Celebrating hard work and good lessons

My three handsome men.  Hard workers, these guys, enjoying Flip Burger.

 We took the kids to their favorite restaurant and a movie tonight. We were celebrating all of the rich lessons they have learned in school this year. Biblical worldviews, many new things about God's world and Himself, interpersonal relationships, and perseverance.

When we go out to eat, she can always be found squished to my side in a booth.  I love it.

We are at the midpoint of the year. As has been the case in the past,  the children' s strengths and weaknesses, which are so varying, are in full bloom. Jack has little drive to work to his fullest potential,  but is eager to do the right thing and works hard when we ask him. He excels at writing and memorizing information. This gift is such a blessing in his classes which are so challenging and require him to recite long passages frequently.  He still considers Math to be a struggle. We work an hour to an hour and a half on it every night. He is learning how it feels to push through difficulty and reap the consequences of hard work. He has made all A's this year, including in Pre-Algebra. He got in the spelling bee again this year, as 1 of 3 representatives from 7th grade. We are so thankful for all he is learning. The biggest change in him this year is he questions everything and is occasionally argumentative. He is obviously learning to think for himself and stand on his own two feet. Good thing he is kind and tender or this stage might undue me!

Frozen was a great movie!

Joshua continues to make school look effortless.  He has made all A's with little effort. He is very independent with schoolwork and I often do not know what he has done until it comes home with a grade. It is rare that any of his grades dip below a 95. He also got in the spelling bee again this year. His academic strengths are in the math and sciences. He is a great reader, but is the only one of my children who doesn't love to read. If we go to Barnes and Noble, the other two are thrilled.  He is biding his time with the doodle books, puzzles, and such. He is an engineer through and through like my brother.  He struggles with losing things and with being often too reserved. But he has sweet friends, most of whom are completely goofy and loud, which is such an answer to prayer. The biggest way he has changed this year is he has become SO affectionate, hugging us constantly. It is so sweet!

Lydie is having a great year in first grade. She is a very diligent, motivated student. She is smart and seems to learn easily. Her most difficult aspect of school is memorizing, and she is required to do a lot of it! She gets the big concept, but has trouble remembering word-for-word details. Thankfully, she has made so much progress this year. Lydie has made almost all A+ due to hard work. Her work ethic and attention span are her greatest strengths. The biggest way she has changed is her spiritual growth. She has developed quite a prayer life and the beginning signs of discernment and wisdom. Praise God!

We are extremely thankful for a good first half of school.

I have more pictures of Lydie because the boys went to a different movie.  Ours was shorter and we had time to shop around.