A Charming Talent Show

Our family enjoyed the annual C.H.A.R.M. (Christian Home-school Association of Rocky Mount) Talent Show.  A special big thanks to Jennifer Harris for all her hard work organizing the event!

John and Anna played the piano, and all three kids entered art projects.  

If you ever want to feel truly humbled as a parent, attend a home-school talent show.  

WHOAH!  Some of the kids are uber gifted! 

 I actually had to ask Sarah if her artwork was a photograph or a drawing because it looks so real.  Believe it or not, this is a free-hand drawing Sarah made with charcoal.  And Sarah is pretty handy with a violin, too.  She has a full ride to East Carolina University next year on a music scholarship.

Katelyn and her brother Grant did a fantastic job on this song called You Are My Everything, a song which Katelyn wrote herself.  Best wishes on that future in singing, Katelyn!

And I was impressed with Zach, Samuel, Caleb and Sam, who performed Dark Horses by Switchfoot.  Samuel (lead singer) will be attending Christian college next year to major in worship ministry.  

So the Talent Show concluded the first year of the Barnette Family Homeschool.  We don't know what God has in store for our children's education next year... but thank you, Lord, for giving us this experience, so that after being with my three children almost 24/7 for the past 12 months, I know them better and love them more than ever.  Thank you for giving us Your grace so that I did not tire of them and they did not tire of me. Thank you for giving us Your knowledge so that they learned, and I learned, too.  Thank you for giving us good health, joy, laughter, and comfy days in comfy clothes in a comfy home....together.   

Thank you, Lord, for teaching me this year how to make a pearl.  :)

Proverbs 13:19

Happy 12th Birthday Christopher!

It's hard to believe our baby is TWELVE...  

Happy Birthday Christopher!!!

Poor Christopher.  Last year on his birthday, Tim and I did the best we could to celebrate his 11th birthday, but it came right before our big move from Ohio to North Carolina.  Christopher was such a good sport about it.  I remember standing at the bakery at Kroger's in Cincinnati, exhausted and filthy from packing boxes, letting Christopher pick-out a box of cupcakes and a package of candles, promising, "Next year, Christopher, I promise we'll make it a great birthday for you..."  He said sweetly with a smile on his face, "It's ok, Mom."

So we did our best this year to make Christopher's birthday EXTRA special!

Stage One:  The Party.
Christopher was thrilled that his church buddies Steven and Alex and neighborhood buddy Eli were able to come for pizza and cake, video games, a movie, playing outside basketball, a game of Sorry, and a Nerf-gun war.  This was our family's first slumber party....I mean, sleep-over. ("Boys don't have slumber parties, Mom!")  As far as middle school parties go, I think it was a success.  :D

The hit of the birthday bash: playing NBA 2K14 on PS3.  

Pre-teen boys LOVE their video games.

Stage Two:  The Gift.

Stage Three:  Putt-Putt Golfing.

While we were at the Outer Banks celebrating my Mother's Day at the gardens, we did a little putt-putt golf in Kill Devil Hills for Christopher's birthday.

Stage Four:  The Meal.

Given the choice of ANY restaurant in the Raleigh or Rocky Mount area for his special birthday meal, Christopher chose...the Rocky Mount Chik-Fil-A.  

And that is how we celebrated the twelfth birthday of our son Christopher, whom we dearly love and are SOOOOO very proud of....

                         

Mother's Day

An Open Letter To My Children 

on Mother's Day 2014

I am thankful for you, Christopher, who made me a mother back in 2002.  It was on you I learned how to change a diaper, how to feed a baby, and how much I could love a human being that I had brought into the world.  I am thankful that you are turning into such a responsible, trustworthy boy who is talented in music and art, and who doesn't mind when Mommy needs your help with the computer.   I am thankful for your sweet and gentle spirit, and that you put the needs and wants of others before your own.  I am thankful that you like to serve others, especially those less fortunate.  I appreciate your sense of humor, and your desire to make people laugh.  Your jokes are funny!  And I am thankful that you are turning into such a good cook: I look forward to the day when you cook me a meal for the first time.  I'm so proud of the Godly young man you are.

I am thankful for you, John, because you have brought such joy into our lives  from the moment your 9 lb 12 oz self made its way into the delivery room back in 2004.  I never stop being amazed by how much "boy" is wrapped-up in you, John, nor how dirty you can manage to get when playing outside.  I love your heart for Jesus, how you care about lost people, and how you fearlessly talk about going into preaching or missions someday.  And even though I know you think you're too old for hugs and kisses from Mommy anymore, I believe that maybe...deep down...you still like them.  I admire your desire to do what's right and be obedient, even when surrounded by others who are not.  And I appreciate your sense of style:  you are the only 9 year old boy I know who likes to wear dress clothes.  I'm thankful that you ALWAYS like my cooking and that you're always willing to try new and exciting foods with Mommy.  You are a blessing to the Lord and to me, John.

I am thankful for you, Anna, who surprised me back in 2007 because I was just certain I was having a third boy.  But when God made you a girl, He REALLY made you a girl!  I love how you dance and sing, want to play in my make-up and have your nails painted, and how you like to wear a dress every single day.  I am thankful you are unashamed about praising the Lord in public, no matter who is listening or what they think.  I love your heart for elderly people.   You are becoming such a good reader, and I'm glad you never tire of  reading or talking about the Bible.  And although you are certainly a "Daddy's Little Girl," I am thankful that you take time to be Mommy's helper around the house or play dolls with me.  You are a beautiful young lady both inside and out.

