catch up!

they say a picture is worth a thousand words. here is what we have been up to since i last posted...

gracie and i spent an evening out with friends at a secret keeper girl event!

jack fell out of bed and got a black eye. poor kid.

we were slap happy and made a kabillion mustaches on a stick to sell at the salisbury festival!

we finished our geography homeschool co-op class with a 'food from many nations' party! we studied japan and made candy sushi! it was a hit! (and we also cleared peoples nasal passages with wasabi peas!)

we blinked and summer was here! goggles + blow up pool = endless summer fun!

 and most recently, gracie showed us her moves at her dance recital. what a beauty!

 we are glad for a break in our schooling and looking forward to a busy summer. life is good. Jesus is better!

cha-ching!

back in the fall chris brought home this great tall vase/jar thingy and it inspired us to start an everyday change savings for something fun. the kids had been eyeing a big lego set that cost upwards of $100! gasp!! i could never in my right mind plunk down that kind of dough for toys. especially those that more often than not get eaten by the dog. so- we made a deal. all of our change would go in the big jar until we had saved enough for legos.
this time of year it takes a bit more effort to get through our school day.  some of our typical weekly activities with friends are still on break until the spring- so finding something different and interesting to do seems to be the challenge every week. last week i noticed our jar was mighty full and thought that counting all those abe's and george's would make for a fun math lesson! we poured the whole jar out on the coffee table and started sorting. the kids loved it! jack counted piles of ten pennies and grace went hard to work putting all the quarters in stacks of four. once everything was sorted and counted we had saved up $116 dollars!  it was quite a fun afternoon project and much better than multiplication worksheets. :)

cookies and milk. and babies.

today i had the honor of throwing a dear friend a baby shower for her 4th bitty baby boy! what fun! our humble abode is quite humble and this momma has LOTS who love her! but we made it work and had an open house, cookies & milk themed shower. plenty of yummy goodies, and a stocked milk bar made for a fun day! the momma of 4-to-be was pampered with a manicure (thanks sherry! did you miss your calling!?), surprised by a far away friend, and showered with so many cute things for baby. thank you to all those who gave, helped bake and to those who came to show some love. we love you nancy and can't wait to meet #4!

the many faces of jack avery

seriously, what is better than a cute kid fresh from a bath? jack is now tall enough to see himself in the bathroom mirror and this is what happens. not just after bath. all. the. time. when left to his own devices, our silly kid entertains himself. he brings much joy to our life. it sure would be boring without him!

the class clown and the book worm.

the christmas season is over and we are back to work. as thankful as i am for a break, this year, the return of our home school routine was welcome. it is so funny and quite interesting to experience being a parent, especially a home school one. these two little people growing up before my eyes are so funny, serious, insightful, smart, weird, innocent, loving, crazy, i could go on and on.  the older they get the more we realize how different they are from eachother! god has given them each individual personalities and it is a blessing to get to know them.  after recieving a new 50mm lens for my camera these were some of the first shots i captured. a true picture of their absolute different personalities. my class clown and my book worm. love.

thankful





although we celebrated our day of thanks over a week ago, i am reminded tonight of the things that really matter. i was blessed to be able to spend the day with a group of people offering their time and talents to serve the people of a shelter for the homeless by taking their portrait.{help-portrait.com} this shelter happens to be connected to my church and i am ashamed to say that i have never served or spent time there. i asked one of the women in charge if i could sneak a peek at the area where they house women and children during the winter months and she said that was fine. as i walked over to the beds, something caught my eye and almost brought me to my knees. lonely stuffed animals and doll babies waiting patiently on the beds for the return of loving arms. children sleep here. children like my own. those could be my children.  i was overcome with a feeling of great burden. a burden to pray for these young souls who sleep in old beds, surrounded by strangers, not tucked away in a cozy, warm home somewhere. we take the simple things for granted. the comfortableness of a familiar bed, an old quilt, a nightlight, the knowledge that we can wake up and have a warm cup of joe on the couch in our jammies. so, tonight i am counting my blessings. my children are tucked away in their beds, secure in the knowledge that their needs are provided for. they might not think about that actual fact, but they shouldn't have to. pray with me tonight for those children that do.

jack turns 5!

my little guy is growing up. someone tell me how to stop it. i have come to learn that years 5 and 6 are the end of little kid and the beginning of big kid. baby teeth are ready for the tooth fairy, chubby cheeks become less plump, and reading opens up a whole new world of adventure for their little minds. it has been a blessing and joy to be jack's momma and we love watching him grow!