Day 1 in PA:

We made it to PA!!! We dropped Martie of in DC around 1:30 and we made it here around 8:30. I had to make 3 stops! That was a little frustrating. I like to get in the car and get to my destination, but when your driving it by yourself with 5 little blessings it takes a little longer.

The children were so excited to get here. The boys ran around the house until we finally made them stop. They woke up this morning around 6:40 am. The girls are all still sleeping. I did hear some funny conversations as the boys woke up. They're all camping on the floor in sleeping bags in one room. Here are the couple of things I thought were funny.

Ethan to Bill and Josiah (who both have nice new haircuts): "When was the last time your mom cut your hair? Cause' you should come to my house on Sunday and my mom can cut it very well." (by the way I never got around to cutting my own boys hair) :)

Bill: I can't wait to show you our apple tree.
Andrew: Are they ready to eat yet, I can't wait. Cause' I love them.

Now they're all sitting in the "class room", and Bill is "teaching" them. hahaha I'm sure we're going to make plenty of fun memories. They're already asking to go outside and it's only 7:30 am and they're still in their pajamas.

Plans for the day:

1. The children will do their lessons.
2. Amish Country. (my idea, of course.)
3. The camp where they used to live.
   
4. Maybe some shopping, I still have to find Taylor some jeans.
   

I'll continue to update the blog about our visit and with pictures!

What we're learning

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I have taken lot's of pictures with the hopes of updating my blog. Well, the important thing is we've been busy and I have the pictures to prove it. The bad thing is I haven't had the time to update the blog. So I figured I would just share some pictures.

The boys made shields last week after we read "The Sword in the Tree." It was very good! We were also learning about the start of feudalism. Tabitha just painted a pretty picture.

We also made butter. Andrew has been working on the 'B' sound. So I let everyone join in on his activity.

Tabitha is doing really well with her alphabet sounds and counting. She's also joining Andrew for Math. Ethan is excelling in reading, math, geography, and his memory work. He loves tracing the world everyday. Andrew has been the biggest surprise. He is doing so great! He loves his phonics worksheets, his memory work, and geography. I am seeing some big changes with his attention span.

Taylor is continuing to do great with her 7th grade studies. She's gaining great knowledge with her Bible-based writing, latin, geography, and science. I think she's actually enjoying math a little this year. hehehehe

The boys our at catechism #33. We are stopping there for now and continuing to drill for about another week. We're also memorizing Eph. 6.

That's an update from "Immersed in Truth Academy." :)

My date with Andrew

I had a "little" date with my sweet Andrew last week. He had a 4 yr. old check up, so that's how we started our time together. He did so great! He obeyed the nurse. She checked his hearing, eyesight, weight... He even got his flu mist and 2 shots.

After we left the doctors office we went to Micheals. I let him pick out a treat. Wouldn't you know he really wanted to get something for everyone else. He did end up getting a marker that was $.49, a coloring bk. that was $1, and a candy bar. He was so cute eating that big candy bar. He had it all over his face by the time we got home.

The best part of the day was just sitting and talking to my sweet boy. I love spending individual time with each of my children. Andrew is so loving and really loves to put his brother and sisters before himself. I loved sitting with him at the doctor's office reading to him and discussing the pictures, walking around at the store and listening to him talk. He makes me smile. I thank God for those precious moments.

Future PA trip...

We are planning another little get away. Martie is going to the "Weekender" at the church that Mark Dever preaches in Washington DC. I really wanted to take the children so we could do some museum hopping. I just love DC! However, Martie is going to be gone from early morning to late at night so he didn't want me out by myself with the children. :( (especially in DC)

I really didn't want to stay home for 5 days without him. I know I'm a wimp, but I will admit I'm a lonely wimp. hahaha So, we convinced him to let us go visit our good friends the Trunicks in PA. We will leave early on a Thursday morning and take him to DC, and the children and I will then drive to PA. We will stay with them Thursday night through Monday morning. We will then drive back to DC to pick Martie up and drive home.

I am so excited. The Trunicks moved to NC several years ago and eventually moved back up north. When we met we just connected on so many levels. Our families are very like minded and our husbands could talk for hours. They have visited us several times, but now it's time for us to see where they live, meet their friends, visit their church... Did I mention they have 4 boys and she is expecting her 5th baby. Our boys have the best time together.

Anyway, just a quick blog to share my excitement!!!!!