Spreading Good Cheer!

The children had the privilege of spreading good cheer, by entertaining the residents of two different retirement homes this past week.

On Saturday, they played piano for residents at a assisted care facility in North Raleigh arranged by their piano teacher.  The ladies at the home were enamored with Ambers dancing and dress; as much as her playing.  Her brothers played beautifully and even played an encore, to fill the gap till other students arrived.

On Wednesday, we met a large group of homeschoolers to play, sing and do crafts with the residents of another facility.  There were about 30 kids performing: voice, piano, violin, and harp. 

After the official performances, the children passed out cookies and drink, then invited the residents to do a craft.  Jared and Titus were great ambassadors in this area.  The two ladies they worked with voiced their appreciation by wishing they could come back every week. 

To keep the festive spirit going, the "Rat Pack" continued to play and sing.

These two concerts were a wonderful way to share the spirit of the season for us all.

Click this link to listen to recordings of all the kids playing their Christmas piano tunes:
Music Folder 

Ballet and Visitors

We took off running after we returned from Park City.  After our field trip to the Tiger Rescue on Monday, two of our kids friends came to stay with us for a few days (turn about is fun play in this case).  

Shortly after they arrived on Tuesday, we went to Amber's mid-year ballet performance.  

She is definitely the most flexible, had the largest audience in our not so humble opinion, the most beautiful dancer there.  Her friend Mary Elizabeth enjoyed the show a lot.

The kids all kicked into having a ton of fun the next couple days and aside from a little extra cooking I actually got a break to catch up on life a bit, so it was a win win for everyone.  The boys played a lot of Airsoft and Memoir '44.  

The girls were just girls, something Amber doesn't get a lot of so it was truly wonderful for everyone.

Tiger Rescue

Chris took off the day after we got back from Park City and as it turned out I had a field trip planned for the day to the Carolina Tiger Rescue.

We went with a huge group of homeschoolers.  So big in fact that we had to split into two groups.  The lady in charge suggested splitting by families but I guess she's not use to big families, so we split more along the lines of friends.  As a result, all the adults had a few adopted children that day ;-)

Our tour guide was awesome,  we've been to the tour a few times before but each time I learn something new and interesting about the animals; such as the fact they are willing to take deer meat as a donation, I fact I'll pass onto our hunting friends.  Amber and Lily Grace took a lot of photos and Jared had a lot of good questions.  In Chris' group there weren't quite as many questions but a fun time was had none the less.  It's a wonderful facility and the weather was great for our visit.

Park City Get Away

Chris started a new job in September and in addition to him really liking the work, liking his co-workers, and working from home 100%....his company has an Annual Meeting/Christmas Party each year in Park City, UT where the employees and their spouses are all invited.  

Chris and I had never really been more than a few minute drive from the kids in 14 year.  We'd tabled all my grandiose plans for our 20th Anniversary last year, so this was an opportunity to amend that issue that we didn't want to miss.  Thanks to some wonderful friends we were able to make it work.

Leading up to our trip we had a lot to accomplish, like getting Amber to sleep in her own room, doing a thorough cleaning of the house to make our guest comfortable and stocking the cupboards with food. Check!

Then I had to find a formal dress, shoes, etc for the actual Christmas Party without spending much money.  Check!  

And still keep up with regular life, like attending friends Choir Concerts.

By Thursday night we thought we were all set.  I had created a shared checklist for Lance to make sure he didn't forget anything (All weekend I didn't have to nag, just checked to make sure everything was checked off). We had two days of breakfast casserole in the frig. Check! 

On Friday, morning I had a moment of dread before we left and had Chris measure our carry-on.  Sure enough it was too big for the new standards, so at 6:30am we quickly repacked our stuff in the kids swim team bag.  A minor snag, no big deal.

We left around 7:30am on Friday morning.  Ironically, RDU had me as TSA Pre-Check from our trip to Boston earlier this year, so I breezed through security and sat patiently while Chris went through the winding Disney lines.  At home the kids had a casserole to cook, and our neighbor kept watch, till our first set of friends came around 8:30 to hang out for the day.

Amber and Hannah even dressed alike.

Our flight to Detroit went well and we just had time to use the facilities and check-in with the kids before boarding our flight to Salt Lake City.  Carey was surviving and the kids were all getting along well and having fun with their friends. 

