Woerner Family Academy

Camp and service

2011-07-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

This week is full of activity, but no book work. Logan is off for his week-long missions trip. I've seen some photos and he looks like he's having a great time! Hailey is enjoying a week of horseback-riding camp. She's there from 9-2 every day. She's tired and sore each day, but loves it. I told her she'll probably be used to it by Friday. She said, "But by then it will be over!" Yep, but that's about how it works. =)

Corbin, Emma, Autumn, and I have been spending a lot of time in the car, but we have been home some too. Friday I plan to take Corbin to the movies while the sitter stays with the little girls and Hailey is at her last day of camp. It's a secret....I won't tell him until Friday morning. Ssshhhhhh!

Reading and riding and driving, oh my!

2011-07-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

More of the books Corbin has read or is reading:

Mystery of the Desert Giant, Hardy Boys
Alice in Wonderland
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Hound of the Baskervilles
Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne
Gulliver's Travels

Most of these were more of the children's books published by Great Illustrated Classics.

Hailey is enjoying her horseback riding camp...today is day 2. She met some new girls and made a new friend. She will be continuing her lessons next month. Miss Andrea tells me Hailey is doing really well.

I am not a fan of all the time spent in the car....but I can handle it for one week. She's having fun, loving all the time with the horses....she even took a carrot for 'her' horse yesterday. =)

School stuff and the summer is flyin'

2011-07-15T12:11:00.001-07:00

Is it weird that I am excited about textbooks? I think it is. I am not so much a fan of textbooks...not at all really....it's more the idea that my older kids will be able to get up and get going without having to wait on me to tell them what to do. No matter that I would like it to be different, my two older ones just really want to get on with it and be done with school. So, since I was struggling with the thoughts of getting the unit study in anyway due to the babies, etc. I caved and bought all three of the school-age kids Rod and Staff curriculum. I really like their English.... we've used it for the last three years.....so I feel the other subjects will be good, too.

I am having a little bit of 'buyer's remorse' about Corbin's books....he's still so young and likes the unit studies. I could decide to send his back and use a unit study approach with him. Maybe more of Five in a Row, Heart of Dakota, Learning Adventures, or Tapestry of Grace....all of which I have at least one level on our shelves. I'll have to think on it some more.

Karl is taking Hailey to her horseback-riding lesson again today. He wanted to try for yet more pictures. Next week she has camp every day from 9-2. She's excited about that. Then I guess in August her new classes will start up...not sure which days she'll be doing then. SAINTS starts again in August too. Summer is just flying by, it's crazy! We still need to get them registered for some other classes, if they're going to take them, and try to find a piano teacher....if we can ever get the piano in the house. And I think September brings Life Group again. It will be here before we know it, and Hailey may also be participating in one...which will mean taking her to her group on Wednesdays or hosting two at a time, which I don't think will work. It will all work out I know, but I do like a good plan. ;0

Hailey will be getting braces...

2011-07-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

Karl took Hailey for her free orthodontic consultation this morning (well yesterday morning, it's after midnight now). He was happy with the experience, the doctor's experience and manner, etc. We can get her started right away.

She will need to wear her braces for 1.5 to 2 years....I guess they'll determine that as time moves along and they see the results they're getting? I have not made the appointment yet, but am planning to try to get her in the last week of July for her spacers....and a week later the braces will go on. It is very likely that the next time you see Hailey she will look much different. She is ready for them....well, at least she says she is. We are told that we have "very good orthodontic coverage" but it still seems expensive. She definitely needs them for the crowding she has, an overbite, and a deep palate, so it's worth the cost.

Her smile is already wide and beautiful......I can only imagine how stunning she will be when the braces come off in a couple of years.

What we are doing this week....

2011-07-13T06:10:00.000-07:00

orthodontist for Hailey
daily book work for the three oldest
practice sitting up with Autumn...(she does great but still needs to learn how to support herself with her arms so she won't fall forward....pillows behind her keep her little head from hitting the tile)
blanket time practice with Emma
de-clutter for 15 minutes each day
have Corbin practice tying his shoes.....did I mention before that he learned how to tie his shoes, finally, when Sunita was here a couple of weeks ago? She's got skills....
Hailey to horseback-riding lessons Wednesday and Friday
chores
read more of Pinocchio to Corbin
read more of Mary Poppins to Hailey
decide on a book to read aloud with the older kids together
make plans for book work for the school year when books come in (scheduling, that type of stuff)
make bagels (didn't get that done over the weekend)
shop at BJ's for bulk items
continue grading papers (way behind!)
possible trip to Ikea for storage things....=)

Agenda for the day...and more

2011-07-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

doctor for Autumn
book work for kids in the a.m.
checkup with doctor for me in the p.m.
begin packing items for Logan's missions trip....starts next Monday at 7:15 a.m.
put books on hold at library
laundry
make bagels (?)
15 minutes of de-cluttering
grade math and English papers....I'm way behind!

We'll see how much I actually get done....#1 is complete.

Yesterday I made blueberry muffins, and Saturday I baked two loaves of wheat bread. I have some of the muffins in the freezer for breakfasts and one loaf of bread in the freezer. I plan to bake more bread this week so I will have a stockpile in the freezer. Our goal is to not need to buy bread...ever. Bagels were on sale at the store, but I did not buy any. I will make them instead....hopefully they will be good because then it will be healthier, and cheaper, too.

Horseback riding photos

2011-07-09T18:46:00.001-07:00

All the girls help each other get the horses ready for riding.
Peeking up to check on the saddle....
Spiffing up her ride....
Around and around the ring....

A jump.
Good form, I say.

Just stuff

2011-07-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Autumn has a new tooth...we can see the white, so I guess it will pop through in just a day or two.
She has also learned to sit up quite well. I still stay near her in case she falls backward or forward (our floors are hard!) but she can sit for quite some time without falling. I will probably start to put pillows behind her soon to catch her if she topples, though I'm not sure how to handle that for a forward fall....
Emma has been 'reading' some of her books...the ones we read over and over again.
She has also been singing Veggie Tales songs and saying lines from some of the movies.
I ordered curriculum yesterday for the kids' new school year...just need to place the order for their new math and we'll be set. We're going the textbook route for a while, at least until the babies are older and we can spend more time reading aloud again. Still in a sort of relaxed manner....

Horses and jumping

2011-07-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Hailey had a horseback-riding lesson. She did a few jumps. I took pictures with my phone, but I'm not sure they turned out well. I'll post them tomorrow. She has another class tomorrow and Karl is planning to go, so maybe he'll get good ones with his 'real' camera. There are several more children in this class, I noticed. It is still a home school class, but taking place in the afternoon must have been more convenient for the 'newbies'. Hailey will take another 2-per-week class next week, then her week-long day-camp is the following week. Logan will be on his missions trip then, too. Corbin may get lonely.....we'll have to find something fun to do with him and the little girls.

Today, Autumn also did a few 'jumps'. She likes her exersaucer pretty well. I had placed her in it to play while I graded some math and English papers. After hearing this repetitive noise for several minutes, I looked up to discover that she was jumping (bouncing) up and down in the seat. She loved it! Such a huge smile and she did it over and over. I remember when Emma learned how to do that, in this very house and in that very seat. Wow, not too long ago!

I bathed the little girls together this evening, as I usually do....they get a kick out of being in the tub with one another. I took Autumn out first, placing her on the floor with her towel wrapped around her. I then lifted Emma out and proceeded to dry her off. I could hear the baby babbling, kicking her feet, shaking her rattle....then she began to cry. I looked around and found that she had flipped over onto her belly. This is not a new skill, as she's known how to do this for quite some time. She doesn't like to be on her belly though, which is why she doesn't crawl yet and why she can't seem to roll from front to back yet, either. Thus, the crying. She was unhappy to find herself in that position, though she was perfectly fine with rolling around and getting herself there. So fickle. ;)

Our summer groove...

2011-07-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

I think we have finally found our summer 'groove'. We've been slow about it, but we're there....now that we need to move on and add our full load. :{

Hailey has been working through the Spanish program that came with Corbin's computer program. She finished it today, there's only a little bit, but she'll go through it again for review. Sometime soon we hope to get Rosetta Stone Spanish loaded on their computer for all of them to use.

Corbin has also been using the program daily, working on Grammar first (my prerequisite) then doing some of the other subjects and games.

All of the kids completed math and handwriting today, while Logan and Hailey also worked on an English lesson and typing.

This afternoon they have been playing Apples to Apples, Jr., and having a great time. Lots of laughter, getting along, having fun....what I like to see!

I am plagued with worries over decisions to be made about curriculum....surprised? Me either.

What we've been learning....

2011-07-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

Autumn continues to work on her sitting skills. She still does not roll over a lot, though she can. She still needs to learn to roll from front to back. I believe she is working on a second tooth, but I can't see it yet. She's mostly happy, but isn't napping well due to teething so is struggling with that right now.

Emma has been feeding her babies, building with blocks, and learning to sing along with some of the Veggie Tales songs. She loves to take walks, especially with her Daddy.

In the past week, Corbin has read Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, The Three Musketeers, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and is beginning Swiss Family Robinson today. These are all by Great Illustrated Classics.....children's versions.....but still. I told him I have not even read all of those yet.....he's way ahead of me. :)

Hailey has been working on another story this weekend.......illustrations, too. She keeps hers in a folder, adding to it as she gets ideas. Logan is also writing a story. His is being written mostly online, though some of his planning is on paper. He is doing some illustrations, as well.

First day of our new school year....

2011-07-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

Some more things learned this week:

Corbin can finally tie his shoes...thanks to Sunita, who has actually taught ALL of our shoe-tying children how to tie their shoes! Karl and I are complete failures with teaching that skill. :( :)
I installed Elementary Advantage 2008 on the kids' computer this morning...it covers grammar, science, history, typing, etc. and includes some games too. Corbin mastered nouns, pronouns, verbs, and adjectives in a matter of about 30 minutes! He will need some review, I'm sure, but I'm impressed with how easily he caught on. I think we'll keep this program.
Hailey is done with today's 'summer' school already....she's upstairs reading in her room....for fun.
Hailey's plant is doing well....the frequent rain this week has helped immensely. I'm looking forward to having some fresh basil in my dishes soon.

Today marks the first day of our new school year. I have a 3rd, 6th, and 8th grader.....the 2 year-old and turning-one-year-old are probably going to keep us on our toes this year. :) Pray for us.

a list of activities from today

2011-06-29T17:34:00.000-07:00

math
English
handwriting
typing
ETC
cleaned the baseboards and walls in the dining area
swept and mopped all hard floors
reading
Legos
puzzles
blanket time
blogging
computer games
cooking
grocery shopping......Daddy took Emma and Corbin with him to Publix to get a few things....he now completely understands why I really prefer to do my grocery shopping sans kids.....
dishes

A busy summer, and more ahead.....

2011-06-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! Our summer is turning out to be a busy one. Normally, we don't have that many activities scheduled, but this year it has been non-stop since the beginning of June. Vacation, then leadership camp for Logan. Then, we were away all weekend getting our house ready to sell (the kids stayed with their grandparents), and may have already sold it......just ironing out the details. I'm not complaining, but it is very different from the norm around here. And it's not ending yet.....July will be just as busy. I think the kids like it that way. Honestly, I do too, but I am glad our everyday is not so full.

