And the Books are Closed

Another end to another school year!

I've already posted about some of our favorites and what we've studied this year.

Today, I'll post about our last day of school for the 2013-2014 school year.

This was Sissi's artwork this morning. Truly, this girl is an artist. She is constantly drawing. I have pictures taped all over the sliding glass door and in the bedrooms. Picking the "favorites" to keep in her "memory bin" for this year is going to be difficult.

We did our Unit review this morning. The younger two, Gwangi and Sissi, did the above quiz out loud with me and they did very well. I was thrilled with what they remembered from the last 30 years or so of history and current events.

This was Krypto's quiz. It was six pages!

He was able to "characterize" the presidents from Carter through Obama by picking out 2 things that were issues for them on the domestic front and two issues that they dealt with in foreign affairs. Then, he had a list of about a dozen events and had to put them on a timeline. Finally, he had a map of the Middle East and had to label the countries. What a trooper he is...there was a bit of verbal help from me when he got stumped, in the form of, "Well, what President did that happen under?"...and once he could remember the time frame, he was good to go.

Our rising 2nd grader.

One of the things I know I will miss as she grows up is her super cute way of saying, "You're uh-pposed to...." We have stopped correcting her "supposed to" and just smile...in fact, we find ourselves saying it as well.

Our rising 4th grader.

Our rising 6th grader.

There were some tears this morning when Gwangi and Sissi realized that he is almost half way done with school and then will leave to go to college.

So glad they love each other.

....they have also asked me to look into any "college from home" programs that might be out there, lol!

My kiddos.

The more serious looks. 

I could not be happier, could not be more grateful for how things have gone this year. It may have been tough at times, juggling the travel and speaking schedule that we've kept this year in the US, but they have sparkled and shone and enjoyed the challenge.

Next up, tomorrow...cleaning off the shelves (and maybe the sliding glass door?), getting stuff ready to list for sale, and taking a trip to the Used Book store. After that, making a list of "fun" activities and options for them to do over the summer. We have 3 weeks of Mommy and Daddy getting a bunch of "work" done around the house before we hit the road for a month of "goodbyes!"

AWANA Graduation Night

This year back in the US has been a pretty awesome plethora of "experiences"...one of the best...most favorite...growth enabling experiences we chose for the kids this year was to join an AWANA group.

They have been able to memorize more scripture than I have ever had them work on before and it's really gotten me thinking and planning on what we're going to work on together as a family next year overseas.

Sissi with her Sparkies teacher, Ms. Roxanne

She is a lovely lady that obviously cared for our girl and really put her full energies into helping her to excel. Sissi was able to complete one and a half books, even with all of our travel and time away!

Krypto with some of his friends.

The standard "silly faces"

Gwangi with a friend, who has also been on both of his baseball teams.

Another good friend, who is also a neighbor.

The kids had been saving their AWANA bucks and today was the last "store." Sissi got a glow in the dark spinner and was so excited to use it and show it to her friends. They also got pizza!

More spinning, and I like the look on her face.

Spinner is flying high!

Gwangi got a participation award. Again, with all of our travel, we have missed quite a few weeks, and even though this kid could memorize 3 and 4 verses a week, there just wasn't time in their Small Group meetings to get them all checked off. 

Gwangi did have 100 AWANA bucks though, so he got a bouncy ball and a basketball game.

Krypto and one of his friends.

Krypto with his teacher, and receiving his book completion award. This boy worked so hard and is such a blessing to others. He spent most all of his AWANA bucks buying gifts for his Small Group members and for his brother and sister.

I am so proud of their hearts and their desire to hide His Word in them!

Our Wednesday AM and Favorite Psalms

Just another 4.5 days of school...so this morning I asked, what was our favorite Psalm of the year?

We used the Notgrass drawing pages each morning for our devotion time. I would read the Psalm, we would talk about it, then the kids would draw a picture, based on the written Notgrass prompts, and that would help them to remember what the Psalm was about.

Sissi said her favorite was Psalm 54, because she likes that God always listens to her, every time, all the time, and she feels safe that way. (Yes, the cursive handwriting is mine, she wanted it to be "fancy" for God.)

Her second favorite was Psalm 51, because she likes snow and playing in it and it reminds her of God creating the earth.

Gwangi said his favorite was Psalm 104, because it reminds him that God created awesome creatures such as the Leviathan.

His second favorite was Psalm 98, because he feels like the ocean (and other water) is an unlimited adventure. You never know what is underneath the waves.

Krypto said his favorite was Psalm 5, because it comforts him.

He said his second favorite was Psalm 119, because it reminds him that God is always there and will guide him.

Just a few more pictures from our morning....

For her reading aloud time with me this morning, she picked Amelia Bedelia. Clearly, these are her new favorite books to read.

