Merry Christmas 2009

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas.

Love, the Sprunger family
Chad
Tara
Brooke (8)
Ashton (6)
Ava (5)
Kate (4 1/2)
Gabe (1 1/2)

Cute Little Stinker

Just for fun

We had so much fun with the kids putting together these elf videos. The kids worked long and hard on their dance routines, and I made the costumes myself. I may be biased, but I think these are the 5 cutest elves around! Come on, for a 17-month-old, don't you think Gabe did a great job keeping up with his brothers and sisters?


Click Here

Click for one more

And one more

the 4 Grandparents' dance

Chad and I can do it too

Nanjing Playgroup Time!

I love my group of "Nanjing Moms." There is a group of us, 6 who have all adopted from the same orphanage in Nanjing, China (and one who is planning to adopt). We get together as moms once a month and get our kids together for playdates regularly too. (We all live in the same city.) How blessed I feel to have these women in my life to share the joys and struggles of adoption. Sometimes we just photograph our "China treasures," but I thought it was time for a group shot. Here is a shot of just 12 of the 27 kids that we moms have combined! You have to click on the picture to enlarge it. Check out the video. I thought it would be fun to get a quick video of us trying to get the kids ready for the picture. I love it!


4 of our China Treasures: Clara, Sammy, wiggly Mylee, and Ava (looking to see if Mylee will listen to her mom and sit up)

















Gabe and Olivia (obviously very interested in each other)

















Gabe with Olivia and Adalynn (how will he choose between them one day?)

YAY!!!

I've been praying for this little girl. Check THIS out! You have to scroll down to the first post shown.

Christmas Angel Tree Project

Want to be a part of giving an orphaned child a home for Christmas? Please click here to find out about the Reece's Rainbow Christmas Angel Tree Project. You can view waiting children, choose a child and give directly to that child's adoption grant fund. What is special about these children is that they have Down Syndrome. Do you know that there are over 200 families in line to adopt a baby with Down Syndrome here in the United States? Do you know that in many other countries these children are considered throwaways, many are institutionalized, and they face an indescribably bleak future? There is NO SHORTAGE of people who want to adopt these treasures. Sadly, the cost stops so many. These children need someone to pay their ransom, just like Christ paid ours. Every little bit helps bring a child one step closer to having a family. Sponsoring a child could be a family project; choose a child to sponsor together, collectively donate some money, and pray for the child. You can even check back with Reece's Rainbow to see if/when the child gets chosen for adoption and follow the families' blogs to their children! You will forever be blessed!

A cold day at the park

There is a playground within walking distance of our house so I took the kids over there last week.
Here are my sorry attempts at a group shot:)




















I like how this one turned out...my baby in black and white:

Ava

Ava is so photogenic and is always happy to sit and pose for me when I want to take pictures:) Is she a beauty or what?


Ava has been home for a year and a half now, has grown from a 2T to a size 4 and is going to be 5 years old in two weeks.

Adoption is a life-changing experience for the child obviously, but for the whole family too. There are challenges and rewards, good times and hard times. I will truly never be the same, I'll never look at life the same way, and things become unimportant that once seemed important.

Yesterday

Yesterday was the due date of the first baby we miscarried 2 1/2 years ago. That baby would have been 2 years old now. Weird to think about. If I would not have miscarried that baby, I would not have Gabe nor Ava now. I was going to name that baby Gabe if it was a boy and Ava if the baby was a girl. We went on to have another miscarriage a few months later (we planned the same names again). A few months after that, we started the adoption process for Ava. We knew we wanted to adopt someday anyway and figured it would be a good time since I wasn't having another baby soon anyway. Well, right after we began the adoption process, we got pregnant with Gabe. So....we ended up getting our Gabe and our Ava both. Interesting how God works, isn't it?

Even though this has all worked out beautifully, I will still always feel a loss and longing for the two babies that are in heaven now. I have to share something so sweet about Brooke. She knew I was pregnant with the first baby that ended up miscarrying. She was 5 1/2 and was SO excited that we were having another baby. The baby would be due just a couple weeks after her sixth birthday. When we miscarried, she was absolutely devastated. She sobbed long and hard for that baby sister or brother. When I got pregnant a few months later, Chad and I didn't tell her. We figured we'd wait to see if we heard a heartbeat first. Well, we did hear a heartbeat and saw our precious baby on ultrasound, but there was something wrong. The heartbeat was too slow and our baby was too small. After an agonizing 3 weeks, this baby died too. It was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through. Anyway, we were so relieved that Brooke didn't have to go through another loss since we never told her what was happening. Well...about a year ago I felt she was ready and I told her all about the 2nd baby that had died. I expected her to be upset and start crying. Instead, she got really excited and said, "Mom, do you know what this means? When I get to heaven, I will have TWO babies to meet!!!"

