Saturday evening

The girls were invited to a birthday party/ sleepover Saturday evening. There was a boat load of people there that we didn't know so it was a quick and easy decision that the girls would come home with us. One of Emily's friends was feeling out of sorts as well with so many other children there that I suggested that she come home with us. We so snowballed by Becca later on. Since Emily was having a friend over, she wanted one too.

I'm still trying to get over some issues I have over chaos and change so it was needed. I am really trying to be more open to change but it's hard... I like things peaceful and methodical. I like knowing what I am going to do today as well as what I'm doing a week from today. No surprises.

Anyways, it was fun. The four girls watched a movie, ate popcorn, played several rounds of Uno Attack and I french braided everyones hair. They were asleep by midnight. Not too bad, huh?

Here's Em and Mackenzie playing with My littlest Petshop.

Below, the girls are playing Uno Attack- a game Rebecca bought last week and we've played countles times since them. I played 3 times just this morning! That was money well spent!

Here's Becca and Mackeznie going at it.Here's what we all did Sunday afternoon after lunch. It was a well needed nap! Obviously, that nap didn't do it for us because I slept in on Monday and the girls didn't even get up until 9:30. I feel bad that jay had to get up early and go to work. He even had to work Sat. night as someone hacked into one of his clients server.

Work, work, work is all he seems to do lately. Although, I'll admit, he's taken time with us to play Uno attack- yes we're addicted- and do a Bible lesson with the girls each night. What a great man God gave me!

Other activities we've had this week include a class on mammals, skating, and gymnastics. I also signed the girls up for swimming lessons to start up next month. We were planning on visiting my grandma tomorrow but something came up and we are going Monday instead. This weekend holds 2 basketball games- Rebecca's and Jay's sister, and dinner with a couple families from church. Next week, besides the trip to to Charlottesville, Becca's freind Ashley is coming for an entire day, basketball practice, a class on geology (Becca's been looking forward to this class for months!), gymnastics, midweek Bible study at church and an early Valentine's Day party with our co-op. Somewhere in the middle of that, we'll fit schooling in for the girls!

Busy Saturday

I know that the week is almost over and I've yet to post on our busy Saturday from this past weekend. Our days have been so completely full and there doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel until March. So, please bare with me if these posts are sporatic during the next month. I'll try my best!

Saturday started off with Rebecca's basketball game. They lost by 10 points. It was an unfair loss though. The other team has an assistant coach that really needed to just leave the game. He messed up the player line up and was in our coaches' face constantly. They kept switching the person Becca was to guard with another girl so she was confused, as was many of the others girls who weren't sure who to guard on defense. There were several other upsetting factors of that game. Needless to say, the day started off in frustration and confusion.

On to a better part of the day. Brysen's birthday party. I can't believe he's 5! I've been taking care of him since he turned 2. Man, time flies by! He had his part at one of those places that have lots of large blow-up jumpy things! Enjoy a few shots of the girls playing around.

*Becca is doing a backward roll into a hand stand. Unfortunatately, she only made it to a head stand.

*Here she is doing her newest of tricks- a flip mid air. She could have been happy doing these all day but Emily was having a melt down from exhaustion so we had to leave. It's a better place than the Playroom since it's designed for older children. We'll have to start going there instead!

Our dining experiences

As I sit here at my desk while Rebecca does some school work, I'm finding that I have some free time to catch up on the blog.

One of our favorite things to do as a family is go out to eat. (As you can tell by looking at our family!) We are going to have to put a stop to it as the girls get older because we won't be able to afford it! Rebecca gets her norm everywhere we go- mac and cheese. Emily likes variety. Yesterday, we went to Fridays for lunch and she got ribs! Man, did she look cute with barbecue sauce all over her face, gnawing on those ribs.

I wanted to share a couple pictures I've taken on my cell phone camera.

This first one is of Emily going to town on a Chick-fil-a sandwich. She eats a whole one of these! And sometimes adds a fruit cup to go with it! No kids meal for this growing 5 year old.

Here she is eating an ice cream cone after a chicken finger lunch at Friendly's.
As I said before, Rebecca eats the same thing everywhere we go. She is a picky eater. Here she is looking beautiful.

Snow Flurries

Here are a couple shots of the girls in the tinny amount of snow our area has been getting lately. That's a good thing because I don't know how much more snow and winter conditions I have left in me.

Below is a picture of my sweet Ems trying to catch a snowflake in her mouth.

And here's Becca with snow in her hair.
I still have more photos of our weekend to share with you. Saturday was a busy day for all of us and I'll get to it as time allows. Until next time...

AWANA

What is AWANA?

Awana is derived from the first letters of Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed as taken from2 Timothy 2:15

Awana is an international, Bible-centered children's ministry and youth ministry providing local churches with weekly clubs, programs and training. Our goal is to equip churches and parents worldwide to raise spiritual champions who know, love and serve Christ using integrated programs for ages 2 to 18, resources for Bible-based parenting and discipleship, child and family evangelism and specialized volunteer training.