We're wrapping up our coverage of all of History this next week! Next year, we're back to Egypt and Adam and Eve! Today, Krypto and my discussion was about 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the genocide in Rwanda, and a few other things that occurred during the Bush administration.

Gwangi is seen here working on his math. He is half way through Math U See Delta, which is actually 4th grade math. I'll have him go back and do a review in the fall, but he (really, all of them are) doing very well in math. On the floor you can see "The Indian in the Cupboard," which he finished up reading today for his literature assignment.

A life lesson from the Ammonites

There are a multitude of life lessons in the stories of David...someone should do a study on it, really! Maybe Beth Moore already has, I'm not sure?!

Personally, I have been cogitating and thinking and chewing the past couple of weeks on 2 Samuel 10. 

In this story we have Nahash, a dead king, who historically was known as the bad guy that poked out the right eye of many of the children of Gad and Reuben. He is the king who laid siege to Jabesh-gilead and that is the incident that pushed the Israelites to install Saul as their king (1 Samuel 11.)

We aren't really sure, at the beginning of 2 Samuel 10, what kindness Nahash had done for David, but, I assume there was no sarcasm at the start of the chapter. I believe that David fully intended to console and pay homage to a dead man, a dead king in fact, when he sent his men on the trip to the Ammonites.

Hanun's advisors though put suspicous and vile thoughts in his head and caused him to mistrust David's intentions. Hanun ended up acting on those suspicions, and out of fear, and decided that he would "strike first."

In so acting, he hurt David's men, without ever pausing to ask any questions or give David the benefit of the doubt.

Then, David, in his anger, brings out an army and an all out war was declared....and thousands are left dead.

What started off as a well-intentioned visit, became a blood bath.

How many times have we jumped the gun and hurt others because of a suspicion or an unknown? Or, sometimes, because of listening to bad counsel?

Why is our first response, even among the body of believers often times, to "hurt the other first" and in essence start a domino effect full of pain and mistrust?

I pray with our children, almost daily as they have issues with each other over toys or games, that we give each other the benefit of the doubt rather than get angry and lash out in suspicion and fear when we feel that someone has wronged us. I think we all know where unforgiveness and bitterness can lead us, right? Wouldn't it be better if, instead of talking or acting on our first instinct, that we first of all take the time to pray for wisdom about our situation, that we surround ourselves with wise advisors and read the wise counsel found in the Word before we act...particularly in our relationships with our family, with our close friends, and with those we find at our places of worship?

Let's make a choice today...to choose to ask questions, to clarify, if we feel wronged. To trust that God has a plan for us, that He is our refuge and our strength, even when things appear to be dark and ominous and full of trouble. Let's choose to not do evil to others....even IF they are doing evil to us.

Some of our favorite verses about this are as follows -

Romans 12:21 - Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 13:9b-10 - Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Matthew 7:12 (also known as the Golden Rule) - In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

...and I know, there are many, many more. The Word is full of examples of forgiveness and those people that stop to accept wise counsel before acting...and, it is also just as full of examples of those that did not. Can we ask the Lord to help us to not be a Hanun, or a Rehoboam, or a Balak and Balaam today? To instead show love and forgiveness, because "love covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8 and Prov 10:12)

Just a few memories from this school year

We just have another 5.5 days of this school year left.

It has truly flown by in a blur of assignments, life experiences, and travel.

There have been so many blessings and things learned this year...so, I asked the kids....

What has been your favorite things about this year? (I'll blog more later about what I learned and what we're doing next year.)

Sissi (finishing Grade 1) - I love math and I really liked learning about all the Presidents. I can't wait to go to Mt. Vernon this summer when we're in DC and see the secret tour from "National Treasure"...I want to be where George Washington was.

Gwangi (finishing Grade 3) - I really liked learning about WWII, but, I wish we had learned about more of the battles. My favorite books to read this year were "The Phantom Tollbooth," "Escape From Warsaw," and "The House of Sixty Fathers." Also, getting my Nook for my birthday was pretty awesome! Oh, and at Christmas time I was so happy to get Axis and Allies and my tanks from Uncle Tony. Yep, that's about it.

Krypto (finishing Grade 5) - I also really liked learning about WWII, but also the Cold War and the Persian Gulf War. My favorite books from this year were "Lillies of the Field" and the book about Jacob Deshazer because I love how he changed his whole heart and forgave the people that hurt him and went back to tell them about Jesus. I also really like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and you know I'm reading his space trilogy now and that is really great. Writing has also been better this year and yes, you can share what I just wrote, Mom.

Krypto's assignment this past week was to write a personal narrative, about a recent experience -

Making a Computer Game

One day, about a week ago, I had the crazy idea to make a board game.  It was simple, all you had to do was link computers to the network and then upgrade your servers.  It also allowed you to connect to the internet and interact with other players. Then I decided to take it to a friend who knew about computers, and guess what? He said it might work!

