Carmen talking

Girls' Soccer

Turi and Bitsu played soccer this fall and here are their videos. They had a great time and really liked their team. I thought 2 days/week wouldn't be a big commitment but whew! we are glad it's over and glad for the experience.

Random shots

Here's some more fun things to look at. I found a pair of rollerblades at Goodwill for $5 and here's Turi learning to use them. I had no idea they could be so dangerous!
We have a friend in town that we used to live with in Bangladesh. She brought each of the girls "ornas", which is the piece of material used to cover your head or chest. Turi has learned how to make a burka out of hers. Last but not least is some cute pics of Carmen and our cat Ellie deciding that the bouncy seat is the perfect spot for a nap!

Raking Leaves

Here's the girls having a fantastic time beneath our oak tree. It's one of the few oak trees in the neighborhood since everything is pretty much pine.

Carmen

Here's some more pics of Carmen. People haven't seen him for awhile. He has lost the masses of brown hair he had and now is getting in a lot of blonde. We'll see if it'll darken or not.

Now, permanently off meds, he has settled into a routine. He has a hard time sleeping his first nap of the day, sleeps pretty well the rest of the day, sleeps really well on his 8-11 shift and 11:30-3:00 shift and his worst hours are 4-6 where his reflux really bothers him and he moans and whimpers a lot. Thank God he's not a crier! He rarely crys and I am very grateful!

Houseboats and Halloween

So, this weekend, I (Janna) took the girls and Carmen on the girls' retreat. All the girl students who are involved in Lifelines were invited out to a houseboat for the weekend. A generous donor had made it available and so 23 of us loaded onto a 3 bedroom boat. It was a bit cramped but so much fun. Curt was part of the guy weekend where a bunch of students were taken to Utah for a men's time. They also had a great time.
The girls and I shared a "room" in which there was just a double bed. When I say just a bed, I mean just a bed. No floor space. So, sleeping sideways, we managed to fit all five of us on the bed. That first night was rough since I was getting pushed around by Turi on one side and trying not to smother Carmen on the other.
We invited a lady to come in a give a series of talks and the rest of the time we just hung out. I got to know some of the students a lot better and it was a really sweet time. We had two girls come who haven't come to anything else before. They have a bit of church background but not much. I got to drive them home and it was good getting to know them and hear how the Lord had moved in their lives over the weekend.
Our girls had a blast. They love hanging out with people and are not at all shy. They experienced their first boat, first sand, first jet ski ride and first open water swimming all in one weekend. I can't tell you how much fun they had. They loved playing with sand and Bitsu (of course) spent hours creating things. They loved swimming and Turi (of course) did some laps and raced college students around. And they absolutely loved the jet ski. Tihi got up to 20 miles an hour (for those of you who don't know, that's pretty slow), Bitsu to about 30 and Turi had me go up to full blast. It was fun just getting to have fun with them outside of our usual school and home routine.
Carmen did great. Both nights he slept pretty well and I didn't really have to worry about him waking up everyone else on the boat. He was his usual cute self. Speaking of sleeping, he slept "through the night" last night! Yesterday, he was six weeks. I put him down after nursing at 11:30 and he didn't wake up until 4:30 and it was only because he was struggling with reflux. He ate and went right back down until I woke him at 7. Awesome.

Bitsu Bobbing for Apples

Birthdays and Parties

So, it was Bitsu's birthday on Friday. She had a great day, minus having to do school all morning. She got to go to an art show in the afternoon and was the only one who enjoyed it out of her sisters. She loves art. She came home and we made pizza for dinner and she got to make her own cupcakes. She ate one for lunch and 3 after dinner and saved two for another time. Very economical. She also got to open presents all day and can't decide if her favorite is the Etch-A-Sketch from Grandma H or the baby doll from Grandma B. She is now 8.
The next day was a harvest party put together by all the homeschooling moms. The girls got to do so many new things they've never done before. They got their faces painted, rode horses, tried apple cider, petted a pony, bobbed for apples and some other fun things. They had a great time and I think liked the horses the best. We've already bought pumpkins to carve and they can't wait.