January 2023

 2023 began on a Sunday!  What a joy it was to begin the New Year playing in orchestra!

And, the lyrics were so fitting for starting a new year!

O Worship the King, 

All glorious above, 

O gratefully sing 

His wonderful love;

Our Shield and Defender, 

The Ancient of days, 

Pavilion'd in splendour, 

And girded with praise.

I got quite a laugh out of Titus coming to church on January 1 without shoes or socks and in shorts!  Ha!

The kids went back to school after a gloriously long and wonderful Christmas break.  

Titus may have become even busier after the kids were back at school...

trying on shoes...

trying on hats....

climbing...

reading...or at least rocking and holding books...

going on runs with Mom...and even falling asleep in the stroller...

and napping.  Oh these days go so quickly!

We celebrated Tex being with us for two years on January 16!

I went to a fun Escape Room party celebrating Ashleigh's birthday!

I couldn't believe it when I picked Josiah up at school one day and he had two holes in his shirt. 

"I cut holes in my shirt so I could itch my stomach without lifting my shirt so no one saw my belly button."

Josiah made this in art class in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Josiah had his "Aesop Fables and Friends" festival at school.

Josiah got sick one night and threw up a lot.  He spent the night on our floor, and Tex stayed right by him on the chair and on the floor.

We had a very fun roller skating party with the Countryside Children's Ministry!  On the way home, it snowed a bit, and it was an exciting end to a very fun night. 

Josiah preferred running in his boots to skating!

Isaac enjoyed rollerblading at the skating party so much that he used some extra Christmas money of his to order his own pair!

The kids "pampered" me using "tools" by giving me a foot and hair rub, and it was relaxing!

I went blonder!

In January, the kids also started Upward Basketball with Dave as their coach, Emma started the first phase of her orthodontics, Emma had two teeth removed, and Isaac auditioned for All-Region band!

We had a week of ice to end our month of January!  School let our early on Monday, and we didn't go anywhere until Friday afternoon.  It was a delightful week of all being home! It sleeted so much on Monday, and Titus was intrigued by the sound of the sleet.  He stood by the window watching, and he also noticed how cold the panes were.

Both Emma and Isaac helped in the kitchen a lot during our week home.

Isaac set up some "school" for Titus, which was so sweet.

Titus also discovered the toilet paper and Windex while we were busy with school.  My mom reminded me that this picture is like the cover of "Love You Forever."  

Dave’s birthday

Dave turned 44 on January 9, 2023!   What a tremendous father and husband he is to us.  We couldn't love him more!

He is currently coaching Josiah and Emma's basketball teams on Monday evenings.  Isaac and I made this Heath bar ice cream cake while they were at practice, and we sang to Dave and ate it after practice!  It was Isaac's idea to make the Rinn Homes logo on the cake, and he did most of the decorating - a great job!

After church the following Sunday, all our parents came over for lunch!  We had another ice cream cake - this time, Dave requested Reese's peanut butter.

These pictures are from a few days after Dave's birthday.  I had ordered this "Demo Day" shirt as a gift, but it didn't arrive in time.  Everyone got a great laugh out of it, and I'm sure it will be used on many demo days!

Countryside Fair 2022

After a runaround on costumes, Emma decided to dress like Mirabel from "Encanto" along with the Davis girls, and Josiah wanted to be a Mandalorian.  My idea of having everyone coordinating in Peter Pan costumes, didn't work (ha!), but the kids were so excited with their costumes.  Titus wore his same pumpkin costume from last year, and Isaac -- after much deliberation -- decided to be a football player!  It was one of our favorite nights of the year, as always.  The Countryside Fair is just so fun and sweet!  Isaac stuck with his friends for most of the evening, but we saw him a few times!  

Josiah's favorite game - flying the airplanes

Emma's dog made by the balloon artist.  

Her purse was stuffed with candy from the night, and, by the end of the evening, it had burst open!

Josiah was very proud of this balloon gun that the balloon artist made for him!

I was talking with Sarah, and Titus lunged for her!  He's getting more and more social!

Titus is on the move and standing still for a picture is hard!  :)

Pumpkin bundt cakes I made for the bake sale

I found Josiah talking with Pastor Tom in the gym after getting his balloon.  Josiah had been wondering about a deep, spiritual question about the timing of Jesus' birth, so I thought he was probably asking him about that.  When I walked over, they were discussing something and I couldn't figure out what.  It ends up that Josiah walked up to Pastor Tom and asked if he had seen the Star Wars movies!  Ha!!  Pastor Tom commented on Josiah's costume, and Josiah also asked him if he had seen any of the newer ones. When Pastor Tom said he had seen "A New Hope" in the theater, Josiah told him "that was very special because they don't do that anymore."   After Dave and I talked with Pastor Tom for awhile, we walked away and I got the full rundown from Josiah.  When I asked, "Why did you ask him that?" Josiah acted as if that were a ridiculous question and said, "I just never get to really talk with him!"  Hahaha!!!  

Josiah never stopped to eat much for the night, nor did I.  By the time we went to the chili line, most of the pots were cleaned up and awaiting pickup!  A kind lady scraped out the bottom of one crock pot to make a small bowl of chili for Josiah, but we laughed and laughed about how it was nearly black with chili powder.   Everyone came home and ate again after such an exciting night!  Josiah very much wanted me to  enter the chili cookout ("you could win, Mom!"), but I stuck with the bake sale this year. 

We all agreed the night went too fast and wished it were longer.  So much fun!

 

Isaac named in CDA Sport Report 9/20/2022

 JH Football:

The JH team is walking in to this week 3-0.  They took down Dallas Covenant Thursday night 40-26. The game was back and forth for the better part of the night.  CDA and Covenant trading touchdowns  went in to half time tied 20-20. Luke Manack (8th) and Luke Patterson (8th) connected on a beautiful 52 yard touchdown.  Emmanuel Johnson (8th) ran for two touchdowns showing explosive speed, running out of his own shoe, on one TD.  With 4:19 left in the 4th quarter Luke Manack had a 65 yard TD run that put the Lions up 40-26. Manack ended the night with 3 rushing touchdowns and 1 passing. Defense really showed up big in the 2nd half with some momentum shifting stops led by Braden Raybuck (8th), Johnson and Isaac Rin (7th).  Slade Hancok (8th) came up with a big interception at 1:57 left on the game clock. Our 6th grade lineup came in to close out the game with Ben Joy (6th) at QB completing a pass to Graham Vickers (6th) and sealing the Lions victory.  We are excited to watch this group take on St. Mark's this Thursday night.  

 

Isaac named in the CDA sport report ~ October 4, 2022

 JH Football:

The Junior High teams had two tough losses last week.  The Gold team (6th grade) gave a valiant effort against Liberty Christian.  Ben Joy (6th) had a great touchdown run,  but ultimately the Lions came up short with the final score being 6-8.  Coach Johnson said that he loved the effort and improvement they have shown. He received several complements on how well they executed.

 

The Blue team also had a tough loss this week against Atlas Rattlers 22-30.  They had a quick start scoring on their first two possessions with a Manack (8th) to Patterson (8th) connection and a nice run from Emmanuel Johnson (8th).  The Lions wouldn't score again until the 2nd half on another EJ Johnson TD. Ben Joy had a nice interception on the Lions first defensive series and Isaac Rinn (7th)was battling on the line on every play. The Lions fought and got themselves an opportunity for a last second play. However, the game ended on a (controversial) call after an offensive penalty. Coach Johnson said he was proud of their no quit attitude.