Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear family and friends,

We hope you are enjoying a wonderful Christmas season!

I thought I would write a brief letter to update you on what has been happening with our family and give a few highlights from our past year as well. As you can see, this blog has been sadly neglected over the past couple of years. I guess time just gets away from me!

Hunter and Ethan are now 13 years old and actually soon will be turning 14... so we find ourselves the parents of teenagers! So far, they are actually a lot of fun. They are constantly growing and lately it seems that I am needing to get them new jeans and shoes every time I turn around! We continue to homeschool and they are currently working through the 8th grade. I never thought I would find myself still homeschooling at this point but the boys continue to thrive and love being home for school. Reed has also stepped in to help them with some science this year. And yes, we plan to continue to homeschool them through high school! We continue to attend our music based CoOp on Fridays where they have moved up to high school choir and other classes. In addition to school and CoOp, both boys keep busy playing sports. We are grateful to have neighbor boys who also love to play basketball, football, etc... and with whom they play with almost everyday. When not playing at home, they play soccer on the community soccer league and this fall they joined a Homeschool basketball team. The basketball has kept us on the road quite a bit this fall but they are absolutely loving it. So far, their team is 6-0. In their spare time like most boys their age, they can usually be found playing Minecraft or on their Ipods. And finally, another highlight for us this year was that they both chose to be baptized and seem to be growing in their faith as well. 

Basketball team

Baptism

Isabel is 10 years old and is a very busy girl. She is currently in 5th grade. She is doing well with her school despite needed frequent redirection.... If I am not careful she can get distracted from her school and end up doing a craft of some sort all day. She loves being with her friends and just about any activity we will let her try. She keeps up with the boys and often can be found holding her own playing sports with her brothers. However, her biggest interests revolve around music. She loves to sing, play piano, and also plays viola. This year, she was invited to audition for the local high school's musical. She got the part of Amaryllis in The Music Man. She loved it because she got to play piano and sing! (Hunter was also invited to audition and did a great job as a teenage dancer and boy band member). Izzy was also in the musical Annie for her second time, this time playing her favorite part of Molly, a very feisty orphan.

Izzy as "Amaryllis"

Izzy as "Molly"

She began the year playing Upwards basketball but decided to try a dance class instead this last fall. She is taking Jazz and Tap and has fallen in love with it. She is looking forward to a recital this June.

Reed continues to work for the Eye Center. The office has moved to a new location where they have a very nice new building. He enjoys his work there. In his spare time, he is the king of finding home projects to do. This past year, he went from building a chicken coop to building a whole addition to our house. He did most of the project himself with some help from friends and family. The addition was a bedroom and bathroom that we added to our upstairs... so now each of the kids has their own room. He just finished it all and we moved the kids into their new rooms this week. I am amazed at his energy....I never have to make a to-do list for him, he just keeps going on to the next thing that needs done.

Our addition

And now, for the newest member of our family....Sadie. We actually got her as a puppy this last spring. She is definitely a puppy! Sometimes we wonder what we were thinking, but for the most part she is a lot of fun. The kids absolutely love her....well, except for having to take her outside :-/ Lately she can be found trying to sneak into the bathroom where she pulls stuff out of the trash.

 

As for myself, I feel more like I have become the secretary/manager of the family. I often am figuring out where everyone needs to be and when and how to get them there! I now have a deeper appreciation for my own mother and how much she ran me around to all my activities. For the most part, I enjoy it. In my little bit of spare time, I enjoy digital scrapbooking and photography...though I am years behind!! I also continue to sing on our worship team at church. I seem. to have caught the theater bug with Izzy. This summer, I also was in Annie as Daddy Warbuck's secretary, Grace Farrell. I definitely overcame some fears to be able to do it but was so glad I did...I had a great time!

me as "Grace"

This past summer, I also went back to work after a few years off. I work per diem doing home care occupational therapy. I really enjoy doing home care and the flexibility it allows me. However, it was quite the challenge learning the new computer system! It has all been worth it though, because it saves me many trips to the office as I am able to transfer all my paperwork from home.

This year, Reed and I celebrated 19 years of marriage. Hard to believe! We continue to enjoy leading parenting classes/small groups together for our local Growing Families International ministry. We really enjoy meeting young parents and helping them parent effectively in anyway we can. It keeps us on our toes with our own family as well which we definitely need.

Hopefully, you have enjoyed a glimpse into our lives this past year. We are thankful for each one of you and pray that you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Lisa

What happened to 2012?

 Not sure what happened to 2012? Me either. I intended all year long to update my blog but it just never happened. Then the more months that went by, the more daunting it became!  The good news is....this blog is really just for me, to help me remember and document different events until I can scrapbook them. So here it is February 2013...and the dilemma ...do I continue the blog or just forget it? Not sure what I will do...I may try and keep it updated this year but I am also realistic and know that it may just not happen.

 

Merry Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends,

     Welcome to our blog! We hope this greeting finds you enjoying a wonderful holiday season. I have given up ordering Christmas cards, addressing envelopes, and buying stamps once again and have exchanged that process for a digital version. It seems I am able to get it done much easier this way. I feel somewhat guilty about that because I do love getting those great picture cards from everyone and displaying them in our house during the weeks up to and following Christmas. So if you are also like me and wish to have a picture of us to add to your collection, feel free to print out our picture attached in the email or simply choose to ban us from your display :)....I apologize for my laziness. 

