It's going to be a bright, bright sun shiny day

A homeschool perk: school on the deck this morning

No idea what she's looking at.

An entire yard, and they play right here in the dirt and on the concrete.

A little practice "driving."

We even pulled out the sun glasses today.

Forecast is for rain tonight and tomorrow so we attempted to make the most of today.

Visiting the zoo and China

The kids where out of school for President's Day, but we opted to carry on with school at home and then take off Thursday to do something fun. Thankfully, the weather on Thursday was fabulous so we went to the zoo. It had been a long time since we'd gone to the zoo - so long that Eden didn't even remember it!


It was such a fun day. We'll have to go again soon.
(The giraffes are my favorite.)
Then on Friday, Gabe and Mya finished up their study of ancient China with a Chinese tea party. I didn't get to go since Laney had a doctor appointment at the same time, so Nae went and took some pictures.
I think Mya might need a few pointers on chopstick use...They both said the food was good, but "not as good as Mathu's!"
Having a little celebration like this really makes for a neat way to tie up what they have studied. Now they're on to Greece so I wonder what kind of costumes I'll have to come up with for that?

6 months old

and not in the least interested in posing for Mommy's camera!

Another re-cap post

It seems that all I'm capable of lately is a weekly photo re-cap. Hopefully I'll get back on track here one of these days...

In honor of President's Day, Mya made us a cherry cobbler (that she had made at school) for dessert tonight. It was a hit; Nae and I each had a taste, and the kids ate all the rest.

Laney has had a few tries at rice cereal, and is so far not a huge fan. Her siblings, however are very excited that Laney is finally eating "real food."

Laney is sitting up now too. I have a feeling she and Eden are going to be quite the pair once Laney is a little bigger.

Some of the baby...

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Here is a picture of the kids on Valentine's Day two years ago when Eden was the same age as Laney is now.)

We started our day off with a little (or a lot!) of sugar in the form of Gigi cupcakes.

For several years we've done doughnuts on Valentine's Day but this year I decided to switch it up a little bit. I think everyone was okay with the change. (BTW Alena has a heart tattoo on her cheek)

We also welcomed our newest niece/cousin who decided to arrive on Valentine's Day. Congrats to Emma and David on their baby girl - Avilene Rose. I'm sure Emma will be posting pictures on their blog in her spare time.

February 5

A picture of our 5 kiddos on the 5th of each month.

Also, my sister Chrisa and her husband, Sam, welcomed their baby boy yesterday - Levi Samuel. Can't wait to meet him in person!

A snapshot

1. Alena still enjoys putting stickers all over her shirt
2. Eden's favorite "school" activity - cutting paper into tiny little pieces. (She doesn't enjoy the picking up near as much.)
3. Doing flips on the trampoline (I love, love the trampoline. The kids are out there all the time, and it burns off a lot of energy!)
4. Laney enjoys the megasaucer.
5. Alena's cute little smile and sparkley eyes...
6. Mya's first time giving Laney a bottle.
7. Mya takes a turn on the trampoline.
8. Gabe does some school work with a Mr. Lego man supervising.
9. Eden's cheesy smile. When Eden saw this picture she said, "That's a good one, Mommy! That's a good smile!"

(I'm taking full advantage of Picnik closing and using their now free premium stuff that I was always to cheep to pay for. I'm not happy about their closing, though. It's such an easy way to edit pictures.)