Boxes

We are surrounded by boxes.  They're everywhere.  We have little pathways around some of the furniture, which the kids think is cool.  At the same time, they've significantly cut down the amount of play space the kids are used to having.  That means they are always right by our sides.  I love these kids, but I'm really looking forward to having room to move around and not trip over kids.  14 days!

Wordless Wednesday: Gangster Zach

Letters

I've been going back and forth on home schooling lately. We definitely had good reasons for starting and those reasons are still valid, but we struggle a lot.  I don't know if its the stress of packing and moving, maybe its not a good curriculum match, maybe its just not for Ben anymore. We've lightened the load since Christmas.  Its going a lot better than it was, but we still have our moments.  Those moments are consistent enough to make me wonder what kind of change needs to happen.
We happened to find a friend who is a third grade teacher in the Olmsted district.  She and Ben chatted for a few minutes about what the school day is like and she suggested he write a letter to one of her students to get more info.  Instead of one student writing him back, he got 17 responses!  The letters are adorable.  They talked about recess (which is everyones favorite subject), what the play ground looks like, who the cool teachers are etc.  I think all but one or two kids said if they could do school at home, they wouldn't want to do it.  I was kind of surprised by that.
Unfortunately, Ben is equally torn.  After reading the letters he was all for going to school.  Then we broke down the day, how much time you get for lunch and recess and how long you have for your other subjects. His school day would be 6hrs and 25min. We finish our school day in 2 hrs or less. It would also mean no ice skating next year, no more breakfast dates with Miss Debbie, lunch dates with gram or play dates with Liam.  He wasn't too excited about all that. We have some thinking and praying to do.

Congrats

Corrie moved into her new home yesterday.  She's spent the past two weeks replacing floors, painting, shopping, hanging curtains, blinds and fans and making great plans for the future.  We all love her new place (especially Ben who might be moving in!) and are so glad we got to be there for the big day.  We can't wait to see how you "rearrange" and make it your home!

Another one bites the dust

After a week of Jon trying to pull Bens crooked hick tooth, Gram was finally able to get it out tonight.  This tooth fairy thing is getting expensive!

10!

Jon and I have been married for 10 years today.  Where did the last 10 years go?  It seems like just the other day we were living in Cherry Tree, sleeping at least until 8am and heading out at a moments notice. 10 years later, we have to plan our dates at least a week in advance to ensure a babysitter.  We rarely have a quiet house.  Sleeping until 7am is a luxury we rarely see and fighting toddlers are our main source of entertainment!  I still don't know how we got here...4 kids.  We weren't sure we'd have any and now we have 4! We're moving to Olmsted Twp in 3 weeks.  I never thought I'd live so "far" away.  I'm a stay at home, home schooling mom. What?  That was never in my game plan.  Its amazing to see how much both of us, our lives, our family has changed.  Based on the last 10 years, I can only image where the next 10 will take us!

Ice skating

A friend of ours found out about an ice skating class for kids that are home schooled.  They did the winter session and had a lot of fun so I got the boys signed up for the spring session which started today.  Sam needed a tiny bit of bribing.  Once he got on the ice, he forgot about any concerns he had.

A practice run before the lessons started.

Caoilin pushing Sam around.  Sam wondering how he's going to get off of the cone!

After one lesson they're "awesome at skating!"

Wordless Wednesday: Laundry time

Random

I feel like I've been neglecting some of the little things lately.  We've started packing up the house and I've spent many hours helping Corrie out at her new place over the past several days.  I found these pictures on my phone and decided they were too cute not to post.

Officially official

We got a call from our realtor tonight.  The appraisal on our house came back ok.  We don't know the amount the appraiser came back with, and I don't really care.  All I know is that was the last hurdle in selling the house and we have cleared it! 30 days to go!

Um...ok

One word for our living room is definitely not bright. Apparently Ben disagreed.  I wish we would have got a picture of him five minutes later when he had his umbrella out as a shade!

Rend

Last night Jon, his mom and I went to see Kari Jobe and Rend Collective Experience with a group of friends. While Kari was the main attraction, we were all there to see Rend.  I realized on the way there, this was my first Christian concert.  It was definitely different from a regular concert, but just as much fun.  Warren Barfield was also there.  I've never heard of him and he told more stories then singing, but he was pretty funny.  He also did a great job of promoting Compassion International.  We didn't have the best seats, but its a small venue so they really don't have any bad seats.  The whole price of admission was worth hearing Rend sing "Build Your Kingdom Here" and yes, play the jingling johnny!  I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing them again when they're headlining.

Wordless Wednesday: Corrie!

My little hick

One down and one still loose!