Family update and I'm coming back!

After not posting on here for a couple of years, I have plans to try to get back to my blog in the next few weeks. I'm not sure I am quitting Facebook completely, but I do want to cut back there and one way to do that is to go back to blogging. I have lots of work to do to get my blog up to date and very little free time to work on it. Plan on checking back in February to see if I made any progress!

The Lambs will turn 17, 15, and 13 in the next few months. I have a junior and freshman at our Lutheran high school and still homeschooling a 7th grader. Lamb 1 tried football for the first time last year. Lamb 2 loves JROTC. 

Ram is fully employed as a mental health counselor and more than half way to his license. We are looking forward to full license both for being done with school and the pay increase. His schedule is completely full at work and he is booked out several weeks. It is nice to know that clients trust him after a year. 

I am kept busy chauffeuring the Lambs; homeschooling Lamb 3; helping Lamb 2 with homework; managing the household and household schedule; volunteering at Redeemer Classical School library; and trying to fit in a little time for myself.

Ewe's parents are doing well. Dad will turn 81 in February. We did not get to celebrate his 80th due to Covid. They now have a home health aide about 3 hours a day to help dad shower and mom with housework. We still have lots of small tasks to help them remain in their home and check up on them frequently. Everyone is still talking about celebrating their 50th anniversary together in August 2019.

Ram's parents are also doing well. It was disappointing that we could not be together for Thanksgiving or any visits in 2020. We were so glad they were able to take a 50th anniversary trip to New Zealand shortly before Covid.

Ewe's sister and brother-in-law live in the St. Louis area and recently purchased a beautiful house. They both enjoy their jobs. Hannah authored a month of Portals of Prayer last year. 

Please leave a comment so I know who found me again after my absence here!

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

March update

March meant that we finished some activities. The Lambs had been getting ready for piano contest and that was the middle of March. I let them have the next week off of piano lessons after that. Our family had been attending a Bible study at church together on the Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, the Small Catechism, and the book of Mark. That also finished in March so we were done with the weekly homework to prepare for class. The Lambs sang in Sunday School choir on Palm Sunday so we are done practicing that hymn at home. They will sing one more hymn this school year.
Lamb 1 picked his freshman classes for next year. Going to high school is getting more real for all of us now. I am very excited about his opportunities in high school.
I attended a seminar on infertility by a local pro-life doctor that was really good. It didn't really apply to me, but I am glad there are resources for women that need it. I especially appreciated the encouragement for couples to try some basic lab tests; take medicine if required; have surgery if necessary; and if still not pregnant consider adopting.
Ram's parents visited for Ram's spring break and I tried to do spring cleaning and decluttering before they arrived. I didn't get done everything I wanted to get done before they came, but every little bit helps. I especially enjoy getting everything to give away delivered to the proper place and finally getting it out of my house.
We did some car maintenance-oil changes for both cars; had the brakes on one car looked at and found out they were fine; and car washes for both cars after winter. Wouldn't you know that as soon as we had the car washes it snowed the next day and we followed a salt truck?
We put an offer on a house that we really liked but was priced above what it was worth and above our budget. They countered with still too expensive so we are taking a break from house buying right now. If nothing else comes up for sale that we are interested in and this is still on the market in a month, then we may try again. Our realtor thought our offer was completely reasonable and their list price was ridiculous. Since we are renting and not in a hurry, the whole deal became humorous. I think the seller was a fool to not take our offer. I also think God has an even better house planned for us since so far this deal has not worked out.
Vision therapy homework for Lamb 2 has taken some planning and thinking in how we can do it in our rental house. Their computer software didn't play nice with Macs so Ram had to figure out how to get it to run in our all Apple household. Lamb 2 is doing great on his therapy so I will be interested in what the Dr. says at his 8 week checkup. We are also going to have Lamb 3 evaluated and we may have two Lambs doing vision therapy.
My parents have taken turns being sick this winter so we haven't seen them real often. We will all be glad for summer and hopefully all be more healthy.
The Lambs keep practicing piano, memorizing the catechism with the goal of May confirmation for Lamb 2 and 3, and plugging away at homeschool subjects. Ram keeps writing papers for me to proofread, studying for his classes, and setting up interviews in the community for his papers. He is getting excited about starting internships this summer. I attempt to be chef, maid, delegator, chauffeur, teacher, and generally just to keep everyone happy and hopefully they gain some knowledge each day too.