Chris barely fit in the second plane, his knees were touching the seat in front but we were both in good spirits, excited about our adventure.  We had fun screening movies, I kept starting movies and then giving up short way in, but at least now I could take them off my list for free.  Chris did better watching a movie he'd been curious about for a while.  Plane travel has changed a lot since our last flight together in July 2001.

Boys looking for snow with Nathan.

When we landed in UT our friends were trading places; one family leaving and another moving in.  This quote from my first friend helped me relax immensely:

"Have a great weekend! Your kids are awesome. That's all I thought about today was how cool they were.Jared taught Nathan how to play Dutch blitz and went slow on purpose without making Nathan feel bad. Lance made sure everyone ate and played with Luke and Titus when they were feeling like oddballs. Hannah and Amber played well all day. Titus was polite and helpful teaching everyone new games. I could go on but you are on vacation!" 

We easily found our rental car, I was feeling frisky so I talked our way into a free upgrade.  I'd never been to UT so I had no idea what to expect, the mountains were right there in front of us, seeming to surround the city in a arid landscape.  The drive to Park City took us straight up and through those mountains.  The resort was very nice and snow was on the ground.  

After checking in, we went looking for food.  The gentleman at check-in said the resort restaurants were quite good so we decided to walk down and explore.  He was right, we had a delicious and relaxing lunch/dinner.  We had a view of the ski lift and the mountains, its was a wonderful start to our vacation.  

After relaxing, and calling the kids to say goodnight (time change), we got dressed to go to the informal party at the owner's house.  What an absolutely gorgeous yet comfortable home.  I was jealous to hear they'd seen moose in the cul-du-sac last year, I was hoping for a repeat but no luck.  It was nice evening of getting to know his new co-workers for me and to a degree Chris also, since he'd only met two in person before this time. 

Saturday was the Annual Meeting for the employees.  I slept in a bit, laughed at the people actually in the pool below my window (heated or not its still too cold to swim outside for me), and wandered down to breakfast.  This was one of the highlights of the weekend.  I sat there and was pampered for 90 minutes.  Custom made omelets, incredible porridge (that I'm now making for us at home), assortment of fresh fruits (cantaloupe and blue berries go really well together) and people constantly checking to see what else I might need.  It was wonderful!  Making breakfast is a big deal every morning in my house, which is why I instituted pre-made casseroles for Sunday mornings.  I realized this trip, not making breakfast on vacation is what makes a vacation truly a vacation for me.  I also enjoyed talking with the staff and a couple of the other spouses that came to breakfast.  I found out from the staff that we could go hiking on the golf course near the resort, so when Chris' meeting was done we headed out.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect, the heat from the sun was so intense that I was fine in simply a sweater without a coat.  Poor Chris hadn't brought boots but was no less willing to embark on my proposed adventure (Thankfully, our room had a fireplace that dried them in 15 minutes).  We were the only ones out on the golf course, we saw lots of animal tracks and the snow got a bit deep at times which had us laughing, we were having a blast, the view was incredible and we even sent a snow message to the kids.

After our hike we wandered into the resorts second restaurant which had only opened that day for the season.  As a result, we were the only people having lunch in our little yurt and enjoyed time together; people watching and talking with our waiter.  

At home is was actually colder and snowing, the kids sent videos of the confused chickens and ran around a bit in hope of it sticking.

Then it was time to rest up and get ready for the big event.

Once again we said good night to the kids and headed out, a bit more dressed up than the night before.  We headed out a little early to check out the downtown area and peruse a couple of art galleries.  The evening was a complete success.  In the morning, we got up early enough to enjoy one more breakfast at the hotel and head out to the airport.  As a present, i had upgraded our seats during Chris' meeting to the exit aisle so he had some legroom, as we were taking a direct flight home.  Our final gift from the vacation was the beautiful view of the sun slowing rising over the mountains on our drive out.

We can't thank our friends enough for all they did to allow us to go and enjoy this special vacation together and we couldn't have been more proud of our kids; they didn't fight the whole time we were gone and obeyed out friends without question.  In fact I think they were having so much fun with their friends, that they barely missed us, they said they were laughing so much they strengthened their abs.  

