The Freitags

More changes...

2009-09-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

OK, this post is extremely long. BUT, there is a lot going on!

WE STARTED SCHOOL!!! But not just any school, Acaciawood School. Lukas says, "Not an ordinary school, but the GREAT Acaciawood School!"
We are adjusting, slowly, but none-the-less adjusting, to our new schedule. Actually, to any kind of schedule. AWS is a far cry from our relaxed days of homeschooling. School has been in session for two weeks. Tue and Thur mornings at 7:30 Drue has PE. The other mornings the bell rings at 8:25am. We only live about 5 min from the school and that has helped.
Starting from the youngest.
Launa is attending "Eagle's Nest". A Preschool - Kindergarten for the kids of those serving. She is in the Pre-K program and loves it once she gets over the initial separation from Mom each morning. Today we spent some special time together for lunch and remainder of the afternoon. She loved that and I hope will help with next week. She says the days are too long and she has to take a nap. Those are her only two complaints. She is learning her numbers and doing very well. She has made a very good friend, Olivia (emphasis on the "O" because her name starts with an O.) and they embrace each time they meet. She also received an invite to a bday celebration of another friend. I do believe she will be fine!
Samuel has started Kindgergarten at Eagle's Nest. His first day was very rough (we will leave it at that) but on his second day received a "Star Student" award and has had many compliments on his behavior since. He had been homeschooling in first grade since May, so academically he is not learning much, but he is getting very educated in being around people all day! His Chinese teacher (yes, he is learning Chinese) says he is a natural. She said he doesn't even have an accent, he speaks it just like the Chinese. She spoke to him in Chinese today in from of me and he answered her in Chinese. I think he said thank you. Maybe we will pursue Chinese a little more. He wears a red collard shirt (tucked in), blue pants and a belt everyday. He looks so cute each morning as he comes out of his room.
Lukas is back in third grade because of his age. This makes our transition into school a little easier. He is in a third/fourth grade combo class. There are only 14 kids in his class. The break up for Math and LA, but do all the other subjects together. He has around an hour of homework each night. He is very diligent to get it done. On the weekends (we have now had two) he completes his homework on Friday afternoon so that he does not forget. He wears a green collard shirt with a logo tucked in, khaki pants with a belt and black dress shoes.
Drue is in seventh grade. This is a very hard year to begin at AWS. She has about 3 hours of homework each night and sometimes more. She begs us to go to bed! She has to do a science fair project and a National History Day project by Dec. She is in Pre-Algebra and has the other normal classes. This is her first experience with a locker, uniforms, and changing classes. She is adjusting well. Her only complaint...the uniform. She has to wear the green collared shirt tucked in, a belt and a khaki skirt-at her waist-and to her calf. The two places she does not like her clothes to go. This is a good training for her. She also wears knee highs and dress shoes. She looks great though.
Now for me. I also am at AWS most of the day. I am helping in the Elem. section. I tutor a 5th grader in math, spelling in first grade, phonics in second grade, PE for first and second grade, teach a 4th grade LA class and then help out wherever needed. I will also be having lunch with Launa's class two days a week. They did clear my schedule to attend the Middle Aged Training two days a week. I attended the Word of God class on Wed. afternoon. Wow, I am going to enjoy that class. I did not make the class today as I was spending special time with Launa.
Now, the best thing about AWS. We know everyone there. While here this summer we met many of the families that attend. Therefore, all the kids already had friends before school started. And just yesterday one of the teachers and I prayed together during our break. How glorious is that! A much different environment than I have ever worked in. It actually is not a work. It is so refreshing to be there all day amongst so many brothers and sisters in Christ. They start off staff meetings with much calling on the Lord and prayer, just washing ourselves from the day and turning our whole being back to the Lord. Even if we are here just a year, the time we spend at AWS will change our lives forever. Our children will have companions that can carry them through the rest of their lives. 2Tim 2:22 But flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

A Few Changes...

2009-09-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

The Moving Truck with the boys inside.

The Van with the girls inside.

First of all, our family has moved. As mentioned in the previous post, we spent the summer in California so Lance could work on Building 8. Well, after much prayer and fellowship we moved to Fullerton, California. Fullerton is a neighboring city of Anaheim. We went back to Arizona for two weeks to gather our belongings and get the business in order for our office manager and technician to run, then set out for Southern California. The packing took nearly the whole two weeks with two active days of packing the truck. At the end, we were just tossing stuff in the back not really sure if it would endure the trip. Everything made it in one piece, but did not fit into the new place. Hallelujah for an opportunity to get rid of many things. Now, if we just don't accumulate more things the next move will be easier. Yes, there will be a next move! Building 8 should be finished in a year or so and then we are off to a different place. Where the Lord will lead, we are not sure. We just desire to be those "who follow the Lamb wherever He may go". Rev. 14:4

Fun at the Science Center

2009-07-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

Well, to get you updated... Our family is spending the summer in Anaheim, CA. Lance is here working on an International Training Center and they were great enough to house and feed us all for the summer. We arrived on June 29 for the semi-annual training which was on "The Gospel of God" and was awesome. After the training we took a two day trip to Thousand Oaks, CA to visit some great friends from Phoenix and went to Ventura Beach. We then arrived in Anaheim to begin working. We stayed for a week and then back to Phoenix to meet up with my family for five days. After dropping them off at the aiport we drove back out to CA. We are planning on leaving August 6. Lance is working from 8-5 Mon thru Fri. The kids and I school in the morning, meet him at 12 for lunch, then we go "out" until 5pm dinner. For the first week we went to the library every afternoon for four hours. We did not have a card, so the kids just read while we were there. They love going to the library. I then discovered a summer pass to the Science Museum in Santa Ana which we just love. Now we alternate between the library and the museum. I still need to take them back to the beach and we discovered the metro train this past weekend. I also promised them a ride on that. We may combine the two if its not too costly.

Anyway, here are some pics from the Science Center. I took them all in the first day so I don't have to think about taking pictures everytime we go. I like to sit in one area and read while the younger ones play and the older ones explore the museum. You can click on the picture to see them all.

Sorry if this is patchy. I am trying to get it done before something else comes up and the kids are alternating coming in and out asking me random questions that could totally wait until I am not typing! Like, "Where are the Q-Tips?" "Can I paint?" "I just need to go in my room to get one thing." "Launa is in here stepping on my papers again." "Do you remember....?"

OK, a little silence. A little detail on the science center, little being the key word...They have a robots exhibit, Smoky Bear exhibit, Hockey Exhibit plus all the regulars. We spend a day on a different section until we cover it all. Then we dwaddle in our favorites.

Firefighter Museum

2009-07-19T21:50:00.001-07:00

This past week my family (minus Stephen) came out the AZ for a visit. Due to the outdoor temperatures (ex: 115), we did some indoor activities during the day and swam in the evenings. One of our adventures was the Firefighters Hall of Flame in Phoenix. We have intended to go for the last few years but never made it. They have a special story time for groups of 10 or more. Since we met the requirement, we decided to go that route. It was nice. A firefighter read a story to the kids and went over some safety matters, he toured us through the museum and then showed a movie. The songs really stuck with the kids and we had to listen to them sing the songs until we left. Never can get too much Little Richard (well actually we could). We took tons of pictures and you can see some of them by clicking on the photo above. I mainly posted the ones with my kids. My brother, Stash, his wife, Krys, and their two kids, Sydney and Seth were with us. Also along was Drue's friend Cassia. She has made it in a couple of our blogs! We love you Cassia as one of ours.

I'm Back

2009-07-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Photo taken July 2009

Well, I have taken quite a break. Not intentionally, just been busy and haven't made time to blog. We are spending the summer in Anaheim, CA and I seem to have a little more time to get on the computer. Although, I do have a first grader on my right that needs attention at times!

I will blog about my summer and try to recap the last six months. I can hardly believe it has been that long. Posts will most likely not be in order of happenings, but in order of pictures uploaded.

Drue is 12

2009-07-17T10:18:00.001-07:00

One more year and we have a teenager in our house. She won't let us forget that. On May 23rd our oldest turned 12. We celebrated once with lunch with her best friend Cassia at Chili's and once with dinner with Papa and Bro. Roger at Olive Garden. She received a laptop (for school) from her Dad and Papa in Florida.

She just completed sixth grade and is ready for Jr. High. It is so hard to believe she is that old. She is becoming such a wonderful young lady. She is a great big sister and helps us out more than she knows.

