Life...

So we have finished Christmas, grandparent visits and now are back to real life.  We have buckled down and are working hard on school.  Josh has such a light load, but his Math is so challenging.  Tori is chugging along her first year of high school and Erika is a few weeks into third grade.  I am so thankful that she is finally facing a challenge...yet, she is up for the challenge.  I love seeing her bloom and "get" new things.  She is learning Cursive.  It seems we are still getting down printing, but she is doing great.  Math is much more intense.  Literature, she has a literature book she is reading...and answers comprehension questions.  She is writing sentences.  I am amazed at this little seven year that is not little at all.

A while back, the girls and I were watching the Little House on the Prairie series on YouTube, until it was blocked.  That was a sad day around these parts.  Then I thought about getting the books and reading them.  I bought them used on Amazon and my mother in law brought them to us.  And then a teacher friend is letting us use an accompaniment book that goes through all nine books and gives you fun activities to do along the way.  If you  have a second-fourth grade (boy or girl), I highly recommend this to add some fun to your school day.  We read the book together.  Sometimes she just likes to listen to me read, cuddled up next to me.  We stop along the way and talk about things.  I love it.  And since we used to watch the show, she has some understanding of what hollywood portrayed.  It just has been a nice thing to add to our school day.  And she is learning so much.  The books are rich in history, vocabulary, and are just fun.

And then there are these pictures that Lee took last Sunday.  It was a fun, little, unplanned photoshoot, and the pictures actually turned out great.  Kailey spends the weekends and holidays with us.  We love having her and are excited to see what God is doing.  My poor boy is outnumbered, but he is an awesome big brother to all these girls.

And just an update.  The months of November and December were very difficult on us.  We are seeing the Lord clear up some of the trials.  Yes, we are stronger.  We know we tread on the enemy's territory.  We know our God is bigger.