Happy Birthday to...

Emmy Xiang Brown

or...

"Crazy Girl," "Xiang Xiang Gongzhou," "Pooh," "Jazz Baby," "Munchkin-Face," "Emma John," "Sweet Pea," "Joe-Joe Baby," "Cutie-Patootie," "Mei Mei"

So, she has a few nicknames. :)

Emmy Xiang turned seven this year and enjoyed a quiet party the morning of her birthday. She received some lovely items like Beatrix Potter movies...

and a kite!

But what is in this long package from Mama and Daddy?

What does this label say?

I think she likes it!

It's a "bow and arrows," as she says. This has been her dearest desire for months now, and at last, she received it.

Look out, folks. She's armed and dangerous! :)

Four Easters Together...

Easter 2008

Easter 2009

Easter 2010

Easter 2011

What does 2012 have to hold?

Passover and Easter

One of the most beautiful times of year has come and gone again. Passover was lovely again this year. We enjoyed the company of dear friends and the edification of sweet fellowship.

Holy Week fell in line with Confederate Jasmine season, so a few vines intermingled with the grapes and palm branches this year. A little bit of Southern hospitality never hurt, did it? ;-)

I so love the sweet symbolism supplied in the Passover seder. It's such a perfect preparation for Easter Sunday!

Our candles did an excellent job of burning through the night, creating a neat bit of photography while they were at it!

Saturday night, we dyed some eggs with lovely spring colors. Is there anything more beautiful than an Easter Sunday meal with colorful deviled eggs? This year our dear neighbors joined us for dinner!

We also whipped up a batch of Resurrection Cookies -- a favorite tradition. We so loved watching Emmy Xiang continue to learn more about our Savior and His glorious Sacrifice. We pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to draw her to Himself! Save her, Lord, we pray!

Our traditional family picture is always interesting without someone to take it for us!

Daddy and his daughters! :)

Up next, a fun comparison post!

Hey Aunt Sis...

Just so that you know how much of a hit Pooh was, I thought I'd post a group of pictures that were by no means staged. This is how Emmy Xiang spends her days -- snuggling with Pooh, chatting with Pooh, reading with Pooh, sleeping on Pooh, smooching on Pooh!

Yep... He was a hit.

End-of-the-Year Bash

The premier of the OTSN flash occurred at our traditional end-of-the-year celebration.

This year we did a quick journey across the globe, visiting different continents in different rooms of our home.

Each family pitched in their various international belongings, and boy! do our families have a lot of neat items.

This was my (the Elf) personal favorite continent to hang out at! :)

All the students dressed in international garb and prepared delicious snacks from various nations!

A lovely morning to finish of a smashing school year. Thanks to Mama, Mum, Mrs. W, Mrs. D, and Mrs. J for all their hard work in teaching everyone the whole year through! Y'all are the best!

2010-2011 Co-op

This year's co-op looked a bit different than past co-ops. Our family was joined by three others to study grammar and writing with Mama, while learning their geography and current events with Mum. Don't these students look thrilled to bits with their new writing assignments?

The college-prep students look promising, but to be honest, it's probably just a facade for the camera -- they're good actors! ;-)

Geography students puzzle over layers of the earth's crust... The the melding of current events and geography happened accidentally with the birth of new nations in Africa and natural disasters in New Zealand and Japan. Much prayer occurred on those Fridays!

As an end of the year project, the students had to research current events happening all over the globe, write reports on them, and then convert those reports into news story format. To make things even more complicated (but way sweeter, as we all agree), they then filmed a 40 minute news program called OTSN -- On The Spot News.

Community with fellow believers is so sweet and makes homeschooling so much richer! We love you all!