us: fall 2011

As I've thought about what I have and have not posted about this fall,

I've realized I haven't talked much about everyday life....

what the children are up to, what's going on at church,

our homeschooling schedule, and things that are simply routine.

(Things that I'm sure in a year's time I will not remember!) 

So, here are odds and ends of our present family life:

The boys still love to ride their bikes any chance they get!
We have a couple of parks within walking distance of our house
and have enjoyed some outings there....
Drew and the Pastor have been trying to exercise a couple of times a week ~
Drew rides his bike while the Pastor runs. It's been good for both of them!
Drew and Toby are such close buds.
I love seeing how content they are with each other,
sharing their bedroom, constantly wrestling, playing the wii, or a checkers game.
Sweet Toby is reading better and better each day.
A new favorite game of his is BOGGLE.... (in fact he's usually the one asking to play board games)

 As for the homeschooling this fall, things have been pretty good.

I'm just finding that getting all five's work done each day, takes a lot of discipline

and focus on my part!! The Lord has brought a sweet lady into our life

who is helping me with the teaching load. We go every Wednesday for "classes:"

Latin for #1 and #2, Grammer for #3 and #4 and Literature for everyone.

It's been SUCH a blessing.... and we've had the plus of making some new friends!!

We are studying early American history. I'm so thankful for the privilege of teaching my kids

and for the opportunity I have to "revisit" and "relearn" history. It is wonderful.

We've just recently finished the read-aloud, Almost Home by Wendy Lawton

and are about to start Amos Fortune Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

For literature ::

Ellie is presently reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.

(It looked so intriguing, I had to pick it up, and LOVED it!!)

Drew is reading one of my favorite childhood books, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

And Abby was introduced this past summer to Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson series....

 The Pastor is preaching through the book of Nehemiah on Sunday mornings.
I continue to LOVE having the privilege to weekly sit under his teaching....

We started a new discipleship ministry at our church this fall called Paripateo.
Peripateo is a Greek word that means "walking."
Each month, we will be focusing on a different aspect of "walking with Jesus."

We are meeting once a month on Sunday afternoons, for a family time of
teaching, praying, and worshiping.
We sing a bit together, then split up. The Pastor does some teaching to the
adults on the monthly topic, and I've taken on the responsibility to teach the kids
a lesson on the same subject. I have been so blessed.
We had over 21 kids last week!! The topic was evangelism,
so I ordered CEF's newer version of the "wordless book" called the "gospel-flipper-flapper."
Yes.... it sounds very corny, but is really a cool tool for sharing the gospel.
We also made "gospel bracelets."

What else to share?
My baby is starting to read some three letter words. I'm happy and sad at the same time.
Like I've said before, little Whit is not so little anymore.

We took #3 to see the eye doctor last week, and discovered she needs glasses.
Thankfully, I've never seen a little girl so excited :) Will post pictures of her soon, I promise!
Abby continues to adore Irish Dancing. It is such a wonderful outlet for her.

I was going to share all that #1 has been baking, but have decided to wait and
do a post about that all on it's on.... I can't get Ellie out of the kitchen,
and I'm afraid she is going to make us all gain weight. She is turning
into a seriously good baker....and she's not yet 13!!!
She played her last soccer game Saturday before last and won.
It's been a fabulous experience for her. And she's starting to babysit....
her siblings as well as other children. We left all five last week for almost four
hours, one evening, to go out to dinner and do some shopping.
To say the least, a new season is arriving for me!!

We had a lovely day today on the Pastor's day off. 

Num Num and Papa came down yesterday and spent the night with us.

They were able to be here for our community group which

meets twice a month at our place. Our rental has been SUCH a blessing

as far as hospitality, and we are so thankful to be here and have space to share. 

They took us out for breakfast then headed on their way. 

We came home, got some school done, and then headed to 

a quaint little town called Snohomish..... We got hot drinks and

browsed in some darling stores, picking up a couple of Christmas gifts. 

The Pastor and I were commenting how we could have never done

that a couple of years ago. I'm amazed the kids are big enough

to even enjoy that, much less not break anything as we browse.

The times, they are a changin'.

How I want to enjoy every moment!!