Children's Choir - This Is My Father's World

I love leading our children's choir. They are such a sweet group of kids and a joy to work with. Periodically, I've combined the little tykes and the older children for a two-part choir number. Such was the case on Father's Day when the kids did this arrangement of This Is My Father's World.

Reading Contest - Check-In #4

Well, it's week 4 and Marshall and Shaylen are still reading strong. Marshall is currently in 4th place with 448 links (29 books) and Shaylen is in a close 2nd with 1125 links (37 books). The little boy she is chasing had 1138 links this week. She's hot on his heels! I'm thankful for the competition. It encourages them to read (especially my little competitive Peanut).

I also signed the kids up with our local library this week for their summer reading program. I wasn't planning on doing that, but when the librarian asked me if I had signed them up, I asked what was required of them.

She said, "They just need to read 6 books."

"Six each week?" I asked.

"No. Six for the summer."

No problem. Might as well kill two birds with one stone...or a hundred or so books.

I love these pictures of Shaylen totally engrossed in her book. She had been reading it out loud to me, but when I had to take a break to do something, she couldn't wait to find out what happened. I love it so much that the twins love to read.

Nubble Light

This past week, we were able to finally get Mom out to do something "touristy." It was going to be cooler Thursday, so we decided to go and see the Nubble Light. It had been years since I had been with Taigen (pre-twins in fact).

The Nubble Light, built in 1879, is nestled on a little island (Cape Neddick) in York, Maine. If you didn't realize it was there, you might just drive right by it. It was misting and breezy, but we were able to get in a few great shots before the weather completely destroyed the hair-dos.

Summer Reading Contest

I'm such a slave-driver, that once school was over, I signed Marshall and Shaylen up for a reading contest. Why let their brain rot over the summer, right? For this contest, it's not just the number of books they read, but the amount of words per page and number of pages within a book that count. Also, they cannot just read the book to themselves, they have to read it out loud. I must admit, I'm really enjoying the extra snuggle time.

So far, we have "checked in" for three weeks. It's been good to have the competition to spur them on to read more and more and more. As of this last week, Shaylen was in second and Marshall was in fourth. I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

The Multi-Tasking Instrument

Marshall got the idea of making a homemade banjo during our music unit in school. He's been waiting and watching our paper towel tube for weeks now, eagerly awaiting the end of the roll. It finally came this week and he was able to make a banjo AND a violin...and all with the same materials. Who knew that instruments could multi-task?

Speaking of instruments, Shaylen piped up today telling Marshall that "the tuba is the most hardest instrument to play." She must associate size with difficulty level. I got a great chuckle listening to her explain this to her brother who believed every word. I'm greatly relieved. I cannot imagine lugging a tuba back and forth to lessons. I'm sure our neighbors would be relieved as well since they would undoubtedly hear every note of every practice session too.

A Bit of Little Laundry

Yes, you read that right. I didn't mean to say "A Little Bit of Laundry," but "A Bit of Little Laundry." You see, that's because Mom brought an old suitcase (which happened to be my great-grandmother's overnight bag) full of old (many handmade) doll clothes. Mom used them for her Barbie doll and my sister and I used them for ours. While Shaylen's Only Hearts dolls aren't made quite the same way, some of them will still work for her. They smelled very musty, so I handwashed them. I didn't want to throw them in the dryer (didn't want them to last for 30+ years only to be destroyed by me), so I figured that I would hang them up to dry. When I got done I laughed at how funny it all looked to have itty-bitty dresses, skirts, cardigans and hats hanging on my laundry line.

The Peanut Rides Solo

Many of you may remember that last summer, Marshall and Shaylen were given "new" bicycles. We got them bike helmets, adjusted the seats and were prepared to take off the training wheels. Marshall was able to pick up on it fairly quickly, after his first try in fact, but poor Shaylen wasn't quite ready. She vowed to try again after winter.

She was true to her word. Yesterday, she finally mustered up the courage to try again. Taigen called to me from outside. When I looked, she was riding around the yard all by herself. I quickly grabbed the camera and videotaped her second try. Taigen, Mom and I were so excited to see her finally accomplish this milestone.

Blast From the Past

Guess who is in town? My mom! She has made her yearly pilgrimage from Alaska. This time when she came, it took her 16 hours from Fairbanks. That is one long day! It would be faster to fly to Paris, France (and probably about the same price too). She finally got in at 4:30 on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, we had received a package from Mom. The box contained some treasures that Mom had played with when she was a girl and then my sister and I played with them when we were girls. What's neat is that now that these treasures have come to New England, my children can play with them. We unpacked everything onto the kitchen counter yesterday and Mom explained everything to the kids.

