Christmas 'n' Past

Afraid to say, this Christmas we barely took ANY pictures at all. Here are a few fun ones.

I sure treasure every shot of Grandma Flora and my boys. Grandma was Trey's great protector this week from Dad and Brenda's terrifying small dogs (which behave perfectly). She gave him lots of sugar and held him most minutes. They are fast friends. It was a blessing for both!


Brendan and Sarah's gifts to Papa and Nana were clever. In a pretty basket they found a Netflix subscription, snacks they both like, Snuggies and 3-D glasses. Very fun! Toby wanted to take the glasses home.


Someone very dear sent us money to do something fun as a family (thank you). We took the boys to the Discovery Center in Amarillo, along with Papa and Nana Johnson. Toby and Ranne were both giddy about the bed of nails. Trey liked being in a bubble. All boys liked the ball track.


Trey and I ended up in the toddler area. He built this tower. It was such hard work, the result was a complete baby-collapse.


Some of my favorite pictures and exhibits:


On the road again. Going home with very tired boys:


From start to end, we had a wonderful holiday full of blessings. The trip to TX was especially rejuvenating. It's a wonderful thing to be surrounded by people who have true affection and delight in one another, including our crazy little family. The boys soak in their time there every time we go.


Now, working backwards, here are a few of our past months' activity.

A playgroup that meets on the westside of town graciously informed us of their ride on the Railrunner (a commuter train running S-N) that included cookies, hot chocolate and a reading of The Polar Express. Mrs. Schmille, her boys and we caught an early ride downtown and met-up with them a few stops later for a ride as far as Santa Fe and back. All boys enjoyed the trip VERY much.

Waiting.....

There it is!

Scott's uncle generously sold his old trumpet back to him after many years. He has been having a BLAST! So have the boys. We now have a piano, a gift; a trumpet; and a guitar for the boys to choose from in their later years.

Playing so well together before a school day's work building a city in the sill.

Scott and I went once again the the MSU vs. M.U. game. We hadn't brought Ranne back in many years so brought him along for the first half. Last year we won the drawing for a tailgating grill. This year Scott won the drawing for a T-shirt. The hard working couple below are the Jacobsons. He used to play on the MSU team, so watching with them makes it much more interesting and fun. He is an artist here in town as well as a musician (volunteering for the CSC often at special fund-raising events) and she is a very good and tough teacher and blessing to many kids.

The event's organizers:

Victory:

Our bored son.

Venturing in with blue and yellow SuperBoy cape:

Everyday stuff:
Here are our turtles made a couple weeks after they were supposed to be made. I've discovered doing some of the activities and crafts a couple weeks later is actually great, casual review of facts studies previously in science.

Our friends kindly invited us to carol and participate in the "Hanging Of the Greens" at UNM. We walked around the school campus singing carols until the final destination of the President's home where all were invited in for hot chocolate and cookies. The boys melted down at the door, so we made it nearly there before retiring.

Ranne waiting for PE to begin. UNM uses homeschooling families to train their PE teachers. It's free and lasts only one semester. We finished at finals. He did well.

Brushing teeth.

Have a great, great weekend.

Our Thanks

Sweet Aunt Sydni made the boys these mittens. We're so grateful and the kids will be very warm. They are made beautifully and the boys will match, which is fun. Thank you for thinking of us.

We need to Skype sometime soon, Sydni.

Just in Case You've Been Missing Us

Beginnings

Our room!

We've been blessed by such generosity! This year the curriculum used has come from a brother and sister-in-Christ, the Means family. They ordered SonLight for their daughter last year and are not using it any further. They are allowing us the use of whatever consumables are left and are loaning the books. So far the studies take from 9am-12pm with an additional 20-minutes in the evening. The math manipulatives are from our friends the Paces, I've been using puzzles for Toby from the Foldings, maps from the Frees, the table from our neighbors the Gangwares and Mr. Rhodes. We are truly blessed and humbled!

