December - It's All About Christmas Festivities

 Well, we began December the way we always do around here in this part of Raleigh, NC with our small town Christmas Parade!

And then JINGLE JAM! I only took a picture of Rainy's hair because I was pretty proud of myself for how it turned out. She was performing on her silk as part of Jingle Jam so she needed to get that hair done up.

The rest of the month was full of friends in and out of our home for game nights, movie nights, sleepovers and eating up everything in our pantry. These are my favorite moments.

Josh has wanted a nativity scene in our front yard for YEARS. So this year I gave him one as an early Christmas present. You should have seen him getting the yard all decorated. He was actually frolicking around. I'm pretty sure one of the kids has a video;)

I caught a rare sighting of Cai...not moving, talking, joking around...but sleeping! He fell asleep on the way to my parents house after a long week.

Here is Cai's creativity at its best. He made a Christmas countdown for Jude. Every day when Cai walks in from school he and Jude collectively shout out what day Jude gets to open to get his daily prize. It's super cute.

We are closing out the year with some very important life lessons. Josh taught Zeke how to change his own oil! 

October - Homecoming and Life

 Fall has been BEAUTIFUL this year! The colors, the coming and going (Josh was gone the majority of this month on retreats and a mission trip to Argentina), the fun happenings at school like HOMECOMING...it was a great, FULL month. 

Alethia has really thrived at public high school. She's even gotten Cai to come out of his shell a little bit with football games and other fun activities. I started logging some hours behind the wheel with Cai, the Northern lights came through our region and Halloween is still a thing around here. And finally, Jude and I began a couch to 5k program for PE this year which has been really fun to do together.

September - Vacation and The Long-Awaited Routine

Via Vacation was a bit different this year. Instead of our Lake Anna house we have gone to for about a decade we made our way to the beach. Lake Anna had an outbreak of bacteria in the water, sending many people to the hospital, resulting in the lake being shut down. Even though it opened up shortly before vacation we played it safe and found another place to go. It was great to be together, of course, and the beach is also so relaxing to walk, sit, play or just watch as the waves roll in.

 The rest of the month was spent getting into a welcomed rhythm of routine and life.

The student worship team began this semester

Jude worked hard and got all the necessary gear to begin ice skating lessons and open stick and puck.

Jude and Josh also began a small group called First Tribe with a group of preteens/young teens and dads as they walk through this next stage of life together. I love the bond they are creating during their monthly meetings. 

August - Saying Goodbye To Summer

 

We celebrated Cai's 15th birthday. Birthday tradition gets them a breakfast with dad wherever they choose and often Krispy Kreme is the one.

This also meant Cai was able to get his permit. We now have our official 

4th teenage driver in the colony house.

Alethia is starting to get practice in pumping gas.

Our beloved Fluffy died in August. Our 9 year old chicken! We even saw the culprit! It was a hawk. He actually took out a couple of chickens before we were able to fully close in the ladies. But since we covered them up they have stayed safe and sound.

Rainy had a gig down in Myrtle Beach and took Zeke with her to grab some footage. 

I love that they love spending time together.

Jude, forever creating in the kitchen.

Zeke has really surprised us with his dedication to learning guitar. He now plays on the student worship team and practices for hours to perfect his parts. We love this creative outlet for him.

The kids finally started school the last week of August. 

Cai headed back to Rolesville High and took Alethia with him this year!

Jude is home in 7th and Zeke is home finishing up his senior year.

The Rest Of July

 After our Colorado trip our summer did NOT slow down. Cai had a singular day at home before heading off to soccer camp with his school. The girls asked me to tag along with them to see Sam Hunt. It is so fun to watch the girls get so into their concerts, lol.

Zeke jumped on a mission trip to Brazil, and boy did those Brazilian girls like him and his cousins!

And Jude finally got his birthday outing with friends. He chose to go ice skating, since he is all into ice hockey right now. It was so cute. He had the whole day planned out with outdoor games and snacks and everything. He is turning into quite the host.

Speaking of hockey. It is an extremely expensive sport and there are a LOT of steps to even get to the team part. So Jude went and surveyed a couple of the nearby neighborhoods, created a flyer to hire himself out for any odd jobs that people may need him for, to raise money for this deep love he has acquired to play hockey. He got a couple of call backs from a couple widows that just need some young bones and strong muscles and he is working his way into the hockey scene.