Full Steam Ahead!

We, like everyone else in America, are in full-gear mode.  It is nice in a way to be busy with bookings and travel again, but this summer seemed really really short!!! Here are some pics from late summer...

Joel and Judah at "Touch a Truck"...

Gamma, Joel and Judah at Indian Lake on Uncle Mike's boat...

 Luther, Judah and Joel coloring with chalk on the deck. Yes, Luther is eating the chalk...

Judah and Mommy watching the July 4th parade...

It's Time to be a Married Couple!

We had some time in July to be a 'normal' married couple, whatever that is anyway.  Here are some of the things we did together!

Home Projects

We spent a lot of time in July doing home projects. We installed new blinds for the entire 2nd floor, we installed shelves and double racked our closet, we (Joel) installed 3 new water conserving toilets (much needed!), Joel built a bench out on our deck, We enclosed our loft to make another bedroom, and we painted our master bedroom!  The master bedroom project in particular was quite therapeutic for me. Our boys went to Gamma and Papa Groskopf's house for a good 3 days while we worked hard.  It was amazing to see the progress and enjoy each others conversation and the quiet house.  It was also quite nice to eat meals (or even.. not eat meals) whenever we wanted ... oh yes, we took full advantage of our time and had 3 glorious dates in a row! Thanks Gamma and Papa!!

Master Bedroom before & after ...

Home Workouts

Usually Joel joins me in whatever kind of workout phase I am going through in all of July and most of August in order to 'prepare' for the upcoming school year.  I think his body is naturally inclined to working out hard during those months after so many years of football. This year Joel joined me for about 1-2 weeks (3 times a week) of home WODs. (workouts of the day) These were modified CrossFit workouts made up by me.  He beat my time 3 times in a row and then once I accused him of cheating.  After that I didn't see him in the basement much during nap time anymore. :(

Home Bible Studies

After years of strong hints dropped by me, Joel finally suggested we do our own Bible study together.. praise the Lord! It has been fun to see how he is as a one-on-one 'teacher' and even give him some pointers!  We have been studying through Ephesians and its humbling to absorb and try to remember all that Joel is teaching me.  I am not sure any of it is sinking in.  Oh well..there's always the Children's Bible with pictures to help me out;) Seriously, though, I have learned so much from reading Children's Bibles to Joel 3 constantly. The "Jesus Storybook Bible" the "Action Bible" and the "God's Love Bible" by Positive action (its actually an app.) are some of our favorites. It's like Joel has 4 children to disciple! haha.

It's Time for School!

We are so excited for Joel's homeschooling to begin.  At 4.5 years old I won't be spending a ton of time on a rigid curriculum but will focus on reading (teaching him to read and reading to him), math, and writing.  I plan for these activities to take up about 3 hours per week.  Perhaps that will change, I don't know at all what to expect.  Along those lines.. we are super excited for Joel's co-op called Classical Conversations.  We will meet with other families from 9am-12pm on Mondays during the school year.  After the school day the families all get together and eat lunch outside from 12-1pm ish.  During these times the children will speak in front of a group, recite memory work, and partake in art and science projects.  I've heard the memory work is extremely intensive especially for a 4 to 5 year old.  The memory work is almost identical for the first 3 years so definitely the first year is the hardest.  I am expecting some additional time to be devoted to memory work for his Classical Conversations class as all of the students will be expected to retain what they have memorized. However, I have no idea how much time we will need to devote to this. Perhaps one of the aspects I am most nervous about is the LONG morning.  Judah and Luther will be in childcare for an entire 3 hours and I wonder how they will do.. specifically Luther.  I also wonder about the lunch afterwards and other activities with the Classical Conversations group.. we would love to do as much as possible with the group, however, almost every single family involved has much much older children who are much more flexible with their schedules.  (i.e. 8 year olds who eat 1/2 hour later than normal or  stay up past their bed time don't fall apart screaming and crying like they are dying!) Thankfully, there is a family at our church who is new to Classical Conversations and also has a 4,2 and almost 1 year old.  We might be hanging out a lot;)  I will keep you all updated on how it goes!

It's time for Technology!

Ok this might seem like a crazy thing to include but our family recently got an iPad.  I have such mixed feelings about letting the children use it.  So far, I allow Judah to use it with me while sitting on my lap.  Much like reading a book.  We talk about what he's doing and limit the use to about 20 mins or less maybe 2-3 times a week. Joel uses it much more.  I allow him to sit by himself and 'read' the God's Love Bible about 5 times a week for maybe 20 mins.  When he does other programs that I have chosen that are educational focused (particularly phonics and math) we do those apps together for usually 15 mins about 3x a week.  I am thinking of integrating the apps into his school time as a 'treat' after we have completed whatever tasks I have deemed necessary for the day.  Since I plan to home school

during Luther and Judah's naps I do not foresee Judah needing to use the iPad to keep him occupied while I teach Joel, but that might change.  

Thanks for hanging with me! We are pumped to be going 'Full Steam Ahead' and are looking forward to the challenges and adventures of this Fall!