Lukie's Bike

2008-12-31T23:07:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I never blogged Lukie's new bike and outfits. Lance braved the crowds the day after Thanksgiving for Lukas. He had outgrown his bike and needed a new one. We discovered that Wal-Mart had some for $29 and told him he could get one. Well, they were sold out by the time Lance got there and only had this really nice one for $50. Still not a bad deal. He also bought Lukas two new "work-out" suits, which Lukas absolutely loves. We should have bought seven of them. He would wear them everyday. These were his early birthday presents from us.

8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8

2008-12-31T22:40:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: All poses are the sole idea of the persons in the picture.

My Chefs. The boys decided they would make the cake without the help of Drue because she and Cassia did not let them help when it was her birthday.

The finished product. The boys added ingredients and mixed the batter. Mom did the icing. They told me I should work at Sam's Club decorating cakes. Aren't they the sweetest boys!

THE BIRTHDAY BOY very happy that it is his birthday.
My sweet boys.

My "normal" boys. Don't let the first two pictures of them fool you.

Lukie and his Launa. Now these two are tight.

The very "posed" Drue and Lukas.

Lukas, Sam, Daniel and Bro. Roger at Jason's Deli. Papa and Nick also joined us for dinner, but Papa was taking the pictures and Nick was beside him.

Lukas in his shirt from Bro. Roger and knitting with his needles and yarn from Daniel.

Lukas learned to knit just a few days before this with two pencils and a shoe string. I would not buy him needles until he learned how to knit. I thought he was too young. Come to find out, he is too determined. Drue gives him lessons three days a week. He doesn't let her forget. (As a side note, I think Drue was "talking" on Launa's phone. Launa found it very entertaining and I didn't realize that she was in the picture. She will really appreciate this being on the internet in a few more years.)

10 years

2008-12-31T22:31:00.000-08:00

PRAISE THE LORD! This month we celebrated our tenth anniversary. We worked all day, seperately, and then Lance and Lukas went to a friend's house for dinner. We were leaving in two days for Anaheim for a week (I will blog that later) and I had a ton of stuff to get done. However, while we were in Anaheim we went to Lance's favorite Korean restuarant and had some soup that I don't know how to spell, dumplings and lots of kimchi. He spent two months with some Korean brothers last year in Anaheim and this past summer I spent a week with a Korean family. We both grew to love Korean food and especially kimchi. We have yet to find good kimchi here in AZ and although I have been "told" how to make it, I cannot remember what she said and was never told amounts. We bought some extra and took it back to the hotel to enjoy for the rest of the week. (The point being, we did take some time to celebrate, with the kids of course!)

31

2008-12-31T22:13:00.000-08:00

Well, today is my 31st birthday. I almost made it through this year without any birthday attention. Not that I mind being 31, I just don't like all the attention. The older I get, the less I like to be noticed. A huge change from my younger days! Lance is in California, Drue is in Florida and Sam and Launa do not have any concern with dates (except for their birthdays). However, my ever-needing-to-know-what-the-date-is son, Lukas, asked me yesterday, "What is the date today?" I said quickly, Dec. 30. He looked at me quickly and said, "Tomorrow is your birthday. Hey, tomorrow is Mom's birthday!" The secret was out. At least to those of us in the van. Anyway, it is our family tradition to go out to eat at your choice on your birthday. The kids quickly chose Jason's Deli, our new favorite place to eat (they have free ice cream). And, because Wed's are kids eat free night, I consented. No cake or candles, just a nice dinner out with three of my kids. We took these pictures the other night when we were bored. I let each kid use the camera. Launa never figured it out. We let her try at least twenty times. I told her she could try again when she is four. By the way, my Mom called while I was in the shower and all the kids were in the living room. She left a message of her traditional singing Happy Birthday and my Mema also left a message of her traditional singing the last verse of the Happy Birthday song while we were out, so I guess the secret would have been out sooner or later. Lance also called and woke me up this morning with his own rendition of Happy Birthday. I think he made it up on the spot and I don't think he could ever sing it again. It didn't really have a tune. It had some "Happy Birthday to you", "O Lord Amen Hallelujah", and "Praise the Lord". Kind of three songs in one. It was sweet none the less. He said he had just woken up too and wasn't even out of bed yet.

Figuring it out!

2008-12-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

Hey, I am getting the hang of this blogging more and more. I just figured out how to get a nicer background. (Once again from Tiffany's blog.) I should be sleeping, but since I am up, I will update some of our very full December.

Thanks T

2008-11-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

My dear blogging friend, but more importantly friend since 2nd grade (well, I haven't really seen her in almost 10 years, but that doesn't count) helped me to get a "shelfari" book shelf on my site. She has one and I always know what she is reading. What a person reads can allow you know them in a better way. She also gives reviews, maybe I can do that too. In fact, here is my first one:
The older kids and I are reading through the Bible. We started a while back at Genesis 1 and are somewhere in the beginning of Exodus. We do not really have an ending time goal, just want to get through it in a thorough way, trying to retain some of it along the way. We really enjoy it and it is a book I would recommend to everyone.

While trying to put this shelf on my blog I also learned how to add blogs that I read. I don't read a great variety, but am a faithful reader to those that I do read. It is really just a way for me to keep up with some friends from school and some that I have met along the way. I enjoy seeing their kids and how they are growing. I feel as if I am just as much a part of their lives now as I was in high school even though I haven't seen them since I left Florida.

Hiking

2008-11-30T19:30:00.001-08:00

We discovered a cactus shaped like a Y. If you look over Lance's left shoulder you can see it in the distance. If you look at Sam, he is imitating it.

We have found that we really enjoy hiking. So we decided to do a little more of it. We even thought we should do some local hiking in between trips to Sedona. We go to Sedona to visit the state parks and hike at them. Anyway, we took the boys and Launa (Drue was at her friend's house) to Cave Creek, AZ to hike. We were hoping to see bugs, wild animals and some cool rocks. We found a few cool rocks, saw a praying mantis and few dogs. Afterward, we went to a horse riding place to see a teepee. As we approached the teepee we noticed that it was being inhabited by three donkeys. I did not go into the area with the donkeys, but Lance ventured in. The donkeys came out to greet us and I ran for the porch. I am of no help at all in times of danger. Lance and the kids soon followed. Sammie leading that pack. The owner told us that two of the three were friendly. We decided to stay on the porch. The biggest donkey came up to the steps and started making the most annoying "hee-haw, hee-haw" sound. The owner told us that he was hungry and he stopped making the noise as she opened the fridge. Smart donkey. She asked the kids if they wanted to feed the donkey a carrot. Sammie immediately said no, Lukas shook his head no, but Luana said she wanted to. She is so brave. After Lukas saw that Launa could do it he decided he would give it a try. Sammie still was not interested. We also saw miniature horses and regular horses. The kids did get to go inside the teepee after the donkeys went for a hike of their own.

She's Here!!!

2008-11-30T19:14:00.000-08:00

We have been earnestly praying and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Eliana Lily for the past year. Our great friends, the Jengs, told us about their adopting of a daughter in China about a year ago. The day finally arrived and on Nov. 21 they came home. We were there with two other families to greet them at the airport. You can click on Eliana's name above to visit their blog.

Waiting.......

We can see them.......

Here they are!! YEAH!!!! After being gone for 3 weeks and24 hours of flying they are so happy to see everyone. Daniel is their 6 year old son. He and Lukie are best buds. (The one he plays hockey with)

Don't you love how the girls are "petting" Eliana. These two (Launa and Janelle) are also best buds. They had been talking about Eliana coming home for the three weeks they were in China. They are happy to have a new "best friend."

Another Orange Belt

2008-11-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

Our newest Orange Belt

Samuel earned his orange belt in November. He did a great job. He had taken a little break so he is a month behind Lukas in earning belts. It actually works out well. Now Lukas feels like he needs to help his brother and Samuel is more open to taking instruction from Lukas.

Pictures of My Brothers

2008-10-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Kelly asked to see pictures of my brothers and I realized that I did not even take any of them while we were together for our family reunion. A family reunion and no pictures of my family! Imagine that. However, my mom and sister-in-law took care of me and emailed pictures they had taken.

This is our whole family (minus Krys who must have been taking the picture and Launa who must not have wanted to be in the picture).

Adults from left to right: Stash, Mom, Sheri, Lance, Dad, Erica and Stephen

Kids from left to right: Sydney, Seth, Lukas, Drue and Samuel

This is Stash's family when he was headed back to Iraq. This is Stash's family. I wanted to include a good picture of his wife since she skipped out on the first one. For those we went to school with, she used to be Krys Clemons and was, I believe, a year behind us.

Lukas's Tae Kwon Do

2008-10-27T23:16:00.000-07:00

BEFORE
AFTER

Lukas received his orange belt last weekend. Usually he justs tests and receives his belt at the next class. But, twice a year they had a BLACK BELT SPECTACULAR and hold a ceremony with the Grand Master and receive their belts. They have a special team that performs different TKD moves and they break tons of boards and bricks. It was a lot of fun and even better, Lukas is now and orange belt.