Success!  We managed to get away, still be friends with both families that helped out and other than a little loss of sleep, everyone was really better off for the wear.  All the same it was good to be home.

Airborne and a Visitor from Down South

When Chris sent this picture, it came with the caption "View from my new office".  Chris was like a little kid after his visits to Fort Bragg this week.  He is so enjoying his new job and the people he works with both at his company and Bragg.

At home we were trying to finish out school for the semester, prepare for our trip and the upcoming visit from Grandpa Bob.

Grandpa Bob arrived early Saturday morning.  I had his Kona Coffee ready in the French press.  The kids were bursting at the seams to see him, they really look forward to his visits.  Jared challenged Grandpa to their annual game of chess, and wonder of wonders Jared won for the first time.  We sat talking for a bit, then all the allure of the presents under the tree became to much, so off to opening we went.  The kids got all they asked for and more, his gifts were well thought out too.  

After gifts we sat down to a French Toast lunch (the only dish I make I know he likes), and some Cream Soda and the kids favorite part, stories/conversations with Grandpa Bob. Then back to more games.  This year the kids challenged him to a game of Catan.  The kids all played piano for him and after bit more conversation it was time for him to leave.

As always, his trip was over too soon, but we were all so glad he came.  We kissed, hugged and sent him off with a little bit of Italian Anise as a small thank you, till he returns next year.

MIchaelgiving

Since we had illness in the house the month of September, we were unable to have our annual Michaelmas Party at the normally scheduled time.  However, the children were not to be denied and so we rescheduled Michaelmas to yesterday.  

We had 8 adults and 14 children, requiring the largest turkey I have ever cooked, a huge 20lb turkey; the oven shelf actual sagged a little under the weight.  Chris was hoping that with his special restricted diet this would be the first Thanksgiving/Michaelmas where he actually lost weight, but that was not to be. Our kind friends went out of their way to make an assortment of goodies for him and the rest of us to enjoy, from quinoa broccoli casserole, to sweet potato mint brownies.  As for activities, I really can't tell you much of what the children did during the day; I know they were laughing upstairs and running around a lot outside but since they stayed conveniently out of the way and got along so well I didn't really pay much attention.  Therefore, the adults were free to enjoy each others company and conversation; that touched on a huge variety of subjects.  Sometimes the men and women talked among themselves other times we merged for many entertaining stories.  The sun sets early this time of year so the party wrapped up around 6:30pm with 22 stuffed and smiling people of all ages. 

On a side note, earlier this week the kids helped an elderly neighbor with some yard work, that led to uncovering and eliminating a yellow jacket nest, which led to a gift of the dead queen hornet to present to Aaron our entomologist friend at Michaelmas.

Also, Amber lost her first tooth at Michaelmas and sadly its the only picture I took.

Oh and this strange one of Chomper today LOL.

Salt Shakers

Today was the last of three performances, of "A Christmas Carol", for Jared's new theater group Salt Shakers; where Jared played "Old Scrooge".  He rehearsed a lot around the house, with his dad modeling how to be an old man (too much Mary Tylor Moore more Chris as a kid).

Jared is truly enjoying this great group of kids and teachers.  There first performance was three weeks ago at the church as a sort of dress rehearsal/family event.  Our friends came by to cheer Jared on as Old Scrooge in their wonderful original adaptation.   Click the video below to see his performance:

The second performance was at a retirement home, where Jared also played piano during set-up and Lance came along for manual labor.  Some good friends also came to watch this performance and my friend encouraged the kids to go mingle with the residents.  Lance ended up in a nice long conversation with a couple there; the residents were truly appreciative of this kids coming to perform.

The final performance was for a YMCA after school program at a local elementary school. It was interesting to see the students response to the play, both the invitation to sing and the gospel message intertwined.  

The cast party was held at the home of one of the students families, where we had a nice time of food, fellowship and play.

Can't wait to see how the Spring Semester unfolds.

Fall Field Trips and Projects

In September, we managed one trip out of the house with a new homeschool group, affectionately called GAH.  We went to one of our favorite parks, Yates Mill Pond for an interactive class on pond ecology.  In addition to touring the pond, the children were able to take samples from the pond and bring them back to the classroom to chronicle all the different types of life they had found.

