Touching Base....

I have been so busy, that I barely have time to blog. We are progressing well. Over the years my homeschool style has changed and I am less focused on just completing lessons and have learned to just enjoy this season. the kids are enjoying State History this year as we are doing HUGE lapbooks using the sample from Knowledge Box Central. We are also learning to play the trumpet in music class using YouTube videos.

We've had some great road trips that have including driving to KY to visit my brother and look for property. We also went to a marathon that spanned the US and Canada. We had a chance to stay in the Renaissance Center in Detroit, MI and the kids loved the view from the high towers.

On the home front, we have been raking leaves... and raking leaves... and raking leaves! So far we have done over 50 bags. This is a 1st for us as we are usually in Nassau for the month of November and hire someone to do it for us. This year the kids and I did not travel and so we are enjoying the outdoors, kind of.

Finally, we are doing a read-aloud together called, Frindle, by Andrew Clements. It's pretty funny.

A Great Start

Elementary and Middle school started August 26th and High School Started September 2nd. We have had a good start so far. Yesterday the weather was fantastic and we had school outside. Today was rainy and we had school in our pajamas. I love homeschooling! :)

Joshua loves Kindergarten! Because he is already doing some reading, it makes it so much easier to teach him. He can almost read most of the instructions on his page so I have to do very little at this point. We are still in the review stage so he is flying through the curriculum. I have always enjoyed teaching kindergarten the best.

Elementary is doing well. Jackson and Jeanna are showing more comfort in reading and finding information. Jeanna's comprehension has improved a great deal. I can tell she is understanding what she reads, but she is still struggling on being able to write what she knows.

James has gained a since of maturity that is showing in his work.

Jordan started one of those online public schools, but we are having to change to something else due to life changing.

Peace to all!

In The Rain

We just kinda hung out today, relaxed, had church at home ( I woke up with such a crick in my neck, I could barely get into and out of the shower). In the afternoon we were sitting outside by the fire and I decided that I would let the kids tent out tonight. As soon as we laid out the tarp and spread out the tent a major downpour came out of nowhere. I mean it was just buckets. So we scrambled to roll the tent back up and just as the kids were gonna run into the house, I told them to strip off their soaking wet clothes and let them play in the rain in their undies. And they giggled and laughed with their heads back as they swung in the rain. It was so cute and I  just smiled at their glee.

Trying to start back up...

We had our orientation today. It is always fun to get new school supplies, new schedules and take pictures.

This year something new for us is that Jordan will be attending an online public school. She was unhappy with the curriculum we had been using and we searched and researched and prayed and sighed LOL until we decided to try this. She got her desktop in the mail and we set it up only to find out that it is not wireless. Of course, our modem is at the complete opposite end of the house and on the upstairs floor. So we are going out to buy a wireless adapter tomorrow. Oh yeah and believe it or not, they mailed her books and supplies, but we have misplaced them in my effort to put them up so that they would not get damaged before school. Seriously, we cannot find them anywhere. bigger sigh.

James is excited to have a new computer as his little sister stepped on his Mini that he left on the floor?!?!?

Jackson and Jeanna are both excited to be back in the school room. We have not been in the schoolroom since December, 2013 when Monica got sick.

Joshua is in Kindergarten this year and his smile is so big I'm afraid his face will break. His new books and supplies came and he is simply giddy.

I found a new homeschool group on Facebook that has been so supportive, I actually comment and interact.

We were planning to start August 25th, but now we may have to wait a week due to still taking care of my dad's estate.

Peace!

***UPDATE***

15 minutes after hitting publish we found the school stuff in of all places, the school closet on the top shelf... in a safe place!

Still At It....

We are still here. We are very behind in school with two major deaths in the family, it was so hard to keep everyone motivated to do school work. The kids just needed days to swing and play outside and so did I. We are still having days of crying and needing to just be. The hospice grief counselor is a wonderful lady that has been so supportive and full of information. Our church family has really been a great shoulder to cry on and believe me... there has been a lot of that. There have been some great times of fun memories too.

