Hiking in Autumn

Happy Birthday Mike

It's been a long time coming and a lot of hard work. He is a happy 40 year old! 

Grab a breakfast

I made these treasures today. Matthew loves those pancakes on a stick from the frozen food isle. They are horribly unhealthy so I made a healthier alternative. Pancake batter with chicken sausage. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes and whah-lah ...same idea only better. Matthew gives them 👍

Catch up

Life with 2 teenagers and one soon to be can be pretty darn busy. I am not the best at keeping in touch with everyone, making all the phone calls and sending all the cards. 

To be honest, even if I have a spare moment throughout the day, my mind doesn't always direct me towards the thought of making a phone call. It's usually figuring out what to put in my families stomachs or where I need to be in the next hour or what I need to focus on teaching the boys...or sometimes my mind thinks about absolutely nothing and I give myself permission to be lazy for a minute or two.

So needless to say, the phone calls that I'm supposed to make to keep us all connected don't get made. 

So I'm going to try to update this thing again so I can do my part. I ask a favor of you, the readers-particularly family, would you update us via email, letter, text message, phone call so we can have an idea of how you are all doing too? It takes both sides to stay connected. The responsibility shouldn't rest on one party.

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Quick synopsis of where our family is at.

We moved into a new house this summer. Escrow closed in mid-August. We are enjoying it and putting it together the way we like.

Bethany is in 10th grade this year and working hard at both her high school classes and college classes. She has been taking voice classes and is being trained both classically and in music theater. She loves being on stage and is an amazing actor. She is driving now with a permit and doing a great job. She is very cautious.

They boys and I are enjoying the freedoms and challenges of being homeschooled. Niko enjoys social studies/history. Matthew doesn't really like much of the core subjects but he absolutely loves using his imagination. He writes great creative stories. He loves using his play figures still to imagine whole stories of war and bravery. He enjoys singing also. Niko loves reading historical fiction. He likes hiking and helping around the house. If we need something done, he's always the first to be there ready.

Mike is staying very busy with work. We love that he works at home. It is such a unique privilege that our family gets to spend so much time together and really enjoy each other and be a part of each others daily lives. 

I have taken a semester or two off of school to focus on mom stuff. It's been great!! 

Today is overcast and hopefully the rain will come. We have not had a snow this year which is disappointing. 

This week is a busy one. We are seeing Pippen in Phoenix tomorrow night. Thursday night we have a rehearsal for a play we are in Friday called Candles in the Water. Saturday we see Santa. Sunday bethany sings in church choir. And then I need to bust my butt to get the house ready for mikes 40th birthday party on the 13th.