September's Almost gone!! Yikes

These are just random pictures from life around our house these days...

Isaac creating something...

Intepretive dance, Elizabeth style...

Nope, she can't match the pictures to the names yet, but we'll keep working it!

Last Week of August

Now that we have the big kids off to college, we are settling into our routine as a family of 6. We started school on Monday, as well as regular family devotions. We're learning Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus in parts, and the kids already have their parts pretty well down, after just a week! They are amazing. Following are a couple shots that show you what a week at school in the Hall house is like (without Becky here :0)
Up with the sun... Dan and the kids got up and went running almost every morning. I guess one of them caught the sun.....
Abby and Zeke enjoying a light moment together.....while Elizabeth relaxes in the empty Lincoln log box... where are all the Lincoln Logs? Spread out all over the floor in the living room, of course! How else can you find the piece you need??!!

Snack break is always an important part of the day. It's the kids favorite time to get creative in the kitchen so they can make it take as long as possible (can you spell PROCRASTINATION?)
On Thursday, they decided we needed to have "Chapatis". Here is Zeke rolling them out, and Abby cooking them. They were yummy, but they took WAY too much time!! Needless to say, school took longer on Thursday.

Elizabeth got tired of waiting, I guess.....
While "Calvin and Hobbes" is not an official part of Elizabeth's curriculum, she sure seemed to enjoy it this week....
The weather has been gorgeous, so the boys have been playing a lot of wiffleball. Elizabeth and I got in on the action one night when Zeke and Dan were gone, and Elizabeth hit the ball for the first time ever!! Isaac is pretty good being patient with her, and it helps that she will swing, miss and run anyway if we yell "run!"... we give her a few swings before we do that :)

Family Photo

In Ecuador

My mom and dad with all of their grandkids...

Happenings

I'm way behind -- what's new, you say?!
Since I posted last, we've:

• had a trip of a lifetime as a family to Ecuador... see Becky's blog for a link to her pictures until I get something else posted... http://beckysbrio.blogspot.com/2009/08/ecuador.html
• hosted a get-together for Andy and Becky's friends, which included (not planned) a frog dissection and roasted frog legs, compliments of Zephan. The evening also included great hamburgers, volleyball until it was too dark to see the ball, buck-buck, and star-tripping (those last two are definitely hillbilly games).
  

The cute froggy just before his demise

• bought a vehicle to "replace" the totaled van--a Chevy Blazer for Dan to drive on his appointments, which take him all over rural Missouri, often on gravel/dirt roads. We've decided we will have to do without a 12-passenger van, at least for now.

• sent Zeke off to his 4th year of Camp Grandpa with Dan's parents in St. Paul, MN, and got him back a week and 2 very quiet days later....with a sunburn and lots of memories....
  

• gotten Andy off to his second year at Three Rivers Community College (actually, he got himself off - I hardly helped him at all). He's having a ball with his friends, old and new, already, and is looking forward to playing baseball again.
  

• harvested our first ear of corn -- it was pitiful. Hopefully, the cantaloupe and watermelons will be better -- they are plentiful.
  

• made a weekend trip to Illinois to help my mom celebrate her 70th birthday -- all of my siblings were there on her day -- I think we all surprised her. I took advantage of the trip to buy myself an early Christmas gift -- an alto saxophone I found on craigslist -- in Peoria, Illinois. The picture below shows mom (Jeanette) with her mom, my 101-year-old grandmother, my aunt, brothers and cousins who were able to help celebrate her selection as resident of the month at the home where she lives.
  

• celebrated Isaac's 7th birthday, complete with a dinosaur cake made by Becky at his request. He was disappointed that we didn't have a "real" party, so the next day, we had a bunch of boys over to play!
  

Enjoying his new watercolors- thanks, Rothlisbergers!

• took Becky to Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, to start her first year of college (that was just yesterday)

In the courtyard of her dorm, Dobson Hall - her room is in a wing to the left, on the 4th floor

Inside her room, with her messy, as yet unorganized desk (I took this against her will)

Tomorrow, we are supposed to start school here with the other 4 kids.... I still have a lot of prep work to do, so that's why this is short...but at least you're caught up!

Alas, the van is lost!

The dreaded call came today -- the insurance company considers our van a total loss. I guess the damage was too extensive to make it worth repairing. The thing that is really sad to me is that full size vans with a passenger door on the driver's side are just not that easy to find.... and I'm not sure I want another big van without that feature!
On the bright side, we bought a little green truck today. A friend was selling it, the price was right, and we really need a third vehicle at least until the kids go back to college. It isn't much to look at, but it gets good gas mileage, has a nicely lined bed, and it is a manual, so we can teach our kids how to drive with a clutch, an all-important skill in our minds. Besides, now that we're trying to act like farmers, a little truck will come in handy!

Van Tragedy....

Our 12 passenger van was on the receiving end of an accident earlier this week. It was in Springfield, Missouri, with Abby, who was attending a volleyball camp with a group of friends. They were on their way to the mall (VB camp was in the mornings), sitting at a red light minding their own business when a car ran a red light, sideswiped another car and rammed into our van. Unfortunately, it is damaged pretty badly. We don't know yet the extent of the damage; they can't get the driver's door off to see what will need to be done inside, but it is possible they will have to replace part of the floor besides the obvious exterior damage. Fortunately, no one in the van was seriously injured (some minor bruises and cuts, and some soreness). Everyone involved is pretty sure that any other vehicle sitting in that intersection would not have provided any protection, and the driver would certainly be seriously injured. So, while we are unhappy that our van is in the body shop for the next month, most likely, it seems that it may have saved some serious injury. The driver of the other car was injured and was taken to the hospital once she was caught (she fled the scene). She, naturally, was uninsured, and is facing multiple tickets and possibly jail time. Thus far our insurance company is being very gracious and helpful, but that doesn't remove the hassle of having to figure out how to get along with our van :)