Blue Belt

Saturday Matthew tested for his blue belt. He along with two other kids kicked, punched and broke boards to prove they where worthy of earning the next color belt. Congratulations to our little Karate kid!

Fun Friday!

I had the camera out the other day and thought I would share the silliness that Matthew initiates around here.

I love his face in this picture.

All I can think of when I see this pictures is FAME! Remember that show?!
Happy Friday!

Homeschool Co-op Family Night

We have completed our 1st year together as the Arise Homeschool Co-op. What a fun year! We celebrated by having a family night. The students performed or recited something that they studied and learned from our year together. Even the Prek participated by singing (complete with hand motions) The Cool Bear Hunt song. This was by far one of their favorite things to do throughout the year. Each family had a table which displayed work they had done throughout the year. Our night ended with cake and a lovely slide show of pictures from our times together including all of the fun field trips we participated in together. We are looking forward to next year which by the way is already in the planning stages. Our work is never done.

Gabby and some of her art work

Alex & Matthew with their PreK class singing The Cool Bear Hunt
Gabby during the 1st - 3rd grade presentations about countries around the world

Greg and the boys
The Dads were challenged by the 1st - 3rd grade class to an art game. The had to identify the artist and the name of the painting. The kids won.
The Children of our homeschooling co-op.

It was such a wonderful time. We enjoyed our Tuesdays learning and having fun with these wonderful families. We have been blessed with such a great group.

Winston!

We would like to introduce you to our new family member Winston...

Hi my name is Winston. I am a five year old English Setter. I was rescued from a kill shelter in TN by Ms. Anna from Susanna's SafeHaven Rescue. Ms. Anna and her family have been taken care of me while I waited for my FURever home. My new family found me on Petfinder and emailed Ms. Anna about me. They said I was the ideal dog for them. They hoped Ms. Anna would be willing to let me be adopted out of state. She agreed and they started the application process. During this time I got sick, but Ms. Anna nursed me back to health. She took me to the vet, gave me my medicine and fed me so well. I got better and then started to prepare for my journey to FL. I said goodbye to my foster Mama in TN on Tuesday (4/20) evening and arrived in FL by transport, on Wednesday (4/21) evening. I met my FURever family for the first time in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel. Wow, what a journey!



We arrived to my new home late but I was able to check out the whole house. The boys beds looked comfy but they had a crate all set up for me. The three little ones bought me a stuffed toy to play with and they made me Welcome Home signs. My new Mama read them to me. I slept soundly in my crate and was awakened the next morning by two of the littles. They were just as anxious to get me out that I was to get out and check out my new home again.



I had a good day today. They ate breakfast and then two of the littles played the piano for me. I had to show them that I could play too, so I jumped up and played a little jig, which I then was quickly and politely asked to step down. I guess music is not my thing. Then they did there learning (Mama calls it school). We then went for a tour around the neighborhood. I had a fun time walking around with my new family. I will say even at 10am it was HOT! I need to remember to have them take me out earlier in the day. It has been nice to have everyone hugging and petting me. I have enjoyed getting to know my new family. I think I will keep them!



I am getting tired now. I am off to my crate. I hope to blog again soon. This was a lot of fun. I would like to say a special thank you and I miss you very much to my foster Mom, Ms. Anna. You are my life saver. I appreciate you taking care of me and loving me so. I think my new family is going to be great so you don't need to worry. -Winston

Light Graffiti by Mikey & Sam

Here are some pictures taken by my nephew Mikey and his girlfriend Sam with her Nikon. Great work guys!

Light Graffiti

My nephew Mikey (the oldest of the 8 grands) and his girlfriend Sam wanted to know how they could capture light like shown above with her new Nikon. So we waited til dark, got a flashlight, slowed down the shutter speed and started clicking with our cameras. This was by far my favorite shot. The next night Mikey and Sam got different colored glow sticks and were able to capture some really cool shots with her camera. I enjoyed learning something new and creating some funky images. Thanks Mikey and Sam!

Spring Break and Easter!

We spent our spring break in SW FL with my family. We arrived Sunday evening and Monday morning Alex awoke with a fever. Tuesday we took him to the pediatrician (who was actually my Dr. growing up) and discovered he had a nasty cold and an ear infection. He was put on antibiotics. We spent a lot of time in doors resting. Good Friday we were due to come home but Alex seemed worse. On top of that Matthew started coming down with the same symptoms. I was squeezed in at the pediatricians office where they gave Alex an antibiotic shot and checked Matthew over. We decided to extend our stay til Tuesday since Greg would be traveling on Monday and Tuesday within south FL.

It was a good time with family but dealing with two sick ones and being up almost every night with one or both took a toll on everyone. Needless to say we were all exhausted. We are getting back into the swing of things and the boys are doing much better. We need to schedule an appointment with our pediatrician to make sure Alex's ear infection has cleared.

I am sharing some pictures from our time down south. You will notice that the boys are not present in the majority of the pictures for obvious reasons. We were unable to get a big group family portrait this time too. The last one we took was when Nathan was still in Mellany's belly. As you will see he is a big boy now. So cute and cuddly.

The first picture is of Gabby and Matthew with my Grandmother their Great-Grandmother. All the greats call her little grandma probably because when standing she is about a head taller then Gabby. Her health is declining yet she is in good spirits. She eats well and gets around the house on her own. She does sleep quite a bit but I think that comes with age and all that her body is fighting right now. If you think of her please pray for her and her health. We are so thankful we got to spend time with her on this trip. She enjoyed being around the little ones despite their grumpy demeanors and sickness. Her name is Juana Ramos and she will be 96 years old in May.

Little Grandma with Gabby and Matthew

Cousins Carly and Vinny with Gabby.

Carly, Gabby and the Easter Bunny.

Nathan

I had to post it...too funny.

Nathan and Carly. Too cute!

Gabby and Mama.

Unfortunately 3 of the 8 grandkids were missing.