It's Okay, I'm With the Band...

...yes, you read that right - we now have a child who is officially 'with the band'!

K1 kicked off her Junior High experience with a swift and sudden immersion into the world of marching band! In our school district, all 7th-12th grade band members participate in both marching band and pep band, so before school even started this year, we got our first taste of BAND CAMP. That's right, band camp...5 days, 40 hours, and 1 field exposition...WOW!

Band has been a huge confidence-booster (and yes, definitely a time-filler as well), and truly helped to make K1's transition from elementary to junior high SO much smoother than it could have been. It was wonderful for her to have a place where she 'fit' even before school started this year.

Plus, it has been fun for us! We are discovering more and more what a talent she has on the trumpet, and our whole family enjoys attending the parades and sporting events to cheer her on. The band is currently hard at work on their field performance, which we look forward to seeing for ourselves next month, and after homecoming this week, we have 2 more parades to attend!

We are hopeful that K2's experience in band will be a positive one as well - he is kicking things off this year in percussion! Earplugs, anyone?? :)

Demonstrating the marching steps in slow motion.

Playing some of their new music - a piece from the musical 'Chicago.'

Pausing for a group photo.

Starting off with a parade the very first week of school!

Marching in full dress at their second parade last weekend!

Go, girl! We're so proud of you!!

Husker Mania!

To kickoff football season, we were SO fortunate to get a tour of Memorial Stadium before all the kiddos headed back to school. What an awesome experience for all of us! GO BIG RED!

K3 and his best buddy never left each other's side throughout the tour...how sweet is that?!

The 'Tunnel Walk' experience...wow...

Mom and K1 on the field.

Strutting our stuff at center field!

Running for a touchdown!

Heading off the field...

...to check out the championship trophies!

Go Huskers!

A Double-Digit Celebration!

This summer, we were blessed to celebrate another year with K2 as he took the plunge into double-digits!

10 years is quite the milestone, and he enjoyed plenty of celebrating, both with family and friends. First, we swam in our pool with family and then treated him to a night of go-cart races on his special day.

Then we welcomed 4 extra bodies of energy into our home for a testosterone-filled evening of Nerf gun battles, pizza, video games, cake, ping pong, presents, and Star Wars. We topped it off with water balloon wars and plenty of water fun in the morning! This was K2's first request for a birthday sleepover, and we are proud to say that we all survived!

Thanks for keeping us hopping for 10 whole years now - we love you!

The big 1-0!!

Oh, the excitement!

Attacking the flaming 'tank' cake with his new sword (and LOTS of energy)!

The race is on! First, the boys battle it out...

...and then the girls rock the roadway!

Family Vacation!!

Here it is...the blog you've been waiting for...our SUMMER family vacation!

Never mind that we are now only 4 days away from FALL!

We were blessed to kick off our summer with a wonderful family vacation. We stayed in a large cabin on a lake with some extended family and had a most relaxing and enjoyable week away from the responsibilities and busyness of everyday life. We were yet again reminded of the value of family and the importance of connecting with each other on purpose and without distraction, and we were also inspired to 'get away' as a family every summer because time is just slipping away far too quickly...

So, to recap, we spent the week doing all the things we often want to do but don't make time for:

Exploring God's beautiful creation...together...

Just listening...to the quiet...together...

Playing...without a screen...together...

Celebrating...together...

Discovering the joy in the little things...together...

Splashing, creating, imagining, and laughing...together...

I pray that we are often reminded of the importance of together; that we make time for the things that we value rather than making excuses for the time we give away.

Lord, help us to live each day without regret, having made You and those You love our priority. Let us not go to bed at night wishing to recapture the time we lost, but instead treasuring every moment we shared, for we know it is only those moments that will truly last.

"I came that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

First Snapshots of Summer

The beginning of our summer was filled with LOTS of things!

Things like 1 family NERF game (6 guns, LOTS of darts, and some serious competition!),

2 baseball games every week,

6 trips to surrounding towns to play ball,

1 visit to the emergency room,

5 stitches,

and 4 containers filled with juicy red strawberries after a day at the local berry farm with friends!

If you've been adding things up, you will see that

1 fun summer + 4 fantastic kids = COUNTLESS wonderful memories,

and this was only the beginning! Stay tuned for more posts from other fabulous summertime activities with our Krew!

Awards Galore!!

As the school year wore down, we found ourselves, as many of you do, attending various 'awards' and 'end of year' programs...and with 4 kids, we always have plenty of programs to attend!! :)

For the school-aged kids, there are 2 awards programs; one for a variety of school awards (ie. academic, physical fitness, music, etc), and one for Accelerated Reader awards, which is based on points they have earned for reading throughout the school year.

For the pre-school kids, there is an awards program at church for their 'Rainbows' classes, which is where they spend time learning memory verses, doing projects, and studying Bible stories each week. There is also a church program for Royal Rangers, which is the series of classes for school-aged boys, but K2 opted out of his program to attend a baseball game instead (we don't allow them to miss church services or classes for sporting events, but we figured he could make his own decision when it came to attending the awards ceremony!).

This turned out to be quite the year for our family as our kids brought home several awards for their hard work throughout the year, and we are very proud of them!!

K1 earned herself another Accelerated Reader plaque at school - this is her second one, and they are hard to get! The first time, she won 2nd place in the school with 300 points, and this year, she took 2nd place with 506 points! The competition just gets tougher every year!

This is K1's 6th grade class with their 'diplomas' for completing elementary school (She is front and center). Now we're just weeks away from sending her off to junior high!! :(

K1 and 2 other 6th grade girls earned the 'Presidential Academic Achievement Award' which was an honor for good grades, and she also earned a 'Character Counts Award' for displaying good character throughout the school year.

Finally, she was given a certificate for her performance in the spring music contest, where she earned a 1+ rating (the highest possible!) for her trumpet solo, and both bands she performed with earned 1 ratings as well. Way to go!!

K2 was honored with the 'National Physical Fitness Award' during the school program (he is on the far right)...

...as well as a gold medal for Accelerated Reader (for earning 100+ points throughout the year)!

During the Rainbows awards, K3 received his graduation certificate, along with an 'Honor Rainbow' award for having completed all 3 years of badges! This Fall, he is thrilled to be moving up to the Royal Ranger program like his big brother. :)

Last, but DEFINITELY not least, K4 received her award for completing her very first year of Rainbows - as you can tell, she's not crazy about being up on stage! Only 2 more years and she'll be an 'Honor Rainbow' just like her 3 siblings!!

Way to go, Krew!