Ezekiel is NINE!

 Happy 9th Birthday Ezekiel Dekker! 

I cannot believe you are halfway "through" childhood. It makes me want to cry because I can't imagine you being away from home, but I'm also happy for you because these years with you are so very good. Since I'm typing this up on your actual birthday, we're going to start off with your birthday interview! 

Birthday Interview - 1/27/2021

What is your favorite color? Red and blue and purple 

... food? Ice cream, no, pizza! 

... movie? Frozen II

... TV show? Dino-trux

...book? Let me think about that one... all books! I don't have a favorite. 

...fruit? Pears (said with expression, more like "peeeeeaaaarrrrs)

...animal? Penguins! 

...thing to do every day? Play

... thing to learn? Science

... about Naomi? That I can cuddle her sometimes. 

... about Zoë? That we have fun together. 

... about Levi? That he sleeps in my bedroom, in our bedroom. 

... Mommy? That she plays songs for me. 

... Daddy? That he got my fish tank stuff! 

What do you want to be when you grow up? An engineer. 

What do you like most about homeschooling? Science

Is there anything else you want to remember about turning 9? No. 

Zeke, you are a thoughtful, kind boy. As you say, "I love, love." Which is funny to me, but true, you love hugs, snuggling, and sitting on Daddy's lap, even now. You have become a much better reader in the past year. You enjoy putting together puzzles. You enjoy CrossFit-- you are currently taking your second, 6 weeks of kid classes. You can build/see thing in your mind and make them happen with your blocks/marble tracks/legos, whatever material you are building with. You like to experiment when you play piano. You'll practice your songs, then you'll transpose your songs into different keys to see how they sound. I love that you sit down and just try things to see how it sounds. You've been receiving Think Outside boxes this year and have collected quite a slew of equipment for your backpack! Some of your favorites are your flint and steel, the repair kit, and the newest box which gave you a long rope and lots of instructions for tying different types of knots. You have begun 2 finger knitting, and are currently working on knitting 2 strands of yarn at the same time. We have employed your skills to make us a door sock to keep some of the cold air out! You are getting your own aquarium {Pictured above} for your birthday this year! You set it up yesterday! It is so colorful and fun. You got to pick out your own decorations and colors of gravel and I think it turned out really cool! Today when Daddy and I take you out for your birthday lunch, you'll be picking out your fish. 

Gosh, apparently when you have younger siblings, it is hard to get a picture of you alone! These were about the only two in the past 3 months! 

Well I'm going to make this short and sweet so I can get it posted! Ezekiel, you bring joy and fun and music and thinking and growth to our family. You are getting a bit more responsibility these days with your own Relay "phone" and you are proving trustworthy so far. I cannot wait to see all the ways you grow and mature in this coming year. I am proud to be your Momma. Happy 9th Birthday! Love, Momma 

Levi is SEVEN!

 Levi Olin, you are 7 years old! On your birthday this year, you picked out your very own pet -- a leopard gecko! 

You were so disappointed when Daddy told you Pet-topia didn't open until 10 AM. You thought that they should be up and open by 7 am! :) But when Daddy explained that Chris (the owner) has to feed all the pets and check on them before the store could be open, you were more understanding. You held a couple of geckos and decided this one was the best fit for you! You have named him Sapphire (for some reason you had a whole list of gem related names picked out?!) and we are calling him "him" for now as you cannot distinguish gender until geckos are closer to 2 years old. We've given Sapphire the birthday of August 17, 2020. You picked out a purple plant for decoration and since Christmas have also received a couple of gifts for his terrarium -- a green, vine plant and a reptile hammock. He has quite the set-up. You make sure we feed him and try to hold him everyday. And last night he climbed up your arm! He is definitely getting more comfortable with you. 

