Posted in Kiddos
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This morning After the church services we headed out to Mac' ers for lunch with the Brien’s and Burnet’s- whose daughters are also in choir. It was a nice afternoon of chatting & laughing! We had had company over for dinner the night before so we enjoyed a relaxing evening at home and went to bed early. |
Posted in Kiddos
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Tonight was very special night. Dylan & I set the table- tablecloth, candle, fancy glasses , framed picture of
Dylan & I had cooked all of I called the kids upstairs to eat dinner… in the front room there were 3 chairs- Paul sat in one with his Kingly (a quick duck into Burger King) crown on, I was on the other side wearing my crown & the middle chair had a princess hat in it waiting for our princess to arrive. The boys sat across as our audience.
We placed the princess hat on Addi’s head and Paul read us all the story The Princess and the Kiss.
Paul then said a blessing on
A cross- to remind her that Jesus is the greatest gift ever given. A heart- to remind you that if Christ is the center of your heart, you will have a sincere desire to be pure for him. A “P”- for purity & to remind her she is God's princess The kiss- to remind her she only has one first kiss- to be wise and save it for the man she will marry. It also represents her purity a gift to be opened when she marries. The chain- Proverbs 1:7-9. …for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head , and chains about thy neck.” The prayer box- to show her she is surrounded by prayer.
After that we (all four of us) surrounded Addison like a box- we all held hands and prayed for her- it was really a special time with the boys taking part in praying for their sister and al of us pledging to be there to help her, guide her and pray for her as she grows. Next it was time to sit at the table and serve our special dinner— It was a wonderful study to go through with
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Posted in Kiddos
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Devon is starting his second summer hire job at the Embassy this morning. This time he is working 40 hours per week for five weeks! It is nice down here in AU with two summer hires per year. The summer hire programs are for kids 16 and older - the first time Devon worked it was the AU summer when a lot of the kids here were off of school - so they had to divide the work by a lot of people interested. This time they are offering work for the northern hemisphere summer, for those kids that are in colleges back home. Since we homeschool, Devon is able to take advantage of the second hire season and score some more work experience!
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Posted in Kiddos
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All of the groups at CYM performed today at ANU’s Llewellyn Hall. It was a lovely afternoon of music. We were there for nearly 4 hours! That’s a lot of songs! All of the groups did a wonderful job and it was exciting to hear the progress from our first all CYM concert during term one. I, of course, really enjoyed Junior Strings, Concert Band, James McCusker Orchestra and the Cantabile choir. |
Posted in Kiddos
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Well, yesterday was They are offering their babysitting services in our home for 4 hours each month to the homeschool moms in our group. They like to give the moms of "littles" a few hours to run around and do what they need to, or to enjoy a chat, cuppa, leg waxing or haircut~ whatever it is that's easier to do sans children. ....
It was a "full on" 4 hour session. I was impressed with how efficiently they ran the day and the things they came up with to occupy the time. The schedule for this month was: 10:00- 10:30 arrive and play board games ( checkers, Chinese checkers, sorry, pick up sticks, slap jack, a puzzle and jacks were all being enjoyed) 10:30-11:00 Obstacle course ( the boys had each team, run with a balloon, jump down the hill into hula hoops while bouncing the balloon, hop along a jump rope with the balloon between their knees, crab walk with the balloon under their neck, go around a cone 3 times and pass the balloon off to the next person on their team) 11:00-11:30 Scavenger hunt( each person picked a colored pencil and then the two teams went opposite directions around the golf course drawing at least 5 things that were the color they chose) 11:30-12:00 Lunch ( wash up and lunch time) 12:00-12:30 Outside games (hop scotch, jump rope, tag, hula hoop and popsicles) 12:30-1:00 Veggie Tales movie Larry Boy and The Bad Apple 1:00-1:30 Drawing- ( fun drawing lessons of a happy dog and a monkey) 1:30-2:00 Outside organized games (four square, poor kitty wants a corner, kick ball) The boys are thinking about next months schedule already! Here are a few pictures of today. See you next month.
A game of Sorry Checkers anyone? Chinese checkers Working on a puzzle cars and planes Dev teaching the little ones how to play Slap Jack Hum... where to move? "Go- Go- Go" was the chant during the obstacle course relay watching their team mate on the course hopping along the rope with the ballon between the knees crab walk with balloon under the chin lunch break- the watermelon was a hit! chatting at lunch time ~ see you next month
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Posted in Kiddos
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Come on by and let Devon teach you.
Devon went to his instructor course and is going to be teaching sailing this summer at the YMCA SC. He is so excited! Here is part of the blurb that was put out to the club : “The third newest member to our Training team is Devon a lot of you should know Devon from the youth squad, one of last years trainees who has really got stuck into the world of sailing and even got himself the trainee of the year award last season! I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you guys to the team; you are top blokes and know that you will be great assets to our team!”