Samuel was taking a break from TKD but after this event has decided that he will join in again. He will hopefully test for his orange belt next month. The boys also started sparring this last week and it is too cute. I totally forgot to take pictures this time but will have to get some on here later.

Broken Nose

2008-10-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

REMEMBER:

Our kids love to ice skate

Lance started school in August and only comes out to eat.

Well, one Tuesday Lance's dad said that he wanted to stop by and see the kids around 2pm. Lance told him that we would be at the ice rink. I reminded Lance that I needed to go grocery shopping and this is what I do while the kids skate. He decided to go with us to the rink, see his dad, then go with me to the store (he likes to grocery shop with me) after his dad left the rink. Well, Lukas did not think that Daddy watching him skate would be good enough and begged him to get on the ice. The little ones then thought they also should get on the ice. Lance felt bad about not spending a lot of time with the kids and agreed. Now all of my family is on the ice skating and I meet Lance's dad (Papa) at the door. We both go down by the ice to watch everyone skate. While watching the kids I see someone fly by out of the corner of my eye and then hear a thud. I thought "that is going to hurt". When I turned around I saw Lance laying on the ice. I yelled and he got up and looked at me. I saw blood coming out of his face and ran. I ran to the hockey coach, told him to go help my husband and then they called 911. I stayed in the lobby because I cannot handle seeing things like that. The kids were very interested and stayed with Dad and thought it was really cool when the fire fighters came to "fix" Daddy. I did not get any pictures until a week later because I could not look at him. This pic is just before the stiches were taken out. His eyes did not get any blacker than this. We were surprised.
This is how he looked for two weeks. I think he wore the bandage for so long so that I could look at him when we were talking.

A close up.

He is doing fine now, just has a slightly crooked nose and a scar. We are hoping the scar will lighten with time and don't think his nose will straighten with time. I should have an after picture, but didn't think about it until now. You can hardly even notice when you look at him.

Florida

2008-10-27T22:31:00.000-07:00

In late August our family (the Burke side) had a family gathering in Orlando. My parents, Stash, Krys, Sydney and Seth (my older brother's family), us and Stephen and Erica (my younger bros family) all stayed in a 3 bedroom resort near Downtown Disney. Our family arrived on Monday and the rest were scheduled to arrive on Thursday. Therefore, our family did a little "touristing" for a few days. The above picture is my parents and all the grandchildren. (the giraffe is not real)
Our first "touristy" event was the world's largest McDonalds. (I did not take pics) The kids had a blast, and after the plane ride to Florida it was much needed. Oh, I forgot to mention that due to the high gas prices and low airfare, we flew to Florida this time. Half of the family liked it better, the other half of us preferred driving. We looked like a parade going through the airport. I wanted to take a picture, but couldn't, if you saw us you would understand. See, Lance's legs are taller than Launa and he was the leader. Also, one is allowed two carry ons and each checked luggage cost money. With six people we were allowed twelve carry ons. We took twelve carry-ons. After all, we were there for over a week. We all wore a back pack and rolled a suitcase, with the exception of Launa who only had a backpack filled with baby dolls. Lance carried her extra luggage.
Moving on, our next event was the M&M store in the mall. The kids thought this was the coolest place. Even cooler than the large McDonalds. We put six M&Ms of each color into a bag and went to a table in the middle of the mall and ate them. We each took the same color, counted to three, and then ate it. Lance and I decided that all the colors tasted the same. Drue had a different opinion.

Next, we took the kids to Arabian Nights. This was now their new favorite event. Launa and Samuel were so intrigued(sp?) by the horses they did not even eat their food. When we came back home (to AZ) that was the event they spoke the most about. Samuel even did some sample tricks to show everyone what they were talking about. (He did it on the ground, we do not have a horse)

Now the rest of the family arrived and we began to swim until we all looked like prunes. I do not have any pics of the swimming time. Some people don't like to have "swimsuit" pictures. The pool had three slides and I am surprised the kids did not wear them out. Launa was a crazy person on those slides. She would fly off there so far because she is so light. It was hilarious.

We took all the kids to Downtown Disney one afternoon. The highlight for my kids was the LEGO store. They had been dreaming about this since my mom told them about all the things she had seen there. The picture below is my mom and all the grandkids mixed with LEGO people. The LEGO people were amazing.

That just about sums up our trip. Other than Mema (see earlier post) we did not visit any other family. This trip was especially for my immediate family. Stash had just come back from Iraq for the second time and my mom really wanted all of us to get together. I am so glad that we did. It worked out so well, we may have to do it every year.

Drue's First Skating Competition

2008-10-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Drue has been ice skating since May (minus the summer) and started taking lessons six weeks ago. She quickly moved up to level 3 and entered the skills competition. She had to perform three moves that she learned in her classes. She did a great job and earned second place out of four competitors. Her teacher said she is doing an excellent job and progessing very fast. She will start level 4 in two weeks. Thankfully for me, this competition did not require a special (and very expensive) outfit.

She really does love skating. See next picture.They were taking more professional photos after the competition, but we thought this one turned out just fine.

WHOA!!! It worked. The first time I was able to load a video. Hopefully, it will play. Anyway, this is half of her competition. It only last a minute or so, but she did great.

Two videos! This is the other skills she had to perform. The turn and then the spin. She did one other spin and then skated off.

Mema's

2008-09-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Florida during the last week of August. (I will post on that later) One of those days we spent with Mema. The older two kids spent the night (it was the first time for Lukas to spend the night with Mema) and then the rest of us went over for lunch and a greater part of the day the next day. We spent time looking through a photo album and learning more about our ancestry. We had a great time and hopefully didn't wear Mema out. You can click on the picture for more pictures at Mema's.

Summer

2008-09-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

I will attempt to recap our summer in brief. In June, I visited the Grand Canyon with the young people. Lance stayed home with the kids as I wasn't sure I wanted to have them too close to the canyon. We had fun, but I did not get very many pictures. In July I went to CA for a training on the book of Luke for one week (also by myself) and had a great time. In August I went to Lakeside (up north) for the Summer School of Truth with the young people, once again by myself. Lance had a lot of quality time with the kids this summer.

Lukas and Samuel tested for and received their yellow belts. They are now in the "Black Belt Club" and have new blue uniforms. They are learning more advanced kicks and to use nunchucks.
Launa is growing up so much. She won't stop talking for a minute. She loves to tell stories, most of which are not true or even believable. Drue was gone for the summer to FL and since she has returned has read so many books I cannot even keep track.

Now everyone has begun school. Lance has started online classes with the community college and will be earning his RN. This semester he is taking Biology, Algebra, English 101 and Psychology. We haven't seen much of him since he started. He comes out for meals and occassionaly to stretch. It has been 14 years since he graduated high school and he has no college experience.

Drue started sixth grade with Abeka Academy. She has DVDs that include instruction from teachers at Abeka Academy in FL and then does all her work here at home. It is working out great for her and especially for me. Keep reading and you'll see why.

Lukas started third grade and is still with the AZ Virtual Academy. The majority of his work is online, but directed solely by me. He will begin to work independently in fourth grade.

Samuel has begun kindergarten. He is too young for AZVA and too readt to wait another year. He has started reading and does basic math. He loves "school".

Launa is learning to be quiet while everyone else is doing school. She shows no interest in learning (school or to be quiet). So she gets to play with her babies all day in her room.

I am balancing my time between all four students and trying to keep Launa calm for the sake of the others.

Our Baby is 3!!!

2008-06-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to see all the pics from yesterday.

Launa turned three yesterday. She is very happy to be three. We went to lunch with Papa and dinner at the Lisi's. (The same couple that came over for Sam's birthday.) When we arrived at the Lisi's we were surprised by seeing Cassia (Drue's friend) and her sister Hannah. Our kids had way more fun because they were there.

Launa was most excited about her cake. She had told Sara Lisi that she wanted a chocolate cake with flowers. She talked about it all day. She was very happy with the way it turned out and it tasted delicious.

She spent some of her birthday. She boughta baby doll, stroller, dress and her own brush. She also got the pony that was on her cake.

Sedona

2008-06-18T13:44:00.001-07:00

Click on the picture for more pictures in Sedona.

We took the kids to Sedona a few days before Drue left for the summer. We went on a hike that had been suggested to us. It was beautiful and very shaded. We hiked in the morning to avoid the heat. By the time we left around 11am, it was warming up a lot. The kids enjoyed taking off their shoes and walking in the creek. The water was so cold it hurt my feet and gave me a headache. I walked along the dry rocks while they braved the water. None of them thought it was too cold.