14

He is learning what "adult" birthdays are like. Almost all his presents were books from both his grandparents. There was no huge Lego set to put together this year. He was content to use his day off of school reading, playing iPad, and playing basketball with his brothers. (Homeschooling means no school on birthdays in our family.) He was happy that we didn't have anywhere to go today. The local grandparents even came over to our house. It was a little bittersweet for me today that it was the last homeschool birthday for him. Maybe he will end up with a snow day next year? He was born during a snowstorm, so we can hope, but that was in MN.

Lamb 2 made a really nice card

Grandma sent candles that light the same color as the candle. They were pretty neat.

Birthday Meal Requests:
Breakfast: French toast
Lunch: Sloppy Joes
Snack: fudge
Supper: Pizza (but we went out for pizza yesterday so we will have pizza another day this week, we just had leftovers tonight.)
Cake: Vanilla with homemade dairy free frosting that is the best frosting I have ever made!

I was a little exhausted after cooking all this plus making some other food for our family this week and doing all those dishes. I will sleep well tonight! Ram teased me that I didn't even have to teach school today, but honestly I don't know when we would have fit school in! Tomorrow will be back to regular schedule.

February family update

We are plugging away at daily routines: 
*Homeschooling with extra work for Lamb 1 to prepare him for high school and Lamb 2 and 3 concentrating on learning to read and spell.
*Our whole family is attending a weekly Bible study on Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the book of Mark, and the Small Catechism. We do the readings together to prepare for weekly quizzes.
*Lamb 2 and 3 are working on memorizing the meanings for the 6 chief parts of the catechism with the goal of confirmation in May.
*All 3 Lambs are practicing for a piano contest in March.
Update on my dad:
He became so weak at the beginning of February that he fell a few times. The paramedics recommended he go to the hospital and get checked out. The hospital was overcrowded and he waited several hours to get a room. He did have the flu and was much better after a few days in the hospital. We thought maybe he would go to a place for rehab, but not counting the hours he was in the hospital hallway that he wasn't officially a patient, he wasn't in the hospital long enough for insurance to pay for rehab. He went directly home and has been doing great since he has been home. We even took him to a high school basketball game last Friday. It is not easy as your parents get older and prayers are appreciated.
Vision Therapy Again:
Lamb 2 competed a long evaluation with a doctor here. We don't regret doing vision therapy in Idaho because it was helpful for several areas for him, but it wasn't enough. He is beginning vision therapy here at the end of the month. This doctor does things differently than our ID doctor and we are hoping these different ways of doing things are going to be helpful for Lamb 2. This doctor does 1 time a week therapy with 20 minutes of daily homework. Lamb 2 will get bifocals. He has 20/20 vision and can see fine in the distance. He doesn't truly need glasses for close up work, but the hope is that this will ease the stress on his eyes as they try to focus to see near work. We are expecting at least a year of therapy here. One nice thing is you pay one price and it covers everything (therapy, doctor exams, computer software for homework, etc.) no matter how long therapy takes. This is different than Idaho and is much better to know exactly how much it costs. Lamb 2 was very excited to go pick out his glasses and is impatiently waiting for them to come in.
After Lamb 2 begins, then we would like this doctor to also evaluate Lamb 3. For a long time he had no motivation to learn to read. Now he does and reading is very difficult for him. I am curious if he also has a vision difficulty and would also benefit from Vision Therapy.
Library volunteer:
A classical school started at our church this year. Our boys are too old as they began with lower grades and are working their way up, but Lamb 2 and 3 take art class there. I volunteered to help with the school library. It has been so much fun to get the books ready for the school children. Most are donated or library discards. The headmaster and his wife are choosing quality literature for the school. It is so fun to see what she finds on the 20 cent library discard shelves.
Lilla Rose:
I just signed up to be a Lilla Rose consultant. I'll blog more about this as I learn more, but if you don't currently have a consultant, contact me for more info if you are interested. I have been wearing Lilla Rose hair clips for about 10 years and I figured it was about time that I had a business card to hand to people when I get a compliment!
Dentist:
Our whole family went at once for dental cleanings and checkups. We all did well except one Lamb needs a tiny filling. Lamb 2 needs an orthodontist consultation because his teeth are so close together plus there is a problem with his canines. After dental checkups we are all extra good about brushing AND flossing AND using mouthwash for awhile...
Cooking:
While Ram is in school I have had to do more cooking than while he was a pastor. I was getting tired of the same old recipes and often 1 or 2 Lambs don't like what I make. I did a little research in my cookbooks and on the Internet to get some new recipes to try. Last night I made beef stew and it went fast even though only one Lamb had more than one helping. Today I made beef vegetable soup and we'll see how that goes tomorrow. I have some more recipes to try this week. The Lambs were shocked that I cooked something new two days in a row!

