Track meet!

The boys have been participating in fencing for a couple of years now, but we have been looking for a way to get them into track.  The "Tebow" bill here in Virginia has passed the legislature two years in a row, but has failed to get enough to over-ride the governor's veto.  <sigh>

So, we found Fairfax Home School Athletic Association and their track team.  The boys hated it at first, but I think they're having fun now!

You'll notice the numbers pinned to their chests...especially the 747... hubby says that the nickname to go with that number is... Jumbo.  Ha ha!  Do you see that skinny boy?

What???

Holy cow - we have another licensed driver in the house!!  He passed with flying colors!  The tester said that she could tell that he had practiced a lot.  After hearing what he had to do for the test, I was WAAYY harder on him than the DMV was.  We live near DC, so I made him drive about half-way to DC and BACK the other day...at rush hour.  The test?  Around the little neighborhood.  He didn't have to do any 2-point turns or 3-point turnarounds.  Crazy!!

Congrats, Peter!!

Merry Christmas 2015

We write this letter yet again from Virginia.  Tim’s job is such that we should be here for the next THREE years!  Virginia has now overtaken West Virginia as the state we’ve lived in the longest.

We took a lot of little trips this year.  We returned to New England this spring for my cousin’s wedding and managed to sneak in a trip to Boston and Gillette Stadium too.  We went to Michigan in May to celebrate our niece’s graduation from medical school.  July came and with it Tim’s sister, Heidi and her daughter Jazzy.  We had fun going to Monticello and to D.C. for Independence Day. 

In August, we all went to WV to watch the Patriots in a pre-season practice against the New Orleans Saints…yes, the Saints practice in WV.  What fun!  We saw Brady, Belichick, the Gronk….SO much fun!  In September we celebrated Nana Mewes’ 80^th birthday and surprised her with two of her children coming in for the party.  We also went on a field trip to Ft. McHenry this year and really enjoyed that as well.

The three older kids are in youth group together and have had chances to serve the homeless by washing the transportation vans, doing laundry at a shelter, and helping kids with crafts at our church’s annual Advent party.

Peter has been asked to be a leader in both his youth group and the youth worship team.  Leading the worship team will also involve leading worship in front of the whole church once a month!  In July, he and Jonathan spent a week in WV for the National Guard camp.  Peter’s stay wasn’t your typical camp experience.  More like Marine boot camp. 

Jonathan has started a pottery class and is really enjoying both the class and meeting new people.  His pet rats, Francesca and Jennifer, are simply adorable and so sociable.  We all enjoy playing with them and feeding them their favorite – sunflower seeds!

Caroline continues riding horses once a week.  She learned to canter, which she said was not as hard as she had thought.  She’s trying to figure out how to spend even more time at the barn!

Victoria is in fourth grade this year.  She has always helped in the kitchen, but this year she made a batch of chocolate chip cookies ALL BY HERSELF, as well as the pecan pie for Thanksgiving (with only a little help).

This year has not been without its low points.  Every year has them and we’re certainly NOT immune.  This letter is meant to be a recap of the highlights, but I don’t want anyone to think our life is rosy all the time, or that yours should be either.  I know there are those who have suffered great loss this year, those who are struggling with health issues, those who are in dire financial straits.  I want you to know that there is someone who is always there for you.  Jesus, the babe in the manger, did more than come to make a cute nativity scene.  He came to live a perfect, sinless life to make atonement for our imperfect, sinful ones.  Won’t you trust in His sacrifice this year?  Make this a year in which the greatest gift of all, God’s love sent down to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, is accepted by you.  You’ll spend eternity in heaven and have the Holy Spirit living within you to guide you along this crazy road we call life.

We love you, we miss you, we love hearing from you.  Blessings to you this Christmas.

                                                                        Love,                                                                                            The Mewes family

Happy birthday, Peter

Peter is 17!  Crazy, right!!

Family pictures

It has been a few years since we had family pictures done by our family friend, Miss Mary.  We were blessed to have her take these pictures.  Enjoy!

Nana's birthday

Now, usually, we don't mention other people's birthdays on our webpage, but this year, we had a special one in the family - Nana Mewes turned 80!!  Her boys decided that we would have a birthday party at our house, and those who don't live here would drive in for the party!

