File Folders

A little file folder fun with our ABC's.

Fun way to start the day.

Even Big Brother gets into the fun.

Many blessings.

Puzzles

We love big floor puzzles in our house.
Just look at that concentration,
tongue and all.

Last piece.

Smiling, like I am shy.

Basketball

Meet the players and the Ref.

He shoots, he scores.

Jump shot. Score is tied.
Who will win?
It is down to the buzzer...

The brothers win!
Hugs all around.

Many Blessings

Being Home

(art by Thomas Kinkade)

It is Saturday.
The twins had their soccer game at 9am.
Then we went home.
Later, did we go out for lunch?
Did we go to a movie or shopping?
No.
We stayed home.
Home.
While many other families are running around
trying to do this and that.
We are at home playing in the dirt,
doing yard work, drawing with side walk chalk,
reading, napping, and light housework.
Yep,
we are doing this and that too,
but we are doing it at home.
Love being at home.

Many blessings.

August 16,2011

Our first day of home school was August 16,2011.
This is our traditional picture.
This year includes the twins.
The oldest is in 3rd grade and the twins are starting pre-k.

Many blessings.

The Orange Shirt

Looking through my pictures and blog post,
something stands out.
It is my oldest and his orange shirt/shirts.
What can I say,
he loves his orange shirts.

Many blessings.

Creative Juices Flowing- Take Two

Not to be out done by big brother,
the twins got to creating themselves.
All by themselves.

I think they did pretty good.
Soon will be giving big brother a run for his money.
Many blessings.

Creative Juices Flowing

My oldest was not seen for hours
late one afternoon in July.
He was in his room creating.
This is his one of many masterpieces.
We love Trio.

My Three Sons

Love my boys.

Battle lines have been drawn.

Men are armed and ready.

No time to run.

The battle has begun.

All fought bravely.

"Mom, can we have a snack?
This battle stuff makes us soldiers hungry?"

Battle halts for popsicles.

Many blessings.

Is it Really September?

Boy! Where has the time gone?
Been away from blog land for two months.
Needed the break.
Sometimes being on the computer can be brain numbing.
I do love blogging though.
It is a nice way for family to keep up with us.
It is a nice way to look back upon little snapshots
of our family life.
I have so much I want to blog about,
so many things to talk about.
And I will,
as soon as I get all our pictures downloaded!
Many blessings.

Why Memorize Scripture?

Simple, but powerful message of why to memorize scripture.
Very inspiring.

Researching and Planning

Planning and Researching for the 2011-2012 year.

My oldest will be in 3rd grade.
The twins are 4 years old, so they are...
well,...
they are 4 years old and everything that comes
with that, smiles.

This is our first year planning
without really knowing what we want.
We just knew that changes needed to be made.

So...
Off to a home school conference we go.
We went with an open mind and a blank canvas.
We had researched lots and now was the time to
question and put our hands on curriculum, lots of curriculum.
Just can not do that over the Internet,smiles.
An expo can be overwhelming, but for
some reason, this year was not.
We took the first day to soak it all in
and look, just look.
No buying.
This can be hard because there is soooo much
out there, soooo much that looks good.
But, we resisted.
If there is one thing we have learned in the 3 years
we have home schooled,
less is more, less is more.
On day two, we made choices that we feel
will fit our family.

This is what we decided on:

Language arts: Rod and Staff- Building English Series
Spelling: All About Spelling level 2
Math: Math-U-See
American history: Truth Quest- Exploration-1800
Science: Real Science 4 Kids- Chemistry and Physics I

We are excited.
Of course, there is Bible, nature studies, hymns,
composer/artist studies, geography, and
reading of books, lots of books.
We love our read aloud
and reading time.

We do not do all of these daily.
Oh no, have learned that lesson the hard way.
And we will not be trying to fit all
of these in our schedule at the beginning of our school year.
Another lesson learned.
Instead, we will ease into our year,
adding things as we go.
With 3 years under our belt,
we have learned to take a slow pace.
There is no rush, this is not a race.
We are not trying to keep up with the Jones.

Bible, reading of books, language arts, spelling, and math
will be our focus at first.
Four days a week.
One day each week will be saved for
field trips, art, nature studies, science experiments,
or anything we fancy.

For the 4 year old twins, we are going to use
Little Hands to Heaven as a guide
with other resources added.
It will be a very relaxed approach.
The twins see big brother doing things
and they want to join in.
This is an answer to that.
It will be fun too.

How will our daily rhythm look when
our home school starts back up?
Not sure.
We are still enjoying the our summer rhythm.
Soaking it all in.

Blogging Break and Random Thoughts

Taking a little blogging break to renew and refresh.
This time of year can be draining.
Everything is winding down,
the Spring term and year, soccer, co-op,
etc., etc., etc....

Had a lovely Easter with family and friends.
Easter came this year so quickly for me,
that I was not able to do a study with the children
as I had wanted.
Next year hopefully I will.

