September 2018

September went by so fast. With all our activities, we were so busy that we blinked and a month went by!

The boys started another semester of After School Kids Bible Study. They are studying the life of David. They meet on Mondays at our church with a bunch of other kids from the community.

We all started back to Bible Study Fellowship. Mom has a group of 15 ladies she leads each week as they study People of the Promised Land. Dad joined an online group. It has been so neat to meet with men from several different states and countries.

The kids are all enjoying Grace Academy two days a week. Marie and Anna are working on learning their letters and numbers. Eli and Thad are taking science, history, and art classes. This year is more challenging for Eli because he has homework!

We enjoyed helping out another foster family from our church one weekend this month. We took care of their 4 year old foster son. I will say that having three, 4 year-olds is quite a challenge! There was lots of silliness and tattling! It definitely settled the thought in our minds that we are not going to permanently take another 4 year old right now.

It is hard to believe, but Marie is now 5. We celebrated her birthday twice at the end of the month. Once with our small group and then again as a family. She has changed so much in the last year. She likes to help, loves to play games, and loves to sing and dance. She also enjoys drawing and coloring.

We ended the month going to an Old Fashioned Family Fun Fest. One of the local churches teamed up with the local college's music program to host a free community event. There were many things to do but by far the coolest was the musical petting zoo. There were all kinds of instruments that the kids could try. It was such a neat experience. I think the drums may be a part of Marie's future and maybe the saxophone for Eli.

We are looking forward to October in anticipation of cooler temperatures. We hope that you enjoy the slideshow.

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August 2018

August is always a month of transitions for our family. Summer break ends and Daddy heads back to work. School starts and the days grow shorter. Read on for details about the month.

Daddy started back to school for his 7th year of teaching at Southside. He says he has his ideal schedule this year. He gets to teach 3 AP Chemistry classes that are 2 periods each. He gets to spend his whole day teaching kids who really want to learn and who work really hard. It doesn't get much better than that! He also has a new principal at his school this year and so far she is making positive changes.

The boys are doing something different for school this year. River Valley Virtual Academy (RVVA) is an online school. The boys each go to their respective "classrooms" online each day in the comfort of our home and check their planner for the days lessons. They have online teachers who are there to assist and take care of all the lesson planning and correcting. This is a HUGE shift from how we have been doing homeschooling and has had a steep learning curve as far as using the technology, etc. So far, the boys are doing well. It is nice that they still get to be home, have tons of flexibility to work ahead and do their school work when it fits into our busy schedule. It has freed mom up some to work with the younger girls on learning their letters, sounds, numbers, etc.

At Marie's annual eye check, it was discovered that she needs glasses. She is super excited about this. Pray she learns quickly how to care for them and that they are for her eyes only. There is a picture of the demo pair she tried on in the slide show.

Anna had the first of two surgeries this month to correct a muscle paralysis in her throat that is causing speech issues. She had her adenoids removed the third week of August. She was such a trooper and didn't complain almost at all! In November, the surgeon will do a second surgery to reconstruct the back of her throat.

Swim team started back up. Eli was moved up another level and is really being challenged right now. Thad is swimming three days a week with his current group and one day a week at the next level up. I'm so proud of how hard these two work!

This month marks 5 years of foster parenting. We completed our re-evaluation and are praying for the next kiddo that the Lord has for us.

In addition to the above mentioned activities, we kicked off our fall semester of the small group we lead on Wednesday evenings, started piano lessons back up, and started back at Grace Academy.

Next month, we add a couple Bible Studies to the mix...just so we don't get bored! :-)

I hope your days have been cooler then ours but just as blessed! See you next month!

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