Homeschool Soccer

 

This week was the beginning of our new school schedule and our new “normal.” I want the kids to have plenty of opportunities to meet other kids and to learn the same kinds of things other kids are learning. Thankfully, there is a great homeschool group in the town nearby. They have organized a free soccer "camp” every Tuesday afternoon for all ages. They have a coach come to teach them some of the rules and skills of the game (although this past week, he focused more on the older kids while parent volunteers played with the younger ones). They don’t really play a “formal” game, and they aren’t really even expected to practice at home—it’s all non-competitive, just a fun way to learn the game, to get exercise, and socialize with other kids. I love that it gives them a chance to try out the sport and see if it’s something they may be interested in. I also love that it gives them a chance to learn physical education because that is something I would not be able to teach them well at home!

After a time of warming up as a group, the younger kids played some unorganized drills and games: a little tag, a little dribbling the ball around the cones, a little kicking into the net. They learned the right way to kick the ball and how to not use their hands. It was rather comedic at one point when they all took a break and all the little kids were digging in the dirt at the goal and putting it into the cones. We had lost their focus pretty easily!

Look at this concentration! I loved to see him excited about a sport.

Meanwhile, Abigail hung out with me on the sidelines, taking my keys, kicking a ball a little, but mostly causing trouble. Thankfully, in the homeschool world no one minds a little sister getting in the way!

    

Leah’s 6th birthday

I can hardly believe it’s been six years since this little girl first came into our lives! At six, Leah is full of energy and what I call “intense.” Her emotions are all big. When she is excited, she is excited. When she’s mad, she’s mad. When she’s happy, she sings and dances around the house. She has a love for life to the point where I really can’t tell her too far in advance when something fun and exciting is going to happen or she wouldn’t sleep! She is so ridiculously smart, observant, and really seems to empathize with others. She excels in school, figuring things out before I really even have to teacher her, although if things don’t come easily to her, she gets frustrated very easily. She wants to know everything immediately. She loves to read and be read to. She loves to make up stories with her dolls, or just play out movie-type scenarios in her head. (I will hear her behind her closed door in her room carrying on entire conversations with herself.) I am convinced she doesn’t sleep because she’s just as wide awake at 7am as she is at 9pm (if I let her stay up that late) and never seems tired. She has really become a great helper with her little sister because she can get things for me or help entertain her or whatever needs to be done.

I had to take a picture of her on her last night as a five-year-old. You can even see the big gap in her mouth where she lost her first tooth just this week. So many big girl milestones—it’s a whole new phase of life!

Of course the “in” thing this year is the movie Frozen. So her birthday was all things Frozen. Daddy picked her out a HUGE life-sized balloon with Anna & Elsa.

 

Her birthday was on a Friday. So we had our own family celebration that day and she had friends over for a party on the next day. Friday the girls and I baked some sugar cookies that we would decorate at the party. And a certain little sister ate a little more dough than she cut out.

 

As a side note, Andrew spent a big part of the week chopping wood down with his Daddy. He wanted to bless someone by chopping some firewood, and Andrew loved being his helper. He was out there with him for hours and loved every minute of it!

 

Friday night after we had a pizza dinner, Leah opened her gifts from us and her grandparents. Nana sent her a Sofia the First pillow & blanket set, as well as some shoes & jewelry. Grandma sent a Frozen sticker book, mini Anna & Elsa dolls, a dress, and some notebooks & colored pencils. We got her a Barbie Lego Pet Shop that has a hundred million (okay, really just 100) little tiny pieces to put together, an Elsa dress, Frozen pajamas, and a Princess Palace Pet cat. I just love her reaction to her presents. She just loves getting gifts and of course being the center of attention!

  

Of course Grandma sent Andrew & Abigail a little something, too!

 

On Saturday, Brett took Leah & Andrew for a ride on a plane with a church member who has his own small plane and pilot’s license. I didn’t get to go, so I don’t have any photos, but they loved it and I don’t think they’ll soon forget that experience!

Meanwhile, I set up our “party room” for a Frozen winter wonderland. The cake didn’t turn out as I’d hoped but it really was cute, especially once we added Leah’s new Anna & Elsa figures. We also ate snowballs (yogurt-covered raisins) & snowman noses with snow dip (carrots w/ Ranch), and we had blue ice punch and melted snowmen (water).

 

Leah had 5 girls at her party (including little sisters of her friends). They colored a Frozen coloring page, they decorated sugar cookies, they played Pin the Nose on Olaf, and destroyed Leah’s room in five minutes flat. Most of all, they had a good time together!

