Lucy danced beautifully in her ballet recital. Her smile was contagious! Wish I had taken more pics, but I volunteered this year to help out and then didn’t have as many opportunities. I’ll post a clip from the recital when I get the DVD (if I’m still blogging by then.)
Justice and Lucy
Jun 20
In early May, our family plus my parents traveled to NC for trout fishing and gem mining. We stayed in a remote cabin in the mountains. The driveway to said cabin was treacherous and steep, but our trip was so much fun! All the kids caught fish. 
Jun 20
It’s June 2017 and Tyler and Emma just completed summer swimming lessons. They did great!
Oct 18
Oct 18
Here are some videos of the children’s latest performance pieces.
Oct 17
This girl loves popsicles!
And so do her brothers and sister!
Marie, Lucy, and Lydia when we kept the Carlson girls!
I love this picture of everyone “reading.”
Little sis with big bros.
Oct 17
We had a small family celebration of Connor’s birthday this year. There were balloons and cake and a couple of presents from Grandma, including his own watch! His big present from us this year was a trip to Busch Gardens with Daddy. They had a caricature done of the two of them, which I hope to post soon.
Oct 17
Emma is two and a half now, and she LOVES swinging–at the park, in our backyard, across the street on the neighbor’s swing. She asks to be pushed on the swing all the time. And now that the weather is cooling, everyone wants to spend more time outside 🙂
Swinging at Miss Robin’s house
Oct 15
In our co-op this year, the children are learning science (Apologia Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day), geography, history (Story of the World Volume 4), and Writing (Institutes for Excellence in Writing Intensive A). So far it is going so well, and the children are learning a lot as am I. I teach the 4th-6th grade science and writing twice a month. I love how this co-op is a support to what we are doing at home and how it keeps me accountable in getting science and history reading done. And I am SO thankful for my co-leader Julie who is so organized and encouraging. We have had a great partnership the last few years, and her friendship is a huge blessing.
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The children learned about the country of Uganda and got to experience eating a traditional dish of beans and rice with only hands and no utensils. Some took to this more than others. It was not really Tyler’s cup of tea ;
Field trip at Morningside Nature Center–learning about first inhabitants of FL!
Learning about Timucua technology
Sorting beans and seeds with Isabella Grancagnolo
Lucy and Leo–I already forget what they were doing in this picture.
Serious Pokemon Card trading at co-op
Tyler making his passport for geography class
Trying Hard Tack in history class. It turned out to be a big hit!
Oct 15
Connor, Lucy and Tyler are all playing Upward Soccer this fall, and they are all having a great time. It was a little chaotic at the start of this year, because there were a plethora of children and an unfortunate dearth of parent volunteers for coaches and refs, but everything is going smoothly now it seems. I really need to remember to take pictures and videos of the children playing. The picture below was taken when Lucy’s team played against her sweet friend Lydia’s team. I am also including a couple of random October pictures of Lucy helping me make cinnamon rolls. Notice Emma’s princess dress. She is loving dressing up as a princess or a ballerina. Every day she asks to change into some sort of gown or leotard, at which point she dons high-heeled plastic slippers and finds a bag to carry–then she dances around the family room. It is quite a sight! We love it 🙂
Mr. Jeremiah Carlson holding his daughter Violet, niece Mia, and our Emma with Lydia in foreground.
The four beans ready for a soccer game!