Our Welcome Baby Tradition

It's time for a little break from all the Baby Prep we've been working on the last few weeks.   We've made some good progress, but, I think we're all a little tired from the hard work that's been happening around here.  With only 5 days until my due date it was time for a little fun.

We have a tradition that started when I was pregnant with our third baby.  We headed over to the *new* store at the mall, Build-A-Bear, and made a cute little teddy bear for him to snuggle.  Ever since then, we've done the same for each new baby joining our family.  Sometimes we've made them before baby arrives, sometimes shortly after. But, each person in the family has a special "Stuffty" to snuggle that we made for them as a family.  It has become a fun way for us to build up the excitement and anticipation of welcoming a new little one.

We loaded up after church and headed down to the mall for another visit to the *not so new anymore* store, Build-A-Bear.  This time we were hoping they'd have a monkey for us to stuff.  For some reason, Monkeys are The Thing for us and this new little boy.  I was so happy to see a cute little monkey waiting to greet us!

 

The little girls were very excited to help stuff the bear and we all had fun putting our hearts into him.  This little monkey has TEN hearts inside!!

 

 

 

 

 

The boys picked out a Captain America costume for the monkey to wear.  Because of Kindred's obsession and love for Curious George and the boys' love for Captain America, we settled on the name, Captain Curious for this little stuffed friend.  I'm thinking that will likely be a good description of his owner as the years move on.

 

 

Here we are ready and waiting for our little monkey to make his appearance.  Everyone is excited and eager to meet the Little Captain.

 

A Day at the Fair

We took an impromptu field trip on Monday to visit the Rochester Fair.

Going during the day meant we got free admission and no crowds as we perused the exhibits and animal barns. 

We arrived just as some of our most precious friends were arriving. That was a WONDERFUL gift from the Lord! Made the day out even sweeter. (though we didn't get any photos with them).

Having David all to ourselves for the day was heavenly.

 

Watching Kindred enjoy the animals was unbelievably precious. 

 

Honoree' loved the cows, especially the calves. 

 

Benjamin won the prize for being the most attentive brother that day. He escorted Kindy to all her favorite places and introduced her to the animals. *meltmyheart*

 

A little silliness before heading home for the day. :)

It's so nice to have family friendly places to enjoy on a gorgeous fall day.  Having the freedom to set aside the books and work for making some sweet memories reminds me of all the things I love about this life of home education, home business, and family life.

A Weekend Retreat

This weekend we all enjoyed a bit of a retreat. 

The girls and I stayed home and worked on some projects but then headed out today for a lovely morning at the local farm to pick apples and nectarines.  We also stocked up on some lovely flowers, pumpkins and corn stalks to decorate the house.  Afterwards, we spent the day doing some shopping together.  We had a lovely time on this gorgeous fall day.

While we were out and about the guys enjoyed a great overnight with the other men and young men from our church, Faith Fellowship of Central New Hampshire.  They had a great time swimming, playing cards, running about and going on a big hike today.  Just look at those views!!

 

You can't beat living in New Hampshire this time of year. Even though we'll miss the summer heat, it's just too beautiful not to savor and enjoy the bliss around us.

Back to School!

We started up our new school year the first week of August.  I started the children with a few subjects to get us in the groove slowly.  We have a busy fall season with rehearsals for an upcoming production of The Hound of the Baskervilles, a homeschool learning collaborative that we joined, and preparing for a new baby arriving in less than two months. I was pretty sure we needed to have a few weeks to get settled in a school mindset while all these activities are keeping us hoppin'. 

We started out with some excitement.  There was also a bit of frustration over needing to review some of last year's work.  We're still working out the kinks, but so far, the plan, routine, and schedule are working pretty well for all of us.  Probably the biggest challenge is keeping the littlest ones busy while the older ones are trying to concentrate and learn.  It's hard to stay focused with such cuteness!

 

 

In fact, those children that say they dread that book work have still managed to find some time for a little fun each day.  Especially when big brother, Josh, leads in *martial arts training and self defense* for P.E. ;)

 

Please pray for us in the coming year that we will all be diligent and faithful in our efforts to learn and grow stronger together!

Summer Bucket Series - Family Vacation!

Now, this one didn't even make it on the list, but I'm including it because it was such a wonderful, unexpected blessing for our family.

 

In July some dear, generous friends contacted us and offered their lake home to our family for a week while they vacationed out of state.  We were so surprised! 

 

We thought about it a bit, David rearranged his work schedule, and we accepted with gratitude.  It's been several years since we've gone on vacation as a family, even more that didn't involve the stress of cross country travel and fitting in numerous stops along the way. 

 

Their home is beautiful and we felt like we were royalty for the week.  The lake right outside our door, gorgeous sunrise views, breakfasting on the deck, soaking in the hot tub, lounging in the sun, it was all just so enjoyable for everyone. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On rainy days we had some local fun bowling, eating out, playing games, and just relaxing in front of the projection screen watching movies together.

 

 

 

 

 

Having so much time to just BE together was amazing.  So often we are hurried with meals, chores, work, schooling, projects and just preparing for the Next Big Thing in life.  It was so refreshing to have time to simply snuggle, laugh, wrestle, play, and talk together. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think we all came away from that week feeling rejuvenated from the rest and ready to begin the busy new season awaiting us.  Having time to connect as a family will help us take on the challenges of a new school schedule, new work load, new play season, new learning co-op, and new baby that awaits us all in the coming months.

 

"Return to your rest, O my soul, For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you."  Psalm 116:7

 

"His splendor covers the heavens, And the earth is full of His praise. His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His power." Habakkuk 3: 3-4