Our Tumbleweed Snowman!

Do you want to build a snowman? Well, we already did! After we got our family pictures taken (will be uploaded for the next post), I informed the kids that we were taking the rest of the day off from school to make our snowman. They all cheered at my announcement--especially Tirzah! Tirzah, Hardy, Acarith, Selah, and I loaded up in Tim's work truck to be in search of the perfect tumbleweed. We got as far as the street behind us--that stuff tumbles all over our neighborhood--and loaded the truck up with it.

Tim found the same pole we used last year and pounded it through the three tumbleweeds. Next, he got out two bottles of spray paint and covered the tumbleweed with it. 

I used two green ornaments for the eyes and wired them in place. Next I cut up, rearranged, and taped an old orange gift bag for the nose. I used red deco mesh for the smile and garland for the scarf. Then I took an old black scarf of mine that I never wore and made three big knots in it, which I hot glued right on the tumbleweed for the buttons. Tirzah donated an old hat of hers for Frosty and I attached it to the head with pipe cleaners. I thought Frosty looked pretty good!

The kids loved Frosty! They were so excited to have our own snowman. It's fun to watch the neighbors looking at our Frosty and Tim even saw the trash man take a picture of Frosty on his phone. Last year was the first time we made a tumbleweed snowman, and for some reason, I think Frosty is now a Larkly Christmas tradition.

Hope you all are enjoying the Christmas season!

Fall Pictures of the Larkly Kids!

On Thursday morning I looked out my kitchen window and noticed that leaves filled our entire backyard. It was true inspiration! I knew that was the day to be our fall picture day for the kids.

Acarith loves getting ready for pictures so that makes it easy for me. :)

Selah did a great job getting her pictures. As long as I told her she would get a treat for smiling, she did great! :)

Now this one was the challenge--getting both girls to smile and look at the camera at the same time! :) Seriously, I probably took at least 30 before I got this one!

Hardy is a natural at the whole picture process; he knows that if he does a good job he can be done in two minutes. :)

Tirzah is definitely a picture pro; she knows Mama won't rest until she gets some good pictures so even though she's not overly fond of getting her picture taken and re-taken, she cooperates to be done as fast as possible. :)

Seriously, I love these pictures!  

Ruth Ann Takes a Vacation to South Dakota!

I had the opportunity this past week to spend some time with my dear friend Laurie. Laurie and I were roommates for six years when we taught at a Christian school in Oregon, but haven't seen each other for 8 years! We met up at her parent's house in South Dakota and it was fun catching up and getting to know her husband Raymond and two kids, Rachel and Joel. With Laurie being a missionary to Mexico and me having four children, it's been hard for us to have a get together.

I had only spent two nights away from the kids ever so was unsure how it would all work out--but it did! Tim did a great job taking care of the kids! I am so thankful for a husband that not only gave me the okay to get away, but also really encouraged me to get away.

 

 

Rachel is seven (Hardy's age) and such a little sweetheart! I enjoyed getting to know her and fixing her beautiful hair; we had a great time together!

Joel is six and just an adorable, energetic little guy. He totally reminds me of my little Hardy and his little hugs were so sweet!

On Monday night, me, Laurie's family, and her parents drove to Custer to watch a football game that Caleb, Laurie's nephew, played in. It was also fun spending time with Matt and Wilma (Laurie's sister-in-law), and their other kids Hannah, Joshua, and Samuel. I got to sit by Joel and Wilma and it was cute watching Joel enjoy the game and fun catching up with Wilma.

This is Caleb. I have known him since he was just one year old and it is so thrilling to see him growing up and growing in the Lord. (I tried to post a picture of his sister and brothers but it didn't work. All of the kids are just so fun and sweet-spirited.)

Rachel and Joel were so cute and gave me the sweetest hugs; I think they helped me being away from my own family. Laurie and I spent hours and hours talking and I'm glad we were able to take the time to renew our friendship. It really was the perfect vacation!

 

Storybook Island

Since my camera is broken, and I guess I should add I don't have a smartphone :), I decided to post some photos from when we traveled last summer vacation. After we went to Mt. Rushmore, we went to a charming, Disney theme park called "Storybook Island" in Rapid City, South Dakota. The kids had an absolute ball! Not only was it a perfect place to take the kids, but we also loved the price--free! Well, we did spend a little bit, maybe $10?, on a carousel and train ride. Tim and I said that, at this point in our family's life, it was even better than a trip to Disneyland!

