the kids
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gabe is 7!
Gabe turned 7 years old on Sunday! In our family, you get to choose whatever you want for birthday breakfast (bagels, Mom’s homemade cinnamon rolls, etc). Gabe chose Chocolate Lucky Charms. Which just made me laugh. Hey, it made my morning simpler! The birthday kid gets measured by Dad first, and we learned Gabe grew 1 1/2 inches this year. Then he opened presents. The kids get two gifts from David and me, and this year we started having the older kids give gifts too, which has been fun. We offer to match whatever of their own money they use for a gift. Gabe was excited about his new scooter,…
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thursday afternoon.
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wednesday.
The boys. Checking out the newly released Star Wars LEGO sets. The girl. Sometimes school work goes better with a hen in your arms.
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strawberry picking.
We started Spring Break with a hike at Congaree, and finished with strawberry picking. We love Cottle Farms, but I haven’t had the courage to take my crew since we adopted the boys, so each spring I’ve stocked up at their roadside stands instead. I freeze extra strawberries for smoothies and maybe a margarita or two. This was the perfect year to begin our tradition again: Gabe and Noah were thrilled with every part of the experience and followed instructions like pros. Noah later told me he thought he’d…
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he says [noah edition].
Listening to Daddy and his siblings talk about heaven: “When I get to heaven I am going to meet an alligator and hug him and wash him so that he’s shiny and then hug him again. Then I will go see God.” Marching out of his bedroom in three layers of clothes: “Mom, I’m the coziest in the whole world! Well, not cozier than God. I wish I was cozier than God but I’m not.” After embracing a cactus-like plant on a walk and finding his hands and shirt covered in tiny prickers: “Ow, it hurts. Mom, you shouldn’t have let me touch it! You should’ve had a…
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gabe and noah’s big kid room.
I’m very excited to show you my latest project, but first, a few “before” pictures. The above is my personal favorite, as it includes Noah’s feet, which he calls “tootsie toes.” [Aside: Noah is self-correcting his quirky little words and phrases more and more lately, and my heart is mourning. He’s the last one we get to hear those from]. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but the boys’ room was in rough shape, from 3 years of wear and tear (and I do mean wear and tear). The walls were dirty, drawn on, and battered. As you see, things had grown a bit cluttered. We originally decorated the…
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8-and-under state championships.
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gabe’s trip to the zoo.
Our friend from church, Mrs. Peggy (pronounced “Miss Peggy” by us Southerners), is a retired school teacher, and comes over once a week to tutor Gabe. He loves anything to do with science and nature, so this year they’ve used studying about animals to work on concentration, retention, and to practice articulating the things he’s learning. Gabe’s very smart, and it’s obvious there’s so much going on in that head of his, we’re working to help him use his words to express himself. After several weeks of studying animals, Gabe and Mrs. Peggy took a trip to the zoo, just the two of them. He was thrilled for the one-on-one…
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book club for kids: my side of the mountain.
One of the most memorable parts of our school year is always the books we enjoy together. Actually, you could say that a big reason I decided to homeschool my kids is so that we could read lots and lots of great books. We’ve logged many hours reading and listening together in the last four and a half years, and they’ve become wonderful memories we share. At the top of the list of favorite books are those we read and celebrate with our homeschool group. In the fall you may remember that we had a Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe book club. On Friday, we gathered at a hiking…
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new year.
Happy New Year, dear readers! The kids and I started our week break from school on December 22, so we’re still enjoying our vacation. It’s been lovely. David, Judah, and I woke up the day after Christmas with fevers and sore throats, which was disappointing, but also nice in a way, because we just rested. During this break I’ve done a lot of sleeping in, lounging around in sweats, drinking hot tea, and watching movies with my kids. I introduced them to a childhood favorite of mine, Hook, last week, the boys are on a Star Wars kick (they’re watching all the old ones), and we also watched the first…