Yesterday, we went to a wildlife sanctuary. It was really humid, we were covered in sweat quickly, but it was fun. Here are some photos from our time there...

Bobcat

Red Fox

When we came back on Sunday, we brought a friend with us. We had a neighbor that we got fairly close to when we lived in that house. A little girl about a year older than Logan. Well, that little girl is now a beautiful 14-year-old. She no longer lives in Florida, but just happens to be visiting family here this summer, so we asked her to come see us. It's been so nice to have her in our home. We are already making plans to have her visit again next summer, and hopefully for more than 2 days. She leaves this afternoon. My heart will be sad, but I am in touch with her via Facebook, so we will 'chat' more that way.

We all have such great memories from those 'little kid' days with Logan, Hailey, Corbin, and her. She was over all the time, and sometimes they went to her house or her mom took them all to get food from McDonald's. Sometimes she went to church with us. Good times....

By Monday, Emma was Sunita's best friend....it doesn't take her long to get attached. :)
A gentleman offered to take our photo at the wildlife sanctuary. It's not the best, but I decided to put it here anyway so we'll have a visible reminder of our time together.

Our work for the week....

2011-06-22T06:23:00.000-07:00

For some reason Autumn is waking up each morning at about 5:57 .....yeah, not cool. I have been trying to wait it out and see if she goes back to sleep. This means listening to her 'talk' while I doze. Once she starts crying and doesn't stop, then I usually get up with her. This morning she played for almost an hour....got quiet....then Emma woke up. So up we got at 6:57 a.m. :{

While Hailey and Corbin were working on their book work Autumn and Emma played (this was after we ate breakfast). About 30 minutes of that was spent with Emma having 'blanket time' and Autumn playing independently as well. Emma had some sorting toys, books, a 'latches' board, and some little dinosaurs, snakes, men. She did really well, coming off the blanket once briefly towards the end of her time. I just had to remind her that she needed to listen for the timer and she went back without too much resistance. I am hoping that by next week I can increase her time to one hour, twice a day. We will need that in order to get some of our school reading done once we start back full-time next month. Autumn did well too.....alternating between her 'stations (bouncy seat, exer-saucer, blanket on the floor, mommy's arms). After that came nap time for Autumn, Emma's snack, Logan finally up for breakfast, and then we head to the library (when Autumn wakes up). Logan will begin his book work as soon as he is finished with chores and breakfast.

I have been trying to get better organized this week. I cleared one box out of the kitchen that had been sitting there for months. I got all of the trash thrown out, now we just have to put away the things we're keeping, which are stacked on our breakfast table at the moment. Karl helped clear off the bar a bit last night, too. Corbin has been working (with my supervision) in small increments in his room. He has one little corner in his room that is complete chaos! So, we removed trash, hung up clothes, brought in storage boxes that Logan was no longer using......today we will find things to put in those boxes and straighten up a bit more. I have also been going through baby and toddler clothing....it's time again to remove too-small sizes and replace them with bigger sizes. Autumn has so many of her current size....6-9 months....I have actually given some away to a friend. We still have so many that it is overwhelming to get them put away! So then I'm digging and digging through piles of unfolded, unorganized clothing....not a pretty sight. I will be simplifying, donating, with this next size but I think we have a lot less of those anyway so it shouldn't be so much of a problem. And, I'm not meaning to complain. I actually feel so blessed that we have so much! But, excess causes problems too......so finding ways to deal with that.

Autumn has been practicing sitting up. I can put her on the floor and she can sit for several seconds now. She has increased her time, and today spent as much as 45 seconds to a minute sitting before toppling over. I was not holding her up or anything. It seems like it's been a long time coming....I had begun to really worry....but looks like she's getting it! And I think she may have her second tooth popping through on the bottom. :)

More pictures from our vacation....

2011-06-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

This is a sign along the road that runs in front of the cabin.

We made it our goal to follow it's instructions and take life s-l-o-w-l-y while there.

Stopping to smell the flowers.....
Hailey has a special talent.
Heading back 'home' from a trip down the river.
Autumn spent much of her time just like this...sleeping, or hanging out while we walked, cooked, talked, etc.

Emma had a really fun time with her cousin Jeanine.

Nana had a great time fishing.
Megan was enjoying the S'mores....

as was Emma!

All around the fire....

Emma trying to share the blanket with Autumn.....

Our kids and some of their cousins.....

We celebrated an anniversary with these two while we were there.....21 years, I believe. Congratulations!

Mama and daughter....don't they look alike? And I think 'daughter' looks just like 'mama' did at that same age.....

Some tubing.....

2011-06-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

Getting everyone situated...
Coming around the bend......
Wait a minute....who is that?!
YES! My amazing mama and her sister, MY aunt Eunice, went down the river, too!!

Some pictures and some learning.....

2011-06-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some more photos of our trip....finally! You wouldn't believe how crazy-busy we've been since our return.....

Karl took the kids and their cousins on a hike.
At the trail head.....
The Falls.....
Hiking is thirsty work!
Hanging on the couch with Mommy in the morning....
Multiple generations were cooking in this kitchen together all week.
Emma loves 'Egg-an'.
The hot tub was a favorite warming up spot after tubing down the river.....my kids with some of their cousins.
Emma ate lunch at this picnic table, every day, overlooking the Toccoa River.
Having fun with one of the cousins.....
I love holding my babies and rocking!

We have been doing some learning since we returned home, too. Hailey planted basil seeds, Corbin put together a high char for Autumn (yes, he really did, with just a little help from Daddy), and Hailey has learned how to speak 'Dragonese' (our word) from her book, Dragonology. ;) Emma has begun learning how to dress herself...still with lots of help and mostly only when she wants to. Autumn is practicing sitting up...she can't do it by herself yet, but if I sit her down on the floor and get her balanced, she might stay there for five seconds. She is nowhere close to being able to sit up without support yet, but she'll get there. And, if what I have been able to see online is any indication, Logan is learning some phenomenal stuff at SLU. I so wish I could have attended this as a middle school or high school student....or even now. I am excited to hear all about his time there, and I can't wait to see him! We haven't spoken to him since Monday morning and that is really weird.....I'm ready to hear that deep, loud voice again.

I'll be along to post more pictures of our time in Georgia real soon.

Back home...

2011-06-12T11:07:00.001-07:00

Well, we are back home but busy-busy....getting Logan's things packed for his camp, which starts tomorrow a.m. Also, he had a mandatory meeting (pool party!) today with the group that he'll be living with when he goes on that local missions trip next month. The entire group is going to the same location but they are broken into 'villages' of about 8-10 kids and two adult leaders......each village will do all activities together. I am also going on a dinner date with hubby tonight and we went to church this morning even though we got in so late. My mind is whirling after such a low-key week!

It will be later this week when I post more pictures of our vacation......we have a few hundred to sort through. It was such fun. Cannot wait to share our week with you!

A few of my favorites...

2011-06-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, here are just a few.......from the hundreds of photos taken so far......of my favorites.Deep in conversation
Rocking with Corbin
Logan, in shadow but the only one I could find of him.....
Heading back up the path after a trip down the river
Aaawww, they love each other so much

Right after we arrived the first morning
Chillin' on the couch with Mama
In the river
Oh yes, he's quite the stud
Walking along the path

Just a lazy day...

2011-06-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

Today was a lazy day until late afternoon. We kind of just lounged about, watching TV, and reading.....eating.......napping (only some of us). Then, more cousins arrived around 3:30. As soon as everything was unpacked they were off down the river! My mom, Autumn, Mike (cousins' Daddy), and me 'stayed back at the ranch'. They had fun.....my cousins' mama (my cousin) had considered not going today but decided she would after all.....she had a great time. Tomorrow we'll all try to go, except my mom and Autumn. Maybe we can time it during her nap time?

Go, Go, Go, Go!....on an adventure.....

2011-06-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today was a great adventure....again. :) We had some family members leave (we are sad about that but understand that they DO have lives to get back to!) but other family members drove over from Toccoa.......and brought two precious little 4-year-olds along. We ate lunch, went tubing with them, then Hailey helped all the 'little kids' (Corbin on down to Emma) catch grasshoppers. I have to say.....she was great with the kids! I have seen her interact with Emma A LOT, obviously, and she usually does well with her, but I haven't really seen her with other kids besides her nephew, who is 4. She had them all set up with nets, carrying the grasshoppers to a tub we had sitting on the deck....they were all gathered around talking and listening to her. It was awesome! She could run a little summer camp......Hailey's Nature Walks, or something. LOL :) And it was really helpful because we adults were able to talk pretty much undisturbed for quite a while. The little girls were waving happily and yelling "bye" out the window to Hailey as they drove away. Such fun!

A little this and that

2011-06-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

We hung out on the top deck of the cabin (third story) this morning. Karl and I drank coffee while Emma ate her breakfast and Autumn sat on my lap. Emma casually says, "I love go to da cabin!" She is too cute and just melts our hearts!

Corbin and Daddy went on a hike in the woods behind the cabin this morning. It was a nice time for them to 'bond'. They did say it was really hot out there, though. Karl also took Emma, Corbin, and Hailey on a walk down the gravel road that runs in front of the cabins here. It's right along the river so you can watch the water bubbling over the rocks, toss some rocks into the river, or just take a leisurely stroll. Emma and Hailey had to run back though....Emma's idea. She said "I wunnin', Mommy!"

Autumn sat on the couch beside me for a while. Karl got some photos but we don't have the right USB cord to post them now...we'll do that as soon as we get back home. She's precious, too. I have a feeling there will be a running competition between these younger two on a daily basis. Good thing we love 'em both to pieces!

This afternoon Autumn and I will stay home while Karl takes the others tubing. Emma is really looking forward to her first trip (this summer) down the river with Daddy. I'll get to go some once the cousins, my mom, and aunt are here. I'm sure someone will volunteer to watch the baby at least one time!

Hailey and Corbin are exploring the river in front of the cabin, nets in hand, while the babies sleep. We're watching them from the deck while we rock.

Vacation....

2011-06-01T16:43:00.001-07:00

Vacation begins tomorrow!

A quiet day at home

2011-06-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

The older kids have been at SAINTS all day. They wanted to attend the extended 3 weeks of summer SAINTS, and go to both sessions. Their daddy generously allowed them to do so, even though they will all actually miss the second week due to vacation, and Logan will miss the third due to his leadership camp. Anyway, it's been kind of weird not having them here or needing to go pick them up by noon. Nice.....but weird.

Our morning's events....

2011-05-31T07:48:00.001-07:00

Today we cooked for that family we provide a meal for once a month. I had it planned out this time....no rushing, yay! On the menu is scalloped potatoes, broccoli, and chicken breasts (in a casserole dish) with homemade Herb Garlic Baguettes. It looks good, so hopefully it will all taste yummy as well. New recipes....they get to be my guinea pigs. Is that bad?

The kids are working, not so diligently (lots of talking and laughing going on in there!), this morning on the basics. Math, handwriting, English, typing....no English or typing, but add ETC for Corbin. Emma is working very hard on her coloring while her brothers work at the table. She's so cute. Hailey just wants to get it done. She is in the kitchen at our breakfast table, so it is a little less noisy and easier for her to concentrate. Only a little.....