 

The kids all had fun looking in these silly mirrors.

A silly picture of Tim and Ruth Ann--Tirzah did a good job taking our picture!

The kids loved spinning around with Tim and begged him to go fast!

Having fun on the monkey bars.

It was fun to take the little train ride around the park.

We had such a good time on Monday and since we ran out of time to finish, we went back on Tuesday to explore the rest!

We are thankful to our friends Tom and Shelley Furse who let us stay with them in Rapid City on our vacation. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and also Storybook Island!

First Day of School!

You know it's the first day of school when Mama takes lots of pictures! :)

 

Right after this was taken, Hardy ate a big bite out of the apple. I said, "Hardy, Acarith hadn't posed with the apple yet!" He said, "Mama, apples are to be eaten not to be posed with!"

 

She has waited for this moment for a long time!

Of course, I had to get Selah in a set of pictures too! She knew something was up and felt a little left out but still had a very good morning!

We took Tirzah's old desk, painted it purple, gave it to Acarith, and moved it to her own room. It worked out very well and her room was actually a nice, quiet spot to do school. It also worked out well for Selah; she just hung playing toys in Acarith's room and didn't feel left out.   

Hardy loved his new teacher Mrs. Chappell! He also got a kick out of what Tim did to the remotes; Tim taped both of them to a paint stirring brush! Seriously, it is kind of a pain if we misplace a remote so I'm hoping this system will work!

Tirzah got a "new" desk from Habitat for Humanity; it is really nice and she loves how it's roomier than her old one. She thinks it so cool that she has two teachers--Miss Dabbelt and Mrs. Lenington. She also loved writing with a pen in her writing class!

While Hardy and Tirzah did their own Bible class, I taught Bible class to both Acarith and Selah. The girls loved it and Acarith said it was like "real school" when I got out my Bible story flashcards.

Acarith told me she enjoyed spending the extra time with me and can't wait for school tomorrow! I know it's going to be busier with the three of them in school, but I think we're off to a great start! 

Family Vacation!

My dad's side of the family last week had a Wilhelm family reunion in Colorado Springs. It was great to reunite with the whole family! I was especially glad for my kids to meet their relatives; since only Tim's grandma keeps in touch with us from his family, it was important my kids saw and met their aunts, uncles, and cousins. While we were planning the trip, Tim got the idea that since we were going to Colorado Springs that we should hit a couple of other fun places and visit some friends along the way.

The day after we arrived at in Colorado Springs, the whole family hiked "The Garden of the Gods." Everyone "oohed and aahed" over the red rocks and couldn't believe it when Tim and I told them we live just 15 minutes away from the spectacular red rocks in Sedona. 

After Colorado Springs we headed to Rapid City, South Dakota. The kids had a ball at Storybook Island. Seriously, the place is so charming! It had Disney themes all throughout and I must have taken about 50 pictures--no joke!--while we were there! I highly recommend the place if you have kids and are ever in the area. Did I mention it is free? :)

Monday night we made it to Mt. Rushmore and had the opportunity to see it at night with the lights show. Since Tim and the kids had never seen it before, it was fun to go. The kids really enjoyed the video about the making of it and the presidents, and asked all sorts of questions about it afterwards.  

Making our way back down, we stopped in Gilette, Wyoming, a town known for its mining industry. Here we are in a huge tire (13 ft. up?) and the kids enjoyed seeing the mine.

Our last stop was to see Focus on the Family back in Colorado Springs. We didn't get a chance to see it on the first part of our trip because it was closed for the July 4th holidays, so were glad we could see it on our way back. The kids absolutely loved the whole experience. The highlight was that our family was able to record our own Adventures in Odyssey story on cd! It was so cool--they give you a notebook with your part in it and you read it and then after you do the recording, they give you the cd--for free! 

And here's where I have to brag for a minute on Tirzah--I told the lady she would read for the part Jaime, a part that required lots of enthusiasm. The lady wasn't so sure Tirzah could do it and had her read a few lines to see. Tirzah read with great expression and the lady and sound man were amazed at not only her reading skill but her enthusiasm. After it was over with, the lady told me and Tim that Tirzah has a gift and that she should know since she has worked with hundreds of other kids!That was really neat for me--the homeschooling mother--to hear. :) 

We really had a great vacation! In one week we put 3,700 miles on the van and lots of memories in our family memory bank. I hope you are having a wonderful summer and are able to make beautiful memories with your family too!

