15 months... Toddlerhood has begun

Who is more blessed, the sisters, or those of us who get to watch them? :o)

Turn your volume up to hear cute Halle giggles.

The things Hope has to put up with on a regular basis!

The giggles are great but the yelling and "mine" stage has begun! Oh my.

A random adventure...in our backyard

Come take a peek...

What are they doing down there???

Yep, looks like fun!

How are we being left out!?!

If I give you my biggest, bestest, happiest, crinkliest-nose smile ever, will you take me down there?

It's a princess, and three knights, who have sworn to protect her on the journey to the palace...

Oh no! A fight arises amongst the brothers; they have all decided they all wish to be her prince!

An injured knight on the right, a brave warrior, the victor, on the left.

A forlorn knight, who lost the fair maiden to the third knight.

The winner of the beautiful Princess' hand, sir Peter the Great, decides to fight the other knights again instead of claiming the spoils, unknowingly loosing the affection of the gentle princess who detests uneccesary sword fighting!

In the end, the fairest princess of the land, shows her compassionate side and chooses the injured knight to become her prince...

I have a feeling this isn't over yet...

12

Twelve years ago.

That’s when I made the best and biggest decision of my life.

To marry Rebecca.

We didn’t take the decision lightly, but with a lot of prayer and contemplation.

But it just came naturally and it was clear we were meant for each other.

We’ve been best friends since we met and continue to be today.

I can honestly say that the journey with her has lived up to the hopes and dreams I had for us 12 years ago.

We are alike in just the right ways, and different in just the right ways.

She grows more beautiful each year – inside and out.

She holds my heart in her hand and can steel my breath with a look.

She is an incredible mother.

I love watching her sit on the floor with one of the boys to play Transformers or GI Joe action figures.

I love watching her eyes sparkle with joy when one of the twins gives her a big hug or kiss.

I love how she is proactive in raising the kids, to the point of taking charge of their schooling.

I love how she has high expectations of each of them, but loves them no matter what.

I love how she still laughs at most of my lame jokes.

I love how she’s still kinda klutzy, yet very athletic.

She makes me want to be a better Christian, husband, friend, and father.

I thank God for blessing me with her.

Life has many challenges and adventures, and nothing beats tackling and experiencing them with your best friend at your side.

It’s been 12 years, yet it feels like just yesterday.

It’s been 12 amazing years, yet somehow I know the best is yet to come.

Exploring God's Creation

"Nature-study cultivates in the child the love of the beautiful; it brings to him early a perception of color, form and music... he reads the music score of the bird... and the patter of the rain, the gurgle of the brook, the sighing of the wind in the pine."~Anna Botsford Comstock Handbook of Nature Study

Camping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Keller boys went to Ross Lake for 3 days of camping, swimming, exploring, boating, and fishing: Ryland, Ethan, Aidan, Chad (me), and Joe (my bro) Keller.

We had a great time. The days were hot and the lake was cold. A good mix! But the water was too cold for real swimming - just quick dips and dangling our toes in the water off our dock (and let the thousands of tiny minnows come and nibble them!).

Ross Lake is in the North Cascades area of Washington state. The lake is 25 miles long and the upper reaches make it just past the Canadian border.

There is a dam on the south end, and then a few more dams until the mighty Skagit river finally flows free and beautiful to the Puget Sound.

The lake offers hiking and has a trail that borders the entire western shore. There are also other loop hikes and destination type hikes to summits and alpine lakes.

All along the shore are boat-in and hike-in + boat-in camping sites. Some sites are on islands too. The boat in sites have nice docks you tie your boat off to, and you can also use them for swimming and fishing.

Besides the dam, the only other buildings on the lake are part of Ross Lake Resort. This is a neat little place where you can rent out cabins of various sizes. It is fairly rustic, but nice enough for those who don't care for the real camping experience. They rent boats, canoes, kayaks, and other things for the guests or for visitors to the lake.

