Daniel almost 2 years old praying,,,,,,,,

Last night Matthew put the little ones to bed and prayed for them as usual. Esther says to Daniel:" You say thank you Jesus for mami?!" and Daniel :"ta Je mami!" Love it!

Our days full of reading, cleaning and playing together

Awesome tool for Bible study

I finally started to use this book bought in the States 3 years ago. The girls and I take time every week to study the Bible in a deeper way. This book shows us 12 ways to unlock God's word, one for every month if you want. So far so good!

Making meatballs together

Today we made meatballs from scratch. My big helpers were David and Esther. David had a lot of fun putting all the ingredients together and then mixing everything up in the bowl with his hands. Esther helped us with the little meatballs. It would probably have been quicker if I did it by myself but it was worth it doing it with them. We ate the meatballs in red sauce for lunch with tagliatelle. YUMM......

Brothers playing time

David and Daniel like to play together a lot.

Esther loves writing!

Esther is learning how to write her name. This is her first attempt to write it all by herself!

Go boys go!

We just found out that we are expecting an other boy. We are so very thrilled! Go boys go!

13 weeks pregnant!

I am 13 weeks pregnant. Nausea and vomit finally left my body. I like watching my womb grow and knowing that God put a new life within me. Children make my life large and full!

Homeschooling in the morning!

David 5 y.old is working on 1st grade curriculum, learning to write in cursive and doing math. Esther 3 y.old is practicing her handwriting skills. Daniel 21 months old is learning his colors and how to draw.

David is born again!

On Sunday 1oth of October, David accepted Jesus in his heart! The next day he asked 3 y.old Esther if she wanted to do the same! She said yes! He said " Do you know that God can take your scariness away? Do you want that??"

Mothers are........

Mothers are God's idea

Mothers are nurturers

Mothers are feeders

Mothers are servants

Mothers are influential

Mothers are nation changers

Mothers are generation perpetuators

Mothers are teachers

Mothers are child trainers

Mothers are watch dogs

Mothers are joyful

Mothers are fruitful

Mothers are homemakers

Mothers are home builders

Mothers are prayer warriors

Mothers are revealers of God's heart

Mothers are missionaries.

Our family is growing!

Waiting for our seventh blessing and so happy!!

16 years together!

Matthew and I celebrated 16 years of marriage in July and 24 years that we know each other. These last 10 years have been the most exciting, fulfilling and happy! Despite many mistakes and regrets, we still love each other as 20 years ago and we are thankful that Jesus restored our relationship when it was broken. His grace is sufficient, aboundant and His love unconditional. His forgiveness is always ready and it's for everybody. He is blessing us and giving us the marriage we always dreamed of. Thank you Lord!

Our first TV appearance

Yesterday we had quite an eventful "first": Matthew and I were invited as guests of a national TV talk show, the subject being "families".
Matthew and I were asked to represent large families - a species on the brink of extinction here in Italy, which has the sad record of having the lowest birth rate in Europe, and the second-lowest in the world (after Japan).
You can watch a replay of the program (in Italian) here:
http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-a07da9f1-52ce-45cf-80d0-e56aa14666d7.html?p=0
To see our short appearance you can fast forward to 1:43:40 (1 hr and 43').... enjoy!
It is a learning experience: the studio was so much smaller than expected... and even though we tried hard to be relaxed, we were both rather tense. Next time (!) it will be better...

YES, IT IS DONE!

The girls did a wonderful exam and they all passed, of course! And with very good grades too! Did you doubt?
Eli is going to 8th grade, Sarah in 7th grade and Sophie in 3th grade. I'm still going to homeschool of course but we are looking forward to enjoy summer and do new things. We would like to paint more, read more, listen to good music more, create "things" more, enjoy nature more...........all these things together as a family.
Did I tell you that Sarah was sixth at the nationals. It was an amazing day, she has been great!
I can't wait to post some pictures!

Nationals.........here we come!!

Sarah is going to the Nationals (gymnastics). I'm so proud of her!
We (they) are studying very hard for the exam in school in 2 weeks. They all did 2 years in one this time so Sophie will go in 3rd grade, Sarah in 7th grade (seconda media) and Eli in 8th grade (terza media). Our days are being very busy. David also started to read his first books and he is working on 1st grade math. He just loves math!! So fun to being at home and learn with them!

Sophie's pony riding lessons

Sophie started her lessons yesterday. She was so excited that when she was done after 1 hour, she said " I can't wait for next time!" This was one of her Christmas presents!

Elizabeth is 12 years old!

What a wonderful day we had celebrating Eli's birthday! Lots of friends, food and laughter!! We love our baby!!I had fun making a Bible cake with the verse from Psalm 139:14 "Ti celebrerò perchè sono stato fatto in modo stupendo".

Spring time

My beautiful girls all dressed up the same in spring clothes!

First 5 reasons I love homeschooling!

I'm going to share my reasons for homeschooling, since some of you are wondering!
1. We can read, read, read as much as we like it without being distracted if the hour is coming to an end and the bell is approaching.
2. We can start a science experiment and follow all the way through the end, again without distraction.
3. We can learn about what we really like and spend a lot of time on it.
4. We can learn to enjoy each other company, learning to forgive brothers and sisters.
5. We can learn math using measuring cups, scales, pitchers, and everything else it is in the kitchen, for the joy of mum!

These are the first 5 reasons. I can come up with other 75........

In love with homeschooling!

Life is always busy around here! I'm realizing I'm neglecting my blog, but I really have so many things to share. The last two week ends were busy. We went to Calabria for a "praise and worship" camp for Eli, Sarah and Sophie and a seminar for Sunday School teachers (children's Church as we call in our family). Last week end we were busy at a seminar for parents.
This week we are back in the routine and it is a lot of work but so much fun. As I meditate on the things I'm doing I realize how much I'm thankful I 'm home with my children. I'm having a bible study with my girls about being a diligent woman. I love using "Polished cornerstones" by Pam Forster and they love it too. We just learned together about being "homemakers". We are talking a lot about growing in the Proverbs 31 woman day after day. I love being a manager of my house, I love my children, my husband, my life. I love homeschooling because it gives me the opportunity to teach and learn together with my children. Every day has teachable moments for them and for me. My favorite part of the day is our bible study when we open all 5, 6 Bibles (even David and Esther follow after us) and we read few passages from different translations. Next time we are going to talk about being an evangelistic woman. I need to be one of them. Growing together is the best part of parenting!

On the snow

Eli and Sarah took 1 day off with dadi and went to ski. It was their first time. They took their first lesson and they had so much fun!!

Daniel is 1 year old!

Daniel is 1 year old. Time goes so fast. The children had a wonderful time with their cousins over Christmas time and we celebrated Daniel's birthday with some of them.