We also spent a lot of time at the pool. Samuel was practicing swimming underwater and did a wonderful job. Lukas learned to swim underwater without holding his nose.

On our way home, we decided to go to the caves where there are heiroglyphs. They were closed. We then went into Cottonwood's Visitor Station and found out that there is Ft. in Verde Valley. Ft. Verde. The kids (and I) were surprised at what the fort looked like. Not at all like the forts we are used to seeing. We had just been to St. Augustine. The ranger was great and gave the kids a lot of info. She then gave them papers to complete that would allow them to become "Jr. Rangers". This made the tour a lot more educational. We learned so many things. After completing the paper, they were sworn in and received buttons and a map of AZ with space for buttons from all the National Parks. Now the kids want to visit all the parks and collect the buttons. We will try to hit as many has we can. It may take us a few years.

Lukas

2008-06-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Lukas is taking Tae Kwon Do. He earned his white belt and last week these two stripes. The stripes are for kicking. He really enjoys it and is doing a great job.
Lukas and Daniel skating in their hockey gear. These boys will be taking hockey lessons starting in July.
Lukas and Anna. Anna just moved here from Florida. She just turned eight and towers over Lukas. They really enjoy each other. We took the kids to Sedona for a hike. I will post more of those pictures in another post.

Drue turned 11!

2008-06-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Around here, you have to cook your own Birthday Lunch.
Trying a little while cooking. Notice how she dropped it in to keep her fingers clean. Cassia and Drue and their masterpiece.
Ice Skating birthday cake.
Drue and Cassia on ice!

We took Drue and Cassia (her friend) to ice skate for Drue's birthday (May 23rd). After all, it was Friday and we would have been there anyway. Drue bought a pair of figure skates with help from her Papa. She will have them sized and molded to her feet after the summer. She will then start figure skating lessons. She is very excited.

St. Augustine

2008-05-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

While in Florida we visited the oldest city in America. The kids had a lot of fun. They especially enjoyed the "shooting of the guns". It was a very windy day and almost cold at times. We had told them that we would take them to the beach afterward. We did, but it was way cold. That didn't stop the older "kids". Drue, Lukas, Lance and Dad all braved the water. Mom and I didn't get past our feet. We then discovered a water area by the playground which was more fun for the little ones. I didn't get any pictures at the beach. You can click on the picture of the kids and see all (the few) pictures I took while in St. Augustine. My mom may have more. (hint, hint)

Ice Skating

2008-05-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

More Pictures Click Below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23659001@N05/sets/72157605092888035/

I took the older kids ice skating on Friday with some of Lukas's friends. They had so much fun and did great. Drue only fell once and has now decided that she wants to take lessons and skate more. Lukas fell a lot but still had a great time. I did not skate because falling even once is not fun. I have been a few times and just cannot get the hang of it.

I took some "action" pictures (so they are blurry) and you can see them by clicking above. Lance brought Sam and Launa when we were finishing up. Launa went out for a little skate. She had fun for a few minutes and then decided she was done. We did not have the right size skates for Sam so they hurt when he put them on the he never made it to the ice. Maybe some other time.

I'm Back

2008-05-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

Trying to get a family picture. This turned out alright, but we did give in and go to the mall to have them professionally done. I am still waiting for them to email me all of those photos. They turned out great.
The kids while I was trying to set up the camera.

Ok, I have been gone for a while. We took a 3 week trip to FL, DC and them home. We made many stops along the way. We have also been very busy around here.

We took the kids out of school and are now homeschooling again. It just didn't work out for our family. But, we tried.

I will be posting as I get a few moments. They will not be in order, but they will be on here. For instance, the science fair was last weekend. I am just posting as I get the pictures uploaded and ready for viewing. Maybe I could let you know where they come in the sequence of our life. If I can remember.

Sheri

Science Fair

2008-05-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23659001@N05/sets/72157605092403547/

Drue and Lukas participated in a Home School Science Fair at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix.

Lukas did his project on what seeds need and Drue did hers about color and heat. She went to the dealership and measured the temp. on different colored cars to see if there was a difference. She didn't think there would be, so it made for a good learning project.

They had a good time at the fair but it proved to be too long for them. At the end of the day they let us go into the Planitarium. We had never been in before. That was probably the highlight of our day.

Grandma's Visit

2008-02-10T20:08:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23659001@N05/sets/72157603885438966/

My mom came to visit in Jan. We took her to Prescott to the snow, used her as a babysitter and just hung out. Her goal was to spend some special time with each of the kids. She watched Launa for me while I cooked lunch at the kids' school. I brought Sam home early that day to spend time with her. They played in the game room and then discovered the Dairy Queen next door. Later that night Grandma thought she should spend some time with Drue and Lukas. Guess where they went.....Dairy Queen. The kids though that was so funny, that Grandma went to DQ twice in one day. I won't give away her secrets, but she may have eaten both times too! All the kids truly enjoyed their special time with Grandma.
One night they brought out the Wiggles Game and played. Drue had to walk like a camel, that is what she is doing on the floor. The kids had such a fun time. They love playing games and it is even more fun with Grandma.
And Launa even pooped on the potty for Grandma. Something she stopped doing for us a few months ago. And she has been going back on the potty since then. Not really what I thought she would get out of her time with Gma, but glad she did.
The younger two are ready for me to go back to the airport and get Grandma again. Sometimes they think she just hangs out there waiting for us to pick her up!!!

The ducks

2008-02-10T19:58:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23659001@N05/sets/72157603888878361/

We took the kids to the park to play and release some energy. We went to see the ducks and watched someone feed them. These are just a few pictures of us watching the ducks. On Friday, Sam, Launa and I read some books about ducks and then they and Daddy went to the park before picking up the other kids and fed the ducks. I have yet to get a report on how that went, but I am sure they had fun.
Next time we go, I will take some pics.

Sledding in Prescott

2008-02-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23659001@N05/sets/72157603885339644/

Click this link and you can see the pictures from our trip. If you click "view as slideshow" you can see them better.

Grandma came to visit in January and we took a trip to Prescott to see the snow. I have too many pictures to post here so I am trying this Flickr thing. I just set it up tonight and need more practice. Hopefully, this works well enough.

First Day of "Real" School

2008-02-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

This is how they laid out their clothes each night, until I stepped on them in the middle of the night and now they have to fold them in piles.
First day of school. It's not that we leave that early in the morning. I think it was a rainy day and that is why it is still dark. Doesn't Sam look so happy to be going to school. Launa was going to the gym with me. Walking to the car. Lance is going to the gym too, I guess. He doesn't normally dress like that. I am not in the pictures due to puffy eyes. Yes, I cried like a baby. But the night before so that the kids would not have to witness that. I held it together while dropping them off at school as not to embarrass them. I was just glad I was able to take Launa home with me.

The older two are loving it. Lukas was put in first grade because of his age even though he was in second grade while homeschooling. I am hoping that his teacher will begin to bump him up as she sees that he is capable. His class is a combined first through third. Drue is in fifth grade in a combined fourth through sixth grade class. She has already been on one field trip and has two more scheduled this month. I go with her, without her permission and against her will, to keep track of her friends and classmates. She doesn't appreciate it now, but one day she will. She doesn't believe me when I tell her that. Oh well, she's only ten and I am still going on every field trip that they allow me to go on. It is my duty as a mother. I tell her that too!

Update

2008-02-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

WOW!!! It has been a while. Let me give you the short version update and then get to some blogs with some photos of those kids.

Nov. 2007--we decide we are moving to California to attend FTTA. We sell everything in our house and prepare to move into an apartment in CA. Put our house up for rent because the housing market is so bad we cannot sell it.
Dec. 2007--2 weeks before moving to CA. After further consideration with the leading ones at FTTA we agree that it would be best for us to wait until the kids are a little older to attend. They have had mothers with young ones try to attend and it did not work.
Dec. 2007--end of the month. We move into an apartment in Peoria (about 20 min. from where we were living) as someone is already planning on moving into our house and we wanted to move closer into town anyway.
Jan. 2008--the kids start real school. They were excited about attending school in CA and really bummed that they would not be able to since we weren't moving. We found a Montessori school very close by and enrolled the older three. (pictures to follow)
Feb. 2008--our first drop-out. Samuel has had enough school. Since he is still young (and the school costs money) we allow him to drop out and start teaching him at home. He is a lot happier, meaning we all are alot happier.
Now, here we are. In a two bedroom apartment (2nd floor) in Peoria and readjusting to a new life.
In a nut shell....now on to some more interesting blogs with pics.