Kate...

I was taking Kate's picture on the swing about a month ago (by the way, she did her own hair, hence the double headband look) when she heard something....



















"What could that sound be?"



















"It's the ice cream truck!"



















I didn't manage to get a picture of her face when she found out we were not going to buy ice cream from the ice cream truck.

How did this happen?

My baby has disappeared and I now have a little boy in his place.



















I tried to keep him little.



















I really did.




















But it didn't work.

Gabe's favorite toys...

Seriously, these are his favorite. Maybe it's genetic. Sigh.

YUK!

About a month ago (yes, I'm behind on my blogging:) we saw this tomato worm way up in a tree climbing down the trunk. It took about twenty minutes for it to make it to the bottom of the tree, but eventually it did, and all the kids took a turn holding it.

My two 4-year-olds

This video was taken about a month ago when our weather was warmer. I catch these 2 doing this a lot. Is this not adorable?

A Transformed Life

Adoption is one way Christians can care for the fatherless. There are certainly other ways, such as child sponsorship, prayer, giving to orphanages, mission trips, financially supporting someone else's adoption, etc. I have read in the book Fields of the Fatherless, that if only 7% of Christians adopted one child, there would effectively be no orphans. Wow! Together, we can be the hands and feet of Christ and make a big dent in the orphan crisis. Adoption changes lives. More than anything else, orphans need a family. We all know that. But to see it in pictures is something else entirely. I read a handful of adoption blogs, but this post just grabbed me. Check this out and prepare to be blessed.

Curriculum Post part 3

I know all you homeschoolers are hanging on the edge of your keyboards for my next homeschool post, so here goes. (hee, hee)

I started a "Blessing Book" with all 4 of my older children. I got the idea from the "Godly Tomatoes" site. Basically, each child has a journal or notebook (my 2 little girls have blank paper stapled together into a book with construction paper covers). I have my kids write in it every day a blessing from the day or about something you are thankful for. My 2 little girls tell me what they want to say and I write it. The goal is to focus on God's blessings (instead of just writing a "journal"), work on composition, and work on grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The kids get to illustrate their page after they write, and the books are so precious to look back on. Kate and Ava are actually starting to recognize some words from doing this.

We like "DRAW WRITE NOW" for writing, too. The kids learn to draw animals step-by-step and then they write about the animal. They enjoy this a lot.

We all like our "I Can Do All Things" art curriculum. It's a 3-year program, so it's very economical. I'm using it with Brooke and Ashton. The curriclum includes drawing, colored pencils, painting, markers, and art appreciation. It's fun and the kids are learning a lot.

What are some of YOUR favorite things to use in your homeschool?

Godly Tomatoes

I found this website called Growing Godly Tomatoes. The mother (who has 10 children) who wrote the book called Growing Godly Tomatoes has put her book online for FREE. All the chapters are off to the left of the website. Just click on the chapter title links and go.

It's a book (online for free) on raising godly children, not just training outward behaviors, but reaching your child's heart. Now, like all resources, you will agree with some of her advice and disagree with parts (I know I did). Implement what you can and feel will work with your child and your situation. I have read it and have implemented many of her discipline strategies and they really work!

One of her strategies is to "tomato stake" your children while they are young and untrained. In other words, your kids who you just know will get into trouble if you leave the room or leave them unattended with other siblings. With these children, the author says to "tomato stake" them. In other words, they are WITH YOU as you are at home, teaching, mothering, doing housework, etc. They are NOT aloud to "go play" in another area of the house where you cannot see or hear them. So they are with you (in the same room) as you are training, correcting, prompting them on what God would want them to be saying/thinking/doing as you go about your day. In other words, you are watching and training your children. Now I do not "tomato stake" nearly as tightly as the author of the book recommends, but I am "loosely" tomato staking so I can prompt my children in how to act and what to say when a conflict arises, and I have seen improvements.

