Hello 2009

I didn’t get around to Christmas cards this season, but I want to say Happy New Year to everyone. Thank you to all who did send Christmas cards! It’s such a joy to receive them, and I will do my best to send them next year.

2008 was an amazing year for our family. The kids are growing up so quickly. Big L is now taller than me with a voice almost as deep as his dad’s. Now a freshman in high school, he spends most of his free time playing his guitar and learning to write songs and record them on the computer. He’s getting quite good! Our precious H is also approaching me in height, and we can now share shoes. She, true to her passion, has spent the year dancing. Her big recital was in May, and in December her dance studio performed for and visited with residents of a retirement community. It was a sweet time. Little L continues on his quest of learning as much as he can about space. He also loves working with his grandpa, doing things like roofing a shed and laying ceramic tile (just a couple of their many projects!). The boys are currently training for their black belts in karate and hope to achieve their goal by this summer.

JRR and I continue our pursuits with a home business and home schooling. It has been challenging, exciting, and rewarding. As the kids get older, teaching becomes a greater challenge, but God always provides the ways and resources we need to do our best!

We look forward to 2009 and wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year!

Photo shoot 2008:






After finally getting a good family pic (and believe me, it took many tries), Big L and H ran off gleefully. Little L is the only one who hung around for any more pictures.

Little L turns 12

Well, the baby of our family turned 12 a few days ago. Only one more year until all 3 of our children will be teenagers! It doesn't seem possible. Some might think 3 teens at one time sounds awful, but I think it's great. There have been special things about every age, and now I enjoy the growing maturity in my kids. I love being able to have in-depth, meaningful conversations with them about topics from relationships to politics.

We began celebrating, as is our tradition, with a birthday breakfast chosen by the birthday boy: cinnamon rolls and bacon. It was great fun getting all 12 candles into his cinnamon rolls!



This has turned out to be the Nerf birthday. Our boys love to have "Nerf wars" with their friends. So, to add to the arsenal, we got him his first automatic Nerf gun. This thing actually has an ammo belt and, according to the instructions, fires "3 darts per second". He was thrilled:



But of course, it couldn't stop there. With his birthday money he had to buy the sniper rifle, another gun, and extra ammo. Which brings me to his "real" celebration. In a couple of weeks, he will have a group of friends over to have one of these Nerf wars. (We are waiting for soccer season and a karate tournament to be behind us in order to have the time for the party.)

Little L is a fun guy to be around. He has a sense of humor that I fear may someday surpass that of his father. I'm not sure my heart or my sides will be able to take it. He can mimic, mock, or impersonate others like you wouldn't believe (because he won't do it around anyone but us!). His wit is amazing. His energy seems to know no end. He doesn't miss a thing. And, he's an awesome cook!

But there is more to little L than fun and games. I am continually moved by his compassion and thoughtfulness. He loves to do things for others; when he gives a gift, he tries very hard, and succeeds, in giving one that truly fits the person he desires to bless (another way he takes after his dad). When things need to be done around the house, he's the first one to jump in and help.

He's a "man" of many interests: soccer, music, fishing, camping with Grandma and Grandpa, going to work and building things with Grandpa, and science. He is sitting in front of the TV with his dad tonight, coloring in an electoral map he made this afternoon. As I said in a previous post, Little L's life goal is to work for NASA. Any time we suggest things he'd be great at (such as comedian, politician, contractor, and on and on), he reminds us that he already has a plan for his life. And I believe he can become whatever he sets his mind to.



Little L, known to many family members as "the leader" (a very funny story that unfortunately would not be funny if I attempted to explain it in blog form), is a great kid. Even though he causes me to want to pull my hair out often more than once a day, I wouldn't trade a single thing about him!

H makes a joke

This morning as we were working on H's spelling list, I was choosing a few words to quiz orally before giving the written test. I do this because some are so easy they are not worth taking up space on the preprinted quiz sheet. Anyway, the point is, they were easy words for H and she was answering with lightning speed, creating kind of a rhythm of question/answer. At one point I slowed, looking for the next word to give, and said "umm". H chimed, "U-M. Um!", then laughed and preceded to explain her joke to me (in case I hadn't caught it!).

Anyone who knows H will understand why this silly little story is heartwarming to me. She may not get life like some of us, but she is sweet and fun and funny, and I love to hear her laugh, especially at her own jokes!

Coincidence?

Saturday, as rain from Ike fell all day, we decided to make a yummy carrot cake from scratch. The recipe promised it to be the most moist carrot cake ever--yeah, so moist the center would not get done. JRR decided to remedy the situation by scooping out the middle, which of course had to be iced. The results:




Coincidence?

Big L's idea of getting up. . .

Teenagers.

Hero, From Concentrate

This past weekend, JRR made a music mix CD to "inspire" little L on the way to his soccer game. Many giggles and belly laughs were to be had as the selected songs were revealed, such as "Barracuda", "Eye of the Tiger", and "I Won't Back Down". At the dinner table last night, H sang one of the songs quietly to herself: "He's a juice box hero, got stars in his eyes. . . ."

To our family members who love to have a good laugh with and at the expense of other family members (is there anything more fun?!!)--we have not teased her about this. She is in that very sensitive stage of life, so I must have my fun with this story through blogging only! She'll appreciate it someday.

The Scientist

Little L is our resident scientist. His passion is astronomy, and so far his goal in life is to build the first manned craft to Mars. He loves to get books from the library on astronomy and science experiments. Tonight he plans to stay up past 2 a.m. (if the sky clears), to see the meteor shower, Perseids, which is supposedly the most famous of meteor showers. He has been studying his constellation charts and reading up on the history of this meteor shower. To see his excitement, you’d think it was Christmas Eve!

The other day, as little L was digging around in our collection of science experiment books, Big L told him about an experiment he did in fourth grade:


The goal is to see how many pennies you can put in a completely full glass of water without breaking the surface tension, thus causing the water to spill over.


It is quite fascinating to watch the water level rise above the top of glass without the water spilling over.


Anxiously adding one more:


The tension was finally broken and water spilled after the 70th penny:


It is so fun to watch little L's enthusiasm. Before the experiment was over, this enthusiasm had drawn the whole family to watch the exciting conclusion.

Oh, we think his second goal in life is to be the next dog whisperer:


Jazz told him to stick with his first goal.