2014 Year in Review
by The Entingh Entourage
We've continued to homeschool, and this year got more involved in activities with the local homeschool support group. In January, our local group performed the play "Oliver Twist" for the community and our families to enjoy. All five of the Entingh children participated in the play, from our little Miriam, playing a starving orphan (and nearly stealing the show) to Rebekah and Sarah playing housekeepers and the mistress of the orphanage. Esther, on the other hand, played a thieving, little street urchin, and Nicholas got to be the gentleman who bestows kindness on and eventually adopts Oliver. They had a great time and worked very hard at learning lines, painting scenery, and building staging pieces. Tim headed up the set and stage building projects, and Susan helped with costuming. It's fair to say the children have all caught the "acting bug," as evidenced by their heavy participation in this December's performance of "This Way To Christmas." In this latest production, Rebekah served as the Head of Design, and was responsible for obtaining, organizing and staging all props, choosing scenery to be painted for 6 different locations, and managing all the moving of stage props and furniture between scenes. It was a huge job; one that challenged her and showed off strengths she wasn't aware she had. She also acted in the play as three different characters!
Back to homeschooling-- in June, we graduated our first high school student from our family's home school. Nicholas is glad to have completed his coursework, and is considering his future. He participated with some other homeschooled teens in a building project this fall, headed up by a local homeschool dad and builder/owner. At the end of the project, Nicholas was offered a job, to start out as part time, working in the builder's office, working with the numbers: job estimating, accounting, etc. Nicholas is looking forward to starting work soon, and we hope he'll enjoy this job, as his only desire is to continue to do math the rest of his life. :-) So for now, college is on the back burner, while we see how this wonderful opportunity works out for all involved.
Miriam started officially homeschooling this fall. She's technically considered to be in first grade, but is reading with great ease and conquering math and spelling at about a third grade level. Esther is now in 5th grade, Sarah in 8th, and Rebekah in 11th. Esther and Sarah volunteer as helpers for the MOPS group's children's program-- MOPPETS. Sarah loves helping out in the nursery, and has some special babies she looks for each time we meet. Esther helps her big sister, Rebekah, in the preschool room. Rebekah is in her second year of teaching and coordinating the activities for the preschoolers over the age of about 2. While the three older girls work in the classrooms, Nicholas has been helping me out by working with Miriam on school subjects during MOPS. The two of them share a love for all things math, and seem to enjoy recapping their time together, telling tales of how much Miriam enjoys learning about multiplication or fractions. All our girls now wear glasses--how Nicholas escaped the family's poor eyesight, we'll never know!
This summer, Nicholas and Rebekah each worked at Camp Susque for four weeks as Staff in Training. They enjoyed learning the inner workings of camp life, made great friends, and hope to return next summer, though Nicholas's job may not allow time for that now. We shall see.
The little girls (not so little anymore-- Sarah is 13, Esther, 10 and Miriam, nearly 7) all attended camp at Susque this past summer. Tim and I are so pleased that all our children have a love for that place we both hold dear to our hearts. I will say, though, that it is much too quiet in the house with fewer children around that one week!
Tim continues to work for Avery Dennison, doing computer programming. The company sent him to Ohio twice within the past year, and once to Germany as well. He doesn't especially like to travel, but it is tolerable, and we're just thankful that his job seems to be fairly secure for now. When he gets home from working a full day for Avery, Tim's been tearing out and rebuilding a new bay window for our living room. It's a long process, but we're looking forward to seeing through that end result. :-)
I, Susan, am still volunteering for MOPS International, supporting the volunteers who coach PA MOPS groups, and even writing for the MOPS website at times. I'm also serving as a Mentor in my local group, and an interim Coordinator, even though I technically "graduated" MOPS when Miriam entered first grade this fall.
We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with blessings.
Praying for our graduate and his future
This picture includes our pastor, Susan's father, Nicholas, Tim, and, incidentally, Nicholas's boss.
Taking to the trails -- the bike trails
Pictures with the squirrel
Please be in touch!
Email: susan.entingh@gmail.com
Location: 98 Dry Brook Rd, Waverly, NY, United States
Phone: (607) 565-4254