So we still need to finish up this year's school, but we will take all the time that we need.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Poppy

On April 9th at 5:55 pm, my dad died. He was diagnosed with cancer on March 21st. On March 31st I brought him to my home to seek treatment as I live near a reputable cancer center. On April 1st, we were told that he would not survive chemo, so once again I brought someone I love home and my children again cared for someone that they loved who was ill. They cared for him the best that they could. 1 week later he became too ill for us to care for and entered a Hospice facility where he died 24 hours later.

My sweet, poor children. how much more.....

Spell the Word, Races!

It has been a crazy, busy week. Our home school group had it's annual Spelling bee on Friday and the kids were also involved with a local church's pine derby racing event. Both events were fun, but took weeks of planning, practicing, building and preparation. 

This year for the spelling bee, Jeanna finished 2nd place in her group. She messed up on the word "sleep" as she started spelling, lost her train of thought and restarted it without asking to restart it. Once the speller says the word, spells the word and then says it again, it is considered final. She was pleased with her effort and we of course are proud of her as this is the child that had so many delays, but look at her now. 

Jackson once again finished 1st place in his group and has quite the following among the other parents and spellers. He was all business like up there and was extremely pleased when he was the last one standing. 

James was 1st out in his group this year, but he is a trooper and never looses his smile. 

The pine derby races were a huge hit! The kids enjoyed designing, painting and building their cars. There were families from 3 churches involved and the camaraderie was fantastic. The neatest thing to see was how wonderful the 4 pastors were together... they were like old friends and really demonstrated a wonderful friendship and brotherhood that I think really set the tone for a beautiful event. There were 4 categories of races; K-2nd grade, 3-5th grade, 6-12th grade and then adults (with preschoolers)
Jordan won 1st place in design, Jeanna won 2nd place in speed, Jackson won 3rd place in speed and James won 3rd place in design and 1st place in speed. 

Oh... and I have to mention that Jordan is taking driver's ed at one of the local high schools. Interesting! She cracks me up talking about how the kids behave in school. She is so shocked! She has almost finished her classroom hours and starts her driving hours next week. My baby will be 16 yrs old in April.  How in the world..... 

Monica

It has been a while since I have blogged. If you remember back in 2012 I told of my dear friend that had been diagnosed with cancer. For a while I had a donation widget on the sidebar as the medical bills grew...

Well, my dear friend passed from this life into the arms of Jesus on February 13, 2014. She was 39 yrs old. She left behind a husband of 20 years and 4 children.

When the cancer came back in January, she asked if we could come to be with her. So we moved into her basement. She did not want Hospice, she wanted family to care for her. It was sad, and beautiful and painful and rewarding. She taught me so much about living in those days before dying.

My kids are really good kids. They packed in a moments notice, traveled and left their home life for almost a month. They slept on air mattresses and pallets on the floor. They left their toys, games and favorite blankets.

They never complained!

James took on shoveling their drive and walkway, Jackson took on taking out the trash and sweeping. Jordan took on caring for the babies and became the preschool teacher for 3 little ones. Her children showed me where everything was and hung in their with me teaching their curriculum that I was not familiar with, changing the way they normally do school, gave up their playroom and shared their toys. All the kids accepted a new menu as cooking for 9 children in someone else's kitchen is a challenge.

And finally, all the children surrounded my dear friend with love, kisses, songs and prayers. Everyday that she could, she would have the kids come into her room and cuddle, talk and spend precious time with each one. She and her husband did a beautiful job of explaining what would happen and her children were wonderful ambassadors of grace and peace at one of the largest funerals that I have ever attended.

She had asked Joshua to sing at her funeral and that little boy went to the front of the church, got up on the stage in front of 400+ people and sang!

Beautiful, beautiful, Jesus is beautiful
and Jesus makes beautiful things of my life
Carefully, touching me, causing my eyes to see
and Jesus makes beautiful
Things of my life.

I know she was smiling.

So, I wanted to document this.

My heart aches with missing her. She was my very dearest friend, my sister, my cheerleader. I am proud to have known her.

Bodies of Water

In science today I asked Jackson to name bodies of water. He answered, "Oceans, lakes, rivers....toilets, pools." Boys!

Happy Belated New Year!