Another 2 weeks have gone by.....

Geesh! What has gotten into me???? Oh wait.....I am busy with my kids during the day and there is really not anything exciting going on in this household these days. School, church, volleyball, voice lessons, piano lessons. and just the busyness of life in general. Have left me literally EXHAUSTED!!! We are getting set to go camping one last time this up coming weekend. Except this time we are renting a nice size cabin (spending the extra money to have some fun together as a family) and heading out Friday afternoon and returning Monday around lunch time. The kids are excited to stay in a cabin that has a bathroom and beds to sleep in. We are staying down in Inwood, IA at a campground called Inspiration Hills. It is going to be a great time. We are planning on bringing games for the whole family to play, my kids have gotten hooked on this game called Payday that I had as a kid (this game is OLD, copyright is 1975.....they LOVE IT)!!!! We will be bringing the kids' bikes so that we will still be able to bike/walk. The weather should be fairly decent for the weekend. Cold at night but that is what the cabin is for. I am planning on taking my camera and taking TONS of pictures. Jason and I will celebrate 11 years of marriage on Saturday the 3rd so we wanted to do something together as a family and we wanted to camp one more time this season so we decided to go the extra mile and get a cabin instead. It will be a mini home away from home. I will post pics hopefully next week but none the less we are excited. We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Just working around the house trying to get the shed completed before winter. The siding is slowly going up a little at a time but it will be done before the snow flies, which the way it is feeling the last couple of days should be soon......UGH!!!
Yesterday we had 2 picnics to go to at the same time. That was a treat. We split our time between both and we are soooooo glad that we did. The first picnic was held by the pastor of the church that we are attending now and it was for new people. We went to meet the senior pastor and his family and some of the others in the church. It was such a blessing! The pastor's wife.....get this.....homeschools her kids and we had met at a mom's meeting back in May......no wonder she looked familiar!!!! It is AMAZING how God has put it all together for us! The other really cool thing is that the pastor and his wife are really good friends with the former pastor of the church that we left. That was cool to find that out. It was just nice to be able to meet the pastor and talk face to face with him. Very nice, down to earth, easy to talk to guy and his wife is totally cool cuz.....well she homeschools her kids!!!! What is better than that!!! Then it was off to our new friends Paul and Anita for the neighborhood potluck! It was so much fun to meet neighbors that we hadn't previously met. Met a couple that live just around the corner from us, they have 2 small girls. Way cool! It was almost 9pm before we got home last night. Good thing that the kids are homeschooled and have a pretty lienent schedule! Not sure we would have stayed out so late last night otherwise....but it was such a great Sunday and such a blessing. God has shed a lot of light on things for us here and we just know that where we are at is where he has us for a reason. It is so cool how it has all come full circle for us! Okay well I suppose, I have to get a kid to volleyball practice! Until next time, have a wonderful week!

Cathi

Okay so again it has been awhile....

Gosh, golly gee! Where in the world does time go? I have some down time right now while the kids finish up lunch chores and then go outside for some "recess" time and then back in to finish up the "school" day! It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Life has been clicking right along and our children are adjusting BEAUTIFULLY!!!! I am always excited to see them get excited about things with school, but also frustrated when they don't "get" something that I think is so simple. That is where my patience comes in, patience that I lack so much! I am praying about it and hoping that God will show me it soon!!!! After much thoughts, praying and struggles with our church situation we have finally landed at a church we feel will grow and stretch us more as individuals and as a family unit. The children are in AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed 2 Timothy 2:15) at this church, this is a program that I have wanted my kids in for a long, long time. I had this as a kid and I found it to be a great program. Writing scripture on your heart and living it out in your daily life is very critical to the Christian walk. I see that holding true with my kids as we work daily on our memory verses. It is fun to see the excitement in their eyes when they have finally memorized a particular verse. We talk about the memory verse and as we really get going we are going to also take it a step further and figure out how we can "live it out" in our day to day lives. We are listening to the New Testament on CD everyday in our schooling and the kids are always excited to listen to someone else read scripture. I am amazed at the things taking place in our household. God is here and He is in the midst of each day! We still struggle and we still have our fighting moments but we are working through them daily. I am excited to see what He does with this family over the course of this school year! It is always something new daily.
This past weekend we had the opportunity to go camping with new friends. I can't even begin to describe our weekend with them. It was AMAZING how God has brought our families together! This is both our first year homeschooling our kids. They have 3 kids, we have 4. Their older two are the same age as Mikayla and Colby and their youngest is 2 years younger than Keara. Great Christians, and I know that there is a reason that God placed this family in our lives. Our kids got along and had such a blast together even though they have never been together before. Our husbands have LOTS in common and the cool part: they only live 4 miles from us. YEAH!!!! We had some bible time around the campfire Sunday morning and then a discussion and then prayer. What an awesome experience to be in the wide open and feeling God's presence. Our oldest daughter was a completely different person all weekend. She hung out with the adults, played games with the adults and had a totally different personality! I was in awe of this new person. She was the most wonderful, awesome, personable, engaging young lady. She played bean bags and crochet with the adults, hung around the campfire with the adults and yes she did even play with the kids. It was cool to watch her. Anyway....life is busy as usual! Volleyball is in full swing, voice lessons for Briana just started last week and she is loving them, AWANA is underway and the kids are loving that. Piano lessons are underway and I am enjoying them. I placed an ad this week for more students so we will see what the Lord does with that. I am not worried about it any longer. What He does is up to Him, I will follow His lead. If it is His will, I will get more students, if it is NOT His will, I will not get more. Either way....it is up to Him and I have to be okay with whatever He brings my way! For now.....that is all.....busy, busy, busy! But I wouldn't want it any other way.....