We came for the camping and fishing. We did a mile and half hike from a parking lot well above the dam. It is a steep rocky trail but has some great views and some bridges crossing cascading streams.

We hiked down to the base of the dam where a phone just happens to be. We just dialed up the resort and had a boat come over and ferry us across to the resort. We then rented a small motor boat that we took up the lake to our campground (we had to register that morning at the ranger station to reserve our camp site and get our camping permit). It was located on a small island - probably about an acre or so in size. We loved the location and the boys had a blast exploring their own island and watching the resident deer. The day was sunny and hot. No bugs to speak of - just a few horse flies, but nothing bad. I never even broke out the insect repellent I stocked up on. The night brought a few sprinkles followed by crystal clear skies revealing layer upon layer of stars.

The next day we moved to a new camp site closer to the resort. We stopped in to treat the boys to some soda and candy bars before roughing it again at camp.

We made a big fire and Joe told stories about various adventures he and I were involved in growing up.

Aidan and Ryland shared a tent right next to me and Ethan. Joe had his own tent a few yards away. That night we drifted off into a deep sound sleep to the soft splashing of tiny waves along the shore and a gentle breeze rustling through the tree tops. Around midnight I was looking up at the top of the tent as I shifted in my sleeping bag - possibly woken up by the hooting of another owl. Suddenly I was blinded by a white light followed by a deep thundering sound. Then a few seconds later another flash and low rumbling thunder. Then another and another - eacher getting closer and louder. It was like we were caught in the middle of a battle zone. The boys handled it great. Ryland and Aidan woke up. We decided we better take a quick potty break before the rains came. As we came out of our tents, we noticed Joe and other campers in the area scrambling to get their rain flies on their tents. Luckily I decided to put mine on "just in case"...

Aidan and Ry went right back to bed. Actually, Ry did remember that we forgot our bedtime prayers, so he asked if he could pray. He did, and then Aidan followed. But that was the only sign of fear. The storm was pretty intense. At times the wind was so strong my tent was flattened to my head and I was afraid the rain fly or poles might start to break apart. Then the rain began pelting us with a vengeance. And through it all, the flashes of lightning and earth shaking thunder echoed back and forth through the valleys, mountains, and canyons. But morning arrived and all was well again. The sun came out and started to dry things out.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Ethan in this thunder storm story... well, he slept right through it!

We packed up after warming up to a quick fire and round of instant oatmeal. We returned the boat and made the 1.5 mile climb back up to the car. The boys were quite impressive. Each carrying a respectable load in a back pack suited well to each one. I did promise them a milk shake if they could make it with minimal whining and no crying :)

Over all it was an amazing trip. The fishing wasn't great. But with the boys, it was hard to really focus on that - which is fine. But we did get a few nice rainbows with vivid red stripes down their silvery bodies. And Joe had a little dolly varden (or bull trout) chase his spinner around right in front of us for a good minute or so but never quite got the lure in it's mouth.

The 3 boys together are always trouble. So we had to deal with the usual bickering and other nonsense. But they also had so much fun doing various adventures and exploring some off the trail spots I took them to. One time we found a 'secret' valley passage off the main trail that lead us down a magical game (deer) trail through moss covered boulders the size of small houses and trees of all shapes and sizes. We eventually came to small boulder rimmed pond with odd chunks of white granite and others rocks and logs decorating the clear blue green water. It looked like something from a King Author legend. After the enchanted pond, we found a massive rock slide under the shadow of a looming cliff. The rock field lead down to an arm of the lake (what I had been looking for on this particular adventure). This section of the lake was covered in a mass of logs - probably 50 yards long and 50 yards wide. We climbed along the boulders and rocks and I did a little fishing in an opening between the logs before letting the boys start dropping big rocks off a 12 foot ledge above the water. We bombed some ships (sticks we threw in) and had a good time before making the journey back to camp.

Anyway, on to the pictures!!
Ethan is greeted by a local resident at our first camp. She shared our camp a few times before the boys finally chased her off the island as they watched her swim away....

