Dan the Animal Man

We went to a special presentation at the church next door by Dan the Animal Man. He brought some great animals and shared evidence of a Creator. It was a great service and the kids loved it!



This is an Eurasian Eagle-owl.




Gibbon Ape named Leeza (Leeza Gibbons lol)




This guy was so funny. He did a great job. Here is a link from Answers in Genesis about that tells more about who he is.

www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n2/animals-evangelize

And here is a link to his organization.

www.wildanimalencounters.com

Picturing America

This summer as an "elective" we are going to do the study Picturing America.

I entered to get the curriculum for free and it is amazing! So much more than I expected.

This is the box:


This is what the paintings look like:


There are several heavily laminated prints (front and back) in the kit along with a teacher guide. I've been wanting to study art for a while and this will combine it with American History. Each print is an American treasure. We are going to have fun!

And They're Off...

The boys packed their bags and went off for a week with Opa and Nana.





Whatever will I do for a whole week???

Jesus, The Most Beautiful Name (long post)

The girls worked so hard on their costumes. Kelsea had three dances with her class, plus a trio and a duet with friends. Nana made all the costumes for her class dances.

Kelsea and her friends worked hard on the costumes for their duet.

This is the design Linda Harford helped them with.


The girls in the trio got together a few times to create their costumes.






The day of auditions arrived and the girls were just a bit nervous.



Here they are listening to the critiques of the judges.



I am usually more frantic at the dress rehearsal to get the last minute touches done for Kelsea. Whether it's new tights or making sure the camera has batteries, something usually gets overlooked. This year was good. Everything was in place. I took all of my pictures this night so I could move around and get a closer shot and so I can relax and enjoy the show on the big night.







During the dress rehearsal they were given last minute instructions like remembering to smile, if there's a loose string on a costume, or if someone needs to adjust their dance for the stage. This gives them the chance to polish and fine tune their dances.



Here is Kelsea and Beth during their Duet.



This one is from "Screen Door on a Submarine".



Everyone did such a beautiful job. Here are my favorite parts from the rest of the night.

I love Grace and Christina's dresses.



I loved this dance. It was so beautiful. A lovely reminder of grace and forgiveness. Each girl did such a cute job at playing their part. I loved the saucy "gangstas".







The boys always give her flowers at the end of the recital. It's sort of a tradition.






Kelsea with her ballet teacher, JoAnn Stevens.

Sunday Afternoon Ball

Sometimes Leon and his friends play basketball after church on Sundays. Sometimes the kids and I tag along for a day on the playground.













I found taking pictures of guys playing basketball quite humorous.

Sometimes because they were just cuttin' up and bein' funny.





Or they were just so graceful.



And in some of these I can't tell if they lost the ball...



or if they're praying for rain...



Sunday afternoon basketball is Leon's favorite time of the week.

Jeremiah's Birthday

I can't believe, but he's 7 now. The youngest in the family is a far cry from being a baby anymore.



We celebrated with hamburgers, home fries, ice cream, and cake. We played Yahtzee and had a great time.

It was a good day indeed for Jeremiah.



Jeremiah tends to be the most dramatic of us. Everything about him is big and bold. He is definitely Mr. Drama. He's very sensitive and thoughtful. He loves dinosaurs, guns, and dressing in costumes. He loves to make people laugh and sometimes goes to extremes. He's passionate about not being called little. He's still our little guy and we are proud of him.