School is in session!!!!!

Today, Young Family Academy was in session for the first time for the 2015-2016 school year.  Our line-up of students and grades are:

Fone - 9th grade

Mario - 7th grade

Melody - 6th grade

Ariel - 4th grade

Max - 2nd grade

Pookey - 1st grade

And, we do have two sweet tag-a-longs, Rose and Yoda!!  Going to be participating in an activity bag swap soon to have activities on hand for miss Rose who needs something to keep her busy, rather than her interrupting us every 30 seconds. I am thinking about making these and these for the swap and getting two sets back.  

With 8 young ones and all activities they are in, and knowing how important it is to maintain a huge sense of peace, we use quite a bit of computer curriculum.  We mix-and-max what works for our family.  Some of our choices include:  Saxon Math, My Catholic Faith Delivered, AOP Switched on Schoolhouse, Abeka, Seton, Catholic Heritage Curriculum, and Homeschool Connections.  So, a little bit of everything, I guess.  We pick and choose the "best of the best"!!  :)

School days, school days

Dear old Golden Rule days

Reading and 'riting and 'rithmetic

++Thank you, God, for calling us to homeschool.  Please bless our year as we learn and grow in faith, academics, and bonding with each other!!++

Another year gone - 14 things we love about Fone...

I am once again amazed that I have a teenager in the house.  It seems like just yesterday we became parents for the first time, but today marks the 14 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of that day!!

Happy 14th Birthday Fone!

To celebrate your 14th year, here are 14 things we love about you...

1. He's funny and likes to play video games. (from Ariel)

2. He sometimes plays Legos with me and Max. (from Pookey)

3. You are responsible, smart, helpful, and an all around good kid.

4. You are handsome, our Mr. Prince Uncharming.

5. You are a reader like me. (from Melody)

6. He's my cuteness and I'm his cuteness. (from Rose)

7. He nibbles and smooches on my head. (from Yoda)

8. He is my older brother. (from Max)

9. He makes YouTube movies with me. (from Mario)

10. He is my best "fwend" (from Mario)

11. He has a great sense of humor.

12. He is an excellent and driven student.

13. He is great at showing love to his little brother and sister.

14. You are great at acting and improv!

Happy Birthday to our first son and our oldest child!  

We love you very much!

11 Wonderful Years!

11 years have gone by since God gave us this girl - our first daughter.  Having had 3 sisters myself growing up, I knew the closeness of girl friendships, and I am blessed to say that I love the closeness Melody and I have together and hope and pray it will only continue in the future.  (I know the teen years are ahead of us, so it will take much prayer and grace to keep it during those times - oy!!  My first teen girl in a couple years.  One day at a time....)

To celebrate 11 blessed years with Melody, we wanted to share 11 things we love about her....

#1 ~ Her tickling me and playing with me 
(from Max)

#2~ Her being my sister and playing Barbies with me
(from Ariel)

#3~ Her being my "other mother" and all the snuggles and lovin's she gives me
(from Yoda)

#4~ she's beautiful and nice
(from Rose)

#5~ she likes some of the things I do (like acting and video games)
(from Fone)

#6~ her good sense of humor
(from Mom/Dad)

#7~ how reliable, responsible, and grown up she is becoming

#8~ she's nice and makes us food (recently - cake pops!!)
(Mario)

#9~ she's a good student and does her work without complaining
(from Mom/Dad)

#10~ she tickles me and does criss-cross-applesauce
(from Pookey)

#11~ what a joy and pleasure she is to be around
(from Mom/Dad)

Happy birthday, sweetheart!!!

We love you SO much!!!!!

++Loving God, you created all the people of the world and you know each of us by name. We thank you for "Ariel", who celebrates her birthday today. Bless her with your love and friendship that she may grow in wisdom, knowledge, and grace. May she love her family always and be faithful to her friends. Amen. ++

Star Wars Peg Doll Swap

Since I have *so* much free time, I also took part in a Star Wars peg doll swap and we got the dolls back a few weeks ago.  We were pleased as always and they turned out fantastic!!  These guys will be loved and played with for many years.

(Jawa, Shmi Skywalker, Count Dooku, Wicket)

(Rebel Guard, Admiral Ackbar, Darth Vader, Commander Cody)

**I made Admiral Ackbar**

(C3P0, Storm Trooper, Anakin, Yoda)

(Emporer Palpatine, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker)

(Chewbacca, Darth Maul, Han Solo, R2D2)

(Mace Windu, Lando, Obi Wan Kenobi, Padme)

May the force be with you!!!

10 months old

And may I ask HOW??!!!!!!!!!!  Look at this sweet little guy!

• Sitting up so good.
• Scooting everywhere.
• Crawls backwards (and gets stuck under the couch, under tables, in corners)
• Puts everything in his mouth (trying to keep chokables out of reach all day long!)
• Is our teeny tiny little guy!!!  (not even on the charts for height and only 6% for weight, but he was 6 weeks early!)
• says "momma", "dadda", and jabbers in Chinese constantly
• Eating like a champ.  (but still loves momma's milk)
• And, if you couldn't tell from the picture.... happy, Happy.  HAPPY.

Our Young Stars

The last couple nights were the summer showcase performances that our 5 oldest took part in.  All summer long, Fone, Mario, Melody, Ariel, and Max took theater classes once a week and at the end of the summer session, they always have a final performance.  Up on stage.  Acting in front of everyone.  With memorized lines.  Enough to make me want to run and hide!!  But, man, am I a proud momma!!!! They all did it!  And, they did a superb job!!!  I am in such awe at how God can do such amazing things by fostering a little creativity in your kids.

"Fairy Tale Feud"

Fone as Prince Uncharming

"The Emperor's New Hair"

Mario as a Townfolk

Melody as the Hairdresser

"Care and Feeding of a Dragon"

Ariel as the Dragon

Max as a Knight

Silly  Rose was asking about Showtime Pal (the theater's clown) the whole time.  Showtime Pal gives announcements before and after the showcase and also in between performances.  So, instead of looking out for her brothers and sisters, who were performing in the plays, Rose was more interested in Showtime.  Afterward, you can go get your picture taken with Showtime.  Of course, she was too shy, but we still snapped a couple pictures with other siblings.  Silly goose!!

++Thank you, God, for the theater and acting opportunities for kids in our area.  Thank you for the courage and confidence you gave my kids to perform and do their very best.  Their smiles, their energy, their love, their love come straight from You!++

July Saint Peg Doll Swap

Yesterday afternoon I finished swapping and packing up 20 sets of saint peg dolls with 20 dolls in each set for some local moms (and a few out-of-towners), all for the children of the families to love, play with and treasure their Saint Friends forever.  Kids play with Barbies and Super Heroes, so why not play with their Saint Friends??

Here's a peek at the 20 Saint Friends that were painted and swapped....

(St. Brigid, St. Charles, St. Therese, St. Kateri)

 (St. Clare of Assisi, St. Cecilia, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Alexander)

 (St. Doroty, St. Zita, St. Augustine, St. Gemma Galgani)

 (St. Philomena, St. Peter, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Helena)

(St. Joseph, St. Anne, St. Nicholas, St. Faustina)

Now this is the first swap that I hosted and didn't participate in.  I took a break from the actual painting since there were new people that joined the group and wanted to participate in the swap, plus we have a nice sized collection from all my past painted dolls and two swaps from earlier this year.

++Lord, may our children learn to love and follow the example of their Saint Friends, who followed in Your footsteps, and we pray for their intercession always!!++