OUR LIFE

This photo taken April 2012 -- five of our six children.

This page is where I am putting up links to previous posts about our family life and our photos. I will post them here chronologically by the date the events occurred and/or photos were taken, as opposed to the date of the blog post.  That way, even if I get behind although I am perpetually behind on the blog and post looong after the fact, I can have a record here of when things actually happened. 

This page is a work in progress, begun 3/30/2012.

*If there are photos or video including our family in a post, I've put a * next to it.

2008
*January --  Little Walrus Warning (book Bethany liked, her with it -- posted on this blog Oct 2009)

*December -- Trip to South Walton, Florida -- post about the congregation
*December -- Florida Pictures from the Gulf beach

2009

January 3 -- On the Origin of the Mommy Earth (the children's imaginary play)
January 23 -- Beans (Tirzah's interest in cooking and funnies)
February 3 -- Peter's Energy (quotes from him, energy and math)
February 27 -- Quick Update (sickness, pregnancy w/Liberty, birthdays)
March 16 -- Homeschool Sick Days
*January-March -- Knight and Fair Maidens (posted March 27 but contains photos from as far back as January as well as later, Peter knight, Zion dress-up, birthdays, Tiberius)
*May -- It's a Girl! (Liberty born)
*May (same day as above)-- Grandpa and Grandma Sparks w/Liberty and the Others ("Smarks")
*May (also same day as above)-- Liberty's Birth Story (posted September)
*May 30 -- Pictures of Liberty
*June 1 -- Grandma Morris visited
*June 2 -- Liberty's First Time Outside (w/Zion and Tirzah)
*June 6 -- Granny's Visit to See Liberty
*mid-May thru mid-June -- Visit to Local Pond, Attempt at Nice Photos, More of Liberty at Home  (also mention of 6-week checkup, which was mid-July, post made at that time)
*June 18 -- Liberty Photos Green Dress
*June 26 -- While Daddy Was Gone (to Pennsylvania)
*mid to late June -- Frog and Toad Are Friends (the children and their toads)
*July 4 -- Fireworks Time w/Grandpa and Grandma Sparks
*July 13, 16, 21 -- Mid-July Photos (Liberty 6 weeks, Dress-Up Play, Tiberius)
*July 19 -- Mid-July Photo Shoot (front yard)
*July 28 through August 11 -- Photos from Late July and Early August (2-weeker, Liberty, wild hair, markers, thumb sucking)
*August 17 -- Chinese Mantis Post (a couple photos of the children with it)
*August 21 -- Missouri State Fair
*August 22 -- Liberty at Almost 3 Months Old
*August 25 -- More Photos Taken of Liberty Around 3 Months Old
September 1 -- Visiting Sparks Grandparents
September -- Labor Day Weekend to Iowa
*September 8 (photos taken then) --  Clutter and Chaos (the laundry couch, Liberty, Tirzah)
September 11 -- Quotes/Thoughts and Looking Back on 9/11/2001
September 25 --  Book Review and Narrations -- Heidi (talks about how we do narrations some, and how they were doing, etc.)
*September -- Random Photos from September (taken throughout the month at home)
*August and September -- Photos from Joel/Aubrey and Mark/Susan Weddings
*September 26 -- Photos of Liberty Around 4 Months Old
*September -- 'Peter Earth' Museum
*September -- Sparks Grandparents Late September
October -- Early October, Lined Snake in the Basement (children photos w/it)
*October -- Photos of Children Sleeping (some probably not taken in October, but at least 3 were)
October 19 -- Five Little Peppers Read-Aloud Discussion
*October 20 -- October Nature Walk
*October Various Dates -- Liberty Photos, Including 5 Months
*October -- Late October Photos (Tirzah's Birthday, Peter Legos)
*October 31 -- Granny's House, Veva and Kevin
November 26 -- Tirzah Quotes
*November -- November Photos (Velvet/Bethany, Liberty, sickness, Granny)
December 1 -- More Tirzah Quotes
*December 1 -- A Few December Photos (Tirzah Duplo Buildings, Liberty, teething)
*December 13, 15 -- More Liberty In December
December 14 -- Little Lord Fauntleroy Review (discussion with the children mentioned at the end)
*December 19 -- Tad and JoAnna's Wedding
*December 20-22 -- Tirzah Math, Mobile Liberty, Snow, Goofy Kids



2010
January 14 -- New Year/Liberty Update
*January and February -- Birthday Celebrations and Random At Home
*April -- Nature Study -- Praying Mantis Oothecae Hatching
May -- Knitting
June -- A Bit of an Update on Reading and Trip to Arizona
June -- More on Reading (just a note on the previous one really, and not much about family here)
July 20 -- Clint's Death (for more about this see my page on Grief and Loss -- won't link most posts unrelated to our immediate family here, but this was just such a tremendous loss that affected us all)
July 20 -- The Nightmare Begins (a post I made later telling about when we found out)
August, September and October -- a lot of grief, and blogging about only things related to that.
July 24 -- Sad Day (this post made much later contains a bit of reflection on burying Clint)
November -- I decided to blog about other things.