my goodness.....

it has been a few weeks since my last posting. Today's posting is going to be short but hopefully will be able to post later in the week with some pics from our AWESOME weekend. Life is plugging along in the Bottelberghe household. We are still trying to iron out tweeks in our schooling, but each day does seem to get easier. The kids are loving the relaxed schedule, with the exception of my youngest child, who is still adement that she is going to go to BIG SCHOOL!!!! Hopefully that will change soon, the other 3 have told me they DO NOT want to go back to school! YEAH!!! So anyway....even though this is SO HARD, I wouldn't trade it for the world, and while we have good days, really good days, bad days and REALLY BAD DAYS, I know that this is exactly where I am suppose to be! I started teaching piano lessons last week again. And until we get into the swing of that, money is VERY VERY VERY tight right now. We have been dipping into our savings to get by the last month and a half. Thankfully I have 4 students so that will help once that gets rolling on a regular basis. Every little bit helps. LifeLight was this weekend and it was a glorious time as usual! Love the fact that we can hear great music and also hear great messages of what God is doing and how He is working in people's lives! I have some good pics so I will be posting those soon. Today we have family coming over to help get the finishing touches on the shed that we are building so that we can finally have a garage back. This coming weekend, we are hopefully going to be able to go camping one last time this year with a family who live about 3 miles from us and also homeschool there children. God has placed this woman in my life for a reason and I am forever grateful for that. This is both our first year as a homeschoolers. Her two oldest boys are the same age as Mikayla and Colby and her daughter is a couple of years younger than Keara. We are excited to not only go camping but to also hang out with some new friends. Briana is getting into the swing of volleyball and is enjoying that! Doesn't miss the school but does miss her friends. She will start voice lessons this week and she is very excited for that to start. Her voice teacher is a homeschooled graduate and a college graduate with her music degree. I am excited for her also. Church activities get under way this week, and I am super excited for that to start, excited to see what God has in store for my kids this coming year! Not only for the younger 3 but for Briana also as she embarks into youth group! God is going to do some AMAZING things in this family over the next several months and I can't wait to see how it all unfolds!!! Anyway....better get off the computer! Have a wonderful Labor Day and God Bless each and every one of you!!!!

Cathi

Fun in the sun....

Last Saturday (8/8) we were invited to Lake Hendricks by Jason's boss Bob and his wife Jeanette to go skiing, tubing on the lake. What a good time we all had even if the day didn't start out very favorable. It was extremely foggy and a little on the cool side, even though the weather had called for sunny, hot and humid weather for the day! We were able to get on the lake around 10:30 or so and wow it was such a good time. Colby even attempted to try skiing, the first one to volunteer! We were so proud of him, even though he was never able to get up on the water, we were still proud that he was willing to give it a try! Briana also attempted to ski and for never have been on them she faired well also. She almost had it! I also attempted to get up on skiis. Haven't been on them since the summer before my senior year (1992), yes it has been a long time. It was fun trying even if I was never able to get up either. Then we swan in the lake for awhile and then the kids got to go tubing! They enjoyed that! The kids enjoyed themselves immensely! I can't believe how nice it was just to hang out and not do anything but have a nice relaxing time on the lake, away from home for a little while! I am posting pics from the day! Enjoy! We are almost done with week 2 and we are still surviving! Each day gets easier and easier and we are slowly working into a schedule! Still trying to work out curriculum kinks but that will come with time (I hope). Anyway....here are the pics from our adventure last weekend. Thank you so much for inviting us Bob and Jeanette, we had such a great time!

