Brave Soul: September 2018

20 September 2018

Our first day of Community Bible Study started in September as well.

This is my 9th year attending CBS!

I just love the accountability, fellowship, and studying God's word.

The girls have a small "all girl" class this year with Ms. Carolyn.

Here they are dressed up as Korean Airlines Flight Attendants.

Welcome Aboard, KAL Flight 316

This year, our class chose South Korea as our international sponsored country. How cool is that?!

The girls did a cute and informative skit sharing all kinds of information about South Korea.

They even said some words in Korean.

Great job, girls!

19 September 2018

This will always be one of my favorite photos of Zachary.

It was taken by a nurse on the morning of September 19th, 2014. She said, "Look, he's so happy to be going home today!" Morgan and I had just spent the night with him in a private room within the NICU. We were emotionally and physically exhausted but at the same time, we were also ecstatic.

This was the moment we had prayed so hard for.

Our son was finally coming HOME.

After spending 75 days in the NICU, surviving pneumonia, and 4 bouts of MRSA,

we were officially discharged that morning. He did amazing on the long car ride home.

Forever grateful to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital and especially the wonderful NICU nurses!

He had 2 proud big sisters waiting for him. Look at how tiny he was. 😭

Four years have sure flown by. He's still the biggest miracle in my life.

The morning started with donuts and singing.

He's just the cutest!

He was so excited for the day.

He always opens his mouth and does this big adorable crooked smile. I just love it.

We took him to one of his favorite places, Get Air Trampoline Park.

Fun for the whole family.

Happy Homecoming/Adoption Day, son!

We thank God for you and the honor of being your family.

You are one very loved kid!

Camping at Cougar Buttes

15 September 2018

The girls always have a blast zipping around on ATV's.

Doing his favorite thing.

Family riding time with Uncle Ben.

It just amazes me that out of all the little boys, God gave us the one that loves to ride his dirt bike,
just like daddy and Uncle Ben.

A match made in heaven and on earth.

Zach enjoying someone else's bonfire. 😄

Never thought I'd be camping out in the desert with all these toys but when your family loves it,
you learn to as well. 😃

The Gough girls can ride, too.

Daddy and the kids went exploring and found a tunnel.

Cool shot.

Go towards the light, buddy! 😂

Well, we initially went on this trip to watch Uncle Ben race but he ended up getting sick, which was a total bummer. Thankfully, he was well enough to hang out with us so we made the most of it by spending the day riding and watching the other racers. We look forward to cheering Ben on in more races next year!

First Day of School

04 September 2018

After taking all of August off, we started back to school the day after Labor Day.

Do you have any first day of school traditions for your kids?

In our house, even though it's still over 100 degrees outside, we like to pretend it's the beginning of fall so I prepare a breakfast that consists of #allthingspumpkin.

Pumpkin and coconut smoothies.

Pumpkin pancakes with maple syrup and fruit.

The girls are up and ready for breakfast.

Zach loves pumpkin pancakes, too!

But not when it's touching his banana. 😂

Every year, I have the kids fill out a questionnaire on the first day of school. It's fun to look back on their answers when we start a new year. This was Zach's questionnaire. His answer to No. 5.😭 🙌

And for the record, he's never seen Ice Age but his sisters were watching it some nights before. 🙈

I have two 7th graders and a preschooler.

Praise the Lord for another year of homeschooling!

In August, I usually try to prep for another year and order all of our curriculum and materials.

For the most part, we've been using Abeka over the last few years and it's been working nicely.

The girls are still going to my neighbor friend, Lyndi who tutors them 2x's a week. To be honest, I'm not sure I would be able to homeschool the girls without Lyndi's help. She's been instrumental in keeping the girls on track. And let's be real, she's been instrumental in keeping my sanity, too. 😜

I have no shame in needing help with homeschooling and I couldn't be more grateful for gifted friends like Lyndi who provide it. She's definitely a God-send to our family and we just love her to pieces!

We're already a few months into school and things are moving along nicely. The girls are doing well and learning a ton. I spend a few days a week doing "school" with Zach. Surprisingly, he likes to write and draw. He also enjoys doing worksheets, mazes, and puzzles. He's great with his phonics and he's starting to see words and he wants to know what they say. Who knows? Maybe he'll start reading next year?

Mostly though, I just let him play, read to him, and let him listen to audio books.