Baker Tyler

Any opportunity that he has, Tyler will crack open his Betty Crocker cookbook for kids and find a yummy recipe. This time he made an apple crisp...mmmm, we all enjoyed it immensely!!

Sewing...

Alyssum is modeling her new dress and her doll's dress. I have had fun finding my sewing Christmas, it sort of gave me a good excuse to get out the sewing stuff once again. Doll clothes are a fun easy project...a good place to start since I haven't sewn much in many years! I have made several doll dresses, pants, shirts, and jackets.

And I also made corduroy jumpers for Kailee and Alyssum with dresses to match for their dolls. They love to pick out their new dress and get their doll dressed for the day as well.

Ann Marie has also found that she enjoys sewing. She has been taking sewing lessons from my mom for home ec class for school. She has also sewn several doll outfits as well as some clothes for herself and decorative pillows for me. She got a sewing box full of sewing supplies for her birthday! It is so fun to see her enjoy using her hands to create!

She's 17!!

Happy Birthday Ann Marie! We love you! Almost too many candles for one cake!! How did she get so old?? We had fun celebrating with family several times, and her siblings went all out with homemade cards and gifts. It was so fun to see their excitement when she was opening their gifts.

EMT's!!

Just when we thought our days were full and life was busy, it got busier! Last summer Steve and Ann Marie signed up to take an EMT course through our local volunteer fire and emergency department. For various reasons, the course got postponed until we got a phone call two weeks ago Sunday saying the class starts the next day! So they are off to class three evenings a week and all day Saturday, and many hours of homework and reading thrown in as well. They both seem to be enjoying this new challenge before them although they both admit to being a little on the tired side!

The reason for this new found interest is twofold, at least! Ann Marie's goal is to go to college to study nursing, so we thought getting a little intro into the medical field through EMT work might be a good place to start. Steve is not interested in pursing the medical field, but his desire is to have some medical knowledge for use on the mission field. We found through our travels to the Philippines last year that having medical knowledge goes a long ways! Just even being able to listen to lungs, check blood pressure, look in ears, etc... can help so much. So with the mission field in mind he is pursuing being a volunteer EMT for the time being.

They have over 200 hours of class time to complete and homework, quizzes, tests, and the practical aspects of learning all that an EMT needs to know. Ann Marie will be able to take the test to be an ETT, but she can't be an EMT until she is 18. As an ETT she will be able to ride along in the ambulance. She will complete the EMT course just for the experience and high school credit. Steve will take the test to be an EMT and will volunteer for the Anchor Point department.

So while they are gone to classes the rest of us carry on...school five days a week, piano lessons, writing class, dentist appointments, cooking, baking, cleaning, and just the fun of each day with 6 kids! We changed our schedule slightly to match Steve and Ann Marie's schedule...our school week for now runs Tuesday through Saturday(the beauty of homeschool). So we use Monday as a day off for everyone so that we can have a family day. Dinner is early so that they can be off to class by 5:30 three evenings a week, but that gives the rest of us an evening of playing games and reading. I am not known to enjoy change, actually I avoid it at all costs, but have enjoyed this season of change and looking forward to whatever the Lord has in store for our family in the future.

The kids have been talking alot about our trip to the Philippines a year ago(can't believe it's been a year ago already!). We all have such fond memories of each and every experience over the 2 1/2 months we were overseas. The kids felt so at home and yet were in a strange land, and they long to go back...as do we. The Lord put a desire in our hearts and we pray each day for His will for our lives.

Silly cat!

This is our 12 year old cat, Shady. She is a lovable cat who loves to curl up on the kid's beds for a nap! But this time she found the girls' doll bunk beds to curl up on! Funny side note...my mom has a picture of our kitty(when I was growing up) curled up on the very same bunk beds!!