Every Day Stuff and a Test

Laundry.

Orthodonist appointment for Emma.

Cleaning.

Spending all Saturday morning driving around pricing new dryers because mine bit the dust.

Buying a new dryer and having it delivered.

Grocery shopping.

Oil change and tire rotation. 

Speech Therapy for Cody.

Testing for Emma.

Such are the things that have made up my days since returning from the beach.  It's just life!

On a different note....Emma did aMAZing with her testing.  She was actually looking forward to it!  By the way, if any of my homeschool mom friends want a recommendation for a test administrator, I know a great one!

Emma's reading was on a 7th grade level (she is in 2nd grade).

To quote the summary: "Emma's fluency with academic tasks is within the superior range of others at her age level.  Her academic skills are high average.  Her level of academic knowledge is average. 
When compared to others at her age level, Emma's performance is superior in broad reading; high average in mathematics; and average in math calculation skills." 

That is shameless downright bragging right there on my part but. I.Don't.Care. 

Raleigh and Marbles

It's another beautiful Saturday and I am sitting here with my windows open.  Cory and the two oldest kids headed up to the land around noon to meet the guy who will be bush-hogging some of the property where the house will be sitting.  Yesterday afternoon Cory pulled permits so that building can begin soon.  So now we have an address out there!  That is just so exciting to me.  :)

I was in Raleigh the last part of this week visiting family and decided to take the kids on a field trip to the Marbles Museum while we were there.  My mom went with us and my brother and wife and little girl met us there too.  So, as you might have guessed, I have a lot of pictures of our time there. :)  And of course I'll share a few. 

The first night that I was in Raleigh we went to dinner at the Cleveland Draft House.  This is my mom and Emma at the restaurant.  That was the best Cobb salad I've had in a long time. 

On our way back home we were admiring the beautiful sky that God designed.  When I stopped for gas I had to snap a few pictures. 

The next day we went to Marbles in downtown Raleigh.  This is my mom and Emma attempting to hula hoop.  :)

Marbles is a "play" museum.  The kids can pretend and imagine they are ANYthing.  Here is Beau driving a bus. :)

Emma as a doctor.

Cody as the patient.

Why didn't they have cool places like this when I was a kid?!

Vet Cody.

Putting the animals back in their cage.

This dog looks very sick!

Sweet cousin Gabbi.

Gabbi

These poor people must be waiting for their animals to be seen.  The guy with the lamb looks a little shady.

There were fun trains!

And a pirate ship!

Ahoy!

Aunt Nina with Beau.

Great photo ops too.

And I guess some things never change.

See? 

Woodworking.  She loved it!  Go figure. 

Sharp tools require supervision.

You can build with life size lego bricks!  Cody really loved this part.

Can we fix it?!

Yes we can!!

Here they are at the end of their visit. 

Phew!  We had fun and it's always nice to get away from the routine. 

I'm always looking for fun and inexpensive field trips.  Any suggestions? :)

A place for everything





Can we say eyesore?  Um, yes.  Yes we can.

This has been a bother.  A big fat eyesore right in the corner of our living room.  I've been thinking about what to do with this stuff for a few weeks now.  Ok, ever since school started actually.  I finally had time to shop today.  So this afternoon I set out to see what I could do about this ugly mess.  One trip to Marshall's (I love Marshall's!), and one trip to Target, plus an hour rearranging and organizing.  I feel much better now. 

Much, much better.  And yes those are glorified stickers on my wall.  I think they add a little something special. ;) 

Life's a Zoo

Six hours at the NC Zoo in Asheboro + Five miles of walking trails + A beautiful day = One happy little field trip. :) 





This was Beau's first trip to the Zoo. 





Reading about the elephants.  One was born the same year that Cory was!



Makes me smile. :)





Love her.




Bees coming in from outside.



FULL of bees!  Cody especially was fascinated. 

The grizzly was a favorite.

Watching the seals do tricks for fish.

Tuckered

Cherishing these days

October is one of my favorite months of the year.  I love the beginning of chilly mornings and crisp nights.  I like the Summer but once it gets to be the beginning of September I'm ready to throw out the Autumn decorations and usher in the cooler weather.  So I thought that the month of October would be a great month for fun field trips and just plain old park days!  This has been a great week so far for the park.  We have spent a good bit of time outside playing and just taking in the fresh air, which by the way, I think is extremely good for us.  I have at least two field trips planned for the kids which include a trip to the zoo and a really fun museum. 