January 2018

Finally everyone was healthy so my parents watched the Lambs so Ram and Ewe could go out for their anniversary (a couple of weeks late). We went during Savor Fort Wayne to a fancy restaurant after asking friends for a recommendation. We went on a Thursday so we got all our stamps for our 2 dinners so we could get entered into the drawing. It was a great meal and worth the bargain price of Savor Fort Wayne. 

Photo Credit: Steve Blakey
It was rainy and cold for March for Life, drastically different than last year in t-shirts. We marched with several friends from church and then went to my parents church for cookies and hot cocoa. We had a chance to wear our new hats. Our deaconess student is on the right in her hat from the Washington D.C. March for Life.

One day I worked on cleaning out the basement. I asked a Lamb to bring me my slippers while I was working. I kept noticing pieces of plastic on the basement floor and couldn't figure out where that was coming from. Finally I realized my slipper was breaking! These were a Christmas present about 8 years old. Both slippers went in the trash because what would I do with one slipper and how long would it be until the other one broke too?

We took the Lambs to Debrand chocolate for their Savor Fort Wayne deal for a big treat one day before Ram  returned to classes. It was so good and enough to share with 5 people-I can't imagine 2 sharing it although Ram and Ewe got the drinks and we all shared the chocolate. There were other SAHM doing the same thing with their kids that afternoon.

When Ram was on school vacation we didn't use both of our vehicles very much, but Ram did make sure to go out and run the car that was in the garage a couple of times during his vacation. It wasn't enough and the battery on our Camry died. After trying to get it to go for a day, we were happy when AAA came and towed it and we were back to having both vehicles available shortly after Ram began classes again.

I used some credit to get some Snipp, Snapp, Snurr books from Hyde Brothers before Christmas at about $8 each, but they didn't have very many Flicka, Ricka, Dicka books in stock. I was so excited when this book was on the 20 cent shelf at the public library. I am keeping it for my collection. Since then I keep looking for more Lindman books, but this is the only one I have found. The cover wasn't in the greatest shape, but the pages are clean.

Our church youth group went outdoor ice skating one day. Last year I really wanted to take the Lambs, but we never found time in our schedule. None of the Lambs were very excited about going, but they tolerated it for a couple of hours. I promised Lamb 1 I wouldn't post pictures of him ice skating, but here are the other Lambs. It was cooler, but not freezing the day that we went. I took pictures this time, but next time I want to join them. Lamb 1 took off his coat and when we got home he asked where his coat was? I went back and it was right where he left it! By then it was much more crowded and I was glad we had gone when we did.

I really wanted to see Goodbye Christopher Robin in the theater, but they never came to Fort Wayne theaters. I was #3 on the library hold list and the library ordered 19 copies, so I picked it up the day after it was released on DVD. I have read a lot about A.A. Milne, so I was looking forward to this movie. My dad borrowed it before it was due, I watched it, and the Lambs watched it. Ram didn't have any interest in watching it! Even after reading several reviews, it was different than I expected. If you are going to watch it, read his poem Vespers first and you might want to have tissues handy, but you might not need those tissues depending on your stage of life. I won't give any more spoilers nor any more recommendations. Personally I'm glad I have both read his autobiography and that I saw this movie.

Year in Review-December 2017 Part 3

I spent a lot of December planning the last Advent supper at church. I made supper for 75 people and served it on December 22. Several church families had family home for the holidays and it was a fun evening. We collected peanut butter and jelly for the Seminary food bank and here is some of what was collected. After supper that evening we decorated the church for Christmas and had Christmas cookies and goodies while we decorated. I served the wassail tea that our church in ID served at the Ladies tea every year and everyone loved it. I think it will be a new tradition to serve that while decorating at our church now. I love that our church waits until the end of Advent to decorate the church and it is all ready for Christmas Eve.

