It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas Time! 

I love it. It is wonderful, first off, because our Savior came to this earth as a baby!  I also love all of the traditions that we do each year. One of those would be going to a local tree farm and selecting our perfect tree. This year, was warm at home, but the temperature dropped dramatically in the time that we left the house to the time that we arrived. We were under dressed and it was rather chilly. We made quick work of selecting our tree!!

Andrew checking out trees that are just his size!

Emily always loves the little ones!

Daddy cutting!

A little help from Emily!

Andrew getting ready to use a real saw!

The Tree Man!

Santa's Tree Service!

Emily waiting to take the tree in the house. 

She first had to pose on Papa's truck with the tree! Such a little cutie!

The kids decorating the perfect tree!

Sorry, the picture of the finished product turned out weird. I will have to attempt a better one!

How do you decorate for Christmas? Do you do lights outside? Do you have a tree?

Our next little tradition will be driving around looking at all of the Christmas lights!!!

~ A First ~

Sorry for the lack of posts. Life has been crazy, but here I am again! Well, that isn't a first!!!

A First

It is so hard to believe that our Andrew is growing up! We are so proud of him. We were able to share Andrew's first field trip with him. Daddy was able to get the day off of work. We surprised Andrew and didn't tell him until the morning of that Daddy was coming. My Mom kindly watched Emily for us. It was a threesome. The first time since we have been a family of four! It was lots of fun!

A Happy Threesome in our little boat! I love Andrew's face here!

Brig Niagara

These are the bags that the crew keeps their belongings in.

This is where the crew sleeps. They hang hammocks at their specified number. There wasn't room for everyone to sleep at one time. They have to sleep in shifts.

Who knows what this is? It is in the floor of the ship!!!

Andrew talking about the ship!

It was a really nice field trip.

DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP.

WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY, AND THEY ARE OURS!

~ Zoo Scavenger Hunt ~

I love teaching Andrew at home. It really allows you to go explore and learn in different ways. Granted, we would not do this everyday!! Monday was a beautiful day. It really was perfect. I thought it would be a good day for us to visit the zoo. We have a membership. So, the visit was free! Perfect! I put together a little scavenger hunt for the kids. Emily circled or crossed off the animals as we found them. Andrew had to take the picture and put it at the top of his paper. He had to write the name, what continent they live on, count how many and write the number and what they eat!

We started by having a picnic lunch with Nana and a surprise guest (Daddy)!!! 

Enjoying  a little lunch!

The Agur Leopard

Andrew working on his Paper!

Nana and Emily

Did you know that these guys can live to be 100 years old?

A cute little Fella' hanging out. He was running all over by our feet! I think he is really cute.

We arrived at the Polar Bear only to see this in the door way. Look at how HUGE that paw is. Did you know that a polar bear's fur isn't white? Each hair is a clear hollow tube. The sun reflects off of it and helps to keep them warm. 

I had Andrew sit down and work on his little report. We figured we would come back later to see if he was up from his nap! We didn't have to wait too long!

He finally showed us his sleepy face!

Signs that fall is here!

Nap Time!

So very Tall

Pumping water

Jumping to get music!

Emily the little Veterinarian.

Taking Care of her animals!

We had  a wonderful time. They didn't finish their scavenger hunt because part of the zoo was closed. We will have to visit again soon to finish it up!

~ Rewind ~

So, I am going to rewind our reel of life to about 4 weeks ago!!!! Previously, I mentioned that my Husband's Parents are missionaries in Africa ( posts: July 16th and 19th). They were here visiting us. It was such a special time. I had a wonderful time getting to know my in-laws. Since they live over seas, I don't know them very well. I really appreciate them and all that they do. We were able to spend one last week with them. The last day that they were here, Jeremy had the day off from work. I thought it would be nice to go for a hike and enjoy the local woods/creek.

Grandma and Grandpa Kropf

Two Cute Kids hiding in the trees!

We found a few of these guys hiding out!

Daddy, Grandpa and Andrew making a Dam.

Mom helping out!

The kids splashing!

