Savor: April

This is such a season for savoring, and April brought many more moments to savor.

Because. . .of course! BOOKS!  Sharing book with family--even better!  I snapped a picture of Alan reading Robinson Crusoe to the kids--I love how engrossed they are.  And Tyrell "reading" to Aryana was too precious to resist.

I got to go to another Beth Moore conference with my sister and my sister-in-law.  This is such a great annual tradition, a time of renewal and great fellowship. . .

and laughter.  Always lots of laughter.  (I totally busted Marcy stealing Andes mints from the bathroom of the fancy restaurant.  giggle)  And Shayla and I introduced Marcy to sushi.  I KNEW she would love it!!!

I so treasure these girls, and our relationships!

A first with our friends, Troy and Caren, we tried out a local movie theater that serves a meal during the movie!  How FUN is that?!

More savoring with Kiana, she read her first chapter book ALL BY HERSELF--a Magic Tree House tale.  She was SO tickled.  She has also been having some fun experimenting with her hair.  She wanted to get it straightened, so I let her get it done (no chemicals, just a flat iron).  It was cute, but I like her curls better.  She did too.  She was soon in tears, "I miss my curls".  I'm glad she decided she loves the curly hair the Lord blessed her with.  treasuring. . .

I'm so thankful for Kidan who occasionally pitches in to help me with a hairstyle.  She is so much faster (and BETTER) than I am, and this style was particularly cute.

And finally, Destry's last concert as concertmaster with the Des Moines Youth Symphony, his last high school performance.  After all these years of running him to lessons and rehearsals. . .

savoring. . .

Savor: February

February was a great month to practice "my one word": SAVOR.

I think Destry is beginning to realize he won't be living here much longer, and he is being more deliberate in spending time with his younger siblings.  I treasure the moments I see him spending purposeful time with them reading books. . .

or playing card games.

My children can be the best of friends, but they can also push one another's buttons without mercy.  I savor the times I see sibling love:

Big sissy Kiana chose the girls' outfits for the day. . .

 Easton and Tyrell played happily with airplanes. . .

Easton, Kiana, and Tyell played "picnic".

A stomach virus hit our family in February, and while I can't say I appreciated it, it did remind me to appreciate our general health.  I also just had to grin that even when Mom is sick on the couch, she is still the best place for a sick boy to lie, and the preferred place for a wiggly almost-two-year-old to perch.

I am delighting in this man and in our marriage.  We got to go on the Love Like You Mean It cruise again in February (maybe I will get around to posting about it someday. . .) and my very favorite part of it was the relaxed time spent with him.

We also got to enjoy time on the cruise with these dear friends--John and Wendy and Troy and Caren.  Friendship is ever so precious to me!

I love to dwell on the relationship my two big kids have.  While Briana was visiting one day, she regaled Destry with stories from her two jobs and I sat watching them, dwelling on their laughter and joy.

 As residents of Iowa in the year of a presidential election, we enjoyed getting to caucus for the first time.

This son of mine is so weird and crazy and fun and loving. . .I'm savoring these moments of spontaneous, neck-choking hugs before he goes off into this big, wide world.

And this spunky, ornery, delightful not-such-a-baby-anymore. . .

And finally, I "tasted and enjoyed completely" an evening at Johnny's Steakhouse to celebrate the 20th birthday of my daughter in the wonderful company of my mom, sister, sister-in-law, and daughter.

The word savor is just perfect for this year!

Savor: January

I have a goal this year, to record a few things I savored each month.  I meant to do this earlier, but hey!  We're still in the first week of February, so it's not too late to record January's savorable moments.

Savor:  taste and enjoy completely, enjoy or appreciate completely, 

especially by dwelling on it to delight in

Friendship is very important to me, and I got to savor some wonderful moments with great friends  Misti and Caren (ironically, they seemed to involve food too!).

My baby is growing up, but has had a couple days this month in which she just needed extra mommy time.  I chose to savor the moments and reverted to babywearing.  She loved being up on my back.

Tyrell is doing a great job learning to read, and thinks he is teaching Aryana to read with him. She repeats everything back to him just as he says it.  It is about the most precious thing I've ever seen.

Savoring. . .

My dear, dear friend and sister-in-law, Marcy, and I slipped away for a fine. dining. experience!!! (With the accompanying price tag! whoops and giggle) We had a wonderful evening of sharing and recharging which I savored immensely (and yes, I savored that Sashimi Tuna as well, mmmm!).

