Especially for Aunt Lauren

So.....it's been awhile. And I was kindly reminded of that fact by Aunt Lauren (who happens to be my sister in law, but is known to us all by Aunt Lauren). And since the kids are playing outside right now, I thought it would be a good time to update our poor little blog for the people who faithfully check it and are disappointed 99% of the time.....even though I'm on my first paragraph and I've already applied three bandaids and been interrupted multiple other times for things like a piece of paper and to straighten out a skirt -- this is why I don't bother with it!

Thankfully, the camera can reminds me what we've done over the last five (WOW!) months!

We bought a house....

which we're very excited about. It makes us feel a little more settled. We've been saving to buy the kids a swingset for FOUR years -- and for the first time, we have a place where we can put it! Previously, we've known we were going to move soon or been renting. It's a joy to see them playing outside without worrying (as much!) about their safety.

Two days after we moved in, we drove to Ohio...

 

to watch two sweet friends get married. Noah, Abby and Luke were all in the wedding. They were so precious! Abby was convinced for months leading up to it that it was her wedding. And she still talks about her wedding.

Since we were in Ohio anyway, we spent a week and a half seeing friends and supporters. It was a wonderful time of reconnecting with old friends....and making a few new friends along the way!

 

 After we returned to Florida, we began unpacking and finding a place for everything.

Soon after, we had our first visitors!

Great Grandpa Jobe and Uncle Matthew came down for a visit to celebrate Grandpa's 80th birthday. We visited the aquarium...

and the beach...

The boys even went on a very successful deep sea fishing trip!

We spent the rest of the summer swimming...

 playing at the fountains....

playing dress-up...

 

We did whatever we could to stay cool!

 

We celebrated our summer birthdays. Abby turned four.

 



and Noah turned six.

 

 We had our annual Jobe family vacation at the end of summer. This year we went to the (chilly!) White River in NW Arkansas.

 

(There's Aunt Lauren!)

 

 

After returning to Florida, and getting settled back in, we began the new adventure of homeschooling!

 

 

 



The kids LOVE it! It's a joy to see them learning and growing. They are becoming sweet friends with one another. There were a lot of uncertainties when we began, but so far, it's been far more rewarding than we had even imagined!

Noah is in kindergarten. His favorite is math which he's doing exceedingly well in! The curriculum we chose includes lots of books which has also been wonderful. Abby is learning her letter sounds and practicing counting. She's so excited to learn how to read! Even Julia joins us! She's learning her letters (alongside Abby studying phonics). She also plays lots of homemade games -- practicing her fine motor skills, sorting, patterning, and other things like that.

One of the best parts of educating the kids at home has been Bible study. We just started Exodus -- it's been a great learning experience for ALL of us!

That should bring you up to date on our lives. We're enjoying all the fall activities and greatly anticipating the arrival of cooler weather! The Lord has been abundantly good to us in every way! Thank you for checking in on us!