But here's a little bit about 2017...
Colette turned two in November. She loves being outside, taking care of her baby dolls, and playing trains with her brothers. She has become very good at dressing herself, and she will often disappear upstairs (whether or not the baby gate is in place) to change into her pajamas or put on a new pair of socks.
John Paul is three and a half. He is extremely friendly and always happy--except for when he's not. He reminds us all to laugh more, and sets a strong example with his own hearty guffaw. He also excels at providing opportunities for all of us to practice laughing.
His favorite color is green. When he grows up, he wants to be either a fire fighter or a zoo keeper.
He loves jokes and riddles, writing and illustrating stories, and building elaborate Lego and Lincoln Log houses.
He's not willing to commit himself to a particular career path at the time of this writing, but in recent weeks he's expressed plans to play for the Rockies and be a chef.
We had a busy summer with multiple road trips to visit family and friends we don't see nearly often enough. In between trips we fulfilled our four-year-long dream of painting the entire first floor of our house (replacing yellow, brown, and green with grey). We almost finished it--we intended to completely redo the small bathroom on the main floor, but the end of summer and then a leaky toilet upstairs slowed us down. Family New Year's Resolution: finish all of the mostly-done projects both in- and outdoors!
Just this month she started climbing out of her crib every time we put her in it, so now she's in a toddler bed (much to my dismay--I was not ready for her to be escaping her crib!).
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| little miss independent |
John Paul is three and a half. He is extremely friendly and always happy--except for when he's not. He reminds us all to laugh more, and sets a strong example with his own hearty guffaw. He also excels at providing opportunities for all of us to practice laughing.
His favorite color is green. When he grows up, he wants to be either a fire fighter or a zoo keeper.
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| Liam also has exceptional taste in costumes |
Liam turned five in November. We started kindergarten at home this year, and he's loving it. He says his favorite parts are snacks and vacations (and he asks at least weekly when we can go on another road trip), but he also seems to enjoy reading and math.
He is our resident train expert, always ready to describe in detail the various trains he has seen in books or (better yet!) in person.
He is our resident train expert, always ready to describe in detail the various trains he has seen in books or (better yet!) in person.
Trains are proving to be a great motivation for school--he's always happy to sit quietly with pencil and paper so long as he can draw trains in the margins of his handwriting worksheet or Bible story illustration, and in addition to his name he can write many important words like "train" and "engine." He wants to be a--you guessed it--train engineer some day.
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| so proud of losing his first tooth in September |
Michael will be seven in January. He would like you to know that he can run very fast and that his favorite subject is math (he's in 2nd grade). He still reads voraciously, and he is usually very willing to sit down and read a book or two to his siblings. His favorite books are Hardy Boys and the Magic Tree House books.
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| this was not staged! |
He loves jokes and riddles, writing and illustrating stories, and building elaborate Lego and Lincoln Log houses.
He's not willing to commit himself to a particular career path at the time of this writing, but in recent weeks he's expressed plans to play for the Rockies and be a chef.
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| mining engines in Lead, SD -- one of the highlights of the summer |
Alex is still teaching Scripture to high school sophomores at Regis Jesuit Girls' Division. I continue to write for the Augustine Institute and teach for the Denver Catholic Biblical and Catechetical Schools.
Homeschooling in addition to this craziness is made possible by the generous help of my parents, who are still living with us (much to our delight and relief!).
We wish you all peace and joy in these seasons of Advent and Christmas, and God's abundant blessings in the New Year!
"Man’s Maker was made man that
the Bread might be hungry,
the Fountain thirst,
the Light sleep,
the Way be tired from the journey,
the Truth might be accused by false witnesses,
the Judge of the living and dead be judged by a mortal judge,
Justice be sentenced by the unjust,
the Teacher be beaten with whips,
the Vine be crowned with thorns,
the Foundation be suspended on wood,
the Strength be made weak,
the Healer be wounded,
and that Life might die.
Wake up, O human being!
For it was for you that God was made man.
Rise up and realize it was all for you."
-St. Augustine
