October Birthdays

We had two really big birthdays in October: Charis turned 16, and Arden turned 13! Since Arden got a big party last year (an Amazing Race run by 4 teams of 2 each throughout our small town and ending at the house), it was Charis's turn for a big birthday bash. (Not to worry, though...Arden got a party the following weekend doing what he requested: swimming and football with friends at the Y before chowing down on pizza and chocolate cake!)

For Charis's sweet sixteen party, we borrowed an idea from friends who did a murder mystery party for their daughter, Charis's best friend, when we were in Italy together. The party was such a hit that the moms later had a moms' night out to do our own grown-up version! I tucked away the idea for later, thinking it would be fun to do with teenagers at our house sometime. Charis agreed, and together we picked the theme "A Knight of Murder" from an online mystery party service. Invitations were issued, costumes were found (hooray for a dress-up party close to Halloween, lol), and arrangements were made for our younger 5 children to enjoy an evening with friends so we could focus on serving Charis and her guests, who included Tobin and Arden along with a number of friends from youth group and our homeschool circle.

It was such a fun evening! I honored Charis's request for a pasta dinner, even though we agreed it wasn't terribly medieval, but the homemade ragu and Bolognese sauces were a hit along with French bread, grapes, and apple cider punch. Only one person guessed the murderer correctly...Arden was our victim, and the murderer was none other than Charis herself! It was so funny...she and I had discussed who should play which character, with neither of us knowing any details until after I began looking through and printing the hostess materials. (I dressed up in my Renaissance festival dress, which has gotten much use since purchasing it in 2008, but I did not play a character so that I could focus on the details of the party.)

After the characters had cast their votes for who they thought the murderer was as well as best costume and best actor/actress, we awarded prizes and enjoyed ice cream cake, and then Ted went to pick up our littles and hustle them to bed while the teens hung out for awhile. I think it was a very memorable experience for all involved, and Charis seemed to have a wonderful time. Hard to believe our "baby" is Sweet Sixteen now! We are so very proud of her!

And as an aside...she finished her online driver's ed course and we jumped through all the hoops so that she can finally take her driver's test this coming Tuesday. She is very excited and has been a bit impatient as you can imagine to hurry up and get through all this red tape!

Here are some party pics...

Tobin found this hilarious banana costume at Goodwill...we thought it was perfect for his jester character, "Joking Jerry!"

Wyatt as a baron and Charis as Lady Diana

Ted's character was Willie the Watchman, which he played up as a Secret Service kind of a guy!

Two characters have a private conversation! (These girls are twins in real life!)

Charis with two of her BFFs

Poor Sir Rufus! He met an early demise...

Lord Taylor speaks with Queen Genevieve

Examining the evidence and casting votes

Lovely ladies!

The whole "cast" of the evening!

We printed a number of signs like this for decorations...that's about as decorative as we got, but it worked!

Hee!

Update: Charis, Tobin, and Arden

I might as well face the fact that I will never be "caught up" or "on top of" ANYthing. Sigh. So, before things change yet again, here is a screen shot of life around here these days with our older set...

CHARIS

As we head into the final stretch of her sophomore year, Charis is taking on more and more responsibility both inside and outside the home. Beginning today she will babysit a little boy (one month younger than Rhema) one day a week for additional income. I'm sure she will actually find it easier to get her schoolwork done in a house with only one child, ha! Her biology co-op class has a few more sessions, and while it's not her favorite subject, she is totally rocking it. She's determined to "catch up" to where she thinks she needs to be with math, so she just started her Math-U-See Geometry book and hopes to do both that and Algebra II before 2016 finishes. She is about 3/4 of the way through Sonlight's American History core and is also doing an elective, "Understanding the Times." Her piano and violin skills are growing by leaps and bounds--what a difference a wonderful teacher can make! Charis is already gearing up for a busy summer with various camps, a missions trip, and teaching 5-day clubs. While she is already a huge help to our big family, caring for littles when needed (I try not to overload her!) and helping with meal prep, she looks forward to the day when she can help out by driving herself various places! I'm sure October will be here before we know it and I'll be watching her drive away...

TOBIN

Yesterday was Tobin's 14th birthday! It was a bacon-y sort of day...a middle-of-the-week birthday can be difficult to make special, especially when one's baby brother is sick with a raging fever, but we did our best to accommodate his food requests! Bacon and eggs for breakfast, BLTs on homemade bread for lunch, lasagna for dinner (store bought! I have a limit!!), and bacon-grease-drizzled popcorn for after-youth-group snack. The boy loves bacon! He also loves to stand as close as he can, grinning at how close he is getting to me in height. Since schoolwork doesn't seem to take him nearly as long as I might hope, he is on a quest to finish this book list on his own...yes, even the preschool selections (which I sometimes hear him reading to his little sibs). He continues to enjoy time on the online Khan Academy modules--I ask him (and Arden) to spend any morning Khan time on math, science, history, and/or art, while the afternoon is reserved for computer programming/tweaking. He continues to be involved in Boy Scouts and hopes to earn enough money to return to Camp Cedars. Along with Arden and Charis, he has applied to attend the Christian Youth in Action training camp in June with a commitment to teach four five-day clubs throughout the summer. While moving has never been easy on our boy, he has found his stride and enjoys our church and youth group activities with new friends.