Logan just brought me a tiny storage container that he found in his school box this morning. Just another one of those strange things that happens when you have toddlers in the house. :)

Our learning today.....

2011-05-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

We went on a field trip....to Barnes & Noble. The kids love to go there.

This time, we were well-prepared, so did not need to rush home. Autumn took her morning nap in the baby wrap and Emma was in the stroller.....mostly happily. We stayed as long as everyone liked, and two out of the five of them came home with something new to read. I even got a new cook book....for cooking healthy but on a budget. Everything looks great, I'll just have to see how it all pans out.

We had a great dinner, too. Karl grilled burgers. I made souped-up potato salad (with baco bits, green onion, and ranch dressing, added to the regular mustard and mayo combination) and heated up a can of Bush's baked beans. Easy peasy! Our dessert was homemade chocolate pudding in a homemade graham cracker crust. Corbin helped me with both. The pudding is the best any of us has had....and there is no going back to store-bought now! Hailey said, "You should make everything homemade!" Funny, because I make a lot of our food from scratch, but with the fresh bread we've been making, the homemade pop tarts, and now the pudding....they have all gotten spoiled and realize that homemade IS better. Okay with me....my plan is to begin making even more from scratch anyway.

I would eventually like to stop buying bread and pasta altogether....still need a few attachments (which means more $$$) for my mixer though, so we'll have to buy at least some types of pasta for a while yet. Even so, I will save several dollars each month just from not buying bread, and I like that. Who knows? You may hear of me grinding my own wheat before long. Don't laugh. I know several friends who do so it's not that far of a stretch! And there is an attachment for that.....

Test Scores and my genius kids ;)

2011-05-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

Test scores are in and our kids were phenomenal! It's funny, I know in my head that it doesn't matter, that these tests are just snapshots of what they knew on that particular day, and that they aren't complete measures of my children's knowledge. But it still feels great to get the scores back and see how well they did, how much they have improved since last year. I really had no expectations except that I felt they would probably do well. But all three of them excelled. Hailey's spelling, which has always been behind her grade level, is a year ahead now, so I was happy to see that. All that reading and writing she has been doing, initiated by her, is really paying off! Corbin's reading was exceptional.....and we never even finished phonics! And Logan, well, his scores were way above average, as usual. But like I told them, the numbers really don't mean anything unless they take all that knowledge and ability and do something with it. I don't mean book work and school subjects, though it could be that if they choose. What I mean is, they need to be responsible with the gifts God has given them, using their gifts and talents to the best of their ability, blessing others with them. Applying themselves in every situation, trying their best.....and their best won't be the same as someone else's best. I am thrilled that they are so good at taking those tests, that they enjoy them, and that the end result is positive for all of us. No pressure here. But, I do feel good about our year now. Again, I know in my head that we did 'enough' even though it was a crazy year and it did not always (usually) look like 'school'. (which I actually prefer anyway!) But to know that the 'book work' was at a minimum and their scores were better than last year's is the icing on the cake. There is a place for textbooks in my opinion, but it does not have to be often and maybe even not at all depending on the subject and the child. We had A LOT of life-learning this year with a new baby and a sick mommy for much of the fall. Then the holidays, a new year, and a couple of vacations.....so happy and very proud of my kids.

Now, if I can just convince my husband that we really don't need those ratty old textbooks....or the tests.....

Pictures from today....and some thoughts

2011-05-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hailey and Corbin have been feeding the ducks ever since we moved here in the fall of 2009. We are now on our 2nd round of ducklings. However, this little guy is Patch, one of the ducklings (grown up) from the first spring. He took the bread from Corbin's fingers, but no matter how many times I tried to get it, I always missed the shot!Hailey at her last horseback riding lesson for the year.

Miss Andrea instructing the girls...she is telling Hailey what to do to canter.
Hailey's first time cantering...she loved it and Miss Andrea said she did a great job.
A photo opp for all the girls in the class. Don't they look like real horsewomen?
A storm moving in today....got this on our way home.
The kids had never seen this sight before.....Hailey said, "It looks like the rain is just pouring from the cloud!" I said,"Uh, yeah, that's what it does."
Do you know it never actually rained? At least not where we live.

Family Fun Night was tonight. We celebrated by welcoming Daddy back home after a 2-day trip turned 3-day trip due to a cancelled flight. So glad he's home. He made us dinner even after his very long last 24 hours. Homemade linguine and eggplant parmesan, and we enjoyed some of my homemade bread from yesterday with it. I love him.

More experiments in my kitchen

2011-05-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

I used my KitchenAid 610 to make bread today. It could have looked prettier, but I'm hoping that will come with experience. I plan to make whole wheat next. My goal is to be able to replace the bread we are buying now with homemade.......just need to figure out how to slice it better. I'm kind of regretting that we got rid of that electric knife, which we never used, that we received as a wedding gift. It sure would come in handy now. The kids did their part by taste-testing, and gave it a thumbs up!

Here's a picture............they turned out okay, right?

A little of this and that

2011-05-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Last day of SAINTS today, for the season. They are going to have a 3-week summer session immediately following this one, so the kids may participate in one or more of those, but officially it's over until August.

Next-to-last boys' group was tonight. We will have our last meeting next Wednesday night, then a family end-of-year party in June, and Life Group is over 'til fall. We are all hoping we can keep our group together and host again here then....but we're not sure how all that works. The group leaders are going to check into it with the church staff. So, we'll wait and see. Prayers from you all about that would be great, though.

Karl and I are still trying to figure out what to do. We have 6 months left on our lease....crazy how time just flies by! So, even though we do not have to find anything right away, we are beginning to talk about whether we should start looking for a house again. We still don't know why we could not get any of the ones we bid on before......something on the horizon for us? Only God knows. Prayers about that whole situation would be awesome, as well.

The kids are all doing well. Logan is gearing up for his leadership camp. It has been so humbling to receive from all of you who have given towards this for him. Many have given sacrificially. I feel very loved by all of you, knowing that you want to support Logan in his endeavors to learn and live more like Jesus. Please be in prayer about his upcoming camp...as well as his local mission camp that will take place in July. Hailey is continuing with her horseback riding lessons through May, and will also be attending a week of horseback riding camp (just during the day) over the summer. So far, Corbin has no special plans, but I'm keeping my ears and eyes open for him. We are ALL very much looking forward to our vacation in Georgia that will begin in about a week. And a special bonus is that some of my extended family will join us for part of the week. We CANNOT wait!

A plethora of activities...

2011-05-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

Math, English, handwriting, spelling, typing.....cleaning, playing, reading, drawing.....those are just some of the things we did today. I sorted a teeny bit and got a few things ready to give away. LOTS more of that to be done! I also played with Autumn and Emma a little more than usual, since the kids have a lighter load right now and I had the time. Quiet in the house now. Getting ready for the Biggest Loser finale, dinner (for me), and then possibly American Idol....may watch it another day.

Our landlord has been here since four o'clock trying to repair (yet again) the sprinklers. Our (his) grass is dying and desperately needs water! Hopefully his 'sprinkler guy' will do the trick this time.

Our summer break

2011-05-24T06:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the family kind of got off to a slow, but crazy, start! It's like that around here sometimes. Since it's our summer break we only had the basics, so there was really no rush to get school work done. Hailey and Logan did complete math, English, handwriting, and typing. Corbin finished a math lesson, took a spelling test, and completed two handwriting lessons. We spent the rest of the day reading and/or cooking.

Corbin and I are reading Pinocchio, got in 3 chapters together. Hailey and I are reading Mary Poppins, though we actually did not get any read last night. It's funny how different Mary Poppins is in the book than she was in the movie......kind of a sourpuss so far. Maybe she changes by the end of the book?

Corbin and I also made pop tarts yesterday afternoon. Can you believe that?Look here to see some pictures of the process. It was a lot of fun and they turned out really yummy! I'm planning to make bread either today or tomorrow. I'll post pictures of that too, if I can.

Some photos of our 'work' last night and today...

2011-05-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our Family Fun Night. It took all of them to hold the rolled out dough at one point.

And it took two to hold it while cutting it into spaghetti noodles.
Emma decided she wanted to play baby this morning....
Getting ready to help Mommy make dinner. Wearing her apron that Aunt Melissa made for her for Christmas.....she was very excited about that!
I needed help shucking the corn.
Emma brought the corn to me to wrap in aluminum foil before cooking.

We also made enchiladas, though I forgot to get any shots of the process. :(

A busy couple of days.....

2011-05-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our last 'official' day of school for the year. We will continue to work each day....specifically on math, English, typing, handwriting, and spelling. And we'll read some good books. But, until July 1st, we will not be using any specific curriculum packages. I have some tentative plans for what we will be doing but have not quite made my mind up completely so I won't mention it yet. Whatever we end up using will be used in a more laid-back way, though. I enjoy using something that tells me exactly what to do, that's why I like to use packages, but I can become a slave to curriculum. It's my Perfect Paula tendencies. So, I am going to get as far as we can each day, and be okay with that. It will not hurt the kids (or me) if they don't finish a whole day's worth of plans in a day....

Yesterday was also horseback riding for Hailey. Then, we needed to go pick up some books from a fellow homeschooling mom, so we did not make it back to the house until close to 1 o'clock. Fortunately, I always take a bottle and formula with me because I never know if we will be home before Autumn needs to eat, so we were able to make the extra stop with no problem. I do think Karl and Logan had just about given on up on us, though.

Corbin completed his handwriting, math, and ETC. Hailey and Logan both finished a little after lunch with their math, English, handwriting, and typing.

Then, we had Family Fun Night, and it was fun! We ended up making homemade pasta (Karl got an attachment for my KitchenAid) and sauce for dinner. Corbin made the salad and bread with a little help from me, while Logan worked on the sauce and Hailey and Karl made the noodles. I have pictures. I'll try to get some posted later this weekend.

Today Karl and I went on a SUPER-shopping trip. We

went to Old Navy and bought 2 pairs of shorts, some socks, 3 polos, and 2 undershirts for Logan
stopped by Payless (Karl was in Payless while I was in Old Navy so that saved some time) and Famous Footwear and bought a pair of black dress shoes for Karl...at each place
returned to Payless and exchanged that pair of shoes (the others were better) for a pair of white sandals for Emma and a pair of flip-flops for Corbin
went to the mall to find a pair of black dress pants for Karl
stopped by 7 Eleven for my favorite thing.....a coke Slurpee

all in about 1.5 hours!

Now we are back home, planning to stay for the rest of the day.

Some pictures from yesterday and a recap

2011-05-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was SAINTS and the coaches were giving out completion certificates to each child.

Hailey, receiving her certificate.....and Corbin......
and Logan.
A (poor) shot of the boys' group last night. This was before they got started.
One of them brought his guitar. Emma's words...."I LOVE guitar." It was tough to drag her away when it was time for bed, but she did finally go willingly.