Emily is in Sparks. It is for Kindergartners through second grade. She started in Sept. and last night, completed her first of 3 handbooks. She is going to start on her workbook today. She has had to memorize and recite 32 scripture verses. I am very proud of her.

Rebecca is in Truth & Training (T & T) for third through sixth graders. She started the first of a series of 4 books in Sept. as well and will complete it next week. It is a book comprised of Bible studies and activities that allow children to delve into the subject matter. She has learned and recited 89 verses! While in Sparks (K - 2nd grade), Rebecca earned the Sparky Plaque. To do that, she had to memorize and recite 166 verses! She did that with ease. It's amazing how many verses the children can hide in their heart and recall later on. It's a wonderful tool that will help them through out their entire life. And mine as well as I learn many of the scriptures right along with the girls.

Above is a picture taken last night. Jay is helping Rebecca with a section. I love how AWANA gets deep into the scripture and it gets the parents involved.

What is co-op?

Several people have asked me what is a co-op. Simply put, it's short for cooperative learning. There are several different co-ops in the area. For us, our co-op is a class of 28 children at last count. It is broken up into 3 ages groups- preschool, K-2, and 3rd -5th. It is located in a local church that we get to use for free :o) The instructors are the moms. In general, most other co-ops have to pay for the location of their classes and hire teachers to teach the children.

The girls have had classes on government, art, and art appreciation. We are on a break right and are doing fun "social" activities for the children.

I found these two pictures of the girls to share with you on the co-op website. It was taken in Nov. on Career Day. Both girls want to be a missionary- Becca is willing to go where God calls her and Emily said she'd like to go to Florida because she has seen "lots of people there who must not know God". I was sad to miss them give their presentations but I was needed in the preschoolers class at the time. I was told Rebecca did great but she did have a cheat sheet of notes on the back of her poster.

I have a little funny story I'll share about Emily. The previous night before giving her presentation, we went to midweek Bible study at church. Since there is a Christian college near by, many of the students from the college come to our church. One of them being a family who is scheduled to go Zambia as missionaries. The girls asked Mrs. Donna some questions about being a missionary and what to expect when on the mission field. Emily listened intently to Mrs. Donna's replies. After Emily's presentation the next day, I asked how she did because she had to do it all from memory. She said that they had to do a little prompting by asking her questions. One of her replies was that she had to be willing to accept change, that they may eat foods that we aren't used to and there might different living types of homes and clothes. Doesn't really apply specifically to Florida but it's what Mrs. Donna had told them about going to different countries.

Today was a relaxed fun "Game Day". The girls got to play board games with their friends. I was able to take a much needed break to talk to adults and played a few "adult" games as well.

Here's Rebecca (in the purple shirt) playing a neat game of Homeschoolopoly.

It snowed this morning! It melted away fairly quick but I'm glad the children the chance to go out an play first thing this morning.

Here's a shot of Emily throwing a snowball at Brysen. The little bit standing there is Brysen's little sister.

The beginnings of a snowman.
Our little snowman.

The Golden Rule

The conversation on the way home from basketball practice last night:

Rebecca: What does my name mean?
Mommy: I'm not sure.
Emily: I think it means bossy because you're very bossy.
Rebecca: Do you want me to call you whiny pants?
Emily: No!
Rebecca: Then don't call me names. You know, the Golden Rule.
Emily: What's the golden rule?
Rebecca: Treat others like you would want them to treat you. It's posted all over the classrooms at church.
Emily: What's the Red Rule?
Rebecca: What?!?!
Emily: Ya know, the Red Rule? If there's a Golden Rule, what's the Red one?
Rebecca: (exasperated sigh) You're a goof!

The SuperStar

Rebecca has earned the title Superstar! She loves to play soccer, gymnastics and has now fallen in love with basketball.

I love the fact that God led us to our church where our children can be involved in Upward basketball and AWANA. Here are just a few pictures from Saturday's game.

This first one shows that Upward isn't just about playing basketball but it's a ministry to reach out to the children and their families in our community. They have a weekly Bible verse to memorize, weekly devotions, and they pray before each game. It's so easy to get lost in the game and the competition and forget about Christ. They also have a short 5 or 6 minute devotion at half-time for the adults. Each person that comes to a game gets a short lesson on salvation. It's an amazing outreach program to the lost.

Below, Rebecca (in gold) is trying to steal the ball from Lyndsey.
And she got it! Go Rebecca! She actually made a shot too! She was so proud of herself! We are too! She tried a couple other times but didn't make it in.

I thought last weeks game was good but this was unbelievable. They were up at half time. Notice the girl in the pic above behind Becca? She's got a lot of height on her and she is very good. She also carries the game! Since there are 6 girls on the team and only can can be out on the floor, someone has to sit out each quarter. When she sat out, the other team gained up on us. It was neck and neck. We were tied 24-24 with 5 seconds left on the clock. With the tall girl back in play, she gets the ball and scores 2 points! All within the last few seconds of the game. It was intense. We were sitting on the edge of our seats.
Below is a picture taken after the game of Rebecca and 2 of her friends.