9 YEARS

2007-12-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

Don't really know what to say...we just celebrated nine years of marriage with Lukas and an ice cream cake!!! I didn't get any pictures of the cake before we ate it all, but it was great!!!

7 Years Old!!!

2007-12-22T14:15:00.000-08:00

My Lukie is seven years old.Having cupcakes with Papa.

At Cracker Barrel with Papa.
Showing his muscles.
Not letting his brother show him up! This is the way Sammie shows his muscles. Sometimes I think he is going to pop. What you cannot see in the picture is how red his face is getting.

Making cupcakes.
Helping make cupcakes.
Even the little ones get to help.

Lukas celebrated his seventh birthday on Tuesday, Dec. 11th. We made cupcakes and then met Papa for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. He then came by and had some cupcakes. He then went golfing with Papa and his cousin Nickolas. He had a great day.

Guitar Recital

2007-11-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

Drue has been taking guitar lessons for a few months. A great friend of ours told her that if she got a guitar, she would teach her to play. We went out and bought her a guitar from Wal-Mart for her birthday. It works well but is not the best sounding (the last two strings make more of a twang sound). You see, we didn't want to invest a whole lot of money in case she didn't really like it. I remember taking piano lessons!!!

She and another girl from the virtual academy take lessons together. Her teacher decided to have a recital for the girls. It was so sweet. They took turns playing songs with the teacher singing and then played one all together at the end. They both did a wonderful job. After the recital, she asked if she could get a nicer guitar. After all her hard work, and a conversation with her dad, he has decided to purchase her a nicer guitar. Now I am researching and looking for a nice one, not too expensive, not too big--and have no idea what I am doing.

I have a video, but it is taking forever to upload. I will try again another time. I don't really have time to wait right now.

Rail Road Park

2007-11-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

On the front of the train with Daniel.
Such a cute picture I just couldn't pass it up! She was actually disobeying me by sneaking into the front of the train.
In the cattle car.

A friend and I took our kids to the rail road park in Scottsdale. They had a great time. The weather was a little warm. It was in the upper 90's I believe. They played for hours on the playground and then we rode the train. The younger kids (all but Drue) rode in the cattle car. When we first took off a little boy sitting with his mom yelled at me and said, "Your little girl is crying." That mom looked in the car and saw that Lukas was holding her and trying to calm her. She eventually settled down. She ended up enjoying the train ride. We will try and go back when the weather is cooler.

Individual Photos

2007-11-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Drue 10
Lukas 6
Samuel 3
Launa 2
All 4! Three participating.

We went the railroad park and attempted to get some pictures of the kids. I think the sun was too bright. We will try again when the sun isn't so bright.

Way to Go Drue!

2007-11-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Drue was enrolled in Title I Math through the Virtual Academy. The program gave away Dairy Queen gift certificates to the students in each class that completed the most Study Island games. Study Island is an internet program that prepares the students for the AIMS test. Anyway, she won in her class and received $10. She took us out and still has $2 left. On another note, she did so well on her AIMS test this year that they promoted her out of Title I. We are so proud of how well she is doing in math now.

Toy Museum

2007-11-07T13:46:00.000-08:00

Lukas and his robot
Samuel and his robot
Drue and Lukas playing Manacala
Launa playing Manacala
Drue's robot

The kids and I went to a toy museum for a field trip. They had all kinds of toys and games. A lot of the museum was hands on. They had a lot of fun. These robots were felt covered squares and they had buckets of toys with velcro on the backs. There were four robots to be decorated.

Drue's Soccer

2007-11-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Well, soccer season is over and we have since moved on to volleyball. But, here are the pictures from one of her soccer games. She has improved so much. This is her first year playing on an all girl team. She enjoyed it a lot more.

My poor girl!

2007-10-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Each night, the kids go upstairs and take showers. Girls in one the boys in the other. They get on their pajamas and then come down stairs. Unless there is trouble (screaming, yelling, door slamming, etc.), I stay downstairs and wait for them. This particular night as the kids were upstairs after their shower I could hear the laughter. You know the kind that means they are up to no good! This proceeded by, "Go Launa. Go show Mom." I already know this means they have done something to her that they think is 50X funnier than the normal person. Well, my oh so cute 2 year old comes down the stairs looking like this.

Lukas bought these "Billy Bob Teeth", which he calls "Bobby Teeth", quite a while ago at Wal-Mart. He has gotten his 88 cents out of them many times over.

Launa likes them because it makes everyone laugh. And yes, they laugh the whole time she has them in her mouth.

I figured for her sake I would add this picture taken today. My cute girl with normal teeth!

California

2007-10-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

We spent a very long weekend in California and had a lot of fun. I, however, could not find my camera and when Drue finally remembered to take hers out and take pictures, her batteries died. I will recap and you can picture the events in your head!

First, drove out to California on Thursday afternoon. Mom had sent the kids each a $5 gift certificate to McDonalds for the trip. We stopped at on in Blythe, just over the CA line. I let the kids play for about 30 min then each order and pay for their own food. That took a while! Then on the road again, eating-to keep them occupied. They did very well the whole trip out. We got a little turned around during some construction, but made it safely to Anaheim around 4:30pm. We then changed clothes and went to someone's home for dinner. We stayed at a home just across the street from Knott's Berry Farm. (If I knew how, I would add a link there like Kelly does so that you would know what that is. Maybe I will figure that out one day) Anyway, the kids enjoyed driving by that each time we left and came back to the house.

Friday, Lance and I attended some training classes and the kids were disperesed in different places with different people watching them. They had a great time. Then off to TGIFriday's for dinner. The restaurant was inside Knott's Berry Farm and we sat on the patio. There was a roller coaster to walk under before you entered the restaurant. The kids and Lance hung out there until the coaster came over them, twice. I was too scared. The roller coaster was made of wood and looked to be 100 years old. Thinking back, it would have been better to be squashed with them than watch them be squashed. Next time I will stand with them. After dinner and friend came over and watched the kids and Lance and I went out.

Saturday the kids and I toured a little of CA while Lance went gospel door knocking. He had much greater success than we did. After driving for an hour, we found 4 horses pulling a stage coach right by the house we were staying at. We decided to meet Lance at the park and play. Then we napped. Well, all but me and Launa! She wasn't interested in sleeping. Then off to someone's elses home for dinner.

Sunday night we drove down to San Diego. The drive took about an hour and a half and was beautiful. I have gone to the ocean my whole life, but this was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. On Monday we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was free day and I think everyone knew about it. They are only about 20 min from the border. So everyone in Mexico thought they would come to. By 1pm we had to leave. There were so many people we were walking single file, shoulder to shoulder. I felt like a herd of cows. The kids were tired so that did not help. Anyway, it was a wonderful zoo. See above pictures. The animals were so close you could almost touch them. The gorillas put on a little show for everyone watching. They have such a sense of humor. The kids had so much fun and slept all the way back to Anaheim.

Tuesday was a little time at Downtown Disney (in the LEGO store), the Science Museum and then home. Lukas said he wasn't sure if we should go to the Science Museum because we had already had so much fun in the past few days. After a little talk, he decided it was still ok to hit the museum.

Now we are back in the real world of school, laundry and cleaning house.

Sorry about the long post. I wanted to get the whole weekend in one post.

My Sweet Oranges

2007-09-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

Lukie had his first ever soccer game on Saturday. This is the boy who cried while I was in the office signing him up to play. Now he has decided that he LOVES soccer. He wore his "costume" (as he calls it) for two days after he got it from his coach. He was upset with me for making him take it off. His game went great. He played goalie and stopped the other team from scoring a goal. The best part, he scored a goal! I could hardly believe it. I screamed so loud. I actually had wet eyes! I felt so lame.

Drue also had her millionth (as Lukas puts it) soccer game on Saturday. I was watching the younger three run around and was not able to take any pictures of her. I will get some this weekend while Dad is watching the other kids. I will highlight her game then.

My Parents

2007-08-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

My parents came to visit at the beginning of August. We had a great time. We stayed at their time share condo and swam. Then we went up to Prescott. The guys played golf and we hung out at the mall, had lunch then headed home. My mom has more pictures that I can post when I get them.

Playing with Dad

2007-08-20T22:18:00.000-07:00

Lukie doesn't go so high!

The kids love to be thrown by Lance. Drue doesn't get to be thrown anymore. And as you can see, Lukas is probably not going to get too many more throws.

Family Photos

2007-08-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

It's not often our whole family gets in a picture. Here are a few of all of us and then some parts.