Cathi

Heading to the lake


Colby getting ready to ski (the water was a bit cold at first).


Getting used to the water.....brrrr......


Getting ready


Getting the skis on


Ready to go...smile for the camera buddy!


Showing Colby what he needs to do...(unfortunately Jason didn't get any pics of Colby trying to ski) :(


Me attempting to ski now...thankfully Jason didn't get any pics of me trying..would have been a site to see ;)


Briana's attempt at skiing...getting her ready


Almost had it......


Almost again.....


Swimming and horsing around in the water before tubing.....






Colby and Briana tubing together.....




Me and Keara tubing together.....(Keara's face is priceless) LOVE IT!!!!




Mikayla and Briana tubing together.....





What a blast the whole day was! The kids had so much fun, as you can tell by their facial expressions throughout the pics but not only that Jason and I had fun right along with them. I hope you enjoyed the pics!

First week down....

I can hardly believe that we have 1 week of school down already! Holy cow, it just FLEW by! We are SLOWLY settling into a routine, a strange one at that. But it is SO MUCH fun to work one on one with little ones and watch as they try to process something or not process it. I am watching Colby making big strides in reading (we have gone back to the basics and started over). That is his goal this year is to learn to read! Briana will be teaching Keara phonics, letter reconginition, shapes, colors and all that stuff that they learn in Kindergarten! Most days this week we have been done by 10 or so. Right now we are only learning Language Arts and Math. Starting pretty basic until September, then we will add in Science and History. Today we did do some Creation study! Got some nice books from the library on the story of Creation and we also read the first chapter in the book of Genesis. It was fun to talk about everything God created each day and what He did on the 7th day. Am hoping to teach like this throughout the year where I can take their history lessons back to the Bible. So for now it is working and I am working through my lesson plans. I have 2 kids' plans written for the next 6 weeks, just have to work on the little ones today and this weekend and be totally ready for a full blown week next week. For the most part, the kids have enjoyed it! Keara has gotten a little whiny here and there but nothing I can't handle. They have all started piano lessons again and we have implemented practice time in their school day, so by afternoon, if they are all done with their school work, they can play!!! YEAH!!! So we have enjoyed it, there have been days that the kids have tested me beyond belief, but I wouldn't trade this new role for ANYTHING!!!!! Have a blessed and wonderful weekend!

Cathi

We survived!

First day of school down, 179 some left to go! Ha,ha! It is going to be an interesting school year. We have some major tweeking to do to the schedule but I know with a little patience and some perseverence we can do it! Need to find some happy mediums when it comes to working with each kids individually, but that will come the more we do it! This morning is park time, where we meet with other homeschoolers at the park and the kids play and the moms talk, so we will have a small school time this morning and then hit the books again this afternoon. I am trying to keep the kids' afternoons free for rest, reading and play....but if we don't get anything accomplished in the morning, the we will have to school in the afternoon. That may be the way I have to work it with Briana and Mikayla. Give them free time in the morning and I work with Colby and Keara in the morning. Oh I have no idea what I am doing, still learning this whole thing myself. Each day is something new. Briana made carrot cake last night for dessert, all by herself. It was AWESOME!!!! I took pics so I will post them with this entry. Very impressed that she took it all on herself. She called my cell and asked me to pick her up 2 jars of carrot baby food so I did. I had to run into the dentist and then get milk afterward so I was at Wal-Mart at just the right time for her. Glad she is stepping up and wanting to do stuff like that. Pretty proud of my teenager!!! She isn't like most teenagers today! She has her moments, but don't we all???? Well I better get those pics posted and get my kids up for another school day! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Cathi

Filled to the brim......