ARDEN

Arden graciously allowed Tobin to move into his bedroom during a room overhaul, and though there was some good-natured groaning about giving up their private bedrooms, I honestly think the two are delighted to be back together. (Mom and Dad aren't too sure about that, since their room is across the hall from ours and we hear them much later at night than we want!) While the two brothers are often inseparable, they are each unique in personality even if they share a boatload of common interests, including Legos, library books, and lounging. Arden often wanders into the kitchen to ask what he can do to help, and one of the best ways he helps without even asking is simply playing with or reading to the younger boys, who adore playing with him. He loves eating and is so enthusiastic about my efforts! It's a delight to see him grin when he sees what's headed to the table for dinner, gasping, "Oh, thanks, Mom! This looks delicious!" As the weather turns nicer, he and Tobin have the opportunity to earn some money from our across-the-street neighbor who has asked them to mow her lawn. Arden took the first turn last week, braving the wind and taking Lucan and Zaden along to help pick up sticks. (The little boys are trying to earn money for more Legos! Lucan got the bug after getting some "real" Lego sets for his recent birthday!)

I'm so grateful to have these three amazing kids! As I still deal with potty training and nursing a baby at night, it's a blessing to be able to have mature conversations with Charis, Tobin, and Arden. And their sense of humor is also a blessing! I love how they can make me laugh! They all have tender hearts for the Lord and a love for the people He places in their lives. What a privilege and delight to watch them blossoming.

Charis's Tender Heart

For AWANA this past week, Charis had an assignment to write a pretend letter to a missions agency asking for a job.  Her finished product blessed me so much and brought tears to my eyes, and with her permission, I am sharing it here for others to see as well.

Dear ______________,

My name is Charis [last name]. I am writing to you to ask for a job as a missionary. I have always wanted to lead other people to Jesus. I know that it will be hard work and, in some cultures, possibly dangerous, but I feel strongly that God is calling me to do this.

Some of my good qualities are that I am: determined, trustworthy, perseverant, cheerful, compassionate, friendly, responsible, loving, gentle, generous, and dedicated.

I think I would make a good missionary because I am always ready to help people. I can guess what people are feeling most of the time so I can share their joy, comfort them, stand by them, and sympathize with them.  I shine God’s light and spread His word wherever I go. I feel very sad when people sin, and I pray for them constantly. I have led some of my friends to Jesus already, and I am eager to lead more. I know I am young, but that doesn’t matter. 1 Timothy 4:12 says “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” I am confident that I would make a good missionary. It has been my dream for years, and I would be very disappointed if I didn’t get the job. However, if that is the case, I would know that God has a bigger, better plan for me.

I hope you will consider me for the job. Please contact me as soon as possible. I eagerly await your reply. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Charis 

Birthday Girl

After a low-key, family-only party last year, and numerous shared birthday parties in previous years, Charis and I decided it was definitely time for her to have her own party for her 11th birthday!  It was so much fun to plan it with her.  We picked Friday, October 14, and had an "almost over" (as in, not quite a sleepover) from 5:30 - 11 p.m.  I offered her the choice of ordering pizza or having a home-cooked meal, and she actually chose a very healthy meal!  (Don't worry, we'll get our share of junk when Arden has his party, LOL!)

Charis decided to have an autumn theme for the party, so the menu included pulled pork made in the crock pot, squash bake, inside-out apple pie, and cinnamon bread.  She chose zucchini bars for her birthday cake, only we made them into muffins instead of bars so that each girl could frost her own and decorate it with chocolate chips and candy corn.

There were 7 other girls in attendance.  One of them, Amberly, was Charis's best friend for awhile, and then her (military) family moved to Virginia.  We had the opportunity to spend a day in Washington, D.C., with them when we did our big family trip last fall, but we hadn't seen each other since then.  As it turned out, the D family had planned to come to Ohio for a few days anyway!  The timing was just perfect, and Charis was thrilled that her dear friend could spend some time with her.  (We got together with her family and the C family, mutual friends, the day before the party, so the girls got even MORE time together!)  I was grateful that Angela and Brian were able to stay and help; Brian played with Lucan and Christopher, Amberly's little brother, and Angela was a huge help to me during our craft.

After dinner, the girls did a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood collecting non-perishable food items for a local food pantry.  Each type of item was worth a certain number of points.  The girls collected 4 bags full!  They were so excited about what they were doing.  I have no idea how the neighbors felt about it, LOL!

Then we did a craft--of course!  We used the Big Shot and dies to create "thanks" banners, which you can see the girls holding up in the photo.

