An awesome April and flipping fun...

We went for a walk on an awesome trail along a creek that takes you into Denver. Aaron and the kids stopped to rest on a bench. While Jeremiah looks for rabbits to chase

 I had to share, a couple of weeks ago I bought this Tory Burch bag at a garage sale for $2. I brought it home and put it on Ebay and sold it for $105. It's turned into a fun game for me. Last week I bought a pair of True Religion jeans for $1 and i have someone that wants to buy them on craigslist for $30. Aaron wants to turn it into a competition. We both start out with a certain amount and see how much we can flip it into- needless to say we've been having flipping fun :)

 Aricin had his 5th birthday part at Home Depot. Apparently our Home Depot is doing a pilot program- they do pretty Killer birthday parties for kids- all for free.

 And Uncle Jon flew out to be with us for the party- so fun!

 Yes, this is Oliver... Wearing a Buff on his head... While playing with Nunchucks... and riding an Elephant

 Spaghetti Night

 Our little Ballerina

 Movie Night

 A and Jer

 Oliver's new favorite food... The happy hour special noodles at the Yard House

 Game Night... Don't Break the Ice!

 Painting with q-tips on a snowy day

 Teddy Bear picnic in Tally's pre school class

 Talia had her first Ballet recital. It was so cute. I think the 3 year olds stole the show.

April was great. Aricin celebrated his 5th birthday, my brother flew out for a fun visit. Talia finished up this season of Ballet with an Awesome recital. Oliver finished up this season of tumbling. The kids continued with their swim lessons. I'm a little consumed with the thrill of finding a good deal at the garage sales around here. Don't get me started, it's too much fun! We are doing good. Oliver has figured out how to jump out of his crib which means nap time just got real crazy! All 3 kiddos are fighting runny noses and coughs. Maybe because the weather keeps jump from the 80's to blizzards and the 30's. I've joined a great book club with a bunch of girls and have been enjoying reading new books and then discussing them over fancy dinners. We've decided we are going to sell the house- putting it on the market June 1st. Before then we have some work to do. Aaron met with a structural engineer and it looks like it might be cheapest to rip out the addition or sun room that we built. Oh well.

It blows me away that it's been a year since we started this crazy adventure of wanting to move into our basement which led to our apartment. Going into it I knew it would be challenging but welcomed the discomfort as I longed to grow- for God to mold us and teach us a little more about letting go of our stuff and our own self reliance. A year later... After having to move twice, Aricin's 7 stitches in his arm, Talia's 9 stitches in her forehead, my heart scare, me coaching high school volleyball, me taking a job as Director of Childrens Ministries at our church, me taking a job as a local child care coordinator with Cultural Care Au Pair, Aaron working as Department chair of the bible department, Aaron acting as Executive Director of his non profit- Impact Edventures, Aaron moving forward on PhD research and writing, and the kids growing and growing all in the midst of living in a 2 bedroom apartment. Yeah- it's been crazy,   it's been fun, it's been hard, but more than anything it's been GOOD. As I'd like to say I was obedient, flexible, and teachable every step of the way- I wasn't. In some ways I've learned my faith is stronger then i thought and in other ways God's reveled areas where I still need grow. And now... I feel like we're sitting on the cusp of another BIG TRANSITION. and the funny thing is... I'm not totally sure what it's going to look like. YES we are selling our house in the next month or two. But after that who knows where we will be living. We can stay here until mid september, so that gives us some wiggle room. I'm not going to coach next year to give Aaron more time to dedicate to writing his PhD which we hope to have done in the next year to year and a half. I have a meeting to pitch one of my novels next week with an Editor- I'm super excited for the opportunity but i know it's a long shot to actually get published- so we will see. And last but not least, I've decided to home school next year. I've chronicled some of my thoughts on it below...

Home Schooling thoughts...

So for some reason I have a tough time sharing with people that I'm leaning towards homeschooling. Inside I'm desperately a people pleaser and I hate sharing with people who automatically say "Wow, good for you." When they give me the look of "Your crazy!" Don't get me wrong I used to be in that camp. I used to think home schooling families were crazy and used to think people that attended house churches were crazy too. And now I attend a decent sized (few hundred people) church that started as a house church and will likely home school my kids. Maybe it's hard because how can i explain? Have you ever ran from something trying to talk yourself into something else? I signed Aricin up for the lotterys at 12 very good charter schools and you know what? He got into 4 really good schools- we're talking top academic performing schools in the state that integrate language and a long list of impressive accalaides. The school he's currently signed up to attend has cute uniforms that are plaid and remind me of Scotland. So back to the point, I feel like I love the idea of charter schools and know that if he went to one he'd learn a lot, BUT I feel this weird sense that God's yelling at me to home school and i have my hands over my ears and am ignoring him. This might sound crazy to most of you reading this i realize. It's just tough because our friends that do send their kids to public, private, charter- school i don't judge. And i kinda feel judged sometimes when i mention that i'm even considering home schooling which bums me out. I have a lot of friends that are doing a happy dance because next year their kiddo will be going off to all day kindergarten- good for them, that's not me. Another reason i have a tough time sharing is because i don't want people to think that reasons I want to home school I project and think universally everyone should because i don't. So what are my reasons? Here are a few...

