We are all doing well and loving life and thanking God for his blessings. We keep our family and friends in our prayers, even though we don't stay in touch well.
Just a final word- our dear friends Michah, Kara and Abigail Mills are leaving April 6 for Uganda where they will be missionaries. Please follow their web page/blog, and consider how you might support them through prayer, and if God leads, financially.
I realized this past weekend that I needed to get going here if I was going to get a post in this month. But then, of course, I never sat down to compose something! We're finally over our illnesses of the holiday season. I'm thankful every single day for the blessing of Gary's job, but when we are sick, I"m even more thankful! I am also thankful that God allowed us to have such low paying jobs early in our marriage. I truly believe it helps us to be thankful and mindful of our blessings that we started out so low that things like insurance are looked at as huge blessings rather than something we're entitled to. Anyways, we're better!
We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. It's so nice to get to see family and friends. We missed some family due to illness, but overall it was wonderful. I just love having Gary home full time too! We did our annual viewing of all the extended versions of Lord of the Rings which was fun. Gary's still playing soccer every week and loving it. He's on a new work out routine- P90X- like everyone else in the world. He started mid-December and really seems to like it. He's crazy. The kids are still loving AWANA. Tyler will be done with his book in the next 2 weeks so i'm anxious to see if we just start over or if there is another book he can get. He loves it. Grace still cry's most days and does not want to go, but once she's there she does really well. It's been good for her and it's given me some extra one-on-one time with Esther on the nights Gary is busy in meetings or worship team practice. Sometimes we get some shopping done with only one child! It's so much faster that way! it didn't seem faster when we only had one! Esther is doing really well, she's SO tall! She's already growing out of some of her 18 month onesies and she's only 15 months! She's running all over the place and just cute as can be. She's still a loving cuddler, eats anything, and sleeps well. She's still only got one tooth and doesn't talk much. She loves her siblings though- you can really tell by how she interacts with them. They do well with her and include her for the most part but when they go off and do their thing, she's content to just play alone or come find me. Grace is in full swing training to be a mommy. She plays house and dolls and wants to help me with all of my household chores! It's so cute! I had to force Tyler to learn things that Grace asks to do. She's really making great headway with her academic skills too. She wants to learn but I really have to approach her differently because her learning styles are different, and she is (if possible) even more sensitive than Tyler! Yikes! I do hope Esther stays laid back...
My mom came this month and we had a day out just the two of us. It's amazing how shopping is different when you don't have to have a bag or stroller, when you don't get interrupted and you don't have to worry about anyone breaking anything. It was wonderful but I was glad to get back to my sweeties! They LOVED their day with daddy so it all worked out.
Mid-January we finally took down our Christmas decorations and I decided it was time to get back into the full time swing of things with school. This month I've been just filled with joy at watching my kids learn. Even today I'm seeing just how quickly they catch on to things and how they are improving. Today was a big day for me watching Tyler. His maturity when he's "on" is just amazing and his reading has improved more than I can even describe. When our Sonlight curriculum arrived in October he was getting frustrated (and probably bored with) Teach your Child to read in 100 easy lessons so i transitioned away from it and then shelved it for awhile. He was reading simple words (CVC) so we went with grade 1 readers and LA instead of K. I saw no point in re-teaching him letters and sounds we've been doing for years. The LA is a bit hard for him, but the readers are right on. Just enough challenge that he's learning, but not getting frustrated. Well, today he asked me to get 100 lessons back out because "we need to finish that book mom" 4 months ago a lesson in that book would have taken 15-20 minutes- longer if he was being difficult about it. Today we did two lessons in about 15 minutes. He just flew through it and then asked to read the next story from his regular book. I"m just so excited! I love to read, and always have. I don't expect him to be the book worm I was, but I had fears that he'd always HATE reading and that any learning activity that required reading would be like pulling teeth. For awhile it was and I'm sure it will be again in the future (probably tomorrow in fact) but for today, it was FUN! Yay! I think he's starting to see that he reads things automatically in life when he knows the words and as it's becoming more automatic and natural, it's not so scary and so much work. So we are plugging along and enjoying it! Not every bit of it, but in the long run, this is SO RIGHT for us right now!
