Not sure how to celebrate God's provision and the gift of Everlasting Life this Thanksgiving season?  What better way than with Thanks and Giving trees?  Loving this great tool for November from the blog: Chocolate on My Cranium.  Check it out! … [Read more...]

With a week break from CC class, you would have thought we would be over-prepared for presentations, but on Tuesday morning when Becca asked right before heading out the door to CC, "What are our presentations supposed to be on today"  I realized I spent too much time designing lapbooks over break.  :)We threw something together - Becca talking about her baby picture album - a complete full album, all of which takes place in only the first month of life.  The next three kids not … [Read more...]

Friday is our "unstructured school day".  After our core work (Bible, Writing, Reading, Math) we headed to Madison to the Children's Museum.  Oh what fun!  The kids had a blast painting on a clear board with watercolors, building, climbing, fixing, breaking, creating, discovering, and just getting dirty! … [Read more...]

The kids are having a great time this week learning thier Classical conversations material.  Classical learning teaches facts at the younger ages - the kids memorize the core of info, not neccessarily their connections.  A lot of the information is set to a tune or a dance.  We also had fun making up our own.  In the first video below, the kids are all joining in - I love how Ryan is having fun too (and the room he destroyed in 10 seconds flat while working on … [Read more...]

Well, technically we started school a few weeks ago, but this was our first day of Classical Conversations, which felt like a day at school, so I decided to document the event with typical back to school photos!  The kids loved their classes!  Their presentations this week were titled "All About Me" and they both did great.  Becca summed up her first day by saying "I have a bunch of new friends".  You could tell they were having a ball!  Robby's group was a little more … [Read more...]

Yesterday afternoon we headed outdoors for a nature study on the trails at Apple Canyon State Park.  There is a trail with a one-mile loop that is pretty kid friendly, and the little ones were sure excited!  We found all sorts of cool things to look up when we got home.  Best of all, we got our hands dirty and touched God's world.  As always, it touched us back.  I always feel restored after spending time outside (ok, maybe not in -20 degree weather...) … [Read more...]

Becca asked to start her special day with cinnamon rolls which started rising at 2am. Anything for Becca Boo! I am not sure who loved them more....Becca or Ryan!!!Her party started in the afternoon.  The theme was Circus and she had such a ball playing with her friends in the bounce house, getting their faces painted, playing on the jungle gym, firing rockets, and playing pin-the-nose on the clown.  Such great friends and family to share her special day with!  I can't believe … [Read more...]

Preparations for Becca's birthday took place on Friday after school work was done.  As you can see, Gabe was very glad to "help" me with the cake! … [Read more...]

We are going to be spending the majority of our time in the dining room, so it just made sense to me to brighten things up a bit and get some fresh curtains in there! I still have a bit of work to do, but all in all, it is coming together nicely! I found a wonderful black bookshelf at a garage sale that works perfectly for our books! Here is what our classroom looks like! To me, it just shouts - Loving to Learn!!! … [Read more...]

Well, the school year is about to start - my first "official" school year instructing the children.  Although, we all know that the instruction of our children begins at their birth, for we are all homeschoolers in a way - teaching our children in the paths of righteousness and of His ways, am I right?I wanted to start this journey with clear direction and purpose - to have some sort of "ruler" to help determine what reaches our goals and what detracts from them.  In order to do … [Read more...]