Drue, Sheri, Lance, Launa, Sam, Les (Lance's dad), Nick (our nephew)

The lake

2007-08-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Lukas, Daniel and Sammie taking crawdad catching lessons from Bro. Sam
Lance helping the girls with their crawdads.
Sammie hiking.
Launie hiking.

We took the young people up to Woods Canyon Lake for a day trip. It was a long drive but well worth it. I even had to put on a jacket by the end of the day. Most of the day was spent catching crawdads. There was a bucket full before we left.

Launa and Sam had so much fun exploring. They wore me out. I finally had to just sit where I could see them and instruct them not to go further than they could see me. They all had so much fun.

Indoor Rock Climbing

2007-08-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

Lukas and Daniel racing to the top.
Sammie making his way up.
Launie getting suited up. That took longer than the climb.

We tool the young people rock climbing during the Summer School of Truth a few weeks ago. Everyone had so much fun. Samuel climbed so much I am surprised he wasn't sore the next day. He is still talking about that place. He new slides across the kitchen floor in his rock climbing formation saying, "I'm gonna ring the bell." There is a bell at the top of each rock. He never made it to the top to ring the bell.

Launa put on her "thing" and was ready to climb. She made it up two "holdy things". (I don't know the rock climbing lingo) She was done. But she sure looked cute.

Lukas climbed the entire time we were there. I was surprised at well he did. He never managed to beat Daniel, but he got closer every time.

Lance was playing relay climbing games with the high schoolers and serving ones.

I did try it twice. I did not make it to the bell either. It's pretty scary up there.

No More Babies!!!

2007-07-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Well, we officially have no more babies. Launa is using the potty and sleeping in a big girl bed. Last Monday we told Launa she needed to start using the potty instead of a diaper. She obeyed!!! Only a few accidents since Monday. What a BIG GIRL!!!! Too bad they weren't all that easy.

First Lost Tooth

2007-06-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Lukas lost his first tooth on Saturday night. He was in the van and hit it on the seat. There was a lot of blood and crying. I think it would have been another week before it would have fallen out on its own. His new tooth is already about half-way through. The tooth next to it is also loose. Maybe another week or so on that one. He received 8 quarters from Dad this morning. Now he is excited about the next one for the next one to fall out.

Turtles

2007-05-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

While driving through the parking lot we saw a lady selling fresh water turtles. Lukas immediately decided that he needed one. I made him get out and ask the lady how much they were. $20. He said he only had $10 but he really wanted one. After some discussion with Drue, who has more money than any of us, they decided to split the cost of the turtle. We checked with Dad and got an ok. Lance and I went up to the table, as they were selling Rotweilers (sp) right next to the turtles and the kids were scared to death, and inquired about the life span and difficulting in raising turtles. They are pretty easy to care for, BUT they don't really like to be alone. Of course not! Sooooo, the older kids bought one turtle and Mom and Dad bought another turtle for the younger two as they don't have money to spend. At home we gave the bigger turtle to the boys and the smaller turtle to the girls. Hopefully, these will last longer than our fish.

Mema

2007-05-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

Mema came out the Arizona to spend a week with us. We didn't do anything special or see any wonderful sights, but we did have a great time. She just joined in to daily life in the Freitag household. I think that was enough excitement for her. Our house is a little more active than hers. I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I wanted of her visit, but did manage to get a few of the kids dancing while we were eating lunch. They were quite entertaining. Guess she did get some sight seeing during the visit.

Launie

2007-05-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

I was trying to take of picture of her taking care of her baby. She wanted me to take a picture of her baby instead. She is saying "Cheeeeese" for the baby.
Driving the "Choo-Choo" at the mall. She did let the other kids ride in the back but she was the only one allowed to drive. (No, we did not pay 75 cents to make the ice cream truck move. They had a lot of fun without any money.)
This is a picture of our shoes lined up at the back door. Notice the tiny pair of pink shoes. This is where Launa keeps her baby doll's shoes. I saw her playing in the shoes a week or so ago and told her get away from them (as she likes to try on everyone's shoes and wear them around the house and leave them wherever she takes them off). After realizing that she left the area without putting on anyone's shoes(and being stunned that she actually obeyed), I went to check out the situation. It took me a while to find the pink shoes. The shoes are still there today. She takes them and puts them on her baby while they are playing and then returns them when it is time to clean up. I think she gets that from her Dad. He's the one that makes us line up our shoes from biggest to smallest.

DRUE IS TEN

2007-05-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

Drue has hit double digits and she is super excited! She had to spend her actually birthday catching up on school. We took her to the mall on Thursday to spend her birthday money. She bought a pair of shoes and a guitar. I will have to post pictures of that later.

We took her horseback riding for her birthday!

Beatin' The Heat

2007-05-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

Drue lost her tooth at the Park.
Spraying their sister.
We had a "Popsicle in the Park" day with the kids' teacher for the end of the year. The kids had so much fun and even convinced Launa to get wet before we left.

Sammie and the gang

2007-04-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

3 out of 4 isn't bad!

Every birthday we take pictures with all the kids and then each person in the family with the birthday child. Well, I was a little late getting Samuel's. We took pictures this morning. Launa decided she didn't want to participate. She's almost 2 !!!

Cabella's

2007-04-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Cabella's. It's a store that has fishing, hunting, camping, etc. supplies. They have a nice aquarium with huge fish and all these stuffed animals. The scenes were amazing. All the animals looked like they were still alive. Drue was excited to find this sedimentary rock. She was later kind of bummed to find out that it wasn't real. She has been studying rocks for the last week. Lukas has been studying habitats, so we made it a field trip. The kids had a blast.

Seedlings

2007-04-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Lukie had to put some seeds in a baggie and see if they would germinate. They did!! We were so excited. It's the first time we ever grew anything from a seed. They finally outgrew the bag and we had to throw them away. We planted a few of the seeds in the backyard to see if they will grow. As of today we have 3 little sprouts.

Not Exactly Sure!!!

2007-04-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

I am not exactly sure why....but the kids were sticking these rubber poppers on my face and pulling them off. They did it numerous time and then we decided to take a few pictures. It actually hurt most of the time. Come to find out, the poppers get quite suctioned to your face and leave a red circle for a couple of days. Lukas had one on his forehead and cheek. I had one on each cheek and Drue managed not to get any at all. We were supposed to be doing school. Guess we could call it an experiment.

Golf at the Park

2007-04-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Lukas, Stash, and Lance
Sammie

The boys went to the park on Saturday to play a little golf. I think they had a good time.

Luke Air Force Base

2007-04-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Uncle Stash (my brother) came to visit for the weekend. Since his is in the military, we had him get us on Luke Air Force base in hopes to see the jets take off and land. Well, no jets were flying while we were there, so we took a tour of the base. They had these jets on display in the middle of the base. The kids enjoyed just getting inside the gates. We always drive by and wonder what is on the other side of the wall.

Outside Fun

2007-04-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

Drue hanging out.
Looking at the beeble they caught.
Smooshing the beeble with her finger.
Wiping the squished beeble on her shirt.

Swinging.
A little one-on-one.
Launa's new favorite place to be.

We have been enjoying the beautiful weather in the backyard. It is only nice back there because the house shades the sun and makes it very cool. Launa spends most of her waking hours playing outside. She just loves it. Samuel joins her some of the time and the older two will go out if they can't find anything better to do. It was too hot in the front of the house tonight so they joined us in the back.

Sam and Launa

2007-04-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

CHEEEEEESE!
Launa and her baby.
Launa looking for Sam who is behind the bush.

I brought Samuel outside this morning to take a picture with his guitar for Grandma. Launa saw me with the camera and followed close behind. She loves having her picture taken. Samuel was refusing to have his picture taken and was hiding behind the tree. I finally threatened (I mean enticed) him to come out and have his picture taken.

Launa's Hair

2007-04-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Launa's hair if finally long enough that I can't just put it in a pony tail on top of her head. We tried this hairdo out on Thursday. It stayed up until Saturday morning. I think I may do it more often. It sure does save a lot of time redoing her hair everytime she rolls around on the floor or rubs her fork in it.

Our friends

2007-04-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Launa, Sophia, Janelle, Zac, Daniel, & Yasha
Sophia, Yasha, Sam, Jenelle, Daniel, and Zac

Just a few days after Sam turned three, his friend Janelle turned two. All the kids went, but Drue was taking pictures and did not get any of Lukas.

Sam is Three!!!

2007-04-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Guitar from Grandma.
Launa enjoying a cupcake without icing.
Drue, Sam, and Lukas enjoying cupcakes with icing!

Sammie turned three on February 27th. (I am a little behind on posting pictures) We celebrated with just the family and cupcakes. He was so happy to be three. Now he can go outside and ride his bike on the sidewalk with the two older kids. He also moved up to the level on Sundays. He is now an official BIG BOY. Just ask him!