Then it was time for cake and presents.  Charis requested zucchini bars with cream cheese frosting, so we made those into muffins and had the girls frost their own and decorate with chocolate chips and candy corn.  I must say, Charis's friends know her very well--every single gift had something to do with crafting!  One friend also gave her a couple of Beverly Cleary books, too.  Some of the craft kits included a bottle cap jewelry kit, a scrapbooking kit, a flower-making kit, and I don't know what else.  One girl even gave her 4 skeins of yarn!  Charis has been in craft heaven, especially since there is so much more organized space in our craft room, thanks to Mimi's hard work while she was here!  (I really wish I had taken BEFORE pictures so that I could post before and after shots!)

Then it was time to pile on the couch and watch The Princess Bride, and that took us to the end of the party!  I nursed Zaden toward the end of the movie, and we all went to bed by 11:20 (Lucan was put to bed two hours before that) and slept in the next day!  Even Zaden "slept in" until 6 am, which helped me recover from the party!

For more photos, go here.

Piano Recital

We have recently entered a new phase of parenthood--attending kids' events!  We tried purposefully for years to avoid putting our kids on sports teams or getting too heavily involved in activities that don't include all (or at least multiple!) children, but after we settled into life here in Ohio, it was obvious that the time had come for us to provide opportunities for the kids to further their talents and interests.  I don't see anything wrong with first graders playing soccer, doing gymnastics, or whatnot--I enjoyed going to my little brother's soccer games!  But given the size of our family, it has never been an option, really.  Time and money limitations again and again dictated that we just needed to be patient and wait for the things that God would lay on our kids' hearts to pursue.

Thankfully, the doors opened for music lessons to be a part of our lives when we met Mrs. D, a sweet lady who comes to our house to give the lessons!  Charis began in September 2009, and Tobin started his lessons in March 2011.  Both of them had their first piano recital last weekend, and it was such a blessing to see them perform along with many of Mrs. D's other students (many of whom are also homeschooled).  Another blessing was having my parents here to attend the recital with us.  Who knows how many of my own piano performances they sat through over the years!  It was neat to be on the other side of things.  I kind of feel like a grown-up. :-)

Tobin performed before Charis did, and he sat down and began playing so quickly Ted didn't have a chance to get any video.  So you'll have to be content with a photo of him at the piano until I can capture him on video here at home--and, given his love for attention, I'm sure he'll be happy to oblige!  Then you can listen to Charis playing her song.  I haven't really observed her playing in a long while--just listened while working in the kitchen, mostly.  I'm very pleased with her technique!

Oh, the Drama!

A couple of weeks ago Charis auditioned for the play Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with the same community youth theater that she participated in last fall (A Christmas Carol).  She was delighted when the director called her a few days later to offer her the part of the Mouse.  Somehow just hearing what role she would be playing made me smile--our sweet, petite little Charis, playing the part of a mouse?!  Why am I not surprised, LOL!

To her delight, when she received her copy of the script, she found out that she has quite a few lines and will be appearing in a number of scenes.  Since she was one of several orphans with no speaking parts in last fall's play, you can imagine how excited she is to actually be learning lines!  She must have really improved her performance level, as I know she did not spend a lot of time on her monologue this time around, and we were unable to have her attend the audition class two weeks beforehand as she did last fall.  The director had mentioned to her back then that she really needed to work on being louder and slowing down.  When I watched her practice her monologue for this audition, I could tell she had more confidence, and she was really trying hard to project her voice and move naturally around her "stage."  So, while I wasn't able to actually watch her audition (parents have to wait out in the hall!), I'm guessing that she pulled through with the volume and rate of her speech!

She is also excited that a number of the friends she made from the last performance are also participating in this play.  And I was glad to see that one of MY friends was at the parent meeting--her daughter had also auditioned and earned a role!  So it will be fun to meet up with her more often.

So, the craziness has begun.  Charis has rehearsals on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 11:30 - 1 p.m.  I think there are only two rehearsals she does NOT have to be at, due to the number of scenes she is in.  The show dates are the two weekends before Ted leaves for training, so thankfully he'll be here to help with the carpool shuffle as well as to see her perform. 

I'm so thankful she'll have this experience!  Ted and I really enjoy the opportunities we have to participate in the children's drama ministry once a month at our church, and it's neat for Charis to see how she can use her acting skills to serve Christ.  While she's not able to participate as an actress with the Kids' Street Live team, she does get to help as a worship leader with some other 5th and 6th grade girls.  So our KSL rehearsal and performance weekends are rather a family affair...even more so when Lucan wanders onto the stage wanting Mommy or Daddy to hold him during our rehearsals!

Kid Update

We're halfway finished with our Sonlight curriculum for the year, which means it's a perfect time for a little update on all the short people in our house.

CHARIS
An obsession with historical fiction keeps us trekking to the library frequently to keep Charis in books.  She has progressed far beyond the American Girl series and now reads all kinds of diaries/journals (fictionalized, but based on real people and events).  Her favorite authors are Kathryn Lasky, Andrew Clements, and Beverly Cleary.  When she's not curled up with a book, Charis is either playing the piano, working on a self-imposed writing assignment, or holed up in the craft room, making a mess on my stamp room floor as she creates gifts for loved ones.  (Latest project: two dolls in a box crib for Kenna's birthday present.  You can see one of her projects in the picture of Kenna below--she made "mice" and "cages" for her and her siblings to have as pets.  Such detail in the boxes!)  She is a HUGE help to me in the kitchen as well as entertaining the little ones, and I am so thankful that she is such a natural homemaker-in-training!  I truly enjoy working in the kitchen with her, and it's a delight to both Ted and me to watch her with her younger siblings.