I don't know about ya'll but so far I've enjoyed teaching my kids this year.  It's tiring and not always peaceful at times but I'm learning to cherish these times.  I like having them around.  Over the weekend I was catching up on some reading in this magazine I get called The Old Schoolhouse.  I love that magazine.  It's chock full of really really good stuff!  I highly recommend it.  ANYways, I was reading through an article about the Charlotte Mason theory written by Catherine Levison and she said something that explains how I feel. 

She said "Among the most crucial (of realizations) was the awareness that neither the children themselves nor the fact that I homeschooled them was accidental.  Both were from God Himself.  With an ordination like that, I felt empowered.  I did not just fall into homeschooling one day-I was called to homeschool."

That is how I feel.  :)

So happy homeschooling, moms. 

Just what the doctor ordered

I'm sitting here in my living room and it's completely quiet. 

It's peaceful. 

Peaceful would describe this entire weekend actually.  Beau is upstairs taking his afternoon nap.  Cory left to meet his parents to pick up Emma and Cody who have been gone since Friday evening.  So I'm taking some time to blog about this weekend. 

This weekend has been good for my soul.  It's been pretty darn close to perfect actually.  I think when a mom is with her kids every day all day long and has a husband who travels during the week then she can get worn out and spread thin.  Add some runny noses and a baby who is teething and has a fever and she can get close to burned out. 

Saturday was perfect.  I had my windows open all day.  The weather was crisp and downright chilly.  I did a 5 mile trail run while Cory and Beau watched a kid's soccer game at the park.  I got the house clean and laundry done!  While Beau napped I caught up on some reading and Cory worked outside on the patio.  None of that sounds particularly exciting I'm sure.  That's the point.  It was just what I needed.  I needed that run.  I needed to get the housework done.  I needed that peace and quiet.  Moms (and Dads) need that sometimes.  I am so thankful for it. 

In regards to my last post, I have ideas floating around in my head about where I want to take this.  I'm going to keep my focus on homeschooling, parenting, domestic stuff, marriage, etc.  If that bores you, I'm sorry.  It excites me!  It's what I love and it's what I was made for.  Not that I know it all but I'm learning alot along the way and I like to share what I learn and I hope it's an encouragement to others just as other blogs have been encouraging to me.  :)

A widow's mite, laundry, diapers and dishes. Not necessarily in that order.

"Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
Galatians 6:9 ESV

I just decided that this will be my life verse for now.  :)  I know there are alot of good ones out there but this one keeps coming to my mind.  It reminds me of mothering.  Parenting.  Teaching.  Praying. 

You moms out there know that there is NEVER an end to the tasks.  There is ALWAYS something that needs to be done.  Always! 

This week I have:

• Read to my kids
• Washed, dried, folded and put away laundry
• Changed many diapers
• Told my kids I loved them
• Lost my temper once...or twice
• Read to my kids some more
• Washed sink loads of dishes
• Ran my butt off
• Washed, dried, folded and put away more laundry
• Snuggled with Beau and his bottle of milk after naptime
• Made yet another trip to the library
• Did school
• Read some more
• Colored my own hair (really didn't want to do that but the gray hairs made me)
• Made dinners
• Washed dishes (neVERending!)
• Ironed Cory's pants
• Went to the playground

I'm not complaining though.  I'm really thankful that I have a family that dirties up the dishes and continuously adds to the laundry pile.  But that's not really what tires me out the most.   It's not the laundry and the dishes.  It's the teaching and the disciplining!  So I need that verse to encourage me not to give up!  I'm just glad that when I DO fail, and when I DO get tired or overwhelmed that I can remember that it's God who is in control anyways.  It's only God who can change their hearts and it's God who directs our (mine and theirs) paths.  All I can do is teach and pray.  The rest is in His hands.

This is supposed to be a "widow's mite".  It was given to me with Emma's curriculum last year through Sonlight.  It helps to remind me of my purpose as a mom.  You can read about how I got it here http://www.sonlight.com/LP07.html

Keep on keepin' on.

Homeschooling (how creative is that title?)

