one epic family vacation

Early in December we rented a minivan and loaded up the kids for one week of family fun. And it was so fun. I think I've been slow to blog about it because I want to do it justice..but some experiences are so good they don't always translate. I'll try my best!

The trip was without a hitch. The kids loved the minivan, the roads were clear except for our last hour before arriving home. We were all healthy and good moods were found all around. Our destination was Ark Encounter, an amazing life-size Ark and museum that just opened in July. We have been following the building of the ark as a family, and I have been dying to get there. So we hit the road to find the big boat.

And it did not disappoint!

The Ark is the largest timber-frame structure in the world. It's size and details are all straight from the scriptures. Inside are cages of animals (not real) and exhibits that explain life in Noah's day, how they could keep fresh water on the ark, how they may have disposed of waste, explanations of the sea-worthiness of the Ark, exhibits on Noah and his age and wisdom, his family and how they may have lived for the full year they were on the Ark (the world was flooding for six months, it rained for 40 days, Genesis 7 and 8). My favorite exhibit was on the trouble with turning the story of Noah's Ark into a cute children's tale. It is not a cute tale. It is a story of a very just God wiping out all life from the earth due to the unrepentant hearts of his creation. The Ark could have saved more people, but other than Noah and his family, there were no other hearts that would turn towards the Lord.

Our kids loved it. To see their eyes when we pulled into the parking lot, looking at the Ark a few hills away, was so great. They held all the awe and wonder the Ark should bring us all. There was a petting zoo outside of the ark and a baby zebra had just been born a few nights earlier. The restaurant was incredible and felt very much like a Disney restaurant...where the whole experience wraps around you with music and smells and costume and ambiance.

The ramps in the ark lead from one floor to the next and near the top is the door. As visitors you actually enter from the bottom of the boat. But the writing around the door likened the door of the ark to Jesus in our lives. There is only one way to be saved. There is only one name under heaven and earth that will save us from our sinful selves when we stand before God Almighty. Jesus is that door. And all are welcome and invited to walk through it.

There was a beautiful gift shop at the end of the exhibits that had fair trade items from all over the world. One of the exhibits focused on how Noah's family filled the earth and how we all come from one race. It was beautifully written and powerful to remember. The gift shop felt very fitting at the close of the experience.

I am so grateful we were able to bring our kids at this age. And the grand plan for The Ark Encounter is enormous. I told Rory that it will be so fun to go back every few years and see what has been added. The heart of the Ark is that all might have an encounter with the living God. I can get behind that. And I know my kids will never forget this day. The night before our visit we listened to all of Genesis 6-8 with the kids. For me, the picture I had in my head the first night was blown up to size by what we saw that next day. That boat was huge. And it all happened just as it is written.

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The second part of our road trip was to see my Uncle Paul, Aunt Connie and cousin Jessica! We have wanted to visit them for ages, talked about it since our last family reunion, and now they live just 30 minutes from the Ark so we will likely see them more and more! I tell you what. To plan a stay with family in the middle of a road trip is just perfect. We were ready to rest. Aunt Connie fed us incredible meals (we had eaten a lot of fast food up until that point!) and our kids got a day to play and lay low. It was perfection. And I love family sleepovers so much. That first night the adults stayed up at the kitchen table eating bowls of cereal and talked until way too late. You just can't beat that kind of family time! So just be aware, if you're relatives of ours, we're likely going to come and stay at your house sometime. Because we love you!

And Uncle Paul made Ivar his very own didgeridoo! And Ivar could really do it. We would hear these low whale calls from all over the house, and it was just Ivar and Uncle Paul making music together. What a riot! Uncle Paul even let Ivar take his home. I can't make the sound. I've tried blowing low raspberries, but it's a real art. But Ivar has got it. We'll need to find him a didgeridoo ensemble somewhere...

And their house was so lovely. Aunt Connie has the most beautiful taste in vintage decorating and I left so inspired to come home and add some thought to my own decor. Every room felt warm and inviting. Especially this sunny tub for Hattie to get her bath.