What are these treasures? Well, some of the things were delicate pieces of furniture that were in my dollhouse when I was a child. (The kids aren't ready for those, but they enjoyed looking at them nonetheless.) The other items were part of a set called a Dream Kitchen. Mom said she and my aunts (pronounced "ants" not "ahhhnts"...tee hee) probably got the dream kitchen back in the early 60's. The kitchen has a fridge, a stove, a sink, a dishwasher and lots of cupboards to store stuff. There's pretend food, itty bitty plates, silverware, cups, teacups & saucers, pots, pans, and boxes of pretend products that stock the cupboards.

Stephanie and I both remember playing for hours with these and it's neat to see my children take delight in them as well. Mom sent them specifically for Shaylen, but I think Marshall is enjoying all of the tiny details as well.

Pastors/Wives Memorial Day Fellowship

Two years ago we were able to have some pastors/wives and their kids over to our house for a picnic. We had such a great time with all of them. For some reason, we were not able to do it last year, but earlier on in this year we determined to do it.

We had a smaller group this year (only 32), but the day was beautiful and I think everyone enjoyed sitting in the shade and talking. The teens threw a football and frisbee around and the little kids were running around, playing freeze-tag or entertaining themselves in whatever way they deemed best.

I promised the pastors and wives that I would not post any incriminating photos of them (especially the ones of them playing a silly relay game that Taigen came up with), but I did NOT promise to not post photos of their kids!

We're so thankful for the wonderful day we had and the encouragement from our friends.

Homeschool International Fair

Marshall and Shaylen wrapped up school in early May, but one of our last school functions was to participate in a homeschool international fair.

The kids had to get a tri-fold display and report on a specific country. After thinking a bit on what all was required of them, I decided that the kids would do Zambia since we had so many artifacts from there (thank you Auntie Janellee). We also had outfits that were made from Zambian material (thank you Auntie Janellee) and easy access to quick answers (thank you Auntie Janellee, Missionary Phil Hunt and Google).

Marshall and Shaylen were super excited to work on it and find the answers. We couldn't just report on any old thing. We had a list of specific questions we had to answer. That made things more interesting! Once those were answered and displayed on our board, we could also add other information we deemed worthy of display. (The kids were really excited to put up a picture of a dung beetle. They think his job is really, really interesting!)

Since Marshall & Shaylen have limited abilites with the computer, I would look things up and then they would help find the information and pictures. They were so cute writing things down on paper and then telling me what to type up. It was a ton of fun and they were super researchers. Obviously, by looking at the pictures, you'll know that there was a ton of help from me (how could I not help, right?), but they really did get in on a bunch of the action. The kids also had to internalize a lot of the information so that they could be familiar enough with Zambia in order to answer the questions of those that would visit their "booth."

The kids enjoyed visiting the other displays and looking at their interesting artifacts. There were displays of Afghanistan, Austria, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy & Norway. That equals a lot of work by our homeschool kids (and a lot of work involving their Mommies)! Reports, costumes, displays and food usually don't just appear without a mom somewhere behind the scenes.

After we were all done taking our tours and filling out our passports, we enjoyed an international meal. It was delicious! The kids and I made ndiwo and nshima. That's Zambian for stew and corn meal mush. It was really good and we liked it. I used chicken, spinach, tomatoes and onions for the stew. That was my favorite part. The kids really liked the nshima. I'm thinking it wasn't necessarily for the taste, which was quite bland, but for the mere fact that they got to eat it with their fingers. It was a successful night, mostly in part due to the planning and organization by one of our homeschool moms, Jane (Ellen's mom). It was her idea and I'm so glad she spearheaded it all. We loved it!

Number Four...and Counting

Guess who lost another tooth this morning (looking at him, it's the bottom right empty space)? He has two front teeth on the top that are loose as well. He's getting SO big, SO fast.

Special Seamstress

Kids grow so quickly. It seems that no sooner do I pull out outfits that have been given or handed down to them, wash them, hang them up in their closets that I realize that they have outgrown them or are close to outgrowing them. It can be very frustrating at times! I think, "This was just purchased for them!" I'm sure you moms can relate with me, right?

We have a wonderful young lady in our church who sews. She is launching out into her own business and wondered if Shaylen could play model/first customer. She had some patterns that she recommended that were nice and long. The dresses will be sewn slightly larger with a tie in the back and with a longer hem so that when Shaylen grows, we can let it "out" and down in hopes of getting more life out of the dress.

Last week I went over to their house so that she could try her work thus far on Shaylen and make some adjustments. The dresses looked beautiful. She has really done a great job. In return, I offered to take some pictures of her for her senior portraits. I know, I know, I'm not a professional, but we sure had fun tromping through the woods, sitting in dew-laden grass and convincing a stubborn horse to come and pose for the picture. Hopefully there were some photos in the mix that they could use to send to family.

