And Father's Day, of Course!

Last weekend really ended up being a 3 day par-tay!

David and I have been eating healthier for months, loving it and feeling great! We give ourselves some 'jolly days' every so often where we eat bread/carbs and sugar, but not much.  

Well, last weekend we had a blast eating our way through this list of goodies... (that we shared with lots of people!)

-Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream icing (Bella's bday)

-Vanilla cake with buttercream icing (Bella's bday)

-chocolate chip pancakes with homemade maple syrup

-Paula Deen's buttermilk biscuits (Father's day breakfast)

-Sausage (homemade, but was in our freezer)

-Bacon

-Cheesecake (NY style, my mom's recipe aka Grandma Donna, it is amazing) (Father's day yum, David asked for this)

-strawberry sauce for the topping

-Chocolate chip cheesecake bars (Sophia's bday)'

Although Father's day was Sunday, we swapped and celebrated it on Saturday and gave Sunday to Sophia's early birthday celebration.

We had a good time in the word as a family, we played games, watched the movie 'Annie', and ate yummy food. And our kiddos gave Daddy their gift:

From Tobin:
I love Dad because...

• He wrestles with me
• he plays football with me
• he kicks the soccer ball with me
• he taught me how to protect myself with the pretend gun
• he is funny and tricked me by pressing the red button in the car saying it turned on the jet engine.

From Bella:
I love Dad because:

• He loves us
• He does not get easily angered
• He is a good Dad
• He is funny
• He takes care of us
• He plays with us
• He is kind
• He lets us drink soda and watch movies
• He is our dad

From Sophia:
I love Dad because:

• He is so kind
• He's forgiving
• He is playful
• He is SO COOL
• He went to NC State
• He can skate board
• He is a good soccer player
• He jumps on the trampoline with us
• He brought me to China

From Gabrielle (who drew her own 'G' on here!)
I love Dad because:

• He has fuzzy hair
• He wrestles with me
• He picks me up at school sometimes
• He throws me at the pool

David is an amazing father to our children. His patience and tender love never cease to teach me and grow me in those areas as well. He is so intentional in every aspect: from discipline, to input in home school, to playing, he stays involved. His discerning wisdom has helped brace our family during times of uncertainty and trouble. His compassion and Christ-likeness has protected our family from living the status quo. David's integrity and deep knowledge of the word is just one more vital aspect of his fatherhood and leadership of our family. I am so thankful to God for the gift he has given me in a David. 

Sophia is (not quite) 10!

We decided to celebrate Sophia's birthday almost a full two weeks early! She and I travel this Friday to camp and other fun stuff all during her birthday, so she wanted to celebrate with her closest friends here. 

And she is a girl after my heart with her desire for chocolate chip cheesecake bars for her birthday cake....

 Right before it went in the oven.

She invited two friends and the S family for cake and a trip to the water park!

It rained hard and then let up and we had a great day on the slides and obstacle course.

 By the end of the day Gabrielle was walking up the tall steps and going down the 'big dragon' all by herself.

Sophia is really becoming a young lady and growing so much in grace and wisdom. She loves to choreograph dances, lead in neighborhood games, and teach at her blackboard daily. She loves to get up in class and help teach (something they start in Chinese 3rd grade). She loves to read and math is probably her favorite subject. We are loving watching the lady she is becoming!

We continue to pray for Sophia to grow up into her name and honor God with wisdom and grace. 

Bella turns 8!!!

Our second child turned 8 on June 16th, sharing a birthday with her Aunt Laura (Happy birthday sis). Chocolate Chip pancakes, of course....

Poppy and CC got her a skateboard (previous one stolen!) and some fun clothes.

Earlier in the week momma was quite sick with a stomach bug and Bella had also just gotten over a cold/fever....but we were all healthy for her big day.

For months she said she wanted a gymnastics theme party and listed all her friends, over ten from her class! We had to narrow it a bit. But we still ended up with a good crew of over 15 kids and a full house.

I never show my kids pinterest or else they would be so disppointed at my meager attempts at themed cakes. But as it stands they are always pleased and I just chuckle to myself, what they don't know won't hurt them.

uneven parallel bars, a floor exercise, and balance beam...

The girl on floor looks more like she is floating on the dead sea...but hey....I don't do fondant.

 I tried to come up with some gymnastic-ish games...and limbo takes some flexibility skill.

The  kids all loved this! And it proved challenging for most.

  I also challenged them with different skills on the beam.