One day my parents babysat the boys so they could decorate Christmas cookies with my mom. Our boys had been sick with colds so the date got changed several times until everyone was healthy to do it. Ram and I ran errands while they were at my mom's. It was so nice to be able to go without them. When we got back to my mom's our Lambs monkeys were in my mom's tree in her front yard. I know it is just a few more years until we can leave them alone, but I love days like this when I get a little break, because a homeschooling mom doesn't get many breaks like this.

We ordered our own hats for our local March for Life. It was a major pain to order them,  we could not get the website to work. We finally called the Synod and they were so helpful to place our order for us. Shipping was outrageous because they expect churches to make a big order, not just order 5 hats. After all that we were really excited when they came in the mail and we had to take several selfies. I don't know if we will ever make it to the Washington D.C. March for Life, but we will proudly wear these at our local March for Life.

I really liked how this one turned out. 

Lamb 3 needs to work on his selfies a little bit.

I told you Lamb 2 loves selfies!

On December 23, the day after I served the dinner at church, Ram went to get our tree out of storage. While he did that I quickly swept and did a little cleaning to get ready for the tree. The whole family helped and we decorated the tree quickly. We chose a slightly different spot than last year and I love our tree in this house with high ceilings. I am so glad I purchased it at a church auction last year.

All of the Lambs were acolytes for the first time together on Christmas Eve. 💗💗💗
I think I am done buying Christmas outfits sweaters or dress shirts for them because they will be acolytes for the next several years.

My parents ended up coming to church with us on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day even though that was not planned, because my mom did not want to drive in the snow. It ended up being really nice to worship together. Ram assisted with the service so I was glad to have my parents to sit with me. Lamb 2 just can't help himself with selfies when he is given a camera!

Christmas Eve

I bought a skirt for $2.64 including tax at Christopher and Banks after all my coupons. I couldn't believe it really worked. Unfortunately they had very few skirts for sale in the whole store. I found a basic grey skirt in my size that I love. Another unexpected blessing for me while Ram is in school!

I don't have any photos to post here, but a few days after Christmas we went over to a friend's house to decorate gingerbread cookies. The mom was so organized and a fun time was had by all. Lamb 1 took pictures, mostly of the babies at the party, instead of decorating cookies. Lamb 2 and 3 decorated a cookie, ate the toppings, and then decorated it again. They did this with about 3 cookies each.

After the gingerbread party we went to eat lunch at Chik-Fil-A. The Lambs got a gift card as present from a church member. I thought that was a great present for preteens. Lamb 1 and 3 were happy to order whatever they wanted and still had $ left on their $10 gift card. Lamb 2 ordered everything he wanted and needed us to pay a couple more dollars. That's the way it usually goes-Lamb 1 saves his money, Lamb 2 spends whatever money he has, and Lamb 3 spends some of his money. They were glad to order what they wanted instead of being limited like we usually do when the whole family goes-(water or lemonade, no dessert).

Chik-Fil-A was really crowded-what was I thinking to go to lunch during Christmas vacation? So the Lambs wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but I made them pose for a picture outside. 

Grandma spoils our boys so much that we don't buy them very much for Christmas, just small stocking treats for the 12 days of Christmas. I thought this Lego chemist was pretty cool so I ordered it. The company made a mistake in advertising this set, so after it arrived I got an e-mail that they would refund my money. So they ended up getting this set for free.

And that completes our 2017 Review. Happy New Year!

End of January Family Update

On Monday I helped our church school library organize their new books some more. When Ram was done with class he came to pick up the boys to take them home. Except they were having so much fun with the other kids of volunteers that only Lamb 1 went home with him. I love "working" in the library and helping this school get started.

On Tuesday the Lambs had piano and art. I did a little grocery shopping before a mammogram. I already got the results and everything looks good. Our whole family attended the first Christian Wisdom class at our church. This weekly Bible study runs through Lent and we will study the book of Mark, The Small Catechism, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Our pastor titled it Luther, Lewis, and Mark. I think it will be good for everyone in our family.