with anxiety! I can hardly believe that the day has arrived for us to venture down the road less traveled! While I am excited for this new adventure, I am TOTALLY SCARED OUT OF MY MIND!!!!!!!!! So many questions are running through my head and some many doubts! I know that it is Satan, doing a work on my mind. I will prevail, the Lord is leading us in the right direction and He will be there every step of the way. We are trying to get setup into a nightly routine again and tonight was the first step in that routine. At 8pm, we got on our knees in our babies room and said our family prayers (it has been months since we have done that), it felt so good to be in the presence of the Lord. WOW!!! Then it was time for the little ones to get pj's on, brush there teeth and still have time for a book of their choosing. Then it was off to bed for them. The older two headed to their rooms for reading or quiet time until their bed times. 9 and 10 respectively! M was in bed before 9. She was tired. It was a busy day of cleaning and hanging out! It was a very hot day outside and I didn't feel like sweating outside so I stayed in. C and K spent some time outside with the baby kittens this afternoon. We have 6 of them. 4 from one cat and 2 from another cat of ours. Lots of kittens to play with. The kids love them. I am trying to not be anxious for tomorrow because they are my own kids after all and I should be able to teach them, but it is still a very scary thought! So please be in prayer for me tomorrow that all goes well. It may be a very slack week as we try to get into a "routine" for school. Still waiting on one piece of curriculum from the school, social studies. That will come after the teachers are back in the building. I hope to post tomorrow how our day went. We will see.....for now, I am going to try and get some sleep so that I can wake early tomorrow morning and exercise and spend a little bit of time in the Word. Only with the Lord's help will I be able to do this! Have a blessed evening!

Cathi

Where I've been.....

Oh my gosh! I can't believe that I haven't blogged since Mikayla's birthday! This has been a crazy month and I can't believe that it is almost over with. Time is just slipping by faster and faster. Let's see what have we been up to.....well we finished up softball earlier this month (the 10th and 11th) with Briana's team taking 5th place in the tournaments! They did okay, we just wish they had placed better but it was not in the cards for them this year! We will see how next year plays out! My parents came for a visit the following week and left yesterday. The kids enjoyed having grandma and grandpa around and it gave me a break from them bugging me all day long! The kids were sad to see them go but I am sure they will be back again for a visit in the future! The 3 younger kids started swimming this week in Sioux Falls at Terrace Park, they have LOVED it! Especially Keara! She is my little fish! I think we need to get a gym membership so that she can keep swimming in the winter! They will finish swimming lessons next week! I am slowly getting things hammered away for schooling. CRAZY, how fast the summer goes. I will post some pics of our new "school" area! It just came to me the day that we were rearranging! We will see how it goes! The kids will "officially" start the school year on August 3rd! If we work it right, we are hoping to be done by April 30th. The kids know that they have to get all their work completed in order to be done by that date! If they don't, well we school until their curriculum is finished! I am looking forward to this adventure and I believe that the kids are also! Still a little concerned for Briana but since she will still be able to do volleyball and cheerleading, it will be worth it! She is also going to take voice lessons from a former homeschooler who has graduated from college! I hope that this will show Briana that homeschooling isn't all that bad! I think she likes the thought of working at her own pace. We will see how it goes! I just can't believe that it is here already! Oh my does time fly! So anyway....that is why I have been absent from blogging (besides the fact that I am addicted to Farmtown on Facebook). I hope to get back into the swing of things very soon! For now.....enjoy the pics!

Cathi

Our "book center" with our USA map


Cute little desks for the kids (gotta love a husband who is remodeling a school and likes to dig thru the trash)


Where our curriculum stays (1 spot for each kid)


Our world map (by the dart board in case they get want some excitement in their day)

Happy Birthday!

Happy 9th Birthday Mikayla!!! I can hardly believe that she is 9 years old today! Where has the time gone???? We had friends over for the 4th yesterday so it was a very late night! The kids didn't get to bed until after midnight so we are laying low this morning and enjoying each other's company. This afternoon we are heading to Dells to the movie Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur! It is going to be a great day! Then it will be Chicken Alfredo (Mikayla's favorite and her pick) for dinner, cake and ice cream and presents! It should be a very awesome day! I love you Mikayla to the ends of the earth and back! Keep smiling!

Love, mom

9 mos. old


3 1/2 years old


6 years old


Last night so almost 9 years old

Happy Birthday!

I can hardly believe that Briana is 14 today! Oh my, where has the time gone! Seems like just yesterday, her and I were coming home from the hospital to our humble little apartment in Watertown! From where we started to today has been amazing, wonderful sometimes hard ride!!! I wouldn't change it for nothing! Briana is starting to grow into a bright, mature, young lady! I am proud to call her my daughter!! I love you with all my heart girl! Keep it up and you will go far in life!

Mom

Here are a few highlights from her birthday gathering last night. Only 2 out of the 4 she invited could make it but that is okay they had fun anyway and they didn't even keep us up last night!! Enjoy!