Toothless

Esther lost her two top front teeth in a span of three days. 

Christmas Eve

The children were all dressed up for our candlelight Christmas Eve service at church.

Somehow, they all have the same smile.

Merry Christmas 2017

Dear Friends and Family,

We gave Lucy a chance at the Christmas letter, but she declined. Our first kitty is 12 years old now and spends her days quietly sleeping. Mookie doesn’t torment her quite like he did when he was a kitten (last year), but he still tries to pick a fight occasionally. He is always up for stretching out on our chests. Mookie wasn’t interested in writing either. He was too busy with his afternoon nap. He needs his energy to nibble on us later today. So, the letter is up to me. (Sorry if you’re disappointed.)

We took a family trip to Washington, DC this year. The children wanted to plan our next visit before we were even unpacked. We also spent our annual week at Pinebrook Bible Conference for family camp in July. We visited family in northeastern PA a few times during the year and took a trip to Darien Lake theme park. We had a lot of fun-even if I forgot my bathing suit.

Derek’s been a civilian for the Army for fifteen years now. He still exercises regularly. He often finds a project around the house to complete when he’s not coaching the kids’ sports teams.

I continue to write part-time. This August two more of my books were released. Two more are set for a fall 2018. I really enjoy the challenge of researching and writing. I’ve also visited a few schools to share about writing and science with students. It’s fun to interact with the students and teach about things I enjoy.

Meghan (age 11) enjoys projects like crafts and cooking. Last year she got involved with the local 4-H sewing club. She sewed two projects during the year: a pretty pillowcase for herself and a blanket to donate. Each of those projects won a Grand Champion ribbon in the county competition! Now she’s working on a quilt. She played basketball last winter and is ready for another season this year. Meghan is quite the bookworm and loves our trips to the library. She is an excellent student, though early mornings aren’t her favorite. Who can blame her?

Evan (age 9) enjoys playing a variety of sports. This year he played machine-pitch baseball, flag football, and basketball. As much as he likes to roughhouse with his sisters and friends, he also plays quietly with LEGOs for hours on end. Evan’s an early riser and often spends those early hours of the morning reading some of his favorite books and magazines. Evan has been off his anti-seizure medication for a full year without any problems! Praise God!

Esther (age 6) began kindergarten this year! She enjoys school and has really blossomed as a reader. Esther played t-ball and flag football earlier this year and is ready for her first season of basketball. She’s a happy girl and loves to be around others. She also enjoys Barbies, Shopkins, and dollhouses.

The three children get along best when the television is on or when they’re wrestling—until someone gets hurt. Someday they’ll figure out how awesome they all are. In the meantime, we just try to make it through each day.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and blessed 2018.   

Love,        

Derek, Annette, Meghan, Evan, and Esther

Artist Exhibition

Esther was one of 155 students at her school who was chosen by their peers to have their artwork displayed at the Brandywine River Museum of Art. This is a real museum with a nice Andrew Wyeth collection.

Here it is!

Esther along with her art teacher, Mrs. Bannon, some other artists, and the school principal, Mrs. Johnson.

 One of my favorites. AND it's called "Pennsylvania Landscape."

Happy 9th Birthday, Evan

Evan turned 9 today! It's hard to believe it's been nine whole years since he was born.

His giant cookie wasn't fancy, but he was pleased with it.

Happy 6th Birthday, Esther!

Esther needs two hands to show us her age now!

She's full of hugs and kisses.

She had two friends over tonight to celebrate her birthday. 

Happy birthday, Esther! We love you!

Happy 11th Birthday, Meghan!

We had a lovely evening celebrating Meghan's eleventh birthday. Following her favorite pizza, we had apple pie.

She cares for her earrings by herself every morning and night.

 In addition to her pierced ears, she has a new journal, Calico Critter hedgehogs, blouse, and spider webbing.

Meghan has been asking for more Halloween decorations, so I decided she could decorate the bushes herself with the fake spider webbing. She loved it!

Meghan actually had a birthday sleepover with several friends earlier this month. I didn't take pictures that day but wish I had!

We're so proud of the lovely girl Meghan is.

Early Birthday

For her birthday, Meghan got her ears pierced! We did it after school today.

