Abraham's Sacrifice (told by Lila)

We are reading "Jotham's Journey" by Arnold Ydtreeide, an Advent fiction book for kids. It is a series and it is fabulous!!! I read one last year for Advent and one for Lent, and with both of them, I bawled my eyes out!! Ydtreeide is an awesome storyteller and this is such a great devotional to do with your kids. Well, after we were done reading at the kitchen table tonight, we started talking about our favorite stories in the Bible and Lila, not surprisingly, jumped right in there and told of us the time that "God sacrificed His Son, no, no, when someone, was going to kill their son because they were going to obey God! AND THEN, a ram got caught in the bushes and he didn't have to. He burned that thing RIGHT UP for the offering!" I would capitalize all the words, because every single word was full of expression, with eyes wide open as she's telling the story. It was so stinkin' cute!

Choir Concert with Haley and Lila

Haley and Lila performed with their homeschool choir a couple of weeks ago for their Christmas concert. They did awesome and each had their own solos and Haley had her own Bible verse she had to recite in front of everyone. I loved hearing them perform and sing praises to the King. We also got to hear our homeschool friends play instruments in the band. It was really a good show!

Crown Center

Every Year we go to Crown Center for the Mayor's Christmas Tree lighting. This year Jenny and Luke and Mae got to come and we had a great time! We went to Crayola Land, Kaleidoscope, the fudge factory and Union Station--although there were no Christmas trees decorated or trains set up :( It's so much fun to see my kids enjoy Kaleidoscope and see them doing the same things I did when we went for my 3rd grade field trip.

Thanksgiving 2011

What an amazing Thanksgiving we had--one for the history books! This year was very special because we got to see our cousins from Wichita and their kiddos. We had it at Nana and Papa Avila's and just to reconnect with our family was such a blessing. Vince's two cousins, their spouses and amazing kids came and slept over at our house. We stayed up till 1:00 am playing Mexican Train Dominos. Our kiddos all played school, Wii, and watched movies. It's just an instant connection and they are all best friends even though they don't get to see each other that much. I absolutely adore Prissy and Lilly--They are the most generous and loving ladies and I am so thankful to have them in my life!! It was just a wonderful day filled with good food (Vince's Sangria Ham), Corn Hole, and kids running everywhere--so thankful for the beautiful children!

Vince's Best Friend

Today, Vince had vacation due to Veteran's Day. He spent the day with Titus while I took the girls to see the play "Robin Hood" with the homeschool group. Tonight, when Vince tucked him in he said "Titus, thanks for helping me today. I had fun with you."
Titus replied "I had fun with you. You're my best friend."

Vince was so touched and then he proceeded to tell me "Julie, don't feel bad. You can't be his best friend, you have to be his mom."

Our Crazy Summer Vacation

What is it with our luck with vacations? My 29th birthday consisted of a non-cruise cruise, braid-headed girls crying as they were left with their parents, knowing they would not be going with the rest of the family on the long awaited cruise. This trip to Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone was going to fill my soul with God's glorious creation--animals, mountains, geysers and more. I needed it and our kids were so excited. We had asked Titus' Dr. if we could go with his leg in the cast or if we should just reschedule. He assured us twice that we could go and if it got dirty (ie, wet or poopy) we could just have it taken off at the nearest hospital. It started out great and we did make it to South Dakota. We got to see the Black Hills, Reptile Gardens, Mt. Rushmore, Bear Country and many beautiful things. Our last night in SD we went to a brewery to eat. Then Titus proceeded to have the wettest, stinkiest blowout I had ever seen. It was everywhere--like Titus must be sick--everywhere! So we called that night, went to an orthopedic clinic the next afternoon and found out they would not TOUCH his cast. Didn't want to be liable. So we had to drive 16.5 hours back, through the night, arriving at 6:30 am with 4 kids, so that Titus could get it taken off at Children's Mercy. When I found out, I just SOBBED! REALLY?!!! I was so mad, so discouraged and just mad I wasn't going to get to experience Yellowstone with the kids. But, it makes for a great story--one to be told at T's wedding... "Remember the vacation we had to cut short b/c you pooped your pants!" :) We spent the night at home and the kids decided they wanted to finish the last week in St. Louis. Unbelievable... It was crazy though, before I found out for sure that we would have to go home, the Lord gave me twice, in two different instances, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9. I knew when I had received these that we were going home and that I needed to trust that even though I do not understand, God sees everything and knows whats best. Still stunk though---literally.

Vacation Time

This past weekend we went to Tan-Tar-A with Papa and Nana Ketchum, Grandma Black and Luke and Mae. We had a great time playing with all the kids. I took tons of pics on Papa's camera at the pool, but I didn't have mine. We swam in the water park (Titus' favorite was the lazy river), went bowling and played in the arcade. My favorite part was listening to Luke and Haley sing the Phineas and Ferb theme song over and over and over again on the way back home. Mae wasn't feeling the best, so I got a lot of cuddle time in with her. They are the sweetest kids to love on and it was such a blessing to get to spend a weekend with my family. It was made possible by our wonderful Scotty-watcher, Mekdes and the Santee family. I'm sure Scotty enjoyed his vacation too!

Heavy Eyes

Going...

Going...

Gone

Pregnancy Care Center Helpers

We have been BUSY the last couple of months remodeling the new space for the Pregnancy Care Center. We just got the building inspection approval today and hope to move in this weekend! YIPPEE! We had major help from some awesome lady-workers. They worked so hard, they got ice cream or donuts anytime they helped. From scraping tile off of floors, to cleaning, to painting, these girls never stopped. Alex helped too, but we had the camera on this night. Alex was at home doing her part--watching Tariku! Her and I would switch off, depending on who felt up to the heavy labor. Thanks to Al, Papa Ketchum, Vinny and Dennis Folks for their hard work. Momma was very proud of her girls. Even Tariku came once, bringing his case of tools to work alongside us.

Titus Tariku is 3!!!

On October 9th, Titus celebrated his 3rd Birthday! He had a blast playing with his cousins and opening gifts. I think the best gifts were his huge set of power tools and his cape with mask. It was a hoot watching him zoom around! He shares the same birthday with my cousin Jacqueline! A few days before his party, we went to order his Dora and Diego cake. We made the order, but he couldn't understand why they weren't giving it to us. He made a fist and pounded it into his other hand and said "I want my Diego cake now!" We decorated the house with balloons and streamers and it was just such a blessing to celebrate our little man! Is he not the most handsome boy ever?!

Alex's 6th Grade Graduation

Way back in May, Alex participated in a 6th Grade Graduation with her classmates out at the Snodgrass' house. It was a beautiful night to enjoy this milestone; complete with great food, good friends, swimming and a bonfire. I just can't believe I've been homeschooling her for this long--never thought it would ever be like this, but I'm enjoying every minute of it (well, mostly). I'm so thankful to have such an amazing daughter to teach. What a gift to be able to teach her and see her succeed. I'm so proud of her!

Choir Concert

Waaaaaayyyyy back in May, the girls performed a choir concert/musical with their TEACH homeschool group. It was so precious and the girls did a great job. It was about the Lord's Army, hence the army camouflage. Alex had a lot of lines and a solo. The other girls had to memorize their scripture verses and say "YES SIR!"