Visiting Ruth Ann's Parents

In June I took the kids by myself to visit my parents in Sierra Vista. The road trip went so smoothly and we made the trip in 4 1/2 hours. It was great to be with mom and dad. Since we don't have a mall in Cottonwood, the kids really enjoying going to their mall and playing on the play structure, eating candy, and riding some rides!

Selah had a ball climbing on everything. It was fun to see her enjoying the whole playland experience. She is really growing up; absolutely refused to wear pull-ups for the trip, telling me she was a "big girl" now. She had no accidents and did great!

 

Tirzah and Acarith couldn't wait to play at Grandma and Boompa's mall. (Boompa is a name Tirzah called my dad when she was little and the name has stuck with all the kids!_

Hardy will tell you he's too big to watch Bob the Builder, but I guess he still must kind of like it since he wanted to ride "Scoop"!

The kids and I enjoyed going on a walk with my brother Jonathan and his dog Jewel. Behind them you can see my parent's house and our new van parked in front of it.

After we left my parent's house we stopped in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix, to visit my brother Stephen. He lives in a downstairs apartment and the kids enjoyed climbing and trying to climbing up the wall. It was fun we could all see him, even if it was just for a few hours.

We had a great trip! Since I had promised the kids we would visit my family this summer, it worked out great for us to see them in June.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer like we are!

Miscellaneous Pictures

A recent picture of me by my favorite photo prop--our family tree. Trees are a big deal here in Cottonwood, and we are blessed to not only have in our front yard six 50 ft. pine trees but also to have three big Mulberry trees in our backyard.

 

Hardy lately has been working on his handstands--and he's actually kind of getting it. I know his belly is showing, but I couldn't resist posting this!

At bath time Acarith informed me she wanted to do her hair. Twenty minutes later she came out of the bathroom looking like this! Didn't she do a good job? The barrettes didn't stay in for too long in her fine hair, but she was so proud of herself--and I was pretty proud too!

Selah has some new news--she is now potty trained! Last week we spent a few days working on it, and by the end of the third day she completely had it! Yay! Acarith told her, "Selah, now you're a big girl like sissy" (that's Acarith).  Acarith was so helpful and encouraging with Selah--honestly, I don't know if I could have done it without her! :)

On May 18th Tirzah finished school and Hardy finished on the 19th. Tirzah now is going into fourth grade and Hardy into second! By Thursday Hardy said he missed his teacher and classmates! To get them busy, I gave them shovels and they had a ball digging a big pit the whole afternoon. We had a wonderful school year; I really am thankful for the Abeka videos and the godly influence the teachers and students have on my kids.

We are all doing very well and really thankful it's summer!  

Hardy's Baptism!

Last year in August Hardy accepted Jesus as his Savior and the past few months has been talking about baptism. We finally set the date for April 19th, and it was perfect because his grandma, grandpa, and uncles could come up and be there for the ceremony. I took this picture of him with his sisters on Sunday morning before church.  

The last week Hardy was nervous about the baptism. He left junior church class to get dressed and said, "Mama, can you pray for me to not be nervous?"

After I prayed with him, I took this picture of us. By this time, everyone was waiting for him to arrive outside.

This is  a picture of my family ready to watch the baptism. From the back left-my brother Jonathan, Dad, brother Stephen, then from the front-Selah, Mom, Tirzah, and Acarith. It was nice we could all be together as a family. My mom has been having health issues and my older brother has been flying out of state for job interviews, so it was amazing we could all be together for the baptism.

Tim had the privilege of baptizing Hardy. The water was nice and warm from the baptismal heater, and later Hardy said he wished he could have "gone swimming in it."

This was really exciting for Hardy. He later told Tim, "I had a wonderful day today!"

Hardy has really grown spiritually this last year; he has consistently wanted to be a missionary. Last week I heard him ask one of our teenager guys at church, "Do you want to be a missionary with me?" Then he asked another older boy the same question a few days later. Just last Saturday at a party he asked his friend LJ, "How about we be missionaries together when we grow up?" :) I love his sweet spirit towards the mission field and would be thrilled if he did become a missionary one day.