The Week in Review

It was a good week here in Bangsundland.  I will admit that after flying home from New York on Sunday and attending my BSF Leaders Meeting on Monday at 5am, I was a bit more tired than usual.  It was definitely a week when I was thankful that the curriculum I use is laid out and easy to follow.  School happened in pajamas a few times this week.  Nobody seemed to mind.

I'm realizing that I haven't posted any pictures of my adorable nephews yet.  Criminal!  Here are a few for those who need more cute in their worlds.

 Precious Smiles from Rory

 Joey loves to dig!  And he's adorable.

 Rory watching "his horse" eat grain.

 So sweet!

My last night there, Joey came and snuggled with me on the couch, asking me repeatedly why I had to leave the next day.  What a sweetheart.

As we head into the last six weeks of school, I begin my annual tradition of evaluating the past year and planning for the next.  As I was thinking of where to place Paul for reading next year, I decided to grab a couple of Sonlight's 1st grade readers from the library to see if Paul was anywhere near ready for them.  Check this out.  This was on his first reading of A Fly Went By by Mike McClintock.

I just can't claim much credit on this one.  Paul is only four, and I actually haven't hit phonics much with him, but he, much like his brother, is a natural reader.  I've probably said it before, but I feel like my boys' abilities to read are a gift from Jesus Christ.  It means that homeschooling is not a stressful thing.  It's fun and easy.  I know very well that this is not always the case.  I also know that the Lord has called me to minister in my home and outside of my home in various ways.  Having boys who read two or three levels above their grade is simply God saying, "I got this one, Ames.  You can depend on Me."  And so I do.  I depend on the One who created me and saved me to sustain me and strengthen me for all He has called me to do.  Because not everything is as easy as "teaching" my boys to read.

One more thing about this video.  I love the way Luke sits and listens to his brother read.  He cheers for him and is so proud of him.  It is also somewhat miraculous that Luke doesn't correct Paul or interrupt him.  Six months ago, this video would  have been mostly Luke telling Paul what word comes next and Paul getting angry with Luke.  I'm so thankful for the slow, but sure, process of growing up and maturing.

Mission Accomplished!

WOHOO!!!  I did it!!!  I surprised my sister by arriving in her Greenville, NY kitchen tonight as her birthday present.  Huge thanks to my awesome brother-in-law, Ed, for being my cohort in crime.  (Cue devious laughter)

It was so much fun to share with her this evening all the ways that I almost blew our cover multiple times.  She did have a slight hint yesterday because I called her out of the clear blue.  We usually chat Wednesdays or Thursdays and she calls me because I can't keep her schedule in my head.  My precious nephew Rory has teachers who visit the house weekly for his OT and speech therapy.  I don't ever want to interrupt that business.  But yesterday I was calling because Ed had left a message, assuring me that his wife was out running errands and wouldn't be home for at least 45 minutes.  Guess who came home WAY ahead of schedule?  Yep.  So, when she picked up the phone, I was already to say, "Yo, Ed!" and had to quickly switch to "Hey Sis!"  AAAHHH!  My brain doesn't function that quickly these days.

Even though she had a slight clue, she was was still pretty stinkin' excited to see me.  Screaming, laughing, hugging.  All the good stuff.  And have I mentioned that my amazing sister has lost over 65 pounds on Take Shape For Life?  Well, SHE HAS!  I'm so amazingly happy for her.  Ed has lost over 50.  When you add in the thirty I've lost, we are nearly to 150 pounds of unhealth released forever.  And we are feeling good!

We did not get pictures of the reveal.  Sorry, friends.  It was the end of a long day of Mommying for my sweet sister and I just couldn't do that to her.  But we will get some pics taken on Friday for sure.  That's the party day and we are going to get our groove on with the hair and the make up.

For now you will have to be content with these pictures of my lovely room.  I am staying at the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn.  It is a HUGE step up from where I have stayed in the past, an establishment that shall remain nameless because I'm about to say less than lovely things about it.  It's a  total dive.  Imagine a scary, sleazy bar with a motel at the back.  Because that's what this place is.  When Erik and I were planning for this trip, we discussed this doubling as the personal retreat for which I've been longing.  I'm not sure who would take a personal retreat at the previous lodgings, but it would need to be someone who was impressed by a huge collection of neon beer signs in the front window.  Not.  Me.

Enter the absolute charm of the Greenville Arms.  Here are the pics to prove it.

 The front sitting room.

 My bed (with my blanket!)