Yesterday I stopped at green Farms to get some veggies for salads this week. I have decided that they consistently have the best produce and it's just as cheap or cheaper than any of the other stores I frequent. I've come to feel I'd rather have my veggies last even if I have to pay a little more, but most times it's cheaper. I'm even willing to make that extra stop to ONE MORE store. haha! Anyways, I was embarrassingly excited when I walked in and saw they were selling half-bushels of apples for $5!!! A couple looked much older so I took the bag that looked the best and was shocked when I got home to find all 40 apples were huge and in great shape! I really thought the bottom ones would be extra questionable. :) So today Tyler helped me peel apples and we made applesauce. The kids were playing zoo when I had them start this project so they decided we were making the food for baby monkeys who can't eat regular apples yet. Grace was a child visiting the zoo and Tyler and I, the zookeepers, taught her about the animals in the zoo, what they eat, how often, and how we prepare the foods. It was so hysterical to watch them interact for this! I was able to get some discussion in there about apples and how they grow and how we prepare them for human consumption too. Tyler was happy to quietly peel while I showed things to Grace ( Like the star inside the apple) that he had seen before. Usually he's bored and wants to go play or teach her himself. I think they are being extra well behaved in hopes I will make them Apple Crisp tonight. And that's fine by me! Maybe I can stretch it out until tomorrow night....
Halloween 2010
This year it turned out that there were no work parties and we completely missed the trick-or-treating in Alliance. We saw some information about a church near our house doing trunk or treat so we planned to go there. They had probably 25 vehicles, all decorated and we collected candy from each one and voted on our favorites. Tyler voted for the Cleveland Browns, Grace voted for the Barbies, and Esther (via Daddy and Mommy) voted for THE Ohio State Buckeyes. Inside they had photos, crafts and snacks. It was a wonderful time and even though it was cold, the kids loved it. Enjoy a few assorted pictures of the kids at home, and out.
Tyler is SIX!!
It's hard to believe that is has already been six years since we became parents! Tyler is a wonderful boy who loves the Lord. I pray I can say that 12 and 30 years from now. He's learning to read and while he's not so fond of school (because of the writing), he does enjoy learning things and new experiences. He's very helpful, kind to his sisters and excellent at making up stories and playing pretend. Math, History and Science are his favorite subjects right now but he also loves listening to any stories we read. He continues to be very sweet and outgoing with both children and adults. He enjoys AWANA and his Sunday School class very much and loves to tell me stories of the funny things his friends say and do. I love that he has friends but still loves his sisters and enjoys playing with them and teaching them things. Not always things they should be learning, but he takes seriously his role of older brother and protector. He's got a temper and is into full time negotiating. Direct obedience is not his strong suit but he's learning. I often find myself in prayer confessing to the Lord and thanking him for sending me a real picture of (dis)obedience. Daily I remind Tyler that just as I have to obey the Lord without knowing why, he too must learn to obey without knowing why. I often want God to fill me in on his plans, and He rarely does. For my own good, he asks me to obey him, to do things I don't always want to do, and to trust him- the same things I ask of my children. Oh how parenting shows us where we need to grow!! Tyler is an amazing blessing and we thank the Lord daily for him! We are so blessed to be his parents and we pray that God gives us the strength we need (and the patience and consistancy) to prepare him for life, and help him grow in his faith.
Gary's Birthday was October 26th. We had a wonderful dinner with his parents and he got his favorite birthday cake- pumpkin pie blizzard ice cream cake. It was a big hit with all the kids, however we still have some in the freezer.... that's one of those things you forget about I guess. On his actual birthday, a Tuesday, we headed out to Quaker Steak and Lube. All you can eat wing night has been a favorite of his for a very long time. I think he had a great time and the kids love "the race car place" too.
Happy Birthday Uncle Josh Bush!
Happy Birthday Grandma Sandra!
Happy Anniversary to the Kelloggs!!
Happy Birthday TYLER SCOTT! Mommy can't believe you are SIX already!!
Happy Birthday Gary!
This blog has missed many events but we've celebrated them all. God is so good! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Now it's time to decorate for Christmas!!
~October 23, 2010~
She's an amazing blessing from the Lord and we are thankful every day for each of our children. When Tyler turned one we wanted an opportunity for family and friends, far and wide, to come celebrate with us (and in some cases meet him!). The tradition has continued with each child's first birthday. Saturday was no different. It struck this mother's heart this weekend that we have an amazing network of family and friends to love and support us and cover us in prayer. Our children are surrounded by Godly people who love them and can show them the Love of Christ and the blessing of living a life of faith, even through trials.
It meant the world to us, to have so many there, and so many more wishing they were there and thinking of us. Enjoy a few photos of our celebration!
