New Years 2011

Our annual New Years with friends.....as you can see it was unusually warm weather. Our plans

of playing in the snow, sledding, and ice skating didn't exactly work out. We did get out

for some fresh air on the bike trail though. Lots of fun was had by all.....staying up late playing games, watching movies and football, and just catching up. We don't get to see them very often so we

 look forward to this yearly time together.

Christmas Highlights....finally

We had a wonderful Christmas! Christmas Eve was spent at home with just our family. After a reading 

of the Christmas story, we began opening gifts. I was surprised that all the kids wanted to open

their gifts from each other first. They had each spent their own hard earned money for the gifts.

Hunter even made Isabel a cute pillow for her dolls. It was great to see them excited about

giving, not just receiving.  After gifts were opened, the day was spent playing

and enjoying our new stuff. Then in the evening we went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service

at our church. On Christmas morning the kids awoke to more excitement....

full stockings and the arrival of baby Jesus. Then we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house

 for the day. This year Christmas went on for 3 days as the next day was another Christmas

with Dad's side of the family. We had a great time. It was at a church with a gym

so we played a basketball game of  "knock out" with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins.

We also enjoyed a talent show of the kids' musical talent. Hunter and Ethan played

their guitar and Izzy sang some Christmas carols. And then there were more gifts...oh my....

Hunter and Ethan were surprised to get an acoustic guitar and Isabel was thrilled to get

some new outfits for her American girl doll. When all the celebrations were over, I

was overwhelmed with the blessings our family had received....not just the gifts but

the peace and love of our Savior and a family that loves us & enjoys being together.  

We Wish you A MeRRy ChRistMas!

We want to wish all our family and friends a Merry Christmas and Blessings throughout the coming year!

Read on to learn more about the kids and what they've been up to this year......

My sweet Isabel. This girl continues to surprise me with her sense of humor and amazing confidence.

She turned 7 years old this year and is an absolute joy to our family. We continue to homeschool and

Izzy is in 2nd grade. She is a very good reader and can often be found curled up on our couch with a good book. One of her favorite books she has read is Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes.

 She is a very social girl and loves being with her friends which is probably why another favorite for her is

going to our CoOP on Fridays where she is in the Explorers classes....art, choir, gym, and science.

She especially likes to sing in the choir....one day she was late for lunch.

Well, I found her in the choir room talking to her teacher.

 I discovered that she had been asking her teacher if there were going to be any solos and if so, she would be happy to do one. She is fearless. Speaking of being fearless, she also loves to ride horses.

She loves to ride Patsy, the miniature horse, at her Grandma's house. In the summertime, she shows

at various horse shows in the area. This year she won the Lead Line High Point Award in a very competitive weekend horse show. She won a monogrammed chair and trophy. She also tried her first Walk/Trot class(where she is not led but rides on her own) at another area horse show.

In her very first attempt, she won the class. So during that time, we focused on teaching her humility. :) 

Isabel also loves to do crafts.....now if only she would clean up after she is done. If I don't clean her desk out about every 2 months it is overflowing with papers and crafts. This is probably why one of her many nicknames is "busy Izzy".

Hunter is now 10 years old and in the 5th grade. He is becoming much

more independent with his schoolwork and his favorite thing to do draw.

He is a wonderful artist. This year he won honorable mention in an area

art contest. He is probably best at drawing caricatures. He also

loves going to our CoOp this year, where he especially enjoys his Ohio History class.

He recently built a fort for the class out of sticks from outside,

sawing and hot gluing all by himself.  In his Science class

he has also enjoyed building all different kinds of rockets.

Hunter is a great help around the house when it comes to organizing....he

once told me that he wanted his future wife to be "organized"....

I'll start praying for her patience now and Hunter's ability to "let go".

This last summer, Hunter had a lot of fun being a junior historian at Sauder Village.

This winter he has also taken up electric guitar lessons and indoor soccer and is

doing great with both activities.

Ethan is also 10 years old and in the 5th grade. He has also showed

great initiative with his schoolwork this year. He is enjoying

doing his American History with his Dad. They have been

doing this in the evenings together during the week. Also, like Hunter, he

looks forward to every Fri. and going to CoOp. His favorites classes are

also the Ohio History and Science. His next Ohio History project

is building a flat boat on his own. Ethan also really loved volunteering

at Sauder Village this last summer. He is a very caring boy and often

comes to us for a big hug throughout the day. He is also a big sports fan.

He LOVES watching football and basketball, especially OSU games. As far as

playing sports, he is really enjoying the fast pace of indoor soccer this winter.

Ethan is also taking guitar lessons with his brother. Playing guitar has come

very easily to him and he quickly memorizes his music. As for Ethan's future wife,

I pray that she is patient as well but for the opposite reason of Hunter's...Ethan is not known 

for putting his things away.  

That's the latest on the kids. 

Mostly the good stuff....the bad stuff is a given

and always there too! :) Hey we all have

our days, right? And just a note...the kids

are never this dressed up...I took these pics after

their Christmas concert.