I'm so thankful to have this wonderful young lady (along with many other young ladies) in our church. Her ministry to Shaylen (and therefore me) has been a blessing.

Relief From the Heat

Tuesday was scheduled to have 90+ degree weather. Our air conditioning units weren't in the windows as it almost goes against our grain to put them in before Memorial Day. You could say it's our rule of thumb in order to try and save money.

My good friends Amy and Wendy invited me to join them & their kids on the beach so that we could escape the heat and stuffiness of our house. I took them up on their offer and am ever so thankful that I did.

I packed lunches for Marshall, Shaylen and myself along with lots of water, sunscreen and a huge beach umbrella that Taigen had bought to keep us out of the scorching sun. Even getting out of the house and into Amy's van was a relief. Her air conditioning felt really nice.

Amy has a fancy-schmancy van that tells her what the temperature is outside. As we neared the coast we watched the temperature drop. When we pulled up in the parking lot, the temperature read 67 degrees. We thought it was wrong, but when we stepped outside the van, we felt the wonderful sea breeze. It felt so good.

The kids enjoyed jumping in the waves, digging in the sand, experimenting with boogie-boarding and picnicking on the beach. I enjoyed the conversation and laughter all while digging my feet in the sand & sipping my raspberry iced tea beneath the shade of my beach umbrella. This is the life. Too bad life & reality eventually call, right? I could've stayed there all day.

Special Twelfth Year Date

Can you believe that Taigen and I have been married for 12 years? I can honestly say that it's been the best 12 years of my life. I couldn't have asked for a better husband.

Taigen had a bunch up his sleeve the week of our anniversary. He planned special little notes or small gifts throughout the week leading up to our 12 year anniversary. It was very creative and special. On Saturday the 15th he asked our good friends if Marshall and Shaylen could go over to their house and play so that Taigen and I could have a date here at our house. They were very sweet and said "yes."

Marshall and Shaylen love spending time with their kids. They are very sweet, good kids. Amy was good enough to snap up a few photos so I could keep them as memories. One thing the kids always love doing at their house is playing the Wii (it is a very special treat for them). They have yet to master the driving game, but sure love trying.

Our date was really nice, quiet and relaxing, and although we love our kids, it was nice to have the house to ourselves for just a little while.

End of the Year Celebration

Just like last year, we promised the kids that when the school year ended, we would all go out to Friendly's for ice cream. The kids looked forward to Friendly's with great anticipation. When we finished up with our academic testing at the beginning of May, the kids expected to go out that night, but we had a busy, busy week. We finally were able to go and reward their hard efforts Monday of last week.

Marshall and Shaylen looked at the menu in hopes of snagging the biggest ice cream amount possible. I think Taigen did the same because when his came along with the kids' our eyes popped. (Taigen must think that it takes a great deal of work to be school superintendent, because he rewarded himself accordingly. Tee hee!) Marshall and Shaylen's teacher/principal (i.e. ME) was rewarded with a peanut butter cup and vanilla ice cream blend that was tremendous.

And how did they really do this year? Well, they both got straight A's...and I'm not just saying that. They earned them.

We're so proud of Marshall and Shaylen and all of the diligence that they poured into their first grade year. They are honestly and truly a joy to homeschool.

Academic Testing...Fun?

I just had to post these pictures from our first day of academic testing. The kids were looking forward to it believe it or not. Just from glancing over their shoulders periodically, I think they did well. Only time will tell.

New Friends and Old Friends

Several weeks ago (so sorry that I'm just now getting around to posting about this!) we had special meetings with Todd and Krista Sivnksty. Krista and I grew up together in CO and have many, many great memories tucked under our belts. This is the first time that they have been to Heritage and also the first time that our kids have ever met.

We had a wonderful week of services. It was such a blessing to spend time with them. The first week they were here, both Krista and I were doing school with our children, so we didn't get to do a whole bunch of stuff together. They were able to come over for a meal or two and we also helped Krista celebrate her 29th birthday (29, plus tax). The kids really enjoyed playing with Cameron and Ivy.

We were fortunate to get a second week with them. Instead of driving all the way back down South, they were able to park at the church and stay in New England until they had to drive to MI for their next set of meetings. This allowed us more time to reminisce and enjoy the time without rushing around. Todd and Taigen went golfing, Krista and I went out to dinner and chatted for well, um, quite a while. Krista and I took the kids to the beach one day and we then enjoyed pizza in their trailer the night before they left. I felt like I got a great shot in the arm from them. What a blessing good friends are!