 The last one being to close your eyes...
These two games lasted a while, so we went to cake (this was an evening party, 6:30-8:00/8:30
After cake and cupcakes everyone went outside to jump on the trampoline or play in the neighborhood.

These parties are exhausting but so worth it to see Bella having so much fun with friends from school.

Bella is becoming a little lady and still is the most non-complaining child I have ever met, even when sick. She has some feisty streaks which proves she is holding her own and won't be overlooked, this just adds more spunk to her fun personality. She is super-compassionate and hates for anyone to experience pain, even if for discipline (which sometimes has her defending the wrong side). She is a great student and loves to read science books more than story books. She loves gymnastics most of all these days and currently only has me to help her hone her skills...so far our town lacks in this area...

She is precious. We love you girl and are praying God's blessings on you as you grow up!
Happy 8th birthday.

For the love of Lincoln Logs

My dad, Granddaddy to the kiddos, wanted to bless them with some Lincoln Logs, the toys with which you can build all kinds of houses, log cabins, etc. We had these when we were little and played with them a ton. 

We quickly found some on taobao, not the name brand, but an off brand that gave us so much more for the price (Maxim brand). The reviews were helpful and we took the plunge. And indeed, they have proven a tremendous hands-on building toy, just like I remember. 

I am explaining what these are and who they are from. 

From the oldest....

 To the youngest

 and in between (she built a playground)

 they all love this!

That is a school with slides and see-saws.
And the vendor sent us the wrong size so these came in two batches.

And the friends enjoy them too!

Thanks granddaddy for the awesome gift!

A Hamster, A Balance Beam, and More

Our hamster, Reepicheep (Narnian fans unite!), got an exercise ball finally. I call him our glorified rat, but he has become a treasured pet.


Sophia's class had an evaluation in a big auditorium. This was where the principle and others observe the way the teacher teaches, etc. For math, Sophia was chosen to do one part of it on the board. I would have been so nervous, but she did great.

Traffic has gotten so bad these days that as a family we each take our two-wheeled vehicles when we go out as a family. I take two on  my electric scooter, and David two on his motorcycle. Don't worry we don't ever go too fast, and there are no laws about age or how many on a vehicle...most people strap teeny babies to their backs and ride.


This was mainly a joint birthday gift but also a gift for the fam that we hope to really implement and use regularly: a balance beam.

 It is 30 cm off the floor and we have mats to go below it! Already we are implementing rolls and handstands that Aunt Nella taught us. And the knotted rope in the background is improving upper body strength. We have our own little gym going on, and it is GREAT! Now if only we had more time....thankfully school is almost out!!!

Day in the life....

 Tobin at his school. This is his last year of Chinese Kindergarten!

Our days often get flopped around based on various events at local school. For example, this week Tobin and Gabrielle went to school in the morning three days so he could get graduation pictures taken with his class.

But usually this is where you find us in the mornings..(nice finger in the picture)

 Gabrielle was getting ready for Children's Day...

And this was the outfit we had to buy for him to wear once for his picture.

 Interesting, but yes, he's cute. (I was kind of scared the suspenders would come un-clipped and his pants would drop. I thought about this all morning. My only consolation was I knew he was wearing some pretty cool batman underwear, so maybe he wouldn't be too embarrassed.

 Finally on the day of the most pictures I asked why they needed to change outfits five times and take pics all day (this is the opposite of fun for a 6 yo boy). The teacher looked at me like I was weird and
said this is what they do.

But at least G got to play more while we waited on Tobin.


Here is what a 'normal' day might look like:

