Tag: around here

AROUND HERE: DECEMBER 2017

Around here we have been….

DRESSING WARM and bundling up for the season. The temperatures have dropped significantly over the past month. The ground is now covered in snow, and the thermometer  rarely reads in double digits. In fact, today it is foretasted that the high temperature will be -15! That’s not including wind-chill!

Despite the cold weather, {D} and {L} continue to make an effort to get outdoors and practice their football skills. They are forming a special bond over the sport, which is really fun to see. {D}s favorite is still kicking, while {L} enjoys throwing and catching best.

SINGING in celebration of our Savior’s Birth. {D} performed at Jingle Bells once again, both in a duet with a friend and with the school choir. You can listen to the performances HERE. It was a beautiful evening filled with music and talent, and all for a wonderful cause.

The rest of the kids participated in both the day school and Sunday School Christmas programs. Each of the day school kids had to remember quite a few lines for these programs. They did a wonderful job and it was fun to see them sharing the Christmas story together. {M}’s Preschool had its own program, which was adorable.



ENJOYING CHRISTMAS BREAK at home. We had such a wonderful, fun filled Christmas! With it being {K}’s first Christmas home, we wanted to make it extra special. The house was decorated in bright colors and accented with photos from our year and the special events that took place – including our trip to China to make her a part of our family. You can see all of our decorations in THIS POST.

We kept the gift giving very minimal for the kids again this year. With five little ones under the roof, they already have plenty of toys and games and actually tend to have the most fun playing with one another. We purchased each of them an activity book (paper airplanes, brain puzzles, seek and find, etc). The girls received some fun new things for their play kitchen, and the boys received micro brick sets. They are sort of like Legos, but smaller and more challenging. The largest gift of the season went to {I}, who finally got a ‘high performance’ drone.

REMINISCING on all that has happened in 2017 by watching our family videos. We are thankful that we started the new tradition this year of organizing our family photos and videos each week into mini ‘timeline videos’. Each year in the future, during Christmas break, we will take time to sit down as a family and relive the past twelve months. Since we started in July of 2017, we only have six months to review this year.

If you’d like to see these videos, and get a closer look at all that our family has been up to, you can see them on our YouTube Channel: ARROW HILL FAMILY.

Blessings to everyone for a happy and healthy 2018!

AROUND HERE: NOVEMBER 2017

Around here we have been…

CELEBRATING eleven years with {D}! What a fine young man he is becoming! He is still very obsessed with all things airplane, and we splurged a bit on his gift by buying him a flight lesson at our local airport. It includes half an hour of instrument instruction and half an hour of flight time. He is very excited to learn more about flying, but has decided to wait until the spring for his lesson – when the weather is better.

{D} is also still passionate about field goal kicking and continues to spend hours outside most days practicing his form. This video compilation shows just how far he has come over the past year. Another exciting milestone the big eleven year old reached was the retiring of his glasses for a pair of contacts! Though they were difficult for him to put in at first, he is now a seasoned pro. He feels much more free without worrying if his glasses will fall off or get broken when playing sports.



EXPRESSING our thankfulness for all that we have been blessed with. We celebrated Thanksgiving with extended family this past weekend and it was so great to catch up on all that has been going on in each other’s lives. The kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins as well.

PREPARING for the busy Christmas season. As part of our Thanksgiving celebration we exchanged presents. Angela, her mom, and two sisters were able to go on a little Black Friday shopping spree – lots of memories made.

{D} will again be performing for the annual ‘Jingle Bells’ telethon. He has a guitar/vocal duet with a friend from school and also joining the school choir for a couple of songs. The telethon seeks to raise money for families who are less fortunate in our community – to provide them with baskets full of food, toys and gift cards for Christmas. It is a wonderful event.

You can see a clip of {D}’s audition here.

The house is slowly starting to look festive for Christmas as well. The tree is now up and the kids had fun adding the lights and ornaments. Angela has posted about Christmas decor ideas here and here. Be sure to follow the blog if you would like to see photos of our home decorated for Christmas.



SADDENED by the loss of three of the feral kitten who have been living around the farmhouse. The mom cat also looks to be at the end of her life. While we aren’t completely sure what is going on, we are thinking that a virus of some sort has been spreading among them. We aren’t holding out too much hope for the two remaining kittens, one grey and one white – but we are making sure they have shelter, food and water. These two kittens are quite friendly and allow us to pet them on occasion. We have enjoyed watching them grow and will be so sad if they also pass away.

This is just a glimpse of what our family has been up to. If you’d like a closer look, be sure to check out our weekly ‘mini vlogs’ on our YouTube channel ARROW HILL FAMILY. Be well everyone!

AROUND HERE: OCTOBER 2017

Around here we have been…

WATCHING the change of the seasons. The weather the last few weeks has been absolutely gorgeous. Fall in the Midwest is one of the most beautiful scenes to behold. The leaves slowly turned bright colors, then fell to the ground. The temps are now dipping and we experienced our first bit of snowfall, although it melted quickly.

LEARNING new things. The older two boys and Craig have started taking Greek lessons, and are enjoying the challenge. Even though they need to wake up early on Wednesday mornings for their class, they are not deterred.

{K} and {L} are both working on their reading skills. It has been fun to see their grasp of vocabulary blossom. {L} has even taken to writing books of his own!

{M} is getting into the groove of preschool, and has been bringing home plenty of art projects that showcase the fun she has been having! She has made some new little friends, which has been wonderful.



PLAYING outside. As the weather cools down we are taking advantage of every spare moment we can before the deep freeze sets in. The girls really got a kick out of the fallen leaves, and labored over making them into piles that they could jump into.

There is also plenty of dune buggy riding going on. Craig even gets in on that action!

Even though the football season is now officially over, {D} continues to show his dedication to kicking and can be seen in our yard most days practice his form.



DRESSING up for Halloween! We went with a minion theme this year, which was pretty fitting. Many times Craig and I feel over-run by the chaos these little people exude, but we are so blessed by them!

DECORATING for the season. Angela has had a lot of fun this season getting the house festive. She has been pulling bits from nature to make decorative table centerpieces.

This is just a glimpse of what our family has been up to.  If you’d like a closer look, be sure to check out our weekly ‘mini vlogs’ on our YouTube channel ARROW HILL FAMILY.

Be well everyone!