We're back...

Well, it's been almost a year since my last blog post. I'm not sure exactly why I stopped last fall, but it was probably a combination of lots of things - our first year homeschooling, coaching Joseph's soccer team, Sarah starting dance classes, Joseph and Sarah starting piano lessons, attending a homeschool co-op every week where I taught a Spanish class to 3rd-6th graders, teaching an online Spanish 101 course for the college, writing the Primary program, singing in the annual Christmas concert, arranging and performing in a flute trio, and David getting called to the High Council (meaning he is super busy on Sundays) -- either way, blogging fell off my to-do list.

So, I decided to start again. I'll tell you a little about what we're up to now and do a "flashback" post every now and then to share some pictures and stories from the past year.

For Grandma Carol - This is the bike you helped Kathryn buy.

August has been a crazy month. We went to Redding for a week and celebrated Joseph's birthday there. (That trip deserves it's own post...I have tons of pictures!)

At the lake

They built this in Redding...can you guess what it is?

7th Birthday - Wild Kratts "Cheetah Power" cake

Along the way, Sarah and Rachel got sick and had terrible coughs, which they passed to the other kids while we were all trapped in the van for the 12 hour drive.

The week after we got home the older kids went to a "Little Farmer" camp at a friend's farm here. They had a great time learning about all the different animals and life on a farm. They got to collect eggs, milk the cow, pick veggies from the garden, make butter, and do lots of fun crafts too. (Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of that). But, their favorite part was swinging on the rope swing that went over the creek and then "accidentally" falling in the water. =)

This past Tuesday was Sarah's first day of school. She is attending an elementary level Montessori school that recently opened here. Her teachers are great and her class is small (11 kids, 2 teachers), with mixed ages from 1st through 3rd grade. So far she is really enjoying the peaceful routine, personal attention, and ability to choose her own work during most of the day there. One day she went on a nature scavenger hunt with her class at the adjacent city park. Another day she played a rousing game of chess with a classmate.

First day of 2nd grade

Joseph and Kathryn are starting homeschool on Tuesday, and little David will start preschool at Montessori in the mornings a few days each week. We decided to NOT do soccer this year, at least not formally. We plan to play a lot of family games in the backyard. Sarah's going do ballet again and, new this year: Celtic soft shoe and hard shoe (tap). All three of the older kids will be taking piano lessons of some variety (either a private lesson, group class, or lesson with mom).

David and I are "back to school" too. Classes have started at the college again and David is teaching his regular load. I'm teaching Spanish 101 online again (this is my 3rd year now). We're doing a homeschool co-op again this year. So, it's looking like another busy fall. I'll try to keep you all updated.

Heather

PS If anyone wants to opt out of the automatic email updates when I make a blog post, just let me know by replying to the email. OR, if you don't get an email and would like to, let me know that, too.

Random Photos from the Summer

I need some roasted green chile in the worst way, so I improvised.

Our kids like beans, a lot. They think it's fun to sort and clean them too.

What a great big sister. Sarah loves to read to her siblings.

David cut down this tree limb that was hanging over our front yard. It looked so much smaller when it was up high. I took this far away picture so you could an idea of the size of that thing.

This is the "before" picture of our blue bathroom and our next project. As of today, the old floor is out, the blue tub is gone, and the blue toilet just came out tonight. So far, we only have the new tub in, but flooring and a new toilet are coming this week (I hope).

Look closely. David is IN the exersaucer with Rachel.

One of the few times he slows down during the day - nap time.

Awwwww...

David and I went bowling with our good friends Martin and Carrie and had great double-date night.

David found this awesome jacket that someone had left at the bowling alley who-knows-how-long-ago. He called it lucky and wore it for a few sets. He actually got a strike this time. =)

Chillin.... we had the entire place to ourselves. No joke. Who knew that 6pm on a Friday night would be so quiet at the Orchard Lanes? I guess everyone comes later for the cosmic bowling (w/ black lights and disco balls).

First day of homeschool - at "recess" 

The next Gerber baby? =)

New tub, in process

What kid doesn't love painting?

