Family Update

It's been a long time since I've done a family update. There's a lot to tell, so here goes!

The girls and I worked hard to finish school before Memorial Day, even doubling up on lessons most days toward the end. To celebrate our last day, I gave the girls mini mani-pedis! It was a fun way to mark the end of the year and prepare for our vacation, where we'd be wearing a lot of sandals! (More on our vacation in another post. . .)

We also marked the end of our school year with a Mother-Daughter Tea hosted by our homeschool group. H, G, M, Grandma, and I went and enjoyed picking out our own teacup sets (to keep!), making a sewing craft (thankful for Grandma's help!), and enjoying tea, lemonade, and desserts. It was fun for us to dress up and be pampered. :-)

We celebrated 3 birthdays in May! M turned 5, F turned 3, and J turned 1. We celebrated their birthdays at our small group's end of the year picnic and Grandma and Grandpa were here visiting as well. There were 39 people at our house!

J turned 1! She didn't like the cake, frosting, or ice cream that we offered her on her birthday, so we didn't get any good "digging into it" pictures like we did with the other kids. She just kept scrunching up her nose and shaking her head no! She is walking all over the place and seems to have no fear, which makes me fearful sometimes! She loves to play with her sisters and can be quite a ham when they dress her up. She definitely has an opinion and will tell you what she does or doesn't want. She is going to be another strong-willed one, I can tell!

F turned 3 and is officially starting preschool. She considers herself one of the big girls and loves to do whatever they are doing, which includes school, so we actually started doing some school with her earlier this year. She feels so grown-up and is very serious about her homework. :-) She has a wonderful imagination and can make up a story about almost anything. She loves to pretend and play with her sisters.

M turned 5 and finished preschool. She is learning to read and can read some easy readers by herself. She has graduated from speech and can be easily understood by all, which is such an improvement over 2 years ago! She is a sweetheart, very loving and tender. She loves to play with her sisters and ride her bike outside. She is a big helper as well as a peacemaker.

G is 6 and has finished Kindergarten. She is reading very well, and has almost finished "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. She has been seizure-free since the end of September and we were able to wean her off one of her medications, which has helped with her energy level. She loves to help with baby J and play with her sisters. She has started writing in a journal, and she loves to write poems and songs. Her dream is to be a singer and songwriter someday, and would love to publish a CD with her own songs. One of her new favorite pastimes is answering the telephone, which she does very politely. :-)

H is almost 8 and has finished 2nd grade. She is a voracious reader and can read a whole chapter book in about an hour. She finished the entire Boxcar Children book series this year, about 150 books! She has also enjoyed reading the American Adventure Series books, which are historical fiction from a Christian perspective. She is a big help with her sisters, and is so sweet about including others in her play. She loves art and writing, and hopes to publish a book someday. I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

There's so much more to tell, but the ability to focus on a blog post with 5 children around is not an easy task. Hopefully I'll have time for more frequent updates through the summer.