We Traveled to Kenya

In the midst of lots of traveling and the busyness of everyday things, we are still enjoying our school days!

In our last My Father’s World unit, we traveled to Kenya!

It was really fun and we learned so much.

Our morning rhythm still starts with singing, Bible memory, a devotional and prayer.


We then move into our core subjects, before doing our unit study and science.


I always order a lot of books from the library!

Another library in our area opened for browsing, and we were SO glad!


Our Kenya study brought with it lots of fun things!

I broke out the Mancala game – which originated in Africa – and we had about one week of a Mancala craze.


We also made a clay project which was very fun and got the kiddos to be quite creative!


We painted an African savannah too.

They LOVE to paint!


We always have illustrations and narrations, which is an all time favorite here.

They are getting to be so good at drawing!


I have read some great books out loud to the kiddos lately.

Adventures With Waffles had us constantly laughing, and the mama of this crew might have shed a tear while reading this one too!


Next we are headed to Saudi Arabia!

School with this trio is FUN!!

Blake and I recently planned their next school year, and that was fun too!

I cannot believe this trio of ours is finishing up third and seventh grade!

Looking forward to continuing to learn together!!

So thankful that the Lord has allowed all these years home schooling!!

Happy Birthday, Eliza Claire!!

On March 12th our precious Eliza turned 9 years old!

She was SO excited for her birthday party that weekend!

Eliza said the funniest things all week long as she waited for her birthday!

While I was brushing her hair one day – “I can’t wait to be nine! Being eight is challenging.”

Or – “When I am nine life will be SO much easier!”

Crack me up, girl!


We had her birthday party on a Sunday evening with our favorites!

It was perfect!

Fish tacos for dinner and chocolate raspberry cheesecake for dessert at Eliza’s request.


The best part about birthdays for us is giving gifts!

We had so much fun choosing things for Eliza.


After dinner and gifts there was THIS –


I know.

Addie Mae is amazing.

It was delicious too!!

This next photo is my new favorite photo of Eliza!!


We lit those candles and sang to Eliza while she just beamed.

Don’t you love her little hand on River?!!

That hand was saying “don’t you dare blow out my candles for me!”


As Eliza enjoyed her birthday dessert, she looked right at her Dad and I and said “I may be nine, but I feel twelve!!”

Slow down, sweet baby!

And can time slow down too, please?


We enjoyed the rest of our evening sipping coffee, snuggling a sweet baby, and watching the kiddos play.


Another great birthday!!

They come up so fast!

I cannot even think about Tate being ten in August!

How is it that our cabooses are getting so big??

Well…Tate is already counting the days until his birthday, so I am sure we won’t forget to celebrate him!

Next up is Lane and Kayla though!

Stay tuned to hear about their celebration – and to see photos of some more of Addie Mae’s amazing desserts!!

Eliza Claire, you are our dream come true!!

We are SO privileged to be your forever!!

To see all the Lord has allowed and is doing for you is inspiring!

We can’t wait to see how He writes the rest of your story, sweet girl!

Happy, happy birthday to you!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

NaiNai Day

Kayla and I have been talking about having NaiNai Days for awhile now, where the grand babies could come and spend a day with NaiNai just for fun!

We finally had one.

We decided to split NaiNai days between the boys and the girls (not including Aspen) – which would allow for two of them to come at a time.

The boys were first and they were SO excited!

Kay never tells them plans like these until the day they are going to happen!

She might have learned that from her Mama, ha, ha.

The boys even spent the night with us!

A couple of weeks ago, after our Sunday family time together, the boys stayed while David and Kay took the girls to do some grocery shopping and errands.

The girls got to have special time too!

First up for Rivy was some NaiNai cuddles and a snooze.


The boys slept SO well that night!

Even though they were up very early!


They jumped right into our day with us after breakfast, helping with dishes and chores, and getting themselves ready.


We skipped school that day, but we hardly ever skip read aloud!


That day was the MOST gorgeous day we have had this spring yet!

We spent a lot of time on the deck.

This is what everyone looks like when NaiNai says “hey everybody, look right at the sun and smile for a photo!”


That’s better, Rivy.


We all had lunch on the deck, including me, and then we played the day away!


It was THE BEST!

There’s nothing better for your heart than when your grand babies squeal when they see you and run into your arms like you have been apart for years!

They are SO cute that way!

Can’t wait for the girls’s turn!!

NaiNai Days are a hit all the way around!!

Spring, Are You Here To Stay?

March came in like a lamb!

We have had many beautiful spring like days here at Twin Oaks.

How refreshing it has been to our bodies, minds and spirits!

I am so thankful for our huge deck off the back of our home – and even more so during mud season.

Melting snow means MUD, and lots of it!

The kids have been playing a lot of soccer on that deck!

When it looks and feels like spring, but the ponds are still frozen hard, you improvise!

We do everything we can on the deck on the warm days – read aloud time, meals, and Addie even worked on her Bible memory with a cute helper in sunglasses.

Tate and Blake scrubbed the deck on a beautiful Saturday morning.

It needed it!

Spring weather brings out the chalk and hop scotch fun.

Our sweet girl only had snow boots to wear because all of her others shoes did not fit her anymore!

She is growing like a weed, I tell ya.

We were trying to save her new shoes for her birthday, but we eventually gave them to her early.

This kid has been getting bikes from the scrap pile at the dump and at Blake’s work.

He fixes them up to look great and work great!

He asked me if I would like to have my own bike this year.

I said “How much is this going to cost me?”

When he answered 20 bucks for a few parts I need, I said sure!!

Isn’t my new bike awesome?!

I think I need to add a basket on the front and the back.

I can’t wait to ride with the kiddos!

Spring also means a haircut for Ruby Jane.

She is SO cute!!

This is how we all look by 9 p.m. after spending so much time outside these days!

Spring brings back smoothie season as well!

I got a smoothie recipe book from the library and I can’t wait to try some of them!

Of course the sky is still breath taking.

Spring sunrises are amazing.

We have already had two more snow storms on the robin’s tail, so hopefully that means we only have one more!

I am sure we will still see more snow this spring.

The last snowfall last year was on April 28th.

Either way, we are thankful for these beautiful warm days!

How I love the change of seasons!

I am thankful to live in beautiful Wisconsin where we get to experience all four seasons each year!

Happy Spring, everyone!!

Hope it is warming up where you are too!!