They all got here the night before her birthday, and no one called her on her birthday, for fear of blowing the surprise.  My parents took them for lunch, then brought them over for the surprise party.  She was thrilled!  She said that she had been blue all day because no one had called her!!

Happy birthday, Victoria

Victoria decided she wanted chili for her birthday, so we turned it into a chili cook-off with the neighborhood (if they wanted to participate).  We had four different chilis and ten kids in the house.  The new neighbors across the street won the prize - a gold painted wooden spoon in a wooden block.  Very exciting!! 

Happy Anniversary to us

This year is a big milestone for us - twenty years.  Ten moves, nine pets, eight churches, seven states, six cars, five ranks, four kids, three house, two countries and one marriage.  Congratulations to us!

 

Summer!

Riding bikes together

What a summer!  Heidi (Tim's sister) and Jazzy (her daughter) came for three weeks!  They always visit Nana & Papa Mewes for the summer, but this year, Nana & Papa were in Virginia, so we got to enjoy them as well.
The kids enjoyed just playing and hanging out with each other, and the girls got to celebrate their birthdays together (they're just three weeks apart).  We took everyone to see the Minion movie as part of the celebration and had a small birthday party.

The three younger kids and their cousin were able to participate in our church's VBS.  They enjoyed learning about Jesus and His sacrifice for us.  Caroline went early one day to work at a homeless shelter, doing laundry, cleaning, and serving breakfast.

Girls on a train!

Another highlight was a trip to DC for Independence Day.  Usually we stay close to home, because who wants to drive back from DC so late?  This year, the Virginia Railway Express offered train rides to and from for only $10!!  SOLD!!  We had a great time!  We learned a few things for next year...one, food is not close.  I'm so glad I brought SOMETHING to eat.  It was meant to be a snack, but it ended up being the only thing we had until after the fireworks.

The boys went to West Virginia for a week for camp.  Jonathan's was more of a fun camp, playing games, swimming, etc.  Peter's - well, that was more like a boot camp.  We got there and he instantly had to drop and start doing push-ups.  He said it was awful for the first few days, but after that it was more fun.  Still lots of drilling, marching, discipline, but some fun things too.  He no longer complains about how hard WE are on him.  Ha!

While the boys were gone, we kept having fun with Heidi and Jazzy, going to Monticello, having meals, shopping, and just enjoying each other's company.  We were very sad to see them leave, but we are looking forward to this being a yearly event!!

Happy birthday, Caroline!

Caroline and Jazzy celebrated their birthdays together with a small birthday party.  Here's Caroline's annual birthday picture - can't believe she's twelve!

May flowers, etc.

We are so very proud of our niece, Heather.  She graduated from medical school!  Most of us were able to go up to Michigan to enjoy the festivities.  It was a quick trip, but we're so glad we made it.

This year, we raised swallowtail butterflies that I found in the garden.  I went out there one morning and saw something on the dill - I was about ready to smush it when I realized it was a swallowtail caterpillar.  They eat a LOT of dill, and I was hoping to keep some of it for homemade pickles.  Ah well.  The butterflies ARE beautiful.

April was fun!

April brought Easter - we had a beautiful day for it!  Lunch was had at the Livingstons in Culpeper, then we walked to the Mewes (a half-block away) for the Easter egg hunt.  Not sure what we're going to do next year, as I'm pretty sure we've set the age limit at 12 for hunting for eggs.  Won't be much fun with just Victoria doing it!

We were also able to go to Massachusetts for about a week - the real reason we were there was for my cousin's wedding, but we managed to squeeze some Boston sightseeing in, too!  The Boston Massacre site, Freedom Trail, and of course, Gillette Stadium - home of the Pats!!

Jonathan turned 14 - and oh, boy....is he acting it!  He's had his hair in a "Mohawk" for months, his voice is changing, and he's getting a little mouthy.  However, he is still our lovable boy and we wouldn't trade him for anything.  As usual, he chose steak for his birthday dinner.

So far this year

We've had a bit of snow this year.  The kids are LOVING it!!  In case you're wondering, our homeschool snow day policy is this:  if the county calls school, we MIGHT - but only if it's GOOD snow.  Meaning, if the kids are going to go outside and play in it, we can call it.  However, they usually get a little schooling in because they usually wait until the neighborhood kids are out before they go out.  Mittens (our cat) hates the snow, so he usually just sits by the window and watches the birds come in to the feeders we have stuck to the windows.  Abi (our dog) loves the snow, especially when it's falling!

