Discovery Center

We enjoyed our spring break last week!  There were many mornings of sleeping in, afternoons for having friends over to play and a 2 day visit from our Arizona cousins (My cousin Rebekah and her two girls, Aria and Amelia, were here for the week.  They stayed with us for two of those days) On Thursday the rain came in so we met my Aunt Debbie, Aunt Carol and two cousins, Wyatt & Willie, at the Boise Discovery Center.  It's been SO nice having a membership there! The kids haven't grown tired of it yet and enjoy the little mini science classes that they give. 

 Katie and Wyatt

 Blowing bubbles... Kristiana's favorite!

Sewing

Katie has been learning how to sew on the "big" sewing machine.  She had her own smaller version of a machine but it just didn't work very well. So, we sold it and she's been learning on mine.  One day last week she made a burp cloth for her Auntie Marie/future cousin.  The one she made was pink (I think she's secretly hoping for a new baby girl cousin!) But, Marie hasn't had the baby yet and is now a week overdue.  So, if it's a boy then she'll just have to sew another one!

My Girlie

My girlie is growing up way too fast!  She continues to grow in her love for Jesus, learning to grow in showing Godly character in her daily life and just loving life!  She is a big help for me throughout the day around the house and with her siblings and, has a love for cooking & baking.  This afternoon she helped me bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies; since she is learning fractions and measuring in math right now, she can pretty much make them on her own.  Her biggest passion in life is reading! She reads about a book a day (not including school reading) and enjoys books such as: American Girl, Boxcar Kids, A-Z Mysteries, Cam Jensen and anything else she can get her hands on!  We frequent 3 different libraries quite often so she can get a variety :)  Katie is also very diligent about getting her schoolwork and piano completed and loves the time she gets to spend with her friends at Zion on Tues/Thurs.  We love her laughter, her spunk and adventurous imagination!!

I finally finished sewing Katie's new skirt last weekend.  She did a great job at choosing bright, fun spring material!

Fort Boise Park

This last Sunday afternoon Mom and I checked out the trails behind Fort Boise.  I had never been here before and fell in love! Great view of the valley and awesome running/biking trails.  I had ran 16.5 miles the day before so, only got in about 4 miles this day but, they were up and down hills.  We also checked out the course for our upcoming Race to Robie Creek run... definitely going to be a challenging course!

Playhouse

My dad began building the kids a fun new playhouse, at their house, a couple of weeks ago and got it finished this last weekend.  It was a wonderful surprise and they were all super excited! They got to spend Sunday afternoon "decorating" and playing in it.    I foresee many adventurous summer days ahead :)

Homeschooling

Homeschooling has been going well! After the holidays we were able to get ourselves into a little better routine.  Monday & Wednesday are our bigger work load days... with lighter work on Tues & Thurs because Tys and Katie have school at Zion, piano and Trent has speech.  Then, Friday is our testing days and extra activities such as the library or field trips with Zion.  We've made adjustments here or there and, figured out what works best for us.  One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility!  Also, the kids are learning that the more diligent they are getting their school done the sooner they get to play :)  Katie and Tys have both written a couple of great book reports recently and, Trenton is busy learning his ABS's and numbers etc.  He is a more "hands on" learner so I've had to use some creativity in teaching him :)

One subject I'm not very good at or, don't particularly enjoy, is crafts.  So, that is one area I'm working on... because they LOVE it!

 Yesterday I got out the paint & markers and they them create their own St Patrick's Day art :)

 Quite often our "PE" time is at our local park.  They like to ride their bikes to the park while I run Kristiana in the jogger. Yesterday we brought the soccer ball and had fun playing a game against each other. Also, we usually have a little session of what I call "boot camp"... push ups, jumping jacks, planks, sit ups etc.  They're still working on "form" but have fun doing it!

Double Trouble

Monster Jam is in Nampa this weekend.  The boys LOVE Monster Jam but went to it last year so, this year we decided, as a family, to not go to it and save our money for a different "family date".  Yesterday I spontaneously decided to take the kids to the library and they were super happy to see that the Monster Jam truck, Double Trouble, was also there! The drivers read during story time then, let everyone go outside to see the big truck. The kids were pretty happy about that!  It kind of made up for not actually going to the show this year :)