Feel free to browse our posts and pictures on this blog 

 to see what activities, trips, etc.. we have been up to throughout the year.

We hope you enjoy a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  

Christmas CoOp program

                  Izzy's class/choir

Hunter and Ethan's class/choir

 

They did a great job....the music was beautiful.

Gingerbread houses

Making gingerbread houses....can you tell Ethan licked the red frosting?

Easter Highlights

Family and Friends

Home from church and posing with Easter baskets

My nephew and his first egg hunt at Grandma's house

Of course, way too much candy!

Coloring eggs

It was a great Easter weekend, lots of fun.

Happy Easter!

Happy 2010!

The pond is frozen and the kids enjoyed an afternoon
of ice skating. Fun way to begin the new year!

Merry Christmas!

Instead of a Christmas letter this year, I have decided it would be fun to make acronyms about ourselves using the letters of our first names.
Here is what we came up with....each phrase will give you a little
glimpse into the lives of each member of our family...

Reed
R-Really Fun Dad...always great at
spending time with the kids
E-Eye exams
E-Enjoys being outside from lawn/house care to boating
D-Doing home projects...this year included building a retaining wall and making a concrete countertop...he is not happy unless he is busy

Lisa
L-Loves to scrapbook
I-Irritated by endless loads of laundry and meal planning
S-School Supervisor...homeschooling all three of the kids
A-Apparently always on the computer...from our online school, digital photo editing, digital scrapbooking, music searching, blogging, and facebook...maybe I am?

Hunter
H-Hard of hearing? Not really-but is in a bad
habit of saying "what?" even if he did hear
U-Unending sound effects and songs-we often say that
he can be heard singing/humming the soundtrack of his life
N-Never allowed to say "I know" to Mom/Dad even if he really does
T-Talented artist...loves to draw or do anything creative
E-Enjoys learning history
R-Really imaginative, often making up/writing stories

Ethan
E-Enjoys basketball
T-Tortured by his school writing assignments
H-Happy to give hugs...needs lots all day, every day
A-Addicted to making roller coasters on his video games, loves to
design amusement parks
N-Never misses a snacktime...one of the highlights of his day

Isabel
I-Interested in all things having to do with horses, loves showing her horse and happens to be pretty good too
S-Song composer, she loves to make up songs while showering
A-Always making crafts of many sorts
B-Busy Izzy is her nickname
E-"Easy, Mom"-that's what she says about her school everyday
L-Loves to read, enjoys challenging herself with thick chapter books despite only being in first grade


We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
As I reflect on the past year, I am comforted by a thought
from a book I have been reading lately... "In order to work
with God, we must assume that God can start right where we are
and not at some imaginary place we have to get to in order to
meet him. God is not waiting to rendezvous with us once we have
earned the right to his attention. God is waiting for us right now,
just where we are."--Julia Cameron (Faith & Will)

'Tis the Season

Christmas decorations are up and the season is here!
Kids and I made a gingerbread house the other night.
Ethan kept asking about when we were going to eat it.
I tried to explain that we don't eat it--just make
it and display it because all the "decor" gets very
hard. Apparently that was a hard concept to grasp.
Why would we make it and not eat it? After all it is
icing and candy, right? I did let them eat all the
leftover candies and that was probably the best
part for them.

Journey to Bethlehem

Roman centurion

The stable

Cookies and Hot Chocolate with Grandpa

We went to a "Journey to Bethlehem" interactive nativity
at a small local church. It was well done...took us on a
journey to Bethlehem for the Jewish census. We encountered
shepherds, robbers, etc., and of course Baby Jesus.
After the "tour" kids got to spend their sheckel at
the marketplace on food or trinkets. Izzy didn't want any
food or candy just yarn and material...crafty girl.

Thanksgiving Memories

Izzy and Aunt Beth

Boys love to play Roller Coaster tycoon at Grandma's

my nephew...isn't he cute?

Bingo time with the cousins!

Great Grandma

The girls

Izzy and Becca

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving...lots of food. Somehow I
never got a picture of any of the food or us eating...huh?
We spent Thanksgiving Day at Grandpa and Grandma's--mostly eating.
The best part was on our way home when Ethan suggested
that we all share what we were thankful for. So we did and
it was very nice, warm and fuzzy. Then Izzy says, "When is the day
when we say what we are NOT thankful for....like rats and mice?".
On Friday we spent the day at home putting up Christmas decorations
(I'll tell you about our Christmas tree at a later time). Then
Saturday it was on to another Thanksgiving and more food with
Reed's family. We played our traditional Bingo game with lots
of fun prizes to be won.

Trick or Treat

Went Trick or Treating with friends at a local mall.
The boys had a great time being Jedis. Izzy really
liked her pirate costume despite my suggestions to
be something "prettier". Oh, and we spotted Elvis.
Not my favorite holiday but the kids had a fun time...
after all they got to be with friends, dress up, and
get candy!