On Wednesday Lamb 2 and 3 had a play date in the afternoon with some friends from church. Lamb 1 did a little shopping with me while they were there. Goodbye Christopher Robin movie was in at the library for me. I watched it and I'll blog about it soon.

On Thursday our family went to a library book sale. Ram and I didn't find much, but the Lambs did. Thursday night the furnace went out. Thankfully it was a little warmer here. We called our landlord first thing on Friday morning and the repair man came right away. I didn't take a shower until later on Friday, but other than that it wasn't too bad because it got fixed so quickly.

On Friday Lamb 2 had his second vision therapy exam. It is looking like this doctor and a second round of vision therapy will be very helpful for him. We set up a parent consultation to find out more details. We are also considering having Lamb 3 do the testing here. After he was done at the doctor we took peanut butter and jelly donated by our church members to the Seminary food bank. I was glad I had a strong Lamb to help me carry that. In the evening my parents babysat while Ram and I went to an adult only dinner at church. It was potluck this year (so much food!) and a very fun evening.

On Saturday we had to get up for confirmation class after being out too late. Our family went to the March for Life in Fort Wayne. It was rainy but not too cold. The speakers before the March were good. The March with friends from church was fun. Then we went to my parents church for cookies and hot cocoa. I think this was the first year they did that and it was a great idea to go fellowship out of the rain. We stopped at the last branch library book sale in January. Ewe and the Lambs found something, but Ram didn't. It probably would have been better to go in the morning, but we couldn't. After all that we came home and both Ram and Ewe took a nap!

Today was church and Sunday School. Then we ran a couple of errands as a family so I could come home and put my comfy clothes on and not go anywhere the rest of the day.

The calendar looks pretty light this week. It will be nice to stay home and continue to focus on homeschool and home keeping.

Third Week of January 2018

Last week was a fun, but busy week. On Sunday we went to church and Sunday School and I streamed the Seminary Epiphany service instead of going to it. That is always a beautiful service.
On Monday our church hosted a one day conference. The Lambs helped acolyte at 2 church services that day. There were sessions for adults during the day and supper and fellowship in the evening. I helped serve soup during lunch and nachos with cheese during our taco supper. We didn't know very many of the visiting attendees this year, but had a good time with our friends from church. Many schools in the area were canceled for MLK Jr. Day so the Lambs had friends to play with during the sessions. It's great to take a day with church friends.
On Tuesday the Lambs had their first piano lessons after Christmas break. Then we planned to go out to the Seminary and see if any friends were attending Symposium this year. But when we went to start the car, it wouldn't start. Ram had a doctor's appointment, his annual physical, so he called AAA and then took the minivan to the doctor. While he was gone they came and jumped the car and I let it run 25 minutes. Ram wasn't home so I turned it off to gather up my stuff and the Lambs to go to the car place. 5 minutes later it wouldn't start again.
On Wednesday a tow truck came and picked up the car. There was no charge thanks to AAA combining it with the call the day before. It was a long day of chauffeuring for me due to one car. When I picked up Ram after his class, we went over to the Seminary for a reception. Last year there were more children at this reception, this year our Lambs were the only ones. They behaved partly because there was food for them. Ram and I visited with one of my college friends and a few other people we knew. It was a nice end to a crazy day.
On Thursday we picked up the car from the shop with a new battery now. We went to a couple of library book sales and had a couple of good finds. On Thursday night our boys acolyted at our church weekly midweek service. I don't often attend that service and it was nice.
On Friday I woke up with a headache, I think sinus trouble from the weather. I was pretty worthless all day. I watched some of the March for Life coverage from D.C. online. I really want to go some year. Ram had an eye doctor appointment. He needs a slight change in prescription.
On Saturday the Lambs had confirmation class and then the church youth group went ice skating. The Lambs were not too excited about ice skating but after about an hour both Lamb 1 and 3 were pretty good at it. Lamb 2 declared that he liked roller skating better than ice skating. It was low 30s and I wonder if he would have liked it better if it was a little warmer. Maybe we'll try to go again as a family before the end of the season. Ram and Lamb 1 went to darts at church. When they got home I went over to my mom's. I am keeping some of our food in her chest freezer. I reorganized her freezer and brought some meat home for us. I had a nice visit with my parents after the freezer project.
Yesterday we went to church and Sunday School. CLHS had an open house so we went for a little bit. Lamb 1 has been accepted so we didn't have too many questions. Lamb 2 and 3 were glad for the chance to practice shooting rifles. We went to an open house for a possible house. It was nice, but not perfect for us, so we are still waiting and looking. We stopped by Barnes and Noble for a treat from the cafe while it was educator discount day. Then the Lambs were anxious to get home to watch football so we came home.
In the middle of all those activities last week, we got some homeschooling done too. This week I hope to be back to full homeschool schedule and Ram is back to full time schooling. I am glad to get back to a routine and hope for no more excitement like car problems this week!

