There Is A Season: At home this fall

Well we've had a great fall. We have been busy but thankfully we've been going at a pace that, for the most part, feels sustainable. I think it will be easier to tell you what's going on by telling you about each of us individually!

Jimmy: Jimmy is still going strong at Covenant. We're in the third year of four. (Unfortunately, many of our close friends are in their third year of three. I try not to think about May 2011....) Anyway, he's also teaching the GMAT with Manhattan GMAT. The company has really been a Godsend. When I was facing the end of last school year and had the desire to stay home full-time this year, we just weren't sure where we'd make up the income I was bringing in. Jimmy found MGMAT and he's been able to make more teaching the GMAT than I was last year so that's been really wonderful. We are going to the early service at church and he's kind of heading up the Sunday school during that first service.

Suzanne: I am really enjoying being home full-time this year. There are some things about it that are more difficult than working (like I get to stare at my to-do list all day and realize that really nothing is getting marked off...). Overall, though, I've loved the opportunity to spend more time with Isaac. Because I'm not working, I get to have one-on-one time with both Nathan and Isaac every day which has proved to be very rewarding. I'm also teaching Sunday school at church. We attend the first service and I stay for the second service and teach Sunday school (it happens during the sermon). Isaac, Toby, and I are going to Community Bible Study on Wednesdays and that's been great, especially for Isaac. They have a wonderful children's program!

Nathan: Nathan is still going to preschool every morning for about 3.5 hours each day. He loves it! He has some very cute little friends at school. He loves going to the art center, writing, mail (where they make mail for each other) and sometimes house. Nathan is really learning a lot at school this year! He's also gotten very excited about art projects. He's constantly writing (he can write words if we spell them for him!), drawing--especially dinosaurs, and cutting. We usually have very small cut-up scraps of paper all over the floor and I have to remind myself that cutting is very good for his fine-motor skills. :)

Isaac: Isaac is just plugging right along! He's a great big brother to Toby and he loves to do everything Nathan does. In the morning we often have the following conversation:
Isaac: Is Nathan at school?
Me: Yes
Isaac: But I wove (love) him! (Which I think translates to "I miss him!")
Isaac also loves cutting and is developing some great fine-motor skills earlier than Nathan. He's very outgoing when we're at home, but I can tell that he's more introverted than the rest of us. He's usually quiet in bigger, more unfamiliar groups, but he definitely still loves his CBS class!

Toby: Toby is the sweetest, cutest baby! He's got wonderful dimples and he's getting more and more personality every day. He is such an easy baby and Jimmy and I feel so overwhelmed by the way God has blessed us. He loves his big brothers and it's so fun to watch them play with him. I am excited to continue watching them grow up to love each other dearly (well, most of the time!).

Here are some pictures from our fall. We haven't done too many super-exciting things because we're home a lot since Toby naps so much, but we've really enjoyed just playing with our neighbors!