Pictures by Ansleigh | AHG Photography Badge

Last week, Ansleigh began her new adventure with American Heritage Girls. She has been eager to start earning her badges and I thought the photography badge would be easy and fun.

We talked about lighting (back lighting, flat lighting, split lighting, good lighting vs. bad lighting..

We talked about closeups and catch lights..

We talked about changing perspective to make a photograph more interesting..

Not bad photography for a 7 year old! :) 

We also talked about the basics of a camera model: lens, shutter, shutter button, and viewfinder.
I told her to watch out for limb chops, sticks growing out of peoples heads, and being aware of backgrounds.

I had so much fun with her. I cant wait to go out again with my little photographer sidekick. ;)

January 2017

I felt like the month of January was going to drag on forever. Lots of sicknesses, plenty of grumpiness, and more than my fair share of middle of the school year blahs..




But lots of sweet moments too. :) The weather was pretty warm and the kids spent time outside.



I snapped this quick picture because it brought me a moment of joy on a really hard day. It is moments like these that keep me going. Homeschooling 3 kids while keeping a toddler alive is no joke.Whew.

The kids and I watched the Inauguration.


Caleb is doing a really good job at evolving into a two year old. *Ahem*.  He is super cute and super mischievous and is a force to be reckoned with. Did I mention that he is super cute? Oh man, I'm so glad he is ours. :)

His new words/phrases:
-purple
-"In the car" (According to Caleb, if something is missing then its "in da cah")
-One, two
-love you too
-Amen
-yes
-apple
-Azee (Ansleigh), Chath (Chase), Aggie (Anna Grace)
-Jaffe (Giraffe-his paci)
-Nooooooo (his  favorite word at 20 months) :)



Chase has been working really hard for Memory Master this year in Classical Conversations.  I don't even care if he makes MM. He has worked his little hiney off and I could not be more proud of his diligence and determination.
 

This picture was technically taken in February, but I couldn't resist posting the cuteness.

5 am

One of my favorite things right now is 5 am. I'm not kidding. I go to bed every night looking forward to getting up  before the sun.

You can ask my husband. Crazy, I know.

I  get up and stumble toward my coffee pot. I grab my prayer journal, my phone and my composition notebook. I sit down with my first cup of coffee and in the quiet stillness of the morning, I meet with God. 

5 am is when I center myself before the Lord, pray for others, and listen to the whisper of the Holy Spirit. 

I go through the same routine every single morning. Professor Horner's Bible Reading System, Youversion bible plan, verse mapping, praying through my prayer journal, and memorizing scripture using the Bible Minded app.

It sounds like a lot. It kind of is. It takes me about an hour. 

The funny thing is is that sometimes I wish it was longer (I haven't always been able to say that).

The more time that I spend pouring into God's word the more that I crave it.

What better way to spend my time than to spend it with Jesus?

Here are some links for the tools that I use:

Professor Horner's Bible Reading Plan

Youversion

Bible Minded

Scripture Writing (I use the verse mapping method! Let me know if you want to know more about this!)


"As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"-Psalm 42:1-2

Creation Museum + Ark Encounter 2016

Last night we arrived back home from our weekend trip to visit the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky.

The trip did not disappoint and was totally worth the 9+ hour drive (and I totally counted it as two days of school!).

I asked Alan and each of the kids what their part was and which museum they liked better.

Ansleigh: I liked both museums. I liked seeing the Zonkey at the Petting Zoo.

(Who knew there was such a thing as a Zonkey and a Zorse?? I'm not kidding. Google it!)

Chase: I liked both. I liked everything! I can't choose!

Anna Grace: I liked the Ark! I liked riding on the camel.

Alan:I liked both for different reasons. I liked reading about the different kinds of animals that were on the Ark. 

As for myself, I thought both exhibits were incredibly well done. There was nothing cheesy or watered down about either.  Recently, Chase has had a lot of questions about dinosaurs and the Ark. I loved the way AiG showed different scenarios of how Noah was able to fit the dinosaurs on the Ark, how they were fed, etc.  

  

I think Chase was probably the perfect age to go. He knew enough of the Bible to piece the information together and was able to soak it all in. It also made for great conversation with my  kid who loves Science and History.

 My younger kids enjoyed it (the girls really loved the beauty of the Garden), but there was a lot of reading and some parts were a little intense.
The Creation Museum had a room that flashed black and white pictures of Sin (drugs, the pains of childbirth, starving children,etc). I loved it because it showed the severity of the Fall, but was a little troubling to Ansleigh (What are drugs?).
Also, the first floor of the Ark was a little scary to Anna Grace. The loud sound effects of thunder, lightning and hard rain was pretty intense, but I thought it was a fantastic touch! It definitely made the Bible come to life for my children (and myself!).

All of my children loved the petting zoo (even Caleb who made a friend with a grasshopper). They loved petting the goats, riding the donkey and the camel,  and seeing the Zorse and the Zonkey. :)



The master plan of the Ark included the Tower of Babel, the city of Jericho, and an ancient market.
I definitely recommend going and I can't wait to go again in a few years when my younger children are a little older.

Here are a few pictures from our trip..

Oh, and we can't forget this little fella and his visit to the Florence, KY Emergency Room.

He swallowed a coin (what kind is yet to be determined). The ER doctor patiently assured us numerous times that Caleb should pass it in a couple of days without complications. Always an adventure with our family! :)

It's August.

I'm so busy these days that I forgot all about my poor little blog! My kids have gotten so big..especially Caleb. He will be fourteen months in a few days! FOURTEEN MONTHS.

Some updates on our kiddos:

Chase- my bubba. Chase will be 9 next month and I'm sure that I will cry buckets of tears on his birthday. The month of September will be HUGE for him, but thats for another post. ;) He is starting his 5th year in Classical Conversations and his 2nd year in Trail Life. He is ALL about Star Wars and baseball. 😁 He is the BEST big brother and has matured so much in the last year. He is sweet as they come and is so fun to be around.

Ansleigh-
My sweet sugar face is 7 going on 17.  She is so mature that I often forget she is ONLY 7 and not 10. She is the best helper and is my right hand girl. She loves being crafty and enjoys playing soccer. She never complains about helping me (or others) and is a hard worker.  Oh, and Ans has discovered the Beatles. Oh my goodness. She played it nonstop for DAYS. She is quite the little teenager! ;)

Anna Grace-
Alan and I joke that we need to introduce her to others as "Oh, Anna Grace". This girl is hysterical. She  is girly in the best of ways and has the best imagination. She is a free spirit and I love every ounce of her.

Caleb-

My baby! This one KNOWS that he is his mamas boy and KNOWS that he is cute enough to get away with anything he wants. At his 12 month appointment he was 50% in both weight and height. He says mama, daddy, ball, bye. All done, and Alan. ;) He isn't walking yet and I'm totally fine with that. Lord knows what I will do once he starts!  Alan and I have nicknamed him "Tornado" because he is into everything!  :)

Merry Christmas!

Chase( 8), Ansleigh (6), Anna Grace (3) and Caleb (5 months)

Here lately.