1. Time- I've talked to lots of parents that say they send their kids off to school, they come home around 4, do lots of homework and maybe sports then it's dinner and bed- no great family time. I want to spend time with my kids before it's time to let them go off to college.

2. Learning at their own pace- I love that with home schooling I can teach my kids at whatever pace they learn at: slow or fast.

3. Enrichment- I love that with homeschooling I can integrate languages like Rosetta Stone for home schoolers. I'd also have time to enroll this kids in a local music academy during the day where they could learn to read notes and how to play piano and guitar. We'd also have time to do experiential learning, to get outside, and to even do sports.

4.Logic- Reflecting back on my own school experience. Visalia Unified spoon fed me all kids of information but i feel like i didn't learn how to think on my own really until college. I like the idea of introducing logic, critical thinking, and philosophy at a young age.

5. Save the Drama for your mamma- I hate drama. School drama. Bullies. Gossip. Etc. I know i can't shield my kids from outside influences forever but maybe I can spare them from some unnecessary emotional drama by home schooling.

6. Christian Worldview. I love this world and live in it but that doesn't mean I want my kids to buy into the world's perspective on how to live. Rather I'd like my kids to get a grasp of the Christian Worldview.

So now i'm exploring all the different apporoaches to Education. From Charlotte Mason's Ambelside learning process to Classical Education rooted in Latin to Great Books curriculum. It's overwhelming but that's also something that is fun for me to get to pick and choose how I want to educate my kids. Not that i know what i'm doing because I don't. Yes i have a Masters in Education but all that means is i've studied Guidance Counseling- Yahoo! I'm looking forward to collaborating with Aaron who almost has his Phd in Education- i think it will be fun to brainstorm and research together how we want to do this and like anything I want to hold this losely because who knows this might be an Epic Fail and might not work at all. I plan on this being a year by year thing. But as for now as much as I've tried to ignore God I feel like this is something he's whispering to me to do. So if you see me, if we talk. Encourage me, don't say "wow. good for you." because that will translate to you seeing me and saying "wow you have your hands full." which i also hear as "Lady your crazy." I didn't really choose this, it feels more like God is pulling me towards this and humbly trying to stumble into how will i do this well?

March Madness 2013...

Easter Pic

 Aricin Skiing- He's a little speed Demon- the only way we got him to slow down was to tell him Uncle Rondo (who's the head of Ski Patrol) might give him a speeding ticket.

 So thankful Aunt Cindy (who's an amazing ski instructor at Powder Horn) taught our kids how to ski.

 Aricin and Jeremiah

 What do you do the day after you turn 18 months... Learn to ski :)

 All the Colorado cousins

 Aricin exploring at Uncle Rondo's house. A few minutes after this we found A and his 3 year old cousin on the roof. They were looking for the cat and climbed up some stacked wood. Crazy! I know

 Cuddle bug working on his molars- teething is never fun

 3 year old Ballerina's working on their form 

Yes, we all have converse, kind of ridiculous and fun 

 Looking for Trolls

 

Buzz Light Year

 Best part of going to the grocery store, the free pony ride 

 Surprise visit to my bestie who's been on bed rest for the last 6 weeks

 buddies

 Me and my mini me

 Aricin is now 5!

 The Denver Aquarium

March was a fun and packed month. I officially started my job as Local Child Care Coordinator with Cultural Care Au Pair. Which has been a lot of fun. I manage a case load of 11 families and have to check in with them via phone or email once a month and I have to organize a get together with my 11 Au Pairs to check in with them and see how they are doing. For March we went to a Colorado Avalanche/ San Jose Sharks Hockey Game. It was a lot of fun and I'm enjoying getting to know the Au Pairs most of which are from Germany, other western european countries, and south america. 

My Grandfather passed away and is now hanging out with Jesus in a body that is free from Pain. I was able to fly out to California and go to his funeral which was sad but good. Good to hear stories about him that I had never heard and good to remember that he's with Jesus. He and my grandmother had been married for 60 years. What a privlidge to be able to walk life with a best friend for that long, I pray that Aaron and I will have a love story that lasts as long as theirs. While i California I got to spend some time with family and drive down to Santa Barbara to surprise my good friend Zoe, who has been on bed rest for the last 6 weeks. When I got back from Cali I met Aaron in Mesa, Colorado and got to spend some more sweet time with family. We brought the kids skiing for the first time at Powder Horn and Aaron and I even got to get a few runs in. 