Psalm 100
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
I find it hard to believe it's October already. The apple calendar pieces are put away and out come the pumpkin ones. Out come the sweaters and bathrobes, slippers and jackets. Socks must be found and matched and put in appropriate drawers and it's high time Tyler learned to tie "real" shoes. We even turned on the heat. I wanted to wait till November 1. That's always my goal... and God tested that even in September! We spent that last week of really warm weather inside hte house bundled up fighting fevers. When Gary woke up Sunday morning and even he was cold, on the heat came. It's set really really low though. :)
We discovered this month that Esther is "a little bit" lactose intolerant. Soy milk has stopped her signs of illness and now she eats as much or more than her sister. I'm having a hard time deciding what to give her to eat because at this age the other two began a lot of cheese and yogurt. Even things like mac and cheese and most casserole's I'm avoiding for now. I never realized how much cream-of soup and cheese I used in my recipes! We see the Dr. this month and I can find out more, but for now i'm keeping her as dairy free as possible. She's a good eater though so fruits and veggies and the occasional pureed meat (yuk) is fine with her. She's a bread eater like me and can't get enough crackers or O's.
She's still sweet as can be. She's found her voice and does yell some but she responds well to direction and has learned not to touch most things. She checks to see if we are watching sometimes, and likes to throw her paci out of the bed... but when it does not always get returned to her, she will just lay down and go to sleep herself. When it does get returned, she rarely throws it out again. She's cruising on the furniture and can let go and stand for several seconds. She prefers to crawl and is getting faster and faster. She tries to pull herself up on everything so we've had to work on boundaries a bit more the past couple weeks-including the steps. She responds to "NO" really well and comes over to see you as if it say "I love you mommy, I just wanted to try!". She's loving and always happy and content. We can (and do!) take her everywhere. She either watches what is going on, or puts herself to sleep. This month, she will be ONE. I can hardly remember a year ago being pregnant. I can hardly remember a lot of things. Ha! She's my sweet angel and her name fits. Esther Joy. She's queen of the house always happy. She loves her brother and sister and they love her too. THey seem to have mixed emotions about her improving play abilities. They love that she can do things, but she doesn't just do what they want. While I enjoy that she cannot yet talk back, they seem to be frustrated by not knowing what she wants when she does make noises, or throw things, or crawl away. It's a good lesson in stopping and paying attention. It's kind of fun to teach Tyler now to pay attention and be respectful to the women in the house, since he's surrounded by 3 of them all day. No wonder he's desperate for Daddy time by 4! As I pray for his future, and his future spouse, I pray some of the things I am trying to teach him now about girls will stick. Stephanie always tells me about things Gary does "I raised him better than that" and I always reply "I know." :) The knowledge is there but the follow through is not always worth the work for men. As long as I can get the knowledge into Tyler i'll have fought a good battle. :)
Speaking of knowledge, these kids are sponges! They love learning and even on our bad and frustrating days, I love teaching them. Awana's has been wonderful and I"m glad we did not wait another year. Tyler seems to enjoy the challenge of memorizing and he's good at it. He loves the games they play and the extra physical activity is great for him. He is also getting to know other children and his sensitive heart comes out when we talk about it. I love that he talks to me. I dread the years ahead when he will not talk to me constantly about the things his friends say and do and what he thinks about it. He seems to remember these things most during Handwriting time when he is supposed to be sitting still, quiet, and focusing. That's my 5 year old BOY! His skills are improving in spite of the fact that he'd rather play all day than deal with books and papers. Once we get going he enjoys it and I try to break it up and offer plenty of breaks. I can see lots of places where he is reading more and more and sometimes he does not even realize it himself. Sometimes it's memorization, but he's learning. He still loves for me to read to him, and I like that. I truly hope his appreciation for literature will continue when he needs to be the one doing the reading.
Grace loves all things "school" and is constantly frustrated that I have to ask her to please go play so I can focus some of my time and attention on Tyler. She's just not ready for what he's learning, and while I allow her to listen to almost all of it, and I give her her own "work" to do, Tyler needs that individual attention. We could get through his lessons so much quicker each day if we could go at his pace. I"m very mindful of him getting bored so sometimes, the distraction of the little sisters needs to be removed. She's writing better and loves to color so that skill is improving as well. She's finally beginning to retain some of her knowledge of letters, the sounds they make, and math concepts. Her language skills and vocabulary are really improving and I'm so glad. She still confuses her words when she talks, but it's adorable and I know she'll get it. She says "anything" instead of "nothing" which can get quite confusing! She also can't open the gate when she's cleaning up toys because she's "full of hands". There was another one today but I can't remember it.
