February at our House

February was a fun month. The beginning/middle of the month, Daddy and Mommy left for a week and went to Pittsburgh. Je and I stayed home and had a grand old time. We watched lots of movies, went to a talk on chocolate and tasted it at the library, and I managed to do my school in a timely matter. Then on February 12th, my big sister turned the big TWO THREE. We went and had our nails done, and my sister had an updo. Then in the evening we had our church over for an ice cream social. The afternoon of that day was spent doing the final preparations for the party. Our parents arrived home in the middle of the ice cream social. We played Fictionary, which is where one person writes out the definition of a very obscure word in the dictonary, than everyone else writes out what they think the definition is, after that the definitions are all read and everyone votes on which one they think is correct. It was a lot of fun.

I haven't said exactly where I do online college. It's called Institute of Jewish Studies or IJS as I always call it. Friends of Israel is the parent organization over it. Last fall they went online (before the Institute was at Philadelphia Biblical University). Once I finished high school I knew I wanted to take online Bible classes, but I didn't know exactly where. I had considered The Master's College Online, but I was more comfortable with IJS, since I feel like I know the people with Friends of Israel, and I had heard talks from the Professors at IJS about how great IJS is.


This above picture leads me to another exciting development at my house. On Saturday a laptop arrived for my family to use. I was taking over our computer, so my dad decided to buy a laptop that I could use. I think the laptop is just the greatest thing. In fact I typed some of my school on it today.

While I'm between college classes, my mom has been teaching me cake decorating. Here is what I learned today. It's quite fun if you have the right equipment.

January at our House

Right off in January brought a trip to Mississippi to visit my Grandmother. We've decided that we aren't taking any more long trips in January unless we have to. The roads were bad for the first couple of hours on our way down. Then on our way home a week later, they were extremely treacherous. We saw probably 100 cars in the ditch, a Greyhound bus, and jackknifed semis. We ended up stayed overnight in Champaign, IL at a super nice Country Inn and Suites, because of the horrible roads. It turned out to be a very nice relaxing evening. Drinking hot cocoa, going out to eat at a Bob Evans, with only 1 other table of people when we arrived and 5 tables when we left. Then listening to a book on tape in our room and just relaxing. We arrived home safely the next day.

A few days later I played for church, and then the Monday of that week I started college online. My 1st class was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. My poor family got to hear me cry almost everyday. But I learned a huge amount, and today I officially finished all my assignments. Monday I start my next class which is entitled, Jewish Culture and Customs, this class looks to be somewhat easier-it doesn't deal with difficult to interpret Bible passages. My classmates were wonderful in my last class, and my new class I have more classmates and I'm sure they will be great also.

The day we left Mississippi they had a "horrible" snowstorm, they even called school off. Here is a picture of all the snow!!! We thought it was nothing compared to what we are used to.

Also in January we had the Z kids and their parents over. I go to their house every Monday to socialize with people younger than me and also to work. They are all very good artists, in fact Gracie, the girl in the middle, recently won an art contest with a very large cash prize. I feel very fortunate to know such famous young people.

Elijah and Evie are the two youngest of the Z kids. They are just as fun as their older siblings.

A Late Christmas Photo Post

This sure is super late, but better late than never. We had a nice Christmas, pretty subdued and long like it usually is. Since we each open a present one at a time, and with the ladies Christmas buying habits it is usually a 1 1/2 hour affair. We all received plenty of things. Daddy
Je
Mommy
Ki

This blog just keeps getting neglected. I'll blame it on starting an online class in January. Right now I'm on break after my 1st online class entitled "Biblical Interpretation Makes a Difference". During break I made myself a whole list of things I wanted to do, most of which have been or are being accomplished. In my next blog post I'll talk more about what I've been up to.

Just an Update on Life

It has occured to me I haven't blogged in many months. My biggest problem is I really am not into writing and I'd rather read others blogs. Well what has been going on at my house?

