Lately...

We have been up to a lot! I am feeling overwhelmed with blogging about all of it. So here are some of the highlights until I find the energy...

1. Mason has been finding his skills in Basketball. He's loving it and is improving every day.

2. Homeschool Classes. Mason is enrolled in a "Flight Class" with some other homeschoolers where they will learn about gas, air, atmosphere, airplanes, etc. It seems pretty fun so far. I'll try to get some pics later. Both Kaiah and Mason are taking Choir/Music Class twice a month with some other families from church. Their musical and vocal skills have improved as well. They have a great time singing silly songs and hymns alike and teaching them to Cambria when they come home :) Also, they are loving our once a month Friday School where Mrs. Smith is teaching them about things that fly.

3. Addie Sherman's Finalization (I think this is the last one for a while!)

4. Rec. Center Classes. Kaiah and Cambria were able to take a Creative Movement class together! They had so much fun! Kaiah was the tallest, Bria was the shortest.

5. Lochlan had been growing! Well not too much... He hasn't even hit 20 pounds yet. But at 15 months he's finally starting to walk! And this kid is getting so fun, adorable, curly-haired, and loving.

6. Easter. We went to a silly and freezing cold (thankfully uncle Andy and mom had tons of extra coats and blankets in their cars) egg hunt with a bunny that got dropped off by a helicopter before going to my parent's house for a real hunt and Easter lunch with all the cousins.

(Notice the sheriff's deputies with hands on guns guarding the eggs before the hunt)

7. Family Trip to Lincoln City for 3 days. We rented a beach house and spent a very cold, windy and stormy time there. We didn't set foot on the beach but saw a lot of fun waves, enjoyed the sights, watched a few movies, and got a family pass to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Thankfully everyone had a blast... literally.

We arrived just in time to see them feeding the sharks!

8. Continuing Bird Fascination. We have discovered a new live stream website that has a couple of 24/7 live camera feed in a barn owl's nesting box someone set up in their backyard. We've been watching "Molly" since she was sitting on 5 eggs. Now 4 have hatched and we are loving watching the male bring her food (sometimes still alive) in the evenings. Seeing the behavior of such a beautiful bird mom has been awesome and watching her tear apart the little vermin's flesh so she can feed her babies is a little disturbing and cool and the same time. Cliff thinks Molly is why I haven't blogged as much. Hmm. Mason asked if Molly was an idol. Hmmm again. Yes and yes. I think they are both true. So I had to cut back a little. :)

Also, we decided to participate in the OSU extension service's Incredible Egg program. We rented an incubator, obtained the curriculum and are in the process of hatching 5 baby ducks. I'll definitely do a post on that when they hatch, which should be in about 3 weeks! If we are successful, we will go on the hatch some baby chicks. All the birds will then go to my parent's yard so the kids can keep up with them occasionally, and my parents can have fresh eggs... and a lot of poop in their yard.

9. We've had a lot of potlucks with friends. Potluck Fridays once a month with the same crew as usual and weekly potlucks with our Bible Study every week.

10. Microphotography. Actually, I don't really even know if it's called that. I'm just guessing that if you take pictures of really small things it's micro. I recently pulled out some equipment (rings) that my brother got from my Grandma when she died and then he gave to me. I have loved this! It's showing me this whole new world of beauty that I didn't know existed. The only downside is whenever the kids and I go on a walk to the park it can take a REALLY long time. I have to get the perfect shot and in focus and I'm not very good yet so it takes a while. Here's a sample:

Yeah. I don't know how I got that close to the cat's eye without her scratching me either...

11. Learning more about things. See the most recent post I just wrote about all the things God has been teaching me from His Word even though I have been less than faithful about reading it every day. I have been meditating on it a lot throughout the days and He has been faithful to teach me anyway.

Marriages around us are falling apart like crazy. So we have been learning and planning ways to spend more quality time together. Trying to do more date nights, talking, communicating, etc. It has been fun, but the task is very serious and we don't want to let the kids, or work, or school, or Molly the Owl, or anything else come between us and the marriage God wants us to have.... That being said, it's still hard work!

Also, we just went to an informational meeting to start in motion Kaiah's switch from insulin shots at least twice a day to a pump that is attached to her all the time with only one poke every three days in an effort to obtain more consistent blood sugar control. We should start hooking up in about a month.

And with my first real year of fully homeschooling both older kids, I am doing a lot of research into how I/we want to do things next year. Unit studies? Bible time? Science? Classes? Field Trips? It looks like next year will be a blast... if I can get it all organized and execute the plans. Oh yeah. That reminds me I need to do the same thing with a meal plan and menu. I should go...

So that's what we've been up to this past month or so. Good times. Great blessings. Loving God and my family.