We got to see my cousin Isaac and his family the second night and had an awesome family meal together. We were so well taken care of and left with a little swing back in our step for the drive back to Minnesota.

On the way there and the way home we stayed in Merrilville, Indiana. It was the perfect place to stop both there and back, and to our great, great delight, home of the Albanese Candy Outlet Store...a gummy factory! We got to watch gummy bears and peachy o's being made in the factory and then got to shop from all the choices in the candy store. Honestly, I think I was more excited than the kids. Which is saying a lot because they were the actual kids in the candy store...

I could go on and on about this trip (oh I already have?!!). But it was just that good. Top to bottom, it was a great time of family togetherness. A great time of training our kids in the way they should go. A great time of enjoying relatives and introducing our kids to more family who love them dearly. Here's to more family vacations!

homeschool progress report

I have thought about writing my thoughts on our first round of homeschooling many times. What I've realized is that depending on the day you would likely read very different stories. But I do want to take the time to write my thoughts...and will likely do so every six months or so, mostly for my own record of where I was at, what I was thinking, what I was struggling with, what I was grateful for. I would imagine this would make for some interesting reading many years down the road.

My overall sentiment towards homeschooling Ivar and Elsie this year has been extremely positive. I absolutely love it. I know from many friends that this is not often the case. The first year(s) can be really exhausting, with the mom learning as much as the kids. But I had enough wise veteran homeschooler moms speak right to me and tell me from the start, "it's kindergarten. relax. more than anything you want your kids to love learning." And then so many went on to say that with their oldest kids they went so gangbusters the first few years that their kids now don't love school like their younger kids love it. It was with this relaxed view of the year that we moved into our first year of homeschool, and I am so grateful for these words.

My greatest gift this first year of home school continues to be the group of home school teachers (moms) that meet once a month at a local church and talk about everything from curriculum, field trips, meal planning, personal time, marriage care, lesson planning and challenging learners. I love this group SO MUCH. Our kids are all different ages, we are all using different curriculum, we hold our own varying reasons for home educating, but we are all doing it. They are the women who make it look doable. They don't make it look perfect. But they are exceptional at what they do. I learn so much and always feel encouraged and full of grace to keep at it.

Because some days are awesome and other days are a challenge.

Today was a great example of a lesson gone wrong. I was introducing bar graphs to the kids and genuinely excited about it. We sat at the kitchen table and made a bar graph for fruit we have in the house. They loved this project so we moved on and all three of us made a bar graph showing our animals on the farm. The lesson derailed right from the start when I told the kids to write "animals on our farm" at the top of their graph. Ivar felt he had too much of a space between the i and the m in animals and this was so frustrating for him he began to cry. Then his o in on wasn't round enough. And it basically went downhill from there.

In those moments I do wonder if an outside teacher would do a better job. I am the mom and there are certain liberties taken with the mom that wouldn't be taken with another adult. I know this because they behave splendidly in kid's church, ecfe and gym class, all with other teachers. But I'm the mom, so I am also the fall girl. I get it, but I also don't put up with much if we're in "school time" because that perfectionism is debilitating no matter who the teacher.

To calm down from this bar graph crying fit, we watched the male and female cardinals that visit our feeder each day, and then we saw the pileated woodpecker that comes once in a while and then three blue jays. I told Ivar we should graph the birds that visit our feeder. He loved this idea and came back to his normal self so I could talk to him about trying his best, but not being perfect. We had a great conversation about what it means to learn and not do things exactly right the first time. We talked a lot about Rory and how so much of what he does is trying and trying again until he solves the computer code. Ivar cheered up and we had a great rest of our morning. In those moments, I am so glad I am right there to redirect him, help him move on and continue with his lesson. I'm glad I am his teacher.

This up and down in moods and confidence is a pretty typical ebb and flow for us.

So far, my very favorite part of home schooling the kids has been the actual teaching. I really like introducing a lesson, making up math games, reading books and dreaming up coordinating projects and bringing up what we're learning all throughout the day.

