose a book together around Thanksgiving, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier. It’s one I discovered through the Read-Aloud Revival, and we both read separately and enjoyed. Then we went about inviting friends. Judah’s stipulation was that his book club be for friends age 10 and up. He’s part of a great class of kids in Classical Conversations, and had a couple other friends he wanted to invite, so I sent an email to parents, suggesting that the…
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january.
Hello from sunny but cold South Carolina! This winter has been bewildering. It started back in November, and has given us lots of rain and nighttime temperatures in the low 20’s. This is not typical South Carolina weather. I got winter boots and a very soft pink beanie for Christmas and have put them to good use. January has flown by. I thought I’d jump back into blogging by telling you what we’ve been up to this month. I’m sorry to say that I have zero recent photos to include. I’ll do better in February! Riding bikes Amie got a new bike for Christmas, and Noah got one for…
