It's Friday!!!

For our family that's like a Saturday. No school and no work....only fun.

The beginning of an end

As I sat in our rocking chair this afternoon, I was savoring the quiet of the house, the smell of our precious Nathan and breathing a sigh of relief. We made it through Philip's first week of class. We achieved all that I had hoped. We schooled 4 great days; we made it to the pool one afternoon; I've cooked 3 decent meals. We read; we laughed; we played; we cuddled; we colored; we learned and we played kickball. It struck me again, that this is the beginning of a long list of lasts. When Philip graduates in 9 months, our life will again take another turn. At this point, we don't know what that turn will look like but we do know that we will close the chapter of our life called "Duke Divinity school". So much of our life right now is centered around Divinity school. The kids can't seem to understand that Duke isn't a city. When we tell them we're going to Durham they say, "oh we're going to Duke.". I truly hope that in these 9 months we will be able to savor this experience, enjoy it to its fullest and not hope for the time to pass too quickly. As hard as times may get, the further into the semester we go, I know that it's only a matter of time before Philip walks across that stage with a huge smile on his face and a well earned Diploma in his hand.

Bulls game

I forgot to post these pictures from our last Durham Bulls game. We were able to go to a game on Peter's birthday along with his best buddy and his family. Here's Philip teaching the kids how to dance along to the YMCA. We had front row seats!

For some reason, might have been his good dancing moves, Philip was awarded with Quizno's fan of the night. He got to go out on the field to reliece his $20 gift certificate.

Videos

I have neglected to upload two clips from earlier in the month!
Here's Emma riding her bike:

Here's Nathan working on his smile. I took this a couple of weeks ago so he's even cuter now.

Can you guess

what this is?
If you answered, "the beauty of homeschooling" then your correct.
I was pleasantly surprised when Peter voluntarily and independently painted theses pictures. I am so glad I said "yes" when he asked if he could watercolor paint.
If you answered, " a Pharaoh, the Nile River Delta and the Red sea, and a Sphinx" you are also correct!

Funny things

Ryan has said a few funny things lately that I wanted to share before I forget!
Yesterday, we were visiting with some friends at the church. Ryan took a half dead big black ant to Ms. Jennifer. He handed it to her and said, "take this home to make an ant pie". Thankfully, Ms. Jennifer's a tough lady and doesn't mind handling ants! She was able to convince Ryan that the ant was still alive and she would probably need more than one to make an ant pie anyway!
I overheard this conversation this morning.
Ryan: Are you coming to the park with us Daddy?
Philip: No, I'm going to stay home with Nathan.
Ryan: Are you going to keep the house on fire?
Philip: WHAT???
DeAnne: Are you going to keep the home fires burning?
Ryan has become quite attached to this little stuffed "puppy". Today, Philip witnessed him with his shirt up and Puppy nursing!
Ryan is truly becoming his own person. He's somewhere between the family clown and a "how far close the the line can I go?" kind of person!

School bell rings

I have declared that tomorrow the school bell will ring in our home! Saturday- yes Saturday. The beauty of homeschooling. Peter has been invited to an awards banquet in Raleigh at the Children's museum. Last spring he submitted a book to UNC-TV Reading Rainbow Young Writers contest. What better way to start 2nd grade than with a celebration of a job well done, a trip to Marbles Kids' museum and hopefully the history museum.
At some point this year, I will have to submit our application to become an official home school. The main requirements for NC home schools are to have 180 days of school and complete a standardized test. Approaching this year makes things feel more real than before.
I had the chance to spend some time planning and thinking this afternoon. I've been doing a lot of thinking this whole summer so it was good to get some things actually put together. For now, here's our plan for the year.

History: We'll be studying the Ancient Times and Civilizations using the Story of the World.
Science: We'll be studying Earth science. Perhaps moving to astronomy next semester.
Math: We'll continue with Horizons.
Language Arts: This year we'll be doing a combination of a few things! Mostly doing lots of reading and writing.
Art and music: I hope to do some of these great art projects. I'm thinking Saturdays will be the day for this!

I think that's the major subjects! Peter and Emma are very concerned about what Ryan and Nathan will be learning in school this year. I have assured them that they will be learning plenty. So when you think of us please pray for God's strength and grace to cover. It's quite a daunting task ahead of me. I know that it can only be accomplished without it.

Generations

I took Nathan to Cary this morning to meet his great grandparents on my side. My grandmother held, sang, talked and loved every minute of the 30 that he sat with her.
It was getting close to his feeding time so he was trying to suck on Grandma's fingers!

By the time my Grandfather had his turn, Nathan was ready for a nap!

Soccer camp

Peter participated in the Parks and Rec's soccer camp this past week. They practiced from 9- 11am out in the blazing sun. He did a great job. It is still very awkward for me to leave him in places like this. I mean I just dropped him off with "coach" (whom I didn't know his name) and said, "I'll be back in 2 hours". My heart strings were tugged as we walked off to the park down the road. The second day Peter said to me, "You don't have to go with me. You can just drop me off.". That was even worse on my little heart! But then on the third day with a little twinkle in his eye he said, "You just feed Nathan. Do you want to stay and watch for a little while?". Music to my ears! Although Peter is now 7 years old I'm glad he still needs me and looks to me for support. Many times I think we allow our kids to grow up just too fast!

8 weeks

I can't believe that Nathan was born 8 weeks ago. I am beginning to be saddened by how old he's getting. Will he stay this cute and cuddley forever? I may have to start rationing the amount of time that I allow others to hold him so I can soak it all in! Don't you just love this truck? It was a present to Nathan from his cousin Noelle. It didn't take too long for the kids to suggest putting him in it. I had already thought of that myself but more in the sense of a photo prop and not for a ride. Unfortunately, the little guy isn't too keen on the bright lights of the outdoors and wouldn't give us the huge toothless grin that he's really getting good at. I'll have to try again in the evening.

Happy birthday

I can't believe that Peter is turning 7 today. I think the hardest part for me to get my head around is that I have been a mom for 7 years. I really don't feel old enough to have a 7 year old. It amazes me how much he has grown and matured over the last year. He is really shaping up to be a very smart guy. Just yesterday, he wanted me to "quiz" him on the medieval times. I had to rack my brain trying to remember what and when we read anything about the medieval times. He answered every question like he was reading it straight from the history book. These are my two favorite pictures of Peter. HE is full of energy and adventure. He has a desire to take over the world and to be a scientist and detective. He loves comic books, Star Wars, legos, riding his bike, swimming, hiking and reading. Admittedly, I do get frustrated with him at times. His imagination will take him on an adventure around the world. He is full of "what if" questions and constantly asking them. At the same time he can be nurturing, caring, gentle, compassionate, sensitive, repentant and loving.

Happy birthday Peter.
You are truly a blessing from the Lord.

Baptism

We were so blessed on Sunday to celebrate with family and friends the baptism of Nathan. What made the day even more special was that Pastor Tom Greener came up from Durham to lead the service. Tom has been the one to baptize all of our children.
After the service, everyone joined us at our house for lunch. It was just so wonderful to have all our family together under one roof. I say "all" but were missing a few family members. I am often envious of most people in Roxboro who live with a 2 mile radius of all their family. There's just something about having your family nearby. When I walked into the sanctuary Sunday morning, it was a great feeling to not know who to hand Nathan too or who to encourage the others to sit by.

Here today...

gone tomorrow!It was quite an emotional experience for me! I can't believe that Emma is old enough to begin loosing teeth. Her pictures will forever (ok just a long time) be marked with missing teeth. She has another loose tooth. Hopefully, I'll have a little time to adjust before that one falls out too.