Hay Days 2009

Four years ago our little town started
"Hay Days"
for the month of October.
Businesses, groups, and individuals
decorate scarecrows
and they are displayed in our downtown.
Thought I would share a couple of
my favorites of this year.

Fire Department.

And my very favorite.

Too sweet.

Eyes

I often wonder what their eyes see.

What are their thoughts?

I know when their eyes meet mine,
I see Him.
I see the blessings He has given me.
I am humbled.

Our Scarecrow

I hate to tell my son,
a scary scarecrow he is not.
But, the word cute comes to mind.
Many blessings.

Second Seasonal Tree Study

My oldest and I decided to do two
seasonal tree studies.
We choose trees from our back yard.

This is our second tree.
Isn't it the cutest Charlie Brown type tree
you ever saw?
We think so.

We took measurements.

For diameter, my oldest just put his fingers around.

We felt the branches and the pines.
We inhaled the scent.
We drew pictures and wrote down
our observations.

We are looking forward to watching
our little pine tree grow.

Finally Doing a Seasonal Tree Study

About a year and a half ago,
we started a seasonal tree study.
We choose an oak.
We took initial diameter measurements,
did bark and leaf rubbings.
I even blogged about it.
We did not follow through with our study.
Oh, well.

Then in July,
we decided to try again.
But, as far as we got is the pictures,
no study.
This is the tree we choose.
It just popped up in our yard.
At first, it looked like a weed,
but soon a lovely tree formed.
We love this little tree.

We decided to formally
start a seasonal tree study again.
We choose our little tree.
Boy has it grown!
We wished we had measurements
from July.

We do now.
We also have bark and leaf rubbings.
My oldest has drawn pictures of our little
fast growing tree.

Our only problem,
we are having trouble identifying our tree.
We are enjoying researching though.
Many blessings.

Enjoying the Beautiful Weather

Outside.
That is what we have been up too.

After our morning routine of
reading and singing, out we go.
We are outside til lunch.
Sometimes lunch on the porch and out again
til nap time.
Had a few cool days,
but now we are back to highs around 80 degrees.
Beautiful.

This time of year there are lots
of wonderful activities to do outside in nature.
We are taking full advantage of them.

Will share some with you soon.
Hope your Autumn is as joyful and inspiring
as ours has been so far.
Many blessings.

Part of Morning Routine

Our little "school" wall in the kitchen.

I thought I might share part of
my oldest morning routine.
After breakfast or while he waits for breakfast,
my son gets down his calendar and updates.
He tallys the day, graphs the weather,
and lists any birthdays or loose teeth.
He then writes a short Bible verse
with the day and month and year.

Simple, but effective.
Many blessings.

Painting

While we have not done much by the way
of artist study, we have done much art.

Providing paint, paper, and an environment
so they are free to express and explore.

No rules to follow, just paint.

Mixing colors, using different size brushes,
knowing making a mess is okay.

Our walls and porches are adorned
with our favorite artists work.
And it is free.

Is It Really October?

Okay October where are you?
The house is decorated with the warm colors of Fall.
Pumpkins, scarecrows, spiders, and ghosts.
All these tell me it is October,
but the weather is August.
The high today was 94 degrees with 100% humidity.
You teased us the last week the of September.
You made me smile.
I even pulled out the jeans.

I know, I know I leave in the South.

This is what we wished we could have done today.

When we went to the park, sweat made us wet.
We dreamed of these fountains.

I turned the sprinklers on instead.
Not only for the children, but our grass is dry
from the heat.

Oh October, please come.
Even 80 degrees would be nice.

Term Two Update

Year one-term 2-week 6
Week 6 is our review/catch-up week.
We really did not have much to catch up on
except some reading for World history
and some notebook entries for our bird book.
Also, maybe a time line picture or two.
So far we are enjoying term 2.
With all the tweaking we did in term one,
it is nice to be settling in.
My favorite part of the day is reading aloud
to the children.
We also enjoy listening to music as we play
in the back yard.
We did not get to focus on our artist study.
I am hoping that in the next six weeks
we are able to.
I am also hoping to do more notebook
entries.
Right now we have a notebook for our
bird book and our Astronomy book.
I would love to have a notebook on
our Sunday readings and literature readings.
I feel my oldest retains more with doing
these notebook entries.
He struggles with verbal narrations, but
with pictures, he thrives.

Looking forward to the next six weeks.
Many blessings

Our Vacation

Two weeks ago we went to South Florida
to visit family.
We enjoyed every minute of it.

While visiting family, we found this.
Look at this baby.
It is bigger than it looks, lots behind,
and lots on the sides.
Who needs a expensive themed park
when you can play here for free?

Yep, they seem to approve the place.

Smiles and giggles abound.

No crowds.
We had the whole place to ourselves.
Of course we went during a weekday.
Another advantage to homeschooling.

Running Update- Training in Progress

5K - check
10K- check
15K- check
1/2 marathon- check

Completed a 1/2 marathon today. Yeah!
Have a few 5K races scheduled in the upcoming months.
But, the big one is in January 2010,
The Disney Marathon.
I have completed this marathon before,
but this year I will be running with my friend.
We are leaving our husbands and kids behind
and are tracking to Disney.
What fun!
What a great way to start out 2010.

The Ever So Slight Change in the Air

Fall is my favorite time of the year.
Being outdoors is priority now.
Even though our days still hit the upper eighties,
the morning air and the breezes tell us the season is changing.

Our school days are settling,

we are finding our rhythm,
we are naturally slowing down.
I am enjoying this homeschooling.

Many blessings.

Reading

Charlotte Mason's Original
Homeschooling Series

Preface- vol pg 9
18. "We should allow no separation to grow up
between the intellectual and the 'spiritual' life of children;
but should teach them that the divine Spirit
has constant access to their spirits,
and is their continual helper in all interests, duties and joys of life."

I am rereading The Original Homeschooling Series
by Charlotte Mason
slowly this time, trying to fully understand
or at least more than I do now.
Each time I read any of her writings,
I learn.
The above quote spoke volumes to me.