I'm using our shower curtain for our map. Another friend of ours is using a bed spread in much the same way but hers looks much classier. Eh, we can write on ours with dry-erase markers which will be fun when the time comes.

I considered taking a 'first day of school' picture with all you other parents out there but having Ranne wear his PJs. It was just to be funny and no point to be made but the idea made Scott mad. Ah well. So, I took none. Maybe tomorrow, if I can find the camera.

I have such eclectic feelings. It is fun to teach him. He's smart and is enjoying it all so far. Yet, I enjoyed Kindergarten so much that I feel a little sad too. There is no grade like that one. It's so unique and innocent and fun. Well, it can be so at home too. We're still doing Tues. School and of course church meetings, so he's with others in a learning environment three days out of the week. We intend to find more opportunities too.

Summer Sweetness

Babies sleeping are always sweet.

Tree-ripened apricots are also very sweet. Our friends the Paffords had a tree loaded with them. They kindly allowed us to pick more than we could handle on a Sunday afternoon and treated us to breakfast burritos for lunch. They've taken work with the Belen Church of Christ, beginning this last Sunday. We pray for their good work there and thank God for the time we've had together. Lord willing there will be more opportunity to meet together as we can arrange it. Sigh. Heaven will be VERY SWEET, indeed.

Pounds of sugar added to sweet apricots is REALLY sweet. UG!

The color of jam is so pretty! Okay, well it may have turned out more like syrup than jam but it's still good.

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Mountain air is especially sweet. This year our family found about three days to go camping. Scott worked/s several weekends this summer, so with the time we headed to the Zuni Mountains in western NM.

We left early enough to join the Thoreau congregation for morning service, were treated to lunch at the home of Mendy (Acre?sp?) and Mark Newman, and then showed a good camping spot by them very near their home. Their daughters were at camp while we were, so the idea to meet with the church there originated there.

We set-up our tent; ate dinner; put the kids down; and then in the dark, up drove the Newmans with water and a shovel. We had realized there was not the water available in the area that the maps showed. They were so sweet and thoughtful. Praise God for family!


Ranne said to Scott after Scott make this awesome cooking fire, "It's the eternal firepit." I guess that meant he liked it and thought it looked sturdy. The description didn't really make me think of a campfire's construction though.

Oh the joy of eating at camp: standing up, we eat; perched on a rock, we eat; we eat while running from bees who like our food....

The spot. It was, actually, in flash flood area (a sign was posted by the entrance). It stormed nightly the biggest storms residents in that area could remember. From what the forest service woman said on the morning we left, it did flood in every area other than ours. Praise God for protection. Sigh. She said the last night we were there, there were 11,600 lightening strikes in the area from our camp to Mt. Taylor. Many hit the cliffs on either side of the canyon by the tent. You could see the shape of the bolt through the tent walls during the storm. I slept with two boys curled up next to me while Scott stood under the Jeep's hatch to stand watch. Very exciting to say the least. Next year we're going to try to miss monsoon season and go in Sept.

The flooded creek.

He did not enjoy this walk. There were lots of interesting bugs, spiders, and even a snake. I really like this picture.

Pretending to be a tiger hiding and ready to pounce

Trey seemed to like the walk.

Break time.

This little collection of rocks was right behind our campsite. They spent most of their time there pretending and lounging.

This may be Scott's favorite part of the outing: collecting firewood.

Mr. Ornery himself. We brought him a little yellow jacket to wear. He was so, uh, into everything and a bit pesty that we began calling him after the bug: Yellow Jacket. What a delight, the age of discovery and investigation.

Naptime. The weather was blessedly cool so naps were actually possible in the tent.

The guys fishing Bluewater Lake. I think Ranne caught a coat wire.

Lastly, I just really like capturing the tired, dirty faces on the way home from our various trips. Here are the post-camp shots. Their faces are coated in chocolate milk we bought at a rest stop on the way back to town.