I also love what she says about training toddlers. I have been trying the techniques with Gabe, and WOW! He now lays still for diaper changes and actually listens (well, sometimes) when I say, "No." I have never really tried to be consistent and train a 14-month-old, but now I think differently.

I could go on, but if you are interested, just visit the website and read the online book. I liked "The Book" section to the left better than the "Other Materials" section.

Not My Child Monday

Here we go again...

When I asked my 4-year-old why her baby brother was crying, she did not reply matter-of-factly, "He yelled at me so I had to spank him."


The other day when we were explaining to our children what an "heir" was and that if we were to die, they would inherit all our belongings, my 6-year-old did not proceed to ask, "And the candy?" referring to the candy I had just received for my birthday.


It was not my 1-year-old who got his hand stuck on a sticky spider trap that he saw in the basement just a few days ago. And then he certainly did not try to "bite" off the trap, getting spider body parts stuck in his mouth. That would be gross. And we certainly don't have giant spiders in our basement requiring us to lay out traps. No, that would be awful.

No, life is never boring around here.

And no, I wouldn't have it any other way.

How will adoption affect your biological children?

I have talked to several people in the midst of an adoption right now and I have heard the following concern: "I'm concerned about how adopting a child will affect our biological children." I had the same doubts before we adopted. Will we have enough time for all the kids? Will adopting rob my biological kids?

Now that we've had Ava home for over a year, it is obvious that adoption has been so good for our other children. They have accepted Ava as a sibling from the beginning. They have learned that a child on the other side of the earth can be a sibling just like a child born in our family. And they have learned that another sibling is a blessing, whether biological or adopted. Their capacity to love has grown. The fact that we adopted, and 4 other close friends of ours have adopted (or are in the adoption process), in addition to the families in our Nanjing group, our kids think adoption is just normal for Christians. And shouldn't they think this? Shouldn't this be the way it is?

So, fellow adoptive moms, the following blog post really spoke to me, and I hope it speaks to you, too.

The following is directly quoted from the blog, Blessings from Ethiopia.... This family has 3 biological children and have adopted 6 more children from Ethiopia:

A Greater Capacity
Every day I receive emails from potential adoptive parents and post-adoptive families asking for advice, support, feedback, direction, and information regarding adoption. It thrills us to be able to point people in the right direction, advise families in the process, and pray for those who are preparing to live out James 1:27. This is the ministry God has given to us, and we are stoked. Our vision is to serve as full-time adoption advocates, and we are making real steps in that direction. Soon we will be operating through our We Have Room web site, which will act as a resource for those stepping into the adoption world, those who are just getting their feet wet, and those who are swimming in the post-adoption sea, sometimes raging and sometimes of glee. We feel honored to be able to be used even in just a small way and to let others know, "Hey, we've been there."One email that I receive a few times every week sounds a little something like this: "Heidi and Kirk, Your story has been very encouraging to us, as we also feel led to adopt older kids or a sibling group, but I am just very scared of what it might do to our family, how it will affect our current kids, and what kind of short- and long-term implications it might have. Can you tell me how your biological kids adjusted to being knocked out of their birth order? How did your oldest feel about no longer being the oldest? I'm afraid I'm going to be taking away from them something that is legitimately theirs and I'm scared of what that will do to their emotions/personality/self-worth/security/what-have-you. I'm afraid they will feel ripped off."To each and every person reading this post who knows the concrete conviction of being called to care for the older orphans yet also bears the weight of the accompanying thoughts of fear, I want you to know this...Please hear me loud and clear, as we have now SIX times over displaced our "original" kids' birth order:You are NOT taking anything AWAY from your birth children. Instead, what you are doing is imparting to them something eternal: You are expanding their capacity to love. Think about that for a minute before you read anything else. How do you plan to teach your child to love others unconditionally and in total compassion without giving them the opportunity to do so? I'm telling you now, You CAN'T.My biological children have a greater capacity of love in their hearts than I could ever impart to them by just giving them a safe Christianity, by maintaining their status quo, by simply modeling "godliness" as parents (as if that's the end-all be-all for a Christian family). My kids...all of them...have lived out self-sacrifice and understand (because they live it!) that laying down one's life does not steal anything from us. That is the lie of the devil, who would have us believe that sacrifice is not worth it; that there is nothing for us in return; that God doesn't really mean what He says when He said to His followers that "anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. [Because] Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:38-39).Do you really believe that? That whoever LOSES his life for Jesus's sake, for Jesus the Orphan's sake, will actually FIND it? Ask yourself honestly. Because you might answer YES prematurely. I have no doubt that you might believe it for yourself, but do you really believe it for your children, too? That if they "lose" their "place" in the family that Jesus will instead impart to them LIFE? REAL life???What is birth order anyway but just a sequence of how your child came to you? Let's not make an idol of that sequence. Because that's what it becomes...an IDOL. Something standing in the way of you taking up the Cross to follow Him, to BE JESUS in this world. Let's not place a value on birth order that God did not intend to be there.Consider the older orphan. Consider the sibling groups. Consider the ones who are not often considered.And whatever you do on your adoption journey, PLEASE I beg you, do NOT steal from your children the opportunity for their love capacity to be expanded. Do not deny them the true gift of learning early in life that "My life is not my own."When your feisty and spunky 7-year-old biological daughter, who is now the middle child of 9 after being knocked down to #5 from #2, pleads "Please, Mommy, Please!!! I want another sister my age!!! Can we PLEASE adopt again?!!," your heart will beat out of your chest, not just because you can envision another child saved, but because you know that your daughter will NEVER EVER live a limited, safe Christianity. She won't even know what that means. In fact, she won't even have the capacity do so.And all because you didn't limit her, either. You didn't limit God.Give your children the gift of the greater capacity to love. Let it ripple out into the future. Let it change the world.