Love You Bunches,

Mommy

3 John 1:4

Pickin' and A Grinnin'

One Christmas Christopher, John and Anna were given a kids' guitar as a gift from their Nana.  They have all three played and played that guitar, and Christopher fell in love with it.  Now that he is a bit older and bigger, he has worked hard to show his mom and dad that he is responsible enough for a full-sized guitar of his own.  Christopher has taken to the piano well in recent years, so we know that he has an interest and talent in music, and that he practices faithfully.  Upon recommendation of our dear friend and expert guitar consultant Aaron Smith, in April we went to Guitar Center in Raleigh to pick-out one for him...

It was so confusing!  Guitar Center has rooms full of guitars, and to the untrained eye, a $5,000 one looks EXACTLY like a $50 one.  So a big thank you to David Hammond at Guitar Center, who took this clueless mom and dad on and helped us find just the perfect guitar.  David was great.  He talked us through what we needed and was honest about what we didn't need.  David didn't try to up-sell us, and we ended-up with a reasonably-priced but well-constructed Yahama acoustic folk guitar.

And here was our Christopher, sitting down with his new instrument for the first time...

 

This week, Christopher had his first guitar lesson with our friend Jimmy.  Jimmy is a talented musician and teaches the guitar very well.  And best of all, Jimmy ends his guitar lesson with prayer.

Christopher hopes to someday be the next Steven Curtis Chapman or Tim Hawkins.  But we are ready for him to be the first Christopher Barnette. :D  Mostly, though, we hope that he has fun and finds a new way to worship and praise the Lord through music.

So now that Christopher has his first real six-string, we'll have to see if he plays it 'til his fingers bleed this summer.  After all, these are the best days of his life... 

Sorry for the cheesy song reference.

Couldn't help myself.  I'm a child of the 80's.  :D

Anna Jean the Bicycle Queen

The time has come for Anna Jean to learn to ride her bike without training wheels.  So after days and days of practicing balance and control and speed, last night she figured it out!

  

Anna's "Learning to Ride A Bike" Faces...

HAPPY:

SERIOUS:

????

Tim pushed and guided and coached her up and down our street all evening.  He must have run miles!

And when I wasn't working the camera, I helped, too.

And then, just like a baby bird spreading its wings and flying for the first time... it worked!

Our little girl was off on her own.

Oops!  We need to learn to brake.

Things We Learned While Teaching Anna Jean To Ride A Bike:

1. Anna's legs apparently do not move unless she is talking.  She talks and talks and talks her way up and down the street.
2. Girls are very interested in the little sparkly strings that come out of their handlebars.  Girls will stop bike-riding lessons to pick-up sparkly strings that have fallen into the street.
3. When Anna gets scared, she veers her bike to the side.  Over and over, we had to tell her that when you get scared, you have to just keep looking ahead and going in the right direction.  THAT is going to be a sermon illustration someday.

So after successfully graduating three students, this mom and dad are retiring from our school of teaching little ones to ride without training wheels.  Whew.  Just in time.  At ages 40 and 41 our legs are getting TIRED!

Happy Easter

We hope your celebration of the Savior's resurrection was as joyful as ours has been.  Our family is so thankful that the five of us are never, ever alone:  Jesus is always with us.  :)

And I am happy that the Lord bloomed my bushes just in time to take some Easter pictures of the kids in the yard.

Christopher, age 11.  Growing-up entirely too fast. 

 John 

"Cause Every Girl Crazy 'Bout A Sharp-Dressed Man" 

Barnette, age 9.

 Anna Jean, age 6.

Our Family's First Passover

The children and I have spent some time this month studying the Jewish celebration of Passover, which culminated in us having our first-ever family Seder this week. 

The best resources we found to study Passover were this video by Messianic Jew Zola Levitt, and the book Why On This Night? A Passover Haggadah for Family Celebration by Rahel Musleah.

The first step we took for our Passover preparation came the ritual of cleaning-up every speck of dirt an dust we could find...

Then came the fun part:  preparing the food.

Our Family's Passover Menu:

Matzo Ball Soup

Unleavened Bread

Latkes (potato pancakes)

peas

grape juice

Ashkenazi Haroset (a mixture of apples, walnuts & cinnamon)

Beitzah (boiled eggs)

parsley and salt water

fresh-grated horseradish (for the bitter herbs)

celery sticks (for the Karpas)

and a lamb shank, for representative purposes

We set our best table possible, lit the candles, and began the ceremony....

We were of course sure to save a place for Elijah.  Which sparked the funniest part of our Passover.  Anna - who is six -  absolutely, unquestionably believed that Elijah was coming to our house.  She kept looking for him all day.  Anna apparently likens Elijah to the Tooth Fairy.  If you leave a tooth under your pillow, the Tooth Fairy is sure to come.  And if you leave a place-setting for Elijah...

Things Learned From Our Passover Celebration:

•  I learned that making Jewish food is not easy.  There's very little of it that you can throw in the oven or in a Crock Pot and walk away from.  Much of the food has to be cooked on the stove at the last minute.
• Anna learned that when searching for the Afikomen, you can also find a lost doll, an M&M in the couch cushions, and a quarter.
• Tim learned that although they might look similar, Matzo balls don't taste as good as dumplings.  However, the boys learned that they are pretty big fans of unleaved bread.
• The kids learned that Jesus can be found all through the rituals of Passover, from the food eaten to the verses spoken.  Which is pretty uncanny considering how long Passover preceded the birth of Jesus.
• We learned that for 450 years before Josiah, the Israelites did not celebrate Passover.  One of the first things Josiah did as king was to re-instate the remembrance of Passover.
• We learned that even Gentiles like ourselves have the ability to know God better by understanding Passover.

NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM!!!