Cheap Fun

I know that I have a reputation for being frugal, finding the bargain, getting a good deal, etc. But I did not even SUGGEST that we use the recycling box as a place to find hockey skates. Nevertheless, Philip had quite a lot of fun going around with his catcher's mask (thanks Reeders!) and cardboard boxes pretending to be a hockey player! First week of school is over. Now on to the second. The week begins with an orthodontic appointment for Lydia. Braces at 8???!!! Yes, most likely. We have a busy week, and I probably should've done some more planning for it, but here it is anyway!

String of Hearts

I don't know how well you can see this, but we have a vine of some sort which is making this delightful string of suspended hearts visible from our kitchen window. It's just a fun part of God's creation and we have derived much enjoyment from it, along with the hummingbirds who actually perch on that wrought iron shepherd's crook in the bottom of the photo.

1st day back to school

We began our second quarter today. Phew, it was tiring! I am so thankful (for many reasons) to be able to homeschool our children, but it is also very taxing. Here are some photos from today.

Lydia is working diligently on math!

Abigail is finishing up her math. Least you think that my life runs along tick-tock, clockwork smooth, after I took this photo I had an immediate "I don't like school" to deal with and work through with a child. But there again, a benefit of homeschooling--you see the heart, you deal with the issue--immediately.
Philip was happy to be working on his new preschool books!

Abigail took this photo of me at about 3:30 this afternoon. The boys were napping, Lydia was reading, Abigail had (apparently) finished working on her journal and I was reading a book when...zonk. It was a very enjoyable 30 minutes!!

The New Pet

We picked up our nursing home friend, Ms. Sara, and took her to Walmart. But, she had already been given a fish by a church friend. So, we took the opportunity to buy our own fish and all the necessary accoutrements. He has lived one week (as of the time of this posting) on our kitchen table.

Here's Rainbow (perhaps the name of almost every first fish).

Ms. Sara hung out with us for most of the day, reading to the children, watching some Andy Griffith episodes, having lunch, etc. We had an enjoyable day.

Our vacation wrapped up with a young guest, our friend Emily, spending the night. We used to be neighbors with their wonderful family and now we live 20 minutes apart. We meet regularly for music and art co-op and the children have basically grown up together. Again, another sweet, sweet blessing of the Lord to give us godly friends.

We treated the children to an evening of bowling. "Bowling attracts lots of different types of people!" was about my only comment. The children had fun anyway! The next morning I took the children to Nicola and David's pool for a fun morning of swimming.

Kevin worked all day in the yard. Since our lawn mower is still not working, he had to push the entire half-acre with a push mower. He earned himself a treat for dinner and we went for local eastern-NC barbecue. He was very pleased ;0)

Simeon turns 2!

We celebrated Simeon's 2nd birthday at my parents' house. The other children were restrained but helpful in teaching him the value of present-opening skills.
Egged on by his wayward Aunt and Uncle, we were able to capture this disgusting pose.

Simeon, our prayer for you is that may grow up to be like your namesake of Luke 2: "Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout." And may the Holy Spirit be upon you as well, confirming your baptism and growing you into a godly young man.

Blog Delinquent!

The rest of our break whizzed by and I didn't have time to blog it all down. So, here's the recap of weeks 2 and 3 of our break.

We met our friends, Amy, Joshua, Emma and baby Sophia for a very hot picnic at a local park in between theirs and our science classes. Philip is now taking a monthly intro to science class which I began attending when Lydia was 4. We're sort of veterans at that place! Our lunch was interrupted several times by some overly-tame and overly-confident ducks who were seeking a bite of our lunch. The children chased them several times and Philip took great delight in following Joshua's lead by calling them "scaredy-cats" as he ran at them with a long stick. NOT the most eco-enviro-friendly move in a county park. Then he tried to explain to our VERY enviro-friendly teacher how he had chased away the scaredy cats (never once using the word duck) with a big stick--he explained so much that she was thoroughly confused by the end. The mark of a good lawyer in the making.

We also visited with our friends Christin, Oakley, Charlie and Coleman in their urban oasis in downtown Raleigh. I love their beautifully designed home and the peaceful back yard. We were able to spend a few minutes playing outside until it just became brutally hot and buggy. The children played well together and we moms were able to chat about some more grownup topics. I always enjoy my visit to their home as Christin challenges my thinking and encourages me to greater personal godliness. I am very thankful for all the Christian friends God has placed around me. Our breaks from school permit me that time to "come up for air", visit with friends and be reminded of a bigger picture than my own tiny world!

Later that day we went to cousin Nathan's birthday bash! The birthday party featured a 30' inflated slip-n-slide with water jets which doused you as you ran, jumped up on the thing and slid the length of it. Sorry for the lack of pictures--not well planned on my part! That, combined with their own pool, lots of food and fireworks made for a great party!

Of Little Help/Things Being Said

I asked Philip to fill up the food container with dog food from the garage. He was able to (fairly successfully) fill it up, but he informed me that he had spilled some into the tub of shoes and boots. I was out in the garage rummaging through the shoes and boots when I heard him say he was now going to feed the dog. As I yelled "NO!" I heard the rattling of a large amount of dog food into the bowl. Second picture shows the empty dog food container. Rrrrr, sigh.

