First weeks of School

We mostly school year round...taking time off when we need it or feel like it.  I officially have a 2nd grader and a kindergartner!  ACK!  Where has the time gone?

This is our fourth year of CC, back in the cycle we started on.  I have started a new CC Community up here, which has been an interesting and mostly really great experience.  Maybe I'll blog about it sometime.

This year, we are working through Cycle 2 of Classical Conversations.  We are studying the middle ages right now.  We use Saxon Math 3 and Spell to Write and Read, as well as Answers in Genesis Science books when applicable.  We use the library a lot.

Nicole organized her spelling words into categories.

Hannah is giving a "presentation".

 Although Nicole is not old enough to be in Essentials, I have been trained as a tutor and am currently a director of Foundations & Essentials.  So, I have recently been exposed to Institutes for Excellence in Writing curriculum.  I love it, and can't wait to dig deeper in a couple of years.  However I decided to try a key word outline with Nicole.  I wrote a "Bob" book up on the board.  She told me what 2 key words were for each sentence.  I underlined them.

Since this was her first time, I wrote the keywords down in outline format.  

 Then, I erased the original story and had her dictate back to me the story using just her keywords.  Amazingly, with no prompting from me....her story came out better than original.  She naturally added adjectives and adverbs.   I was so excited!

 I have caught Nicole reading on her own a lot more...which is a big deal.  I'm wondering if I should get her eyes checked...or if she just thought it was fun to read with a magnifying glass.

Reading about Crocodiles.

 These are two of the books in the PreScripts series that CC just put out.  Hannah's is the top one.  she practices a cursive letter, and then either draws or colors each day.

 Nicole's is the next level.  She practices a letter, copies a Bible verse, and then does a little drawing.  They really love using these books!

Our first week was about Charlemagne.  I'm pretty sure I never learned about him, or this time period. Fascinating!!!

Caught her reading again!  This time about Gila Monsters!

Hannah is learning to read a well...slowly...but she'll get there!

 The first week, we also learned about the 7 biomes.  This was a project the kids did.  They each drew a map of the world (Hannah "blobbed" hers) and then filled it in with representatives of the biomes.

Hannah's blobbed map of the world

Nicole spent more time and tried to add more detail to her hand drawn map of the world.

Hmm...it turned.  See Antarctica on the left, that should be on the bottom, so turn that in your head...it didn't work when I tried.  You can see that Nicole has the basic idea of the shapes of the contentions (I double dog dare YOU to try to draw the world;)

Then, they filled it in.

 

grasslands= grass

deserts= sand

scrub lands= sticks

tundra = saran wrap with baby powder and glitter

deciduous forests= maple leaves

coniferous forest= pine needles

tropical rain forests= big green leaves and bright flowers.

 Hannah and Nathan's finished map.

Nicole's finished map

8 parts of speech flower:)

 We also went to the Florida Aquarium with some friends.  My creature adventurer enjoyed learning about some sea animals and taking their pictures.

touch tank

ahhhhh!!!!!

Whoa!  Check that out!

We had a great start to our new school year....more to come :)

Random photos from August

So....in lieu of trying to write a separate post for all of these, I just need to catch up.  Here is a random sampling of August!

This is Nathan's favorite exhibit at the children's museum.  You put the little stethoscope on different body parts and hear what it sounds like (lungs, hearts, etc).  He found the X near the tush....yep...it makes a "toot" sound.  He just stands there hitting that spot, over and over and laughs hysterically.  100% boy!

Our friends came up to visit for a night:)  We loved having the boys and spending the evening with Josh and Teri!

Hunter and Nicole :)

Levi, Hunter, Nicole, Nathaniel, Hannah, Nathan

Nathan has just started catching his own lizards.  This was his first, and he was quite excited.

Proud sister

We spent a Saturday with Granny, Uncle Don, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Gary.

Uncle Don and Hannah enjoyed swinging together.

Nicole is helping Aunt Lisa with something...but I don't know what.

We met my mom, dad, grandpa, and Uncle Wayne and Aunt Cheryl at this yummy Amish restaurant the other day.  We all ordered the buffet.  It was Hannah's first (and not last) buffet.  She kept asking "I can go up as many times as I want and eat anything I want!" haahaha.  I lost track around her 6th trip.  Every time, she walked back to the table with her plate full (usually of Jell-o) Giggling....like, uncontrollable giggle.  I wish I could have bottled it up!