       

She got an Elsa doll, plus some hairbows, and a snowman building kit! The whole day as I was setting up, she kept hugging me as she got so excited about the things she saw for the party and kept telling me it was the best birthday ever! It made it worth all the effort that went into the party!

Here is Leah describing her life as a 6-year-old:

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That evening, we also had an Open House for our church family to visit our home and have a cookout. They all put so much work into our house when we first moved in that we wanted to give them a chance to see what it looks like now and just to get together and eat. It was a lot of fun! We had about 40 people show up, and everyone hung out in our backyard and played games, and enjoyed the campfire. We absolutely love spending time with our church family and are so blessed by their generosity and their spirit of love. I was filled with joy as I looked around at all the faces of the people God has placed into our lives and so thankful for what He has given us!

 

Montshire Museum

 

This past Wednesday the kids and I went with a lady from church and her grandkids to the eastern-most side of Vermont to go to the Science Museum. It was a good two-hour drive, but the kids really enjoyed it once we got there.

Inside they featured a huge T-rex skeleton. Andrew, especially loved this!

Then they had several hands-on exhibits that had to do with air & force. They were allowed to touch and play with almost everything! They were all over the place.

 

Upstairs many of the exhibits dealt with different forms of weather. They saw effects of fog, lightning, wind, hurricanes, and tons more. Most of it was way beyond what they could understand, but they loved looking at it all and they were hard to keep up with! We’ll have to go back again another day when its not so crowded and we have more time to spend exploring everything.

 

 

 

After a picnic lunch we explored the outdoor exhibits, which all involved water! I was told they’d want their bathing suits, and they definitely did! They had all sorts of fountains to jump in, water squirting out of the ground, and rocks to climb on.

 

Abigail (otherwise known as Miss Priss, based on this first picture) didn’t really want to get into the water, but didn’t mind wandering around exploring the rocks and grass!

 

We saw a couple other exhibits outside as well, and attempted a short hike but couldn’t do it with the stroller. So we will definitely be going back another time to explore some more!

  

County Fair & Field Days

This past week we got to experience a great part of Vermont country life! The county fair is a huge thing here, and everyone talks about it. Our church set up a booth in the exhibit building in order to share the gospel and invite the community to the church. So Brett was there all day every day. I got a free pass as well so I took the kids 3 different times (once for just an hour or two, but the other times we were there most of the day). They absolutely loved it. They especially loved the animals and I’m beginning to think we may be looking at something like 4-H in our future. They could not get enough of the cows and horses. And unlike the state fairs we’ve been to in the past, they were able to touch the animals and really come alongside them to experience them!

They went to the Children’s Barnyard every time we went. They loved the miniature horses especially. They also got to pet baby bunnies, some donkeys, goats, and ducks. They saw some baby chicks hatching in an incubator, and they pretended to “pick” some fruits & vegetables to put in their baskets.

One young girl in the 4-H Barn let us pet her cow. (When it came to touching animals, Abigail would stick her hand out, touch it, then pull back quickly as if it was going to bite her. She loved looking at them and pointing to them, but not so much touching them.) We also saw the kids’ friend Autumn from church who has her own baby cow who’s only a few weeks old.

  

Another day a lady riding in the ring let us pet her horse.

Outside the Children’s Barnyard, they had a few little games set up. They got to do some giant bubbles, dig in a box of corn, and then later dig for “treasure” in the sawdust. (They each managed to find $1 in quarters)!

  

We saw lots of tractors. Some old, some new (and REALLY big & expensive). Andrew was a little scared to get up on the huge one.

    

 

Of course the important part of any fair is the food. We had to check out the maple house, where we enjoyed a Maple Creemee (soft serve ice cream). Out of all the other foods they could have chosen, the kids wanted cotton candy. Abigail took one look at it and cried—she wasn’t too sure what to do with that stuff!

    

We saw a fun magic show geared toward younger kids.

 

We watched a little bit of a tractor pull.

And got balloon animals from a clown.

Then, Friday, the kids got to enjoy a first—riding rides! The unlimited ride wristband was fairly inexpensive, so we got them each one and they definately got their money’s worth. There was a group of about 6 or 7 little kids’ rides in one area and they must have rode each at least twice within about 45 minutes! They loved it and are still telling everyone all about them!

 

     

Poor Abigail was too little! (Really she was only crying because about 2 minutes after this picture was taken she fell asleep in the stroller and slept through almost all the rides.)

   

I spent a little time at the church’s booth, but not quite as much as Brett. Apparently they had some good conversations with a lot of people and though we may never know how many people really came to know Christ, a lot of seeds were planted and a lot of questions answered. Vermont has so many people seeking for something more, and I’m so glad our church is one that reaches out and sees the need! We will definitely be going back next year!