A new car! And freedom for us all!

After 9 VERY LONG years, we have 2 cars again. Bryan bought a 2008 Taurus today.  I'm really not sure who's the most excited...

Me, who can leave the house whenever I want without committing to 2.5 to drive back and forth to Bryan's work.

Bryan, who doesn't have to deal with us planning our lives around him and then waiting for us when we are late or listening to the kids whine/complain/fight when stuck in rush hour traffic at dinner time.

Or the kids,  who don't have to be told no to everything they want to do or their friends are doing because we don't have a car-it's the little things like the library, and park that are most exciting to them.

Pray it lasts a few years. .. it's got 180K miles on it!

Sweet Sleeping 5 year old

Selah's godparents gave her a "Little House on the Prairie" collection and the kids have enjoyed it.  Today, we watched an episode of the show, and Mr Micah fell asleep.  He was either exhausted from a busy week, or he found the show really boring. I didn't mind, I don't get to snuggle with Micah very often! 

Goldfish Swimming!

We have joined a homeschool partnership that pays for the kids to take swim lessons!  I can't vouch for what they learn yet, but the kids loved it.  I was a little worried since this was following a whole day at the indoor Waterpark, but I needn't have been. I literally had to threaten Selah and Micah to get then out of the pool after their lesson! 

The water is kept at 90°, there are 4 kids per teacher,  and it's decorated super cute.  And on top of everything else, they get a treat on their way out. They really seem to have a good business in place, and quite the market here in Michigan when winter is forever and even in the summer, it's often too cold to swim! 

At any rate, Selah and Micah have been counting down until it's swimming day again! They can't wait until Thursday. 

(Noah's working with the guy in the orange shirt, and Selah is in purple in the back right.  Micah is with her but obscured by the teacher.)

Field Trip Friday: Warren Waterpark

We are doing field trips for Paideia this semester, and this week we went to the indoor Waterpark in Warren. We had to wait a bit when we got there, so the kids got to color and draw.  Selah was thrilled. I never did go take any pictures while they were playing (kinda hard to do when you HAVE to be in the water with all children 6 and under) but they had a blast and were upset to leave when we absolutely had to after 5.5 hours.

Hi dad

I'm at school. With just mom. This rocks.

~Elijah

He's growing up and mommy is sad.

It finally happened, but it was way earlier than expected.  Today, he called me Mom.  Repeatedly.  Not mommy or mama like he normally does. Even the other kids noticed. I'm just Mom.

And I don't think I'm ready for that.

Louisville, KY

As I drove around this am, all I could think is that the roads in Louisville are NUTS. None are in a grid.  They twist and turn every which way. And there are a million interstates/loops/spurs/etc that all dance together so it's all but impossible to stay on or catch the right one. But I guess they're aware of it because they have an exhibit at the science center dedicated to it! 

Totally typical

Jonah's friend, Ethan, is messing with him and Jonah tries to keep Micah and Elijah from being each other as they fight over the steering wheel.  Selah is in the back, oblivious to everything except how cute she is. And Noah is about to fall off the truck as he checks underneath to see how something works...

It's cold and hard to walk!

We took a field trip to the Detroit historical museum with Paideia. For being free (and only $6 to park), it was pretty cool.  We easily spent 2 hours there and didn't get to read much. 

The downside was, the temp was 15°F with a negative windchill. So I'm glad there was a lot right there.  As we're the kids.  Who were cold and found it hard to walk. Never mind the fact she took her hood off and didn't want to walk on the cleared sidewalk...

Best Buddies