School 2012-2013

As fun as summer is in our house, we are (actually) excited about school starting again.  We're changing gears and getting organized.  We have a fun year planned for the oldest five...

Hendrick, Tesfaye, Davis, Burke, and Hiwot

Long Story Short Old Testament Devotionals (Bible)

Tapestry of Grace, Year 3: The 1800's (history, church history, art, geography, literature)

God's Design for Heaven and Earth (chemistry)

Making Music, Praying Twice (music)

Artistic Pursuits K-3, Books 1 and 2 (art)

City League Soccer

Hendrick, Tesfaye and Davis

Cub Scouts

Hendrick (Grade 3-ish)

Math U See Delta

Rod and Staff English 3 and Spelling 4

Handwriting without Tears: My First Cursive Book

Institute for Excellence in Writing

Rosetta Stone Latin

Championship Chess: Chess Openings

Tesfaye (Grade 2-ish)

Math U See Alpha and Beta

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Steps (finish up)
Handwriting Without Tears: Printing Power
Rod and Staff English and Spelling 2
Championship Chess: Chess Basics

Davis (Grade 1-ish)

Math U See Alpha and Beta
Explode the Code (to continue phonics work)

Handwriting Without Tears: Printing Power

Championship Chess: Chess Basics

Burke and Hiwot (Grade K-ish)

Math U See Primer and Alpha

Handwriting Without Tears: My Letters and Numbers

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Steps 

Time to get learning!

Scouting

 

The home should be the primary place for spiritual education, but there are many other places that can be used to support your teaching and leadership.

Scouting offers wonderful opportunity for boys. 

Scouting encompasses ceremony, service, adventure, responsibility, and Christian discipleship.   

We are proud to have three Cub Scouts in the family: 

Hendrick is a Bear, Tesfaye is a Wolf, and Davis is a Tiger

This year, Mike is serving in a guidance role as the Cub Scout Pack Master.  

We are thankful for the many other parents who are generously volunteering their time to lead our boys.

It's important for these boys to have adult leaders and role models.    

The Pack Mission:

"Discipling Boys Through High Adventure"

While earning belt loops and pins and selling popcorn is educational, fun and motivating, the Pack hopes to focus on more lasting rewards.  They are looking forward to an exciting year (hiking, caving, camping), and will take every opportunity to use the grandeur of God's creation to share the Gospel with the boys, training them to grow into mature men of faith. 

The year of adventure starts now - we can't wait!

Tooth Count

4 teeth . . . quite impressive for a 6-month-old!

Goals

We want to instil in our children a good work ethic.
It's good to have a goal and it's good to work hard to achieve that goal!
 
Over the summer, Hendrick had two goals:

1. Save up money to purchase "Lord of the Rings" Legos at the Legostore
2. Complete his summer reading goal and go on a date with Mom

He worked hard.
He was determined.
He was motivated.

He achieved.

Hendrick took on extra chores and household jobs, saved his earnings all Summer, and was able to meet his money earning goal.  He purchased three Lego sets during our special trip to the Legostore.  

Hendrick completed his Summer reading goal in record time, reading 35 books over 4 weeks.  Our reward for achieving a reading goal: a date with mom - dinner out and a trip to the bookstore to buy a new book!

We are so proud of Hendrick's dedication and hard work. 

*Davis is three books away from earning his date night - I love that dinner out with mom is such a motivating reward!

Milestones

He is learning and growing; achieving, hitting, and passing milestones!

Davis was born 9 weeks early.  He spent 5 weeks in the NICU and was "wired" at home for 9 months.  He has received therapy since he was 4 months old: physical, occupational, and then speech.  Two years ago, he was diagnosed with a mild Cerebral Palsy.  Ten months ago, Davis underwent surgery on his wrist to re-work some tendons to allow a more "normal" range of motion.


Now, after 6 years of weekly therapy . . . our son has graduated!
Davis has met all milestones and goals.

It's a big change.
I hadn't realized how much a comfort and how much a part of our life this weekly therapy has been for our family until it was no longer necessary.  I'll miss meeting with his wonderful therapists regularly!  But it's a good thing.  Our ultimate goal with therapy was to no longer need it.   

We won't be stopping completely cold turkey.  There will be follow-up.  Davis will meet with his surgeon and therapists to monitor progress.  I am thankful for their continued help and partnership.
While it was determined that therapy was no longer necessary, Cerebral Palsy doesn't go away.  Davis will have challenges to overcome his whole life. He has learned to adapt beautifully, and we are learning how to best set him up for success.    

We don't want his medical history or diagnosis to define our son.  God has shown Himself faithful and has been at work in our son's life.  Our son's past hurdles have not limited him.  We want Davis to be proud of his story and proud of what he has overcome.  We are so proud of our son! 

*In addition to graduating from therapy this summer, Davis is rapidly loosing teeth and has learned how to read! 

Celebrate

We had a ball celebrating with Kolpin this weekend:
Legos, Trucks, Cupcakes, Starlight Symphony, Balloons, Swimming hole, Picnics
It's good to be Three!

: )

3 Years

Kolpin, I-not-baby-ah-I-ah-big-boy-ah is 3-years-old!
(with a new big-boy haircut to boot!)

He's our sweet boy, cutie pie, and little stinker - our "K":

.  loves trucks  .  expertly pieces together Playmobil figures  .
.  sleeps in a crib and with lots of books  .  loves to brush his teeth  . 

.  likes to pick out our reading book  .  undresses himself  .  always thirsty  .  

