Butterfly Farm

Every year we look forward to our field trip to the Butterfly Farm. Nora does a great teaching the kids.

Our butterfly, Ginny, in her chrysalis...

Our sweet little moth, David...

Surrounded by his friends in the cocoon...

And ready to fly!!

Drew made an awesome butterfly with his "smelling" antenna, compound eyes, "breathing" stomach, "hearing" knees, and "tasting" feet...

Then it was time to visit the butterfly house. The beautiful warm and temperate weather we've had has made for some very happy butterflies. There were hundreds and they were so friendly!!

Watching the butterflies emerge...

So thankful for another beautiful day with God's amazing butterflies! We enjoyed reading some great books throughout the week. A new one for us this year was, An Extraordinary Life by Laurence Pringle. It explains the intricate monarch migration that enables them to survive from season to season. As if changing from a caterpillar to butterfly were not miraculous enough, this book leaves you in awe.

In His Steps

Julia has had another amazing year with In His Steps. We are so blessed to be a part of this incredible group. It was started by two precious, godly women who had a passion for missions and a church they serve in Nicaragua. They knew they could expand their help with more funding. So they took their God-given passion for worship, dance, and the arts and turned it into ministry. Every week, they teach young girls and lead them in worship, at the same time teaching them dance, sign language, praise, and prayer. The donations made by parents for the classes go toward their mission work.

 

Julia continues to love her time spent dancing. In place of a performance recital, the girls minister to local nursing homes and adult ed centers during the year. At the end of the year, we have two nights of worship in local churches to worship together with other church groups and to share some of the work God is doing in Nicaragua.

This year they danced to The Gospel Song and The Prayer...

Sweet friends before prayer time...

Julia was able to be a part of the group's processional dance to I Love Your Presence. It was a powerful song, beautiful dance, and so amazing to see women and girls of all ages worshiping together...

Carter is so proud of his little sister...

Thank you Tricia and Angie, from the bottom of our hearts. We could never thank you enough for pouring into the heart and life of Julia. Her heart will be forever touched by your passion and your love for God that overflows in everything you do. Thank you for being a part of her faith journey. Your impact has eternal effects. We love you and cannot wait to hear about your upcoming trip back to Nicaragua.

Walk 4 Our Kids

On May 19th, our Kids of Childhood Cancer Foundation had their annual...

We could not have asked for a more perfect day for this cherished event.

We were so humbled and blessed to have over 400 registered walkers this year! The crowd was so full of faces, love, smiles, support, tears, personal stories, and determination.

The morning starts by honoring our kids- the reasons why we do what we do. We honor the warriors and survivors and let them introduce themselves to the crowd...

And then we stop to remember our angels. It is because of these incredibly brave children that we will forever carry the torch forward and help those in the trenches in any way we can. These children inspire us, challenge us, and become a piece of our hearts that we carry with us always. This year has been an incredibly tough year as so many of our friends have earned their wings. There are still many broken hearts and the loss is palpable.

We will never forget and we will never give up the fight...

 

An energetic and emotional crowd, ready to walk...

I love that one of our top 3 finishers is herself a cancer survivor! Take that cancer!!

Princesses handing out water at the finish line...

LOVE our  nurses!!!

And Camp Brenner's resident Superman. We all know the oncology kids are superheroes in disguise...

We were so thankful for our friends that came out in support...

As of last count we had raised over $37,000! All of this will go toward our foundation's new beach Safe Haven and will allow us to send local peds oncology families on getaway vacations to the beach. A chance to escape from cancer for even a moment, connect as a family, relax, and savor the beauty of the ocean.

Thank you to all of you helping to make dreams come true!!

Sandbox Lot

 

Sandbox
Est. 2007 

Population 1-12

By far, the most used "toy" our kids have is their sandbox. Daddy made it for them six years ago. It is right out our back door, in full view from the kitchen. The kids play in it year round- no matter the weather. I still have vivid memories of Carter sitting and digging with his trucks when he was two, while Billy and I watched him and finishing our dinner in the kitchen. Did I mention it was winter and about 20 degrees?! That never seemed to matter to him or Julia. Whether it's 20 degrees or 100 degrees, it is a favorite spot. It has been a construction site, wild animal park, medieval castle, forest, war zone, kitchen, beach, set of Chopped and Cupcake Wars, and currently Egypt.

Here's just a short stroll down memory lane...

 

 

 

 

 

I pray it sees many more years of imaginary escapades!

History at Home

We've been studying Japan for a few weeks in our homeschooling. The kids have been really excited about this one because I actually lived there when I was their age. Our country studies are based on our monthly shipments from Little Passports. We LOVE this company. The kids start with a suitcase, map, and passport. Then every month they receive a package in the mail with country info, postcards, souvenirs, local items, puzzles, and a code to access online activities. Before we start each unit, we complete a KWL chart together (Know, Want to know, Learn). This helps us with our journaling along the way. Then we dive in with a dozen or so library books about the country, culture, people, etc. Along the way we sometimes try new foods, crafts, or watch you tube videos of native festivals and music. After a recent Japan lesson, Carter asked if he could teach Julia something himself. I told him, "sure". He decided to cover the major Pacific theater campaigns of World War II. He even made his own aircraft carrier out of the base ten blocks. I think he might be taking over as the history professor in a few years :)

A few days later they decided to build a submarine in the living room. It was quite well thought out and they had all kinds of rooms and equipment inside. It was their diving suits that made me laugh...