Daddy had the flu the past week, so he was home almost the whole week. The ladies were planning on visiting my Grandma in the middle of the state, but then a blizzard was predicted so we stayed home. Je already had the time off from work, so the four of kinda had a vacation together at home. We've watched lots of movies, made sugar cookies, looked out the window, watched the news on tv and ate some junk food. It has been pretty nice. Today both Daddy and Je are back at work. Tonight we plan to watch the movie Up for the first time. Maybe we'll pop some popcorn to eat while watching the movie.

Sunday night is going to be real busy for me. I believe I'm playing seven songs for my church's music service. Four of the songs are for the Kid's Choir made up of 7 kids. I'm also playing a solo piano piece, playing and singing a duet with Je, and playing the piano for two ladies while they sing a duet. My sister and I are organizing the service this time. We have a music service four times a year at a local retirement home.

From November 30th through today, Revive Our Hearts aired 10 programs on the church of Laodicea. Mommy, Je, and I were able to be in the audience during the recording of the programs in March. It has been pretty neat to actually hear the programs on the radio.

Last week, Daddy had a surprise 50th Birthday Party. He found out about it so it really wasn't a surprise. We posted huge pictures of him as a child around the church basement. It was a lot of fun. A Couple of Pictures of Daddy as a young man.

This fall a lady from church blessed us with bags upon bags of apples, so now our freezer has lots of homemade frozen applesauce in it. We also made a loaf of apple bread, and a couple of apple pies.

A crock-pot of delicious applesauce in the making.

Happy Birthday Ki!

Happy 19th Birthday!

Events of July and August

Mid-July brought lots of sewing for Mommy and me. Mommy made two beautiful jumpers. One is cotton with a hydrangea print, and the other is made out of a very stiff pink material. I made a jumper out of a burgundy rose print. The end of July, brought The Friends of Israel Prophecy conference. We were only able to be there Monday night through Wednesday, but it was a delightful time while it lasted. The hotel we stayed in was quite nice, and Je and I even went swimming Tuesday afternoon. Last week Daddy and Mommy went away for a little get-away up north. While they were gone Je and I quilted a twin size quilt. Normally we clean the house while our parents were gone, but this time we quilted almost every spare moment. Saturday was the family reunion on my mom's side.

The quilt Je and I made

The Reunion

A picure of all the scraps of things I have made or clothes Mommy has made for me. I have quite a few books I'm working through reading.

A picture of the FOI Prophecy Conference

A Long Needed Update

It's been over 3 months since this blog has been updated. A lot has happened in those 3 months. One big event was my official graduation from high school. My parents really spoiled me and I ended up with 3 parties to celebrate my completion of high school. May 23rd I had an open house, and then on the 26th I had my Senior Piano Recital and Graduation. The Thursday before those events, the whole family went to a Day in the Prophetic Word and an Honor Israel Night, which were both in Grand Rapids. It was a long day, but very enjoyable.

The pictures are not in order.

My Rose Graduation Gown and yes you can buy them

at HomeschoolDiploma.com

My dad giving me my diploma

He gave a really nice speech right before giving me my diploma.

The very end of my recital
My mom made my dress the week before the recital.

The Beautifully Decorated Tables
Bright Pink and Green were my Open House colors.

We had plenty of food!

My cake at my Open House, which turned out lovely!

Day in the Prophetic Word with Tim Munger

I have so enjoyed not having school to do, and yes I'm keeping quite busy even though I'm not going to college and don't have an official job. I'm able to do more housework and read more now. Hopefully later this summer I can do some sewing with my mom. She has had some projects that have been put off, while she was homeschooling, and I'm hoping we can do her sewing projects.

The end of June, Daddy, Mommy, and I went to visit Daddy's mother in Mississippi. We left Je at home and we all missed her terribly!!! Je had a fairly good time without us, and even had some company over.

I think Mommy is enjoying retirement. She made up her own reading program for herself, and she's looking forward to going away with Daddy for a couple of days as her prize for completing her reading program.

Je is still working at the library, and I believe she enjoys it most of the time. There recently was a major change at the library, and she'll be glad when things are back to normal.

Daddy's life isn't terribly exciting. He enjoys walking with Mommy every chance the two of them have.