Congratulations, Meghan!

Last year Meghan participated in the local 4-H Textile Club. Mostly they sewed, but she also learned to crochet.

Her very first sewing project was a pillowcase. She chose the pink and green fabric herself. To coordinate, she wanted matching green.

In the 4-H competition, we're pleased to say that Meghan won a blue merit AND grand champion awards for her work. It was on this first project she learned the usefulness of a seam ripper!

 As a service project, the club members also sewed fleece blankets. This will later be donated to the Linus Project which uses these blankets in emergency situations. Meghan sewed a navy blue fleece blanket.

She was patient with this project and sewed straight and slowly. And she earned another blue merit award AND another grand champion!

 Unfortunately, we did not know the dates for the 4-H fair and did not attend. Next year we'll be asking early! (This is not part of a big county fair which draws big crowds. Instead, the 4-H fair is its own fair for the county.)

Flag Football 2017

Yesterday the Upward flag football season began. Esther and Evan are both playing and enjoying it.

The weather was rather warm for the first game day. Even I wore sandals and shorts!

A Whipple Kid Production

This evening the children worked together to create a video for your video pleasure.

Introducing 

A Whipple Kid Production

This Is the Duplo House

First Day of School 2017-2018

We officially have a fifth grader, third grader, and kindergartener.

Meghan awoke to Derek's alarm at 4:30 today so she was up extra early. We took these pictures just after 6 a.m. Evan and Meghan's bus arrived 15 minutes early. We had just pulled up to the bus stop when we saw it. Thankfully I planned for some extra time. (The bus is supposed to arrive at 6:28.)

 Today is Esther's first day of kindergarten. She is so ready!

 Her bus arrived at 7:15, as expected.

A Park, a Wedding, and a Whole Lot of Driving

We made a long weekend of our trip to northeastern PA and upstate NY.

Our shoe basket had boots, sneakers, dress, and flip flops in it. We had to be prepared.

Thursday night we drove to the home of Derek's parents. We made it in record-breaking four hours. However, by 7:10 the next morning we were in the van for another three hours as we drove out near Buffalo, NY to Darien Lake.

So much for being prepared. I forgot my bathing suit bottoms. I was sopping wet or damp ALL day.

 I didn't take a lot of pictures at Darien Lake, but this shows Meghan and Evan pulling themselves to the top. Esther and Derek were on the back side.

 This was taken at the end of our day. It might be our first family selfie.

 The drive through upstate NY was lovely. Lots of rolling hills and farmland.

Saturday my dad picked Evan and Esther up. (Derek and I couldn't bear to drive the hour there and another back again.) Meghan attended her first wedding. I took some pictures of her before we left.

 She had fun! So did we.

 Meghan took this picture of us dancing.

Sunday we had dinner with Derek's family at his grandparents' home. It was lovely to see those we saw, but with the park and wedding (and exhaustion) we really didn't get around to see my family like usual.

If you're curious what our first trip to Darien Lake looked like, this is a photo my friend shared with me recently. Derek and I weren't even dating then (but were within the month). This is from August 2000, Kingdom Bound!

Pinebrook 2017

It wasn't long after we arrived that a bit of rain began. Evan and Esther may have gotten a little wet and dirty riding bikes in the rain. 

 But the rain didn't last. Soon enough we were enjoying the pool.

And friends!

 Meghan spent a lot of time with these friends.

Derek and I relaxed a good bit this year with the children needing less attention.

 Meghan had to borrow Esther's bike to catch Derek when he took her bike for a spin.

 One night Esther and I went for a little walk to the pond. We didn't see frogs, but we caught some fireflies.

 Wednesday was a "hillbilly invasion." This is Pastor Bill in his finest.

 There had been a doughnut on that string. I took it off in one giant bite.

 Evan enjoyed this little cricket. He even took bunches and bunches of pictures of it since it didn't get away. Eventually, it was put in the grass...but unfortunately didn't overcome its injury.

 This is one of Evan's best buds at camp. We love C and his family.

 A fun ribbon...

 Before the banquet dinner.

 And all of us.

 We also had visitors on my birthday. Derek's mom and aunt came to share the day with us.