~ by Rubia
We
have been enjoying a beautiful and active spring this year in Oklahoma! It’s
hard to believe we’re less than a month away from our end-of-school vacation to
Virginia! It’s also hard to believe we’ve only been here for 9 months, yet have
done so much, made many great friends, and are making good memories. We feel
very blessed!
This
post contains pictures from Roma’s camera roll, so these activities were ones
that involved her and me; however there were things that the others recently
did without us that I do not have pictures from. For example, Dad went on a
business trip to Minneapolis, and Bianca and Ben went on a trip to Texas.
Perhaps y’all will see posts from them soon about what they’ve been up to. J
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This is a picture from
Easter Sunday. Roma dyed these eggs.
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The siblings on Easter
Sunday. We enjoyed a breakfast fellowship at our church called the “Love Feast”
with communion and worship.
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A few weeks later Roma
and I were invited to a birthday party by a friend from youth group. She turned
13, and is a very sweet girl with a very creative family that threw what Roma
and I called, “A pinterest type of party.” J They had a perfect
back porch and yard with adorable decorations and *really incredible* homemade
chocolate cake with strawberry frosting. We enjoyed seeing other friends from
church there and playing fun games that afternoon.
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The dessert table.
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Look at the cute décor
and bright colors! The birthday girl is in the blue shirt closest to the
camera.
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We learned “The trash
can game” at youth group and have had fun with it. J
You gather with your friends around a trash can, and then try to pull each other
to touch the can and get each other out. The last person to touch the can wins.
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Y’all,
guess what?!! We finally built a chicken coop and purchased 6 chicks!!
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Dad and Josiah worked
on the coop together. Now we have an adorable bright red chicken coop!
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Next Dad will build a
run for them. Right now our 2-week-old chicks are in the garage and doing well!
We did have to return 2 that died and one injured, sadly. We’re not sure why
they died. They were replaced at no charge. We love having our 2 Black
Australorps, 2 Silver Wyandottes, and 2 Buff Orpingtons to cuddle with every
day. J This family of egg-eaters is excited for
future eggs as well!
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Had to put in a
property picture. We’ve so enjoyed the recent gorgeous days and our property
out here.
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Roma and I have had the
privilege of serving a couple of times in the kid’s ministry at church. We look
forward to continued involvement! We love working with kids. This class has
kids about 4-6 years of age. Miss Shawna is the teacher and does an amazing job
with them!
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Bianca and Ben have
been enjoying their involvement in the college ministry at church. Since our
church is in a college town, they’ve had the opportunity to make lots of new
friends. A few Sundays ago some of them came to hang out and play basketball at
our house. Of course Josiah joined them.
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There’s hardly ever a
lack of adventure around here. This big tree looked healthy on the outside, but
was actually rotted inside and took us by surprise when it fell over the
driveway one windy morning. Thankfully, it came down moments before Bianca and
Ben were driving there on their way to work…and just before Roma and I returned
from our run. God is good! Everyone was safe and no damage was done to
anything—the tree just missed the cottage workshop, and the chicken coop.
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Now
you get to hear about the HEARTS homeschool co-op! It had been years since we were
involved in a homeschool group, and never had we tried a co-op before. But
Oklahoma is a very homeschool-friendly state with lots of opportunities for
homeschoolers. The HEARTS co-op meets weekly during most of the school year at
a church close to us. They offer classes that are mostly fun, extra-curricular
types, with opportunities to fellowship with other homeschool families. I am so
glad we joined for the Spring semester. We loved it so much and look forward to
next school year! Josiah especially had a blast and will get to be a part of it
for years to come, Lord willing! Since he graduated from 6th grade
this Spring, he got to be part of the graduation ceremony!
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I did an art class with
these sweet girls and painted my first gourd. There were some awesome creations!
The class was unique because while painting was a part of it, perhaps the
bigger part was talking with each other, getting to know one another and
sharing lots of stories!
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This class of little
ones does the Five-In-a-Row curriculum. Roma loved working with these kids over
the last semester!
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Roma and I participated
in the drama class and had a lot of fun! We had a big, all-girls class with lots
of silliness and laughs! On the last day of co-op, we did a short, funny play.
Here Roma (as Katie Lean) is interviewing a mermaid.
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I was more than just
Elsie the cow from Jack and the Beanstalk…I was a Chick-fil-A cow!! J
(That was, at this moment, an unhappy protestor.)
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On
the weekend before the last co-op meeting, the co-op’s secretary and her family
hosted their annual end-of-the-year party at their barn & ranch! This was our
first time going out there and we had a blast!
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The Barn at Gooseneck
Bend.
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Bianca and Ben were in
Texas during this event, so it was Mom and Dad and the rest of us kids. (We
were the only ones involved in the co-op anyway.) Pictured here are my lovely
parents. Dad enjoyed sitting near the John Deere tractor! J
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| They had a great barn with a dance floor. I thought the Daddy-Daughter dancing to the left was cute. J |
Later,
after eating barbecue for dinner, one of the girls asked me, “Do you like
dancing?” To which I responded, “Well yes, I did ballet for a couple of years.”
But she actually meant barn dancing. I need to do that more! I remember doing
it once in our barn in Texas with some friends. I was glad at this moment that
I had already learned the Virginia Reel!
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Getting started! I was
learning slowly…but had a great time! It got way better with the Virginia Reel.
I believe here we’re trying to do Cotton-Eye-Joe. It had been awhile since I’d
done that one.
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While those were two of
the “barn dances” we did, we also stopped at one point for an 80’s throwback
and did YMCA. J
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Part of our drama class
had to get a dramatic picture. (Or two or three.)
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Huge bonfire to end the
party!
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The next weekend was
the graduation ceremony at co-op for the graduating kindergarteners, 6th
graders, and seniors!
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The band was youth-led
by the praise and worship class! We’ve got some musical talent amongst these
homeschoolers.
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Our 6th
grade graduate with Mom! (Dad was in Minneapolis.) So proud of Josiah and
excited to see how God will use him in the future as he continues to learn and
develop his skills. 7th grade, here we come!
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The siblings.
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The
next weekend (coming now the end of April) we drove about two miles down our
road to the church where Josiah’s basketball coach preaches. They hosted their
annual Echo Knights basketball banquet to celebrate the end of the season.
Awards and basketball cards with each player’s picture were also given out. The
Echo Knights sure had an amazing season! The middle school boys (Josiah’s team)
finished undefeated this season for the first time in Echo Knights history. So
thankful that JoJo had this opportunity to be a part of it and make great
friends and memories.
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Josiah and his buddies
holding up their basketball cards.
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Roma
and I spent the next day (Saturday) babysitting our adorable neighbor kids for
a second time. We had a wonderful day with Z and L! Josiah was also helpful
because he is close to Z’s age and could come play with him. They’ve become
good friends since we’ve moved here.
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Helping L skate on the
driveway.
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And
that wraps up the highlights of April! So thankful for the milestones, moments,
and memories all in just this past month. God bless y’all!
