Night at the Museum

Every year our co-op ends the year with a Night at the Museum to showcase what the older children have learned.  This year they've been studying the middle ages.  It was so much fun to watch them choose who in history they were going to represent, work on their speeches and work out their costumes.

Miss E was Grouch whom the character of MacBeth is based upon.  She put together her costume.  She even made the head dress in her art class where she learned to make chainmail.

Mr. R was a peasant.

Mr. M was excited that he got to be William Wallace.  He even managed to talk Daddy into getting him a big training sword for his costume...I'd only let him have it if he was willing we wear a kilt though.

Mr. S was a knight in the skit his class put together based on Beowulf.

We had a tour guide for the evening who brought us from room to room to hear the speeches etc.  Miss A managed to get a bit ahead of us with some of the other kids when moving on to the next room.  When we walked into the room we saw her planted right next to Miss E like she belonged there...so we left her.  She sat so quietly and nicely listening to all of the speeches.  It was great!

Gingerbread day

Today was our gingerbread day.  Miss E spent the day mixing up, rolling out, cutting out, and baking gingerbread men.  I did most of the icing, but I had plenty of little helpers too.

Mr. R and Mr. S spent the morning building gingerbread houses for everyone as well as themselves.  Miss E took a bit of a break from her gingerbread men to build her own "house."

Mr. M had a blacksmithing class to go to in the morning.

In the late afternoon everyone got to decorate their houses.

We even kept the gingerbread theme with gingersnap chicken for dinner.  YUM!

*We know that God is sovereign and that He directs our paths each day, but today He showed us that very clearly in the course he set for us.  We had dinner plans to go to friends' home for this evening.  In the morning they let me know that something came up and needed to reschedule.  We easily adjusted our plans and went about our day.  Around the time we would have been getting ready to go I got a call.  It was my neighbor.  Her husband had fell from a ladder and was injured, he needed help and she wasn't home.  Rob was out the door in a minute followed quickly by Miss E.  I quickly gave instructions, here at home to the older boys, and then ran over there too.  His wife was home shortly and took him to the ER while we took their boys to our house to play for the evening.  The boys had made extra gingerbread houses, so we had plenty to go around.  These little boys that had just seen their daddy get hurt got to spend a happy evening playing with their friends and decorating gingerbread houses reassured that their daddy was in good hands and being well cared for.

I'm super proud of my kids.  Everyone did just what they needed to in this emergency.  Miss E didn't bat an eye at being sent over to help daddy with the situation.  She helped with the little kids over there and also helped me get things cleaned up.  At home Mr. R did great taking over watching little ones (who also did great by staying calm and playing nicely), Mr. M and Mr. S took over my dinner prep and got it all in the oven.  We were thankful that God gave us this opportunity to serve our sweet friends and neighbors.

Operation Christmas Child!

It's that time of year again!  Time to go shopping and fill up those boxes for children elsewhere that may not otherwise receive anything for Christmas this year.  Collection week is November 14-21 (I believe, it is here).  Look up your local drop points and give them a call to verify dates and times.

In years past we've matched funds with the kids to do 2-3 shoeboxes per child in our family.  This year it became evident that they've got this.  They'd been quietly stuffing their jar all year long.  They earned this money.  They paid for all of it; plus had some cash left over to donate to other needs.  I'm so thankful that the Holy Spirit has been working in their hearts to cultivate and attitude of cheerful giving.

I do not share to brag, but to spur others on to love and good deeds.  "....and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."  Hebrews 10:24-25   

October fun

We've been so busy this month (and last) with school, projects around the house, and just having fun.  Here's a quick post on what we've been up to this month.

Our house sustained quite a bit of mild damage in some hail storms this summer.  We didn't realize we had much damage until a friend was over and we somehow got on the topic.  He inspected our roof for us (he's a roofer) and suggested it may be a good idea to have our insurance company come out and take a look.  Sure enough, not only did we need a new roof, but the house needed to be repainted too.  Rob and the boys took on the job of painting the house.  We were happy to give them the opportunity to learn through some hard work.  They (the boys) were happy to get paid! :)

Same color, just a bit brighter 'cause it's new paint. ;)

I got a red door!  It makes me smile. :) 

We had a fairly mild cold go through.  I think it hit me hardest since I was up with little ones and didn't have much time to rest....life goes on.  It may have turned into a sinus infection, but thanks to lots of home remedies and essential oils I'm on the mend.