A little drama happened with my oldest soccer team
resulting in the coach quitting
with just 2 games left.
Some things I will never understand.
This was sudden and caught many of us
off guard.
The drama involved just a few parents
and the coach.
Again some things I will never understand.
Thankfully, the assistant coach stepped right in
and took the lead.
Looks like the kids will end on a positive note
after all.
On the other hand, the twins soccer season
has been a delight.
They have really come a long way.

The garden is coming along. The tomato plants
are full of green tomatoes,
have been harvesting beans for over a week now,
herbs everywhere, just a few cucumbers,
and the corn stalks have several corn forming.
Carrots and onions not so good.
Learning what does best in our environment.
Learning as we go.
Enjoying our little garden.
Have plans to expand once again next year.

Beginning in late Spring, I start
to look back at our home school year.
What worked and what did not.
What needs tweaking.
And it it is time to start looking at plans for
the next home school year.
My oldest will be a third grader,
so more formal schooling is in order.
What I mean by formal is not seat in your desk formal,
but a more widened exposure to academics,
home school style.
There will be more concentration on
language arts, spelling, and writing.
History will not be just read aloud by me,
we will both share in the reading.
And in science, there will be a little
chemistry and physics, oh my.
Still will be lots of nature study
and outdoor time, and living math in the mix.
With 2 years of home schooling under our belt,
we are slowly learning what works best for us.
I am sure there will be tweaking along the
way, but that is the joy of home schooling.
If it does not work, drop it.
It is that simple.
Took me half our first year to learn that.
Many blessings.

Watching My Boys

Love watching the boys.

Watching them with new experiences.

Or with old ones, but with renewed confidence.

No need to buy fancy toys
when nature is so abundant and free.

Love watching the boys enjoy each other
in God's creation.

Many blessings.

Dry Homemade Laundry Detergent

Laundry detergent making day.

What recipe do you use?
Liquid or dry?
We use dry.
Playing with combinations, but currently I like:

2 cups of Fels-Naptha finely graded
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup washing soda
1 cup Borax

I use between 1/4 to 1/2 cup per load.
We have hard water so might be adjusting my recipe soon.
Try to put a splash of vinegar in the rinse cycle
when I remember.
Also, love to add essential oils too.
Love the smell of lavender and tea tree oil.

I really do enjoy making my own laundry detergent.

Really I do, promise.

Soccer Love

Many Blessings

Cub Scout Camping

My hubby and oldest son

went on their first camping trip
with the Cub Scouts.
Oh my with all the prep.
We had to buy a tent,
sleeping bag, and of course lots of snacks.
Ready.
Off they went on a fun filled, packed weekend.

Archery.

Crafts.

Rock wall climbing.

Sling shots with dog food.

BB gun shooting.

Lots of hiking.
Oh, there was canoeing, camp fires, story telling,
rope tying, Frisbee throwing,
and eating.
Did I mention hiking, lots of hiking?
My hubby's words, smiles.
We heart Cub Scouts.

Too Cute

Too cute not to share.
Many blessings.

Grammar Land

Here is a fun grammar resource we have been reading,
Grammar-Land by M.L. Nesbitt.
The book is about
Judge Grammar and his nine parts of speech.
There is a rich Mr. Noun, a busy Dr. Verb, a ragged Article, etc.
A very whimsical book written in 1878.
Written to help children understand the nine parts of speech
without being too bored.
We are reading a chapter and doing the exercise
suggestions at the end of each chapter.
My son is enjoying the stories.
And yes, the stories have made learning
about the nine parts of speech fun.
No yawning noted.

You can download it free here and here.
Can purchase it here.

Downloaded our copy from homeschool freebie.
Wonderful site, by the way.

Another site to get free book downloads is
Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project.
(bringing yesterday's classics to today's children).
They did not have Grammarland, yet.

A Website

We love Thornton W. Burgess books.

These are great nature read aloud books.
Was told about this website recently
and had to share.
A great place to purchase Burgess
paperback books for around $2.50.
So wished we lived close to this society because
we would definitely visit and take advantage
of the programs they offer.

Many blessings

A Nature Reader

Here is a reader we are enjoying.
Happy reading.

Brotherly Love

They fight, they wrestle, they pester,
but mostly
they love each other.

Caught these pictures of two of my boys
playing, smiling,
and getting wet.

Many blessings.

Another Nature Adventure

While on a visit to South Florida,
my husband found this lovely place to visit.

Most of the coast in Florida is flat and sandy.
This was a treat for us.

It is called Blowing rock because at high tide
when the waves hit the rock
it is like the rocks are blowing the waves up.

When we arrived it was low tide,
so no blowing waves.
But, we had a blast.

Nature Adventure Continues

Here the boys are looking over the rocks.

Running.

Staying put.

And getting wet, very wet.
Wonder what high tide would have brought, smiles.