"School" pictures

Since we are not in traditional public school, we do not get school pictures done. However, this year for the homeschool yearbook, one of our friends did portrait shots of all of our kids. Thank you, April, they turned out lovely! So here they are: Evan is 11, Ann-Marie is 8, and Alec is 6.

Evan's 11th birthday

Evan's 11th birthday was on Sunday. His basketball team's closing dinner was Saturday night, so we combined the two events. I made a big basketball birthday cake for the closing dinner and Evan had some of his friends over for a sleepover afterwards. After delivering friends home on Sunday, Evan was not feeling well (combination sleep-deprivation, too much junk food, and coming down with a nasty cough) so his actual birthday was low-key.

Evan and his basketball coach....

the cake....

wonderful presents....

and by Sunday night, he was done!

Valentines Day

Our annual treasure hunt for Valentine's day began in the attic and ended in the basement freezer! The kids look forward to it every year. The M&Ms they received were extra cold and they thought that was fun!
Darrell brought home my Valentine's day gift....Limonata! A delicious lemon soda from Italy....brings back many fond memories. What a thoughtful gift.....it is hard to find here!
““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” John 13:34-35NIV

Tiki Classic 2012

This past weekend was our gym's home meet, called the Tiki Classic. Ann-Marie's level 4 team competed Saturday morning and took 1st all-around. They did a great job. Ann-Marie placed 5th on the bars. It has been so much fun to see all the girls improve throughout the season. I posted Ann-Marie's beam routine, because it was her best beam routine this season. She stayed on the beam until the end, however, she dismounted wrong and had to re-do her dismount.

A whole month.....

Yes, we're still around. A whole month has gone by, and what do we have to show for it? Well, miles traveled to gymnastics competitions and basketball games. Practices for a musical performance. Family visiting for a milestone birthday. Memories made and time marches on. The pictures shown are from our homeschool group's musical performance this past Friday evening. Everybody had a line (or several) to memorize and lots of songs to perform. Evan even had a solo. We had a FABULOUS music teacher that has been working with them since September...thank you, Mrs. Cline!

Now onto February, which is going to be a very busy month. Evan has two more basketball games, a basketball dinner, and a birthday to celebrate. Ann-Marie has three gymnastics competitions. And we try not to leave Alec at any events! He's counting the days until soccer starts again. So, I will try to be better about taking pictures and keeping the blog updated for you family and friends out there that keep up with us. No promises, however.....