January Fun

January is typically a slower month for us. It was nice to have some breathing room in our schedule and get back into a good routine. 

We invited the Dalmans over for lunch to end Christmas break. The kids have done this Best Day Ever cheer for years now. It never gets old. I'm always thankful for the friendships between our families. 

The weather was mild for the beginning of January and we spent a lot of time over at Kidsborough with the neighbors. The kids are building a town complete with stores and a jail. Every time I watch them playing together over there, I always think, "Man, this is what childhood is all about."

Elisabeth and Samuel participated in their troop's Pinewood Derby competition. It was a busy Saturday since their competitions were at different times and we had a basketball game in the middle of them. But it was a fun day. 

Elisabeth's car had a big cheering section. 

Elisabeth and Samuel both came in 4th place for their divisions, and they were both a little disappointed. It was a good learning experience for them though, and they're already planning their cars for next year. 

The same day Samuel played in his first basketball game of the season. He's been excited to play again. 

The kids have been learning about lobsters in their zoology class, and when we read about how lobsters are alive in tanks at grocery stores, the kids were shocked, so we took them on a little field trip to Red Lobster. It was a fun family dinner. 

For weeks, as the kids have planned their Kidsborough town, they've been pretending to build a fire. One afternoon the moms got brave let them actually light one. They were so excited. It was such a fun surprise for them. 

Elisabeth read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in her fun and cooking class, and the next week they got to bake cookies. That is such a fun class for my little baker. 

Samuel earned an award at his Trail Life troop. We're proud of his dedication to attend his meetings every week. It's been a good activity for him. 

We celebrated Sweet Evelyn turning three with a precious little birthday party. We're so thankful for the dear friendships with all the kids around the table. Neighbors who are best friends is such a gift. 

Look at her smile!

Sam's been spending Saturdays on the court. He's having a great season, and I always look forward to watching him play each week. 

Matt and I volunteered during Kids' Worship on week and caught Elisabeth doing the crab dance on stage. 

Sam asked me to video his trick shot at co-op.

The Breedens invited us to their house to watch the AFC championship game with these two die hard fans. 

Nora and Elisabeth could have cared less about the game, but they performed a funny half time comedy show. 

And these girls tried on different costumes all night long. Katherine told me later that they were pretending to be "rich" girls. 

It was a nail biter, and these kids were into it. 

Samuel found his new best friend. These two were adorable together. 

It came down to the end, and these two celebrated majorly. 

 

What a fun night with great friends!

A Look Back on 2022

2022 was a year we'll never forget as we walked and shepherded our children through an unexpected trial. At the same time we settled into a good homeschooling routine, joined a new co-op deepened friendships, traveled, and watched our children continue to grow and mature. Joy and sadness always coexisting. 

 January

- Samuel and Elisabeth were baptized together at our church

- We took a week long trip to Disney World, where we defeated the First Order, survived a terrifying elevator ride, transformed into mice and scampered throughout a restaurant in France, beat our high scores in Toy Story Mania, swam in January, and made lifelong memories.

February

- We celebrated Valentine's Day with our traditional fondue, and scavenger hunt and attended the Heart Hop at our co-op. 

- I turned 37 and celebrated with a new sound system in my car and dinner out with dear friends and another dinner our with the sweetest kids. 

March

 - Sam turned 9 and celebrated with a video game party

- We spent a family day at the Discovery Lab

- My brother and his family visited for Spring Break, and the cousins bonded over hours of play time. 

April

- We celebrated Easter by attending church, and hosting lunch and an egg hunt

- We spent a weekend in OKC playing at a church gym with friends and then a day at Frontier City

- We tried out container gardening and grew a few things

May

- Nathan turned 11 and invited lots of boys over for an evening picnic

- The girls danced in their annual dance recital

- Matt and I celebrated 16 years of marriage with a trip to North Carolina and Tennessee. We toured the Biltmore, explored Gatlinburg, and relaxed in a cabin in the mountains. 

- Matt turned 39

- Nathan participated in his first acting recital

June

- I went on my annual Girls' Weekend to OKC

- We attended VBS. I helped with preschool Missions

- We swam, visited the zoo, picked blueberries and enjoyed lots of play time with friends. 

- The boys attended Camp Siloam, while the girls participated in an Encanto Dance Camp

July

- We hosted our annual Fourth of July picnic with the Millers, Shondelmyers and Pashkovets

- We floated the Illinois River with friends.

- We spent a week in Weatherford, attending the Evetts' churches' VBS and visiting family

- After spending a month in the hospital and slowly declining, we said goodbye to my mom. My brother's family stayed with us for a week, we planned her funeral and the Lord carried us through the hardest week our family has experienced. 

August

- Elisabeth turned 8 with an outdoor water party with ALL her friends

- The kids earned a YES day for completing a summer reading challenge

- We squeezed in a few extra play dates before school started

- We started our third year of homeschooling with a pre-k, second grader, fourth grader, and sixth grader

- We started a new homeschool co-op that has been the best fit for our family

- The kids started Fall activities- flag football, AWANA, gymnastics, dance, piano lessons for Sam, and Trail Life and American Heritage Girls

September

- We spent a week at our favorite beach 

- Katherine started Pre-K at Community Preschool at FBCBA. Our last first day!

