Thankful Tree

L made one of these in her Sunday school class last week. Today, T and K made their own.

First trace around their hand for the tree branches, and then draw a trunk

Cut out leaves, and let the children write what they are thankful for.

Cub Scouts go to the Fire Station

Here's a picture of Tyler with his bobcat badge and special awards he received during last week's pack meeting. He was excited and ready to go to Cub Scouts last night, since it was a "Go See it" night. All the scouts got to go tour a local fire station. He came home with a lot of fun stuff, and taught his sisters all the fire safety lessons he learned.

Thanksgiving Projects

This week, we're taking a break from the books, and simply having fun as a family while we do activities together to plan for our Thanksgiving celebration! Kaitlyn made place cards for our family. She was very creative, and I think she did an amazing job! We made and decorated sugar cookies. I was most impressed with my son's decorative skills. He wanted his cookies to look just like some pumpkin cookies he enjoyed last month at his AWANA club meeting!

We are also reading "The Landing of the Pilgrims" written and illustrated by James Daugherty, and "The Thanksgiving Story" by Alice Dalgliesh.

We also plan on writing some poetry and stories to go along with our Thanksgiving theme.





Kaitlyn's place cards

This is what we woke up to Friday morning. Mom and Dad were still in bed. We woke up when we heard T running down the hall. He's a big 7-year-old boy, and we have wood floors all the way down our hallway. Let's just say, we were very much STARTLED by the noise of his running feet:-) But, we didn't stay irritated for long because he was so so so excited! He yelled, "It's snowing!" So, we got up and had to take a look for ourselves. So, of course the girls woke up from all the noise. L said, "Oh, I've been waiting so long for it to snow!"




Dad promised the kids to make his pancakes, and K wanted to help. Snow, pancakes, what more could a kid ask for?



T cleared off the walkway for us. This was our day to go to York, eat lunch, and get our grocery shopping done. While we were in York we also purchased two fun "snow toys." Here's some pictures of the children enjoying their new toys.

Bobcat Badge

Tonight was Pack Meeting night! Tyler was awarded his Bobcat Badge. Tyler, Mom, and Dad have been working hard to meet all the requirements! This was a very special night for Tyler. We are proud of all his hard work! He also won a prize for guessing the number of beans in a jar. He was very excited!

Grandma Comes to Town

Grandma got to deliver boats to the Bass Pro in Harrisburg. Since she was so close, we got to go pick her up. She got to spend Saturday and Sunday nights with us. We took her back to Harrisburg on Monday morning so she could deliver the boats. We got to look around the Bass Pro store. We always enjoy the wildlife displays and HUGE fish tanks!

Just wanted to Share...

T and K wrote some poems and a story about Autumn this week. Click here if you would like to read them.


Autumn Poems and Stories

Look Who's 6!

K is six-years-old today! Last night her Dad took her on a special date. She requested Chick-fil-a. Of course that broke Dad's heart to have to take her to one of his favorite places. While they were gone, Mom, L, and T decorated the house with streamers and balloons!

When Dad returned home from work we had ice cream cake, and K opened her presents. She will probably be celebrating her birthday all week long because she's still waiting on packages and cards to arrive from family back in Missouri!

Oh Snap!

L learned to snap. Bubba and Sissy (that's what L calls her big brother and sister) are jealous because they can't snap!

Election Day!

Dad and I took turns voting today. I asked T if he wanted to go with me and watch me vote. He thought about it for a moment and then asked, "Will John McCain and Barack Obama be there?" I said, "no." He said he'd rather stay home.

But T did enjoy voting in a homeschool mock election online.

K's Baptism

On June 4, 2008, K prayed and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. K and I spent some time in her bedroom talking and praying together. When we came out and told her brother she had decided to ask Jesus into her life, he was very excited. T accepted Christ in August of 2007, and since then he has been praying for his sisters to understand how much they need Jesus. So, T told K all about the book of life and how the angels were all rejoicing in Heaven and having a big party just for her!

This is a letter I wrote K on June 7th, 2008

Dear Kaitlyn,
On June 4, 2008, you prayed and accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord. At that very moment, all your sins were forgiven (past, present, and future). I want you to always remember that Jesus is holding on to you, and He will never let you go. You belong to Jesus now. Because you belong to Him, I pray you will always live your life in a way that pleases Him and makes Him smile. I love you, and it is my joy to be your mommy!
Love,
Mom

Tonight, on November 2, 2008, K followed the Lord in baptism. This summer when she prayed and accepted Christ, we were in a time of transition. She told us she wanted to wait until God called us to our "happy new home and our happy new church" before she was baptized. So, once we got moved, neither Mom or Dad brought the subject up or pushed. I believe it was on our second Sunday here in our new church when she began asking when she could be baptized.

Off With the Old and on With the New

On Friday, the Missouri license plate came off, and the Pennsylvania license plate went on. T did a great job helping his dad. Both boys like any excuse to get out their tools and "play."

There is one negative thing about having a Pennsylvania license plate. I do not have any excuse when I'm lost, and have to drive slowly to find my turn. Before, the people behind me knew I'm not from around here. Now, I don't have that excuse. Our new plate screams out that I am a fellow Pennsylvanian.