That means we won't be heading out of town much this summer since he will be busy on the lake. We can save our trips for the fall when everyone else is back in school. |
Posted in Kiddos
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They have yummy pancakes
Devon thought since he was 16 this morning- he might as well give the ‘ol arm wrestle with Dad a go. He’s a year older but the results were the same. After breaky we hit the bowling ally for some family fun. We bowled 2 games. It was a fun time. Of course, with all the “GO Devs” "SCORES" “Come on Addis” “YES! DYLs” “TOUCHDOWNS” being hollered, high fives being given as well as the Saturday Night Fever dance moves being performed.... out on the lane...after gutter balls... by some insane lady who was having entirely too much fun, How could you not laugh??
Who me? That face darling! 2 whacky guys! So scary darling!
Love those eyes! All 3 posers! A bowling lesson
As you can see the kids join in the craziness. Yes, they do let us out in public- scary isn’t it
After this we drove out to Tidbinbilla for a play & saw all the baby roos all over ( & Dev got to drive there and back~ score! His first drive in traffic),
We finished up the day by taking the boys over to the model store they like to add the finishing touches on their LOTR war hammer guys, coming home, eating dinner and cake while Dev opened his presents.
they look so normal .............. or not!
He had a full fun day! 16~ WOW!
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Posted in Kiddos
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I took Devon to pick up his drivers license "L" today. This evening we went for his first behind the wheel lesson. He did very well. We drove down a street on the side of the golf course- just out back. It's not a much used road. Great for practice! He did really well- backed up, went through a round about and parked the car into the garage when we were finished. Without it ending up like the above cartoon.
Wasn't it just yesterday that he was learning how to drive this bad boy?? Where did the time go? BTW~ That was Miss Haley G. along for a ride.... long long ago in a place far far from here |
Posted in Kiddos
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Tuesday morning I received a phone call from the office manager at CYM; she was not feeling well and needed some extra help preparing for the 180 kids we would serve dinner to during the music workshop. I was meant to arrive at 4:30 in the first place. We went at 2:00 instead. If I had to go early, the kids had to come along with me. I wouldn’t have time to run back for them later and it was a workshop for Dylan. So we all arrived at 2:00 and the kids were as ready as I to jump in and help. Devon was in charge of cooking the 12 pkgs. of pasta (on a hot pad as there is no stove at the center) while Jill and I ran to the grocery store. Once we returned from the store they all went to work- carrying in groceries, unloading everything, washing all the fruits and veggies, Dylan made up a salad of 8 heads of lettuce, Devon stayed on top of the dirty dishes, Addison helped to do whatever she could, the tasks were varied and many … they worked “full on” (nonstop) until 4:15 when the other ladies arrived and the visiting group of musicians. The kids then went out to the court yard to socialize with them. I know I have good kids. I wouldn’t expect them to not help, it was funny to hear others talk about how much they did though, without being told. They just jumped in and did whatever needed to be done, laying all of the ground work for the rest of the meal to be finished. Then, on Thursday we went to a picnic at the park with a homeschool group. When it was time to pack up and head out (at 2:00 when we had to leave), Devon came over and folded the picnic blanket, put the chairs in their carry bags, and got everything else packed back up and ready to go. I was standing near by gabbing away until the last minute. Again, I wouldn’t expect Devon to not do what he did. But some of the other moms were just amazed that he did so without being told, and got everything ready. It dawned on me as the others were talking… that I am blessed that the kids are as big of helpers as they are. That they are willing and able to do whatever needs to be done without any arguments. Thursday afternoon after the park I was hit with a flu bug. On Friday morning when I came out to the kitchen at 6:30 (much later than normal) Dylan had already made Paul’s lunch and got breakfast ready as well- he had it sitting on the counter. What a blessing, I was able to go lay back down! I remember how hard it was when they were little to try to be consistent in their training and discipline. It was HARD, and a lot of work to stay on top of them when they were younger….. Do you know what? It has huge payoffs now that they are older! I am glad that it was brought to my attention this week what helpers they are. I don’t want to take them for granted. I do appreciate their willingness to obey and help. They are delightful to be around and I enjoy my kids so very much. Sometimes it takes someone looking in to remind us how blessed we are.
But … shouldn’t it be the norm for kids to grow up knowing they need to help with things, knowing things don’t magically happen, having concern for others workloads, being compassionate, knowing that many hands make light work and working to the best of their ability? |
Posted in Kiddos
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Tonight we went to a sit down dinner with about 280 other people to enjoy an evening of music. What a fun evening it was! It was a bonus when we were sat with another HS family and had the chance to catch up with them some throughout the evening! The evenings lineup was: CYM Big Band, CYM Concert Band, CYM Wind Symphony followed by the Combined Bands performance.
It was a nice venue, the dinner was good, the company was delightful and the music was superb! They performed wonderfully. Here is a link to a few short video clips of three different songs. Dylan had a good time playing in the CB and combined band. Take a listen to the quick video clips and enjoy! http://www.dropshots.com/luptonfamily (click on the "view all 3" for Friday September 15.
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