Corbin and Hailey stayed at SAINTS all day yesterday, to make up for missing their morning session last week. Logan attended the morning session, and when we left after the certificate ceremony we, along with the babies, went to our favorite Greek place to pick up lunch. I finally got them down for their naps by 1:30 then spent a little time cleaning up. I had to go back out to get Hailey and Corbin at 4 p.m. Once we got home we cleaned up a little more, got supper started, and then I remembered that I did not have any disposable cups left for the boys to drink from during their Life Group. I ran out to BJ's with the youngest three while Logan and Hailey stayed behind to take supper out of the oven (just fish sticks and fries). I picked up a large package of cups and some grapefruit (that was for me!)......returning home just 5 minutes before the first boy arrived! It was quite a busy day, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

This morning the three oldest children had dentist appointments...cleanings. I had thought I might go get some groceries while they were there, but decided I would have to rsuh if I did that. Instead, we left here around 8:40 a.m. and bought groceries before the appointment time, which was 10 o'clock. I had the two little ones in a cart, Corbin next to me, gave Logan a different cart, and had he and Hailey go and find things for me while I shopped for the other items on the list. Overall, they did pretty well. I only sent them for 2 things at a time so they wouldn't forget and I think they had fun....plus they were learning an invaluable life skill that they will use for the rest of their lives. Logan even asked an associate for help when he was sent to find baby formula and couldn't find the right size. I like that they know which brands we buy of what (mostly) so I didn't really have to explain that to them ahead of time. They just came back with the exact item I needed. And I love that they know how to get and are not too shy to ask for help!

I dropped the kids off at their dentist's office, then went home to quickly drop off the groceries. That way, none of our vegetables wilted in the hot car while we were with the dentist. When we got back to the office we only had to wait about 10 minutes until they were finished. Their dentist appointments went well. No cavities for any of them, and their dentist said they are all doing a great job brushing. A couple need to do a slightly better job flossing, but still got an excellent report. I am always a bit nervous when it's cleaning time for them.......glad to see they actually are brushing well when they say they are!

Some book work was completed this afternoon.....math, English, handwriting, spelling, typing, ETC and some guide stuff.

A look at our day

2011-05-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Reading, writing, math, spelling.....typical 'school' day today. We did lots of review in math for Logan as well as a re-do math test for Corbin. Hailey only missed 1 problem on her math test and ended up with a 95 as her grade. ;) If she'd been more careful she would have had a perfect score.

We also did some other things....

Logan helped me feed Autumn her lunch. She was less than enthusiastic about eating green beans......Logan empathized.
After the babies' naps the three middle children had a tea party......iced tea and chocolate chip cookies (made in my new KitchenAid!).
Emma concentrated very hard on eating her cookie!
Now, cleaning up and preparing dinner, and more play time with the babies (I guess I'll have to stop calling Emma a baby at some point.....not yet.)

Oh, and I just want to say....that part in my previous pos t about Hailey's notebook on the Warriors series....when I said "with no encouragement from me" I only meant it was student-directed, not coercion or a requirement from me. After reading it again, I wanted to clarify that I am trying to be encouraging to her about her endeavors! ;)

An exciting start to our day

2011-05-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Earlier this morning I thought I heard a thump on our sliders as I sat at the dining room table. When I looked over I saw nothing, so went about my business.

Later, we found this little guy on our patio. He must have been that 'thump' I heard! He was just a baby and pretty frightened.We thought he was injured but it turned out he wasn't. Karl came to the rescue. He picked him up, examined him, and determined he was fine. He then took him out into the yard and 'helped' him fly......by gently throwing him into the air. (I had visions of the poor thing coming back to land on the ground....SO glad he didn't!) We believe he was an Indigo Bunting, as suggested by a Facebook friend and Karl. Here is some information about the species. Hailey had hoped to keep him, but she is happy that he is okay.

Back to the books...well, a little

2011-05-12T06:59:00.003-07:00

This morning we did a little bit of book work. Math, handwriting, dictation/spelling, typing, ETC. Corbin wanted to know what flex meant (it was a word in his ETC workbook) so we looked it up and talked about both definitions. I showed him how the dictionary works, but I'm sure he will need much more practice before he can use it successfully on his own.

We began a Bible notebook, for each of us. Our work includes copy work, a journal page, and an illustration page. We will add to it as the weeks go by. This week's verse is Proverbs 1:7-8. We will probably carry that into next week since it is already Thursday and we've just begun studying it. I think we will hang out in Proverbs for a while because there is so much knowledge to be gained.

Logan actually completed a whole day's worth of plans from his guide, but Hailey, Corbin, and I were catching up on the last bit of reading from our current unit in Preparing Hearts for His Glory. She will complete a full day of plans tomorrow, probably.

Nature study....naturally

2011-05-12T04:47:00.000-07:00

'Mrs. Waddles' has a new batch of ducklings (is it called a batch? LOL). They have been visiting our yard each morning. Hailey feeds them bread.
This is what I awoke to this morning. They're getting really big.
I'm sad to say, there were 9 to begin with....the remaining 6 are cute. We don't know what happened to the others.

Here's a link to what ducks are called when in a group....it's not a batch. ;)

Join the Notebooking Pages Treasury

2011-05-10T16:50:00.001-07:00

I am planning to incorporate notebooking into our schooling. All the kids already do this to some extent, but I want to get them to start doing it more often and with 'school' subjects too. I will probably let them select one topic to begin with, then add more notebooks on other topics as they desire or when they finish the first. I expect that each child will end up working on several at once.

I purchased the Notebooking Pages Treasury, as seen below. It's a great deal! Access to ALL the current products. Click on the ad below and check it out. AND, if you end up purchasing it as well (through my ad), I will earn some money. I'm looking forward to getting into this, and I think I'm going to start one, too.....probably some topic in history....it should be fun!

Testing Day 2

2011-05-10T12:33:00.000-07:00

The little ones and I spent the morning at the church where their older siblings were testing. We spent some time in the cafe having a snack and checked out the bookstore where I bought some books for myself.

We also went outside for a bit.

Here are some other things that happened once we returned home.

Autumn rolled over for the first time today. I placed her on the floor in our play area, on her back, while we were all having lunch. When I glanced in there later, she was lying on her belly. None of us helped her, so I guess she finally got it. I hope to catch her at it soon.

Hailey has been reading the Warriors series....a favorite book of one of her cousin's and now hers. She has begun a notebook, with no encouragement from me.....I found it lying on the bar so checked it out. I've been hoping we could get into notebooking, but wasn't sure how to go about it.....she took care of that for me. I plan to speak to them about using this method more in our home school, especially for their main interests. Here is a picture of what she has done so far.

The coverFirst page

Corbin reading this afternoon.

Anyone think he's a kinesthetic learner?

I think my kids might be the smartest on the planet......

2011-05-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today's evidence:

Somehow, this evening, Corbin cut his toe. Emma saw that he had a "boo boo" and immediately went to the bathroom, opened the cabinet under the sink, and pulled out the bandaids, because "Tor-bin has a boo-boo."
Logan built a light box using his dad's flashlight, a quart jar, and a clear storage container

Genius, every one of them!

SAT

2011-05-09T10:43:00.001-07:00

This week the older three children are taking the Standford Achievement Test. It is not required , since we are using a private school (umbrella school) to comply with our state's homeschooling laws, but Karl likes to have the kids take it each year anyway. And, the older two LOVE it (not sure why)! Corbin is participating for the first time this year. I think he was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect and all, but he did fine. They allowed parents of the younger children to sit in for the first 30 minutes as they gave a practice test. He had a few glitches, but worked them out. Karl stayed home and watched the two youngest so I could be there with Corbin.

Tuesday and Wednesday I will take them all with me. The two young ones and I will play and have snacks while the rest are testing. Needless to say, we are not doing any book work during the first part of this week.

Real Scientists

2011-05-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Our failed experiment from RTR....the guide Logan uses. It didn't work. However that was not the fault of the experiment or the author. I am finding that I often do not have on hand 'normal household items' that are suggested to use for experiments, crafts, etc. I guess I'm not 'normal'! Anyway, we're going to re-do it when I get some matches, as that was the missing ingredient in this experiment. He was supposed to fill the jar half-way with very hot water, light a match and throw it in, then quickly cover it with the bag of ice....and see what happened. I told him to try it anyway, just to see, and that we would get matches and try again. I'll post more photos of our do-over once we have them. Of course, Corbin had to join in, because he has always loved doing the science experiments!

Something new to me

2011-05-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'm not the only one who needs to learn something new. Click here to read about The Mexican War of Independence.

Sports, organizing, and big belly laughs

2011-05-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

Today was SAINTS. While the oldest three were there, the little girls and I came home for nap/snack time. While they did that, I cleaned the house a little. We have the boys' group again tonight, so I needed to spiff things up.

This afternoon I moved one of our bookshelves into the play/school room. It had been living in our breakfast area just off the kitchen. I want to get as much of our 'school' stuff in the same area as possible, so I've been working on that over the last few weeks. I still have a few things to do but it already looks so much better! I also listened to some more online speakers. I called in so I was able to work while I listened.

We discovered just minutes ago that Autumn thinks a bouncing ball is hilarious! Emma gave her a ball, it bounced right in front of her, and she gave us the biggest laugh yet. We tried it several times and it never failed to get her laughing a big belly laugh. I'm planning to let her show Daddy her new skill tonight. ;)

More from our day and a recommendation...

2011-05-03T12:39:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I caught up on some reading aloud with Corbin and Hailey. We have just one more chapter in Fountain of Life. It's been great and I highly recommend it. We will start a new book on Thursday.

Logan completed his day's worth of work in his guide plus math, English, and typing. Hailey also finished her day's plans along with handwriting, typing, math, and English. Corbin read for a while, built a blanket 'fort', and played outside with Emma, besides the other work I listed in my previous post.

I have been listening to some great speakers at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo this week. Follow the link to find out what it is and to register. The cost is very low right now but will be going up eventually. I think it is well-worth the price for all of the encouragement, possible door prizes, freebies, discounts, handouts, and recommendations you will receive. They have a great line-up of vendors and speakers. Check it out.

A good start to the day....

2011-05-03T06:53:00.002-07:00

This morning we got a relatively early start. Logan and Hailey have been working on some math and English. Corbin started a new spelling list, completed one math page, and finished his ETC 1 1/2. Emma spent some 'blanket time' while I went over math with Hailey and Corbin. She's doing pretty well with it overall. I do need to be more consistent with it, as I want to eventually have her spend about 45 minutes there a couple of times a day.

Right now we are heading out to the kiddie pool with Emma while Autumn naps. She needs a little outside time.

Playing with a foreign language....

2011-04-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

Karl has been playing around with the Japanese language this week. He has always been interested in learning an Asian language. He even got the kids involved, and they spent at least 30 minutes going over the Hiragana, only one of four Japanese 'alphabets'. Karl wrote some of it on our white board and Hailey has been spending a bit of time copying it and trying to learn what each one means. They're having fun with it, and maybe they will try to use the Rosetta Stone program I got Karl over a year ago. We also have Rosetta Stone Spanish, and the new ASL cd I got this week. I'm hoping they each pick one they want to learn and get to it.....it would be so beneficial. And I would like to find some time to learn Spanish and ASL myself. One day....