TOBIN
Having found a new literature series to read (The Lightning Thief), Tobin also frequently escapes to spend some quality time with library books.  He will begin piano lessons on March 1, so we will have two piano students in the house!  Our piano teacher is thrilled to have another student, and I was thrilled that Tobin finally agreed to start lessons, LOL.  It's quite convenient, as she drives here and does the lessons in our dining room with the kids while I work on lunch or do what needs to be done with the other children.  Tobin also continues to fulfill his role as Ted's "Mini-Me," cracking jokes and puns at the drop of a hat.  He's getting more dependable with household tasks, and I find myself calling for him to do things for more and relying less on Charis in some respects, so that is definitely a good thing!

ARDEN
Although Arden is not as big of a reading fanatic as his older siblings, he does enjoy comic books!  He has read tons of classic Peanuts books as well as others that we let him check out from the library.  But given a choice, he would much rather be playing something:  Legos, chess, Wii, computer games, anything that involves running with a pointed object, and so on.  He and Tobin often disappear for hours on end to build and play with their Legos.  Arden is excelling in math, doing double-digit multiplication and nearly catching up to the book that Tobin is currently in.  I've decided to stop trying to slow him down!  Only this past week did he finally seem to "struggle" with a new concept, which he quickly mastered after a little one-on-one time with me.  He adores his little siblings and is such a gentle-hearted boy.

KENNA
Eagerly anticipating her upcoming princess "par-tea," Kenna is still the happy, joyful girl she's always been.  I love how she comes downstairs in the morning with her hair sticking out in every direction wearing a huge smile.  That girl is just so HAPPY!  Her exuberance for life always lifts my spirits--one can't help but smile when she's around...assuming she's in a good mood, that is!  Watch out if she is crossed!  Kenna is quite tall (big, even!) for her age.  She turns 4 on Sunday, but her 4T clothes are nearly too small already!  I'm glad spring is close by so we don't have to worry about her ankles hanging out of her pants, LOL.  Kenna loves singing, being chased and tickled, and bossing Lucan around.  She loves thinking she is a big kid, listening in on our Sonlight reading and helping set the table every morning for breakfast.  She really is becoming quite a good little helper, sometimes even being more dependable than Arden, who is easily distracted!

LUCAN
Our baby isn't really a baby anymore, sigh!  He also is fast outgrowing all his clothes.  We are reaching the end of the hand-me-downs we received before we left Las Vegas, so I may actually need to go buy him some clothes!  Hurry up, garage sale season!  Pretty much all his pants are too short, so we have to creatively dress him when the weather is cold, LOL.  Lucan is shaping up to be like his big brother Arden in so many ways.  I remember Arden was doing 100-piece puzzles by himself when he was 2 1/2.  Lucan will be 2 at the end of March, and while he isn't close to 100-piece puzzles yet, he is quite capable of doing 24-piece puzzles and even a 48-piece one that Kenna got for Christmas (thanks, Ski!).  A recent obsession is the Hungarian New Testament that he found off our bookshelves.  I don't know if it's the size or the bright blue color, but he LOVES that thing!  He carries it around and randomly opens it and "reads" out loud to anyone who will listen.  It's very cute to hear him babble...maybe he'll be a preacher to Hungary someday, ha!  Another likeness to Arden is his sweet, gentle spirit.  When I picked him up from the toddler room on Sunday, his teacher described him in just those words--"He has a sweet, gentle spirit!"  Reminded me of a time when a godly woman from our church in Maryland spoke similar words over a one-year-old Arden, saying she didn't know exactly what it was, but she felt in her spirit there was something special about that little boy.

BABY TBA
I am pleased to announce that I have indeed been feeling Baby J move over the last week or so, quite frequently, even.  I could tell my belly was growing (that happened starting the moment of conception, LOL), but not feeling any movement was beginning to worry me.  I'll be 13 weeks tomorrow and have my OB appointment in the morning.  I am trying hard not to FREAK OUT that I am 1/3 of the way through this pregnancy.  Oh, that Ted's deployment will go so quickly...

As much fun as it is to watch our children grow and become the people God created them to be, it's also fun to dream and imagine what they'll be like in 10, 20, and even 50+ years.  What a blessing each one of them is!

A Mother's Joy

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth" (3 John 4).

Just before Charis left for camp, we found this message from her in our bathroom, which made my heart sing...

Longaberger Homestead Trip

Last fall Charis and I were supposed to go on a tour of the Longaberger Homestead for her birthday outing, but unfortunately we had the flu and had to cancel. When my consultant sent out the information for her summer trip on June 12, I decided it might be a good time to see if we could finally have our girls' day out. It actually was our only free Saturday of the month, so we got up early and prepared for a day away.

