Photo Shoot

Ellie - 9 soon to be 10

Silas -12

Abigail - 13

Karrigan - 8

Philip - 11

My Mom came for a visit a few weeks ago and had these photos taken at Walmart.

Philip's Birthday

No, this picture doesn't make sense. It's obvious I haven't done this in awhile. I can't get the pictures to move around and I uploaded some in the wrong order. With dial-up, I'm not about to redo all these uploads to get it right. Sorry. OK....
Philip chose to go to Wonder Works in Pigeon Forge for his birthday. That WAS his birthday gift and he was very pleased with it.






Yes, this picture is correct, WonderWorks is made to look like a building that's been turned upside down due to an earthquake or such. In the first two pictures listed you can see that the entry is made to look upside down too. The place is full of fun things to do.

Philip and Karrigan gearing up in the roller coaster simulator. This was the biggest hit of all. The thing spins, tips and dives while you watch a video.



It's amazing that this is indoors. I call it an air bike. The faster you peddle the faster you spin.

Steve, Philip and Silas preparing to go.

Abigail testing her grip, something she's very proud of.

This is really what it looks like it is.

The puck for this game is virtual, it's a bouncing light that you control.

Philip on the climbing wall.

Philip isn't mad, he's concentrating very hard while he control a robotic arm that is like the one used at the Space Station.

There was lots more to do and with coupons I found, we were able to enjoy a game of laser tag at no extra cost. Everyone thought it was a blast and to top it all off, Philip won.

If you should choose to go, take a pair of earplugs, the background noise is very loud and gave us a headache after being there all evening. A positive thing is they are open until midnight and the ticket price gets you in for a whole day.

Full Life

A favorite game here- dwarfs or dorfs as Ellie says

We've been so busy the last 4 months that I haven't had time to journal it. More for our family's journal sake, because I'd say my readers have given up on me, I'll recount some of our adventures. Sadly, I can't include many pictures right now, because they disappeared on me. I'm trying to not freak out!

Here's a few sneak peeks of our summer so far:

We've been to NC once a month for the last four months. This last time the girls and I stayed home and let the fellows make the trip. We had nice trips but I've become a hermit over the past few weeks, trying to recover. I know some of you go all the time, but we have melt downs, me included, if we are constantly on the go.

Trip 1 Birthday Surprise for Aunt Lib

Trip 2 Sister in law's birthday

Trip 3 Family reunion

Trip 4 Altapass Campmeeting

I've been wrapping up our Keeper's of The Faith club, because I was sick last year but the dear girl's were very patient with me until I was well. I taught them cake decorating and we all had lots of fun, in spite of me having to make 12 identical cakes for one meeting and pounds of icing for another. Then we did a cupcake benefit for our local homeschool chapter. I hope the pictures can be retrieved because the girls really did an awesome job.

One day Ellie and Philip were playing on top of the playhouse. Philip jumped off but when Ellie went to jump, she fell. She dislocated her elbow and broke it at the growth plate. After several weeks in a soft cast, the results didn't look hopeful. Her arm wouldn't straighten out and the Dr. gave us no hope of it doing so, but wouldn't order physical therapy for it (said pt wasn't good for children). The only thing he gave permission for was swimming. Swim lessons were the following 2 weeks for them (every day for 2 weeks, with us being gone at least 4 hours every day! But a really great program) and with prayer, Ellie's arm is now straight!! Praise you Lord!! Her Dr. is skeptical and wants to see her in Aug. because he says elbows like to freeze up, but we're not worried.

We've enjoyed 3 great camping trips so far this year. We had bought our tent last year, almost two days before I became ill. So, the children didn't get to do any camping in '09, except for in our back yard. For Mother's Day I requested a camping trip, not because I love it so much, but because it makes great family memories and I've determined to spend that special day each year enjoying my 5 blessings. Our second trip was during the reunion, because there was no place for us to stay, and the last time was with Aunt S, Uncle S and the boys. It was a lot of fun!!

Back to swimming. Abigail is such a beautiful swimmer. She graduated the swimming program this year. She wants to do a refresher course next year and then see about getting her life guard certification after that. I think it would be wonderful to have a modestly dressed life guard! We've found that lifeguards are required at more places than pools, and then she could always teach later in life if she chose.

Everyone in our house, except for me, has adopted the stray that showed up here. They think he's beautiful. I still have Cody in my mind and heart and this dog doesn't come close. I'll be walking to the clothes line and suddenly feel something wet and warm on my hand at my side. He licks me, Yuck!!!!!!!! And he must be tied up when we leave or he, oh I keep forgetting, she wanders. OK, I'll be nice and stop at that, but I want to state for history I'm afraid she'll be trouble and I voted no, more than once!!

Silas is growing daily, I mean it!! We have to keep a stash of pants because he constantly needs a new size when we head out somewhere. He would eat constantly, if allowed, and claims rarely to feel full. The current height ranking here is Steve at 5'11", Abigail at 5'4", Silas at 5'3" and then me at 5'1" with the others still staying in there place behind me.