End of our week

2011-04-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

This morning was Hailey's weekly riding lesson. I dropped her off then headed to Publix for a few groceries we needed. We were able to get back just a few minutes before the session was over, so I let one of the other moms look through some workbooks that I wasn't using. She took most of those I had, so now I don't have to take them anywhere to donate.....plus, she got some free books to use in her home school!

Hailey and Logan completed the right side of their guides today, plus math, English, dictation, typing, and handwriting. Corbin worked on math and took a spelling test, on which he got 100% correct.

Tonight is Family Fun Night. We will be enjoying burritos and a movie.

Today's re-cap

2011-04-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Today's work consisted of the following:

math
English
handwriting
typing
left side of guide

for the older two.

math
spelling
ETC
reading

for Corbin.

They all took turns playing with Emma throughout the morning, as well. During part of the morning, Logan went with his dad to the clubhouse to work out. They ran, did push-ups, and tried to do weights but apparently Logan has to be 16 for that, clubhouse rules. Now, Hailey and Corbin are watching White Lion, a movie made from a book Hailey read a while back. We will do our reading aloud once that is over.

I sorted through baby clothes, hung some in the closet, and put more in the too big/too little box this morning. I also explained math lessons to Hailey and Corbin. I helped Emma put stickers on paper, and let her experiment with a 'new' toy......one we've had packed away but she's never seen. I don't know the name for it, but it has different colored pegs that fit into holes in a foam base. She seemed to really enjoy them, and that, combined with stickers/coloring and her magnetic dolls, gave me quite a good chunk of time to get those clothes dealt with......still have more to do, though.

The little girls are napping now, so it's movie and snack time. See ya soon!

His perfect plan is always.......well, perfect!

2011-04-27T03:26:00.000-07:00

Click here to see God's amazing work!

Mom is learning all the time.....

2011-04-26T07:48:00.001-07:00

I've been doing lots of reading, at my mom's and on the way home yesterday (well, when I wasn't sleeping!) I read The Relaxed Homeschool, A Family Production by Mary Hood, Ph.D. A quick read and some interesting stuff. I also began reading Guerrilla Learning, How to Give Your kids a Real Education With or Without School by Grace Llewellyn and Amy Silver. This one has some great tidbits. I especially like these particular comments:

"Students create their success. Learning may take place in schools, but learning is bigger than schools, and schools don't make learning; learners do."

"(.....view academic learning in the context of your children's overall growth and character. Academics are not all-important; education should serve life, not the other way around.) When you really begin to see school as smaller than your kids' educations, you may find that you're able to relax and stop worrying so much about the markers of conventional success (or failure)."

I love those ideas, and I definitely need to continue reminding my self of those things. I know it, but I keep getting my self into trouble and stressed out when I forget it and begin to wonder what I'm not doing right. I see them learning all the time, I understand that the book work is just one small part of that. Having our entire day taken up with writing/math/English is not practical nor is it necessary. Now I just need to put that into practice......

How do I do it? First, I'll just keep reading........

Events of the day...

2011-04-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today we had another outing. We went to my aunt's house, for lunch and swimming. I stayed out of the water....didn't need to get any more sun....but Karl swam with Emma, Hailey, and Corbin. Logan decided to hang out with his cousins inside. We had a great time just talking, and eating, and laughing. Good times. It makes me do that wishful thinking again. We came home in the afternoon, put the babies down for their naps, and began preparing for our shrimp dinner. We invited those same cousins to join us, so we all enjoyed good food and fellowship together a second time. We have one more day here, to celebrate The Resurrection with family and friends. It should be a special day, and Monday morning will find us sad to leave.

2011-04-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

This morning was a bit leisurely, though I was up early with Autumn. We had plans to meet an old friend at the beach but did not have to hurry to get there. We originally were going to take the entire family, but my parents offered to keep the two littlest so it was just going to be the three oldest along. Then, this morning, it turned out the oldest two didn't really want to go....Logan had forgotten to bring a swimsuit and Hailey didn't "want to go if there is no one my age to play with" (like another girl!). So, Karl and I went and just took Corbin. We met our friend at the condo where he was staying with his family. They have two boys, one that is Corbin's age. Turns out they also had some girls along......his brother's daughter and her friend, so Hailey would have had someone to play with, too. We swam in the pool, laid out in the sun, cooked burgers and hot dogs (the men did).....it was a nice afternoon. It was great to see our friend, and meet his family, after so many years. I did not use sunscreen, purposely, and now I'm a bit crispy. Hopefully it will turn into a tan soon......and next time I'll make sure I have a lower SPF with me so I can use it and still get a little color.

Wishful thinking...

2011-04-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we spent some more time with cousins. Sharing a meal and conversation. When we left, one of those cousins came home with us, so they could carry on their play. That makes me wish, more than usual, that we lived here. It would be so nice to have regular, more frequent contact with my extended family members. We see them quite a bit, but it's still not the same as being local. Perhaps some day....

Some camping adventures......and Field Trip #3

2011-04-21T07:44:00.001-07:00

My older kids returned home around noon yesterday, just in time to have lunch. They told me a bit about their adventures in camping with their Nana and Paw Paw.

reading
drawing
playing tag with some other kids that were camping there, too
having dinner out with my mom and dad
enjoying sodas and desserts......they don't get a whole lot of those with Mommy and Daddy
sleeping in close quarters with their siblings and grandparents.....Paw Paw snores, apparently

After lunch my cousin came and picked them up. They were heading over to Pensacola to visit Pensacola Lighthouse. They climbed up to the top, then halfway back again......531 steps taken. There was mention of a ghost story, some treasure that couldn't be found, and then swimming 'accidentally'. ;) I'm not so sure how accidental it was......

On the way home they all stopped at Wendy's for dinner together. Three adults and eight children, all cousins. I appreciate so much that my family were willing to take my kids with them on their field trip. They all had a great time.

Some time outside

2011-04-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Emma and I spent our mid-morning outside while Autumn napped. I was using the computer part of the time, blogging and listening to an interview.

Later, we took a little walk. Emma picked up a couple of balls the older kids had left in the yard to bring back to the toy box. While we were out there, I saw a baseball tee and decided to bring it around for her to use. I was able to show her how to put the ball on the tee then hit it with the bat. She spent quite a bit of time hitting the ball, putting it back on the tee, then hitting it again. A new skill learned and lots of fun time outside. She gathered some of the rocks my mom keeps in her flower garden, putting them in an empty Huggies box. Emma also examined the remains of fish/shrimp that were left in the ice chest......from the shrimp Karl brought back from the shrimping trip he went on with his uncle......with her eyes only! I pushed her around on the toy tractor......her legs are still too short to reach the pedals.

Then, she enjoyed a snack at the little picnic table my parents have set up outside. The weather was really great, and I really enjoyed my one-on-one time with her.

Something interesting for you

2011-04-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

"You can't teach someone if they don't want to learn." A quote from a recent conversation with a family member.

I agree, and I think we all know this. Yet, we try to force our children to learn things that they don't want to learn.....then wonder why they haven't learned it! And yes, I know there are things we all have to learn that we don't want to learn, that's life. But as a general rule we should all have the freedom to choose much of what we do, read about, etc.

Lots of pondering going on. I'm listening to an interview of Sandra Dodd, found here. Click on the link under the words Their Blog. You may find it interesting.

As always, I don't agree with everything she says....take what you can, and throw out the rest. I am.

Field Trip Number 2

2011-04-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight my three older children are camping with Nana and Paw Paw. My mom headed out with them around 2:30 this afternoon to meet my dad at the campground. They were planning to swim, play ping pong, go out for dinner at a neat little diner nearby, and maybe watch a movie (at the recreation building?). We will have to hear all about it tomorrow. It is nice for Karl and I to have a night to relax. The youngest two are already in bed, so we're having a late dinner and enjoying one another's company. I'll be back to add a post about the kids' trip sometime tomorrow.

An interesting field trip for 4

2011-04-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Karl was invited to go shrimping with his uncle in a local bay. His uncle goes quite often when it is shrimping 'season' and Karl grew up doing this. Of course he went, and took Logan and Hailey along. They left here around 6:30 p.m. and I did not see them again until just after 2 this morning! I did see one Facebook status update telling that they had brought in 15 lb. on the first set.....they set the nets three more times and Karl's uncle thinks they got about 50 pounds altogether. I can't wait to try some of those fresh shrimp! I wasn't there so I didn't see firsthand, but the kids learned how to set nets for catching shrimp, how to sort out the 'debris' (just whatever is in the nets besides shrimp, like trash or crabs, whatever; throwing it back into the water.......well, hopefully not the trash, but you get the idea)) from the shrimp. They learned how to 'suffer' the cold to enjoy the experience. I think they had a great time......and spent valuable time with family. I was a little worried about them, but they got home safely. I'm looking forward to hearing more about their trip today.

A link

2011-04-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a new blog post from Hailey. She's begun writing more often again.

Home Economics

2011-04-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday morning, and Logan needed to have his clothes ironed. I told everyone I was gonna go "iron these clothes", then realized it was an opportune moment to teach Logan how to iron his own clothes. Of course he caught on quickly. I showed him how to do it by ironing one leg of his pants and he did the rest. When it came time for the polo shirt, I showed him then he did the work. He has one little spot on the back of his pants that really needed to be ironed better, but he did a great job. Next time he can just go get the job done.

By the way, I am able to use the Internet because my husband came with me. He has an air card so he can access the Internet for work while here and anyone else with a computer can also access the Internet, so here I am. You guys are so lucky....you'll get to continue having regular updates after all. ;)

Letter-writing and a break

2011-04-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Karl got Logan's sponsor letters printed out. Logan typed it up in Microsoft Word a couple of weeks ago. I added my own introductory letter to enclose with it. We had him address the envelopes and mail them out today. I went back through them to check addresses, etc., but he only made mistakes on two. I thought that was pretty good since he is not typically copying addresses out my address book.

Otherwise, today is a non-school day. Instead we are packing for our trip.....still doing laundry right now. Hailey had her horseback-riding lesson this morning, then we met Karl and the boys at our favorite Greek restaurant for lunch. It was so good! Afterwards, I took the little girls with me to Publix while the others came home with Karl. I needed to get some food for our trip tomorrow. I will gather clothing and all the miscellaneous things we need later this afternoon, and tonight we will pack the truck. In the morning, it's off to Alabama for 9 nights...our Spring Break. ;) Karl gets to come with us. Though he will still be working, it will be nice not to be separated. And hopefully he can still squeeze in a few days of fun with us, too.

I'll post an update when we return. Have a wonderful time while I'm gone!

P.E., Chores, and Bonding time

2011-04-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

The 3 older kids played Monkey in the Middle with their dad today after he got home from work. Emma was outside too, just running back and forth. Good exercise for all of them. ;)

Emma is learning how to set the table and feed the cats. I think in another few months we will officially turn those things over to her as her chores, and give Corbin other, bigger jobs. Right now she is Corbin's little helper.

Corbin likes his little sisters, and is always asking to help do things with/for them. He held Autumn this afternoon.........they bonded.

More of our week

2011-04-14T10:14:00.001-07:00

This week Logan made blueberry muffins, all by himself. All I did was get out the cookbook and find our favorite recipe for him. Hailey made dinner for all the kids last night. It was just chicken nuggets and fries, but she read the directions and got all the plates ready. Karl pulled the pans out of the oven for her because she still worries she'll get burned.