Science Center

2007-02-25T20:16:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Anaheim last weekend for a conference. We had a wonderful time and stayed with the greatest couple. After the last meeting on Sunday, we took the kids into Santa Ana to the Science Museum. They had the Sesame Street Body Exhibit there. It was so much fun. They had little areas just for kids under 5. Lance and I took turns watching the younger two in there and walking around exploring with the older ones. It was so crowded because it was the weekend. We bought the year membership and will be able to visit the museum in Phoenix as well as this one when we go back to Anaheim. The kids did not want to leave, but fell asleep immediately after getting into the car. Bert was sitting on the bench when we arrived and didn't have a line. Elmo's line was entirely too long so we just waved as he walked by. I think Launa liked that better. She would not even get close to Bert when we were taking pictures.

Launa jumping in the Super Grover obstacle course.

He did it!!!

The kids sat in these seats and had to pull themselves up to the top. This one was pulling 1/6 of your weight.

Lukas was pulling 1/4 of his weight and Drue 1/3. They were racing and Drue won.

Climbing the rock wall. Launa didn't make it too far.

Chewing some food.

With Bert.

A change of heart

2007-02-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

So not too long ago I was complaining about her not wanting to have her picture taken. Well, when I pulled out the camera to take pictures of the plane flying, Launa decided she was ready for some closeups. I am not sure what she is doing and why she was making such weird faces, but I thought they were cute and wanted to share.

Schooling

2007-02-25T19:59:00.000-08:00

Why, do you ask, are my youngest two children sitting on the part of the wall made for a plant? Well, my oldest two children were being the Wright Brothers (flying airplanes after learning about the Wright Brothers) and didn't want to be interrupted. I was in the school room with door shut, to keep out destruction makers, and realized that no one was crying or yelling or complaining or any of the such. This is odd because usually when paper airplanes are thrown by the older two, the younger two try to capture the planes and crumple them up as fast as they can. This induces yelling and crying from the older two, which then produces yelling and crying from the younger two. Oh, the memories!! Anyway, wondering why all was so calm, I came out of the room to find these two sitting, happily, on the wall. They stayed there a good 10 minutes and the older two flew their planes until I was ready for the next lesson. I was a proud Mama to see the kids working together and all getting along.

My little "Wright Brothers"

Sledding--part 2

2007-02-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

This is a picture from inside the truck as we were driving up the mountain.

Even Papa joined in the fun.

He was going down front ways but turned just as I was taking the picture.
Mom and Launa

Launa. I think she was the warmest one out there.

I did go down the hill, on a sled, with Lance. He was very shocked that I said I would go down. Honestly, I was too. It was very scary as there was so much snow flying in my face that I could not see. (I'm not a very adventurous person.) It was fun (I guess), but I am not sure if I will ever do it again.

Sledding-part 1

2007-02-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

I guess I used my maximum allowance of pictures, so I have to do this in two parts.

We went up to Prescott this weekend to do some sledding. The kids (at least the older two) had a blast. It was so beautiful up there.

Drue at the end of her trip.

Drue and Lukas racing down the hill. I think Lukas is winning.

Drue sledding in a different position.

Lukas, thinking he might throw that at me.

Almost to the bottom.

I think he had his mouth open the whole time.

Samuel trying to look as if he is enjoying himself.

Samuel's one and only trip down. He said it was scared, so he didn't want to do it anymore.

Daddy and Samuel

Headed Home

2007-01-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

Still Smiling
Just a few more hours
Launa got to play on the top section over the cab for about 10 minutes. One of her few bouts of freedom while in the motor home.

After visiting the Wiggly Play Center, we headed back to Bedford for dinner with our friends. We left for home when it was bedtime (they have two kids). We decided we would drive straight through to avoid the storms that were coming on Friday. We made it home around 7am on Thursday. We were so glad to see our house and to sleep and shower in our own home.

Wiggly Play Center

2007-01-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

Being a Wiggle.
Samuel didn't quite figure it out.
Drue on the zip line
Even Dad had fun
Launa sliding down

During out second visit to Texas, this time to stay with friends in Bedford, we visited the Wiggly Play Center in Frisco, TX. The kids had a blast. They were so worn out and hungry that they asked us if they could leave. It was an indoor playcenter decorated with more Wiggles colors and murals than you could even imagine. Each room had a different Wiggles scene painted on the wall.

Papa Larry's Plane

2007-01-28T17:37:00.000-08:00

These pictures are a little out of order.

We went to Uncle Larry's (Lance's uncle) and the boys flew on his plane. They had so much fun. Launie and I hung out on the trampoline and played with the dog.

The kids call him Papa Larry, I guess because he is their Papa's brother.

In the air.
All loaded up and ready to go.

Getting everyone strapped in for the ride.

Mema's

2007-01-28T17:27:00.000-08:00

Slinky time.
My baby is not so little anymore.
Time with Granddaddy.
I wonder what they are talking about?

We spent Christmas day at Mema's house. It was great to see (almost) the whole family. I rained the majority of the day so we moved the whole shabang into the garage. The kids played in the rain and entertained us all. One more thing they don't get a whole lot of out here.

The Freitags

2007-01-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

These are June's grandchildren. She has a few more but they were either unable to make it or had already left before picture time.

Tina, Hannah, Logan, Victoria, Isabel, Lisa and Lance (counter clockwise)

Launa with Larry's first grandbaby.

This is Les's (Lance's dad) mom and brothers and sister.

Front: June and Gwen

Back: Cindy, Rusty, Gary and Larry

We spent December 24th with Lance's family in Orlando. Most everyone was able to make it and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. June (Lance's grandmother) is now living in Prescott, AZ but was visiting at the same time we were.

FLORIDA

2007-01-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

The guys, Stash, Dad and Stephen, (Lance participated occassionaly) stayed up way too late one night singing while Stephen played Lukas's guitar. It was absolutely hilarious (I mean wonderful!) Seth (Stash's son) and Lukas wrestling.

Sydney (Stash's daughter) and Lukas

This is my parents back yard. The kids rode the jeep and motorcycle (in the ditch) down this hill the whole time we were there. They don't get the opportunity to play in grassy areas that much out here.

Too much football on TV.

Opening her first Barbie doll.

Could they get any closer to that tree?!

We spent two weeks with my parents in Florida. My older brother, Stash and his wife, Krys, and their two kids, Sydney and Seth joined us for a few days and my younger brother, Stephen and his girlfriend, Erica also joined us. I really don't remember how long each was there as the days kind of ran together. All I know is that when we were all together there were 14 of us, 6 of which were kids (5 of them six or under) and there were a million different things going on and I ate entirely too much food. We had a wonderful time. Too bad we don't live closer and could do that more often.

Mobile, AL

2007-01-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

In the USS Alabama.

USS Alabama

Not sure why the little ones are running.

In the tunnel.

Not sure if this is the right one.

Dick Russell's BBQ. Our office manager, Harvey, recommended this place.

We visited the USS Alabama in Mobile, AL on Wednesday. After the ship the older kids and Lance went into the submarine. After this we went to my Aunt Karon (another sister of my dad) and Uncle Mike's house in Foley. My cousin, Christopher (18 yrs old), took the older three on a walk in the woods to look for deer. They didn't find any deer, but I think they saw some tracks. For some unknown reason I did not get any pictures of our time there. This was our final stop before heading to Grandma and Granddaddy's in Florida.

New Orleans, LA

2007-01-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

Mason, Lukas, Sam, Launa and Drue.

Lukas + Mason = A LOT OF ENERGY

Launa spinning.

Lukas and Mason racing their scooters.

A friendly football game. Not so sure who won.

Half the sign.

What a gang!

We arrived in New Orleans on Monday night. There we stayed with Elaine (my dad's youngest sister), Johnny (her husband) and Mason (their son). The kids had a lot of fun together. We began the day with a tour of downtown New Orleans. We really enjoyed seeing the different atmosphere. And during the day New Orleans is nice to drive around and see. After lunch, we let the kids go just outside the apartment and play on the playground. Our kids had just received scooters before the trip, so they were breaking them in. Mason had much more practice on his and almost beat Lance in a race. They enjoyed the playground, especially the merry go round. We only had a few minor injuries. Lance went out with Johnny that night while he was on duty and saw the New Orleans night life. He said he had to cover his eyes for a lot of it. Elaine had already told us that we would have to see it during the day as it was too inappropriate to see after dark. After hearing Lance's reports, I am glad the kids and I missed the night life. However, he had a great time with Johnny and I think they really got to know each other. A little New Orleans coffee and beignets (pronounced bin-yeah) and you can't stop the talking!