In October, we finally made it to the Mordecai House in downtown Raleigh.  This is the second home in a series of founder home tours.  We had visited his fathers home last year, The Joel Lane House.  The group we went with was so big they had to break in two groups; one taking the trolley tour first and the second (ours) touring the buildings first.  Our guide was very engaging, we learned a lot about the family and their involvement with some of our founding fathers.  The trolley tour after was fun too, getting a quick glimpse and history of many of the other historic homes in the downtown area.

Early November, was our families annual trip to a Corn Maze.  This year we incorporated it with a birthday celebration for Lance's friend Matthew, since Lance had missed his party.  We decided to return to Naylor Farm this year.  Naylor was the farm we first visited when we moved here.  The kids like it best because of the complete lack of rules and oversight, i.e. freedom to do what they want.  This year they had added a neat nerf ball battle fortress, in addition to the maze, duck races, hay ride and corn pit.  We broke into three teams for the maze race and this year Jared and I were the clear winners,  Matthew and Lance second and Team Otto coming in a close third.  On the hay ride, we were all able to pick one pumpkin.  Amber picked one too big to carry but she rolled it to the trailer and got the driver to put it in for her.  The rest of us did pretty good too as you can see.  Our chickens are in for a big pumpkin season.  Especially after the 3 huge pumpkins Titus and I had so much fun picking up on a road side stand last week.  After the hay ride Chris and I took up resident on a picnic table and let the kids run and explore; we joined in from time to time on the bounce pillow and the air fight of course.  We'll definitely be back again next year. 

The second field trip of November, was to "Historic Oak View Park" an old pecan and cotton plantation in the middle of Raleigh.  We went with a large group of homeschoolers to tour the plantation.  Ironically, our guide was the same as the field trip we took the to Mordecai House and she remembered us as well.  Titus and Amber were full of answers to her questions and offers of help to run the Cotton Gin.  Before the tour we gathered a nice bag full of pecans (Titus is quite the pecan finder) and visited our friends the Nubian Goats.  All in all we had another great visit to the park.  

As Chris was leaving to take the boys to a travel ball tournament in Fayetteville, the brakes went out on the Beast.  Thankfully, by God's grace Chris was only a mile from home and going really slow so he only tapped the car in front of him.  The break system replacement let to us finally getting around to replacing the broken radio.  To save money Chris did this repair with his three helpers; Titus, Amber and Hunter.  I was very impressed they all managed a successful replacement and we can all enjoy our favorite music in the Beast again.

SEEK Fall 2017

Today, was the final day of SEEK for the semester and the big Family Night Presentations, what a great night!

I am teaching a two semester High School Chemistry class called "Friendly Chemistry" again this year.  I'm really enjoying teaching the class. I like working with the high schoolers.  My Socratic approach to teaching took a few by surprise at first but based on the thoughtful thank you notes I got this year, I'd say its growing on them in a good way.

Lance took Study Hall first hour, which he used to take his weekly Greek Vocabulary tests and socialize a bit.  Then second hour he ran around with his friends in a PE Course.

Jared had the semester of his life!  First hour was a wonderful Drama Class.  He ended up being the spokes person for the class presenting his wax museum presentation of Louis Bleriot (first man to cross the English Channel by plane) to the whole assembly to encourage everyone to attend family night.  At family night he was one of the most visited statues and his friend Nathan had to protect him from too many people pressing his button :-)  Here's the link to the video of the assembly presentation:

Then, as if that wasn't enough, the whole class put on an incredible lip-sync presentation of the "Newsies" broadway play.  They that had the whole house in an uproar of applause afterward:  Here is a picture of the cast, followed by a link to the whole incredible stage show:

Then for second hour, he had an equally engaging class about Architecture, taught in part by my good friend Carey and therefore including his best friend in the mix.  He became a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright by the end of the class (kid has good taste) and gained a real interest and appreciation for architecture.  During the class they did a lot of hands-on modeling and even had an Architect for a guest speaker.

Titus showed how smart he was by taking an Apologia Anatomy and Physiology Class, designed for 5th graders (he's only a 2nd grader).  His teacher took me aside one day and said "Don't ever let him fool you, he's super smart.  He remembers everything.", point noted.  For his other class his took a fun and active PE Class to get all the wiggles out before Anatomy.