Year in Review-November 2017

While celebrating Reformation 500, we didn't carve pumpkins until November.  Sorry for the poor picture quality. Lamb 2 and 3 each carved a jack-o-lantern, Lamb 1 thinks he is too old to carve pumpkins.

Our church celebrated their 125th anniversary. I made cake toppers and chocolate favors. This is the dessert table with my decorations and other dessert too.

Chocolate Bible favors. Idea was here. The anniversary was really a fun day with both friends that are members and some visitors that day too.

Photo Credit: CLHS Facebook Page
Lamb 1 attended Concordia Day. He wants to be in JROTC now.

Lamb 1 won a t-shirt at Concordia Day. It was perfect for him since he wants to do cross country next year.

I met my mug swap partner. Everyone that sees the necklace she made compliments it.

Only Lutheran homeschooled boys would practice a hymn for Sunday School choir during a play date.

Everyone on Facebook was doing a black and white photo post. I didn't do 7 days of posts, but I did post a photo of our mailbox at our rental house. A delivery man complimented it a few days before I took the photo.

Our public library had an author visit, Laura Numeroff. I was at the end of the line, but she stayed past library closing time and signed everyone's books that were in line. The Lambs came and listened to her talk before signing, but Ram took them home while I waited in line to get my book signed. 

I sold more books to Hyde Brothers. This one surprised me and was worth about $100.

This is the book that got me started on buying books at the library book sale. I thought it would be valuable with the prints inside. It was worth about $25.

I read this biography of Tasha Tudor before I sold it to Hyde Brothers. It is more recent but was still worth about $20. All these books I sold were 20 cents each at the library book sale.

Lamb 1 needed a new coat. I really didn't have time to shop for one and was unsure what size to buy him or where in Fort Wayne to shop for one. A friend messaged me and asked me if we could use a coat that they found when cleaning out their closet. It was Lamb 1's size AND his favorite team is the Seahawks and it was their colors. I am just amazed at when God provides for us, not only just what we need, when we need it, but also when it is absolutely perfect for us! I couldn't have gone to the store and found a more perfect coat for him. Another example of a blessing while Ram is a student!

 

My sister came for Thanksgiving and we remembered to take a picture in our Harvest Raise t-shirts. It didn't turn out the greatest so we'll have to try again next time she visits. I was noticing how much my sister and I look alike in this picture. I have never noticed that before, we used to be so different that I wondered if we were really sisters!

I wanted to buy Lamb 2 a dressy coat for church. When I measured him he needed a men's size M! The sleeves are a little long, but the coat is not that big on him. He loves to dress up for church and was happy to get this coat. I used several coupons to buy it and I think it will fit him for a couple of years.

The pastor asked a question in Bible class about what was on our pulpit. I sit in the front row almost every Sunday and I was drawing a blank when he asked the question. Ram went upstairs and took a picture for me to jog my memory. (John 14:6)

We went to Christmas in the Park which used to be called the Christ Child Festival. The Lambs were a little old for it so we didn't stay long. I just wanted to know what they did. I had grand plans to take a family photo for Christmas, but there was too much in the background that disqualified this photo without a lot of photo editing.

January Family Update

Lamb 1 was sick on Sunday so I took Lamb 2 and 3 to church by myself while Ram stayed home with Lamb 1 and watched our church service online. It is so different that Ram now stays home from church with sick Lambs after many years of me staying home with sick Lambs while he was the pastor.

