March Sunshine!

We got out our bikes, pumped up the tires, and went for a ride on Saturday afternoon. The sun felt so good on our faces! Callie and Joel had classmates (they are siblings both in the same grades) move into the neighborhood over the winter so we bikes over to their house, just on the other side of the high school. We played on their trampoline and enjoyed seeing their new place. 

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

We had a great visit from Grandma Glenna and Grandpa Bill. It was short but good. They arrived on Wednesday night and left Saturday around noon. Though we had school, they were able to rest during the day and be with us in the evenings. They fixed my vacuum cleaners, went to the store and cooked is dinner.  It was wonderful! They even experienced the fastest Scholastic Bowl reader ever at Cade’s match in Ladd (they won!). On Saturday, the girls did a little shopping at The Closet with Grandma. It is always a bummer when they have to go. We are so thankful they are still able to get over to see us. On March 7th when they left, we did not know that the COVID-19 pandemic would be taking over our world. At this point (March 30) we are wondering when we will get to see them again. This little visit was more needed than we knew at the time it happened. We love you Mom and Dad. 

A Night Outside!

Daddy was gone in California the first week in March. We had a good week but it wasn’t without some unexpected happening. 

On Wednesday evening, Grandma Glenna and Grandpa arrived after we got home from Awana. During their time of unloading, Walter got out. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize Walter got out. Around 11pm Mom noticed Walter wasn’t around like he normally is, resting in someone’s bed cuddled in blankets. Mom checked everywhere in the house, woke Grandma and Grandpa to ask if they had seen him, and went outside calling him, but nothing. Mom decided to leave the back porch door open a bit so he could squeeze back in if he came home. Mom didn’t sleep much that night and came down around 4am, hoping to find Walter on the porch. Unfortunately he wasn’t there. Again at 6am, Mom came down and Walter was not on the porch. But, thankfully, when she looked out the bathroom window, she saw Walter in the backyard hunched down looking like he was hunting. She ran outside and Walter ran right to her. Oh such relief for Momma! 

So here is Momma and Walter at 6am after his night out in the wild! He did get a slash on his nose and we also think he got a cut on the side of his head below his ear. Thankfully it was nothing worse and he came home safely. 

More Kindergarten Fun!

We keep having fun in Kindergarten! 

We made cotton ball sheep on February 26th!

We made our 100 cereal piece necklaces on February 28th! We were practicing counting by tens with our minds and fine motor skills. 

On March 4th we discussed the parable of the seeds during Bible and made special seed pictures with water color. 

The sun was also shining on the 4th (lamb day) so we got outside and enjoyed playing!! So fun to have the kids running and playing outside. 

Joel’s State Notebook

Joel has been working hard on his 4th grade Illinois state notebook. We have been using pictures from his life as we have been in various places of Illinois. We have gotten some special pictures to put in his notebook, stopping by our town’s population sign, visiting the  police station and fire station. It has been a fun project, as well as a challenge for Joel. We are proud of him and all the work he has done. He is really going to enjoy his trip to the state capitol, Springfield, later this Spring.  

Sunday Singing

A special moment we don’t want to forget. Even though the details of the morning were messing including finding the accompaniment music and having the right technology, I still love this moment. What a gift. Their love for their Savior drives them. Their love for their son has no words. What a gift it has been to have Tom and Bev in our lives everyday. We live in thankfulness. 

Winter Hike!

February 22nd brought warm enough temperatures and sunshine to get out for a hike. We love visiting the woods. We love the stillness and the beauty. Our National Park Summer trip is calling to us and though we are longing for the beauty of the mountains, we are soaking in the beauty the Lord has given us here and now in our Illinois woods. Not only did we hike around, we even got some trail running in. In fact, all five of us did! The kids each did a couple runs, and Mom and Dad each hit the trail once. A fun adventure together.. So glad we could get out today! 

Family Reading Night

After cancelling Family Reading Night twice, we finally were able to have it on Friday, February 21st. Our class finished up our poster about our book, The Hat, in class during the week. The kids did a great job coloring winter woolens and using their excellent hand writing skills to spell the names of the characters in the book for the poster. We also did a handwriting paper in class during the week to have on the table for display, showing each person’s writing. Even though this activity got delayed the kids had a lot of fun with the story and bringing their stuffed animals to wear different hats throughout our weeks getting this pulled off!

February 19th in Kindergarten

Sickness - Influenza A and B - continues to hit our classroom. We were down to four students on the 19th so Mrs. Odell pulled out some FUN! We painted and used a parachute as a class. After finishing our seatwork time, we made 100 dots and practiced our counting by 1s and 10s. Then the kids painted whatever they wanted to. In the afternoon, after learning math we went out into the gym and used the parachute to count to 100. We flew each number family up into the air, each retrieved 2 numbers and then lined them up in order. We did all 10 number families and each student counted to 100 at the end! What fun! 

A Day on the Ice!

We enjoyed the fun of using Ms. Dawn’s pond for some ice fishing and hockey fun on Saturday, February 15th. . The kids were not excited to go out, but I think were glad we did by the time the day was over. Dad had two HUGE large mouth bass catches during the day which made our time exciting. We also caught a good half dozen little fish, as well. Our hockey game got going after we got the ice clear of snow. Callie and Mommy put up a great fight against Joel and Cade. Daddy tried to help us at the end and brought much laughter and joy to the game. It was so good to be out together. The sun shining down felt so good. 

The Amazing Race

We surprised the kids after school in Valentine’s Day with a special treat! We planned an Amazing Race game as a gift for Valentine’s Day! Our family has enjoyed this show (minus the language and lifestyle choices of the contestants) learning all about places in the world and the competition itself. We have watched at least five seasons together and just keep going. It is a fun family time together. 

Pop and Grandma joined the race and we had three teams competing in the leg - green (Pop and Joel), red (Cade and Grandma), and blue (Callie and Daddy). Mom had special shirts made for the race and the race started by getting those shirts on! 

The first detour was a basketball dribbling challenge, followed by a Road Block of emptying two trash cans at school. The teams were then sent on the road to find and photograph a school bus, an American Flag, a covered bridge, a sign with a specific letter on it, and a tomato. They were directed to go to our home after completing their pictures. At home they had another Detour challenge. This time they had to find 5 Hershey Kisses hidden throughout the main floor of the house with the youngest team member’s initials on them. Then came a Road Block. One team member had to figure out and make a marshmallow shooter from a plastic cup and a ballon.  There was an example to follow on the table. This challenge proved to be a difficult one. When completed the team then had to shoot 3 marshmallows into a bucket on top of the other partner’s head. Again, this was a very difficult challenge but every team worked hard to make it happen. Finally, the last challenge was to wiggle with a box tied around one partner’s waist to get 3 ping pong balls to fall out. When this challenge was complete, teams were to race to the mat to meet Mom, the host! 

Pop and Joel arrived first, with Callie and Daddy very close behind. Grandma and Cade had a hard time with the marshmallow challenge and struggled to finish. Despite the finish, everyone seemed to enjoy themself. 

Mom learned a few things about setting up the race through this first experience and I am sure there will be a second leg coming sometime soon! 

We ended our Valentine evening together with some yummy pork chops, gravy, and potatoes. And a chocolate raspberry trifle that was WAY tooooo sweet. Nice try, Mom, but we don’t need to make that again!