Corbin has taken to helping care for his two younger sisters. He volunteered to clean Emma up and get her our of her high chair today, and she let him!
I love having older children at the same time that I have younger children. They are learning to think about other people, be servants, and it is taking some work away from me occasionally now that they can help. I think it's time to begin having the older two make a meal each week. ;)

We completed some more math, English, handwriting, typing, an reading aloud today, too.

SAINTS was yesterday morning. The whole group was taking the Presidential Fitness Test. All of our kids did well. Hailey beat all the girls and all but one boy in her age group in push ups....boy push ups. She's tough! And Corbin did just about as many push ups as his brother and sister. I'm really proud of all of them for their success and their excitement about participating. This has been a great activity for them to do each week and it will be sorely missed when classes end for the summer. I know they will be ready to go when classes pick back up in August!

Re-cap of yesterday

2011-04-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the day for a long-overdue library trip. Everyone spent some time scouring the shelves for what they wanted, with success.

Before we left for the library, Corbin had completed an English lesson, a math page, a spelling test, and copied his new spelling words. He was done for the day, and early! In the afternoon he wrote a story about a cat. It was his idea. He asked for help with spelling, even using the dictionary as needed.

Hailey and Logan both completed the work from their guides as well as typing, English, math, and handwriting.

Hailey and Corbin watched Big Cat Diary in the afternoon. Then Logan and Hailey took turns playing with Emma and Corbin while I made dinner. There was time spent outside and an exciting game of Othello was played. ;) Autumn hung out with me, in her bouncy seat on the island, while I cooked.

All about helping....

2011-04-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

Corbin was my little helper yesterday. When he saw me preparing Autumn's bottle in the morning he wanted to feed her. He sat and held her and her bottle until she finished.He later comforted Emma when she was unhappy about staying out of the kitchen, engaging her in some creative play with her magnetic dolls.

Bits and bobs....

2011-04-09T12:37:00.001-07:00

We played catch-up on some of our book work and reading during the latter part of the week. Hailey had her horseback-riding on Friday. All the kids missed SAINTS on Wednesday as a loss of privilege for some repeatedly bad behavior earlier in the week. We took that morning to do some much-needed cleaning out of the babies' closets instead. I now have a huge pile of under-two-sized clothing in my upstairs hallway.....waiting for me to sort it into sizes and put it away. Logan attended a special event at church Friday night.....a fun-filled evening of water play for the middle school kids.....and Karl and I played Apples to Apples Jr. with Hailey and Corbin for Family Fun Night. We bought a crib for Autumn this morning, but still need to put it together in her room....she's getting a little big for the cradle. :{ We're talking about switching the little girls to Corbin's room and putting him in theirs. One of many reasons being that his room has more space for sharing. We haven't decided yet if we're going to go through with it. Karl and I made a quick visit to a local farmer's market today for some nicely priced and lovely looking fruits and vegetables. Sicilian Eggplant, anyone? I'm planning to try it tonight.

Learning from.......anyone

2011-04-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Doesn't he look like a natural?
I really thought this was a great picture of what real-life-learning is. This man came over today, with our landlord, to repair our refrigerator, kitchen faucet, and garbage disposal. Our landlord left him here working, for probably about an hour and a half, because he had to go to the doctor. Once he was finished I offered him some water, a seat, and we talked a little. He noticed Karl's guitar and asked if he could see it. I figured Karl wouldn't mind so I let him have it. He plays around a little bit with he guitar too and played a song or two. Now Corbin had been watching this gentleman already.......looking at all of the things he'd been doing, helping him with the fuse box, getting him a flashlight, etc. So when he began to play the guitar Corbin was right there next to him. He asked Corbin if he knew how to play and when Corbin said he didn't know how yet (that's on our list of to-do's!) the man offered to show him some things. I don't know what all Corbin actually took away from his lesson, but of course I had to get some pictures. They aren't the best but I wanted to put them here anyway. I love the way real-life=learning! And what a giving guy.

A morning of organizing and training....

2011-04-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our current 'playroom'. I have had it this way for quite some time, and would love to make some major changes, but it is working for now.As you can see, all of Emma's toys live here. There is a table behind the shelf where we keep the kids' computer, the Geo Safari, and where Logan often does his work.
This is Emma's table where she serves up her delicious creations...and sometimes plays with her Legos. Her broom and mop are stored close by for easy clean-up. ;)
The kids and I organized our home school shelf this morning. I found some bins and baskets in the garage and put them to good use.

We have our ruled paper, printer paper (which we use A LOT for drawing), and our pens/pencils/erasers in the three-drawer storage container you see in the picture. Emma's crayons, our stapler and 3-hole punch, and the play money are all kept up top as well, along with the box where Logan keeps his index cards for RTR. The top shelf holds all of his books and notebooks that he uses for school work, plus some of my teacher manuals.
Hailey's books for Preparing... are housed on the 2nd shelf, alongside our dictionary and the teacher's manual for Corbin's math. The dictionary was their dad's, so is an older one, and they all agree that "it's the best." The newer ones really aren't as good.
The bottom two shelves hold our white boards, which we use quite often for math and English lessons. Sometimes they are used just for drawing, too. The basket holds math facts cards, a box of dominoes, and some large paper coins that have been laminated. We use them as needed for math or for fun. There are also coloring books on the bottom shelf and all of the emerging readers and story time books we use with Corbin. The white you see peeking out from underneath are corners of poster board we have tucked between the wall and the back of the shelf that we use for various arts and crafts.

I have to say, re-organizing has made me feel so good! I am now ready to get started with school work tomorrow to see if things flow better. I worked on having 'blanket time' with Emma today, too. She resisted a tiny bit, trying to come off the blanket a couple of times before her time was up, but I'm sure if I'm consistent she will get better. Still, we were able to do it for about 30 minutes which I think is a great start. I believe the better organized I am the easier it will be to give her 'blanket time' activities as well as get the book work done. Looking forward to more changes over the next weeks!

A frustrating lesson to learn...again.

2011-04-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

I never learn...it is really frustrating. Why do I worry about this so much? You know what I'm talking about, right? It is spring, so of course it's time to second-guess my homeschooling choices, search all the latest and greatest (and some of the oldies) online, basically wondering if the grass is greener. I drive myself crazy with this stuff. It's ridiculous! I do have one valid reason, and that is that it is so difficult to get to every thing with every child each day.....how can I do that? I am not organized and regimented enough (my husband's words, said gently, and he's right!) Really, he only said I will need to be those things, not that I'm not enough. I am trying to figure out what I'm going to do as far as curriculum goes in the fall, and may even make a change now. I would love to do a unit study because those can be done with everyone...but does require time to read aloud and we only have the babies' nap time for that. I don't know if that's enough. But there I go again with my "is it enough" syndrome. I must learn how to give it all to God and let Him have our day. Each day. All day. Why do I always think I can and need to do this all on my own? How laughable. I need to go back to Deuteronomy, as seen above, and start there. Maybe I'll do that and let you know what happens.

Thanks for letting me vent. ;{

A much-anticipated event....

2011-04-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we did not get pictures, so you'll just have to imagine us at the beach. That was our 'special activity' that I spoke about yesterday in my post.

The kids, Hailey in particular, have been asking to go to the beach for weeks. It was never the right time.....rainy or we had something else to do or they waited until breakfast to ask. Hey, we have to have a little notice okay? ;) But when Hailey asked again last week we told her then that we would go this weekend as long as the weather was right. It was funny hearing them all exclaim throughout the week, "I can't wait until Saturday. We get to go to the beach!"

This morning was beautiful so we had a quick breakfast (no waffles today), loaded up, and headed out. We paid $10 (yikes!) to park for 2 hours, but at least we were right next to the beach. It would have been a chore to drag all the kids and all the gear from any distance away.

I tried to put a swimsuit on Autumn but they are both too small....we never used them. :( She wouldn't have liked the water anyway, it was really cold. It was nap time for her, so I put her in the baby wrap and she slept for probably about 45 minutes that way. Karl and I took a short walk with her and Emma while the other three played in the sand. Then we came back and just kept an eye on them all. They dug deep holes, played in the surf, and used their boogie boards to ride the waves. Emma liked the water if she was with someone and it didn't get in her face. She did not like to be alone with waves coming toward her....no matter that she was several feet away from the very edge of the water. She enjoyed playing in the sand a lot, though. The hole Logan dug was deep enough for her to stand in and only have the top of her head sticking out.....she liked that and it was fun to see her grinning at us from in there.

The water is beautiful here....made Karl and I reminisce about our cruises and discuss whether we think we can go on another one anytime soon. We'll have to look into prices and obviously what to do with the kids, but I would love to get away with him again soon. It's been a while.

When we pulled into our neighborhood Karl asked if we'd all like to stop at the pool....to get a pre-shower, shower. ;) And they all actually did get showers before getting into the pool...We stopped in for about half an hour. It was long enough for the kids to get some swimming in.....even though Emma then didn't want to leave. I think she much prefers the calm, silent pool water to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. Autumn played happily on a towel while I sunbathed, though I really didn't get much color...maybe on my face. I told Karl it's been about 4 years since this body has been in a bikini.....too busy being pregnant or trying to get the pregnancy weight off.......LOTS of white skin that needs a tan! Logan decided pretty quickly that the water was too cold for him, so he lounged in a beach chair and helped keep an eye on Autumn, too. Then it was home for lunch and real showers, and much-needed naps for the smallest two.

It was a perfect morning and I'm glad we went. I'm hoping we can begin to make trips like that more frequently.

Best-laid plans and all that...

2011-04-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

My plans for Tuesday just did not go as I thought. I wanted to take the kids to the library, then we didn't get to go. We were trying to figure out a math problem and by the time we finished it was too late. Well, I thought we would just go late that afternoon. Nope, didn't happen. I had completely forgotten...even thought it's been on my calendar for a month and I had just been thinking of it the day before......that I was taking a meal to that family we are helping (the one I blogged about here). So, about 11:30 a.m. I realized that I still had to prepare the meal....but I needed to go to the grocery store for a couple of items. So, it was a whirlwind afternoon. After rushing out to the store, coming home to cook, then feeding the baby, I was able to get it done and delivered in plenty of time for their dinner. Find the recipe for Baked Ziti. I even made one for our family, and it was delicious! Ours had rotini instead of ziti, otherwise it was the same. The kids did not get to help me make it since I was in a rush, but next month I am determined that they will! I just have to remember it more than a few hours beforehand.....

A jumble of things...

2011-04-01T11:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday and today were interesting with our written work. We had to hold off on some of the reading, due to being behind, so I actually had Hailey not follow her guide for two days until we caught up. She did continue with her English and her math, getting 90% on her math test. Yay!

Corbin worked on math, learning how to guess height and length as well as continuing his practice with subtraction, multiplication, and adding with money. I also began Rod and Staff 2 with him this week. He has really had no grammar instruction at all so far and I thought now would be a good time to start. We use the white board, so the lessons haven't take too long. He is still working through his '1/2' ETC books for review, which will probably take until the end of May, and is working on some spelling words each week. Corbin's grade was 100 today on his spelling test....7 words.