 
2011
January -- Belated Happy New Year (Great-Aunt's Death, expecting Abraham)
*January -- Photos January, Mostly Liberty
February 2 -- Book Review -- The Wheel On the School (just a bit about how our read-alouds went here)
January-February -- A Bit About the Children
*February 5 -- A Few Minutes In the Life of a Toddler (Liberty, John)
February -- Great Backyard Bird Count
January-February -- Enjoying God's Creation in January and February 
*February -- February Photos (birthdays, etc.)
*February -- Final February Photos (home and birthday celebration)
March -- What's In Our Atmosphere? (about difficulties after morning sickness and household management, and educational atmosphere)
*March -- Through Peter's Birthday Celebration
*March -- The Rest of March (at home, Grandma Sparks visit, Granny's, mattress...)
*April -- Ultimate Blog Party Intro (includes a couple family photos, taken March 2011 and June 2010)
April 18 -- In Praise of Living Books
*April -- April Photos (church booth, food, wedding, ultrasound Abraham, more at home)
*May 4 -- Clint's Birthday (visiting his grave)
*May -- At Home and Through Mother's Day
*May -- Bowling and Random at Home (mostly Liberty sleeping/helping a couple of school)
*May -- Sewing Pajamas (Bethany, Tirzah and Liberty pictured)
*May -- Two Dramas (the children's skits)
*May -- Celebration and Swinging (birthdays Sparks house)
*May -- Enjoying God's Creation in May (snail, turtle, some photos of children)

*September -- Abraham's Birth
* -- A Couple of Videos (Abraham/Liberty -- "too old" and song leading)
* -- Another Video (Liberty quotes Herman Cain)
*December 19-20 -- Memory Moments
*December 31 -- Top 11 in 2011 (photo of Abraham at bottom of post, about 4 months old)


2012
*April -- Ultimate Blog Party 2012
April/May -- Worldwide Cultural Exchange
May 5 -- Sad Day
May 12 -- Our Cultural Exchange Packages Have Been Sent!
*May 13 -- Florida, Indonesia, and Mexico -- Worldwide Cultural Exchange Package
*May-June -- Whooping Cough - Journal Part 1
June --  We Survived -- What Now?
early/mid-July -- Masked Multipara!  and They Came Back! (about a visiting raccoon family)
*late July -- New Game! (garment bag)
*August 1 -- 11 Months Old!
*August 10 -- Homeschool Curricula (iHomeschool Network "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop)
*August 13 -- Homeschool "Room" (iHomeschool Network "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop)
*August 15 -- Math Man and Fermat's Last Theorem (Peter)
*August 26-September 1 -- NOT Not Back-to-School, and Other Adventures (Weekly Wrap-Up)
late August -- Dining Room (Sorta) Makeover
*September 2-8 -- Meet the Symphony! (Weekly Wrap-Up)
*September 7 -- Peek-a-Boo! (Abraham)
*September 9-15 -- New Schedule Starts (Weekly Wrap-Up) and A Few More Abraham Photos
*October 15 -- Just a Quick Update in October, with one photo of Abraham
*November -- Wrapping Up November (highlights from the month)

2013

April -- Brief UBP post mentioning moving, and the fact I had a new teen and a new talker at once.
*April -- Pond/bird picture/info with a very little talk about our life, still involved w/move.
*August -- Some About Our Summer and New Blog Name (Large Family Learning)
*August -- Homeschool Curricula (iHomeschool Network "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop)
*August -- Homeschool Room (iHomeschool Network "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop)
*August -- Not Back-to-School Photos (iHomeschool Network "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop)
*September -- Abraham Turned 2!
*October -- Liberty and Babies
*October -- Because Sometimes, You're Just That Sleepy
*October -- Tirzah's Birthday
*December -- Abraham's Music Videos

2014

*January -- Announcing...
*February -- Began our Experience Raising Chickens, Chronicled Here.
*March -- Abraham at Two and a Half
*March -- Ultrasound Photos
 

*August -- Homeschool 2104-2015: One Large Family's Plans
*August -- Justice Courage
*September -- Not Back-to-School Photos