Our busyness!!

Emma little Chinese friends at her Chinese dance class. <3 Our happy child, Emma!

5th birthday celebration!

A visit in Sept. with my son, Nathan, and his friend, Tony while they were driving west to begin their lives as Californians. He loves living in SanDiego.

AUGUST 23, 2010

I have finally caught up with the blog. I think it's time for a new look here and perhaps a new name. I'll get back to you on that!

So, it's August and summer is coming to an end. We sure have had a hot one!! In the 90's most of the summer with little rain. The garden did terrible!!!!! Grew fast buy has yielded little. :(

We will have some pumpkins this fall though and I think the kids will enjoy the fact that they came from our garden. Our little rabbits have enjoyed what veggies we have had. It's a good thing I enjoy the furry creatures!!

Emma took the the water this summer like she was born with fins!! Yes, the little mermaid is real!! No longer does she wear water wings, just her own and she dives under and swims the length of the pool across. She is faithful to put her pink goggles on and will swim for ever given permission. She has also begun to jump off the diving board into the deep end which does make both her dad and I a bit anxious since she cannot swim!!! Guess this year we will look into those swimming lessons at the local YMCA.

Nadya is quite content to spend her days sitting in her room, practicing her guitar. She has done well since Christmas teaching herself with the help of a friend and sister, Bekki. She enjoys putting her own writing into music too. This week she began 8th grade as a home schooler and again will take some classes thru PEP. This year she is taking, Logic, Alg. I, Conceptual Physics, Spanish I, and Debate. I'm sure it will be another good year for her.

Bekki is in the process of filling out her application for a long term missions trip thru YWAM, Youth With A MIssion. She will go for 9 months beginning in Jan. 2011. The trip will involve her being in a decipleship training class for the first 3 months. Her location will be aboard a very lard catamarin sailboat off off Belize in Central America. She will also learn to sail and intern with YWAM. The second 3 months she will be doing outreach using her sailing skills as they navigate the ports thru-out the area sharing Christ and meeting the needs of the poor. Upon completion of these 6 months she will then have the opportunity to either do an internship with another missionary anywhere in the world for 3 months or go to a secondary training school for which there is a wonderful one in Belize that has a focus on music worship. So, we would appreciate your prayers and if you see Bekki let her know.

Aimee and Brett have been married for almost 2 months!! Photos to come.