Nanjing Playgroup Time!

This time Sammy, home from China for just 2 weeks, was able to join us. From left are Mylee, Ava, Sammy, and Clara. Millie couldn't make it, and Elsa is in the hospital:(

I didn't bring my camera, so check out Mandi's blog and Amy's blog for the rest of the pictures!

All 9 of my parents' grandkids

Here they are! Between my sister, my brother, and me, we have 9 kiddos (and yes, over half of them are mine)!

You have to click the photo to enlarge to see all the cute faces.

My baby is growing up.

My sweet first-born is going to be 8 soon. I love this first shot of her.

My 5 kids

Are they cute or what?

Continue Your Prayers for Sweet Elsa

Elsa is not doing well. Physically, her body is responding to chemo. Emotionally, she is shutting down and reverting to how she acted when she was first adopted.

If you want to keep updated about Elsa, click here to follow the blog started just recently by Elsa's teenage sister to keep everyone updated about Elsa. Make sure you read the post called "Post From my Mom" directly from Susan. My heart is aching for little Elsa and her family.

More Curriculum Talk (Part 2 of 4)

(This post is for my friends Marna, Heather, Krista, Kelli and Anne who apparently like to talk homeschool too)

My kids and I all really enjoy Apologia Science. We are reading Exploring Creation with Astronomy and we are learning so much. Fun experiments, full-color pictures, Biblical worldview and multi-age. Perfect!



We are using Horizons Math for the fist time this year. Both kids like it after 3 weeks still. Why? Because the pages are colorful and there are different things to do in each lesson, instead of the same type of problem throughout the whole lessons. I decided to try it after Timberdoodle and Rainbow Resource (my favorite curriculum suppliers) highly recommended it. Read more about it here. Anyway, even though the kids like it, the program lacks drill work. In other words, your kids will not come away knowing those math facts with this curriculum alone. But...what curriculum is complete? We always supplement anyway. In fact, I wouldn't want a math program with page after page of math drills. Boring! That practice can be done with flashcards and computer games. We also add in manipulatives like multi-link cubes and base ten blocks to teach the concepts. All in all, I'm liking Horizons so far. The program is about a year advanced, so we are using the grade level below. We don't use the teacher's manuals, just the workbooks, so the program is very affordable. We used Rod and Staff math last year and it was very systematic with lots of drill work. But...Brooke wanted to practice her math facts with flashcards and computer games, so we skipped a lot of the drill work anyway. We'll see if I still like Horizons by the end of this year.

On to reading. I like the Christian Liberty Press nature readers and so do my kids. (They're about a year advanced too, so we buy accordingly.) Reading and science in one! I also like the Pathway readers and Christian Life Readers by Keepers of the Faith. I'm having Brooke read through the "Beginner's Bible" this year also. It's written at a 2nd grade level and it's perfect for her. Books from the library are good too of course, and I've used the Kindergarten Phonics Readers by Christian Liberty Press. All good. Oh, and the Bob Books are great for the tiny, beginning readers. I'll probably start Ava and Kate on them next fall since they're just learning letter sounds now.