 She is still talking about the place with the frozen plates and jello:)

The girls got their teeth cleaned earlier this month.  Nicole has some big orthodontic issues to get worked out.  We are now accepting donations for orthodontic treatments for the next 10 years ;)

Their after cleaning treat...no cavities (yet, haha).  I LOVE Nicole's face here...so funny!


I love my children.  I love to be with them.  I love to teach them.  I love to watch them.  I just love them!
Nicole, reading to her brother before his nap.

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Nate was being a great helper.  That one spot on my mirror was perfectly clean!

Nicole is a little explorer...always enjoying God's creation.

Being Silly with Nate.  

Now he is frowning, hahaha

Yaya and Papa stopped for a night on their way home from Ohio.  The kids always enjoy seeing them.

Wedding Weekend

We may have just finished being a part of our last wedding, until our own children get married.  Last month, Jeremy's long time buddy, John Michael finally got married:)  We traveled to North Carolina for the ceremony.  I would say the drive was beautiful, but it wasn't ;)  We left super early, spent three hours at a customer's house while Jeremy worked on a problem with their system (the kids and I watched a few movies in their home theater, that probably costs more than our house....nice, but stressful!), then we had to speed our way to Atlanta (and got a ticket because of that speeding), dropped Jeremy off with the guys for a bachelor party at the Atlanta Braves game, and I drove the final three hours with the kids.

Now, I have done quite a bit of traveling with the kids (multi-state road trip last fall), but this was the worst it's ever been.  I not only had to drive through Atlanta at rush hour, but I also had to use the outer belts and go through various towns.  It was the most stressful drive I've had so far.  I finally got on the country roads, and had a hard time enjoying them; I was so stressed out! ha!!

But, we finally made it to NC and stayed at Brendle Cabin...a super sweet place that was just perfect for our family.  

We got there just as the sun was going down.  I wish I could have captured the squealing and screaming that took place as my children saw lightening bugs for the first time.  (Nate screamed in fear, hahaha).  They were so excited!  (Nate too, once he realized what they were).  

But, the screaming didn't end there.  Nope....the next surprise came over.  It as Grammy & Gramps!  Woohooo!!!!  The kids had no idea they would see them.  

The next day, we had a fun picnic at a local park.  The kids played on the play ground and fished with Gramps (which then turned into "worm play".)

The rehearsal dinner location had a kid's play area right next door.  I hung out with the kids there after dinner.  But, daddy finally got some game time in ;)

The kids love John Michael....and look forward to his "squeeze bear" hugs.

The wedding was beautiful, and we are happy for JM and his sweet wife Amanda.  

They had a fun photo booth during the reception.  Hannah enjoyed dressing up.

And then....things got out of control.  Gramps and the kids, playing in the aftermath of the car "decoration" left by the groomsmen.

The cabin was great, and even had some cute goats for the kids to torture, eh, I mean play with ;)

What started off as a stressful trip, turned into a fun weekend :)

Paddleboards

The girls went on a fun play date last month over at their friend Ella's house.  They had a blast swimming together, catching minnows, and even heading out on the paddleboard to get closer to their creatures:)

Hannah looks like a natural!

Becoming "That Girl" through Golf

While at the Teach Them Diligently homeschool convention this past May, I was introduced to Heidi St. John a wonderful homeschooling mother of 7 (SEVEN!).  She is rather well known in homeschool circles for her funny and inspiring presentations and her oh so helpful books.

I went to a session called "The Busy Mom's Guide to Romance", which was based off the book of the same name.  She talked a lot about the vortex that mom's get into.  This whirlwind of pride, comparison, busyness, desperation and even depression.  She reminded us that our children, wonderful as they may be, will be leaving home one day and we will be left with our husbands.  If we want our marriages to survive, to be full of life and excitement, we need to continue to work on that relationship first and foremost. Our spouse is who we will have with us all our life, our children are only with us for a few years.  I love and agree with that thinking.

Although we've had some difficult circumstances come up over the years, I've always felt like Jeremy and I had a pretty great relationship and a wonderful marriage.  But, I also see that it is something we are constantly working on.  As we quickly approach the 10 year mark, we can see signs of the vortex trying hard to suck us in and distract us from what is most important in our lives.  Long hours at work, busyness at home, homeschooling, homeschooling, homeschooling, chores, commitments, and the list could go on and on.

Well, Heidi St. John challenged those of us at her session to remember "That Girl".  You know, "That Girl" your husband first met.  "That Girl" who was exciting, adventurous and ready to tackle life.  "That Girl" who enjoyed time with him and would do anything she could do to be around him.  Well, "That Girl" gets lost after several years of marriage, pregnancy and childbirth, raising children, working, homeschooling, taking care of the home, cooking endless meals and cleaning up even more endless messes.