Life here has been busy. Good busy, but busy. I'm the director of children's ministry at our church and lately it seems we've had lots of people not show which means i plug in. It is what it is and I do enjoy hanging out with the kids. Aricin just turned 5. I can't believe my baby is 5 and will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. I can't believe we moved out here almost 5 years ago. Things here are good, although I feel some major transition coming on. Beth and Bryan will be moving out of our house June 1st and the lease on our apartment is up mid September. Last week we were approached by an agent with a potential buyer for our house, we hadn't thought of selling but apparently right now in Highlands Ranch the supply is low and demand is high so it's a great time to sell. Looks like we might be selling our house, kind of crazy. A few of our friends have put their houses on the market in the last couple weeks and their houses sold within hours. How crazy is that! Change is hard for me, but it's inevitable at this point some I'm both anxious and curious to see what God does. As much as I love to be in control of everything all the time. I'm trying to let go and let God do his thing. Obedience is tough and so is patience. 

A Fabulous February...

 Testing out our new Snow Shoes

 Cliff Jumping...

 Valentines

 Painting... Oliver got hungry 

 Swim Lessons

 Oliver with a baby

 A

Western Day at Pre School 

Denver Aquarium with the Sammons 

 T

 A feeding crickets to the fish

Fun Times with the Sammons 

 Snow!

 Denver Beer Co.

Face Plant in the snow= Rosey Cheeks 

O's Tumbling Class... 

 A and Atlas

February flew by as time has been doing to quickly. Oliver has enjoyed his tumbling class, Talia is still super into her Ballet, T and A are in swim lessons and Mommy has started a new mid week Bible study. Highlights of the month... Jeremiah (our dog) ate a small tablet that when submerged in water turned into an animal shaped sponge. He ate it and then we called the doggy ER who said we needed to induce vomiting. Aaron fed him tons of salt and got the sponge to come back out- gross i know, and yet this was our Valentines Day :) I had my 4th annual panty party with a bunch of fun gals- we did a white elephant panty exchange, ate yummy food, and laughed a lot! 

I just finished the book "The Dovekeepers", it was a pretty intense read, not they typical british chick lit that i seem to devour- this book was rooted in deep history (70AD) and rich info in the Hebrew culture and life at the fortress of Masada. What made it extra cool was that when I was in Israel I got to go to the Dead Sea and Masada which in some ways made the book come more to life- anyways I'm in a book club and looking forward to discussing the book with a bunch of girls over a Jewish meal this week. I've also started reading 7 by Jen Hatmaker. I'm sold on Jen Hatmaker and have proclaimed the Beth Moore of our generation- if you haven't read any of her books I HIGHLY RECCOMMEND her. I loved her book Hearing God through the Static and 7 is pretty awesome so far. Wednesday night i met with a few girl friends to discuss the first chapter. I've also started a new job. I'm a LCC (Child care consultant) with Cultural Care Au Pair. I have a case load of about 12 families and their Au Pairs that i'm responsible for checking in with once a month as well as planning a monthly get together for my 12 Au Pairs. It seems like it's going to be a very minimal amount of work (all of which i can do when Aaron's around) and i'm excited to get to know my international girls and encourage them. 

I also started doing family year books for us, I'm taking all of our pics for the year and putting them in a photo book with a summary of every thing that happened that year and printing out a year book for each of the kids, So far i've just finished 2012 and 2011, I still have 10,9, and 8. Our sweet friends Troy and Becca came to visit us as they are on furlow right now. They've been missionaries in Kenya for the last few years and will be going back soon. It was soo good to hang out with them and their sweet girls- we love them and hope to visit them in Kenya sometime. We just went out with our good friends Jeff and Katie for Restaraunt week in Denver. We went to Kevin Taylor's at the Opera House and it was Amazing! First course was a pork belly in a dirty rice, for the second course i got the salmon while Aaron got the steak and for dessert I got the Creme Brulle while Aaron got a Peanut Butter Torte- so yummy and all for 52.80- I think Restaraunt week is my favorite week of the year!

Looking ahead, we are hoping to ski sometime this spring with the kids, make it to the Western Slope to visit family in Palisade, and Breathe! We are still planning on moving back into our house in June, when our friends move out and this summer is filled with lots of weddings. One of Aaron's closest friends is getting married in southern california in June, my cousin and brother are getting married in southern california both in July, and Aaron's old roommate is getting married in Scotland the end of August and we're hoping to make it. God is so good and continues to provide and fill us with the energy and love we need to pour into our kiddos.