Unspoken - Bury the Workman

Micah turned on his tablet today to play some songs while we were straightening up.  He plugged it into some speakers and we happily hummed along as we got our work done.  He's been listening to a new group, Unspoken, and I don't know many of the songs yet.  When the song "Bury the Workman" came on he said "mom, that's exactly what we've been reading in our Bible this week."  Sure enough it was about the disciples in the book of Acts - Stephen, Peter, ... and their dedication to spreading their witness account of Jesus - no matter what.
Speaking of Unspoken, last week he brought in to me a song he had written out.  His spelling is still quite phonetic and so he asked me if I could tell what it said.  (I, personally, enjoy reading his invented spelling and can read it very well.)  I said "yes".  He said "I'd like to play the song for you.  I really like it."  He played "My Recovery".  He was so excited to share.  He sang as he pointed to the words on the page, strumming to the beat.  It was so beautiful to hear what touches him.  Yes, I cried.

Arabian Horse Show

This year we attended the 59th Annual Arabian Horse Show hosted at West World Arena.  It was a great time to go since Lilly is taking horse lessons and is so interested.  Our friends, the Gravels, said they would like to go, so we all went together.  We saw English riders and Western riders competing.  We walked around and saw warm-ups, breeding sales, and beautiful RV trailers.  It was a great day enjoying the horses and learning so much.

Toy Washing

Today we got to wash the toys in the Sunday School classroom that Lilly used to be in - a few years ago.  This is done every few months to refresh the toys and help reduce the amount of germs the kids can pick up when at church.  We ate our brown bag lunches, turned on the radio (K-Love, of course), and got to work.  Micah was all about beating our time from the last cleaning (yes, he remembered & yes, we did).  We had so much fun singing and scrubbing.  Each time gets easier as the kids get older, can clean better, can stick with the job longer, and know the routine.  Yes, cleaning toys and putting them away can be fun.  :)

 

School Schedule Resumes

"Sneakers, Sneakers"

This week we were able to resume our school schedule.  Lilly had been asking "when are we going to do science again?" and Micah was ready to get started on his new math curriculum (Teaching Textbooks 6).  Ahhh, it felt so good!
The most exciting part was our reading time.  We all pull out books, circle up, and read to each other.  Micah showed such confidence in his reading, but it was priceless to see his enthusiasm, encouragement and excitement for his sister's reading.  Lilly, even though she hadn't been reading much lately, read wonderfully.  God used that time, while we were focusing on other matters, to help her mind process what's she's learned so far.

Teaching Textbooks

Horse Lessons

Lilly LOVES horses!  She's talked about riding horses for several years and one of her grown-up dreams is "to live on a ranch and have horses."  For her 7th birthday, Matt and I got her horse lessons.  A friend in Eastside has a niece who gives lessons - minimum age 7, or a 'large 6' (that's not Lilly).
Her first lesson was just before our trip to Mexico.  It was amazing!!  Emalee (her teacher) had her hands-on with everything as she modeled, explained, and directed.  Lilly brushed Jed (her horse), cleaned his hooves, saddled him up, and walked him to the back area.  Behind the fence Lilly was riding Jed, giving him directions to "go", "turn right", "turn left", "go backward", and "stop".
She was quiet as she listened to Emalee and focused on Jed, but her smile was HUGE and her eyes sparkled greatly.
Today was her second lesson.  Emalee had Lilly braid Jed's mane - so cute, while we waited for her classmate Cloe.  She reviewed everything from lesson 1 and added "trotting".

Baseball Season Begins

We are overlapping a few weeks with baseball & flag football, but Micah has the same coach for both, so there shouldn't be any practice overlaps.  This week Micah has: Baseball practice Monday & Wednesday; Football practice Tuesday & Thursday.
Here he is grabbing a quick RKT before first practice.  He should sleep well Friday night.

Fun Day with Gravel Kids

Our dear friends the Gravel's had a special occasion come up for Dana (mom).  Her grandpa had his 101st birthday.  They all traveled to celebrate his 100th birthday last year, but this year just Dana went.  So, on Monday, Keith brought the kids to our house for the day.  It was wonderfully fun!  The house, front yard, and back yard were full of (each in their own place of course) ... mud pies, jumping, laughter, dart guns, remote cars, bicycles, nail polish, card games & board games, crafts, and more.  I was able to get a group photo during our smoothie break.

Superbowl XLIX

Superbowl 49 - wow, Phoenix got to host again!!  This meant Micah and Matt got to attend the NFL Experience again.  Wednesday night they spent hours playing games, sitting in Skittles, and looking at past Superbowl rings on display.  They closed the place down at 10pm and came home with lots of stories and photos.
We had a great Sunday - just stayed home and watched the game by ourselves.  Snacks included homemake pico de gallo, quinoa burgers, and RKT. We watched out the window for the fighter jets and/or fireworks, but weren't quite close enough for them.