September 19

I have been celebrating September 19th since 1990.  That was the day my first, precious niece was born.  I will never forget that day. Today Nicole turns 22.  She is still precious and is so fun to know her all the days of her life!  

Happy Birthday Nicole!  Love you!

September 19, 1995, I began also celebrating Avery's birthday.  (We met in 1994, but it was a few weeks after his birthday.)  Yesterday was a big one for him..

40!

The week long celebrating began Sunday with sharing dinner at our home with a couple we have met this past year who have meant a lot to us.

The girls lived life with these same friends one night as we celebrated with one of dearest friends at a nice dinner, which was so fun. While we were out, the girls and their hosts made Avery a beautiful, delicious cake.

Notice the cake has 40 in the middle

Wednesday, we decorated the house with confetti (a mess, but festive!).  We had breakfast together and the sharing of gifts.

   

Our gifts were all homemade this year.  Many of his friends & family wrote letters & cards to encourage him on his 40th birthday.  This was my surprise gift to him. Here are the sweet gifts from the girls:

From Brook:  She wrote Papa & words to describe him. He was humbled.

From Isabella: She gave him some of their books on paps/dad and their kids

But she took each page, and added a personal touch to make it their own story.

It was super creative and sweet.

Avery loved the gifts.  They meant a lot and we didn't have to spend any money.  He spent most of his day working, went to church, and even donated blood.  I am thankful Avery is in my life.  I think the next 40 years will be even better than the first.

Happy celebrations of another year of life for two people I love dearly - Avery & Nicole!

Sweet Sunday

Yesterday was a sweet Sunday morning at church.  Brook came to me yesterday morning and told me she wanted to give all her money in the offering plate.  She got a coin purse and kept up with it during Sunday School and brought it into the worship service.  When the offering plate was passed, it almost brought tears to my eyes to see her giving everything she had (eleven cents!) with such joy.  I am sure there were higher bills and checks given, but the heart behind these eleven cents was sincere and the most precious to me.

Isabella spent the service writing sermon notes in her cute little new notebook given to her by her small group leader.  She is learning to take notes and is meeting with a small group to discuss their sermon notes.

I am so thankful for our girls and for our church!

Week at home

Well, you can tell I haven't traveled this week because I haven't blogged much!  But, we have been doing school around here.  We always try to make the most of our school days and are enjoying our new curriculum. However, we do have our hard days and have had them already this school year.

Through our studies on the countries & cultures of different continents this year, we are in North America for the first 6 weeks of school.  This past week we traveled to Mexico.

Passport to Mexico, with a stamp of the flag inside and peso money for each girl

Boarding passes for the girls!

We also began reading our first book in a series of Christian missionary stories.  Our first story is on Cameron Townsend that Avery read for us one evening.  The temperature is so nice, we enjoyed a cool evening on the back porch.  While he read, the girls made clay sun faces as their Mexican craft. Next week, we will have a Mexico party with friends and then of course go out one night for Mexican food!

I tried to post the finished product, but had some technical difficulties, but the girls did enjoy their art project.  And in case you are wondering, the peso money and boarding passes were printed right off the internet, so they are not real or valid!

Enjoy your weekend!

Birthday Season

Every family has a busy birthday season. Our family has a few busy months for occasions, and September is one of them!  First, my brother-in-law in SC, Scott has a birthday. We don't get to celebrate with him though since he is out of town, but still wish him well. Then, my niece, Eden, has a birthday.  This weekend, the girls & I gave her a surprise visit. We stayed with my brother & his family for 2 nights.

It is amazing how well these two cute cousins get along & how much they just love each other.  It is a special relationship between these two.  Eden is 6 weeks older than Brook.  So thankful for them both!

The next birthday on the list is my niece, Anna.  Today is her sweet sixteen! It is hard to believe.  

She is a beautiful young lady! Love you Anna!

Next on the list that we will have later this month is my niece, Nicole.  She will be 22.  I really can't believe that.  It seems like yesterday I was teaching her the song I made up to the tune of London Bridges, "Marilyn is the greatest aunt."  Now my Nicole is planning her wedding!

Nicole & her fiance, Tyler...love y'all

Nicole shares a birthday with Avery.  Avery will be the big 4-0 this year.  I will have more posts later this month as we celebrate him.  We have had one early celebration in his honor with his family.  Everyone met (coming from NC, SC, & TN) in Nashville a few weeks ago. We went to a water park, a ropes course, & had Avery's favorite, Red Velvet Cake.

Everyone wrote on the tablecloth at our cook-out happy birthday wishes to Avery!

Our candy bar floral arrangement centerpiece

Isabella on a water slide at the water park

Isabella doing a challenge across the water

She watches "Wipeout"!

She made it across!

Avery, well, he tried!

Here are some of us at the ropes course.  We all did it, even though that wasn't the original plan.  But, it was so much fun, & encouraging for one another.  

Brook rock climbing...she's come a long way since camp this summer!

More facing her fears

Gavin, my nephew, & Brook on the course

Brook did great!

Sara at the end of her course

Isabella in the distance doing the same course I did

Isabella at the end, ready to zip line!

If you are ever in the Nashville area looking for something fun & different to do, I definitely recommend this place!  Ah, ready to catch my breath and stay in town for a little bit...for a short bit :)

Bunko!

Last week I had the opportunity to be with friends for a night out of Bunko.  I then introduced the game to our home, so last week, we also had a family bunko night!  It was fun to sit around the table, play the game, & eat dessert.  I think they were impressed I made a dessert (other than brownies or cookies, which we do all love) just for the family with no other guests coming over. :)

Brook was our bunko winner of the night.  We hope to have more bunko nights in the near future!

Back to School!

Right after vacation, we started our new school year!  Isabella is beginning 6th grade & Brook is beginning 3rd grade.  We are thankful for feeling supported in homeschooling & believe this is what God has for our family.  We are thankful to have friends who join us in homeschooling.  Please pray for the girls (& their teacher) that we may honor the Lord as we learn academics & character traits this year.

Our school room

(kitchen table!)

Isabella made welcome back signs for each of us.

I am excited about this new curriculum we are using from My Father's World, called Exploring Countries and Cultures.  It spends the whole year learning geography, but so much more than just providing a great background of our world to help us understand history better.  We will talk about people groups from different countries from each continent, learn about them, their culture, and how to pray for them.

  

Welcome Back Brook!

Welcome Back Isabella!

My new school bell

(to hopefully help me not use my voice...as much!)

We are using a workbox system.  This will help them work more independently & keep them busier throughout the day.

Brook doing her P. E. for the day

They are both enjoying their new Nike shoes from grandparents!

We did an Earth craft with coffee filters since we are studying the world this year.

Our verse for the year...John 3:16

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."