Mission's Week

We have a Mission's Conference going on at church this week. Missionaries will be speaking all week, talking about their mission and what wonderful work God has been doing. It's really a great and inspirational week.

At the end of the week, we celebrate by having a big International banquet. Everyone brings in a dish from around the world. The Pastor's wife tasked all of the children to make a display from a country of their choice. The boys chose Madagascar. We did some research and made a big display board that is set up at church. There are some really neat displays up: Israel, Libya, Ethiopia, I think there are more coming through the week.

The boys did a great job on their project, I'm proud of them!


All the children at church have also been practicing some songs that they will be singing through the week.

Today, we were practicing singing them at home for school, Elizabeth joined in (she loves these songs). I caught one of the songs on video for you to enjoy!

It's morning so they're all still in pajamas (Elizabeth sporting Sean's Webelos hat for good fashion).

Playing dollies

Today I dusted off some old boxes that have been storing my doll collection and decided to play dollies with Elizabeth.

She loved the "babies"!!

This one in particular was her favorite. Dennis had surprised me one year for Christmas with this one, it's really chunky and a good "handful" to hold. I know exactly why Elizabeth like it so much!

Here she is carrying it around. I think she feels like she's holding a real baby. haha!

She had fun taking turns holding all of the "babies".

Here's an action shot of her giving the baby a "change".
She said that it had a "pookie" (dirty diaper).

Everytime she would pick a doll up, she would say, "the baby's heavy!"

Catch up!

I'm sorry my blog has come to a screeching halt lately. We have been busy trying to stay focused on getting school done on time and planning our move back to the USA. I cant believe 3 years has already flown by - a blink of an eye!

Just a little catch up in case you hadnt heard, we are moving back to Fort Meade, Md. I cant believe we are going back. This is a first for me! I have never been back to live in the same place twice. At least we pretty much already know what to expect. Yes, we will continue to homeschool. Maryland schools are what put poor Sean off on the "wrong" foot in the first place. I've been busy looking at the homeschooling laws for MD and reading online some people's personal experiences. Thankfully it's not too intimidating. :)

I've also been deciding on what books we are going to buy for the next school year. I think I have it down to My Father's World (Christian based History and Science) and Abeka. We are definitely going to be working through American History. On our way home and in between visiting family we are planning on making a few field trip sites to see some good ol'American landmarks and museums.

Right now for school, we are finishing up the Medieval times and learning about the solar system in science. We are starting a big project on Madagascar as well. We have a mission's conference at the end of March at church. We usually set up a table with a "report" on countries around the world and then we have a big international dinner with dishes around the world. Sean has to do his first research paper this year so I though this would be a perfect tie in and we can do it as a family. The boys picked Madagascar as their country of choice. So we are going to make a big display board about the country, fix Madagascar chicken and Sean will write a report. :) It should be fun. Pictures to come!

When it all starts to sink in....

I received a homeschooling reward this weekend that I just wanted to share with you all. Earlier this week, during our Bible studies, I was trying to impress on the boys that not only do we need to read our Bibles but we also must take time to speak to God and build a relationship with him. Just like you speak to your friends everyday it helps you grow closer, you should talk with God everyday. Prayer is more than just "thank you for this wonderful food, Amen".

The other night, the boys were in the living room watching a movie or something. Dennis was back in their room putting up some stuff on their wall so I went back to see what he was doing. Sean has all kinds of "signs" he made taped up all over the walls. I noticed a new one hanging up by his dresser. It was a list of all the things he's supposed to do everyday.

• Get Dressed
• Brush Teeth
• Brush Hair
• Read my Bible

And added at the bottom, seemingly new:

• Talk to God

It made me smile.... sometimes things they are told DO sinking through!

:)

A Year in Review

I made a video today of pictures that we had taken through the year.
I set it to music to make sure you have your headphones or speakers ready. :)

So much happens, yet a year goes way too fast!

Enjoy the video! :)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

The boys were up at 6am this morning... so excited to see what they got!

We certainly had a white Christmas this year! It started snowing in the morning on Christmas Eve and is STILL going at 3pm today on Christmas day. We have at least a good foot out there.

Elizabeth was the last one to wake up! The boys finally asked, "can we just wake her up!" haha!

She discovered her rocking horse right away.

Daddy had to open his present first! He had no idea that it was for him. I told him last night that it was a "family surprise" and he kept asking "what's in the big one" all night long.

He was very surprised that he got a guitar!

The boys then started on their gifts.... Elizabeth was still enjoying her horsey.

Finally she got down to open something.

She needed no help! She knew what she was doing.

Elizabeth thought the Nerf darts were chapstick so she wanted to make sure her baby had chapstick on too.

Ryan and his Lincoln Logs.

Both boys got these little books answering questions about the Bible.

Playing with her kitchen set.

I told Sean to give me an angry face!

Elizabeth was so worn out her angry face came naturally. HAHA!

Ryan and his War axe.

Merry Christmas!!!

Ryan turns 8!

Well I suppose now that it is Christmas Eve, I should get pictures up of Ryan's birthday. hahah!

He had a great birthday. It was on a Sunday. After we got home from the morning church service the boys changed out of their clothes into something comfortable lightning fast. Then they ran over to the presents waiting and ready to open!

Ryan got some Legos! :)

And MORE Legos...... haha



Look at his face on this one, he got some of those "silly bands". New, very popular bracelet things in the shapes of objects or animals.


Aww a stuffed animal that he asked for.


And a nerf gun that ALL the boys (big and small) had fun playing with afterwards.


Later on that evening we had the Ryan's Dirt cake. We took it to church to share and have a good time with our friends.