I drove our minivan and had two other ladies as passengers, whom I hadn't met until we got together for the road trip. They were sweet, older ladies, very chatty, so the two-hour ride passed quickly. In fact, it passed so quickly that a policeman pulled me over, ha! I saw him sitting in the median and slowed down (yikes, I WAS going pretty fast), but alas, he pulled out behind me and started flashing his lights. Would you believe this was the FIRST time I had ever been pulled over?! If it had happened a decade or two ago, I'm sure I would have burst into tears, but all I could do was chuckle. I knew I deserved a ticket...I was in a rush to get to the Home Office and meet up with Kay before she left for the Homestead, and we were close to making it on time.

The officer asked where we were headed, and I told him. He asked about our Colorado plates and my Ohio driver's license, so of course I told him we're a military family. He was very kind and polite, and I made sure I responded as respectfully as possible. (After all, I did have my daughter with me plus two strangers, tee hee!) He went back to do his "checking," and obviously I was squeaky clean. So when he came back and let me off with a warning to slow down, I thanked him profusely and made sure my cruise was set for the speed limit from then on! Thank you, Lord, for your mercy passed on to me through the policeman!

The ladies and I all had a good laugh, and off we went. We briefly stopped at the Home Office (a building shaped like a basket) to use the restroom and quickly look around, and then we went on to the Homestead. We met up with Kay and got our name tags, etc., and then we looked around the factory store a little bit. Charis was interested in making a basket, so we signed her up for a 3 p.m. appointment and went to play basket bingo. It was sunny and HOT, and Charis and I huddled under her umbrella for some shade. No wins for us that round, so we checked out the face painting (Charis got her hand painted) and then met the other ladies for our lunch.

Another round of bingo followed, during which Charis actually won! She got to pick out of the kids' prizes and chose a darling Boyd's bear. It was raining by then, so we scurried inside to look around at the shops. I bought two little Americana decorations and spent a whopping $10, LOL. Then we sat in on the first bit of the next bingo round, won nothing, and then scooted over for her basket-making experience. This is her finished basket! Didn't she do great?!


We hadn't realized it, but since this weekend was a special one at Longaberger, because she made a basket, Charis also got to make a wooden flower in J.W.'s Workshop. So we went back across the campus to the workshop only to find that the next available time slot wasn't for a half hour. Perfect time to go get ice cream! We walked around, took some pictures, and enjoyed our ice cream, and then she made her final project before we joined our car mates for the final round of bingo. It was a huge round, with tons of BIG baskets given away, but alas, no one in our group won anything. Still, it was a very fun day, despite the heat, rain, and humidity. The rain was intermittent enough that we really were not out in it very much at all.

We didn't get home until nearly 9 p.m., and Charis was so excited about all the fun she had had that I'm sure she didn't fall asleep for awhile after we tucked her in bed! Not only did she win a bear and make a basket, but she had also gotten a little basket as a door prize from Kay (I got a nice picture frame) and a cute denim bag that our lunch came in. She felt overjoyed with all her new stuff, but making her own basket was definitely the highlight for her.

To see some more pictures, you can go to the Facebook album here.

Maidens by Design

On Saturday Charis and I attended a mother-daughter class called "Maidens by Design" based on curriculum from Blessing God's Way, a site I hadn't heard of prior to registering for the class. The instructor, Denise, is a member of the homeschool co-op I'm part of and asked back in the fall who all would be interested in such an event. When I reviewed the web site and read about Denise's passion for mentoring women in the various phases of life (maidenhood, maternity, and menopause), I decided it would be an excellent starting point for Charis and me to begin more in-depth discussion about our bodies.

It was a wonderful experience! The hostess is the mother of 10 children, and their family lives in an old house in Xenia. HUGE doorways, large rooms, tons of homey Easter decorations, and a ginormous, I mean GINORMOUS dining room table. I LOVED just being in this house! Denise, the teacher of the class, is the mother of 9 children and is studying to be a midwife. She helped deliver her first grandbaby just a few weeks ago! Way cool! She had so much response to her query about a class that she did two separate sessions. Ours was the second one, which was probably good since she had worked out some timing issues. Everyone who attended the class homeschools, though not everyone was part of PEACH. I didn't know anyone there, and I wasn't alone--we were all so quiet in the first hour or so of the class!

Charis received a workbook to use during the class and bring home--it's actually a 10-week curriculum, but Denise felt it would be best to just schedule a seminar rather than trying to coordinate families for a long-term class. It worked out about right. We met at 9 a.m. and did introductions and covered quite a bit of material. Charis went from having not a clue about menstruation to being able to explain it and identify various phases in a woman's cycle. In fact, I would venture to say she now understands a lot more than many grown women do! The topic of "the act of marriage" was not covered, per se, but we did watch an incredible video from Answers in Genesis called "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made." WOW! I always knew life was a miracle, but oh, my! There are so many "coincidences" and "just right" things in this whole process that I cannot understand why people can honestly believe there is no Creator God. I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone--I must say it did go over Charis's head a lot, but when we talked later, I just emphasized to her how incredible God's design is and that it is further proof of His existence. (Which led to another good discussion about evolution.) All in all, we definitely added to our homeschool science hours, LOL.

