Category Archives: Family

David, Project 365

Project 365 – Day Eighteen (Wed-DJ)

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You never know what things will impact a child, what special outing or conversation will take root in their heart and be important to them. I started this Project 365 because I was intrigued by the idea of taking a picture every day for a year. As I worked through how I wanted to organize and structure it, I decided it would be interesting to give each person in our family their own day. I could base my blogging around a particular family member and always have some sort of inspiration for my post.

David in water
Here’s today’s little star!

As I began collect pictures and journal about our days, I discovered this blog was turning into something more than just a place to share photos with friends and family – it was becoming a family journal where bits and pieces of our adventures (big and small) are gathered together to paint a beautiful mural of our life together.
David wild cat

On Wednesday, when the home was full, again, of children, Rachel said to me, “Joshua, Daniel and I didn’t get our special computer days.” She looked at me very accusingly. Ha! I told her I couldn’t blog about the kids on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. She said, “I know!” and shook her head at me sadly.

I let the children read the blogs after I post them but I didn’t realize that they had started to CARE about them, that they would feel left out that their day had passed and it wasn’t captured in the blog. I overheard Rachel telling a friend about her Matthias post and how much she loved it. Interesting how much we long for special attention, for recognition, especially from our parents. Even if we know we are loved, we want to hear it again and see it demonstrated.

Today is David’s (age 5) Special Day. He will be 6 in February (much to my chagrin as I didn’t want him to turn 5, much less 6) and regularly asks me how many more days until his birthday. We went to Chuck E. Cheese this morning for a friend’s birthday party. The children had GREAT fun riding the different cars and trucks and other rides, playing games, winning tickets, and devouring pizza.

Joshua and Daniel took excellent care of their little buddy, David. Rachel watched Sarah and was in high demand from the other little girls at the party.

joshua and davidbrothers

In the late afternoon we had swim lessons. David continues to do well. “I think they’re going to move me up soon, Mom,” he told me, “because every time I do something my teacher says, ‘Good Job, David!’” His face was so earnest and pleased. Last session he went from Pike to Super Pike and it was very thrilling to be advanced to a higher level. He’s obviously ready to jump ahead again. He is torn between swimming and wally ball – he would like to stay and play (still working on that serve) with us instead of going off to swimming with Sarah. I don’t give him a choice, just bustle him off to class.

fierce facesmiling
I couldn’t resist this background – nice fierce and then smiling kiddos. Silly!

In the evening, David selected Labryinth as his game of choice. The boys played while the girls went off for a quick visit with a friend. David won which surely makes a Special Day extra-special.

game 1Daniel helps Daviddavid wins

One last picture of David Buddy to end the blog.

david's bike

He is a special boy and dearly loved.

Kathy

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Bible Study, Kathy, Musings, Project 365

Project 365 – Day 16 (Daily Bible)

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Last year Tim bought me a Daily Bible – the scripture is arranged according to day with passages from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and a portion of Psalms and Proverbs. Our church strongly encourages people to read through the Bible in a year. Tim gave me the Bible and followed the schedule himself online. My favorite thing was when we did the reading together (primarily on weekends). We would sit in Big Blue and read the passages aloud – taking turns. The Lord spoke to me many times through my reading. Often I would stumble on passages that seemed to exactly address a struggle or question I was facing. Truly the Word of God is alive.

daily Bible

CBD sells all sorts of daily Bibles. They offer them in at least 6 different translations – chronological ones or study Bibles. Tim teasingly referred to my Bible as the ‘Once a Year Bible’ rather than the Once a Day Bible but then he has a quirky sense of humor.

Unfortunately, I found myself busy near the end of the year and stopped being faithful in my daily reading. It became easier and easier to just let the days slip by without picking up my Bible. I’m in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) this year so that involves quite a bit of Bible studying. Still, BSF wasn’t meant to take the place of my daily reading. The holidays are incredibly full of activity and, I’m sad to say, I ended the year less triumphantly than I began it.

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Now it’s a new year – time for new beginnings! New goals, a chance to start again. I spent the first part of the month procrastinating. I’m not sure what I was waiting for – an annointed Bible Reading Moment or a vision of a huge neon Bible flashing in the sky. At first I thought I would start in the middle of the Bible – pick up somewhere around July and that way I would get in the books that I missed. Of course, days went by and I didn’t do that either. Hmmm. Finally my mother encouraged me to just get started. To pick a spot anywhere, at the beginning or in the middle but START READING!

Isn’t she a wonderful counselor in my life!!! I looked through and decided I had missed some chapters in September so that would be a good place to start. I took the time to read through the different passages (reading them aloud one night which was fantastic). Okay, that would work, I figured. I would use my daily Bible but not follow the dates. I would be able to pick up the various chapters/books I had missed and round out my Bible reading. It wasn’t the best solution but at least I had a plan.