Puppies. How the children loved on those puppies in January before they went to their new homes!  So sweet.

Briana came over for supper one evening and was bombarded at the door.  So precious.  Savoring these moments of sibling love.

Destry and Kiana parked on the heat register reading Odyssey magazines together, ages 18 and 8.  Knowing this time next year Destry will not be living here and I won't see these precious moments.  Savoring. . .

Freudian Slip

As Destry was filling something out the other day, he asked me what our school name is.  It's not something we talk about a lot--we were just supposed to choose a name some time ago in order to "qualify" as a homeschool for ordering purposes, so we developed a name and then just carried on with life.

I was busy doing something else, so just threw out "Together to Learn to Love."

Now, if you'll notice on my profile off to the right I describe our name:

Our school 'name' is "Together to Love to Learn" because whatever we do, we are together. The goal is to love together, to learn together, and to love learning together.

It wasn't intended to be "Together to Learn to Love" at all.

But you know what?    Fourteen years into this homeschooling journey, I think maybe we have been together to learn to love.  Really loving people doesn't come to us humans naturally.  We're having to work things out, even on the bad days, the seasons we aren't getting enough sleep, through hormonal changes, and the days we just wake up on the wrong side of the bed.  We are in close proximity to one another and have to learn to love one another and get along even when we don't get breaks from one another.

We're learning to share our hearts and our lives--developing "into-me-see" intimacy.  We're learning how to be tender and kind and sensitive with one another.  We're learning when to be patient and step back, and we're learning when to confront with deep and genuine affection.

This selfish mama is learning it's not about me, my comfort, my pride, my ease, or my preferences.  More and more we're learning it's all about the Greatest Commands.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. . .You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Matthew 22:37,39

Together to learn to love, indeed.

Bible Study Campout

One of the highlights of our summer was the Bible Study Campout in July.  Since I wasn't staying up with my blog then, I haven't posted about it yet, but it was such a fun memory that I want to preserve it, so look out:  many pictures ahead!

The kids thoroughly enjoyed camping out.  They liked gathering wood for campfires, cooking outside, eating outside, playing outside. . .Alan--not so much.

In his defense, we were in a little pop-up camper with a tent off to the side.  And Aryana still insisted on getting up between 5 and 6 am.  And we were trying not to let her wake the entire campground.

Truthfully, our campsite worked out just fine.  I was happy with how all my food preparations worked out.  I have to admit I got a little bit bored with camping.  I had done all the cooking work ahead of time and I used crockpot liners so clean up was a breeze.  There was no cleaning to do, no laundry. . .I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself.  This is where you're incredulous that I wasn't in a hammock with a book, but a busy one-year-old didn't allow complete relaxation--we had to keep eyes on her constantly.

The fun was in spending time with friends.  We went down before the Bible study started, so some friends invited us to spend Saturday with them at Alley Springs and then the river.

It was beautiful, the museum was interesting, and the kids loved walking the trails and climbing up into the little caves with their friends.

After our hike and a picnic, we went down to the river.  The moms sat in lawn chairs with their feet in the river while the dads and kids played in the water and collected crawfish and tadpoles.

The kids brought the tadpoles and crawfish over to the moms so Ginger made them a little pool to swim in.  Aryana was fascinated by this little pool.

The Bible studies started on Monday and lasted throughout the morning.  There were some really good studies--the best for me (most convicting?!) one was on pride (part two).  In the afternoons and evenings, people got together for all kinds of activities, from water activities, to playing games, singing, going for ice cream, etc.

One highlight for the older three children was the canoe trip.  Alan took Easton and they rode in the canoe with Briana and her friend Tiffany.

Destry took a canoe with his cousins Jared and Vanessa.  They were a more adventurous group, racing ahead of others, pulling over to the side to climb up cliffs and jump off bridges.

Another day some friends invited us to the place they were staying off the campground.  The view from the house they stayed in was simply beautiful.

 There was a little creek on the property that we enjoyed playing in.

Alan and Destry got the idea of building a little dam to speed up the current so the kids could ride their floaties.

 Wheeee!  It was pretty fast!

Jumping off the cliff into the river is a tradition Briana got to participate in with a bunch of friends. . .

 Rainy day cards with friends. . .

 Trips to Eminence to the Dairy Shop with friends. . .

 Sweet young ladies. . .

Alan and I ended up going home early when it started raining, but Briana stayed with friends and got to perform the British version of The Three Little Pigs for the sharing night.  It was lots of fun, and we were all tired at the end.  Even Destry slept on the way home.