Launa and Rebekah

2007-01-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

Finally, both looking at the camera.

Playing together.

Climbing stairs.

Having a snack.

Pretty hair!

Launa and Rebekah, the youngest Benson, played so much together. Launa has never really been around someone her own age. I was amazed at how well they got along. Because their communication skills were on the same level, they rarely had any problems understading one another.

Arlington, TX

2007-01-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

Drue and Amanda playing Monopoly

Lukas and Carolyn

Some of the people we met.

Our goal was to get a picture of each state sign.

We arrived in Arlington Saturday night. We stayed with Seth and Lori Benson and their family. We met Bro. Seth when he was traveling through Phoenix this past summer. He said we should come out and stay with his family if we ever got the chance. We smile and said, "Well, we have four kids." He laughed and said, "That's ok. I have eight!" We found out when we arrived that number nine is on the way. I don't even think they noticed our four kids were there.

They have kids from 18 years to 18 months. Amanda, their nine year old, and Drue played the board games the whole time we were there. They stayed locked up in a bedroom and we rarely even saw them. Lukas spent his time with Carolyn, five years old, with Samuel tagging along. They did not have one his age. However, their 18 year old spent a lot of time playing with Sam.

Launa even had her own playmate. Their youngest, Rebekah, is a week younger than Launa. I have posted their pictures separately as we took a lot.

We did not do any sight seeing as we knew we would be coming back through. We just enjoyed the visit with Bro. Seth and Sis. Lori. They also had a few families over on Sunday afternoon. It was such a wonderful time.

First Stop--Albuquerque, NM

2007-01-27T20:09:00.000-08:00

With Jim and Carol Danek.

Welcome to New Mexico!

Our first stop was Albuquerque, New Mexico. We discovered that the driving in a motorhome was taking longer than driving in a van, so we were not able to do much sight seeing in NM. We did get to see a lot of things from the road. The pictures are of some Indian Reservations. Evidently, they move into these duggout areas of the mountains and live and work there. We saw lots of tipis on the mountains and in those carved out areas. We didn't experience any snowing, but did see lots on the ground as we were driving. We stayed with Jim and Carol Danek while we were there. Lance had met them a while back when he was in NM and they wanted to meet the whole family. Their living room as full of games and toys. The kids had so much fun there. We only spent the night and headed off for a 10 hour trip to Texas.

Our Motorhome

2007-01-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

Side view

Looking toward the front.

Front view

Looking toward the back.

This is our motorhome. It is a 1989 Tioga that gets an average of 7 miles per gallon. That is about all I know about motorhomes. It made the trip so much more enjoyable than keeping all those kids strapped down in the van. We allowed the older three to be free of buckles for the whole trip. They had to be seated most of the time. However, on the last leg of the trip they discovered a new game which they named "the slipping game". The older three put on socks and slid down from the back all the way to the front. They had a blast and I figured as long as no one got hurt and since we had been in that thing for 3 days, it would be okay to let them slip and burn off some energy. We only ran out of gas once, but we were only about 50 yards from the pump so it worked out great. At one point Lance allowed Samuel to sit in the front seat while I was sleeping. Samuel thought it would be a good time to open the door. Well, he wasn't buckled in so Lance grabbed Samuel's arm to prevent him from falling out of the motorhome and began yelling. Lukas held the door with all his 40 lbs and stick arms and also yelled. I awoke from a dead sleep and stumbled my way to the front to see what all the commotion was about and managed to pull Lukas so the door would close and explain to Samuel that you cannot open the door when the motorhome is moving. From that point on, all kids lost the right to enter the "cabin area". It was a very scary moment for everyone, but after a few days we were able to laugh about it. Other than that, our trip went flawlessly!!!

Our Trip

2007-01-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

A while back we purchased a motorhome knowing that we would be traveling to Florida in December. Then we decided to make it a longer trip by making a few stops along the way. I took a lot of pictures on the way to Florida but that soon fizzled out. I have a few from the actual stay in Florida and then even fewer of our trip back home. We were tired and worn out by then.
I will attempt to post pictures in the order in which they took place. I will have to supplement some of our outings with description as I have no pictures.
Enjoy

Playing Jacks

2006-12-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

I think Launa is winning!

The kids got some jacks from Grandma June. She was teaching Lance how to play correctly.

Miss Photogenic

2006-12-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

We try and try, but this girl is hard to take a picture of.

At Papa's house

With Lukie

Just the girls

Family Pictures

2006-12-13T19:35:00.000-08:00

In our backyard.

On the steps at June's in Prescott.

Lukas is 6

2006-12-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

It's so hard to believe that my Lukas is already six.

We went to Prescott for the day. Lukas got a guitar from Grandma June (Lance's grandmother)

We went to Chili's with Papa on Monday for his actual birthday.

Samuel

2006-12-02T14:37:00.000-08:00

Samuel loves to play on the computer. If he had his choice he would sit there all day.

Launa

2006-12-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

Looking outside for Drue.
Sporting a sweater vest.
Waiting for mom to get off the phone.

These are some pictures that I took today and one last night (her sleeping in the highchair).

New Outfit

2006-11-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

I have been sewing again. This time for Launa. The outfit turned out better than I thought.
Thought I would add another picture since she rarely gets in any of the pictures with the other kdis. Her mouth is always open in pictures because as soon as she sees the camera is says "Cheeeeeeeese" and doesn't stop until you put the camera away.
View of the back. And of her trying to figure out how to get into that chair. Her newest thing in climbing into chairs. I found her at my computer about a week ago.

Isabel's 13

2006-11-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

This is from Nov. 4th. Isabel turned 13 and the girls made a birthday cake.

A Wiggly Chair

2006-10-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

Watching some TV, snacking on some goldfish.I bought Samuel a Wiggles chair this weekend. We were at Big Lots in search of a picture for the bathroom (which I found) and he saw the box for this. He said, "My Wiggles." He didn't even know what it was. I showed him the picture and he decided he wanted it. He said, "I buy this. I go home and put in loft and watch the Wiggles." So, I bought him a Wiggles video and he came home and sat in his chair and watched the Wiggles. When I went to put him to bed he said he didn't want to go to bed, he wanted to sit in his chair. I think he would have slept in it if I would have allowed him to. A full week with NO accidents...the boy deserves a Wiggles chair!

Field Day

2006-10-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

Samuel Straddle Jumping
Juggling
Drue Dribbling
Lukas Dribbling
Lukas Straddle Jumping

I just figured out how to get more than 4 pictures on here and how to type in between the pictures. What a day!!!!

Anyway, the kids participated in their first field day on Thursday. They had such a good time. In addition to these events, they chipped and putted golf balls, threw baseballs, punted and threw footballs, kicked and juggled soccer balls, shot free throws and ran a 60 meter dash. They were worn out! The coaches said Drue had a good golf swing for such little experience. She accredited that to her Granddaddy. She also thought it was neat that one of the coaches was a golf pro just like Granddaddy. Sorry Dad, I had to explain what a golf pro was! Lukas was a little intimidated at first with all the sports on such an older kid level, but did a wonderful job. His best event was the chipping. He was to closest to getting a ball in the bucket. And he did that twice. The coaches were most impressed with Samuel's athletic ability. They named him "Slammin' Sam" after seeing his impressive basketball skills. He did almost as well and Lukas in many of the events and maybe a little better in a few. I think he could have hit the golf ball if he had a really small club. Launa participated in some events, though her favorite was the 60 meter dash. She plays "ready, set, go" at home and when she heard the coach yell that she took off running. I think they completed two races while she was running. She didn't care. She laughed the whole way.

All in all it was a wonderful time and the kids spent hours today practicing for the next field day. The coaches encouraged the moms to keep up with the practice as the kids can get scholarships!

2006-10-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

GrowlingToo cool!
Taking a break.BIG GIRL!

The kids are outside everyday. The weather is just perfect. As you can see, Launa has learned to climb to the top of the play structure. She just needs to figure out how to get down!

Flower Girls

2006-10-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

Took a few pictures outside of the girls smelling flowers.

My little builders

2006-10-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

The kids went to Lowe's today and made fire trucks out of wood. They have a workshop every second Saturday so we thought we would check it out today. They had so much fun. Launa had to stay in the stroller. She checked out the lawn mowers on display while we built.
Next time they will get Lowe's aprons and each time they complete a project they get a patch. We will take pictures with the aprons when we get them. They ran out today. There were tons of kids there.
Drue built hers 95% by herself, Lukas 50% and Samuel about 10%. He wore his safety goggles for a while. He kept randomly grabbing the hammer and hammering things, so it had to be under constant supervision for the rest of the time.