Our week ~ August 19

Pictures were few and far between this week, but we managed to grab a few!

We got a very short but sweet visit from Matthew, Ashley, and Will as they drove back to Florida from a trip to New England.  They were here just long enough for us to see Will crawl and sneak in a few kisses on his chubby little cheeks. :)

Piano lessons started up again after a summer hiatus.  The kids have been taking lessons for five years now and love to play the piano even more now than they did back then.

 Below is their first piano lesson in  June 2008...they've grown up a bit in five years!

In the next picture you can see why we keep so busy around here.  If you hold still for a few minutes, David might just booby-trap you...

...so we keep on trucking, just to be safe! ;)  We are on the homestretch of insanely-busy now (hopefully!),  and soon we will revert to our normal level of craziness. :)

Our weeks ~ August 5 & 12

As this month flies by, we have been keeping up a frenzied pace...when we are not in school or at an appointment, we have been working at our new church building, getting it ready for occupation.  We are on the homestretch now, though, so we are very excited!  It has been fun for the kids to be involved, too.  Here I am with my painting crew. :) (David was on a different crew that morning.)
On a side note, that garish yellow on the walls is now gone -- phew!

David and I worked at the twice-a-year consignment sale that I participate in, with great results again this time...I sold enough to cover the new stuff I bought plus some pocket money left over!  Before we left to work our shift, though, Bruce was outside and I was in the shower...and David got the bright idea to lock his dad out of the house, with all doors locked and barred.  Bruce was a great sport about it...someday David will appreciate what a gift that was!

School is trucking along.  David did his first report of the year; he designed, created, and presented a volcanic research robot.  That project was right up his happy alley!

The kittens are just as cute as ever and are all settled in.  The older cats have made peace with them and everyone is pretty happy.  Felix adores Mindy...she likes his attention sometimes and beats him up when she doesn't!

Who wouldn't love this face?!

Cat nip time

 Up Trixie's nose.  This is what she does whenever she sees the camera.

Trixie wants to be near us all of the time, participating in every event. Here she is helping David choose a sticker for his speed drill paper

  When Felix gets in the mood, though, he is a snuggly baby!

 ...and so our August is barreling by us!

Our weeks ~ July 22 & July 29

These two weeks are going to be posted together because our big event the week of July 22 was followed up with a zillion supporting pictures the week of July 29! :)

What is cuter than a kitten?

Two kittens!

Yes, we adopted two kittens!  They are Manx cats (they are born with a bobtail).  Meet Felix (black and white) and his sister, Trixie (tawny tiger stripe)!  They have been with us for just over a week now and we have thoroughly enjoyed them.  They have settled in beautifully and are a fun addition to our family!  Here goes the zillion or so pictures. :)

 Look at those big kitten-ears!

 They are like kids...they prefer the paper towel tube to the nice toys we bought them. :)

 Trixie watching television

 Hanging out with the kids

 Felix watching the ceiling fan

They are snuggly and smart and playful and very entertaining!

Does this look like double trouble or what?!

 In other big news around here, this past Monday (July 29) was our first day of school!  David started sixth grade and Abigail started fourth grade (where has the time gone?!).

Of course, the kittens helped with school.  First, Mindy had to demonstrate that SHE has first rights of refusal at the school table.

Once they learned who was boss, the kittens stole papers, grabbed pencils and erasers, and took naps on our schoolwork.  This is definitely one of the perks of homeschooling!

We got a special surprise Monday night -- a friend of ours who is a "computer guy" gave us two laptops, all ready for the kids to use for school!  This was a huge blessing since we have a few computer-based programs that we are incorporating into school this year, so now the kids can both do those lessons at the same time, rather than having to juggle everyone on my desktop.  Needless to say, the kids were VERY excited!

 Here is David working on his keyboarding lesson and Abigail working on Spanish.

Monday through Wednesday afternoons, we had Backyard Bible Club, which the kids really enjoyed.  Here they are on their final day of Club, which happened to be Water Wars day.

Abigail made some great catches for her team...

...and here is David making the final catch to win for his team!

For some reason  :), David was everyone's favorite target during the water balloon fight.  Do you see the giant yellow balloon in the lefthand corner?   The teen guys made that one especially for getting David!

And just because I happened to have my camera with me, here is a shot of the precious group that Bruce and I teach at church on Wednesday night.  They were all tired from a busy week of Club but they still had way more energy left than their teachers did!

 After a very good but long and busy week, what better way to end the days than with a kitten snuggle?!  I'm loving it!

Our week ~ July 15

This week began our countdown for the last two weeks of summer break.  Mindy and I worked hard to get the school area all cleaned out, reorganized, and ready for a new school year.

David got his golf clubs all cleaned and ready for some autumn golf games.

Abigail squeezed in as many pajama days as she could, as well as some art project time.

We visited the park with Greta and her kids (and I forgot a picture -- grrr!).  Is this girl in the picture the same girl who used to be too unsteady on her feet and too afraid to try anything at the park?  Don't get in her way now!

Karen and I went blueberry picking and came away with four gallons between us.

Noah and Adel came for an overnighter at Aunt Marsel's (Adel's first -- and she did great!).  David and Abigail taught the little ones the joy of a giant pillow pile.

Bruce took on a home-improvement project in the kitchen...

...taking out this ugly old thing...

...and installing this!  :)

Ah, the sweet but fleeting days of summer break!