Abigail recently corrected Philip on his use of the word "dilated." "No, Philip, dilated is when you have called someone on the phone. You know, you dilated their number."

Vacation Week Two

Our week began in the best way it could (and should!), in worship. Pastor Bill Shishko from Franklin Square OPC, Long Island came to preach to us. It was such a blessing to hear his admonitions, instruction and clear preaching. If you're ever interested, www.shilohpresbyterian.org is our church's website and the sermons are posted on there.

Monday we went to visit our friends at the nursing home. It was a good visit, and I don't get there enough as I'd like. We'll go back next week to pick up one of our friends and take her to buy a betta fish (her request).

Tuesday we made a trip to buy some birthday presents at Target. It was one of those sanctifying trips where the traffic was horrendous in a town of 6000 people. While we sat in the long line, Abigail informed me that her tummy was really hurting and in fact, she had never eaten breakfast. Upon further reflection, it was also determined that she had never been to the bathroom in the morning either. The situation wasn't desperate, but the external pressures began to mount and we really wished for traffic to flow smoothly! Anyway, we made our purchases and got home in time for naps. We invited the cousins over for pizza/ice cream and a sleepover. There was lots of fun and silliness as you can see from the photos.

We spent some time at the pond, but the mosquitos were pretty aggressive.

We managed to stop swatting on the count of 3 to get a good group photo!

After baths and jammies, it was time for games...

and s'mores--which can apparently cause your upper lip to stick to your face.

S'mores were not one of my best ideas. We then followed up with some reading from Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and then off to bed.

We are in the middle of the binky War of Independence with Philip. Parents are winning 2-0 thus far! Having a cousin sleep in his top bunk seemed to help him get to sleep as well.

First Week of Vacation-Recap

Our first week of vacation was a delight! The boys and I dropped the girls off in Fayetteville on Monday morning where they quickly set up their camps. Although there were a few long, teary hugs before I left, they soon settled in their crafts and shopping excursions. The boys and I headed over to my friend Amanda's house to watch her children for a couple of hours. We had a lot of fun, but my sons missed any kind of nap--which was really a blessing because I put them to bed at 6:45 p.m. and they slept for 12 hours straight! A quiet evening was a delight in and of itself.

Tuesday, my friends Annie and Lydia came for the day. We hit the Goodwill, Petsmart (for the boys to see the dogs playing), Old Navy and Chick-Fil-A. It was really nice to be able to pop in and out of a dressing room without hustling 4 children along with me!

Wednesday, the girls came back mid-morning and my parents took Philip to a local golf course for him to ride in/drive the cart and use his putter for a bit of practice. The girls were very busy with my mom working on some Christmas crafts. Here's my prototype gift which Lydia made.

Thursday, we met our friends Melissa and Ethan for a morning and lunch of swimming at their neighborhood pool. The day was extremely hot, but the pool made our lives much more bearable. We enjoyed catching up with them.

Friday featured the appraiser (for a house re-fi) and the piano tuner. We put our freshly tuned piano to good use with piano lessons later in the afternoon with our friends, the Bakers. In the evening, Kevin decided to get out our ailing riding mower to cut the grass. As I was bathing Simeon, Philip appeared at the top of the stairs with very wide eyes. "I cannot fix Dad's mower and there are HUGE plumps of smoke coming out of it." I ran to a window, and well, you can see the rest!

Saturday we went swimming at the cousin's pool and then headed north for a surprise 60th birthday party for our friend Ray. We had a wonderful, enjoyable first week.

School's Out!

School is officially OUT! So, what does every good son need to start doing: yardwork. He really wishes he was able to use Dad's weedeater, but it's about all he can to do to carry it around and not hit anyone. But it does encourage me that one day we will have sons who can help with the outside work--and really enjoy it!
Abigail and I enjoyed a little moment in the breeze...
of the electric fan which Lydia hooked up to an extension cord and ran across the driveway to the shade of the tree. It seemed a little excessive when I saw the rig from the house, but it actually made the afternoon heat a little more bearable!

Saturday morning we went to Emma Sloan's 3rd birthday party and had a first-experience: cake shortly after breakfast. Some of her guests had a long travel day ahead through three states, so we met up early for them to be able to hit the road. The kids seemed quite unaffected by such an early dose of sugar and enjoyed time with their friends. Happy Birthday Emma!

Next we drove down to Fayetteville and spent the remainder of the day with my mom and dad. For a variety of reasons, we have not enjoyed Saturdays together as a family for almost 2 years. We are rediscovering this joy of just "hanging out" as a family: learning more about ourselves, seeing strengths and weaknesses in our children, and actually enjoying the children (as children) a lot more. It has been a sweet season that the Lord has allowed us to have and we are very grateful. So we literally just "hung out" with my parents. We blew bubbles, read books, talked theology, talked life, talked food. I ran out to do an errand with just my mom and Abigail--a really rare thing. Anyway, we had a good time and came back ready for bed.

Sunday we enjoyed fantastic preaching by Dr. Joey Pipa, president of Greenville Seminary in Greenville, SC. Our mission work church is growing and we are privileged to be part of this new work in our area. We have enjoyed really fine sermons from different men who have been supplying the pulpit. The Lord has been so faithful to us--beyond what we have ever deserved. We had a young couple and a single over for lunch and were blessed with great conversation and time of refreshment.