Ok..they were already wet! Why not swim a little?!?

It was so fun! It took me back into my childhood. I have such good memories of swimming in creeks! I'm so glad that we can make memories like this with each other!!!

Do you have fond memories of times like these?

~ Update ~

As of today, Andrew is half way through his Kindergarten Phonics!!! Not too bad for only being in school  11 days!!! He is doing so well. He has read two of his Basic Reader books. He still LOVES school!!! Some days, he asks to do subjects that we don't have to!!! We have been keeping very busy. I think that things will slow down a bit once we are into things that are challenging!!! He is  now working on addition in Math. He is catching on very well. Today, Emily did some of the literature with us! She did the color yellow, worked on cutting, and did some other fine motor work! We are still loving school. Our days are super busy and this Mom is ready for bed! So, I will say "Good Night", but I just wanted to give you a quick update!!

~ A Few Pictures ~

Emily all set for her first Swim Lesson!!!

Beautiful Sunset at Chautauqua Lake while out on Papa and Nana's boat Sunday Evening!

Captain Andrew, or as he told his Papa, he is his sidekick!!!

Nana and the Grandkids having something to eat in the Family Ships Restaurant!

Part of Andrew's school work that he completed yesterday! We are so proud of him. He is doing such a great job.

Hard at work! He is so diligent!

Emily working with shapes while Andrew is doing his school work. She literally played with these for at least 2 hours. She was so good!

More pictures will be coming eventually!!!

~ Fun Times ~

I love our time that we can go and have fun!!! Andrew had Mighty Mites (A gym class where they learn/play sports). So, Emily and I had some time to swim in the pool and play together!! Andrew had a blast in his class. He got to play soccer with 8 other kids! He talked about it for a long time!!! He LOVED it!!! Emily and I played tag and swam forever! We had errands to run after that. Then, I was at the church for a cleaning night. I am ready for bed, but I hope to post up some pictures soon! Trust that all of you are doing well!!!

~ A Monday and another Day of School ~

Yesterday, Andrew and Daddy had the day off. I thought it would be fun to visit an old family spot. We use to go to the Chautauqua Gorge often. So, we set off with Nana, Papa, Uncle Kirk and our family. The kids found some holes to swim in. Waterfalls to splash in. Then, Uncle Kirk found a rock to break his leg on. Dad, Emily and I hiked back the other way through the Gorge to get the vehicles to pick up Kirk and the family. Meanwhile, Jeremy Piggy backed Kirk out to a dirt road. We finally got everyone and headed back to Mom and Dad's for hot dogs and simple food. ( We had backpacked all of the food into the Gorge with us. We figured we would have a nice fire and cook dinner down there!) All in all it was a nice day, it could have had a much better ending, but we are just thankful that it wasn't anything more serious. We'll have to give it a try another time.

Onto School- Andrew did another Great Job at school. Last week he had some testing, and he did OUTSTANDING!!!! We are so proud of him and thankful for the wonderful mind that God has given him.

Andrew started swimming lessons for the first time today. He graduated and has moved onto the next class!!! Emily and I enjoyed some time together and played tag and swam while Andrew had class!!! We spent two hours in the pool. I was very thankful for my dry clothes!

We have a busy week ahead, but are trusting it to be fantastic.


What do you have going on in your life??? Anything exciting or new?

~ 1st Week of School ~

Andrew has been such a good student!!! He has done so much work this week. Especially, if we consider the grade that he is in!!! I should take a picture of everything that he did today for school. Just a little of school yesterday! He did assessment testing for about 2 hours. Then, we had to still do his other school work. Part of this consisted of him naming the 7 Continents and what each was known for. It was no small task. In the end, he was able to do it. He had to do an assessment at the end of the lesson to show that he knew them. He did GREAT!!! He has a three day weekend here. We plan to get both of the kids enrolled in swimming lessons! They both are really looking forward to it! I am as well. It will be nice to have something else to do with them being that the weather will be cooling down shortly. Sorry that these last few posts have been lacking in the picture department, but HEY!! at least I am updating!!!