Last Friday, this little guy wore the same pair of underwear all day long. So I took a picture and bragged about it to my mom. Then 5 minutes later he peed his pants. Oh well. (And, there's the finished tub in the background...we've only used it once because the floor is all ripped up and it's kinda dirty in that room).

Random Pictures

Nice fake smile Joseph. =) He did ask me to take the picture of him with Rachel though.

Kathryn built this herself. I had to capture it on "film" before one of her siblings destroyed it, which is exactly what happened about 10.5 seconds after she finished, then she burst into tears.

I won't mention who might have been the culprit. Isn't he cute though?

Sarah's log house.

All done!

The little cutie on the right is Elsie, she is 5 weeks younger than David. He knows her name and likes to shout it out in the middle of church services when he spots her.

Joseph playing basketball with his buddy.

Here's Rachel at 3 months...looking all happy and chubby. (Sorry it's sideways).

Family movie night--they're watching the original Land Before Time for the first time.

All curled up with his favorite paper airplane book.

She's strong enough to sit in the exersaucer now. It's a nice change from the swing when she's wanting to wiggle a little (but the floor isn't safe because there's too many little feet running around).

Mowing the lawn together.

Growing

2 week appointment stats: 9 lbs 10oz (she gained 18 oz since her first visit to the dr.)

22 1/4 inches long (she grew 3/4 of an inch in 2 weeks)

3 weeks old - on Valentine's Day

Sarah got her first loose tooth. It fell out this week. (More pictures to come.)

Just a few pictures

Here are some more pictures of our little lady:

12 days old - this was her Sunday dress.

2 weeks old

She sleeps a lot and we love it. =)

I wanted to show some pictures of the other kids when they were babies so you could see how much they all look alike.

 Joseph, 4-6 weeks old (not sure exactly)

Kathryn - 2 hours old

David - 4 hours old

David - a few weeks old

Sarah - 2 1/2 (What a cutie! She looks like Eden.)

Kathryn - 2 months and already turning blond

Joseph - age 2

November in Photos

This is how he gets cozy when he is watching a little movie.

He pulls up his special chair and arranges his favorite blanket (aka "deet-deet") on his lap every time.

Sarah's fall festival picture. She is wearing all of her "cowboy girl" gear from Grandpa:

Wrangler shirt and jeans and pink boots that light up.

When we bought our house last year everything was set up for wheelchair access. There was a really nice ramp in the garage that made it easy to move in. But, it took up too much space. When the weather got cold, David decided that he was tired of scraping ice off his car every morning. So, he took out the ramp (it was no small task) and built two steps in it's place. Now, we can fit both vehicles in the garage!

Our first (and only-so far) snowfall of the year.

They rolled giant snowballs to make a snowman, but I wouldn't go outside to stack them.

In fact, I took all of these pictures from inside. 

Yeah, I'm wimpy about the cold like that.

We set up the tree the Monday before Thanksgiving because

Grandpa and Grandma Wiseman were here.

We had so much fun when Grandpa, Grandma, and Laura came to visit!

We even got a semi-decent family photo out of it. =)

David has some amazing concentration skills. 

He's doing some editing while little Davey uses dad for a chair.

When Grandpa Chuck came for Thanksgiving he showed up with a full mustache and goatee. Kathryn thought he was scary and didn't believe he was the same Grandpa that she played with at the lake this summer. Then he shaved it off--they enjoyed watching that--and she declared him to be her real Grandpa after all. 

Thanksgiving dinner (Grandpa with a goatee). He made some awesome potatoes, turkey, stuffing, and pie. I made a sweet potato casserole and attempted to make rolls again (failed). 

Sunday morning before church (sans goatee), right before he left. The kids and I all loved having family come visit for the holiday. It was so nice to have the extra help around the house. The kids enjoyed playing games with their grandparents and sharing their talents (they were constantly drawing pictures for them or singing songs they had learned).

Blog trivia: how many times did you spot Davey's blanket in various photos in this post?