First Day of School 2014

School is officially in session!
So I decided I wanted first day of school pictures, but because I am not  a fan of the boring, traditional pictures, I decided to do "in the moment pictures".



Lee, Grade 5  He likes his privacy... 

David Grade 4

He is  very social and moves from room to room. I allow him this freedom as long as his work gets done. It actually works better then expecting him to stay in one spot.   

Elizabeth Grade 4
She is an independent learner and works at her own pace, often working double the assignment. 

Fayth continuing Grade 2

She is easily distracted and works best if given strong boundaries and asked to stay sitting at the table or on her bed. 

I let the kids choose  2 subjects they wanted to start today.
Lee chose math (with great delight!) and reading. (he sat down and read half his textbook before I caught on to what he was doing)
David chose language arts and spelling.
Elizabeth chose the same.. but did 2 lessons on each one.
Fayth, is continuing with 2nd grade and trying hard to reach the end by the end of the year, so she worked a full load.

I love the excitement of new books. I love the new curriculum and I am glad that I seem to have overcome the dread I had at having to start school again!

It's a boys life..

Someone turned ten.. and it was his lucky day! I found this really cool bike at a yardsale 2 days before his birthday! His love language is gifts, so birthdays are fun for him!

David is happy go lucky child. Life is always good. He does everything with enthusiasm and a sparkle in his eye.

He is the first one to hug a hurting person or do a kind deed for someone. He is all boy, impulsive crazy and just full of energy.

He wanted suspenders for his birthday, so I bought him a pair of suspenders. lol He was quite the happy boy, riding his chopper wearing jeans and suspenders (just like his little mennonite friend)

For birthdays we do a family fun/memory day instead of birthday parties. David chose to go to the park to ride his new bike. Grandma joined us for lunch and he made some new friends at the park who had fun playing!

VBS #2

We love VBS week at our church! This was a big year, we build a Tabernacle and learned lots about it!


The best part for momma? I don't have to cook all week! We have VBS 5 nights, dinner is served each evening for all the helpers. The kids loved the yummy dinners!

These pictures are in a random order... So bear with me! 

This is the last evening, we did our worship time in the side yard... The kids love the songs and dances they learned this year! 

We have several stations set up for kids to do activities.  Also in the middle of this area is the roped off spot for the Tabernacle. 

Miss J singing her heart out. She has an amazing gift and the kids love singing with her. 

When she is not singing, you may just find her talking to the donkeys..

Lee's group was working on the cloth that covered the tabernacle. 

Elizabeth was cutting herbs.

They worked hard and fast to build this really cool but unusual tabernacle! 

Adding some finishing touches...

 

The finished product. It was really cool!!

"Moses" leading the first Israelites on a tour of the Tabernacle. 

The High Priest blessed each of the kids as they walked through the door..

The boys had some questions for Moses.  I love this picture.


Now Part 2: which is really the night before Part 1. lol 

They brought in the most adorable little animals..

Someone had created this beautiful mountain and each evening the kids would gather here for story time, first with "Caleb" then with "Moses". 

A miniature Tabernacle built by the Junior Youth Group. 

We had a lot of rain, so many of our activities ended up being inside! 

The kids helped paint the pieces of the Tabernacle. 

The 3 of us spend alot of time hanging out in the nursery!! 

The baby chickies...

They had an excellent teaching and an amazing vbs this year. I spend the majority of my time in the nursery, because some of my kiddoes do not tolerate the heat well at all. I missed out on most of the storytimes, but the kids really enjoyed it and hopefully will remember this for a long time!!