Phew!  It's been a busy week.  You know I've been busy if I haven't blogged in 5 days. :) 

We have taken a more laid back approach to our schooling this year.  Actually, I've just decided that this week.  Yeah, I tend to be kind of last minute like that sometimes.   I guess adding "school" time with Cody has made me realize this.  Not that I have to do a lot with him at just 4 years of age but I can tell that he is much more ready for "learning" than he was last year.  

My plan for him this year is to read a lot of books.  Simple, I know, but so so beneficial.  I picked up the story of Peter Pan this week just because I happened to notice it on their bookshelf.  It's actually Emma's book but I thought that he might just be interested with it being about Pirates and a boy who is adventurous and flys through the air and everything.  It's bigger than any book I've read to him before so I wasn't sure if it would keep his attention.  I was pleasantly surprised however when not only did he like it, but he kept wanting to read more and more!  So now I need some new ideas of what to read to him when we're done with that one! 

Something else surprised me this week about Cody.  On Tuesday during my CC review with them both  I was completely taken by surprise by what he DID actually remember!  I got so excited with him and for him! 

Besides working on letters, numbers, shapes, etc., that's really all I have planned for him this year.  Pretty laid back I think.  I've learned that little boys need lots of playtime and I'm still studying Cody to see where his strengths and weaknesses lie. 

As part of Cody's "preschool" I decided to pull out our box of blocks.  Pretty simple right?  Well, I was amazed at how focused he became at building.  At first I thought it would be good for all of us to sit down together and build and that went pretty well, but even after I was done playing and Emma and Beau had moved on to other things Cody was still there building "house" after "house". 

Another thing I discovered about Cody?  The boy needs more positive encouragement and praise.  He's a rambunctious little stinker sometimes who gets more than his share of scoldings and discipline but I noticed that the more I praised him for his "buildings" and his memory work, and just anything that I saw him do well this week that he just soaked it up.  It was GOOD for him.  I loved seeing that. 

Wednesday was a middle of the week break from school work with a trip to the pool to swim.  The rest of the week was spent reading, doing a little math with Emma, and working on presentations for CC and reviews.  That's it.  And lots of play.  And reading.  I love reading to them.  It's by far my favorite part of homeschooling. 

Well, I had intended to write about Emma and Beau too but I think I'll save that for another time or else this post is going to get too long. :)

Oh and one more thing I was surprised by this week?  Just how much I enjoyed my children.  I'm not kidding.  I truly enjoyed spending the quality time with them.  I know there will be hard days.  I can't really escape those days but I really want this to be a great year and so far I think we are off to a great start. 

My advice to ME this year

1. Don't overdo it.
2. Be patient on those uncooperative days.
3. Give lots of praise and encouragement.
4. Be flexible.
5. Have fun with it!  Learning should be fun.
6. Read
7. Read
8. Read some more. 
9. Play ouside alot.
10. And read a little more. 

First day of School

Today was our first day with CC Concord http://www.classicalconversations.com/ .  I was up before the sun at 6 a.m. this morning so that I could get the quiet time and coffee thing done and get myself ready before the kids got up.  Everything went well until it was about 20 min. before my estimated time of departure.  Beau took his bottle but wouldn't eat his breakfast.  I wanted every one out the door for a few pictures before we left and yes, I was slightly tense.  Cory can attest.  :/  You can't tell from the pictures though.  Hehheh.  SMILE! 

The first day jitters got to me I must admit.  Mainly I just didn't want to be late or forget anything!  We did make it with a few minutes to spare though.  Phew! 

It was a pretty good morning overall.  I stayed with Cody's class all morning but I'm hoping to spend time with Emma's class next week. 

Class is every Monday.  Tuesday-Friday I will be teaching them at home. 

So I asked Emma and Cody a couple of questions about their time at school this morning.

Me- "What was your favorite part from today? "
Emma- "Art and Science."
Cody- "Playing with Jack."

Me- "Did you make any new friends?"
Emma- "I made 7 new friends!"
Cody- "No." 

=)

So the rest of the week we'll be taking it easy as far as school goes.  It's still Summertime in my book!  We'll work on memory work for class but as for the rest of the stuff that I will be adding (math, reading, grammar).....I think we'll wait until next week or maybe even the week after that.  The pool is still open so it's still Summer!  When February rolls around and it's colder than cold and the skies are gray then I'll be glad that we took as much advantage of the warm sunny days as possible.