Anyway, the DVD took up only about an hour of our 5-hour time together. We took a break for lunch and enjoyed visiting with another mom and her 10-year-old daughter, who was just adorable. I think Charis and she could be great friends, and I do hope to get together with Nicole, her mom, before too long.

After lunch our instructor introduced the girls to the wide array of products available to use during "that time." I was glad that she showed non-disposable products as well as disposable. By this time most of the girls had lost most of their inhibitions and fingered the products without being too shy. We also finished the DVD and saw just how amazing the process of growing a baby really is. I've had 5 children and have read, heard, and seen a lot, but I learned quite a bit that I had never known before. Again, I highly recommend this DVD!

One of the things I especially appreciated about this class (and the curriculum) was the idea that our monthly cycles are not a burden, an inconvenience, dirty, gross, or any of that. Denise emphasized the theme of the ministry--we are wonderfully created, and that means ALL parts of us are wonderful! I think I personally picked up somewhere in my teens the idea that our cycles are part of "the curse" (or at least the menstruation part) and didn't really view it as a blessing at all until much later in my life. Obviously there are some aspects that aren't my favorite part of being a woman, but I like that this ministry views it as a cleansing process, a good and positive process. Just as Jesus' blood cleanses us from sin, we as women are cleansed and renewed each month in an absolutely amazing process that evolution really can't explain.

The girls were encouraged to chart their cycles to help them understand when they need extra prayer and grace (!) and to read a chapter of Proverbs daily. There is a "My Personal Proverbs" kit that I just may go ahead and order and give to Charis as a gift when "That Day" arrives.

After the class, we hung around and chatted a little more, and then Charis and I headed out. She asked me some good questions while we drove, and I'm pleased with our start into this new phase of life. Hopefully we can keep the lines of communication WIDE open! To celebrated being women, we went and got Charis's hair cut! She posted pictures on her blog, and we both love her new 'do. (If you don't have access to her blog, let me know and I'll send you an invitation.) It was a fun way to end our girls' day out!

They CAN Be Taught!!

I have to post this before I forget. It's clean-up time around here, and as I work in the kitchen and Ted bathes the little ones, the older three are responsible for general cleaning. Tobin was doing something to purposely annoy Charis, who was in the kitchen with me, and I was in the process of calling out his name to send him on his way to clean.

Charis turned to me quickly and said in a low voice, "It's OK, Mama. I'm trying to have patience with Tobin, and the more he annoys me, the more I can practice."

Oh, sweet Lord Jesus! If my heart is singing at these words, how must your heart rejoice also!!

The Difference Between Girls and Boys

Dear Grandma and Grandpa K,

Thank you for the Gone Camping puzzle and the white tiger and the Spider-man hat. I hope I see you soon! I love you!

Love,
Tobin

***************

Dear Grandma & Grandpa K,

Thank you for the scarf. I sleep with it every night and wear it whenever I go outside. It's so fuzzy!

Thank you for the Dorothy doll. Kenna has taken a liking to her, and I have not made a "home" for her yet. I'm very excited with my idea to make clothes, a dresser, a lamp, and a room for her!

Thank you so much for the gingerbread kit. I am excited to start. I don't know when I can start it though. I'm having too much fun doing OTHER crafts.

How are you doing? Are you having fun? I am! I hope you can visit again soon. I miss you. Grandma, I have some things I would like to sew on the sewing machine. I hope you can help me with that sometime soon.

I love you and miss you both. Hope you are having fun!

OXOXOX

Love,
Your granddaughter,
Charis

P.S. Write to me soon please. I love to get mail, thought I almost never get any!

Charis

P.P.S. I forgot to say thank you for the color by number. It was so much fun! I got to do Kenna's because she's little, Tobin's because he didn't want to, and I finished all of them except Arden's. He is doing the dog and cat one. I love you!

Charis

Spotlight on...CHARIS

I'm way behind on life in general, so it stands to reason that my blog has been neglected of late. Rather than try to re-hash what our family has been up to over the last couple of weeks, I decided to take some time to spotlight each of our sweet kiddos this week. Today is Charis's day.

A recent highlight for Charis has been her re-entry into the world of drama! I took her to an audition for a local youth theater production a couple of weeks ago, but she wasn't selected for any parts. This, I felt, was actually a good thing, since the rehearsals would have eaten up three days a week and performances will run December 4 - 13. Additionally, all the main parts likely went to older kids (they wanted ages 8 - 18), so it would have been a lot of time and effort with little return.

So, though she was a bit disappointed, Charis took the results in stride and continued on her merry way. Last Friday, I nearly threw the paper out without looking at it, but I ended up flipping through the Life section and saw on the last page that there was an open audition for Oz: The Musical, and that they would be casting about 100 local kids to be Munchkins or flying monkeys. Charis and I looked at the web site, and she decided she'd like to try out. Since I had a stamp club meeting Saturday morning, Ted took her downtown for the audition. They put the kids in groups of 18 to teach them some choreography and part of a song, then had them perform in groups of 6. Nearly 200 kids auditioned over the course of the weekend, and Charis was one of the ones who made the list!