Victoria, 8, made her very first batch of cookies ALL BY HERSELF.  It's very hard for her to do things all by herself, since there are always kids around who have already done it and want to help (whether she wants the help or not!).  This time, I told her all the ingredients (couldn't find a copy of the recipe) and she put them all together, scooped them all out, and baked them.  She was, of course, very proud of herself.

Peter taught Abi a new trick - balancing a ball on her nose until she's told, "okay."  This trick is very difficult for Abi, because she is completely obsessed with balls.  Seriously.  I'm sitting here typing and I can see three balls just around my feet.

Minions!

We love the Minions - don't you?!?!  This is our attempt to paint Victoria's fingernails in Minion fashion.

Super Bowl!

Now I know there are a lot of Pats haters out

there.  Too bad.  This is my blog!  We're rooting for the Pats tonight - even the dog is!!

Merry Christmas!!

The AMewesing Times

Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas, beloved friends and family!  What a year we have had!  Jonathan turned 13 and is officially a teenager.  He’s still our sweet, helpful boy, and we are hopeful he will stay that way through the teen years.  Caroline turned 11 and now has an email address.  Please write her – she loves to have email!  Victoria turned eight, so her milestone was getting her ears pierced.  She’s thrilled – one more way she can be like her big sister.  Peter turned 16 and got his driver’s permit.  Pray for us all, will you?!  Ha, ha – no, really.   Tim is, so far, still gainfully employed, for which we are tremendously thankful.  I am still at home, home-schooling the kids and keeping house.

While many things happened this year, the highlight has to be our cross-country trip.  We had talked for several years about visiting my grandparents in Oregon, and this year we decided to just do it.  We were on the road a total of 24 days!  We started by driving to Niagara Falls and riding the Maid of the Mist.  We then found our campsite…oh, did I mention that we had never camped before?  Caroline was especially apprehensive about sleeping outside, but it turned out to be quite fun!  The next day we drove to Indiana Dunes, on Lake Michigan.  Beautiful!  Chicago was our next stop.  We went to the Museum of Science and Industry, drove around, saw Wrigley Field, and ate deep-dish pizza.  DELICIOUS!  We had a short drive to our next campsite in Wisconsin.  The kids swam and that night we found out that, fortunately, our tent was indeed waterproof!  The following afternoon we were in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where we poked around the falls (not as big as Niagara, but quite pretty!).  We drove to Mt. Rushmore (so cool!!) the next day, and attempted to camp overnight at Devils Tower, Wyoming, but a storm blew up – a BIG one.  We ended up driving (during that awful storm) to a hotel that night.  The next day we set up camp for TWO nights in Yellowstone National Park.  It was COLD.  We woke up to 33 degrees.  Brrrrr.  The kids, however, were great.  They were more than willing to deal with the cold for the AMAZING things we saw – buffalo, bear, trumpeter swan, Old Faithful, “mud pot” geysers, cool geothermic formations, elk, deer, eagles.  God’s handiwork was loudly proclaimed in that place.  

The next stop was Oregon!  We stayed five nights, playing games, going to Mt. St. Helens, the Oregon coast, the Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, a HUGE bookstore, and thrift stores!  Tim flew home from there, while the kids and I continued to Mt. Shasta, California.  The boys set up the tent by themselves, the girls set up the inside, and I made dinner.  The kids were great – have I mentioned that yet?  Next day was full of fun – In-and-Out Burger, driving up and down Lombard Street (!!!), over the Golden Gate Bridge, and into Monterey.  I took them to the aquarium, which they LOVED, and the next day we poked around the neighborhood where we used to live, drove down to Pacific Grove to see where the monarchs congregate (although they weren’t there then), saw seals and otters,  and ate at Compango’s.  Best sandwiches ever!  Then down to Sequoia National Park.  I tried to go to Yosemite, but went to the wrong entrance, so we had to skip it to go straight to Sequoia. Oh, and something you should know is that starting in Yellowstone, we had to wear different clothes into the tent than we wore to eat, to keep bears away from the tents.  Yes, bears.  No food, toiletries, nothing that had an odor, was allowed in the tent, ever.  It’s harder than you might think!