Yesterday I stumbled across a beautiful Daily Bible Reading Calendar. It has the assigned Bible passages listed on each square of the calendar with a place for notes on the bottom. Something about this pretty, little desk calendar immediately struck me. I picked it up and felt a renewed desire to read through the Bible.

bible calendar

The reading schedule is slightly different from the one I did last year – the primary difference being you read through the New Testament twice throughout the year and you read all of Proverbs each month. I have seen many reading lists but not one that combined the calendar in quite this way. I like the way the months are laid out with the passages included in each day’s square.

inside calendar

As Tim and the children will tell you, I love variety. I can’t make a recipe the same way twice. I hardly ever order something I’ve had before at a restaurant – I have to try something different. I love a new pretty journal and Sharpies of all colors. I have several different quilts and covers for the master bed – I like to change the look of the room with the seasons. I like starting new, interesting projects.

All of this is to say it doesn’t surprise me that I would be excited about a new (different) Bible reading schedule. It is part of the way God made me – it’s a piece of my creative nature. As a stay at home mom, I live a very routined life. There are always dishes to be washed, laundry to be cleaned, folded and put away, toys to pick up and so on. Trying new things provides a little bit of spice and energy and life to my days. My desire is to marry this spontaneity and animation with commitment and discipline to result in some grace filled goals.

reading and studying

Tonight I read Psalm 16:

You make known to me the paths of life,
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

That’s where I want to be, at the right hand of God, enjoying Him forever.

Kathy

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Kathy, Project 365

Project 365 – Day Fourteen (Sun-K)

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Project 365 Continues!! It has been an excellent week of blogging and picture taking. I am learning so much about my camera and lighting and what makes for interesting, creative pictures.

Today’s excitement was centered around a piece of furniture. No, I’m not going to post more pictures of the lovely Orange Chair. A dear friend’s grandparents recently bought some new living room furniture and wanted to sell their other pieces. They gave us an excellent deal on their cream leather couch and recliner. This afternoon we picked up the couch. We will return and get the chair next week. Hooray!!! I’m so excited to have some gorgeous leather furniture. Thank you, M and K!!

couch

The couch is in wonderful shape. It looks lovely in the family room. J.’s grandmother graciously gave me several throw pillows as well (at least one for each child, she said). We feel very blessed to be able to buy this handsome piece. It’s a nice, long couch–you can stretch full out and have plenty of room.

kathy's couch

I love the neutral color–it will go with anything. Tim thinks we should maybe put the recliner up in our bedroom. He said it is incredibly comfortable. I think the kids will fight him on that one.

These next pictures are of some of my favorite coffee things. I use my French Press almost every day. I like my coffee STRONG with lots of milk. The French press delivers a wonderful, robust flavor.
french press

Lately I use a mix of Starbucks French Roast (regular) and Starbucks Verona (decafe). I can’t handle full strength caffeine these days so I make my coffee half and half (order it that way as well, when I’m out).

coffee

In my attempt to save money and make delicious coffee at home, I’ve been working on perfecting my barista skills. I have a nice routine figured out that results in a wonderful home made latte. I fix my coffee in my French press then heat up 3/4 cup (or so) of 2% milk in the microwave for a minute. After it’s hot, I whip up the milk with my AWESOME milk frother.
aerolatte

My sister in law bought me this Aerolatte to Go for Christmas. What a great present!!! I should probably keep track of how much money I save every week being able to make my own fancy coffees at home. Thanks, Jenn!!

And of course, no coffee blog would be complete without a picture of my favorite coffee travel mug. A friend in our small group Bible study saw me ogling this cup at Starbucks and surprised me with it the next week. Merry Christmas indeed!!! I use this all the time and it keeps my coffee HOT for hours.

kathy's mug

I did not set out to be a coffee snob and I don’t claim to be a coffee expert, by any means, but I guess, when you live so close to Seattle you can’t help but be influenced by the coffee culture. I also don’t mean to favor Starbucks so strongly but I do really enjoy their coffee. Yum!

That’s all for my Special Day–see you next week!
Kathy

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Project 365 – Day Thirteen (Sat-T)

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It’s Tim’s day. Do grown ups get Special Days? Hmmm. That bears closer investigation. Certainly weekends are special around here. We often have friends over, play lots of games, watch movies and just generally relax.

Tim got up this morning and went straight to work on my computer. He knew I was eager to play with the blog template and needed some help so he set about researching things. It took quite a bit of time but yielded all sort of interesting information on how to get around wordpress. I pulled up my wonderful, garage sale Orange Chair next to Tim and read a cookbook I checked out from the library.

orange chair
Truly this chair has great potential! I can’t decide if it’s retro or terrible. Don’t answer that–it wasn’t a question. LOL It’s very comfy and will someday, hopefully, be recovered in something a little less eye-popping.

The cookbook I’m reading is wonderful. It’s by Pamela Anderson, called Perfect Recipes for Having People Over. I love the way the author has a section in each recipe for further notes–when you would want to serve this recipe, any short cuts you could take, appetizer, drink and dessert suggestions, etc. I can’t wait to try out some of her recipes. I love cookbooks but never seem to actually cook from them. I don’t know if it is possible to be a homeschooling mother of five with a somewhat tidy house and still be a creative chef (without snapping by the end of the first week).