You began 1st grade this year and have been learning addition, letter sounds and phonics, studied the artist Whistler and the composer Haydn, Spanish, the 50 states, listening to stories about the Middle Ages, listening to tons of audio books on the Hoopla app through the KCK library {this program is awesome!}, taken nature hikes and done some journaling, learned to bake Viking bread {you recently asked to make this again}, colored pictures to help you remember our family ways {a family devo we're completing together}, learned 5 hymns, plus more worksheets and other activities! You are a good student. Math is your slowest subject, not so much because you don't understand but because you want to work through each problem slowly and thoroughly in order to always produce the correct answers. You love science and learning about animals and nature! You love physical activity and ride your bike regularly, like to kick the soccer ball, throw the frisbee, toss the football, play tag, and participate in Jiu Jitsu once a week. You're getting stronger and have no problem keeping up on our family hikes even when they're more than 2 miles!You enjoy listening to your playlist on Spotify and playing drums when we do our worship time together on Sunday mornings. 

You have a strong sense of justice and fairness in every capacity. Sometimes it is a gift, other times a curse. But we will continue to work with you to make it a strength in your life because it can indeed be a blessing and a driving force to shape your life and what you choose to do. You are a great helper! You vacuum the rug every day, help clean the table off after every meal, enjoy baking, sometimes let the chickens out in the morning, sweep and mop, do odd jobs as I ask for them, and have become quite a responsible boy! 

Birthday Interview -- December 29, 2020

What is your favorite color? Purple 

...movie? "Croods 2" {We took him to see this at the theaters on 12/21 for his birthday!}

... tv show? "Scooby Doo" 

... book? the books from the library about leopard geckos. 

... fruit? Grapes 

... animal? "It's two things. Cheetah and a bull. It's a leopard gecko, I mean." 

... thing to do everyday? "Play a game. And eat breakfast." :) 

... about Naomi? "That she's kind." 

... about Zoë? "I like coloring with her." 

... about Zeke? "That we build together." 

... about Mommy? "That we get to hold my leopard gecko." 

... about Daddy? "Fishing." 

What do you want to be when you grow up? "I don't know. That's a tricky one... what I really want to be is a smoke jumper but I don't know if I really want to do that." 

What do you like most about homeschooling? "That I get to learn math." 

What is your favorite food? "Reubens" 

Levi, it is a joy to be your Momma. You are intense, strong, and dependable! I love sharing some of our favorite things together -- music, baking, animals, nature, and physical activity! I cannot wait to see the way your life unfolds and all the things you will do! I look forward to sharing this eighth trip around the sun together and all this next year holds for you and your family! Love, Momma 

 

  

October Memories

 October, in pictures. 

- While the boys were up in NE with Mimi, Jeremiah and I took the girls out to dinner at Red Robin. Followed by a dusk stroll at Amity Woods trail which was lots of fun! 

- A few days later we had finally gathered all the ingredients to make our first batch of soap! We made carrot and calendula soap. We had to wait until November 8 for it to cure, but we are finally using it and it's very nice! 

- Afternoon hike at Green Hills of Platte Wildlife Refuge with our friend, Zelda. 

- Morning hike with our Wild+Free group at Maple Woods Natural Area. 

- I, unexpectedly, spent many days up in Lincoln, NE visiting Mom in the hospital. On the days I couldn't be in the room (due to Co-Vid restrictions) I spent some of my hours here at this beautiful lake, Holmes Lake.  

- Naomi got off her cast!! 

- 13th Annual Caramel Apple Party! 

- Zoë got to wear her Halloween costume to dance the Wednesday before Halloween :) 

- On Halloween day we went to Red Barn Farm for the Restore Family Fun Day! We rode ponies, went through a corn maze (Zeke has been waiting years to do one!), ate lunch, served lunch, the girls went on a hayride, and we painted and decorated pumpkins! 

- Later that evening, Pop-Pop arrived from CO and we went trick-or-treating! 

October went very little like we planned, but we still made many good memories and enjoyed the beautiful Fall weather!