 My precious sitting room.  That loveseat is super comfy and I can't wait to do my quiet time there tomorrow morning!!!

My cutie bathroom with all the amenities

A HUGE thank you to my husband, Erik.  You are a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ.  I could not have made this trip without your love, support, and willingness to foot the bill.  Thanks for letting me do this.  Baby, you are the greatest.

Easter and Other Bits

We had a great Easter here.  We began early, as always, with our family egg hunt in both the basement and the playroom.  I got a few pics in the basement, but the playroom was way too messy for publication.  Yes, we could have done all this outside, but I was pretty sure the neighbors were not going to appreciate the squeals of glee at 7:09 AM.

 Sorry this picture is so blurry.  This is Paul finding his first egg.  He was so excited, but I was across the room and not close enough to get a good shot.  They are fast little egg finders!

 Luke finds his first egg and it matches his shirt.  I love it.

Each boy was tasked with finding six eggs.  We then headed into the living room and opened them together.  Our fabulous neighbors gave us this set of Resurrection Eggs a few years ago.  They do a great job of telling the story again.

The boys also received books and pez.  Paul is looking at his new Usborne book entitled Trains.  Luke sat and read Volcanos, also an Usborne classic, sharing fun tidbits with the room whenever he found them.

After this Erik and I sang hymns for about twenty minutes.  I'd love to say the boys joined us, but they weren't really into it.  That's okay!  We loved it.  Then the Daddy-Man made waffles and bacon for breakfast.  Yum!  There aren't any pictures because I was too busy eating.  :-)

We headed west for a delicious brunch with Uncle Bob and Aunt Cindy.  The most hilarious part of the morning occurred shortly after we arrived.  While we were greeting everyone with hugs and Happy Easters in the entry way, Paul quietly slipped his pants off, revealing, you guessed it, his bathing suit!  At our house I had been so busy straightening my hair that I hadn't noticed his double layer.  I couldn't help but giggle at his goofiness.  :-)

We headed home around 1pm, knowing that our day was far from over.  At 2:30, having skipped rest time completely, we headed toward Shepherd's Door to set up for Roots' inaugural Easter Gathering.  The boys and I prepared two classrooms while Erik set up the projector, laptop and such for the adult gathering.  Both Luke and Paul did a great job either helping or keeping themselves entertained during set up time.  My classroom volunteers, the inestimable Willseas, arrived on time for prayer and prep.  Can you believe this family gave up their Easter afternoon to come do church with kids they don't even know?  I can.  They do stuff in Jesus' Name and for His glory.  That's just who they are.  I'm blessed to have them in my life.

The gathering itself was AWESOME.  It is such a huge blessing to us to be with these folks and celebrate Jesus Christ with them.  Roots only meets once a month right now, but I cannot wait until we launch weekly gatherings.  I just love this community and want to grow, deepen and reach with them as often as possible.

After the gathering, we packed out in record time.  Let me explain that a little.  The rooms we use are actually adult meeting rooms which we completely dismantle and reassemble after each use.  We pack in free play toys and all classroom materials, which them must be packed back into their bins and stored.  We've never left Shepherd's Door before 6:15pm.  We were in our car at 6pm this time!  Thanks again to the Willseas who helped and carried and completely rocked.

Easter dinner?  TAKE OUT!  We drove to a nearby strip mall and the boys got Panda Express while Erik and I grabbed Baja Fresh.  Sitting around our dining room table enjoying a very non-traditional Easter meal, I was filled with so much joy.  Jesus is alive.  He blesses us beyond what we ask or imagine.  Our entire day was evidence of this fact. I'm pretty humbled by all the Lord has for our family right now and I pray that in all things He will receive all the glory.

First Flag Football Game

I have known for awhile now that our God answers prayer, and that He often does so in lavish ways that leave us stunned by His goodness.  Today the Bangsunds saw this type of lavish answer to prayer.

By the title of the post, you know we are talking about flag football.  If you have read "Challenging Morning" you already know what our first practice was like.  We have spent this week in preparation, buying the right gear and practicing being outside in the cold.  This morning dawned clear and beautiful, a gift from Jesus Christ to our family.  We put on our gear and headed for the field.