Have a wonderful Labor Day!!!

~ Day 3 ~

Andrew did Awesome at school today! He didn't have as many subjects to do today, but he still needed his hours. So, we did extra in Math and Phonics.
Our long awaited phone call came today. We finally got to talk to his teacher!!! She said that I can just give him the quizzes, and we can get him moving along. She wants to get him into 1st Grade work as soon as possible!!!
Tonight, I am spending my time looking through lessons and seeing where we will pick up!! It is such good news, and we do feel that this is what we need to do!!!

How is school going for your family?

~ Second Day of School ~

Today was a little bit longer. Only because we had two meetings. Do not get me wrong meetings are necessary, but.....Wish that there was a suggestion box!!! I really DIDN'T need to sit through an introduction of EVERY teacher for EVERY grade. My teacher and my grade would have been sufficient! Oh did I mention all of the other staff as well...poor Andrew had to sit through this one with me....He got bored...I did too...LOL So, I told him to go ahead and work on some of his school work.This one alone lasted over an hour.

Suggestion #1- Have a different Assembly for each grade!!!
Suggestion #2- Make sure that all of the teachers are able to access their camera...Poor Andrew was so bummed that he didn't get to listen to his teacher. (Mind you, this is Kindergarten. Of course his teacher was to be one of the first!)


We moved along in our work quite quickly. I was very happy with our progress today.

Then came my second meeting. This one was for me for testing that Andrew has on Thursday. I sat through over another hour meeting. Only to find out in the end that there is a chance that Andrew will NOT have to take this test...WHAT???? So, my question would be: Why wouldn't you have a list of those that do not have to take the test and send that list out so that we didn't have to waste our precious time?!?


Shewwww ok..sorry for the venting there.....it really was a good day. We did Math, Language Arts, Phonics Science and Music. It went really well.

We had a surprise phone call this morning from Nana...she wasn't working today and wanted to come spend some time with Emily. It was a blessing for us all. They went for a walk and painted rocks!!!
Once Nana left, Andrew and I finished up with Science. Then, Emily joined us for music.

The music curriculum is rather corny, but I know that the kids will get a lot from it. They  had a lot of laughs as I decided to be silly with the video!!! It was a nice way to end our long day!!! Now I think that we will head outside and get some fresh air.

How is school going for your kids?

~ A New Chapter ~

Day 1

It's hard to believe that our little boy could possibly be going to school this year. People say that their kids grow up way too fast. I am here to attest to that. It feels like yesterday he was born and now he is growing up to be our little man.
We are trusting and praying that God will be with Him as he begins this new chapter of his life. I am praying for much grace and wisdom as I help along in this chapter called "School"! I am so excited to be working with him through this phase of his life. I love watching kids as they grow and accomplish new things. I know that this will be true of Andrew. It is going to be a time of growing!!! Of course, we know there will be those days that we just feel like we have had enough, but God will give us the grace!!! We will be working through a charter school based in PA. It is called Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School. Andrew has an actual teacher that he will do work with once in awhile. The teacher will be there if we have questions, etc. I am the one that has to coach him along in his studies. There are times that he does work on his own. Other times, I am there working along side him!
Today was so fun! We did a lot, but there were never complaints of being bored!

 Our cute Little Guy Ready for School!

 Working diligently on his Math.

History Class

Another view of our classroom!

Working so hard. He did such a great job today.

Some of you may be wondering, What will Emily do?

I have some work books if she decides to drop by!!! She was in the class for a bit today. She was very upset when I didn't have more work for her to do. Eventually,  we will have to work on some things for her.

I don't want her to feel that she HAS to be in school just yet. So, she played some today, and joined us for a couple of Andrew's classes!!!

I couldn't have her feeling left out! So, she is ready for whatever it is she will do!!!

My two silly kids!! LOL

Working in her little corner of the classroom!

Out in the Living room working on her "laptop"!!! She really was a very good little girl.

I have a couple more papers for her to do tomorrow!

Hope that you enjoyed these few pictures of our day!