Ft. Benning, Georgia

In January, our family traveled to Ft. Benning, Georgia for Michael's graduation from basic training. Our first day there, we watched what is called the "Turning Blue" ceremony, which is when a soldier officially becomes part of the infantry.



Michael's blue infantry cord came from my brother, Ethan. I didn't know this before, but it is a tradition that if a soldier has a family member who is also an infantryman, then they can pass down their cord. Ethan is a captain stationed at Ft. Drum, New York, and he mailed his cord to Michael. I know it meant a lot to Michael.

Doesn't he look handsome?

The next day was graduation. Before the soldiers marched out, there was a neat demonstration with tanks, colored gas, and gunfire. It was loud and impressive (although Eleanor will tell you she was terrified).

Here are the kids freezing their tails off on the metal bleachers before graduation.
It was so cold!

Then the soldiers from three different companies marched out onto the field. It was a very nice ceremony. We were all so proud of Michael and how hard he as worked.

That's him, on the far right, second row from the rear.

Michael with the rest of our kids after graduation.

He's at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky now, and will probably be deploying to Iraq within a couple of weeks. We knew when he enlisted back in September that there was no question that he would be going. Still, as I looked at him with the friends he made in his platoon, I was struck by the fact that these are just kids. Eighteen years old and off to war. I know he is in God's hands, as are we all, but it is hard not to worry. Pray, pray, pray.

This alone was worth the price of admission...

A few weeks ago, our homeschool group went on a field trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. We'd been there a few years ago, but they have a new exhibit that was absolutely amazing.


"Fireworks of Glass": a four story tower of blown glass by artist Dale Chihuly. It is built on a glass floor, and what you see from underneath the tower is almost more impressive.

The entire floor/ceiling is layered with hundreds and hundreds of pieces of blown glass in an array of colors and shapes. With the lighting behind the glass, the effect is breathtaking. I could have stayed there all day looking at it. Very, very cool.



I took many more pictures than these, but you get the idea. If you get the chance, you should go.

my new blog!

I've been posting regularly/sporadically at homeschoolblogger.com for about two years now, but a lot of people I know are using this site and find it very easy. I like easy because I am seriously technologically challenged. So far, so good.

the new baby in house...

OK, it isn't quite the blessed event that it sounds like, but we're still excited. After months of looking for a new piano, we are the proud owners of a baby grand!


It is rather old, is quite out of tune, and the bench needs refinished badly, but we are still thrilled. When we asked out piano tuner to take a look at it before we bought it, he said if we could get this piano at the price the owners were asking for it, we should buy it and buy it now. We really hadn't thought seriously about a grand, because of the size and price, but this was such a deal.

Our other piano is an old upright, and the better our daughters learn to play, the worse it sounds. :) Katie is giving lessons now, and really needed a better instrument to teach and practice on. This is an answer to prayer. And I think it makes the living room look classy, at least when there aren't matchbox cars underneath it.

The upside/downside (depending on your perspective) is that the piano sits where our entertainment center used to be. Providentially, our television went kaput just days after we went to look at this piano for the first time. I took it as a sign from the Lord that we were to do without TV and get the big piano. My husband was not quite so enthusiastic, but agreed that music was a better investment for our family's time and money right now, so out went the entertainment center and in came the piano. My hubby is such a good man who loves his family so much!

We do have a smaller TV/DVD combo that we use for the funeral home downstairs and can bring up to watch family movies, so it isn't all that bad. I thought the younger kids might protest a little more, but they love the new piano. In fact, the "grandness" of it seems to have inspired them to practice more...although it isn't even tuned yet.

IMEA

Back in October, Katie auditioned for the Illinois Music Educator Association (IMEA) Junior Orchestra for our region. We were so happy she was accepted. She practiced her music and then a couple of weeks ago, she and the other selected students met at a local university and rehearsed together all day. later that evening, they gave a public performance. It was very impressive.

What made the performance even more special was that our Katie was selected as principle cellist, or first chair. It was quite an honor for her, and we were so proud.

Thanksgiving dinner

For the third year in a row, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my father's side of my family. It was a short crowd for us this year--about thirty people. If we all attend, there can be as many as fifty! We have plenty of room, though, because we use the funeral chapel downstairs. Some might think it odd to serve a holiday dinner in a funeral home, but hey, it's where I live.


Check out this bird!


My grandma's homemade noodles. They are a holiday tradition and a highlight of our family dinners. They are quite simply, the best noodles ever served anywhere in the universe. No competition.


So much food! In addition to the turkey and noodles, we also had a ham, fifteen pounds worth of mashed potatoes, rolls, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn casserole, White Castle stuffing (made from the hamburgers, I think. I didn't try it), spinach balls and an array of salads, dips and desserts. Yum, yum and yum.

It is a lot of work to host such a big gathering, but I love every minute of it. I feel so blessed to have such a big loving family who truly enjoy each other. I love the memories and traditions we have created together. I even love the sound of a hoard of cousins running through my house. I am so thankful to God for all He has given me--for my family, my home, my health, and most of all, for my Savior.

I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Psalm 7:17

farewell to fall

Our family had a wonderful time this fall. It is hands down my favorite time of year. I love the colors, the crisp air, the crunch of leaves under my feet.

Despite what the calendar says, fall is officially over here. An especially rainy day on Wednesday washed the last of the leaves off the trees and into the landscaping. Temps are dipping regularly below the freezing point at night. Thursday we even awoke to a few snowflakes wisping through the air.

So here is a short pictorial tribute to the fun our family had this fall. We made a lot of memories together.


Dad and Elijah helping bring in the harvest on the family farm.


Mackenzie tries her hand at the pumpkin sling shot at the pumpkin patch.


All aboard!


Ready to carve the pumpkin


EEEEWWW! Pumpkin guts!


Trick or Treat! Eleanor as Cinderella, Elijah as Peter from Narnia, Mackenzie as Titania from "A Midsummer Night's Dream (funny, no one guessed that one) and Katie as a pirate.

So goodbye, pumpkins, and hello, Christmas trees. It's time to break out the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Manheim Steamroller CD's.