Keeping up with the Kiddos: School and Other Delicacies

The days are long, but the months are longer—is that how it goes? Help me out here Elia. In the midst of this season’s shortening days, time advances slowly and with such full and life-giving moments. Despite any monotony or repetition, we find great joy in the unique opportunities with each kid each day. Especially upon reviewing hundreds of goober-ful photos from the last 4 months.

Roasting everything except the mallows

When Dad's out, ice cream prevails

First of many photo creeps

As summer waned, Mom and Dad had the first chance of a lifetime to spend a whole week together without the kiddos, just enjoying heat and nature and droughty waterfalls in Ithaca NY. Cozy moments in a woodsy cottage called “The Nest” and, on theme, round after round of the game Wingspan. Many fascinating restaurants, hikes and wineries interspersed with chill and homey relaxation made for a beautiful week-long retreat.

All fancy for a night out

5 o'clock in Ithaca

Weeks later, back at the ranch…

School started! What a blessing to have kids who are excited about school, and who can realize the privilege of getting it custom made, delivered and served to them at home. Mom continues feeding them a steady 4-day diet of morning time (hymns and Scripture), piano practice and reading to Dimmy while she teaches Ezra (who has skipped into Kindergarten), then math and lessons with Sophia (who has skipped into 2^nd grade), then more lessons with Elia (who is crushing 3^rd grade at the moment). There’s little to no wasted time from 8:30-11:30am, then lunch with a side of read-aloud and the day is done! Just 12-14 hours a week, a wholesome feast of edification. Elia wants to be a veterinarian, Sophia a doctor (or swim teacher?), Ezra a construction worker/Spiderman, and Summer a giggle muffin.

Epic art show!

The Rocks On the Beach
Medium: Dry-erase & boogers

Not long into the year we celebrated Irish Twin birthdays in Carlisle, complete with family visits, work on the Kauffman basement project, amazing smoked brisket and lunches on the warm shady deck. Erin’s gifts kept with the bird theme, and Aunt Hannah’s gift to all was introducing new baby Noah! The girls went with Dad on a rocky hike with all the bird-watching and pants-wetting we could have hoped for.

Mountain mermaids

Fall began early September with our usual Ramseyer Farms visitation. We rode an educational hayride (for the free pumpkins) and tried our hands at a dizzying array of fall activities like pulling heavy tractors, riding pedal carts, and drowning in a pool of corn, all in the midst of a last-ditch-effort heat wave that put even mid-summer to shame. Ramseyer has been a family staple for a few years now, and going on homeschooling days always proves less crowded and more purposeful.

You are the dancing queen!

For the first time in 5 years, we attended Grove City’s Homecoming weekend to celebrate our 10-year anniversary—everything has been 10 years! Three of our kids were excited about the parade candy, and one of them was actually interested in learning about the college, seeing dorm rooms, exploring educational buildings, and dreaming about the ultimate freedom that awaits her. We had a chill 20 minutes to eat our food and talk with old classmates before all of our future Grovers were lost all over the quad, getting stuck in inflatables, and we had to start looking for them.

The only playground on campus

Fall seemed to actually start when Dad went out for his annual backpacking trip, this year to the Cranberry Wilderness in West Virginia. The temperatures were record-setting low, but the elm leaves had reached their peak of beauty and made for magnificent views and stream crossings. Very soon we will have the oldest kids joining in on weekend backpacking trips. Other fall festivities included a marathon relay for Dad, trick-or-treating as the scariest of hooligans, and a carving & crafting evening at dining room table.

A cohesive costume theme?

3 hours 33 minutes!

When moms fly to Iowa for the weekend, dads seek help. The 5 survivors made our way to Greensburg for the weekend, where we had a good time playing board games, hanging out with cousins, eating pizza and cookies, and unloading gobs of energy at the Pittsburgh Children’s Factory. It was there that the oldest 3 sent dozens of fantastical care packages to locations all over the quintessential city, cranked out numerous paper coins on the factory press, sorted hundreds of wooden balls by diameter, and attempted to fix the plumbing on the third floor. Children’s labor rights seem to have lost all value.

That face

Crafts we never do at home for the win

Her 9 to 5, if she should be so lucky

How does she know it's a phone?

Elia and Sophia are losing teeth left and right—some to mom’s fingers, some to the floss & door handle. They love reading and crafting and art but take pride in their own recent activities—basketball for Elia and ballet for Sophers. And to be honest, I feel that we are starting to see some fruit from their piano efforts! Sophia has just finished her first book and scale, Elia is on to simple Christmas carols, and both seem to enjoy piano enough to sit down and play a bit extra by ear now and then. Always eager to learn new games, we have recently tried out Settlers of Catan, Risk, Blokus, For Sale, the Bean Game, and many others, plus chess has been a perpetual challenge against Dad, and educational opportunity in game theory and strategy.

Our 18 year old

Completing the Circle of Surgery

Ezra and Summer are losing their room partnership—after a full year of going to bed about 1 hour after bedtime due to pillow talk and night games, we have resolved to move Dim to the guest room, and already it seems to be a brilliant parenting move. They are also losing their diapers, with Summer now grasping the significance of waste management. Our business planning tactics are to eradicate the diaper line item by Q4 2023. Ezra has grown to love art this year, especially with his library art class and, let’s be honest, the over-achieving children’s ministry teachers for the 3-4s classroom. Dimmy just loves watchin’ movies, feels incomplete without them, but can settle for a good book or puzzle, as long as there will be a movie later.