Hailey had her horseback-riding lesson today. Logan stayed home and completed his school work while I took the rest of the kids with me. Corbin completed his handwriting before we left then worked on his ETC and some of his math test while there. He finished the rest after lunch today, as well as another English lesson. Hailey completed math, English, typing, and handwriting. We still have another couple of chapters to read then we're done for the day.

Right now the oldest three are playing Apples to Apples Jr. while the babies nap. I'd love to have a nap myself....up too late, too many nights in a row......but that won't happen. Maybe I can at least read a bit and relax. We're planning a special activity for tomorrow if the weather is nice. I'll be back to blog about it and to post some pictures if we get any good ones.

Another catch-up post....

2011-03-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

We've been doing lots of book work for the last two days...struggling with math, catching up on our reading aloud, reviewing phonics, handwriting, spelling, and dictation. We got a bit 'behind' on our reading last week, so we have several chapters planned for this afternoon. I wanted to go to the library this morning, but we had a math delay and did not get to go. We may try late this afternoon but I'm not sure. If we don't I at least have to go tomorrow morning and drop off our overdue items....don't like paying those fees.

I've been looking at my curriculum choices...again. We have a while before we need to actually get anything new, but with Logan beginning high school in a year and a half I feel like I need to get my act together now for him, even though I won't order anything until fall. There is so much and so many different ways. I found out recently that the company we currently get his program from is going to be continuing with a new guide each year through high school, so we may stay with that. But there are several other options I'm checking out. Then I have to decide how I'm gonna handle the others......but trying to relax and not stress about it. After all, they will continue learning after they leave our home so I don't have to teach them everything there is to know.....just the most important things, and that's not necessarily academic.

A review of our days since the last time I was here.....

2011-03-23T13:15:00.001-07:00

Here's what we've been up to:

horseback-riding
painting (paper, not walls!)
reading great books
learning about New England
cleaning and organizing
learning multiplication (guess who?)
encouraging baby girl to try to roll over.....won't do it yet
teaching Emma how to sort by color.....next to learn the names of the colors
practicing going potty.....teeny bit of success, mostly none, but at least she tries ;)
singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, with hand motions
playing outside in the back yard, in the sand box, playing soccer (their own version)
visiting the pool (just once)
attending a home school support meeting, for me, where I met a new friend
praying for a special boy who has a deep need

And of course we've had some science, poetry, spelling, dictation, history, etc. sprinkled throughout.

End of the week catch-up

2011-03-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday we did get to stay home so that was really nice. We got a bit of school work done, and I was able to prepare some food for a new 'diet' that Karl and I are trying. The South Beach Diet....I've had the book for quite some time. It's been pretty good so far, but I'm afraid it's proving to be expensive. It may be worth the extra money if I can actually lose the weight, but otherwise it is not. I have lost some already, so we'll see what the week's total is. Anyway, the food preparation has kept me busy, but it's healthy and good, even the kids like most of what I've made. Would you believe they devoured the roasted peppers and eggplant?! It was pretty delicious......

Corbin and I will start a new book Monday, and I'm continuing to read Grandpa's Box and Fountain of Life with Hailey.

A full day...

2011-03-16T16:49:00.001-07:00

SAINTS again today. There are only about 8 more weeks until the year is over. The kids will be sad, but we plan to sign up again in the fall. We came home for lunch, then left again to meet friends at a local park. Karl volunteered to watch the two little ones so they could get their naps.....so sweet! Hailey stayed home too, happy as can be to watch some science-y show on Animal Planet, so it was just the boys and I that went. It was nice for me to be able to sit and talk to other moms, and I know the boys had a great time with their friends. Once we came home it was a quick preparation for dinner, then cleaning the house a bit for the boys' study.

Tomorrow will be a calm (hopefully!) day at home, another day of learning.

More photos of what we're ROWing

2011-03-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos I tried to add to my last post....still trying to figure out why they disappeared but at least we found them.

This is a book we read in addition to Katy, just for fun, on Friday...it was kind of poetic and was about playing in the snow.

Geoppolis is the name of the city in Katy and the Big Snow....geo=earth, polis=any city.....any city on earth.
Corbin is also learning about the various street signs we use and weather.....snow in particular. I'll have some photos of those learning activities later in the week.

Some Saturday work...

2011-03-12T06:58:00.000-08:00

Karl took Corbin and Emma with him this morning to drop Logan off at his leadership event, so that left me at home with Hailey and Autumn. It was time for Autumn's nap, so Hailey and I used the completely uninterrupted time to finish some reading from yesterday. We are reading Grandpa's Box for our history text right now. Our story time book, Fountain of Life, goes right along with it. The second one is really great because it takes place during the time Jesus was on earth....I love to read books like that. I think Hailey is enjoying it, too. ;) One of the perks of homeschooling is that I am learning so much that I never knew before!

We were hoping to go on a field' trip to the beach today while Logan is gone, but it is cold and slightly windy (though beautiful!) so it's not the best day. Maybe next weekend.....

More of Katy...

2011-03-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

I had photos...but now they've disappeared, even though I just imported them from my phone to the computer. Maybe when I find them I can come back and add them. ;}

We read Katy again today and also This Place in the Snow by Rebecca Bond. Corbin and I discussed personification....a big word for a 2nd grader, but I think he gets it. We also tried to remember details about Katy without looking in the book. She's red, a crawler tractor, has a v-shaped snow plow, beautiful, etc. We read in Luke about the shepherds watching their flocks at night and discussed how they were responsible (one of our words to discuss with this book) and put themselves in danger to protect their flocks, how they may have been lonely......responsibilities aren't always fun or safe. He worked on a weather wheel and we talked about different types of weather. I found the definition for snow for him to copy into his What is snow? booklet. He also did a handwriting sheet, a math lesson, and wrote his spelling words 3 times each.

Logan and Hailey both completed math and a day's plans in their guides.

A good start to our week....

2011-03-08T06:39:00.000-08:00

Today we continued with Katy and the Big Snow....Corbin made a little booklet about Geoppolis for his folder. He took a math test, started a new spelling list, completed a handwriting lesson, 3 pages in ETC, and another page from his science workbook. He read the first two chapters from the book First Flight.

Hailey completed her math and a day of plans from Preparing Hearts for His Glory. Logan completed math and a day of plans from his guide as well.

Emma and I read some books, sang several songs which she is learning the words to, and played with play-doh and Mr. Potato Head.

We also went to the library mid-morning.

Of course, Autumn was hanging out with us all throughout the day.

What we're ROWing this week

2011-03-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

We have made a teeny bit of progress with Katy this week.Here is the cover for Corbin's folder he is making to go with the book.
This is Geopolis....the fictitious city that Katy helps take care of.
And this is the city Corbin created after we read the book on Thursday...notice the name. ;)

An interesting development

2011-03-04T17:10:00.001-08:00

Horseback riding for Hailey again this morning.....as we were about to leave, her instructor asked me to call her later. It was a good thing. Once we got home, had lunch, and got the babies to bed I called her. She wanted to talk to me about possibly putting Hailey in a different class. She said Hailey has a natural talent, is "the best in the class", and would really benefit from being in a class where some of the girls are better than her.....so she can learn more and advance further. We'll have to think about it....the other classes are once a week or twice a week and they are more expensive. We'd have to pay about twice as much for the weekly class and a little over 3 times as much for the twice-weekly class. That's quite a large investment. Also, she has already made friends in this class and she'd be going into something new, possibly not knowing anyone, again. Not to mention that these classes are after school, while the one she is in right now is Friday mornings, which we've gotten used to. But, I do want her to continue to be able to make progress and the instructor just doesn't seem to think she's going to be able to go much further in this one. I think it' because she can't instruct the other girls in one thing and then try to start Hailey in other, more advanced things, during the same class. Lots to consider....in any case, it was really nice to hear how well she is doing. And I've enjoyed watching her ride. I already thought she was the best in her class, but I could be a little biased.

The kids completed all of their book work after lunch.....math, English, handwriting, typing, ETC, dictation, etc.

A little this, a little that

2011-03-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

Today was finally a calm day...nowhere we had to be, no sick children to take to the doctor...so we are home and got most of the book work done before lunch. I did end up reading Fountain of Life to Hailey after the babies were napping, and it's a great book. I can't wait to read more tomorrow!

Corbin and I read Katy and the Big Snow. We talked about all the things/places/people it takes to run a city, then Corbin drew a map of his own city and named it Corbin City. Emma joined us for a few minutes while we read too, but she wasn't all that interested. She wanted to sing instead, and that was too distracting so she spent some time in her playpen, which she did not really enjoy. He completed a math lesson and handwriting, as well as three pages in his ETC workbook that arrived this week.

Logan finished his work that he had started Tuesday, along with a new math and English lesson.

I'm trying to decide if we will go to park day that a friend invited us to attend. The boys really want to go, but today is the first day we have not had to be anywhere and we have to be out of the house tomorrow too, so this is our only day at home this week. I would enjoy the conversation...Karl offered to keep the two little girls here. It's a matter of do I really want to get dressed and go? We'll see...it starts in an hour.

An unexpected kind of day...

2011-03-02T07:36:00.000-08:00

Monday was an ordinary school day, but I did have to take Autumn to the doctor so we did not get as much done as I would have liked. Yesterday, we had a birthday to celebrate and Karl's parents came to spend some time with us. We thought they were only going to get to stay for a little while and had expected to get some work done in the afternoon. Fortunately for all of us, they were able to stay most of the day. We had cake and blackberry tarts (Ron's birthday is today so we celebrated his too), opened presents, the kids went on a walk and a bike ride with Grandma, Emma played outside with Grandpa....it was a great day! But, that meant no school work got done, so the kids will be finishing up whatever is left from Monday this afternoon....normally they do not do any book work on Wednesdays since they are at SAINTS all morning, but I told them they really need to do a bit today. I'll probably only have them do math and English. I will try to start Katy and the Big Snow with Corbin, too.

Emma and I have been enjoying playing with play-doh, doing laundry, and having a snack. Now, it's time to get Autumn up, feed her, then leave a bit early to pick up the kids. I need to stop at Toys-R-Us to make an exchange on my way to get them.

I'll be back tonight or tomorrow with another update on our days.

More learnin'

2011-02-27T07:26:00.000-08:00

Last night Corbin and Hailey spent several hours drawing pictures for a 'movie' they are making. Hailey even used her video camera to make a stop-motion video with her newest Webkinz puppy. It was pretty good. I love to see what they do with their time when they are not in 'school'. They get inspired and then spend hours working on whatever their latest idea is. So much learning takes place, because they are motivated when it's something of their own making! Corbin was asking me how to spell words, the two of them were working together (which is sometimes lacking!), they were writing.....and it wasn't even a school day. I love it, and I just had to share! If we can find the right cable, I'll have Karl post Hailey's video. And she wrote on her blog, so go here to read her post.

Getting ready for next week...