I found an apple orchard literally 3 miles from our house completely by accident. We live about 500 feet from a bar and Saturday, all of a sudden, a hot air balloon was blown up out in front. Tyler was obsessed with why it was there and what was going on and he wanted to see it. I told him that it was a place for grownups and that he could not go and it would not be an event for children. He could not understand why grown ups would want to have a party, with a balloon, and not include children. So finally, I wanted to know what it was too, so I told the two elder to get into the van and I'd drive them down the road so they could see the balloon (it was raining and I did NOT want to walk- it's a very busy road!). I drove a mile or so down the road before turning around just because they were tired and cranky from a day of shopping and no rest time and they wanted to "go for a ride". Turns out, the road I turned at had a sign for an apple orchard! Not too far down the road there it was! It was closed when we went by so Sunday I went back and got a half a bushel of apples for $9. I'm so excited. I've already made applesauce that was delicious, and I did not add anything but water. No sugar- nothing. I hope to find a recipe for a pie filling that I can make and freeze so later this winter I can just roll out crust, throw the filling in and bake. The people were so helpful to show me what kinds to get. It's fun to support local produce!
Gary's home so my random ramblings must end. If you are reading this, chances are very good that you are someone I love dearly and am praying for regularly. As Pastor Dan would say ~Blessings~
Second, Happy Birthday to Tyler and Grace's dear friend Alceo! He's 5 now and starting Kindergarten. He's being home schooled and I will publicly say that having a friend who home schools along with you is wonderful! I hope we can encourage and motivate each other as the year continues.
Tyler has been "doing school" all summer with a few small breaks. Beginning August first we started trying to it at least 4 days per week for several hours (3-5) and I began documenting things more. We're working right now on the Sonlight Preschool curriculum which they love. It's heavy in Read Aloud which is perfect for Grace. I supplement quite a bit for Tyler and some for Grace. She's already showing improvement in many areas and Tyler is, as always, learning quickly. We've ordered the Sonlight K program and will be starting that later this month. There are TOO many online lesson plans for teachers and home schoolers that it's overwhelming! When I want to expand on something and do extra, I certainly can, but I"m glad to have a base curriculum to teach from.
The mighty Queen Esther is standing like a pro! She pulls herself up on everything she can and lets go now! I caught her standing a good foot away from the chair last night and then BAM! She just falls back down on her bottom. Sometimes she falls off balance and ends up laying down on her belly after rolling over. She just looks up, laughs, rolls back over and up she goes! She loves being read to and chasing her siblings and she's obsessed with the wireless mouse and keyboard. So much so that this has taken quite a lot of time and many more 'NO!'s to compose!
Last week we began hosing a Bible Study at our home. We're showing the video series "God Provides" and we really enjoyed our time last week. We truly hope to make more connections with the young couples and families in our church and we decided this was the best way. I love that we're not teaching- just hosting! :) It's good motivation to have the house picked up and swept once a week too.
The kids began the Awana's program at a local church last night. They both loved it and have talked about little else all day. Tyler has one boy in his class he knows from our home church and I'm sure he'll make more friends. I thought Grace might be leary, and she had a moment of uncertainty as I left, but when I went back to secretly check on her, she was fine! She too is very excited about it and glad to have her own verses she can learn.
We celebrated my birthday this week. Ah, 31 is not near as exciting as 30. I will say my 30th year was a big one- I had a baby, bought a house, moved, committed to home schooling, acquired TWO sisters-in-law and a niece! I think this year we'll avoid major life changes and just seek to enjoy life! :) We do love our lives and are so thankful for God's many blessings. I think I sound like a broken record saying that, but it's true. I don't take for granted Gary's job, our home, or our health. We are far from perfect and we have struggles, but we recognize the many ways God chooses to bless us even as he challenges and strengthens us.
We've been enjoying our garden with a few peppers and tomatoes here and there as well as our yard. I do hope we fence it in next year since we'll have three little ones running around like monkeys! I was disgusted with the fact that we went to the fair last week and froze. It's supposed to be HOT at the fair! Here it is September and we're digging out pants and slippers and blankets already! I hate being cold and often times I view Fall as Pre-Winter. I know it's most people's favorite time of year but I'd prefer if we went from 70's to snow on Christmas morning straight back to 70's. We've had a beautiful summer and I suppose it's time to move on.
If you aren't keeping up with the Neely's be sure you check out Jen's blog where she's continuing to be super woman and mom creating all sorts of beautiful things, loving on her newborn and homeschooling. Please also continue to pray for Brooke as she continues her journey and her mom chronicles it.
Have a blessed Thursday!
