...but it's not all bad! This is the reason I decided to start a little early this year, so I didn't feel pressure to keep to the schedule. We are easing into the year, which I'm so happy about, and it's been a real blessing - especially with changes of plans unexpectedly cropping up the last two weeks.
Chloe, Caleb and I were planning a trip to Ohio to see family. My sister and niece were going to go as well. We were planning on leaving Thursday night, but on Wednesday I found out I was going it alone. <:O I've never travelled more than 250 miles alone, and this was a little scary for me. But I couldn't bear the thought of cancelling the trip. I haven't seen my cousin (who is closer than a sister) for over a year and a half. Her husband is military and they've been in Germany. I WAS GOING TO OHIO!! After a little encouragement from Kelly, we decided to leave early Thursday morning. He wasn't comfortable with me driving overnight, and I couldn't have agreed more!
It was a wonderful trip. We had a lovely visit, and the kids travelled well. I made it to Defiance in under 12 hours, and I made it home on Sunday in 11. I'm so thankful we had this time together.
Anyway, I was a little exhausted from all the driving, so we decided to call off school Monday. The kids did some independent computer work and reading, but I mostly vegged. Not only that, but since we left early, we lost two days last week. So the breakdown of weeks 2 and 3 of school looks a little crazy:
Week 2
Monday - Neosho to grandparents and a drive through Joplin to see tornado damage
Tuesday - school
Wednesday - school
Thursday - OHIO
Friday - OHIO
Week 3
Monday - Mom is pooped - do your own thang!
Tuesday - full gear, let's do school!
Wednesday - school...with a twist
Oh! Did I forget to mention we lost power for 3 hours today? So any subject online was shot, and it got up to 87 degrees in our house. Needless to say, I lost my momentum! But regardless of all the busy-ness and setbacks, I feel like we've done quite a bit this school year already. This is one of the many reasons I love our homeschool journey. No two weeks look the same, and we are learning about and experiencing life...all together. We will start week 3 of our Core tomorrow, and I'm thrilled to say we'll get what we need to get done, done. And the rest will come.
So how has your week gone? ;)
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
2011-12 School Year is Under Way...
...and we've all survived!! :D To be honest, we have started slowly. We are doing My Father's World, as you most know, and we started our core this week. We have done math drills and online games to refresh, but not started our curriculum yet. We have not picked back up on English, Spanish or spelling yet, either. My goal for August is to get the kids back into the swing of things, add one more subject in every few days, and be in full swing by September when we start co-op.
As for the core: what can I say except WE LOVE IT!!! The books we are using so far are our Bible, Celebrating Biblical Feasts, Dinosaurs of Eden, Genesis for Kids, God and the History of Art, David C. Cook's Journey Through the Bible and English from the Roots Up. I am so pleased with each book, no complaints as of yet.
This week, we have learned a little about the Sabbath and how it is kept in the Jewish faith. We plan to do this ourselves soon. The kids found it curious that the Jewish people observe Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday evening. We were pointed to Genesis 1, where in the creation account it states, "..and there was evening, and there was morning - the first day." WOW! I had never thought of it, but it's right there in God's Word. One of the reasons I love homeschooling and studying scripture with my kids - His Word is new and fresh every morning!
We have also been reading about dinosaurs - now you know the boys are loving this! I love this book, you need to find it: Dinosaurs of Eden. It gives simple accounts relatable for kids how science and our faith CAN and DO go hand in hand. I'm excited about what's next in this study.
We are using Genesis for Kids for science right now. I can't believe how fun this has already been! We've learned about blind spots and optical illusions this week, and it was just so much fun watching the kids do these experiments. Again, I love that it all goes back to the Lord and His creation.
God and the History of Art is going to be wonderful. We had a lesson called "frustration" on Tuesday, and it resonated with the kids. Have you ever heard of Joni Eareckson? Well, feel free to ask my kids about her and how God has used her life for His glory.
Tonight we are going to Wilson's Creek Battlefield for the 150th anniversary reenactment kickoff. It should be interesting, hopefully not too overwhelming. We have been reading a book called Joseph - 1861 about a young boy in Kentucky forced to choose a side even before the Civil War began. If you have never tried finding living books to coincide with your history lessons, I strongly suggest it. We can read all the textbooks we want, but until we look at the effects of the events on the life of a person or a family, it will never go beyond facts and knowledge. I want my kids to have wisdom and understanding. Every time we read a book like this, I can see their minds and hearts being touched by the event. When they go to a history book and read a paragraph about slavery or a Civil War battle, they will think back on this book and the choices a family had to make. It will change their lives.
So one week is practically under our belt. Greek is not at overwhelming as we expected, and handwriting is...well, let's just say not as emotional as last year. We are all works in progress, and we are doing it together.