WELL IT HAS BEEN OVER A YEAR SINCE I LAST POSTED HERE! HOW QUICKLY TIME GOES THESE DAYS.
HERE IS A RUN DOWN OF OUR PAST YEAR IN WARP TIME! :)
AUGUST 09 SCHOOL BEGAN FOR NADYA AS A FIRST TIME HOME SCHOOLER IN THE 7TH GRADE. SHE TOOK SOME CLASSES AT A LOCAL CHURCH AND PARTICAPATED IN A PROGRAM CALLED PEP. HER CLASSES INCLUDED, GENESIS THOUGHT, PRE-ALGEBRA, GEOGRAPHY, COMPOSITION AND LIT., AND ART AROUND THE WORLD.
SEPTEMBER 09 WAS BUSY WITH US MOVING A CHILDS HOPE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY AND KIDS AGAINST HUNGER TO A NEW LOCATION IN BLUE ASHE, OH. WE WERE MORE THAN BLESSED BY SO MANY! AIMEE BEGAN HER SENIOR YEAR AT UNIV. OF CINCINNATI WITH HER FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS. BEKKI CONTINUED TO WORK THE COFFEE SHOPS AS SHE WAS CONSIDERING HER FUTURE. EMMA IS HOME WITH MOM, ENJOYING HER CHINESE DANCE CLASS AND HER GYMNASTICS FOR WHICH SHE IS A NATURAL.
OCTOBER 09 WE COMPLETED OUR MOVE AND BEGAN THE PACKING FOR KAH ONCE AGAIN. LARRY AND I TOOK A MUCH NEEDED 3 DAYS AND DROVE TO GAITLINBURG WITHOUT OUT CHILDREN! WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME RELAXING AND PEOPLE WATCHING.
NOVEMBER 09 I CELEBRATED ANOTHER BIRTHDAY! SORRY AGE IS NOT AVAILABLE. :) WE LOOKED FORWARD TO HAVING OUR FUTURE SON-IN -LOVE COME FOR THANKSGIVING. KAH WAS EXTREMELY BUSY WITH GETTING FOOD PACKED.
DECEMBER 09 HERE WE ARE CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. EVERY YEAR I PROMISE MYSELF TO KEEP IT SIMPLE AND I THINK WE FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT THIS TIME. :) WE HAD SOME FRIENDS FOR DINNER AND JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE. AIMEE FLEW TO CT. TO BE WITH HER FIANCE, BRETT.
JANUARY '10 A NEW YEAR!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL, HOPE IT HAS BEEN A GOOD ONE. TRAGIC EARTHQUAKE HIT HAITI LEAVING DEVASTATION ALL OVER. LORD WE PRAY AND WILL CONTINUE TO PRAY UNTIL YOU RETURN.
FEBRUARY '10 LARRY TOOK A SMALL TEAM TO HAITI TO SEE HOW OUR KAH COULD HELP. DIFFICULT VISIT, NO WATER, NO FOOD, NOTHING!! SADNESS EVERYWHERE, BUT CHIRST WAS STILL LIFTED UP AMONG THE RUBBLE. EMMA HAD HER 5TH BIRTHDAY AND BEKKI HAD HER 19TH BIRTHDAY. :) HOW THE YEARS FLY. BEKKI HAD A FEW FRIENDS COME FROM CT. TO HELP CELEBRATE. :)
MARCH '10 KAH IS BUSY COLLECTING AND PACKING FOOR AND AID FOR HAITI. IT'S A DAILY EFFORT. AIMEE, BEKKI AND I DROVE EAST TO CT FOR A WEDDING SHOWER GIVEN BY SOME WONDERFUL PEOPLE AT OUR HOME CHURCH, CALVARY. WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE THEM.
APRIL'10 LARRY AND I CELEBRATED OUR 35TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!! WE WENT TO DINNER AT THE MONTGOMERY INN TO CELEBRATE. EASTER OR RATHER, RESURRECTION SUNDAY IS AMIDST US THIS MONTH. MAY WE BE EVERY MINDFUL OF WHAT HE DID ON THE CROSS FOR US. PRAISE THE LORD!
MAY '10 NADYA COMPLETED HER FIRST YEAR AS A HOME SCHOOLER VERY SUCCESSFULLY...STRAIGHT A STUDENT! :) GETTING READY FOR AIMEE AND BRETT'S WEDDING!
JUNE'10 LEFT OH ON THE 18TH AND DROVE TO CT. AIMEE AND BRETT GOT MARRIED ON THE 25TH OUTSIDE ON A BRIGHT SUNNY DAY. THE LORD SURELY BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER AFTER SO MANY YEARS. WE RENTED A LITTLE COTTAGE FOR THE TIME WE SPENT THERE. LOVED SEEING OUR GRANDCHILDREN AND THE BEACHES. JULY '10 HOME AND LOVING THE SUMMER HERE IN OH. IT'S BEEN SO HOT, BUT WE HAVE CENTRAL AC AND A BEAUTIFUL POOL TO KEEP US COOL AND HAPPY.
PHOTOS COMING IN NEXT POST!

PROM 2009

Group photo of the two couples

Bekki & Kirsten

Emma and her boys!! Learning early.

Bekki and BF, Seth

Bekki & Seth in living color!!

I am way behind in my posts so I am trying to cover some ground here. Today, the prom. This event actually took place on May 16th at Mason High School here in Mason, Ohio. They really do it up well and I know my daughter had a wonderful time with her friends. Here are some photos to enjoy.

Graduations!!

Bekki's senior picture. Aimee loves photography so we hired her to do the shots. I think she is very talented. :)

Nadya at her 6th grade graduation! She is the one with the pink skirt!! :)
Nadya's 6th grade photo, by Aimee.

Graduation Day for two of our girls!! May 30th our daughter, Bekki, graduated from high school. Bekki has been home schooled for all her schooling and with the help of a program called PEP that she was enrolled in these past 3 years she has completed her studies!! Yeah!! We are very proud of her accomplishment and dedication to the work load. PEP is a wonderful though acedemically challenging program for home schoolers. We are very thankful that we had that available to us. She is taking a year to work and save $$ with plans of attending Hillsong School in Australia in 2010-2011.

We also had our daughter, Nadya, complete the 6th grade and with great honors is ready for the next faze of her education. Nadya received multiple awards; Leadership, High Honors, Writing Excellence, Team Player, Social Studies Achievement, Art Award and the President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence with a letter. So, basicaly, she is our little nerd. :)

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY GIRLS!!!

MOTHER'S DAY AT THE PARK

Mother's Day has come and gone once again. This year I must admit I had my reservations as usual about it being "Mother's" day. I had decided early on that I would do something different and take the afternoon away from the family. I know that may sound odd to some, but I have been in such need of a break from all the bodies and voices at home. So, my dear husband was planning to pack me a picnic lunch of my favorite foods; roast beef sandwich on rye, chips, pickle, iced tea and I would get myself an ice cream as a treat. Sounds good to me!! Anyway, Sunday came and the weather was just too nice to spend it by myself. I rushed home from church and packed a picnic for the family. Sandwiches, chips, watermelon and drinks. I surprised them by inviting them to the park with me. It was a wonderful time for all. Emma enjoyed the playground toys and the girls enjoyed hiking the trails. My husband and I just enjoyed relaxing with no phones or requests. It was probably my best Mother's Day!! I say that because often I am the one to spoil the fun times planned by the kids. A fancy meal is not what I want and seeing them all running around the house trying to make everything perfect is just too stressful for me!! I want to get away and just do nothing!! This year we did just that and I am very thankful for that opportunity. Thanks kids!! I enjoyed having a day off and just hanging with you all. :)

Friday Frenzy!