Silas' Birthday

Silas turned 12 on Sunday. He surprised me by asking for a decoration birthday. At our house the choices have been a decoration birthday- meaning you choose a theme and mom decorates for it or we can do a special family activity- like ice skating. Silas asked for a Narnia themed day. I wasn't sure I could pull it off.
Let me digress for a moment and talk about our family's view of the Chronicles of Narnia. I have good friends and family that will not read these books and I respect and even understand their reasons for this. For Steve and I, this series has a lot of meaning. I cannot listen to one of the audio versions or a movie and not weep. Every time I come in contact with this material, it brings me to my knees. We are not into the magic books and movies that have taken the youth culture by storm recently. Narnia fits with our family values because the witch is evil, there isn't a good witch. C.S. Lewis does liken the moving of the spirit as a deep magic. I can understand where that could be bothersome. If you aren't looking at the whole story as an analogy, it will be just a mythical story. We have great in depth discussions and studies with the children using the analogies in these books. It is my understanding the C.S. Lewis wanted to present an analogy of the kingdom of God, with a story that would engage children. I would never encourage someone to go against their convictions on this subject, I just wanted to give a reason for what our family does.
So, back to Silas' birthday. A visit to our local Goodwill turned into a treasure hunt, looking for decorating materials. We found perfect scraps of material, lots of "gold" ware and goblets for everyone. With half price items from there, we did this birthday for less than ones that had lots of disposable decorations. Steve took Silas out to for awhile and we went to work. It worked!! Silas was speechless when he walked in. All the children dressed up and it didn't take Silas long to get into character. I really enjoyed this, as I don't think my growing boy is going to be into dress up and pretend play much longer.


The grand desert table.
Yes, the grapes are real and they're all in one cluster. I've never had grapes come out of the bag that way until now.
The decorating crew.
( The coat of arms plaque was only 40 cents!)

The pretty ladies.

Sir Silas during our grand supper feast.

Philip drew Aslan on this bag and we put candy in it for a pinata.

It's been so long since I emptied our camera! Here are old photos.



Philip copied his dragon onto my white board.

This is the horse pinata Philip made for Abigail's birthday. Abigail chose to just have a quiet day at home for her birthday. She's our homebody.

Our First Arrow

I have to offer praise for another answered prayer. Our Abigail thrives on structure and an unchanging environment. So, she was VERY nervous about her first day as a mother's helper. There were tears and she would've backed out, if I would've allowed her. I told her she had to go the first time and then after that it would be her choice, whether to go back. Well, she did fine and is willing to go back again. Mrs. L said Abigail was such a blessing with her gift of cleaning. This may sound like a little thing but it was a big step for Abigail. Thank you Lord!!!

It is such a tender time, as we shot our arrows out on little missions, working up to the day they will daily be in the world ministering . There will only be more and more of these opportunities, as the kids grow. I know that prayer is key to helping them have the strength and courage to fly straight.

Doings

I have to keep telling myself that I don't have to have something "important" to say to blog. This blog is to help me keep a little journal (of which this is the only one I have) of our activities, for memory's sake, and to help keep in touch with family. So, on that note, Sunday afternoon we visited a young family with 6 children, under the age of 8. The purpose of the visit was to see if each family felt comfortable with each other, so that Abigail could start being a Mother's helper for them. They are a very dear family and we are planning on moving ahead with the plan. This is going to be very stretching for Abby, since new folks and new places are challenging to her. I became a mother's helper at about Abby's age and it was a huge blessing to me. It's funny that though we had lots of babies at once, my children have had very little exposure to babies. Abigail was only 5 when Karrigan was born, so she remembers it and she helped with little jobs, but they were all little at the same time and so they don't know know how to care for babies.
Last night was Family Fun Night for our local homeschool community. We had a really nice turnout. The children enjoyed shooting some baskets and trying out some volleyball. Steve surprised us by showing up unexpected, as it wasn't planned for him to be able to come. A great surprise! Dear Steve has been putting in some very long hours lately. On Monday, he got up at 3:30 am to take his mom and step dad to the airport, then worked and didn't get home until after 9:00 pm. He worked a normal day yesterday and got up at 3:00 am this morning to work on a restaurant, while it was closed and he will work a full day today. Yes, I'm telling him what a hard worker he is and fussing lovingly over him, worried about his health.
We head out to our local library every Thursday or Friday to take advantage of their high speed internet and foreign language software. The kids are working on Spanish I. We love Jerri for being so patient for us, while we've ironed out our routine for this. I've been like a crazy woman for awhile, trying to help everyone at once on their computer. We must sign out 6 computers, 1 for the Spanish and 5 for the kid's internet, I then have to shuffle them through. I kid does Spanish on the study computer, while the others do an assigned internet activity. When kid 1 finishes Spanish, we switch out and on and on it goes, while 3 of them are asking for help at the same time and I'm reminding them they're in the library and MUST whisper. We're finally getting this down pat and they can finish their school work in record time on library day, anticipating the fun games they get to play while there.
There's a little snapshot of our life recently.

Abigail Rose

Abigail turned 13 on Sunday. Abby and Silas, only 13 months apart, have been best friends since Silas learned to crawl. At times they were partners in crime. Silas, an aspiring writer, asked me if he could type up a card for her. This is what he wrote to his sister:


Dear Abigail ,
You are a blessing, and a sister, friend, helper and commander. It is an honor to be the brother of such a magnificent girl. I wish you much love and joy.
From your generously loved brother,
Silas.

Not ever having had brothers and sisters, it is amazing to me as I watch the realtionships between my children.