When are you starting your year? If you've begun, how is it going? Leave a message so we can share in this adventure together! Blessings!
As for the core: what can I say except WE LOVE IT!!! The books we are using so far are our Bible, Celebrating Biblical Feasts, Dinosaurs of Eden, Genesis for Kids, God and the History of Art, David C. Cook's Journey Through the Bible and English from the Roots Up. I am so pleased with each book, no complaints as of yet.
This week, we have learned a little about the Sabbath and how it is kept in the Jewish faith. We plan to do this ourselves soon. The kids found it curious that the Jewish people observe Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday evening. We were pointed to Genesis 1, where in the creation account it states, "..and there was evening, and there was morning - the first day." WOW! I had never thought of it, but it's right there in God's Word. One of the reasons I love homeschooling and studying scripture with my kids - His Word is new and fresh every morning!
We have also been reading about dinosaurs - now you know the boys are loving this! I love this book, you need to find it: Dinosaurs of Eden. It gives simple accounts relatable for kids how science and our faith CAN and DO go hand in hand. I'm excited about what's next in this study.
We are using Genesis for Kids for science right now. I can't believe how fun this has already been! We've learned about blind spots and optical illusions this week, and it was just so much fun watching the kids do these experiments. Again, I love that it all goes back to the Lord and His creation.
God and the History of Art is going to be wonderful. We had a lesson called "frustration" on Tuesday, and it resonated with the kids. Have you ever heard of Joni Eareckson? Well, feel free to ask my kids about her and how God has used her life for His glory.
Tonight we are going to Wilson's Creek Battlefield for the 150th anniversary reenactment kickoff. It should be interesting, hopefully not too overwhelming. We have been reading a book called Joseph - 1861 about a young boy in Kentucky forced to choose a side even before the Civil War began. If you have never tried finding living books to coincide with your history lessons, I strongly suggest it. We can read all the textbooks we want, but until we look at the effects of the events on the life of a person or a family, it will never go beyond facts and knowledge. I want my kids to have wisdom and understanding. Every time we read a book like this, I can see their minds and hearts being touched by the event. When they go to a history book and read a paragraph about slavery or a Civil War battle, they will think back on this book and the choices a family had to make. It will change their lives.
So one week is practically under our belt. Greek is not at overwhelming as we expected, and handwriting is...well, let's just say not as emotional as last year. We are all works in progress, and we are doing it together.
When are you starting your year? If you've begun, how is it going? Leave a message so we can share in this adventure together! Blessings!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Busy August already
Do you ever feel like your children have literally grown overnight? Well, I'm feeling like that every time I turn around. It's so hard for me to believe that Canon turned 7 yesterday. I have a 7, 8 and 9 year old - as well as a 3 1/2 year old - for the next month. :O
We had a really great week. My niece, Amanda, spent the night with us on Tuesday. She's 15, therefore the coolest person the kids know at the moment. ;) She babysat them Wednesday so Kelly and I could celebrate our 14th anniversary... a day late, because Chloe and I had plans on Tuesday for a girls day with friends. We had to get my van looked over in preparation for my trip later this month, so we dropped it off at Rick's Automotive and walked the 2 blocks to Bass Pro Shops. We ate at Hemingway's. It had been a while since we'd been there, and Kelly was not disappointed. He loves shrimp and chowder, and he ate every penny's worth! I tried several things, but the salad was the best thing I had...take that as you will. :/
We took Amanda home and visited with my mom for a bit, then headed to McDonald's for a quick dinner. We were meeting over at the Chavez' home for our first bible study and worship time with our new church family, The Catalyst. I wrote a little about it here It will truly be a growing experience, and I'm thankful for what God is going to do with this ministry.
Thursday, my sister Ariel picked up Connor and Canon for my nephew Chance's birthday party. They were headed to 1984 , a really cool, retro arcade. The boys had a blast! We have coupons from our Library Reading Program for this place, so I'm sure we'll go back so I can check it out soon. I packed up Chloe and Caleb a little later and headed to McDonald's with the birthday cake. What a shindig! Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and buddies - not to mention the dozens of people not with us - made for a very loud, very fun evening. All to be repeated the next day...
We decided earlier in the summer to celebrate Canon's birthday on Friday, because he wanted to go to Incredible Pizza. Now I don't know about some of you, but there are just some places that I refuse to go on the weekends if possible - and one of them is Incredible Pizza! ;) We had about 25 people with us, so it was another celebration with noise levels exceeding the normal limits. Canon had a blast playing games, opening presents and eating tons of food! My dear friend, Christy, let me bring all 3 of her boys home for a sleepover. They recently moved about an hour away, and we hadn't seen them all summer. I've missed them so much, and the kids were so excited to have the entie night together. We went home for a rest, then I loaded all seven of them in the van for a night at the Ozark Empire Fair. Insane, I know! But we met Jason and Steph there, so it was 9 kids for 3 adults - better odds than I'm used to! LOL!