Sunday afternoon we took our Christmas tree down and put it in storage. Monday the weather wasn't too good and my mom and our family all had chiropractor appointments so we gave her a ride, had our adjustments, and took her home.

Ram, Lamb 1, and Lamb 3 were sick at the beginning of the week. It wasn't too bad, it was mostly a frog in their throat, but not sore throats or fevers. We took lots of vitamins and ran humidifiers in the Lambs rooms. We're not completely over it, but much better. I spent more time with the Lambs going through stuff in their room and getting more stuff ready for give away. We got back to our routine of practicing piano, the Lambs did their piano theory, and we got back to a little homeschool. I did some school planning, especially planning what I want Lamb 1 to do with me this last semester before high school.

On Thursday Ram and I finally had our anniversary date. Fort Wayne has a local restaurant deal so for one price we got appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert. It was really good food. We had been given some money for Christmas for us to go out on a date and with this deal we didn't even spend all that money. The Lambs were glad to go over to my parents while we went out, it had been a while since my mom was healthy enough to watch them. I was so glad everyone was healthy and Ram and I made it out on a date before his school vacation ended.

On Friday there was ice and a couple of inches of snow so most schools in the area canceled. Lamb 2 had a vision therapy evaluation so we braved the roads in the early afternoon and by then it wasn't too bad. This was the first exam so he has an appointment for a longer exam in a few weeks. It is looking like he will need to do more VT. I'm excited for him to have a chance to work with a different doctor/therapists when he is a couple of years older. I don't regret him doing VT in ID in 2014, it just wasn't enough. His eyes are still having a lot of trouble focusing on the page to read. In ID, VT was very close to our house, here VT will be a little drive. But if he can benefit from this then we are willing to drive.

Today I will go to church and Ladies Aid while the Lambs stay home one last Saturday to hopefully get a little more healthy, but also because we will be back to full routine next week.

Next week Ram returns to class, piano lessons begin again, there is a conference at the Seminary so many friends will be in town, and we will try to get back to our full homeschool schedule. For Ram to have a month off of school for Christmas was wonderful, but it went all too quickly.

My plan is to finish the year in review posts and then attempt to blog 2-3 times a week with at least one of those being a weekly family update.

Year in Review-September 2017

We participated in a tour your own hometown day. The Lambs were not happy to spend a Sunday afternoon going to local places, but Ram and Ewe appreciated the chance to see inside buildings that we always drive by.

Usually no cellphones or cameras are allowed inside the courthouse so it was a special treat to be able to take photos inside the courthouse. I wish I would have brought a better camera as there was too much sunlight.

We took a similar picture when we toured the ID state capital, so we needed to take this one at the courthouse.

Allen County courthouse did some restoration a few years ago and it is so beautiful.

After touring the hometown, the Tincaps concessions were open for some discounted  snacks. The Lambs were disappointed to go to the field when there wasn't a game, but they liked the snacks.

Photo Credit: Redeemer Classical School
Lamb 2 and 3 began an art class. They took advantage of the nice September weather and went outside to draw.

Before we moved I gave away a castle toy that we had gotten at a thrift store and I thought that the Lambs outgrew. Almost as soon as we moved in, Lamb 3 started asking where the castle was. At first I told him we weren't finished unpacking and maybe it would turn up, thinking he would find other toys and forget about the castle. When we began studying medieval times in homeschool he really wanted his castle. We looked for something similar at several thrift stores, but you know when you are looking for something thrift stores don't have it. I finally gave in and bought him a Playmobil castle at a discount store. A few weeks after I bought this one I saw a better castle at Costco. Lamb 3 was thrilled especially because he likes Playmobil and we don't own very much.

Ram had a tour of several buildings on his college campus as part of one of his classes. I'm not posting all the pictures he took, but I thought how they hang pictures and artwork is a great idea for our future house.

Our bank had a customer appreciation day and so we ate a free junk food lunch one day. I was glad we homeschool and the Lambs could attend too.

There was a Saturday cross country meet and the weather was pretty nice. Lamb 1 got 8th place boys. The course had a hill at the end of the race, which made the finish exciting for several racers.

My sister came home for our high school homecoming because my brother-in-law had a big class reunion. I knew several people at the football game, but my sister didn't see anyone she knew besides one teacher and me. We did more that weekend, but I (gasp)  didn't take any photos. We all went out to eat that weekend to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday.