We're very excited for her opportunity to get some experience and have fun doing something she loves...without having to spend so much time in rehearsals! There will be 2 rehearsals plus the dress rehearsal the week after Thanksgiving, and then the performance weekend. I think we can deal with that!

Charis continues to enjoy her piano lessons and has progressed really quickly. She is teaching herself a number of songs from my old piano books, and I love hearing her play hymns and Christmas carols while singing along very loudly. She enjoys going to music rehearsal with me or Ted and has made quite an impression on the other members of the worship team. I can't wait until she can perform in church someday!

In school, Charis is learning division and has picked up on this very quickly. I attribute this partially to the fact that she learned her multiplication facts so well (thanks, in part, to Timez Attack). She has recently begun writing more on her own and has completed some fun creative stories. She has asked--and I have agreed--to have her own blog so she can share her writing with others, and I hope we can set aside some time before too long to set this up. For those who are interested, we can give you an invitation to her blog, as it will be private.

And of course, Charis stays busy with her own crafty creations. She spends way more time in my stamp room than I do. :-) It's always amazing to see what she comes up with!

And now, a few last tidbits about Charis:

Favorite foods--Chicken pot pie, spaghetti pie, lemon chicken, yum!
Favorite colors--Red, white, and blue
Favorite animal--Horse
Favorite activity--Oh, boy. Crafts, singing, and spending time with my family.
Favorite subject--I think it would be language arts.
What I want to be when I grow up--A seamstress.

Birthday Time

It's that time of year again, time for our fall birthdays! Charis is now 9 years old--her last year of a single digit age. Arden is 6. We had a "fall family fun" party again and invited new friends and neighbors and had a blast. There were 4 families who were able to come. It was a low-key event, since we were coming off two weeks of flu at our house. Certain things had to give...instead of hot apple cider, we had juice boxes and water bottles. Instead of making iced pumpkin cookies and a homemade birthday cake, we bought the least cheesy-looking fall-themed cake we could find at Sam's Club. But no one cared--everyone was too busy jumping on the trampoline, decorating a pumpkin, eating potluck dishes, or getting to know someone new. And that was the whole point. :-)

To see more pictures, you can go here.

Piano Girl

Three years ago I tried teaching Charis piano lessons. She was eager to play but not so thrilled about the actual learning process. I decided I valued my sanity and our relationship more than being her piano teacher, so we shelved her books and the attempt. We could wait.

Now that I'm playing piano again myself (with one of the worship teams at church), I decided it was time to try again. I had seen a recommendation for a piano teacher posted on our homeschool loop, so I gave her a call and learned that she was willing to come to our house. Charis was fairly agreeable when I asked her if she wanted to take lessons, so we scheduled Thursday mornings for our time slot.

Mrs. D arrived a bit late, having had some difficulty finding our house, but otherwise all went well. She's elderly and reminds me a lot of my own grandmother, rather short and very sweet. I hustled Kenna and the boys outside, having decreed that they would have a half hour of "PE" (or something) so we could give Charis and her teacher some peace. Lucan and Kenna tried out our "new" sit-n-stand stroller that I bought for $5 (woohoo--thank you, God!) and walked around the neighborhood while the boys rode bikes and scooters. I was hoping and praying that all was going well with the lesson--Charis had a look on her face when she met Mrs. D that made me a bit nervous...not quite her "bad attitude" look, but something that showed she wasn't as excited as she had maybe thought she would be.

Well, by the time we came back inside, Charis was happily plunking away at the piano and listening carefully to her teacher's instructions. Though she is to practice only about 10-15 minutes on school days for now, I believe she has spent close to three hours playing the piano today! She even dug out the dreaded pink piano books I had bought to use for her lessons years ago. I had told Mrs. D that perhaps she should bring something different, as those books had caused Charis to balk at the thought of trying lessons again. So we do have a couple of other books, but I was pleased to see that Charis's thirst for learning songs was strong enough to conquer her distaste for the other materials that we already had on hand.

It just goes to prove that when a child is ready to learn a skill, it is SO much easier and comes much more quickly when you do it at his or her own pace rather than trying to force him or her to do something simply because it is at "grade level." One more reason we love homeschooling!

It's All Egyptian to Me

Charis has taken on a new project--learning the alphabet in hieroglyphics. We studied ancient Egypt quite awhile ago, but she recently re-discovered an "Egyptian pack" I found for two bucks at Borders on the clearance rack. It included papyrus-looking paper, envelopes, postcards, and an introduction to hieorglyphics. It was the perfect companion to what we had learned in homeschool studies, and the kids had a lot of fun with it when I first gave it to them, but then it got buried in her craft room mess. (No surprise there for anyone who has ever been in my stamping office.)

I am pleased to say that Charis is now fluent in Egyptian symbols. If you're looking for someone to write your name in hieroglyphics, she's your gal!

Maybe We Should Work More on That...

Part of Charis's language arts assignment from last week was:

Write a [short] sentence about school and then a longer one.

