A Tale of Two Sisters

This picture pretty much sums up the differences in my girls.  I'm not sure who I feel the sorriest for, Alyssa, for having to share a room with a messy sister, or Aniston, for having to share a room with a sister who complains about every stray sock and hairband.   Night and Day, these two:

Sisters. 

(A dynamic I don't understand.  I have a brother who is almost six years younger than I am.  I shared nothin' growin' up.  :)  

I pray for these two.  I pray they remain close and the best of friends.  I pray they rely on each other.  I pray they have a set of girls that are Night and Day, too.  But most of all, I pray that the love each other for the rest of their days.

S-N-O-W

We had a beautiful snowfall last week, the kind you just have to play in.  Soft and fluffy and deep.  It was just perfect!  We stopped schoolwork as soon as we saw it.  Aniston just had to go play, she couldn't concentrate.  She is such a lover of snow.  It's because she was born in Michigan, she says.  :-)

Commonplace Collection #4

“And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God’s hands and leave it with Him.” — Edith Stein

The Best of 2012

January:  

Jacob turned 18 and Alyssa turned 11

February: 

we ambushed Daddy when he came home from work...

...and found out we were moving to Germany.

March:

I pulled myself out of a homeschooling funk

April:

Spring sports...

...and colored hair...

May:

Aniston turned 8...

 

...we went to a NASCAR race...

...Jacob graduated high school

...and we visited family in Colorado...

(my super cute niece!)

June:

I turned 39...

...and Eric was in a wedding.

July:

Colton turned 14...

...Eric reenlisted in the Navy...

...and we packed up the house...

August:

Eric turned 39...

...and we went to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama to visit friends and family.

(my brother and his family.  Isn't my nephew the cutest?!? :)

We also began our way up the east coast.  The trip would take us into September...

New Jersey, Rhode Island, Boston, NYC

September:

Eric graduated from the Senior Enlisted Academy...

...and we got on a plane and left the country...

October:

We took our first homeschool field trip and visited Burg Hohenzollern...

November:

we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber...

December:

we experienced our first Christmas Market...

2012 was a really great year!  Here's to an even better 2013!

InstaFriday

~Signs of Autumn~

changing leaves

football clothes

slippers are needed

candy corn, a.k.a. heaven in a bag

I really, really wish I had a picture of Starbucks to show.  Pumpkin Spice Lattes are here but I have yet to have one, because there isn't one close to me.  :-(  This is what I get for living out with the cows.  :-)

Summer School*

*Two words that bring fear into many children each year.  :-)

We are "doing school" this summer.  My poor kids think I've lost my marbles.  We normally take the summer off, but Aniston isn't reading very well and Alyssa doesn't have her math facts memorized.  It's all very low key and we only work Monday - Wednesday for about an hour in the mornings. 

In addition to math, I am having Alyssa work through a few Download N' Go studies.  She really enjoys these!  She just complete Summer Sensations this past week.  This week she will do Handsome Horses.  On deck are Simply Soccer and Roller Coasters (she's a roller coaster ridin' fool! :-)

Colton and Alyssa are also going to finish up the Trail Guide to  U.S. Geography.  I was going to have them finish the first few months of school, but I like this idea better.

All in all, it has not been too hard to school in summer.  It keeps the kids off the Wii and me off of Facebook.  :-)  I think next year I am going to put together an adventure box. I am pretty sure the kids will love it!

If you do school in the summer, what does it look like?

Me: Does anyone know where my iPod is??

Aniston: I do!

Me: Well, where is it?

Aniston: I hid it under my bed.

Me: Why?

Aniston:  'Cause I'm a baaaaaaaaaaad girl!

Then she proceeded to give me her "bad girl" face.

Huh.

A Busy Sunday

Yesterday, at church...

Alyssa and Colton were baptized:

We had our three active duty members wear their uniforms (a pre-Memorial weekend celebration of sorts):

We recognized high school graduates {oops!  No pictures}

We said good-bye to our beloved friends {and thanking God that they are only moving an hour away}

Eric and the Major.  His family has been such a blessing to us!

We prayed over Eric as he gets ready to deploy in a few weeks.  Such a handsome sailor my husband is!

Volleyball was played and food was eaten.

It was a good day.

On Being Content

My Women's Bible Study group just starting reading Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. All I can say is, WOW.  I have so much underlined and I've only read chapter one!  My favorite thing I've read so far is "Ella Spees' Holy Habit of Contentment" and I wanted to share it with you.

* Never allow yourself to complain about anything - not even the weather.

* Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.

* Never compare your lot with another's.

* Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.

* Never dwell on tomorrow - remember that tomorrow is God's, not ours.

Just a little something to think about.

The Art of Smack-Talking

overheard:

Aniston:  I'm a jaguar!  RWAR!

Alyssa: I'm a cheetah!  Cheetahs are way better than jaguars!

Aniston:  Oh, yeah?  Well, I'm a cheat...er!

Alyssa:  Like "I'm a cheater at math"??  

*cue hysterical laughter*

Back when the weather was warm...

...I took Aniston to the lake to play in the sand. We are so ready for hot, summer days to be here!