Life in Texas

We are happily settled in our new home in Providence Village, Texas. The kids keep commenting as we walk around that it looks like Florida! It is a good thing to feel like you are at your vacation condo when you are walking around your home neighborhood.

The pools have been a big hit. We enjoy evening swims at the salt water pools and fun times on the weekend with Daddy at the water park pools. The question of the day usually is, "Which pool are we going to today?" There are two different pool complexes. One complex has chlorine water with water slides, sand area, kiddie pools, and a current pool. The other complex has 4 salt water pools with a water fall.

I've included videos from a recent evening swim. I tried to capture the ambiance of the waterfalls, lights, and salt water pool complex, but succeeded only in over-stepping the sidewalk. Watch and see. Ava is quite sure that both of the "tiny pools" are exclusively hers. Lincoln is swimming like a fish with the help of his life jacket and is very comfortable in deep water. Isaac and Stella get a good workout swimming around daily and are sleeping well at night. I'm enjoying some lap time and Rob throws the big kids around in the water to their great delight.

Ava enjoys listening to the Seitz violin concertos and insists that we play them over and over again. She plays along on her make-shift violin, aka wooden guiro. She senses the tempo and adjusts her "bowing" accordingly. It is one of her favorite pieces to dance to while Isaac is practicing as well.

We have a dedicated school room now. Our house has about the same living area as our Ann Arbor home with the finished basement, but it feels bigger due to the floor plan. It is so nice to set up school in a separate room with a door! It happens to be the sunroom with a tile floor and is perfect for the job. Ava and Lincoln can sit at the small picnic table while I work with Isaac and Stella at a larger, taller table. We are making great progress so far.

Lincoln has officially started "school" with daily lessons in math, reading, phonics, Bible, and penmanship. He also sits in on Latin, Spanish, and history lessons as well. He continues with piano lessons and has finished Twinkle A. I've included some videos of his lively preschool lesson time. He is a very enthusiastic student and appreciates motivational snacks in his classroom.

Summer Trip to Greenfield Village

In anticipation of leaving Michigan, we visited Greenfield Village very frequently this summer. Isaac and Stella have dipped enough bees-wax candles to light our dinner table for months and they have enough experience to do it on their own now. They are both sure that we need to find some beeswax and start dipping at home. Here's a short clip of visiting with Francesca.