Mommy's bed is always the best place to be when you're not feeling well.

Lot's of love around here...

Some fun...

A trip to the zoo!  The boys worked so hard on painting the house and got it done in only 1 weekend!  We'd planned for the job to take 2-3 weekends, so we had a free weekend.  It's so nice having the family pass this year, we just went for the morning and everyone had a great time.

All ready for the zoo with her tiger blanket!

It's fun to feed the giraffes!

Baby girl learned to crawl!  She does not think she is a baby anymore and seems to think that she should be able to play with all of the big kid toys.  Some of us are more excited than others about this new development.

Ah, it's fall.  That means apples!  Lots and lots of apples for apple butter, apple sauce, apple pie.  We've been peeling, processing and....best of all...eating!

Well, that's some of what we've been up to.

Reformation, and obedience to God...

We've been busy, busy, busy.  I've got back blog posts that I need to do to update, but wanted to do this post while I was thinking of it....

We're enjoying Autumn.  We love the changing colors, the foods, and the cooler weather that October brings.  Another thing we love about October is the yearly opportunity to study some Church History as we look at the Reformation.

                                                         

"My conscience is captive to the Word of God.  I cannot recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.  Here I stand.  I cannot do otherwise.  God help me.  Amen!"  

Martin Luther

This morning we were reading Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed The World.  Ah, what a sweet reminder and encouragement that was to us this morning.  Obedience to God and HIS word is what is important; not what others think.  To do otherwise is not right or safe. (to rephrase Martin Luther's famous words).

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:15

***I'm an Amazon affiliate.  If you shop through my links I make the tiniest bit of $$ which will just be spent on more great books for my kids. :)

Teaching outside

Miss J was teaching classes out on the patio today.  Some of her students were a bit unruly, but she managed to teach about plants and horses.

Earlier in the day I was in the garden with most of the littles.  Miss J told me she was glad we had a garden because it's helping her get ready for when she's all grown up.  My heart smiled.  I told her that's my job; to get her ready to be a grown up, and my most important job is to teach her to love God.  At that I felt the sweetest little tug on my arm.  I looked down into the blue eyes of 2 year old Miss A "I love God"  "I love Jesus"   I think those were some of the most encouraging words I could hear.  My job is not done, but the seeds are planted.  They need plenty of watering and care for several more years, but I'm thankful for the encouragement today.

Camping!

After a busy week-end at the Homeschool Conference we were so excited to spend a week camping.  It was extra relaxing because we had not only prepared the trailer well ahead of time, but we were only going up to the FamCamp on base.  The plan was to just enjoy some down time; the kids could play in the woods or at the playground while I enjoyed a bit of extra reading time.

Meals were super simple and we used our "camping manners" meaning that burping is allowed.  It turns out that little Miss F thinks that burping contests are hilarious.  Oh My!

Trips to the playground and afternoon ice creams at the office were a hit.

We threw in a couple of fishing trips with daddy.

Her brothers thought they should teach her some bad habits early.  She seemed eager to learn.  Poor girl! No, she didn't have any.  It was empty.  She sure was excited to see it though.  ;) 

Treasure at the end of the rainbow....

...but we already knew our house was full of treasure. :)

After the rain cleared up the kids all headed out for some fun in the mud puddles.  They had so much fun that even Miss F came in covered in little muddy droplets from all of the splashing.

Evening walks and pony rides

We've been enjoying some beautiful evenings with walks on the horse trails behind our house.  We're usually with our neighbors for these walks.  The kids have such a great time together, running, exploring, and picking wildflowers.  Older kids often take their bikes along.

This last time our neighbor brought her pony for the kids to ride.  Miss C had been asking to ride for quite a while.  All of the kids had a great time taking turns.

Miss F does very well on our walks and seems to like them.

Sometimes little legs are just not able to make it all the way home.  We're thankful to have daddy along to help us out!