.  rough and tumble  .  sweet kisses and snuggles  .  has fake giggles and super great real giggles . 

.  turns everything into a gun  .  screams and cries when he wants something  .  

.  silly faces and smirks  .  races cars  .  when asked to "look at me"- he closes his eyes  . 

.  is a budding Lego builder  .  when asked to smile says "cheeeeese-ah"  .
.  kisses and hugs his siblings at bedtime  .  wants to do everything himself  .   

.  adds "ah" to the end of every word  .  loves fruit  .  always wants the biggest food portions  . 

.  calls himself "mah-hin"  .  likes to run with his siblings and join their play  .

 .  eager to be daddy's big helper  .  always sleeps with the same two blankets  . 

.  sings "i lie ah moo moo moo eh" (I like to move it move it . . . )  . 

.  plays outside barefoot and in a diaper  .  takes a bath in the front yard dirt  .
.  loves playing in the bathtub  .

.  calls "daaaaaa-deeeeeee" when he wants to get out of his crib  .  

.  can't wait to sleep in the big boy room  . 

. 

He is becoming a big boy before our very eyes. 
It seems like just yesterday he was born.
He is our miracle boy and a wonderful blessing in our lives.
We are so proud of our Kolpin. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOLPIN!

Bubbles

Tiny Dancers

A new year of classes have begun for our little ballerinas. 
They are thrilled!

 And they want to teach their baby sister everything they know.  It's incredibly sweet  : )

Little Mama

All the kids are incredibly well attuned to baby Maclaren - they are all very quick to help.
Hendrick and Hiwot especially.

Hiwot is our Little Mama.

She happily volunteers to hold a fussy Maclaren while Mommy makes dinner.
She is thrilled to cuddle Maclaren while she comfortably snoozes.
She looks for new ways to interact and play with Maclaren.
She expertly and seemingly effortlessly carries Maclaren to soothe her.   

It's very impressive.
She has a gift.  

Maclaren is blessed to have such attentive siblings.
(and we are blessed to have such expert helpers!)

Pool

We are all loving our backyard pool . . . 

including the local wildlife

: )

Summer Projects

Each year I have ambitious Summer plans: projects I save for when school's out.  This year was no exception.

I always forget that during the Summer, while it is the perfect opportunity for bold projects, it's also the time to rest and recover from our school pace.  So my to-do list sits . . . and waits . . . for the surge of energy needed to tackle each project. 
Projects I had intended to complete in June are just now getting done.  Oops!  I may have been a bit too ambitious with this year's Summer plans.  I love working on big projects, but that's not always possible with my reality.  It may not be very realistic to expect to accomplish a lot of projects on top of caring for 8 Summer-crazed kids. 

We have two weeks of Summer left before jumping into our 2012-2013 school year (get pumped!) . . .
some things may have to wait til next Summer and (hopefully) more realistic goals.   

Summer Projects:
clean-out, purge, and organize closet 1
clean-out, purge, and organize closet 2
clean-out, purge, and organize closet 3
clean-out, purge, and organize closet 4
clean-out, purge, and organize closet 5
sort and donate clothing
sort and donate toys
slipcover red chair
slipcover red couch
preserve jam
update photo albums
update baby books
update recipe book
organize school cabinets
school planning

My most recent completed project:  the Slipcovered Red Chair.

This lovely gold damask chair was my Grandma's.  I had it in my bedroom as a little girl.  The chair came with me to my first apartment at Purdue and then to our first home in Minnesota, where it was first re-padded and recovered.  It's a great chair.  The 8-year-old red slipcover had faded to pink and was in need of a makeover.  A fresh life was given through a bright red fade-and-stain resistant fabric. (Plus it's all removable and machine-washable!).
I'm quite pleased with the outcome.
Crossing something off my list gives the most wonderful sense of accomplishment and is very motivating : )

The bright red chair has a new life and makes a perfect reading spot in our schooling area.  

Growing

Olympics

Our family chose to cut TV cable in our home 3 years ago.
But, the Olympics are special . . .

We got TV service for the month just to watch the Olympics!

We have loved watching the 2012 London Olympics.  With a world map close by, we have been glued to our TV each evening to enjoy the Olympics as a family.  The kids favorite events have been the swimming, running, diving, and gymnastics.  We've been cheering on Gabby Douglas, Missy Franklin,  Ashton Eaton, Usain Bolt, and Michael Phelps (in his record breaking career 21 medals); practicing our own athletic skills and trying new tricks; and dreaming big!  It's been a fun 17 days and wonderful athletic and cultural teaching opportunity.

It's good for them to know sports are more than just baseball and soccer - to be exposed to a broad range of athletics performed at the highest level.  The kids are amazed. 
God knows, we may have a future Olympian in our family!

I can't wait to be grown up and be in the Olympics.
I'm not going to play baseball or soccer anymore, I'm just going to be in the Olympics.
Can we only do one Olympics or two?
If we can do a lot, I'm going to do boxing, swimming, bow and arrow, and rowing. - Burke  

I think I'll sign up to be in the Olympics. - Hendrick


We're so thankful we've had the opportunity  to enjoy these Olympics with our children!

It's a Party

With 8 kids, it's a party everyday!

 
8 kids on an outdoor adventure.
An instant party.
A birthday.
My birthday.
What a great way to celebrate.

As the kids will say, I'm old!
32 years.

It was a joy to spend my birthday with my favorite people.
And pretty nice to be gifted with some original artwork.
Thanks for making my birthday special.