Valerie Tripp

A few weeks ago Jon took Abbi out for a 'daddy/daughter' day. He's recently taken each of the boys to a hockey game (sitting in Kenwood's reserved box seats!) so Abbi was due for a date with him. It just so happened that Valerie Tripp, the author of the American Girl books that Abbi loves, made an appearance at the American Girl store. So that's where Jon and Abbi headed. It was Jon's first experience at the American Girl store. Valerie was a lovely woman and Abbi has much in common with her.

Abbi was very excited to meet one of her favorite authors and have one of her books autographed.

The Twins turned 9!

Well, my babies are 9 years old as of Monday. As is customary, they got to choose where we ate dinner that night, and they both voted for On the Border. Kit and Bruce came along too.

They got a free dessert and the staff sang to them.

As is also customary, Phoebe thought all the boxes were for her!

Abbi had an American Girl party here last Saturday. She had 4 friends and their dolls over..here's our beautiful cupcake stand. First all the girls did a craft...they decorated these darling flip flops.

Then it was off to Abbi's bedroom for manicures and pedicures.

Aren't those toes gorgeous?!

Abbi was just a little bit excited!

The above is a photo of all the girls' dolls. Notice they all have on a Happy Birthday headband. The 2nd one from the left is holding a doll sized party blower. Abbi's party was complete with doll cups, plates and forks. The girls all ooohed and aaahed...it was so fun!

Caleb wanted a pool party this year, so we did his party back in September. The day ended up being a tad bit chilly, but none of the kids seemed to mind.

I think Caleb and his friends had a super time!

Caleb got the Lego Castle Siege...cool!

Alex, Caleb, Abbi, Bethany, Elliott and Jessica on the bottom.

?????

I never know what I'm going to find on my camera when I go to download photos. The kids frequently use my camera so it's always a surprise to me the things I find on it. I downloaded a bunch of photos today and these ones made me laugh out loud. Just had to share. Phoebe is not what cracked me up in this photo...

it's Toby in the background chewing on his leg!

The Great Northwest - Part 2

I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long! Well, anyway...when I left off with our Great Northwest visit, we had left my brother's home and headed to Dad's. One thing my dad loves to do is feed the seagulls on the ferry. They take things right from your fingers.

The kids thought this was great fun!

We spent of our days with Dad and Karen at the beach. We tried to miss the rain coming in, but didn't plan it too well. It was COLD! No one minded but me.

One thing led to another and Dad and the kids wound up digging for clams. They hit a gold-mine! Within about half an hour they had several hundred dollars worth of clams in their bucket. Karen helped cook them up the next night to go with dinner. The kids were each very brave and tried one, but I can't blame them for not enjoying them like Jon did.

One of the kids found a sand dollar and I told all of them that sand dollars are a rare find and they should pick them up if they find any. Well...look at what they had to choose from! We came home with MANY sand dollars, but not all of them made the trip safely even though we wrapped them in bubble wrap.
Karen kept the kids busy with all kinds of things including making origami cranes. Jon and Dad joined in the fun, too.

And here is the finished product! This branch hangs in Dad and Karen's living room. Now the lovely cranes add to the room. What a fun reminder they'll have of our visit!

Dad, Jon and the kids enjoyed many games of Bocce ball.




We happened to be in town the day the fair started, so off we went! Here are the twins doing the rock climb.
The above is a shot of the kids on that ride that goes straight up...and then straight back down. Karen and I were laughing because we could hear the kids giggling all the way down.
We had such a great time on the farm!

Cultivating the interests of our children

I just read this in one of my weekly homeschool emails and didn't want to forget, so I'm putting here.

It is God who placed creativity inside each of our children. He gave them the ability to think and learn and do. He gave each special, unique gifts and abilities to be used for His glory. He wants to cultivate them in our children and He'd like us to help -- not necessarily because we know how to do something, but because He wants us to share in His delight in what comes forth.

That's the great thing about homeschooling; it allows parents to cultivate the interests of each child . . . because EVERY child has distinct interests. Some like bugs, others like numbers. Some like to draw, play house, talk with others, organize, go on adventures, take apart mechanical devices, or cook. As parents, we should be watching for these interests to use as vehicles to help train our children. A child who likes bugs may not grow up to be an entomologist, but he or she might learn to love reading by looking at bug books, or become a chemist from learning about bug killers, or study to be a theologian because of being awed by the incredible diversity of God's creation. All these are possibilities that can take root from an interest in multi-legged insects.