My mom's cousin visited and we had dinner at my mom's house one night.

There was a weekday cross country meet when Ram had class. I didn't plan enough time for this out of town meet and we were a little late. They had all the girls race and then all the boys race. Just before the boys race started it started pouring rain. They still raced and most parents of boys went back to their cars to sit during the race and most of the girls went home. As soon as the race was over the rain let up and this beautiful rainbow came out.

We attended an outdoor Reformation church service out in the country organized by several country churches. Rev. Harrison preached and I would estimate at least 1500 attended.  

After the service they organized a Reformation Walk. It was very well planned and educational, but it got to be a little long for the Lambs because it was after the service. 

The Lambs had to "work" in the Printer's Shop.

We didn't stay to watch the video.

By the time we got to the Marketplace, most of the Reformation merchandise was sold out. We already owned Reformation 500 shirts, so we weren't disappointed.

Martin and Katie Luther

Lamb 3's godfather has a new daughter. We went to the baptism. This is his godfather with his wife, daughter, and two of his godsons. (Lamb 3 has another godfather not pictured too.)

We put an offer on this house because we thought it just needed some good cleaning and some interior decorating. We had a house inspection and found out that in addition to a lot of other repairs it needed it had a drain held up by a Lego. After we were done laughing at the inspector's report, we got out of our offer. Ram's dad told us to run from that house and was very surprised that we got our earnest money back pretty quickly. We are still renting and still looking for that perfect house to buy.

A weekday track meet where I took the Lambs because Ram had class. Beautiful weather and a fun day.

Lamb 2's godfather was installed at a new church closer to us than he used to be. We made a road trip one Sunday arriving in time for his installation service. It was a busy day and not very many pastors attended so I was glad Ram could be there to support him.

My friend Joelle's parents attend this church. We had a nice visit after the service.

They have two adorable daughters. We hadn't met the "baby" before this day.

The Lambs had a Saturday cross country meet at Culver, IN. We left before 5am and when we arrived the campus was still dark. We had never been there before and weren't sure where to go. The weather was beautiful and they were done competing and we left around 10am. One advantage of early morning meets is you get home early! It was hot that day so we were glad they competed in the morning and we could get into the air conditioned car.

One of the other Lutherun moms was my high school classmate. If you would have told me 25 years ago that we would have boys on a team together today, I would have thought you were crazy! It was helpful to know someone (even though I had not kept in contact with her after high school) for our first year of cross country.

The CLHS team arrived after we did because high school competed later in the day. Wondering if Lamb 1 will be part of this team next year?

The military academy campus is beautiful.

I participated in a Lutheran women mug swap and this is what I sent to my mug partner.

And this is what I received from my talented and awesome mug partner. I got lots of compliments when I wore the necklace she made. (The one I sent to is different than the one than sent to me.)This year I didn't know either of the mug partners so it was fun to "meet" 2 new friends.

I presented at a Lutheran teacher conference. My session was popular and all these chairs were filled and many more sat in the back. I hadn't done anything like this for 14 years and it was so fun. Afterwards I was asked why I'm not teaching in the classroom. 

My session was about gross motor skills and I talked about what I learned from Lamb 2's vision therapy exercises. During question and answer time at the end several teachers were encouraging to other teachers to have lots of movement in the classroom and to do what I talked about. 

We participated in the last mile of Fort4Fitness together as a family.

Compared to cross country, this was very babyish and too easy for Lamb 1. They got participation medals and begged to not do this next year. We might sign Lamb 1 up for an adult race, but I think we are done with the kid races.

The last cross country meet was unbelievable weather for the end of September. I wore my sweatshirt because I was trying to prevent a sunburn. I hadn't brought sunscreen, just hats, as usually this time of year you are bundled up. Lamb 2 got pretty sunburned in his cross country tank top and the rest of us got pink that day. It was crazy for the end of September.

I don't have a picture, but the end of September we went swimming at a friend's house and then stopped for ice cream at Zesto before the season ended. Some other homeschool friends joined us that afternoon. I was glad to take the opportunity when we had a rare end of September day to go swimming. I want the Lambs to have homeschooling memories like this, especially because Lamb 1 is going to high school next year.