Reading

I love having a good reader in the house. I'm not sure why it took me this long to get him in the business of reading to his sisters regularly. But they all enjoy it. 
Note: There is another little one in his lap, though you can't see her face. She has come to LOVE books recently! 

Randomness

Last week Stephen took the boys to see a Nats game as a reward for all of the hard work they've done in the yard this spring and summer. It was a late afternoon game, and they had good seats down the third baseline - so good that I even caught a glimpse of them on TV as one of the runners rounded third base late in the game (I DVR'd it too, so they could see themselves, of course). 

They have both shown a lot of interest in the MLB games, players, and standings this year. And I must admit that now Luke knows more than I do about it. Now, that's not saying all that much, but still...he's only 10.

That's Bryce Harper there in left field!

And here's Luke with BH.

While the boys were away playing, we girls had a little fun of our own in the kiddie pool. Caroline was not very into it, and Elsa couldn't understand why not. But Elsa had some fun playing with one of the boys' water-bazookas...and there was Chick-Fil-A for dinner.

Caroline has finally figured out how to come back down the stairs. Well, two or three stairs, anyway. She mostly likes to go up a few stairs and sit down and look at a book (Over in the Meadow is her favorite). Here she is looking at the book that she dropped.

Caroline's favorite friend happens to be a feline one at the moment. She LOVES Sabrina, and amazingly enough, Sabrina tolerates her very well. She has poked and prodded and provoked to her heart's content, and Sabrina has done nothing to her. Anyone with any knowledge of Sabrina's history knows that she certainly was not this tolerant of the other children when they were littler...and often not very tolerant of many adults either. But she and Caroline seem to have hit it off. It seems sad to me that Caroline probably will not even remember her when she's older. Sabrina is now 17 years old, and her health is declining.

Today we went to the farmers' market in Manassas where there was also a Civil War celebration. There were many there who were in reenactment garb, and we checked out the museum as well since there was no fee today. They had the most beautiful doll-house up for a raffle, and I just had to buy a ticket for it. Only $5, and I can't even imagine the fun that Elsa and Caroline could have playing with it. (Elsa has been asking for one since she's enjoyed playing with the dollhouse at the neighbors' house). I wish I had taken a picture of it, but still no smart phone here, and I've been too lazy to carry my real camera around with me lately. 

Of course, we had to investigate the tent-store, and we came home with a few fun things.

Here's Elsa in her new bonnet...Little House style.

And Cade is a Union soldier
with an (old) rifle and a
(new) wooden sword. 

And there are no pictures of Luke in his Confederate cap with his braided whip because he headed for a nap just after lunch!

Remembering

Ten years ago today I got a phone call from one of Stephen's co-workers informing me that he was on his way to the ER after suffering a seizure. The ER visit led to some brain scans which revealed a small brain tumor (this coming just a few years after his father's death from brain cancer). A few weeks later Stephen underwent two brain surgeries to remove the tumor (benign, praise God!). And that began the long recovery.

A few days before surgery

I won't go into all of the details - there are many hard memories for us. But this day can't go by without naming a few blessings...

We were continually upheld by the Lord's right hand. There were lots of tears and lots of fears, but the Lord carried us through and gave us strength to face each fear and to walk through each day.

The Lord provided for us well during the time that Stephen was off work (and I was no longer working since Luke was three months old at the time). Friends cared for Luke while I spent time at the hospital, and my parents came and stayed with us for a time...moral support and child-care all rolled into one (or two). And then there was Boeing's short-term disability plan which meant that paychecks continued to come in.

And we could not have asked for more loving and caring family and friends who spent time in prayer with us at the hospital or who just came and sat and waited during surgery or brought us tasty food. We also received a large number of cards from friends around the world who encouraged us to continue to trust in the Lord and who prayed for healing for Stephen.

We are thankful for Stephen's good health today, and it's rather hard to believe that it ever happened. God has been so kind in restoring his health fully and for how He has continued to lead us.

I remember friends commenting how encouraged they were to see us continuing to trust God through such a difficult circumstance, and my thought was, and still is, "What else can you do?" Honestly, what else is there to do? You just lean on Him, and He carries you. 

Praise God - He's still carrying us.  

Ten years later

Back to School

Sort of. 

What I mean is that we never really stopped school completely for the summer. We've taken a few scattered weeks "off" entirely, but for the most part, we've kept up with math and some reading, at least a few days a week. It just works out better if the kids don't forget everything they've ever learned in math over the period of a few short weeks. 

But yesterday was our official First Day back to school. Elsa has been anticipating it for weeks and counting down the days. She is still 4, but we've decided that she will do K4 this year (that's what I'm calling it...for her benefit). She will be going through these workbooks from Rod & Staff as well as The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. She is definitely different from her brothers with respect to her eagerness to do school work. She begs for it and expects that she should be doing school just as long as her brothers are. Of course, she's also the one who follows me (or Stephen) around the house and wants to help do whatever we're doing...yard work (that's Stephen, not me!)...cooking...cleaning...painting...etc. Now it remains to be seen how long it takes her to plow through those workbooks and move onto something a little more challenging.

Cade is in 2nd grade now - wow! I can hardly believe it. It seems like I just started him in Kindergarten last week. But he's got a toothless grin to prove me wrong. Time really is flying, and he's growing up. He's reading decently now, and his math skills blow me away sometimes. He figured out a mental addition problem the other day in the same time I did. And when I tried to explain to him an easy way to do it, he turned around and explained to me an easier way. And he was right. Can you say, "Keeping me on my toes?" He's still my master-builder around here and spends hours each day designing and building Lego fortresses and contraptions.

Luke's year will consist of 5th grade work. I don't know why it is easier for me to believe that of him than to believe that Cade is in 2nd grade, but somehow it is. He's taken on the job of mowing the yard this summer, and that has done a lot to make him seem older and more responsible in my eyes. He's also taken it upon himself (as of yesterday) to make a meal-plan for the week. I've been slacking in that department for a long time, and I think he's tired of hearing "I don't know" when he asks what's for dinner each day. I'm hopeful that he'll begin to take more and more responsibility for his own school work and start working more independently of me this year. After all, with another student and a very active toddler, I'll be hopping.    

Speaking of the toddler, the rest of my time will be spent making sure that Caroline doesn't injure herself or anyone else or tear the house apart. It seems as though she's set on doing one or all three of those things most days now. And she's getting molars to boot! Fun days - oy! 

Her cuteness is certainly not in question, though, and she has now learned to make a "funny-bunny" face. Here she is enjoying a piece of our breakfast scones yesterday morning.   

The basement is still not livable yet. The majority of the painting is done (walls and ceilings), but the doors and trim aren't finished yet. In fact, I really should be taking advantage of a nap and heading downstairs to paint more doors. But it's been a while since I've updated the blog, so here I am. I don't even have a sneak peek picture for you since I haven't taken any pictures after having the drywall finished. Sorry!

We are currently trying to find someone to build a banister/railing for the staircase, and then we will be able to put down carpet. Once the carpet is down it will be time to move the school shelves and desks to the new room in the basement. And then it will be time for a trip to IKEA! I'm hoping for all of this to take place by Labor Day, but honestly, I'll just be glad when it's done and we have a bit more room to spread out our books. Elsa will be very excited to have a table where she can sit to do her school since currently she uses the Little Tikes picnic table and can only use it when Caroline is sleeping. Otherwise, Caroline climbs up onto it or grabs all of the pencils off of it. See? I wasn't kidding about her trying to injure herself or others. 

So off we go on another year of schooling the kiddos...and learning an awful lot myself!