Embracing Our New Normal

It's been 8 months in the making but I feel that we are more at home in CA. It's helped becoming more closely knit to our church family here, friendships are forming and deepening (getting past my own awkwardness and getting to the knowing and being known part, imperfections and all), feeling more at ease with Adalai's schooling, knowing my way around town, and simply embracing the sunshine. There are a few things that may take longer to get used to- like people bringing their caged parakeets grocery shopping with them... but I'll spare you the stories :).

We are wrapping up our first school year with Classical Conversations. Recently we went to the Safari Park with our school group. The kids had fun observing some of the things that they learned about this year. And the little ones got to tag along too.

You just can't beat doing school like this!

The park days with other Westminster families have been something that we look forward to every week. It's nice to have some families in the same boat as us.

Adalai turned 5 yesterday. I'm thankful for the sweet friends that she's made this year through CC and the Sem. The kids had a picnic, planted some marigolds and bulbs in our garden, as well as magic jelly beans that grew into lollipops, ran around... in circles, and some of the older ones found our big dirt hill to slide down-so a good time was had by all! These are the things that childhood memories are made of.

The kids continue to make us laugh often, want to yell more then we should, and at times cry... they know how to pull on every heart string. Here's an update on each one:

Thatch

Thatch just started walking last week and is immensely enjoying this new skill that allows him quick access to nearly everything. We are still perplexed as to how quickly he went from taking 2 shaky steps to nearly running across rooms, but it happened! And it's so cute to see him waddle around.

Remy

Rem is learning all kinds of stuff by Adalai's side. She is learning abc's, 123's, verses and likes to be right next to Adalai for catechism and school. It's fun to hear her singing along as Adalai learns her CC memory work too. Colors aren't coming as quickly... she may or may not be color blind ;) only time will tell.

Adalai

And Adalady, our 5 year old, is wrapping up her first year at CC (class pictured below), learning to like the dirt and sand, how to be a friend, and how to keep her mom on track (she is always asking if everyone has their shoes and if their seat belts are buckled).

Traever

 We've been doing a good job of distracting Traever from the books. When I told him I wanted to audit a class he was a sweetheart and decided to audit it with me. The class is English Bible Survey and we cover Genesis-Revelation in one semester it has been really good for me to read through large chunks of scripture. And to sit in on great lectures that help me get a better grasp of the big picture of the Bible, God's character, and His relationship with His people. It's also been fun to in some sense enter Traever's world  and to exercise and stretch my mommy mushy brain in new ways. I'm thankful for the opportunity to audit the class and for sweet and sacrificial friends that watch our kids so that we can get away and take the class together.

Heading back to the Heartland

A month or two ago we received some really good news- we will be able to come back to central IL this summer for an internship at Bethany Baptist. We are thankful and excited for the opportunity to be back at our home church! And we will also be heading back to Central IL for my brother's wedding in a few short weeks. We're really looking forward to our time back in central IL, worshiping again at BBC, and catching up with friends and family. Our kids are excited about it too... especially the part about slumber parties with their cousins. Brace yourself Jewels we're coming soon!