I started to think about "That Girl" my husband first met.  She was fun, energetic, at times fearless (remember that crazy flight we took with just a lawn mower engine and a parachute, or skydiving, or riding the bull while white water rafting), bubbly, slightly airheaded, compassionate, adventurous.  "That Girl" was pretty fun to be around;)

Then, I started to think about who "That Girl" became.  Serious, timid, afraid of failure, afraid of getting hurt, afraid of others getting hurt, focused on all that is undone (laundry, cleaning, mopping, chores, chores, chores).  "That Girl" became resentful of much of life and to be honest quite fearful of living it.

So, it has been a quiet ambition of mine to find "That Girl" again.  I want out of the vortex!  One way out is to capture time together that may have slowly been given away to other things (laundry for instance ;).  So, I started looking for ways to gain time with my main man;)

Jeremy has always liked to play golf.  I have pretty much always hated when he would go to play.  It was expensive (especially in Naples!).  It took 4-5 hours away from the family, usually on a weekend when I wanted him around (in part to tackle my 'honey do' lists...even if they were unspoken).  The equipment is expensive and well, it took him away from me.  So, I would say, since we've been married, he's played 2 to 3 rounds of golf a year.

Now we live in an area where is it much more affordable to golf or go to the driving range.  So, he's played a lot more recently.  But, those little feelings of resentment toward the game would creep in...no matter how hard I would try to smother them with nice words.

Until....until I listened to Heidi St. John.  It recently hit me that instead of being frustrated when he wanted to play a round of golf, or go to the range for an hour, I should join him and make it into a fun time!  That's what "That Girl" would have done 10 or 12 years ago!

So, I asked him to buy me some clubs.  The hard part was talking him into not buying me the best...because, you know Jeremy, he likes the best:)  I bought my clubs at Target and I love them (they are purple by the way).  When I told him I wanted to start golfing with him, I think he was a little wary of the idea.  He wanted to make sure that I really wanted to play.  That I would count every shot (even if it went backward, which I am famous for doing).  He wanted me to really learn how to play and to enjoy it, and improve, and talk about it with him.  I decided that learning to play and talk about golf with my husband was just as important to him as it was to me!

We went to the range a couple of times and well, I have a lot of improving to do.  We've watched some videos on You tube, and even a DVD he has.  I still don't "get it", but I am learning.

Yesterday was the test.  How would I really do!  We decided to play 9 holes, and had to bring the kids along.  The kids did great.  They had fun riding around.  Nicole had on her nature vest and butterfly net (they found some baby armadillos that we would have simply passed by).  Although Jeremy and I didn't get to ride together, we did get to play together.  He was excited when I hit the ball well, and encouraged me when I only hit it 10 feet.

I thought the best part happened on hole four.  It was a par four hole...and I did it!  I made it in four strokes and got a par!  yay!!!!

 But, something better happened a few holes later.  It was just a little par 3.  I teed off and the ball landed just to the left of the green.  I took my pitching wedge out and did a practice swing.

"Woa, woa....way to hard babe!  You'll hit it clear over the green and into the water." He said.

So, I tried again,

 "Still to hard.  You need to slow your swing down.  Short backstroke, slowly bring it through, and follow through.  Golfing takes finesse."

 So, I practiced again and he said it looked better.  I stepped up to the ball, and tried to follow all of his advice.  It was a beautiful chip, with a nice arc.  It landed and rolled, rolled, rolled...RIGHT INTO THE HOLE!!!!  I chipped it into the hole!  I got a birdie!

I threw my club in the air and screamed (probably not allowed on the golf course).  He came running across to me and I jumped into a giant hug!  He was so proud of me...and at that moment I thought, "There she is!  There is "That Girl". 

Although I scored several 10s and even an 11 on a hole, I'm excited to go golfing again.  Maybe God gave me that great shot to give me hope and reminder that at that moment, I was doing the right thing with my husband.

Although laundry, cooking, cleaning, and homeschooling are all big parts of my life that can not be forgotten....I can still find time to be "That Girl" to my dear husband.  He is a wonderful man, and I want to continue to build a great relationship with him.  I have been changed by marriage and kids and life...but I am still "That Girl" who was 19 and fearless.  I want to see her a little more often, and I think my husband likes to see her every once in a while too:)