- Katherine turned five and celebrated with a party at Bounce U and getting her ears pierced!

October

- We spent a weekend in Kansas City with my brother's family. 

- Barry and the boys attended a Kansas City Chief's football game

- We added a new member of the family- Hannah the rabbit

- The girls and I attended Frozen the Musical 

- We celebrated Halloween with a rainbow unicorn, Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger, and KC Wolf

November

- We visited Har-Ber Village for a fun field trip

- The girls spent a weekend in Branson riding the Polar Express and playing at the Grand Country

- Nathan had a football injury which required three stitches and an ER visit

- We all got the flu over Thanksgiving and postponed celebrating until December

December

- Katherine was a shepherd in her preschool's Christmas program

- We enjoyed lots of Christmas parties and programs

- We hosted Christmas dinner for our neighbors on Christmas Adam

- We completed all our traditional Christmas celebrations and enjoyed lots of family time

- We celebrated New Year's Eve with the Shondelmyers

New Year's Eve

 We celebrated New Year's Eve with the Shondelmyers and their friends who were visiting from Houston. We made it a progressive evening. We started at our house with dinner. We had fajitas and visited. Then we drove over to Rhema to look at the Christmas lights. It was a beautiful evening, and the lights were not crowded which was nice. 

The best crew to celebrate with!

These two were taking selfies with Elisabeth's new watch all night. Brooke and I are starting to envision what these two are goign to be like as teenagers. 

We ended the night at the Shondelmyer's house with snacks and games. 

These boys immediately hopped on Roblox. 

The adults played Codenames and Telestrations. It was hilarious. We laughed so hard throughout the entire evening. 

We joined the East Coast and watched the ball drop at 12:00 Eastern Time. 

2023, we're ready for ya!

After Christmas

After we finished celebrating at Papa Joe's house we loaded up and drove to Edmond to continue celebrating. The kids couldn't wait for some cousin time with Abby. 

The next morning they opened even more presents.

Katherine was so excited about her Calico Critters School Bus. 

Because of a weird circumstance, we had one extra gift for Elisabeth that she got to open at Aunt Becca's house. 

She was thrilled. 

After presents, the boys went off to fly Nathan's airplane, while the girls stayed at the warm house and played. We enjoyed a delicious after Christmas lunch and spent some quality time with everyone. 

Later that afternoon, the kids and I continued on with our Christmas travels to Weatherford. We spent a few days with Granny and Grandaddy and made the rounds visiting family and friends.

We spent Tuesday with the Evetts. Mindy and I had a great conversation, while all the kids happily played all day long. 

It was a great day!

Later that evening we played fast track and stayed up way too late watching the OSU bowl game. I went to bed at halftime, but the boys and Granny and Grandaddy stuck it out until the end. 

Granny is always so kind to make pancakes for breakfast every morning. 

Wednesday we spent the day with Momoo. The kids got their last Christmas present along with pizza and chocolate cake- all the traditions :)

They also got to play with their cousin Kolby and had a fun time with him. 

We got back into town on Thursday afternoon, unpacked and finally gave the kids an opportunity to play with all their Christmas presents. 

We also spent time with our neighbors enjoying the pretty weather and break from school. 

The kids built a runway for Nathan's RC airplane. 

Christmas Day

Since Christmas Day fell on a Sunday this year, we joined Papa Joe at his church for the morning. 

It was the last of the Christmas dress fun. Katherine asked me to curl her hair for the occasion.

After church, we headed to Papa Joe's house to celebrate with him. The day was full of surprises for the kids. This was the first one.

The kids knew just what to do once they arrived. They each sat in their chairs and patiently waited for the opening to begin. These children are very loved and spoiled by their Papa Joe. 

Katherine got to go first as usual.

She also got a Calico Critters car she's been wanting for forever. She's been complaining that they only have one car and lots of Critter families. 

I feel like Elisabeth asked for the oddest things this year. She was thrilled with her bubble gun.

Samuel got a stand for his keyboard. 

He also got a new game for the Switch that he's been asking for years. 

He didn't waste any time playing it. 

And more Gravitrax

Elisabeth said her Crystal Flier was one of her very favorite gifts this Christmas. 

She wasn't too disappointed about her very own hoverboard though. She's tired of having to share with Samuel. 

Nathan got his top item from his wishlist- an RC airplane. 

The surprises weren't over after all the gifts had been opened. Papa Joe had one last big surprise. The kids had to complete a scavenger hunt to find it. 

DUDE PERFECT TOUR TICKETS!! The kids were thrilled and surprised. We are so grateful for the intentional way Papa desires to spend time with the kids. He is such a gift to us. When I told him about the tour, he didn't even hesitate and immediately bought them tickets. I laughed when he was like, "Of course, I'll do that. That's all they ever watch!"

After all the presents were opened, we enjoyed a steak lunch and spent some time playing and spending time with Papa. He made this first Christmas without Grammy so much easier for all of us by continuing with all our traditions. The day was easier than we all expected thanks to him. 

Katherine showed off all her new toys. Her new Polly Pockets were perfect for the drive we made later that afternoon. 

We left Papa's late Sunday afternoon and made the drive to Edmond to continue the Christmas fun.