6:00 a.m.: Mommy gets coffee and the word
6:55 a.m.: Mommy starts breakfast, Daddy wakes up older girls but Tobin and G usually come out at 7 a.m. as well
(fyi: daily eggs for everyone and kids get either pancakes, toast, or oatmeal with them)
7:05 a.m.: David does memory verses with kids.
7:25 a.m.: David takes Sophia and Bella to Chinese school and then goes to the office most days
7:30 a.m.: all do morning routine, teeth, beds, get dressed, I clean up a little and get ready for my day, which may involve sitting at the computer for 10 minutes to check email.
7:45 a.m.-8:00: sometimes we start before 8 sometimes not. I go through memory verses (8 per day that Tobin has already learned so we are reviewing) and catechism questions review as well. They are allowed to play as we do this as long as they say them with me.
8 or 8:20: Reading together: I read them some books, Tobin reads to me.
8:30: trampoline jumping for six minutes, we set the timer. If I choose to do some phonics team review on here we will jump longer.
Break and water
My helper has arrived! Currently I couldn't do this without her. Or I could we would just get half the amount of school done. I have a powwow with her about the day, meals, market run, etc.
8:45: start school in the school room (at least by 9). Tobin does team review, spells new words or sentence writing. Gabrielle does some letter activities and other tot school stuff.
9:20/9:30: we switch to math...Gabrielle will do puzzles, letter tracing, shapes/colors etc.
10:00 Mommy works out or runs 30 minutes max. Kids go outside with Ayi (Aunt in Chinese)
10:30: sometimes I run more with the kids while they ride their wiggle racers around our neighborhood.
10:45: all inside free play, mommy gets ready for the rest of her day (shower, etc.)
11: 15: put on short video in Chinese for the kids while I go pick up Sophia and Bella
12:00 lunch time!!!
(over lunch): Daddy usually does family devos and then Bible Book Cards and catechism. If he isn't there we do some devos and then move on to CC review maybe...
12:30-45 ish: read aloud time....favorite part of our day...depending on if the girls need to go back to Chinese school determines how long we read.
1:00-1:15: CC review memory work or intro new stuff and Shakespeare 2-3x/week
1:15: move to Homeschool room for history + maps, (if girls are going to school in the afternoon CC and history often gets dropped and I start their core with them while G and T have room time or quiet play)
1:45: Sophia starts some independent work or piano while I do spelling with Bella, G and T free play
2:00: break and snack.
2:25: take G and T to school, Sophia and Bella start all their reading: (Chinese reading, Bible reading, Lit/history reading)
3:00: I work with either Sophia on Latin or Bella on her language arts, the other will do Anki (computer memory work), and piano or any other independent work which could include math unless I need to teach it)
3:45: I flip flop.
4:30: we may do IEW or we may drop it depending on how much Chinese Homework they have or if they have actual piano class which always nullifies IEW.
5:00, sometimes done sometimes still working....I go get the littles from school!!!
5: 30 or later: dinner!
if not done with Chinese homework the girls will keep working after dinner....and then play.

All this will change next semester with Tobin going to Chinese first grade and Sophia possibly going some days in the morning and some in the afternoon. .....

Fave Things this Semester: What's working, what's not

(I cannot tell if this video is working or not, sorry)

Favorites:
I didn't mean for Gabrielle to learn Shakespeare with us, but she did.
One of our favorite things this semester: How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare. 
We only did the passages from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' but they were great! We hope to continue on with this! Ten minutes a day, seriously.

A friend gave us "Thoughts to make your heart sing" and we finally started going through it, they are short but profound and we are really enjoying these tidbits at lunch time to point our hearts to Jesus.

Sophia finished up her 'Phonics Road' curriculum through all four levels and we started 'The Latin Road'. We are doing it together and it is hard work but we are both enjoying it. I am amazed at what she is already learning and translating.

Local School: this is always working/not working. It really cramps my style with all I dream to do in Homeschool, but I am finally coming around to making it work. Their language is phenomenal both written and spoken and they just love being a part of what their classes are doing.



 The kids had a few days off of local school so we plowed through Homeschool in the morning to have the afternoon to play. This is a math game of Tobin's (Right Start B), but the girls jumped in to play real quick.

Not working...

I love Story of the World History but for level four (after already lesson planning most of it) I decided to only use it as a supplement. I instead went with CC level 2 history sentences and adding a month unit on the Civil war and Civil Rights. The kids loved this as they had to report to daddy every Friday what they learned. We just dove into learning more about the topic with encyclopedias, Story of the World, Maps, and other books I had bought, plus great read alouds. This did bring us all the way through modern times. Next year we are switching to Veritas Press online History starting over with the Ancients.

We still followed CC memory work but I really slacked this year on the review....maybe next year we will nail it!

We hardly did any science focus this year except the basic memory work.  I have higher hopes for next year. But our kids still choose to pick up science books and read them daily:
What has them so intrigued:

 SHARKS!

I had to quickly drop typing from Sophia's daily routine, zero time as she still navigates Chinese school. Maybe next year too?

IEW, Student Writing Intensive has been great for us, just slow....it always got pushed to last and we really only had time to do it about 3x/week at the most. But still, their writing did improve and they had fun with it. I was just frustrated with our need to rush through it to just get it done.