Enough for now. Two more curriculum posts coming up and then that will cover it. Promise.

Is it really true?

Guess who is closer to age 40 than age 30 today?

Yep, me.

Ouch. 36 definitely sounds old, doesn't it?

Seriously, I'm happy to be turning 36. After all, it's better than NOT turning 36, right?

I have been SO blessed with my life, especially the promise of eternal life from Christ, not to mention the blessings of my husband and my kids.

I can't wait to see what my kids wrapped up for me to open. They've been so busy upstairs "making" me gifts. Oh, how I love my kids.

Let's Talk Curriculum...just for fun:)

Warning: This post will only be interesting to homeschoolers.

Since we are already 3 weeks into our school year (we start when Chad goes back so we are on his schedule) I have an idea of what I like by now.



First of all, I am LOVING Rod and Staff English. I researched for a while what English (grammar & writing) curriculum to use with Brooke for 2nd grade. I didn't use a "formal" curriculum for writing & grammar before 2nd grade; I just had Brooke write each day. I looked into and read reviews for lots of curriculums. I finally decided on R & S for English for the following reasons:



The Well-Trained Mind and Cathy Duffy AND Homeschool Reviews ALL gave it raving reviews so I figured it must be good;)



It's non-consumable. For math, I like a workbook they can write in. But for English, I like that it's non-consumable. That way, we can do a lot of the exercises orally and I feel more freedom to skip some of the work.



It's Christ-centered. If my kids are learning to write, I want them writing about things that matter, and I like that the curriculum is engaging their souls along with their mind.



It's thorough and very easy to understand.



It's cheap; yes, for me that's important too:-)



We're only using the student book (I don't use teacher's manuals) so I think I spent like $12 for English for Brooke and I can pass it down to my other kids! Oh, and Brooke actually enjoys it. Does it get any better than that?



Okay, enough about English.



For spelling we are also using Rod and Staff. By the way, we aren't using R&S for anything else, just English and Spelling. I like the spelling too so far. It's cheap and looked simple and got good reviews, so we went with it. Brooke actually enjoys it, too. We are using it pretty informally, no tests yet.


Maybe I'll post later about some other things we are using too:)

Elsa Update

From Elsa's family:

"Elsa's tumors ended up being larger than they suspected. One is the size of a softball and the other is the size of a golfball and they are around the small intestines, but the doctor did not seem worried and said that if you are a two year old and you happen to have a cancer, this is not a bad type to have."

"Elsa has Burkitt Lymphoma. This is apparently a good type to have, but I have not looked into it very thoroughly, so I am not sure what the details are. Tomorrow morning at 8:30 Elsa is going into surgery to have a port put into a major artery near her heart. This is like a permanent IV that will not bother her or get in the way so that the doctors can administer her Chemo. While she is under anesthesia they will do a spinal tap and give her the first dose of Chemo and also get some bone marrow from her hip to test if the lymphoma has spread that far. After they test the marrow we will know the stage of the cancer and how intense the Chemo will have to be. The doctors said that as of right now it looks like the Chemo will go on for about 6 months. "

Prayers Needed for Elsa

Remember this sweetie? Her name is Elsa and she is in our Nanjing, China playgroup.




















Elsa was adopted a couple months before Ava came home. When her parents began the adoption process and were told about Elsa, they were told that a baby with a tumor needed a family. Her parents immediately said, "That's our daughter" and committed to adopting her. What they told would be a tumor turned out to be a hemangioma birthmark on her forehead. It was removed and Elsa was fine.

But now, a year and a half after her adoption, Elsa is not fine. I received a phone call just today. Two and a half year old Elsa had been complaining of a stomachache all weekend. Well, last night the doctors found a tumor in her stomach. The tumor is cancerous. The family is on the way to Riley Hospital right now for exploratory surgery. Elsa will most likely need chemotherapy. Please pray for healing for Elsa, strength for the family, and for God's light to shine through this situation.

Not My Child Monday

Back by popular request... (okay, not really, but I know my mom likes reading these anyway):

It was not MY newly-turned 4-year-old who said, "But boogers are yummy" when I told her that "boogers are yucky so get your finger out of your nose." That's disgusting and none of my children would ever say that, think that, or (worse yet) do that.