     Here's a brief update on our family....

     Reed continues to enjoy his work at the Eye Center. He is especially excited about some upcoming changes....  they have begun construction on a new updated building and will hopefully be moving their practice probably sometime in May.  The new building is only a about 1 mile from their current location and Reed's office will no longer be in the basement. Meanwhile at home he continues to work on several home projects, usually outside ones. I think he spends all his time in a little dark room at work and simply can't wait to get outside once he gets home. One thing's for sure, there is apparently always something for him to work on!

     At the beginning of this year I was still working as an OT one day a week for a home health company. However, in February, our longtime babysitter had to move on. She was/is a college student and I knew

our days of having her were numbered. So I  went back to being home full time which turned out to be a good decision. Not too long after Easter, my dad suffered a heart attack and underwent heart surgery. I was able to help my mom during his hospitalization and recovery. He is doing well and appears to have fully recovered. For now, my full time job is homeschooling the children and running them to various activities.

     The kids are all doing well with their school, becoming much more independent. I spend most of my time checking their work and using a red pen if necessary. :) On Fridays, all three love to go to our CoOp where they take several classes. Hunter and Ethan are taking an Inventors class, an American History class, choir, and gym.  Isabel is taking an art class, a history class, choir and gym as well. They enjoy the classes and, of course, love to spend the day with friends. Their aunt is Hunter and Ethan's gym class teacher and I am her assistant...it is almost all boys in the class so needless to say we are NOT afraid to use our whistles. Being at CoOp on Fridays means that we must fit the rest of our school in on the other four days of the week. It seems to get more difficult to do the older they get but we manage. Hunter and Ethan have also been busy taking guitar lessons (along with myself because I have always wanted to play) while Isabel is taking piano lessons. Their other activities during the school year include all three of them  playing soccer during the fall and spring. The boys had an especially good fall, scoring several goals. They are the oldest in their division right now so they are enjoying their success while it lasts. Hunter and Ethan also had a great time learning and playing indoor soccer for the first time this last winter.

     Isabel has had a very busy year and seems to have discovered her niche in community theater (see pictures in other posts). This summer she played the role of Kate (one of seven main orphans) in the musical Annie. She thoroughly enjoyed her part as she got to dangle a "dead mouse" in the face of Miss Hannigan. Let's just say it fit her personality. She also auditioned for and got the role of Gretl (the youngest child) in The Sound of Music this last October. Both were amazing experiences for her. She really loves it and also enjoys making new friends in the process. I tried not to cry every time the orchestra began playing the overture at the beginning of her performances. We will be keeping our eyes open for other opportunities for her in the future.

     With the school year getting busier, I definitely look forward to summertime and a break. However, this summer seemed to pass way too quickly and didn't seem to be much of a break! I spent a lot of time driving Izzy to 'Annie' rehearsals. We also kept busy with swim lessons, horse shows, and taking the boys to volunteer as Jr. Historians. Unfortunately, this summer we also had to say goodbye to Reed's Grandma who passed away. We will certainly miss her smiling face in the coming years. We were able to enjoy our annual Little Eden vacation this August. This year we even ventured out on a day trip to visit Sleeping Bear dunes as well....it was fun but let's just say doing the dune trail to Lake Michigan once was enough to last me the rest of my life. Soon after our trip to Michigan, Izzy and I took a train trip to Chicago to visit the American Girl store....it was an amazing time. When we returned from that trip, it was on to wedding planning. My older sister got married the end of August in a very nice ceremony at her house. Following that, in the beginning of September, we went on another vacation to Nags Head, NC where we rented a house for the week with my younger sister and her family. The kids had never been to the ocean so they were very excited. We had a great week....luckily our rental was not damaged by the hurricane that had hit there two weeks prior to our arrival. We took advantage of the trip and were able to make some educational stops on our way to and from NC, including Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and George Washington's Mount Vernon. We also got to enjoy a visit with my cousin who taught us all how to play disc golf.

     So those are some highlights from this last year minus the usual everyday stuff like loads of laundry, kids getting silly at bedtime (yes, still!), tears over difficult math problems, vehicle issues, furnace malfunctions, church crisis, etc...    If you are interested in further details or pictures, feel free to browse the blog. I seem to be posting a little less as years go by but better than none at all! 

 We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas recital

 

 

Isabel played a Christmas song for a piano recital

at a local nursing home. Isabel loves learning piano.

She played Frosty the Snowman.

Christmas treats

Isabel wanted to make chocolate covered pretzels like the ones she saw at the store.

She LOVES to bake!

Christmas CoOp program

 Izzy's choir...they sang beautifully, she has a lot of good singers in her group

 Hunter and Ethan's choir.... They did well too, except when Hunter turned to the
boy beside him to tell him to stop talking during the middle of a song.
He meant well but probably should have left it go which it
extremely hard for Hunter

Nothing like sitting on Grandpa's lap

Handsome Ethan

Izzy

Hunter looking handsome as well

They were all dressed up so I had to get some pictures...despite their sweet smiles

in the pictures, they were actually not happy with me making them pose.

Science gals

On a playdate, Izzy and her friend decided to play "science". They

performed many experiments using water, food coloring, and

their graduated cylinders. :)