Back to Tim. This is his blog day, right? Let’s see. Tim worked forever on the blog, changing things, tweaking colors, adding borders, adjusting headline fonts, etc. He even taught me how to do some of the (easy) managing as well so I can modify some of the simpler settings myself. He is a good husband!!!

I’m not sure where the rest of the day went. In the afternoon we had some dear friends over. They are leaving this week for a new Army assignment. We will surely miss them!! Josh just returned home from a year abroad in Korea. It was fun/interesting to hear the two men comparing stories as Sunday School teachers and children’s leaders. We basically threw Josh into the Cities and Knights Settlers of Catan game this evening with no time to work his way into it. The rest of his family has played with us several times on the easier level. No such luck for Josh. He did great and definitely held his own.

Josh and Tim

Tracy and I taught a US President’s class together at the homeschooling co-op last semester. She was an excellent co-teacher and I am so sad she won’t be here for the rest of the year. It would have been marvelous to work with her again. How am I going to teach Civil War without her???

tracy and K

The L boys have been great friends to our boys. Phillip and Joshua are definite kindred spirits. They spent part of their evening swapping logic, mind-bender stories.

philip and J

Daniel and David played with the two younger boys throughout the evening. The night wouldn’t have been complete without a group hug.

group hug

Things that occupied Tim’s time this Saturday–worked on his Sunday School class (studying I Corinthians 4 and 5), wrote and actually sealed and addressed several thank you notes, played Pirates, prepared lunch for at least 3 of the children, read his book, helped fix toppings for our pizzas, entertained guests, disciplined children, make us laugh and laughed with us, and on and on.

tim and rj

I was gone when this picture was taken–I’m not even going to ask what sort of game they were playing. Looks a bit silly for me!

It was a good day!

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Project 365 – Day Twelve (Fri-S)

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It’s Sarah’s (age 4 1/2) Special Day! Hooray, that means it’s also Friday and the weekend is upon us.

S closeup

Sarah has been working on a letter for a little friend who lives around the corner. She colored several pictures, wrote notes (with help from Mom) and included a tasty treat. Today we were finally able to pass it along.

sarah's letter

I always find it interesting to see how the children develop friendships. Although we haven’t lived there in over two years, David and Sarah immediately list people from the Duckabush when asked to name their good friends. We were very blessed, in particular, that one family had children whose ages matched almost perfectly with ours. It was a special time of friendship.

Sarah played with this neighbor girl recently and, I guess, she has been on her mind. She wanted to send her a letter. Sweet.

Book Review Time!

gneedle book

I think Sarah has convinced at least two different people to read her this book today. David loves its companion tale, Buzzle Billy, so it’s not surprising Sarah would choose this one as her current fave. I wish we had more books from the Building Christian Character series by Michael P. Waite. They are great–funny, told in rhyme, full of cute illustrations, and in the end, teach an important Biblical principle. The older three read them for years and it is fun to see the younger two pick them off the shelf.

bw gneedle
This is obiviously a serious tale!

Sarah worked for a long time creating a picture on our new whiteboard.
whiteboard

The rest of us were doing our history and read-alouds while Sarah sat in the dining room and drew her picture.

still drawing

Of course, I wasn’t doing much reading since I kept jumping up to take more pictures of Sarah. I couldn’t resist!!

sepia Sarah

Ta Da!! The final master piece. Truly a picture is worth a thousand (or at least several) words. Most of them escape me at this time.

final picture

Daniel and Rachel discovered some big blocks of ice in the back yard. They carried them over to the door to show me. When I went to grab my camera they quickly had Sarah hold the ice. “Cause it’s your Special Day, Sarah.” How perceptive are they–knowing I was trying to take lots of pictures of Sarah today. Of course, later on Rachel called me a Photo Maniac so it’s obvious how quickly even your family can turn on you. Ha!

sarah's ice

Doesn’t this girl EVER wear gloves? Where IS her mother?

Sarah has long been a very careful and creative little artist but lately she hasn’t shown much interest in coloring. I bought her a new coloring book for Christmas and she has barely noticed it, much less done any coloring. Well, David has gone overboard in his coloring, spending long moments sitting at the table with his Prismacolor pencils and Dover coloring books. Sarah pays keen attention to that which interests her older brother. So when Rachel borrowed her new book during our reading and colored a beautiful mermaid page, I wasn’t surprised to find Sarah on the floor later in the afternoon, working hard on a picture.

sarah colorsmore coloring

For her Special Day game, Sarah chose Feed the Kitty. She knew that it was HER Special Day and was determined to have everyone play a game with her. She was quite enthusiastic in rolling the dice.

feed the kittyyessleeping kitties

Every time she rolled two sleeping kitties she would throw her arms up into the air and say, “Yes!” It was hysterical. She was definitely an entertaining part of the game. Ha!

And, yes, we did have hot cocoa again this evening. If we’re not careful, the children will think they get hot chocolate on every game night (a dangerous, if yummy, tradition to start).

hot cocoa

Happy Special Day, Sarah!

Kathy

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