To instill a live for reading.

Books. We really do have a ton of them. Patrick jokes that most of what we shipped to the mission field was books! Forget household goods! 🤣 

As we've been organizing our schoolroom, we've noticed our supply of books has creeped up even more. And then we realized that everyone of them has been read!!

My kids all love to read. Some read more than others, but each one loves to find a cozy spot with a good book.

So how did this happen? I can't really pinpoint one thing that caused my kids to be readers, but I can tell you what I did that may have contributed to their love of reading. 

*We started reading to them very young. When Joshua was weeks old we began to read to him. He loved to hear us read. We would use lots of expression and make different sounds for different characters. These were precious times. Then when Beth came along the tradition continued, and has continued with each of my babies.

*We brought books everywhere. In the car, to the store, to a picnic. Books were always in our bag ready to be read at any time. 

*When my kiddos began to get older and started to outgrow naptime, we would still have an afternoon quiet time. We did this until about 6 or 7 years old. Even though they wouldn't sleep, they would be allowed to pick a few books to read during their quiet time. They treasured those books!

*Limit screentime. It's a fact, if they have access to a screen they will pick it everytime. It's easier to watch something and takes more effort to read. We naturally want to pick easy. 

*Take them to libraries and bookstores galore!

*Recognize that everyone is different. My children have different genres they enjoy reading. Find out out what they like. For instance, Callie loves a good mystery, Micah likes to read books about planes and adventures, Silas loves heavier theological books and joke books.  

* Encourage reading at bedtime. I try to give them an extra 15 minutes in bed before lights out so that they can read. 

I want my kids to read for fun. I want them to read to grow in knowledge. Reading is so important!

 

Stormy Flight Exit Game

 For Christmas we bought Silas, Callie and Micah an Exit game called the Stormy flight.

We had a great time preparing for them to take a flight to the Caribbean!

We all dressed up, got into character, acted silly 🙂, ate fun food, and played the game.

We are still trying to decide if we like the exit games. They can be a little bit tricky and sometimes the answers aren't easy to arrive at.

But by the end we were able to solve the mystery and repair the plane so we can get home safely.

 I love our family times together 🙂

Time to start school!

 We are so excited to begin our school year! I am loving homeschooling and it has been so much fun to research and you go over curriculum that I feel would meet each of my kids individual needs. We've had a lot of fun picking and choosing, and it's finally time to begin! 

Micah is my 7th grader. He loves science! He chose a great Physical Science class this year that I know is going to challenge him, but he'll learn a lot along the way. He's also taking sign language classes with Callie. God has placed a burden on their heart for the deaf people in our area. We're praying that God will bring them in!

Callie is officially in high school! She's my freshman 🙂 She is an amazing student and is so brilliant. She excels in all of her classes and is so diligent. Her note taking skills are amazing! She's excited to be taking biology this year. We bought her the labs, microscope and dissection kit. She's not so sure about dissecting the frog or the worm, but it will be an adventure for sure! She will also be taking some art classes. My girl has lots of art talents. I'm excited to see this grow and develop.

 Silas is my 10th grader. He is such a smart guy and is excelling! Science has never been his strong point but this year he has picked out a life science class that has a focus on creation/ evolution. He loves this topic. He is also taking a logic class. He reminds us so much of Josh and how he thinks and retains information.

We are also keeping up with piano lessons for each of them. Silas is continuing with the trumpet, Callie with the violin, and Micah with the guitar. 

I'm at the point in my parenting journey where I'm realizing I don't have a whole lot longer to school my children. There's still so much I want to teach them and so much I want to learn right along with them! Time is short so I'm doing my best to redeem every moment. That is my prayer each day!

Digging for sunglasses

What do you do when you realize you threw away your new sunglasses into the McDonalds trash??

You make it a family affair and all join in on the fun! 😊 

Thankful we found them!

 

They're buds for sure!

 I love watching Patriot and Asa together!

When they first see each other they usually run to one another and say hi! Sometimes they give each other a hug or just sort of wave but they're always so happy to see one another.

They read books, build with the blocks and play cars.

Having grandsons is amazing! But having ones that love each other and play good together is even better!

 

Souvenirs

 It sure was fun to come back from our anniversary trip with souvenirs for a family 🙂

We bought the boys, (Patriot too But I forgot to snap a picture!) Daniel Boone hats. Just like my boys used to have when they were little. 

Then we brought back home crazy flavored sodas. We had a fun taste test.

With flavors like grass, bacon, and ranch, none of them were really a hit!

 

Trip to celebrate 30 years!

30 years! Wow! That's a long time to be married 🙂 I'm so thankful my sweet and I were able to spend some time away to celebrate our 30 years.

We drove up to Michigan. We were able to spend the night at my Aunt Robin's.

She's always such a wonderful host and spoils us!

The weather is absolutely perfect! It was about 75 and no humidity! Perfect for sitting on the porch and enjoying family time chit chatting. 

Then we drove up to DeWitt, Michigan where Patrick was invited to preach for my youth pastor and the man that led him to the Lord, Shawn Smith. It was good to see him and Sandy and going to eat with them.

And being able to watch my handsome man preach is always one of my favorite things to do!

Then we drove down to Pigeon Forge and spent a few nights where we explored the sights, are way too much food, went to Dollywood, laughed and just had a wonderful time

We also went to the Dixie Stampede which is probably my favorite!

I love any one on one time I get with Patrick.  What a wonderful time we had!