This was Amber's first semester taking structured classes at SEEK.  I admit to being a little worried how'd she do but my worries were completely unfounded.  Here first class was "Adventures in Etiquette". I figured why not, it was worth a try and I think she did come out a bit more polished.  However, note that in the Family Night Presentation picture above that she went on stage without shoes, Chris joked he wanted his money back.  People said nobody noticed with her beautiful dress.  

Her second class was a literature and crafts class that she really enjoyed.  It was taught by a mom she knew so I wasn't as worried about his class.  She brought home a bunch of adorable projects.

Fall Baseball

Today, was the season end bowling party for Lance's Mustang, travel ball team.  It worked out nicely that the best friends of our other three children lived less than a mile away so we dropped them off and were able to just hang out and talk with the other adults.

This season Lance received the "Sportsmanship of the Season Award" for....

"Lance battled through illness this season, yet continued to catch behind the plate in very hot, humid, uncomfortable conditions.  Lance never complained and continued to support the Mustangs through the season"

Lance played the first tournament of the season too soon after not completely getting over an illness and that threw him into the worst illness of his life for the next three weeks.  Worst of all Coach Keith injured his back, so the two tournaments Lance couldn't play, Chris had to go and be head coach anyway.  It was a rough month physically and mentally for our family.  I remember Lance saying "I'm glad Anthony got to play on the old Durham Bulls stadium".  Such a good sport but I could see it was a big loss for him none the less (Anthony was his friend who filled in as guest catcher during his illness).  Lance did get to finish out the last three tournaments of the season, which included a huge come from behind third place finish in the Rocky Mount World Series, beating the number one seed (where Lance caught the fall tip for the win).  It's Coach Keith's intent to keep this team together through high school and get all the kids scholarships to college.  That's a high order but we're game to give it a try.

This fall Titus aged up to Kid Pitch baseball; from modified coach pitch.  He now plays on a bigger field and the other players, not the coaches, are pitching.  His first coach in West Raleigh picked him up again for this season with the Padres.  He played a lot of Right Field and made a couple really great plays, getting kids out in the infield.  The Mighty Titus has quite an arm.  

Peter and the Wolf

I really like getting a great deal and boy did we get a great deal buying these tickets as a group with our friends and for the whole season; essentially we got three concerts for the price of one.  The fact that the deal involved going the symphony made it absolutely perfect.  I adore classical music, in fact the classical channel is the only radio channel I listen to at home or in the car, my kids are very cultured :-D

Today, was the first in the series, Peter and the Wolf, a family favorite.  Before the concert the kids had fun trying out different instrument at the instrument petting zoo.  Then they had a parade across the stage for all the kids that wanted to show off the costumes they had worn.  Amber of course was happy to show off her Princess outfit.  We were all very excited as you can tell.

The symphony was acted out on stage by some members of the North Carolina Ballet.  Amber had her picture taken with the ALL the performers (by request) but she said the duck was her favorite.  I think this was the best symphony, based on quality of sound, that we have ever attended.  We were all very impressed.

After, we had a picnic dinner to eat on the lawn, the parents enjoyed some lively conversations and the kids some fun running around on the lawn.  Great friends, great music, great weather, a truly wonderful evening.

Amber Turns Six

I say this every year, but its true, they all grow up too fast.  My beautiful baby is turning into a beautiful little girl.  

For her birthday this year, she really wanted a bowling party with friends and thankfully we were able to comply and even do it on her birthday.

But before the party we needed to complete our traditional birthday activities.  The boys did a great job of decorating the downstairs to begin the day of celebration.

She really wanted to wear this new hoop skirt to the bowling alley but we convinced her to go for non-hoop version of the princess gown.


All three of her closest friends and their families came to celebrate with us today and she was extremely excited.

The older kids had their own lanes but they stepped in to help their younger siblings when needed.  After bowling we did cake and then used the free tokens we had to play the carnival games.  The boys were ball sharks at the skeetball game getting a couple thousands tickets, that they kindly told their sister they would use to get her a toy the next time we came.

Amber was very pleased with her special day and we were all pleased to make it special for her.  She is such a wonderful individual, with deep emotions and strong love, that is returned both by her parents and her doting brothers.