Our practice was at 10am.  It went pretty well, but at one point I actually had to heed a friend's advice and step away from the field.  I'm a mom.  Not only that, I'm a homeschooling mom.  There hasn't been much my kids do with which I've not been intimately involved.  When little Paul was starting to lose heart about not touching the ball on every play, I wanted to go fix it.  Awesome John Willsea (this is his new title in my book) gently but firmly told me the coaches could handle Paul's disappointment and directed me to go chat with his wife (a dear friend of mine) on another part of the field.  THANK YOU, MR. AWESOME JOHN WILLSEA!!  I thank you.  My kids' coaches thank you.  And every parent on that field thanks you.

Practice ended and it was game time!  Here are the pics and a few fun plays.

 Upward announces every kid's name and they run through this tunnel before every game.  It is SO much fun!!  Luke was the first from his team - they go in alphabetical order.  I was so proud of him.  Just a year ago, this would have been an anxiety attack.  God is so good!

 This was Paul's favorite part of the day!  No joke.  At the end of the game as we headed back to the car, he said, "I got to run through that tunnel!"  I love my little guy.

 This is the part where God gave us immeasurably more than we asked or imagined.  Luke got to take a few snaps as quarterback today.  This is totally part of Upward's philosophy, allowing even beginners a chance to play the important positions.  It was SUPER fun!

 Luke was also able to play center for quite a few plays.

 At one point Paul was able to get both flags in his mouth. It was so stinkin' cute.  Paul had a few hard moments today.  He really wants to touch the ball on every play.  This just isn't possible for many reasons, probably the most important of which is that the one time he was handed the ball, he ran the wrong way.  It was so very adorable.  He is the youngest on the team and is already becoming the a mascot of sorts.  See the below picture.

This is Paul with #45, a fellow teammate, a big boy.  This sweet young man helped Paul find his way to our sideline after running through the tunnel.  It's going to be a great season, folks.

Smiling Suns and Other Joys

We have had some fairly adorable moments the past few days.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.  :-)

 Luke has been into drawing more lately.  Erik took these shots at Luke's request the other morning.  Adorable.

 In case your day needed a smiling sun.  I also think there is a person in the lower right corner.

On Monday we had our first picnic of the year!  I LOVE eating in the backyard.  No floor to sweep.  Crumbs are for the birds - literally.  Luke also ate, but for some reason I failed to get a picture of him.

 Where's Waldo...I mean Luke?  He loves climbing this "tree" and I refuse to tell him that it's actually a rhododendron bush.  Nobody wants to climb a bush. 

You will not believe how long my children entertained each other with a tape measure today.  They measure everything.  Then they played a game where they would guess how many inches something measures, measure it and declare a winner based on who guessed closest.  (Daddy's brilliant pre-dinner activity)

We need a second tape measure.  Actually two new ones that are exactly the same.  Perhaps a Home Depot visit this weekend.

 Teamwork!

What are these children holding?  The Daddy-Man's latest, greatest idea - The Bangsund Boys Bedtime Checklist!  Tonight was its inaugural use.  About fifteen minutes before we want them to be in bed, we announce it is checklist time.  My kids love to check things off lists.  Is it a bad thing that I'm feeding this semi-idiosyncratic behavior?  Regardless, it went AWESOME tonight.  The list is comprised of things that we are usually running around doing for the boys as we try to get them ready OR things that they come out of their rooms to do after we have said good night.  So far tonight, nobody has ventured from their rooms to do anything.  WOOT!

I tried to get Paul to smile, but he really wanted to make this face instead.  Yes, he's wearing his bathing suit in this picture.  (I should just re-name this blog "The Adventures of Bathing Suit Boy.")

Paul worked his way down his list, checking off each item with a green crayon on the kitchen floor as he went.  We fully plan on laminating the list and getting each boy a dry erase marker so that we aren't killing trees in our efforts to train our children.

Everything checked off AND circled just for good measure.  He's too tired to smile.  Good thing he is completely ready for bed!  :-)


Flag Football Update:  I think this face says it all.  We've been out in the backyard twice already in all the gear (including new cleats).  It has been fun each time.  Coach Nathan sends out a weekly email with stuff to work on if we have time, as long as it is fun for the kids.  So, Lorene Park Academy (our homeschool) has had a strong focus on physical education so far this week.  Yes, we've done handwriting and history.  But we've also done throwing, catching and pulling flags!  Guess which one we ALL enjoy more?  :-)  First game is this Saturday at 11am.  I've already seen answered prayer as the Lord has given my oldest boy a huge desire to practice his ball handling even when Mommy throws it a little too hard and beans him in the head.  TRUE STORY.  This picture was taken after the aforementioned beaning.  No scars emotional or physical.  Thank You, Jesus!