16 months (with big sisters)

Our little man has been a part of our lives for 11 weeks - and he's 16-months-old!
Dukes is a special little boy :)

We are so thankful to have him as our son.  He is such a blessing in our lives. 

*His first mama kept his hair in a top puff to help his hair to grow.  We typically keep his beautiful curls loose, but we wanted to capture some pictures Dukes with his hair pulled up for his first mama. 

Dukes is a sweet snuggler, strong(!), a master mess maker, daring climber, crib bouncer, back patter (he gives the best hugs!), back-it-up lap sitter, best giggler, rough drummer, food swiper, fast runner, loud babbler, easily excitable, and GORGEOUS!!!

He's a beautiful boy!

Dukes has THE BEST giggle and grin.  Unfortunately it's really hard to capture his BIG happy expressions on camera - he tends to give his sweet serious face whenever the camera is out.
His big sisters did their best to get Dukes to smile for a picture :)
(They love Dukes so much!)

16-month-old Favorites:

JUMPS!

huge grins

bounces in his crib

8 teeth

size 2T clothing

size 6 shoe

busy, busy, busy

daily breathing treatment (asthma)

sleeps 11 hours at night

takes two naps/day 

loves brushing his teeth

babbles 

("Ah-da!". "Dadada"."Uh-oh!")

blows raspberries

waves "bye-bye"

claps (especially if he hears "yay!")

plays peek-a-boo

best facial expressions

awesome stink face

loves to be tossed

backs up to sit on a lap

hits when he's frustrated

cries when told "no"

amazing belly

best hugs (pats my back and snuggles in)

large rough hands

climbs up on the kitchen counter (he's quick!)

climbs the pews at church (!)

messiest eater ever

food snatcher

2 bottles/ day  (Organic Baby's Only Toddler Formula) 

bops to rap music (thanks Tesfaye)

loves to be held

runs to daddy (this is a big deal!)

dry skin

bends over with his head on the floor and waits for a push into a somersault

tears books (oops!)

weekly music class

loves drumming

curious

good eater

(bananas, cheese, milk, rice, pasta, soups and stews, pizza, meat, corn)

*we haven't found a food he doesn't like ;)

XC - Milaca Mega

The Yellow Jackets traveled across the state to participate in what's said to be the largest high school Cross Country meet in the world.  This year, the 48th annual Milaca Mega meet featured 164 schools and 6,400 registered runners, and the overwhelming spectacle of the mile of buses.  The mega meet's 18 races were completed in just 5 hours, with a new race starting every 15 minutes, overlapping the finish of the previous race on the 2 and 3 mile course loops - which ran around groves of trees, over rolling terrains, and across 3 narrow bridges. 

Tesfaye competed in the first race of the event: 8th grade boys - with 405 participants from all over the state and from all sizes of schools (D1, D2, D3, D4). 

Maegli, Hiwot, Maclaren and I traveled to watch Tesfaye run and experience this incredible event cheering on the Yellow Jackets.  We arrived early to familiarize ourselves with the course (and get a great parking spot!) - planning our viewing route to see as much of his 2-mile run as possible. 

When the 405 runners lined up and began their early morning race, we had no idea where the Yellow Jackets were in the line up - we were frantically scanning the crowd hoping for a glimpse of our boy running.  We were so excited to pick out Tesfaye (yay!) as he ran past us as part of the leading group. 

We quickly moved to our next viewing spot to see the group after they looped around the first grove of trees - there he was running in the number 15 spot! 

We cut across the course to catch the runners at the 1-mile mark (half-way).  We arrived just as the golf cart and leading runners came into view - and there he was running in the 6th spot! 

While the runners ran their final mile, we cut back across to the finish line to await the race's finale.  The final part of this tough race is all uphill.  The first three finishers came into view followed closely behind by Tesfaye and a tight group battling for positions.  In the final sprint Tesfaye came out on top to claim the 4TH PLACE FINISH!!! 

He finished with a solid 11:06 time - 5:33/mile pace. 
4th place out of 405 runners!!!

This was an amazing win for Milaca Mega!

(Tesfaye was disappointed to be a second off his best time - but incredible considering he was sick for this run!)

*The entire Yellow Jackets team had a great Milaca meet. 
The Varsity boys team finished 1st in the D3 girls race - winning by 83 points! 
The Varsity girls team finished 1st in the D3 girls race - winning by 90 points!
With Milaca Meet merged results (merging D4, D3, D2, and D1 schools), the Yellow Jacket boys were 5th overall for varsity boys, the Yellow Jacket girls were 6th overall for varsity girls. 
The team is looking so good this season!!!

This meet was such a fun spectator experience!