Everyone was worn out by the time Saturday got here, so we made it an easy day. Aside from singing to him and giving him his "birthday spanking", Canon's birthday was pretty low-key. He wanted steak for dinner, so I went and got them from the store while Kelly fired up the grill. We had steak, zucchini squash and mushrooms, corn on the cob, and fried green tomatoes. We could barely move, we all ate so much! It was just a great, quiet evening at home with my 5 favorite people in the world. It couldn't get much better than that - until Connor asked to go shoot for a while. Now it was even better! We took Connor's .22 and one of Kelly's pistols (the younger ones took their slingshots), and off we went to the field. Everyone did really well, and they even talked Mom into shooting for a bit.
These are the nights/weekends that I hope they look back on and know how blessed they were. Not the crazy busy-ness of the week, but the time spent together, at home, will hopefully mean the most to them. Don't get me wrong, I love all the activities we do. But sometimes the quieter moments get lost in the shuffle, and I enjoy just staying home with the family. Playing checkers, reading a book. Rarely is it quiet here, but it's nice to just slow down and stay home, too.
I hope you made some memories with your family this weekend. Whether you were on the go, or stayed at home, savor the moments together. Don't miss out on the little things. Blessings!
We had a really great week. My niece, Amanda, spent the night with us on Tuesday. She's 15, therefore the coolest person the kids know at the moment. ;) She babysat them Wednesday so Kelly and I could celebrate our 14th anniversary... a day late, because Chloe and I had plans on Tuesday for a girls day with friends. We had to get my van looked over in preparation for my trip later this month, so we dropped it off at Rick's Automotive and walked the 2 blocks to Bass Pro Shops. We ate at Hemingway's. It had been a while since we'd been there, and Kelly was not disappointed. He loves shrimp and chowder, and he ate every penny's worth! I tried several things, but the salad was the best thing I had...take that as you will. :/
We took Amanda home and visited with my mom for a bit, then headed to McDonald's for a quick dinner. We were meeting over at the Chavez' home for our first bible study and worship time with our new church family, The Catalyst. I wrote a little about it here It will truly be a growing experience, and I'm thankful for what God is going to do with this ministry.
Thursday, my sister Ariel picked up Connor and Canon for my nephew Chance's birthday party. They were headed to 1984 , a really cool, retro arcade. The boys had a blast! We have coupons from our Library Reading Program for this place, so I'm sure we'll go back so I can check it out soon. I packed up Chloe and Caleb a little later and headed to McDonald's with the birthday cake. What a shindig! Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and buddies - not to mention the dozens of people not with us - made for a very loud, very fun evening. All to be repeated the next day...
We decided earlier in the summer to celebrate Canon's birthday on Friday, because he wanted to go to Incredible Pizza. Now I don't know about some of you, but there are just some places that I refuse to go on the weekends if possible - and one of them is Incredible Pizza! ;) We had about 25 people with us, so it was another celebration with noise levels exceeding the normal limits. Canon had a blast playing games, opening presents and eating tons of food! My dear friend, Christy, let me bring all 3 of her boys home for a sleepover. They recently moved about an hour away, and we hadn't seen them all summer. I've missed them so much, and the kids were so excited to have the entie night together. We went home for a rest, then I loaded all seven of them in the van for a night at the Ozark Empire Fair. Insane, I know! But we met Jason and Steph there, so it was 9 kids for 3 adults - better odds than I'm used to! LOL!
Everyone was worn out by the time Saturday got here, so we made it an easy day. Aside from singing to him and giving him his "birthday spanking", Canon's birthday was pretty low-key. He wanted steak for dinner, so I went and got them from the store while Kelly fired up the grill. We had steak, zucchini squash and mushrooms, corn on the cob, and fried green tomatoes. We could barely move, we all ate so much! It was just a great, quiet evening at home with my 5 favorite people in the world. It couldn't get much better than that - until Connor asked to go shoot for a while. Now it was even better! We took Connor's .22 and one of Kelly's pistols (the younger ones took their slingshots), and off we went to the field. Everyone did really well, and they even talked Mom into shooting for a bit.
These are the nights/weekends that I hope they look back on and know how blessed they were. Not the crazy busy-ness of the week, but the time spent together, at home, will hopefully mean the most to them. Don't get me wrong, I love all the activities we do. But sometimes the quieter moments get lost in the shuffle, and I enjoy just staying home with the family. Playing checkers, reading a book. Rarely is it quiet here, but it's nice to just slow down and stay home, too.
I hope you made some memories with your family this weekend. Whether you were on the go, or stayed at home, savor the moments together. Don't miss out on the little things. Blessings!
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