Scandinavia!

We took the kids to the Scandinavian Festival at Cal Lutheran today! It was a blast! Perfect timing, since we are studying the Middle Ages this year and had already finished up the Vikings, etc. The big kids also memorized all the countries and capitals of Scandinavia.
They learned about the fighting habits of Norsemen, including their weapons! They did crafts, learned about food and games, and tried Ebelskiever! I'm pretty sure this counts as their hands-on and crafting for the rest of the school year!! ;-p
Enjoy the pics!

Celebrating....

It's hard to get around the fact that Evelyn is the latest and greatest new thing around here. But...tonight we took a minute to celebrate some great accomplishments.
Ezra finished Sing, Spell, Read and Write Kindergarten!!!
Noah (a few months ago) finished Saxon Math Grade 1.
Emma and Caleb (a few months ago) both finished English Grade 4.
And Emma (at the end of last year) finished Teaching Textbooks Math, Grade 5.
They have all worked really hard on their schoolwork and have accomplished some great things! I want to remember these
milestones and encourage them to continue working hard! (And hopefully having fun!!!)

Evelyn Hope....

Oh my. This little one is SO loved. :-)
Evelyn means "life", and also, "waited for." I think most who know us are aware of how long Emma has waited for this sweet little one, to have a sister. And we are all in complete awe of the Giver of Life and Hope.
We love you so much, Evelyn Hope. Welcome to our world. :-)

Introducing...

Evelyn Hope Hester.
Born 4/13/13, at 10:22pm. 6lbs., 13oz., 18 1/2 inches long. More to come...but for now, enjoy the pics!

Big Day!

Ezra has been wanting to ride his bike without training wheels.  Ben took them off and worked on it with him a little bit...but today Ezra came inside and told me that he could ride his bike without the training wheels!!  I asked him how he got it and he said, "I just kept learning it."

Noah, on the other hand, hasn't been very motivated to even try.  But once I went out to watch Ezra, Noah asked me to take his training wheels off too!  So, here are videos of their first go-arounds...and this evening they were riding all over the cul-de-sac and out front on the sidewalk.  It was a big day in the Hester house!!