Cinderella

School 2018-2019

This year begins our tenth "official" year of learning at home!  This year we continue with eight "official" students and begin our first year with a high school student: First, Third, Fifth, Fifth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth.

(All of our kids are learning at home - we have four little "preschoolers" and eight "official" students registered with our local school.)

*Our school name is Parvae Vitae Academy, which in Latin means "Young Lives."  It is a reflection of our family mission to shape the young lives entrusted to us for Kingdom service.

Curriculum plan for 2018-2019:

9th Grade - Hendrick
Latin: Henle Latin I
Math: Saxon Algebra 1 & 2
Language Arts: Rod & Staff 8
*Science: Memoria Press Online Academy Biology
*Writing: Schole Academy Online, Year 5
History, Literature, Govt., Fine Arts, Philosophy: Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Rhetoric

7th and 8th Grades - Davis and Tesfaye
Latin: First Form Latin
Math: Saxon Math 7/6 and 8/7
Language Arts: Rod & Staff  6
*Science: Memoria Press Online Academy Middle School Science 2
*Writing: Schole Academy Online, Year 3
History, Literature: Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Dialectic

5th Grades - Hanna, Maegli, and Burke
Latin: First Form Latin
Math: Saxon 5/4
Language Arts: Rod & Staff  4
Science: Memoria Press Astronomy
*Writing: Schole Academy Online, Year 2
History, Literature: Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Upper Grammar

3rd Grade - Kolpin
Latin: Prima Latina
Math: Saxon 3
Language Arts: Rod & Staff 2
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears and copywork
Science: Rod & Staff Patterns of Nature
History: Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Lower Grammar
Reading: Explode the Code

1st Grade - Maclaren
Math: Saxon 1
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears and copywork
History: Tapestry of Grace Year 1, Lower Grammar
Reading: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Explode the Code


(*This year we're continuing with several online classes - Science and Writing for our eldest six students).

In addition to these individual plans, we're also introducing Classically Catholic Memory (CCM) - a curriculum for our weekly memory work in Latin, Religious Catechism, History, Science, Math, Timeline, Geography, and Great Words.  We'll also plan to read a lot of books together, memorize poems and scripture, learn old folk songs and hymns, listen to great musical compositions, study art masterpieces, play lots of chess and board games, and participate in school athletics, home school group, dance class, preschool music classes, Religious Ed, and Boy Scouts.

We're looking forward to and are thankful for another year of learning at home!

Sisters

 5 and 6-year-old sisters are pretty special together :) 

 

XC - Little Falls

This race was one of the most exciting of the season - so far!

The entire family was able to travel the 90 minutes to cheer on Tesfaye and the Yellow Jackets at the Little Falls Lucky Lindy Invite.

This warm and muggy Thursday afternoon we arrived at the Little Falls Golf Course in time to run along cross country trail to cheer for our JV and Varsity squads (allowing us to familiarize ourselves with the course and get good and sweaty prior to Tesfaye's run, play in the grass, and see the Mississippi river).  The JV and Varsity teams ran 3 miles - 2 laps of the 1-1/2 mile course loop.  With 20+ teams in attendance, and 1,221 runners, the competition was fierce and the race was challenging - especially with the humid conditions and a wicked steep hill climb halfway along the loop.

The #1 class A ranked Jackets looked great!  The Varsity girls team finished 4th overall (top ranking class A team), with 2 runners placing top ten (4th and 7th).  The Varsity boys team finished 3rd overall, short of 2nd by a mere four points (the highest placing class A team), with 3 runners placing top ten - finishing 7th, 8th, and 9th.

The final event of the evening was the Junior High boys 2 mile race (two 1-mile laps) - the race of the invite with 254 runners.

As the race began, Tesfaye cut to the middle and was able to separate out from the start with the lead pack . . . 

We cut across to see the runners at 1/3 mile mark - Tesfaye was looking good in the fourth spot . . . 

Finishing the first mile lap, he had moved up to a solid second position, several seconds behind the first place runner . . .

At the 1-1/3 mile mark he was still holding strong in second, running well and looking relaxed.  We cut across the course to wait at the finish line . . .

And, there was Tesfaye charging strong and fast, sprinting as the lead runner!!!  It was such and exciting finish - he nearly ran down the leading golf cart and leaped over the finish line (yes, he leapt!) to win the race with a time of 11:05 - running a pace of 5:32/mile.  FIRST PLACE!!!

He had taken over the lead with only 200 meters to go and won by 5 seconds, 25 seconds ahead of the third finisher.  This was Tesfaye's fastest run of the season - an amazing run and HUGE win!
He finished feeling great :)

Great job Tesfaye!!!

(This pace puts him on par with his team's top five Varsity runners.)

Next week the Jackets are traveling to run at their largest meet of the season.