There are definitely sacrifices and challenges and absolute bonuses to home schooling. I love that I don't have to wake anyone up in the morning and hustle and bustle us all out the door. I cannot imagine adding that stress to the very first part of our day. So for me, that is a huge advantage in running a peaceful and happy home. The disadvantage, of course, is that the kids never leave! Ha! All Christmas I heard the lyric, 'and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again' and I'd think, "sheesh, no kidding." I was ready to send my kids away too! But then that first day "back to school" came and we had a normal morning at home, ate breakfast with Rory before he began his work day and then took an hour to clean their room before school started at 10. The pace of that calm morning reminded me that there are definite trade-offs.

And being responsible for breakfast LUNCH and dinner each day isn't my favorite part either. We are in the kitchen making meals three times a day every single day. I have thought about packing lunch boxes at breakfast that we would eat at lunchtime, just so that I wouldn't have to get out all the lunch supplies so quickly after breakfast. So far I've never been that organized, but I like the thought.

So these are my thoughts on home schooling our kids, half a year in. I just decided to write a second post on the particulars of what we're learning and what's working for us. I imagine there will be lots of ups and down to come, but I'm grateful we are going this route with our kids.

an older mother

We are already sixteen weeks along in this pregnancy and I had my first doctor's visit this week. It was a wonderful appointment and we heard the heartbeat nice and strong. I wonder if there is a better feeling in the world than the moment they find that little gallop in your belly? It is such a happy joy.

And then the baby gave me a few jabs for the very first time! A sensation that never gets old. It was during these little kicks that the doctor pointed my attention to a brochure in the back of my pregnancy binder. She kindly said, "now this will be new to you, but you are now considered a geriatric mother." (record player screeches to a stop.)

"Geriatric Mother? That's a thing?!!" I said. "I just watched Bridget Jones' Baby and laughed at that writing when her doctor told her she as a geriatric mother...but that's the real term?!! Geriatric?!!" I kept laughing as my doctor walked me through the brochure. (Which I am now realizing I paid no attention to. I'll go dig that brochure out next...)

Now I know I'm 35. And I know I'll be 36 when baby is born. But can we not come up with a more fitting name? Because I have worked in geriatric care for years and loved it. But I don't need a clothing protector at meals or bathing assistance or my meals pureed.

I think the meeting where it was decided to call 35 year old mothers geriatric had just gone too late and everyone wanted to get home and it was the last thing on the agenda and so they took a quick vote so they could get home to catch Doogie Howser.

Geriatric Mother. Ha!

my favorite gift to give

For three years in a row, I have chosen my top twelve pictures for a beautiful family calendar. The first year I made the calendar just for our family but the grandparents all saw that calendar and loved it so much that I made a mental note for the next year. So the next year, Mimi and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa H and Oma Zina all got their own Grovestead calendar. And then this year I made a second calendar for my mom's 70th birthday filled with pictures of her grandkids. It turned out so adorable that I decided to give this same cousin-filled version to my nieces for Christmas so they would have fun pictures of their cousins hanging in their room all year long.

These are absolutely my favorite gift to give. The pictures are beautiful but mostly the gift is just so personal and reinforce the joy of family.

I order mine through Shutterfly and could not be more pleased. There are all sorts of layouts to choose from, but I always go for the one picture, very clean, no text option. Their program is easy to use and their service was super speedy. You can order your own calendar here and get 40% off until January 4th!

It's now the new year, but you can still order a personal calendar for 2017. Or just tuck this idea away for next year...and consider your next year's christmas shopping for grandparents and nieces and nephews done! And now you can use the next eleven months to take beautiful pictures of your family.

Best of 2016

2016 was a year of crazy world events, but one of the best years for our family right under our own roof. This year had less projects but we were way more involved in our community. We are grateful for a church we love, neighbors we love, dear friends who are local and friends who are far. I expect 2017 will bring some new demands (like a new baby) but I feel ready for it. I feel content in my role as mom and homemaker. I feel content with our life of learning here on our hobby farm. I feel grateful for my husband and the fun and adventure he brings each year to my life (I was just informed we will be milking goats and making goat cheese this year...) So bring it on 2017. I'm up for more family, farm and fun.