Well, it's Friday again!! How many Friday's have passed since I last posted? Hmm...

So, why is the Friday Frenzy! Ok, today was a pretty typical day except that in the afternoon I had to drive my daughter, Bekki, to a location that was not so close and navigate a very busy Friday afternoon road-system that is just plain crazy and scary!! So, I drove the 30+ minutes to the location where her drama club was performing in the evening. I dropped her off and turned around towards home. Emma fell asleep, not good, and I once again fought the endless Friday traffic home. I made a stop at the grocery store to pick up some goodies that I needed to take to the performance and then home. It's now 30 minutes that I have to dress, eat, put a cheese tray together and make sure my 4 year old is fed and cleaned up. Now we are headed back to where I was only about an hour ago, thus my frenzied Friday. :) In the mean time my husband had a presentation at our daughter, Nadya's, school for the Kids Against Hunger program we do on Saturdays. Nadya was planning to go to a freinds after school and we had to pull the plug on that when we realized we had nobody at home to retrieve her from her friends home after dinner. Just a lot of odds and ends that were getting lost in my plans. I really should place a large planner on my wall and have everyone fill it out around my committments. I will.....some day!!

The drama was put on by our daughter, Bekki's, home school group. There were two groups and they each did a comedy on church related stuff that was actually very relevant today! They all did a great job and wish I had a photo of Bekki's costume because she really shined! Way to go Bekki!!!

That's it for now. I will try to get some new photos of the gang up next time.

HAPPY MAY DAY!!

EWB

SPRING HAS SPRUNG HERE IN OHIO

Spring has finally come to Ohio after a long cold winter. Every year it never ceases to amaze me just how much I dislike the cold!! And I mean strongly DISLIKE the winter. Coming from New England where our winters are long and cold, there is also the element of snow. For much of the winter we looked at a white blanket on the ground covering all the deadness. Ohio winters are bleak. Not much snow so most of the time we are looking out at gray skies, gray trees, gray streets and well, pretty much a dismal place. Every year I beg to move to a warmer climate where the sun shines most of the year and the leaves stay on the trees!! Anyway, it's spring now and I love this time of year. New birth in so many ways! The flowers, trees, birds, bunnies and other living creatures are coming out to see the wonderful creation God has provided for our pleasure!! Thank you!!

I have not blogged for a month and I can't believe how the time passes. This week Nadya is on school break so it's a nice time to relax. The other girls have already had spring breaks. We are looking forward to celebrating EASTER, the Resurrection of our Savior. I have been reading and listening to recounts of Jesus's last days and it is always a somber reminder of just how much He suffered for us! So, I will ponder his life and death on the cross these coming days.

The family is doing well. Aimee went and got engaged a couple of weeks ago and we are very happy for her and her fiancee, Brett Beatty. In a family full of girls it's a nice welcome to add another son. :)

Nadya

Nadya with BF Abby in Ct. 2006

Beach Babe on Cape Cod 2006

Photo shoot with sister Aimee. 2007

Bekki and Princess Nadya 2004

Well, spring is almost here!! I can feel it in the air and smell the emerging grass and tiny sprouts pushing their way thru the ground. Isn't God great to give us spring after a long cold winter.

I thought I would share some of my daughter Nadya's daily life with you all. It's not all that exciting, but she is growing up before out eyes and I thought she needed some special attention.

Nadya is 13 and thinks she is ready to take on the world. I think that is pretty much what all 13 year olds think. Having several older sisters gives her a view into the gradual freedoms that have been earned and much to her dismay she will have to wait, just like them. My husband and I set our own standard and decided that a cell phone was not necessary until they were working and/or driving. Most of Nadya's school friends have their own cell phones and that makes it very difficult for us and for her trying to fit in. Clothing is also another area that we have tried to adress among the skimpy dress we see everywhere in elementary school and soon in middle school. That is very disturbing to us so we have made a prayerful decision to home school next year and perhaps for Nadya's future years. She will be part of a program called PEP, Providence Extension Program. Our daughter, Bekki, is graduating grom that program in May with a graduation ceremony and diploma. Anyway, this will be a new journey for Nadya and I think she will do very well.

Some things about Nadya:

Compassionate, especially towards animals

Servant, best helper in the house

Strong Willed, Lord help me!!

Smart, very!

Artistic in many different areas

Desires to grow up way to fast

Can argue with the best of them, should be a lawyer

Thoughtful

Loyal

Inquisitive

There you have it. :)