That’s when we really got crackin', we strained our brains, trying to work out all the core mechanics for our game. It was hard, but it was totally worth it. We added a lot of cool things like research, servers you can only use a certain time of year, six different kinds of servers, links, eight players, and there are even viruses and a cyber defense force!

It was awesome, and we stored all that information on the side of an old shopping bag we cut open. One night we went outside to eat with our families. (I’m not the parent, though, did I mention I’m 11 and my friend is 39?)  Then my friend suggested that we give the idea to a friend of his that could do the artwork for us. We sent the ideas and guess what again, she liked it! We’re still working on it, but if we do finish it, we hope you enjoy it!

"Houston, we have a 9 year old!"

Yes, that is right! Gwangi is 9!!!!

Now, for the amazing story behind his gift this year.

Last fall, he decided that he really wanted an "electronic" something...an iPod, a Kindle, a Nexus, something like his friends have, to read on and play games. We told him that he needed to wait. We were concerned that he wasn't mature enough to know when to say "no" and when to turn it off. His Christmas present had already been purchased, so we figured for his birthday in May, he might be ready.

While we were in Little Rock in November, he was given a gift of some money to put toward that purchase, he diligently saved it for all of these months. We told him in April that we had done some research and that for reading, playing games, and to have a camera to do his stop motion animation movies, that a Nexus seemed to be the best choice. He was going to split the cost with us, using his savings from last fall, some leftover Christmas money, ALL of his allowance that he had been saving ($5 a month, since last fall), and some birthday money that we knew was coming. We figured all was well, but, as Indy and I talked a bit more, we realized that we still would need to buy a separate "durable" or "rugged" camera for when we are in Kyrgyzstan next year...something that we could take out in the field, out camping, etc. What to do?

This past Sunday we were speaking in Archdale and after the service a couple came up to us and said that they felt led to give us their pretty much, brand new Nook HD+. We were floored, "Really?! Are you sure?" They said they were absolutely sure and handed us the Nook, in a nice case, and the box and charger!

Wow! He takes care of everything, all the stuff, the big stuff, the little stuff, and the dreams and hopes of a soon to be 9 year old! Incredibly blessed and amazed would be an understatement.

So, this morning we told Gwangi, this is your gift, it doesn't have a camera, but it has a much larger screen and we are now going to take the money we had been saving to buy the Nexus for him, and buy a camera that we can all use...even a 9 year old! He was THRILLED and thanked God right then and there for his awesome new present! We were so excited to see him sharing it today, with his siblings and with the neighbor kids that came over to play. He has grown up, he has matured, far beyond what we were expecting or even praying for last fall. It is all so very exciting, to see the Lord's hand in this blessing and in our son's growth.

Now, on to some pictures from today...but, before I go...I think we are going to get something like this - Nikon Coolpix Camera - has anyone tried any of the "rugged/waterproof" cameras before? Thoughts? Ideas? Reviews?

Seeing the Nook for the first time.

He was truly excited and thankful, what a precious boy with a heart for God.

In our house, birthday person gets their choice in all three meals!

Breakfast was Daddy's deer sausage, on bagels with fried eggs and cheese.

Lunch was ham sandwiches, and he wanted to make them for everyone.

Dinner was PIZZA!

Sissi helped me to make his birthday cake today. She just loves to cook..

....and lick the batter, of course!

We also made cupcakes for his baseball team practice tonight.

This afternoon the kids were all out playing, and when you have 4 boys (our 2 and the neighbor's 2), the choices of games seem to include sticks and be a bit rougher than what a girl would choose. Unfortunately, princess girl was scratched under the eye and had to have some "special attention" to make her feel all better.

Gwangi's cake. It is a "Minecraft" concept with a mountain that is erupting with lava on one side and water on the other side....and of course, we had to have Lego candles!

Blowing out the candles.

At baseball practice tonight he hit an awesome home run, all the way out to the soccer fields!

Getting ready for dessert #2....cupcakes!

Some of his team mates.

Enjoying the cupcakes.

They all said they were pretty good.

I think we only brought one home.

Oh, that is because he took some of the extras in his mitt.

The end of the day, doing some reading on the Nook before bedtime. I think they were both reading Lewis' "The Magician's Nephew." 

That is a great way to wrap up a birthday!

Happiest of days to the sweetest 9 year old I know! May this next year be full of the Lord's grace and growth in your heart and life, my son!

A Lovely Easter

I took some pictures of the kids this morning.

Then I took my camera to church and took pictures of all the families there...and had a friend take our family photo. It is hard to get a picture of all of us!

Happy Easter...He is Risen, Indeed!

My precious kids, they are so very sweet and lovely!

What a cute girl.

I love how she turned for me to show part of her hair.

So very sweet!

My handsome boy, Gwangi.

Krypto wanted his picture by the white flowers.

...and a picture of him smelling them.

Singing at church today.

Our family, outside of Generations Church, Lewisville, NC.