It is not this same child (famous for her "not my child moments") who eats her vegetables only if we say (and we have to look mean when we say it), "You better not eat those lima beans..."

And it was certainly not my 4 1/2 year old who yesterday looked under my arm at my "underarm stubble" and declared, "Mommy dirty." No, that would never happen around here.

It was not my 1-year-old who came tumbling, roly-poly style, down the entire flight of stairs this morning. No, I always remember to close the baby gates around here, so those things just don't happen.

And it is not this toddler who, during his diaper changes, wiggles and flips over, tantruming at the top of his lungs, mad that he is being confined. No, he is grateful when he gets a clean diaper and lays perfectly still, smiling as he coos, "thanks, mom."

And last but not least, it was not my 7-year-old who asked "just how exactly does the seed get planted into a mommy for a baby to grow in her belly?" No, she's too young to ask those kinds of questions.

Anyone else out there have any "not my child moments" lately that you wish to share? Feel free to leave them as a comment so we can all enjoy reading what "didn't" happen.

Want to see something amazing?

Then head on over to my good friend Amy's blog and watch as she and her husband will be meeting their new son tomorrow! They are in Nanjing China right now and will be adopting Sammy from the Nanging Orphanage, the same place Ava came from.

A Day in the Life of Sprunger Academy

We started school back up last week. So far, so good. Here is Brooke's curriculum all ready to go.




















Here is Ashton's.



















Here is some preschool stuff for the little girls.




















Here is Brooke working on her spelling.




















Here is Ashton doing his writing.



















Here is Brooke giving a "reading lesson" to Kate and Ava.


















Here is Gabe happily entertaining himself.



















Ahhhh.....life is so easy and peaceful around here, right? WRONG! Funny how a blog post can be made to look anyway the author wants. I'm actually laughing to myself looking at these pictures and how great they make things seem over here. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job as these kids' mother and teacher, but it's far from perfect over here. All of the above moments in the photos did indeed happen, but they were short blissful moments in between tears, quarrels, time-outs for discipline...in short, life with 5 kids.

Not to mention the fact that toddlers are hard. Gabe, even though he is usually content, has reached a clingy and difficult stage. He began this "velcro" stage this summer, and I hope it ends soon. He has been following me around the house lately crying unless he is held. Constantly. I remember my other kids going through a clingy stage around age one, so I think it's normal. In fact, I've always thought that age one is the hardest age...into everything, bravery without the brains to match, falling all the time, a weird fascination with trash and toilets... As much as I love Gabe, age one is hard. But guess what? Gabe is even harder without the other kids around to amuse him. Yes, one toddler is harder than one toddler plus 4 older children. True! Another benefit of homeschooling!

Anyway, in reality, this is what I saw most of the time Gabe wasn't being held:






















Yes, I took a picture of Gabe crying and coming towards me, mad that he wasn't being held.
And this picture was taken as Brooke was reading on the couch. Gabe climbed up beside her and tried to grab the book. When she wouldn't let him, he threw himself face-down on the couch crying.



















I know things will get better. I know Gabe will grow up, which, when I think about it, is really sad in itself:(

Okay, I started this post about 3 days ago. I only allow myself maybe 10 minutes a day to "blog" after the kids are in bed. So...an update is that things are already becoming a little better. The kids are getting in a routine and getting more independent with their schoolwork, which gives me time in the mornings to spend with Ava, Kate, and Gabe. Brooke has started this great thing where she begs to take a "recess" from her schoolwork to play with Gabe. She takes Gabe upstairs and plays with him there, which he loves because he loves attention, which is a great time for me to get housework done. Yes, things are coming together.

By the way, I don't know how many homeschoolers read my blog, but if you're interested in a review of any of the products we use (see pictures above) let me know. I like to talk "homeschool curriculum." If that makes me a nerd, so be it. If using the '90's word "nerd" makes me a nerd too, so be it.

Sisters

These two cuties usually wake up around the same time and play together in the morning before everyone else is awake. The morning after Kate's birthday, Kate saw her birthday candy on the table and asked if she could have it. I told her to go outside and eat it on the deck. Ava followed her and stared at Kate eating her candy. Before I could ask Kate to share, she started giving Ava pieces and letting her lick her lollipop. Of course I grabbed my camera before this sweet moment could end!


























Most of the time, these two are either fighting or playing together. It changes from one minute to the next. Regardless, where one is, the other usually is too.