2011-02-26T06:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was kind of busy in the morning. Hailey had her riding lesson. While she did that, though I would rather have stayed there and read a book or chatted with the other moms, I had some errands to run. We had to go to the post office to mail some packages...late gifts that I just couldn't get there before to send out (sorry!)...and then we made a quick stop at the library to pick up a book I had on hold. Corbin and Emma sat in the kids' section at a table looking at books while I checked out and paid my fines (eek!). I was very happy with how quiet and well-behaved they both were. I had the baby with me and Logan had stayed home to do his school work, so Corbin was 'in charge', which is a rarity. We had to leave as soon as I was finished though, because in traffic it takes a while to get back out to the horse ranch. We actually arrived early enough to see the girls doing a last exercise, then we waited for them to groom the horses. I did get a chance to chat with one of the moms then. We've been talking some each week, getting to know one another. She has four children...her oldest takes lessons with Hailey. Her youngest is only a couple of weeks younger than Autumn, and she's a girl, so that's fun. Her baby has two teeth already!

The afternoon was more calm. The kids worked on some school stuff and I worked on ourFamily Fun Night meal. It was easy....hot dogs and mac-n-cheese. Everybody was happy with it though, because we haven't had that in quite some time. Karl and I also made a trip out to Publix with the littlest two in the late afternoon....had to pick up some fruit and other things we were running low on. It was nothing exciting, yet it was to be able to be out with my husband. We have a date on Sunday since we finally found a babysitter, so we're looking forward to some time alone then.

I have printing to do this weekend to get ready for Corbin's school work next week...just a few booklets, a cover, and whatever other activities that are in the lesson plans for Katy and the Big Snow. I wish we had started this in NY...then we could have been learning about snow when we could see real snow....but at least he has a reference point now. He can remember being there and playing in it, so that will help. I am excited about doing another FIAR book...it's been a while. The last one we did was great fun!

I'm looking forward to a weekend with the family, hoping to accomplish a few things.

Learning time and a service project....

2011-02-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

While the older two worked on their history and science reading, Corbin and I went over math. He completed a handwriting page, took a spelling test, and wrote his new spelling words 3 times each. He also did 2 pages in his science workbook. Logan and Hailey each did a math lesson, a handwriting lesson, and 15 minutes of their typing program. They are both very capable at their cursive handwriting, so once they finish these workbooks I won't be ordering more for them....just want them to get through what they have.

I'm still in the planning stages for the next book I'm going to ROW with Corbin....we're using FIAR some of the time. I've had books on hold and I just got a notice today that Katy and the Big Snow is in so we'll begin that one on Monday. I have to pick up the book plus print out some things we'll be using along with it over the weekend, then we'll be ready to go.

I started reading a new book, Mr. Popper's Penguins, to Corbin and Hailey today. I've been trying to read aloud more. We used to do it a lot and kind of got out of the everyday habit after Emma was born. I'm looking forward to getting some of those books in that we've been wanting to read. This one is pretty interesting so far. We're also going to begin listening to The Last Battle, the last book in the Narnia series. That will be with all three of the older kids. We'll probably start it tomorrow afternoon. We really enjoyed the previous two on audio, so I'm sure this one will be great fun, too.

The family 'project' I've mentioned a couple of times started on Tuesday. The local foster care system needs volunteers. There are many things to sign up for, but I decided it would be best for our family if we take a meal to one of the families once a month. So, after a few calls to get details straight, we were on the list. We'll be preparing a meal on the last Tuesday of each month and delivering it to the facility. This first time I went by myself with the baby. I was not sure how everything was set up, etc. so I thought it would be best not to take everyone until I had seen the place for myself. I was not able to meet the parents or children, except one, this time. He was a sweet little boy, seven years old like Corbin, and was very excited to find out that "all that food" was going to his house. ;) We exchanged names and I told him that I have a little boy his age. The lady in the office there who coordinates the meal donations (and many other things) suggested that maybe I could bring him next time and they could play. She said she would work it out so I could meet the family next time. I'll probably take Corbin and maybe the other children to help deliver next month. We took them a yummy taco salad that a lady in my church made for every. single. church gathering. I love it, my kids love it, and I hope their family loved it! I took everything separate and left it for them to mix together because it's better when mixed and served right away. I also took a fruit bowl and some homemade chocolate chip cookies that Karl helped me bake, along with two 2 liter drinks. I'm hoping to find out what they like next time, so I'll know better how to serve them with these meals. I won't be much help to them if the children won't eat what I'm delivering! I plan to get my children involved as much as possible too so it can be a family service project. It felt good to help out, and I'm looking forward to doing it again and getting to know the family(ies).

Learning to read?

2011-02-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

Emma has learned to read (memorize) books. She has several that she can recite as we turn the pages.....pages that have one word and a picture on them. You know. We have a little board that we write words on sometimes and show to her. Just a few like Emma, cat, dog....she has them down about half the time, then she'll say "Emma!" when I show her cat, etc. It's cute. She is also learning a few colors. She brought some crayons to me just now, two different shades of blue, and said, "Bwooooo." Blue. This is such a fun age. I love it!

A productive morning...

2011-02-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

This morning I finished reading Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express with Corbin. He read some and I read some. I also had helped him complete a math lesson, had him do a word un-scramble with his spelling words, and he finished a handwriting lesson and a page in a little science-y workbook we have. He also wrote a little note to some special people in his life. I made a copy of it to keep, and we sent the original out in the mail today.

Logan and Hailey were both able to finish their work before lunch as well. Math, English, handwriting, dictation, history, science, research, and art projects.....

This afternoon is a movie, imaginative play, and reading, with our special project later.

The simple life...practicing

2011-02-21T10:14:00.001-08:00

Today Hailey got an early start and she finished her work just before 11 a.m.....even the parts I did with her. Logan is finishing up right now, and Corbin and I just need to read the other two chapters of the book we started last week. They all did math and spelling/dictation.....Hailey and Logan adding English and some subjects from their guides as well. Corbin did a word search, handwriting, then completed some of his spelling work from last week. Now the babies are napping and the older kids are playing and/or reading. I'll be taking the younger ones out to Publix later today to get a few things.

Our project was put off 'til tomorrow evening, so I'll be back to post about that sometime tomorrow or Wednesday.

I've been reading my own copy of The Simplicity of Homeschooling (yes, i finally bought it!), still trying to get that into my brain. The simple part, ya know. Why must I always complicate things? We're practicing making things more simple around here.

A spark is all it takes to start a fire.....

2011-02-17T14:40:00.001-08:00

We ended up having a discussion this evening...about The Signers of the Declaration of Independence. We looked it up here to find out how many there were and who they were. We also talked about the importance of the constitution....the question Hailey asked which sparked our conversation and led us down the bunny trail to the Signers......as well as the Continental Congress by whom it was written. Interesting....now I may need to go back to that link and read about all those guys. Good stuff.

Our curent read-aloud and other stuff

2011-02-17T10:24:00.001-08:00

Corbin and I are learning about The Pony Express this week by reading a book called Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express. It's just a short, easy chapter book, but I thought it would be an interesting way to get in some history. Actually, it's one of the books from Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, even though we aren't really following the guide. We enlarged the map at the link and we were able to see all of the stations along the route. Pretty cool stuff. Corbin also went over some math and spelling words with me, completed a handwriting page, then worked on a maze just for fun. He took a turn playing with Emma, too.

Logan and Hailey both worked in their HOD manuals, completed math and English lessons, and did 15 minutes of typing.

I sat outside with Emma for a bit, letting her play in the sandbox, while Autumn had her morning nap. They are both asleep again, so I'm headed out with Corbin now to let him ride his scooter for a few minutes.

Multi-tasking in ernest...

2011-02-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long.....been trying to organize and get some book work done, trips to the doctor and library, groceries....life interferes with my blogging, I tell ya!

Today the kids were at SAINTs again. Corbin was so happy to be able to go. He had not been able to find his sneakers since we returned home from my parents' house....he went last week because they allowed him to wear his sandals since it was "just one time", but I told him we were not going to do that again and he would have to miss this week if he did not find them. We searched his room, the car, the rest of the house to no avail yesterday. I finally thought of one more place this morning and told him to go look....they were there, in a hidden away bag still not unpacked from our trip to Nana's. An eleventh hour save!

This morning I came home with the two little ones while the older three were at the park. Autumn slept almost the whole time and I was able to focus on Emma. It was fun, and amazing how little screaming goes on when she gets some one-on-one attention from me....really need to make sure that happens several times a day, every day! We (me) have done some cleaning this afternoon, I have banana muffins in the making, need to make cheese dip to go with Tostitos because we're responsible for snacks tonight (for the Life Group), still need to decide what to make for dinner and make it......busy afternoon.

I picked out a book to read to Corbin and Hailey during our time upstairs tonight....we're gonna start Mr. Poppers Penguins and read it each week until we finish. I may let them work on the puzzle we stated last week while I read.....and this is all dependent on the babies going to sleep when they are supposed to, of course!

I'm looking forward to tonight....anxious to see how the boys do this week after their excellent meeting last week. Praying they will open up and really get into His word again......

By the way, Emma's learning these days includes using the potty....sporadically, but willingly....and Autumn is learning to eat rice cereal. :)

No-shows...some book work...a new project

2011-02-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

I had planned a play 'date' for Corbin and a neighbor boy for this morning, but he and his mom never showed. When I looked outside a bit after their scheduled arrival time, the family vehicle was not in the driveway. I don't know what happened....we had already put it off by two days due to illness in their family, but now I wonder if they just weren't that interested? I don't know....it still surprises me when people just don't show up, no pone call or anything. I'm not mad about it, but I am perplexed and now unsure of where things stand. Do I check in with her to see what happened? We don't know each other well at all. Do I just ignore it, as if we never planned to have them over? I don't want to come across as rude. I had called and left a message yesterday to let them know to come at a later time due to a forgotten dr. appt. for Autumn in the early morning. She has my number because her daughter came down and got it right after we originally planned all this. Did she just forget? One good thing....I had not told Corbin yet. So, he wasn't unnecessarily disappointed at least.

For school work the kids all did a math lesson, some handwriting, English.....and Logan did some history and science reading. I'm beginning to work on a family schedule. Hoping to get that finished soon.

The project I spoke about before starts next week. I'll be back to post about what it is and how things went after we've had our first try at it. I do think this project is going to be a great way for our family to serve others.

Last evening and the hours before...

2011-02-10T04:03:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was SAINTS, then lunch and a teeny bit of cleaning.

In the evening, we hosted the boys' group. It was an amazing night. They had gotten a bit rowdy over the last weeks, more and more, but we made a little change (no going outside to play and getting all wound up beforehand) and the difference was astounding! They really got into the study and shared important things. It made me want to get to know each of them even more. Wow....so glad we're doing this.

Just an ordinary day....

2011-02-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

math
English
dictation
handwriting
reading

That was the older kids.

Emma and I played outside a bit, while Corbin spent some time following the homeowner (we rent) around while he was repairing a tub and a toilet, and trying to figure out the problem with our sprinkler system. All the older ones also had a turn playing with Emma while I was speaking with the homeowner. Karl is working from home today, so he came downstairs and had a late lunch with me once the babies were napping. We have some of the windows open to the cool breeze...it's a beautiful day. The oldest three have SAINTS tomorrow and then we host the boys' study tomorrow evening. I'm in the planning stages of a volunteer project the kids and I will undertake....more on that later.