It seems that I have only been blogging about home school activities. True, this does take up quite a bit of our day and my time. But, we do have other things going on.
Caleb continues to have at least two soccer games a week. Usually one is home and one is away. Up until this week they had only won one game. This week they won both games they played! In a few weeks I will get my chance to bring in the team meal before the game and work concessions for the varsity soccer game. Thankfully, the weather has been great and we have enjoyed sitting at the games. Caleb also took some of his first "high school" tests last week. We can go on a site called RenWeb and see his assignments and grades. He seems to be doing pretty well. He also had chair placement tests for orchestra on Monday. They were supposed to be on Friday, but were postponed until Monday because the seniors had been on a retreat. Caleb was relieved because he had violin lessons on Saturday and could ask Mrs. Van Zytfeld for help on some of the more difficult pieces. I took my violin out to help him when he thought the placement test was on Friday and, therefore, before his lessons. I attempted to play two measures with him and then just set down my violin and offered to play the notes on the piano instead. I realized his violin playing has surpassed mine! He was thrilled to find out today that he was placed as the first chair second violin. He does realize, however, that with this honor comes the responsibility to know his music well:).
Nicolas started city soccer last week. This entails one night of practice a week (Thursday) and one game (Saturday). His season runs until the end of October. He was so excited to play organized sports again. He also seems to enjoy the home school orchestra again this year. So far the music has not been that challenging, but his cello teacher challenges him a little so that is good. The girls and Seth usually pack up their school work in backpacks and we work at a table in the Home School Building gym. Other than the drums practicing in the same area we enjoy the change of setting.
We have all been attending BSF again on Monday nights for the study of Acts. The big difference this year is that I agreed to be a children's leader. They placed me in Level 4 which is the 7th, 8th and 9th graders. Yep, I have both Caleb and Nicolas in my class. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed the leader's meetings on Saturday mornings and getting to know my co-leaders in the children's program. The time for preparation has been the most challenging and I pray that this will get easier as I become more comfortable in my role. In case you are wondering, preparation includes my lesson, the kids' lesson, homiletics, and a Bible lesson (lecture). So far, I have only had to lead the discussion group and Biblical Truth time. Next week I get to try my hand at leading the homiletics part. I appreciate that they are breaking me in slowly!
Russ seems to be enjoying classes. This fall he has OT Introduction, Greek I, Hebrew III, NT Introduction, Minister and Ministry, Prolegomena, and Practice Preaching. He delivered his practice preaching sermon on Wednesday. This is always a challenge due to the setting--in front of peers and faculty with critique at the end. Russ said it went quite well with many positive comments and useful critiques. I still try to bake for the seminary students one day a week. It is not as much fun as last year since Russ is not able to eat many baked goods anymore. Through the process of elimination and a little detective work, we were able to narrow his stomach issues down to an intolerance to eggs. For the last several years he has been unable to eat cooked eggs (fried, scrambled, boiled, etc) without stomach discomfort. The inability to eat anything that remotely contains egg is new since this summer.
Our pears are finally done. I thank the Lord for such a bountiful harvest of beautiful pears! We were able to share a few boxes with fellow seminary students and I also canned several quarts and pints for my family in Iowa. Mom and Dad were able to take them home with them when they visited. They brought out a box of beautiful tomatoes from their garden that I made into sauce while they were here. Since I had completely run out of all sauce, salsa, and soup, I really wanted to can a few more things. Our tomatoes are not ripening very well because of the cold weather so Russ and I made a trip to the Fulton Farmer's Market on Saturday. Wow! What a great farmer's market! I wish I had had more time to browse. Anyway, we picked up a bushel of tomatoes and I have been able to can more sauce, salsa and tomato soup. One of the seminary wives came over this morning and we made a huge batch of salsa together. The cupboards are no longer bare! Now we turn towards apples and applesauce?
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