Fall 2019

With the start of the school year, Joseph decided he really wanted to try out "real" school, so here he is on his first day of kindergarten. He is doing well and loving it!

As part of our history, we held "Egypt Day," where we dressed up as Egyptian and ate some of the foods that were common back then.

Yes, the kids are quickly developing a love for cooking, just like their mama. It really helps when you get to make so many yummy tasting things. Ada has even become our official cookie-maker. "Scripture Cookies" are her specialty.

On a field trip to see the Battleship Texas just before it was closed for renovation.

When Peter was just learning to crawl, Sadie had the bright idea of making an obstacle course for him in the living room. Up the ramp across the couch, over the chair, and down again. He loved it!

One of my other favorite places --in a comfy spot reading a good book. I think this was probably me reading aloud one of our school books.

Once again at the family dance hosted by our homeschool group.

Joseph jumping for joy!

Camp out in the living room.

Jojo's sixth birthday at home...

and with friends at Cici's pizza.

Matt's family had the lovely idea of all getting together for a family vacation. We rented a beach house that would (just barely) fit all of us and had a grand time at Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Peninsula. It was really beautiful and, as long as there was a brisk breeze blowing to keep the mosquitoes at bay, really enjoyable. I hope this is the start of a new family tradition.

Just a pretty picture looking out our front door.

The kids love decorating for holidays, and Halloween is their second favorite, just behind Christmas, of course.

I finally broke down and bought myself a bike trailer. We have been having lots of fun riding around the neighborhood and the park near our house.

I served as a Webelos den leader for a year and a half for our ward. We had some amazing  boys come through the program (including Michael!) I have to admit I was not one bit sorry to put the cub scout program behind me as we started the new children's program this year. However, I am very proud to say that we successfully helped all of our boys  achieve their Webelos and Arrow of Light by the end of the year.

Zoo Boo 2019.

Annie, learning about how to mix the primary colors to get secondary colors.

What a cutie, with her Tinkerbell haircut!

Me, in a new dress!

Peter loves the trampoline!

Halloween just isn't complete without a freshly carved jack-o-lantern.

Monster cakes. Yum!

My Superman and Superbaby!

About to head out for trick-or-treating.

Here's Michael about to head out on his first overnight camp out with the young men. They invited all the upcoming deacons to join them, and they had a blast.

Field Day at Burrough's Park.

Peter's first birthday.

Adelaide's choir met at a roller skating rink just for fun. It was the first time any of the kids had roller skated, and we had mixed results. But it was fun enough that they really want to try again.

Texas RenFest 2019!  We loved it!

We also enjoyed a field trip to the Houston Gem and Mineral Society School Daze. Jojo got to help with a science demonstration

and the little kids loved the dino-dig.

The Lego Exhibit at HMNS was pretty cool too.

We hosted a Tween Night at our house where we decorated ourselves with glow-in-the-dark face paint and watched Tron. It was great!

Summer 2019

For Pioneer Day, we decided to all practice some pioneer skills. Nana helped out a lot including making homemade bread,

churning fresh butter, and making a braided rug.

Just a cute messy face.

Annie loves to help!Whatever I'm doing, she want to be right there in the middle of it.

I got in a crafty mood one week and decided to make all the girls some new clothes. I made Sadie and Ada each a new skirt, and I made Annie this cute little dress. They all turned out really cute, but I really think the funnest part was going to the craft store to pick out the fabric. It's so hard to choose among all the pretty patterns!

As part of Ada's science curriculum last year, she raised a bunch of butterflies that we ordered. When Ada found a big caterpillar in the back yard, we used the same equipment to raise it too. We looked it up and found that it was actually a sphinx moth caterpillar and that they burrow under the ground to form their chrysalis and metamorphose. Several weeks later (almost to the point where I was getting ready to dump out the bucket of dirt and declare a failure), this beauty emerged.

Michael had been anticipating getting braces for quite a while, and finally the day arrived.  He is super excited to have a straighter and brighter smile in a few years.

One of the kids snapped this of me cooking a family favorite --Grace Lin chicken. The kitchen really is one of my favorite places to be.