Charis's answer...note the italics:

"We homeschool. We have to do copywork, handwriting, fhonics, math, and Sonlight reading."

Charis's New 'Do

Yesterday Charis and I had a "Girls' Day Out," which, with an infant at home, was actually more like a "Girls' Two Hours Out." But it was a fun time nonetheless. She had been asking me if she could get her hair cut short. I agreed that it needed to be cut, and if she wanted it short, then so be it! Her hair is so fine that it tends to look scraggly at the ends because they break off so easily, and though we both wanted her to be able to grow her hair long, it just isn't happening at this point in time. So off it went! She also wanted to get bangs. I was not so keen on this idea; however, I decided she was old enough to make some hair choices, and it does look really cute on her. The reason for my hesitation wasn't her looks but the fact that bangs need more maintenance! I think I'll be able to trim them when necessary, and I'll teach her to blow dry her bangs so that becomes her job. Since she has never had bangs before, the hair still wants to part in the middle, so we'll have to "train" her bangs to behave properly!

Anyway, Charis is thrilled with her new style, and most everyone else seems to like it too--neighbor-girl's comment "You look weird" notwithstanding!! (I told Charis that girl needs some social skills...those poor public school kids, LOL! And I'm totally kidding...this girl has other issues, and I think she just meant that Charis looked so different. But her word choice was unfortunate, and I'm just glad Charis didn't seem to be hurt by it.)

A Charis Funny

I was telling Charis that I planned to give Lucan a bath, thinking she might want to help me with the process. She got excited, then asked with a bit of hesitation, "Is his...extension cord gone?" She knew that wasn't the right term but couldn't think of the word "umbilical."

"Extension cord" makes sense to me, LOL!

Stuff

There really isn't much to announce for a baby update, but Megan told me people were "stalking" me, so I figured I'd share the latest. ;-) I saw the OB yesterday afternoon, and absolutely nothing had changed since Monday night--still 2 cm, only partially effaced, baby's head at -2. She did "stir things up" a little, and I had a few crampy contractions off and on the rest of the afternoon and evening, but I was able to sleep fairly well and haven't really had anything other than the usual tight contractions here and there today. So, looks like he still needs to "cook at little," as Ted would say!

Speaking of Ted, tomorrow is his birthday!! I did a little bday shopping for him after my appointment yesterday, and Charis and I found a great deal on another birthday item when we were out this morning. I wasn't really intending on having a day "out," but our homeschool group's garage sale was today, plus I needed to mail a package (Megan--your box should arrive next week!!), so out we went. It turned out to be a really fun girls' day!! At the garage sale, Charis was delighted to find a little indoor "tent" and spent a grand total of $2 for that and a little miniature doll house. She kept exclaiming over and over how she couldn't believe what a good deal she got!! I found a little "tutu" for Kenna to play dress-up with, and she looks darling in it. Plus I got her 2 pairs of sandals which fit great and will be wonderful for summer. Also got a few books for the boys plus a Spiderman mask with attached cape, which they will have to share, but for 25 cents I couldn't leave it!

After the garage sale, we headed to Walmart to look for some new shoes for Charis. I ended up splurging a little and got 3 pairs for her and 2 pairs for me for a grand total of $35, which I thought was pretty good! Charis really didn't have any comfortable spring/summer shoes, so we got her some casual flip-flops for everyday use, some nicer, dressy, pink flip-flops, plus some casual slip-ons. I haven't bought any shoes for myself in a really long time, and after wearing my Old Navy flip-flops for what seems like an eternity, I think I'll enjoy wearing something different when my feet aren't so puffy anymore!

Then it was off to Home Depot to get a new doorknob for the pantry, since a plastic part inside had broken, rendering it nearly impossible to open the door (which wasn't necessarily a BAD thing...). By the time we were finished there, it was just past noon, so I decided to treat us to lunch out. Charis chose Red Robin, which was just fine with me, so we enjoyed a nice lunch together before heading home. We were impressed by the service (we usually are there)--Charis had ordered mac and cheese but didn't really care for it; the cheese was gloppy and overall was just pretty creamy and fatty tasting. Well, she had gone to use the restroom when a manager stopped by to "remind" us that there was unlimited refills on the mac and cheese. I confessed that Charis probably wouldn't want any more, as she wasn't too keen on what she was eating to begin with! The manager offered to trade for something else, so I got a cheeseburger for her since Charis had been saying she wished she had ordered that instead. When she returned to her seat, Charis was delighted to find that she could indeed have her cheeseburger! Plus, on our ticket, they only charged us for the cheeseburger meal instead of the mac and cheese, which was a little more expensive. I took the time to fill out a POSITIVE comment card and left a nice tip. :-)

So, that's been most of our Saturday! I took a nap after getting home, and I should get started on Ted's birthday cake. We haven't planned much for his birthday, not knowing whether or not we'd be at the hospital, LOL, but we decided to invite the T family over for games tomorrow afternoon/evening. Later on, after Baby has arrived and we're in a good schedule, we plan to take in a good show since we'll be leaving LV this summer. Possibly Terry Fator, but not sure yet.

Guess that's all to report for now!