This is the three legged toad "Stumpy" that Ryland caught near the dock while I was fishing. He was so excited!
Nothing like instant oatmeal and a campfire to draw sleepy little campers out of their tents!
Ryland (with his trusty sword) navigates the tiny island trying to hide from the fierce hunter who is trying to track him down....
A home-made see-saw. Gotta get creative when there are no toys or TV :)
....until next time....

What will we do?

As the house is quiet and my heart still, I've been contemplating our home school.

~What matters most? How much time is given to each subject?
~Do I spend most of our time with all 3 together or spend more time individually?
~How often is too often to venture outdoors? With the loading and unloading of babies, finding coats, cleaning of muddy shoes, etc, is everyday too often?
~Should I choose a day for baking, a day for deeper cleaning, a day for...

All of this an more whirls around in my head. I'm double booked with a wonderful Bible study on Philippians on Friday mornings as well as our GATE home school group (alternating field trips, show and tell, and mother-led enrichment classes such as cooking, science experiments, PE, etc for two of the Fridays). Mondays-Thursdays I plan to stay at home. Really. Truly. Except for our nature walks/hikes. Oh no, I did sign up for soccer didn't I? Okay, we'll live restfully on the days we don't have soccer. ;o)

I am working on our routine, learning from the Maxwells, and truly enjoying reading Managers of Their Homes. Teri homeschooled 8 children and had every moment accounted for. I know we're too spontaneous for that, but I do want to keep better track of what we're making time for. I want the boys to be able to actually see what it is they are to be doing at any given time. There will be blocks of free-time of course! But just as I'm working on having a place for everything in our home, and everything in it's place, I also need a time for everything and everything in it's time. :o)

I love to plan, and I enjoy writing up schedules and reading lists. This will not be difficult or stressful and the bulk is already done. But what has been pulling on my heart is to remember that homeschooling is just doing what I already know is right. Living well. Not putting things off or procrastinating. Keeping the TV off most of the time. Shopping less. Staying off this computer except for the boys' quiet time. And most importantly making sure I rise early enough for that filling of my heart and soul in the secret place, just my Savior and I when there no distractions, nothing to take me away from what matters most... that one needed thing.

So I write this to say that I don't have the answers to the questions posed above.
But I do know that we will...

:: dance :: sing :: memorize :: read :: explore :: play :: pray ::

:: make things :: help one another :: learn to trust :: obey ::

:: run & jump :: cook :: clean :: listen :: experiment :: bake :: eat ::

:: really talk :: understand :: study :: rest :: be still ::

:: read some more :: breath deep :: enjoy life :: LOVE ::

:: sew :: hike :: .s.l.o.w. d.o.w.n. :: experiment ::

:: kiss & cuddle :: draw & create :: more reading ::

:: hike :: honor others :: be grateful ::

:: revel in the simple things ::

:: work hard :: think ::

:: be joyful ::

.learn.

Yes, we will learn. In all things we will learn! We'll live well and honor God in all things, and by doing this... learn. This is my goal. I know we will have conflicts. Try as I might, I've not been able to get the sin nature out of myself or my children. So yes, there will be hard days, there will be sickness, there will be sin. I will have to apologize to my children, and they to me and one another, but in all things we will learn, together. Only in His strength will live an honoring life. We will grow in Christ, together. And that is exciting!

Prayer request

Everything is going wonderfully, yet I ask for prayer for Calvary Chapel Monroe and our pastor Doug and his wife Dacyl. They dearly love the Lord and we're blessed to call them friends. It's difficult for their family having Doug working over an hour away, full time, and start up a new church! Still, they are cheerfully going about doing their Father's business. Chad and I are honored to work beside them. His hand is there and we know we're serving where we should be! What a blessing that is! We desire for the Lord to bless this church, with our only goal being to glorify Him.

PS: The new website is up! Calvary Monroe.

This picture...

makes me think I need to figure out how to get my kids to eat more. They already eat a LOT!
Halle's got enough chub!