Anyway, after Sequoia and seeing General Sherman, that HUGE tree (oh, and a black bear), we drove to Murietta to see Tim’s sister, Heidi.  The next day was….DISNEYLAND!  Oh my gosh, we had a great time!!  We were sad to leave the next day, but had to hit the road.  We drove through Las Vegas (while listening to Elvis singing, “Viva, Las Vegas”), then over the Hoover Dam, through the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, and into the Grand Canyon.  Another thing – we were now out of bear country.  Now we just had to worry about rattlesnakes and scorpions, but we could take food into the tent.  Good thing – because it started thundering as the boys were setting up the tent and I was cooking.  We just tossed everything in there and got in just as it started to rain!  Next day, we went to see the Meteor Crater and then to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit with some dear friends.  The following day had a stop in Abilene, Texas to visit with MORE dear friends!  We stopped in Hot Springs, Arkansas the next day.  On to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, and a cave tour and the next day – HOME!!  We were so glad to see Tim, the pets….and to have a lovely, hot, long, shower!!  It took us an hour to empty the car, and two days to do the laundry, but it was worth it!

We talked a lot about our trip and we all felt the enormity of God during those 24 days.  So many times we confine God to an hour on Sunday, or a few minutes of prayer before dinner.  God is so much bigger than that.  SO much bigger than we realize, yet He made Himself small to come to us as a baby.  He kept His glory confined in a human body to die on the cross for us, and then He released His glory when He rose again, so we too could have eternal life.  He died the death He did not deserve, so that we could live the eternal life we don’t deserve. 

Amazing grace. 

We pray that you know God’s love, mercy, grace, and peace this Christmas.  He loves you.  We love you.  Thank you for your friendship, your prayers, your love.  You are important to us and we are so glad you are in our lives.

Love,

The Mewes family

P.S. Let me know if you'd like email addresses for the kids - I don't just want to post them on the internet!!

Happy New Year!

 New Year's Eve was a little different this year.  Tim had go into work for 6:45 am the next day, so we went to the Westenhofer's.  Great fun!  (A little too much tequila, but great fun)  Of course, our annual tradition is the smashing of the gingerbread houses.  Enjoy!

Yes, I know there's no individual picture of Peter.  Be happy there's one of him at all!!  We have entered a stage where pictures are not encouraged.  <sigh>

This year, I made ten gingerbread houses for kids.  The girls invited the new neighbors over (they have four kids), and of course, the Westenhofer boys joined us.  Couldn't have gingerbread house building without them!  It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work.  We'll see how many I'll make this year!

 

"Sweet" Sixteen

My oldest turned sixteen.  Sixteen.  Do you realize how old that makes me?  Do you realize how soon he'll be out in the world and on his own?

Wow.

He had apple pie for breakfast, nachos and cheese fries for lunch, and potato leek soup for dinner.  All by request.  Yes, I'm aware the soup is a bit odd, but he LOVES it.

Love you, Peter!

Eight!

New earrings!

Victoria turned eight this year!!  Eight is big in our girls' lives, because that means they may get their ears pierced.  Her birthday was a bit haphazard, because we had JUST returned from our trip, but she still got her choice of meals, and we had cake with all the neighborhood kids.

Hard to believe my "baby" is so big!!

Love you, Victoria!!

Niagara...again?

After spending the night in Hot Springs, we packed up and drove to Mammoth Caves, Kentucky.  We had a nice big campsite and things started to look a little more like home as far as the countryside, animals, stores, etc.

In the morning, we packed up and went for our tour of Mammoth Caves.  The caves are, as the name suggests, mammoth, so we had chosen one tour (there are SEVERAL).

The kids enjoyed it (although the comment was made that Luray Caverns in Virginia was just as nice), and there was a fun little formation there called Frozen Niagara.  Jonathan commented that we started at Niagara Falls and we were finishing at Frozen Niagara.  Nice little symmetry.

We got in the car and drove on.....when we arrived in Huntington, West Virginia at about 3 pm, the kids and I had a little conference.  We were still about six hours away from home and I knew we were all tired of being in the car, but also tired of being on the road.  The consensus was to GO ON!!!

We arrived home around 10 pm - YAY!!!  Happy to see Daddy, the pets, hot showers, our own beds.  Aaahhhh.....