Communitas

Each year Trinity Classical School takes the 8th grade students on an overnight trip called Communitas. Hunter was excited for this trip! It was a chance to get away with his classmates and some of his teachers. Here they are playing Octo-ball. Hunter is in the blue shirt with his back to the camera.

TCS teachers and 8th grade class.

Colton

Todd left Sunday morning for Cuba. He and a small team from Grace Bible Church are putting on a marriage conference for the staff members of a ministry called Oasis. Anyway, Colton chose to spend the night on Saturday with his buddy Colt Hurley. So before he left I told him to hug his dad because Todd would be leaving for Cuba before Colton came home. Well, Sunday night as we were getting ready for bed Colton said, "When is dad getting home?" I told him that dad wouldn't be home for a few days because he was in Cuba. Colton's face got really sad and he said, "I though Cuba was a restaurant." The brothers lost it. They were laughing so hard- which made Colton even more upset. Apparently, Colton didn't understand that Todd was leaving the country. He must have just thought that Todd was having a long lunch with someone from church.

Off to see Abe...

Connor left yesterday for his trip with Granddad and Baba. He flew from Houston to DFW, spent the night in Fort Worth and then departed this morning for Washington, DC. They will tour many sights in DC and get to hear about the spiritual heritage that America was founded upon as part of this trip. Connor can't wait to see the Lincoln Memorial, especially because Abraham Lincoln has long been his favorite president.

TCS House Induction

Monday was a big day for Connor. He and all the other seventh grade students were inducted into one of the four TCS houses. Ever since Hunter received his tie last year Connor has been excited for his chance to join Maxwell. The school had Hunter present the tie to his younger brother - which made it even more special. So now we have two young men who proudly wear their Maxwell colors to school each day.

Now I must tell you about what happened after the boys received their ties. School officials wanted to take pictures of each of the four houses so they asked the new house members to put on their scarves/ ties. When I walked to the front of the room I found Hunter teaching his younger brother and another young man how to tie a tie. I mean it sounds like such a small thing, but my heart just swelled up with pride as I watched Hunter teach these two. 

House of Maxwell

Chris, Robby and Connor.

Carson and Hunter - 8th grade Maxwell men

We let Collins skip preschool so that she could come to the House Induction ceremony. She thanked us profusely and then told me, "This is so exciting!" as the ceremony began. She was really happy to be with her brothers.

Later in the day we had lunch duty at the Grammar Campus and Collins got to see her friend Sarah. 

Menchie's

Every Monday night is $5 Mondays at Menchie's Frozen Yogurt - as much yogurt as you can put in your bowl for $5. Todd took the kids to Menchie's tonight while I was at class. The kids ate a lot of frozen yogurt. Colton won - his bowl of yogurt weighed 19.4 ounces.

Collins

Collins turned four last week. My mom came to Houston to help celebrate her birthday. It was a fun weekend and I think Collins felt special. We attempted a picture in front of this Houston mural. Man, the sun was bright!

Sofia the First birthday cake for this little girl.

Opening some presents - of course one of her favorites was the least expensive. 

We love this little girl so much! She is sweetest part of our family and it was our joy to celebrate her birthday. 

Force Friday

On Friday, September 4 the Target near our house opened at midnight for Force Friday. The new merchandise from Star Wars VII was being released! Thus, the Rapp boys - who are so excited for the new Star Wars movie that they can hardly stand it - convinced their dad to take them to Target. It was an adventure that made memories. They were really hoping that that they would come home with a giant Chewabacca that the store was giving away, but no such luck.

Waiting in line to get inside Target.

Coming home with some new Star Wars stuff.

Kid Pictures

Look at this fun arrangement that the boys + Collins made.

Shopping at Costco with dad. I love Holden's face in this picture.

We had spaghetti one night. Holden helped himself to the bread. 

Then he put the rest of his spaghetti and green beans into the butter. Yuck!

We took family pictures - this was just a practice night as I was trying to figure out what everyone would be wearing. 

Having fun at Whole Foods.

Shopping for a hamster. Collins wanted a purple hamster for her birthday. She did not get the hamster. Ha!

 Sitting high on the horse - or chairs.

 Colton finds fun wherever he goes.

Cool Star Wars merchandise at Target.

Fun with dad!

While I was in Kansas City, the kids had fun with Todd. My sweet husband really is fantastic at handling all the kids and he is so unselfish to let me go have a weekend with friends. Look at this crazy coincidence. At the hotel the desk clerk gave me two free sodas because I was willing to walk downstairs and pick up the extra towels/ blankets. The bottles said to Share a Coke with Thomas and Daniel. That is Todd's real name!

Swinging.

Playing chase at the park.

This boy loves to drink a Coke. 

Girls' Weekend 2015

This is my without a doubt one of my favorite weekends of the year! A chance to reconnect with friendships that have been built over many years, shared seasons, growing families and summer Kamp. I love each of these ladies so very much. This year we met up in Kansas City for a couple of days of shopping, eating, talking and praying. It was sweet indeed!

At the Kansas City Plaza - Melissa, Amy, Ashley, Bronwyn, Rachel and Cat.

This was the store where Ashley started teaching us all her trick for taking great pictures.

I'm not sure this is a great picture of me. Ha!

Head forward and tilt...

...we were practicing.

Yes, Amy and I bought matching jackets for this fall. 

Done shopping at TJ Maxx - extra time to sit and talk.

The whole group! Callie and Jennifer drove in from Wichita to join us all. 

Can't wait to meet up again with these friends!

First Day of School

This day was a celebration! It was the FIRST day of our SECOND year at TCS. We love this school because of the way the people associated with the school love Jesus! We are very thankful for the community at TCS and this education for our boys. I keep describing this year as a breath of fresh air. The start to our second year of school has been much smoother and much easier than last year. We know the curriculum, we know the routine and the boys have established friendships.

Carter Rapp - 5th Grade

Connor Rapp - 7th Grade

Colton Rapp - 3rd Grade

Hunter Rapp - 8th Grade

Four handsome Rapp boys.

TCS Owls!

Colton was excited to see his buddy Dylan the first morning of school.