Here is a short video of Rebecca doing back handsprings at gymnastics. Besides climbing the rope, this is her favorite thing to do at the gym. She's not allowed to do it anywhere other than on a trampoline. At home, she loves to do back walk overs, the splits and hand stands.
See why she's my superstar???

As I was sitting at my desk a little while ago, I had Rebecca on the right doing a report on Indians and Emily on the left doing a paper. She had to read the words and circle the one that matches the picture. I love hearing her sound out each letter of the word.

I'm reminded back to those days a couple years ago when Rebecca was at this stage. I thought it would be never ending until one day, we sat down for her to read to me. There was the greatest moment of complete adoration as she read fluently to me.

Now I take her reading for granted!

Listening to Emily, I'm so unbelievably happy that I am able to stay home and teach these girls not only the things the world requires but those lessons in being a Godly child of the King. To think of someone else honing in on MY moments...

Reading is a long process, for our family anyways, and it's wonderful to see Emily's eyes light up when she "gets it". Hope you enjoy the video.

My favorite part is at the end when Emily holds the paper up and says "A+ please!"

Here are those pictures from awhile ago that I wanted to post. My friend Amy came over to watch the girls for an hour or so one night and Rebecca was so excited to have Ashley come over so they could play dress up. This is what I came home to. They were so unbelievably wound up that night. I've NEVER seen either of the three girls like that before. They had a blast with the make-up. Thanks Amy!!!

26 to 28 Lady Tarheels won!

Today was Rebecca first basketball game. It started out pretty relaxing but it got intense at the end. Her team, Lady Tar Heels won by 2 points. Hope you enjoy the slide show. Rebecca would love it if she had some fans out in the crowd as well-- hint, hint! Every Saturday at our church at 9 a.m. I know it's early but they have great breakfast food. And it's cheaper than stopping by McDonalds!

Air Hockey... WAHOO!

Just wanted to share some pictures with you. I know I posted pictures on our playroom right before Christmas. Here's what it looks like now with all their Christmas stuff.

Rebecca absolutely loves the new air hockey table. I found it at a terrific price and am glad I snagged it when I did. Last Sun., Jay said his right wrist was sore and he wasn't sure why. Duh, all the air hockey he's played lately! Emily isn't quite as fond of it as her big sister. She said, "Actually, I really don't like it."
We shoved the play house over here between the two windows. We're going to have to break down and get rid of it. :o( They still play in it daily but it's too big.
This is the dollhouse that they received. They love it! Once the playhouse is removed, it can come out of the doorway. Hey, it even has an elevator. It really is too cool.
I have some other pictures that I wanted to post of the girls and their friend but that will have to come later.

After 8 weeks off of school, it was time to start back up. (Huge groan) Our time off went oh-so-quickly. With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, we've been too busy to enjoy a big part of it. Don't get me wrong, we had several days spent in front of the tv rotting our minds while wearing pajamas, eating junk food. Once Jay called and said he was on his way home, we went into panic mode- getting dressed, cleaning up and pretending to have had a productive day.

This week has had me all up in sorts. Monday, Jay had to work half a day. We were invited to a dear friend of ours for a New Years Eve get together but with the thoughts of the girls cranky and bored, we suggested, "Let's have them over here instead." She had invited over some other friends plus her family so I took on the attitude- the more the merrier. I rarely have people over and I was in the mood for company so it worked out great. We hadn't seen the Knight's in almost a year, the Bordeaux's in probably two years. I'm really glad Amber and her children were able to come even though Shawn was working. I miss hanging out with her and the children do too. Amy and Ashley topped off the party. Need I say more about her? haha. Oh yeah, my sister and Brandon came over for awhile before they headed to their next appointed place. All in all, there were 14 adults, 1 teen and 7 children ranging from 10 to 20 months. It was an evening with great friends, lots of food and tons of laughing.

Tuesday, we slept in and put the tree in the attic. *I still have yet to take down the rest of the decorations.* For dinner, we went to Misty and Brandon's. I think we were all completely exhausted but only Emily fell asleep on the couch.

Like I mentioned before, we started school up again yesterday. Rebecca started around 9:30 in the morning and taking a 30 minute lunch break, finished up at 5:05 p.m. Just in time to grab a quick dinner and head to church.

She started third grade. You would have thought that there would have been a review period...nope. LFBC jump in head over heels with the work. It didn't help that I'm having her cram a weeks worth into 3 days though. (cringe)

She'll be glad that she finished the week up when we get to go shopping tomorrow to spend her gift cards she got for her birthday last month.

Well, I guess I need to go crack the whip a bit more. She is getting distracted without me in the same room as her.