Cinderella Ballet

 This was our trip to the Cinderella Ballet on Ken's vacation. Mia and Mandy loved it! Mike said he was there just to be with the family and Mary said it was ok! We sat in the balcony. It was very fun! 

Science and tea parties!

 Mia going to a tea party on Friday!

Mia doing a science experiment with the other kids. We loved this picture!

Harry Potter Party

This is from our party with Ashley. She brought the kids some really cute prizes. Everyone had tons of fun!

YM and YW dinner and dance

This is Mary and Mike with Dad getting ready to go to the Etiquette Dinner and Dance. They are gorgeous!!!!   

At the dinner they taught the YM and YW about etiquette and they learned some ballroom dancing.

Mary looking beautiful! Mike looking handsome!

 

 

Ken said this girl kept stealing peeks at Mike! She must have thought he was handsome! We had some very cute videos of Mary dancing but we couldn't get them to work on the blog :(

History

Mary and Mike studied about the founding of Carthage by the Phoenicians. They learned that Nineveh was the first city to have a library and Ashurbanipal the first librarian!

Vincent Van Gogh

Mandy has been learning about Van Gogh. She loves the fascinating  stories about him. Here is her clay rendition of Van Gogh painting.

Chess club

Mary and Mike have spent several hours playing some chess!

Music lesson

It was very noisy at our house today! These three have been working on playing their recorders.

Valentine Soldiers

Some boys sent these Valentines to the kids today. We thought they were so cool. They put the Valentine on the soldiers back like a parachute. It almost made Miles feel that Valentines are not so bad :)

Cookie Sleeping

While doing schoolwork, Mary likes to take Cookie out of her cage and Cookie enjoys sleeping in her lap. It's so cute!!!!

Good Books

Here are some good books we just finished. I am reading the Harry Potter Series with the kids and everyone loves it.  I just finished these other 3 books. Before My Heart Stops is a wonderful book. It's a book you read and feel uplifted by even though the author  goes through some very difficult things. His perspective is amazing. Heaven is Here is another book like this. I recommend both!!  Yearning for the Living God is a life account of Enzio Busch, a general authority of the LDS Church. This book talks about his experinces in Germany during World War 2 as well as other amazing things through out his life. This one is well worth reading again!     

Blessings and Riches

This month my husband and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary. It seems like the time has gone much faster than I would have liked! Our first child turned 13 this year and I am not feeling like a young mother anymore! With this anniversary and my 40th birthday coming up I have spent a lot of time reflecting. This is the first birthday I have dreaded. I have prayed that Heavenly Father might bless me with a different way of looking at this mile marker birthday and here is what I have come up with.

When I turned thirty It was a joyful time. It seemed like I had everything I could have hoped for from life all at a young age. I married a wonderful man who has made life a joy for me. He is a wonderful father who has supported us in a way that has allowed me to be home with our children and also to home school. I truly enjoy his company I and have loved our 14 years together. We also had our 3rd child at this time and we were overjoyed with our growing family.

The next ten years flew by. We have had difficult things to deal with. Health scares with our children, Ken deals with the constant pressure of providing for a large family and I've wondered about my abilities as a mother at times! We have also had extended family that have had times so difficult it has made our hearts ache and kept us up a night. But at the same time I have looked back and seen God's imprint in every part of life.

I wake up with some aches and pains that remind me that I'm not heading in the direction of youth, but at the same time I wake up to another day with my  incredible children in our home, learning and doing wonderful things. The sinks might leak and the house may be small  but we have more than money can by. I may have a constant layer of clutter to pick up, but it also shows we have a busy family who are alive and well!  The other day my 13 year old told me that she knows who she is and never wishes to be anyone else. That was music to a mother's heart. Slowly I have realized that the years have given much more than they have taken away. I couldn't ask for more from life than I have received! I treasure the gospel and the blessings it gives us each day. I love my husband and considering him a gift form the heavens. I feel honored to have the children I have and love being with them and having them in our home each day. Maybe 40 won't be so bad. Maybe I can turn 40 gracefully knowing life continues to go on.

Happy Anniversary to my awesome husband! Thank you for making me the richest woman in the world!!!   And thank you for saying you will love me in my old age :) 

Hawiian Girl

Mary dressed McKenna up as a Hawiian girl. Very cute!!

Valentine Packages

Today we recieved our first valentine package from another homeschooling family. The kids were so excited. The valentines came in a big envelope that was full of candy and valentines for each Paschall kid :) Today we are getting ours ready to mail out! Such a fun time in the middle of cold winter!   

Miike's Robotic Creation

This is Mike's latest creation. He made a robot that will pitch a ball and then hit it with a robotic arm. He amazes us with his building and programing in his robotics class!

Night Sledding

For family home evening we went night sledding. It is really fun and cold! We used our headlamps that are for frog hunting. Poor Mike hit a jump on his sled and his lamp and hat went flying off! Other than that there were no injuries!

Impressive art!

Mary drew this picture and I thought it was pretty impressive. She didn't trace of copy it!

This is an awesome Miles creation of a cowboy! 

Washington Online's Poetry Festival

January 23rd was the Poetry Festival for Washington Online. This is where students from all over get together and share art and poetry they have created. The theme for this year was It's a Wonderful World. Miles decided not to participate this year but Mandy got her sisters to help her present a poem about their hamster. It was very cute and the best part was Ken got to take the day off and come!

Hair dos

Mandy checked out a book about doing hair. Here are some of her creations!

Snow day!!

We all went out and played in the snow after the last big storm. When we came in McKenna crashed onto the floor where she stayed for a long nap. She was asleep before we even got our coats off.

Before School

The kids like to lay on the heater vent and get warmed up before starting school.

Bones and Volcanoes

Mike has been working on some cool science kits he got for Christmas. The first one is an excavation of T-Rex bones. The second project is a volcano. We will be setting the volcano off this week. Watch for the video!