School Days

March 7-11

     Another great week of school here at home on the range.  I'll start with our most excited student 1st.

     Allison FINISHED LHFHG!!  We just loved the Zip-a-dee-doo-dah rhyme!  I think it's our favorite of the whole guide.  We felt like we were putting on a singing/dancing routine at an amusement park. :)

     Our history this week was a great over view of the big picture (His story).  And, we also loved the focus on how to live our lives in the future.  Allison told me this week that she wants to be a homeschool mom when she grows up.  :)  She'll be a great one, Lord willing!  Now to find a farmer to marry...  She doesn't really want to be a "city-slicker".  :)  Speaking of weddings, she is BEYOND thrilled that Aunt Michelle is engaged!  Here is her painting of heaven.  Painting the glue...

Adding food coloring...

and covering it with cotton.

     We also had a lot of fun with the "goo" that we made  on the last day.  Obviously God is indeed miraculous to make something out of something without form or shape.

       We're still cruising along in math.  We're on page 100-something in 1A.  It's definitely picking up in difficulty.  She's doing great!  But those of you in the Earlybird K series, just enjoy the simplicity and let your kids "get it"...it does get harder soon.  ;)

     We finished reading Prairie School this week.  She loves reading!  We've also enjoyed several of the extra titles suggested in the Emerging Reader schedule.  It's fun to see her take off with reading.  She picked up Squanto (the one that's an option for storytime in Beyond) this week to read on her own...and she's doing it!

     We already purchased much of Beyond this summer, since we're using parts of it.  But, here is the box of goodies that came to our house this week!  We loved diving in to check out the good storytimes that await us!  We now own all of the books from the Beyond bookpacks.  (Grant is happy that I said he can read any of these in his freetime.  He didn't get to enjoy Beyond when he was younger.)

     Garret cruised through Unit 23 in LHTH.  The theme for our week was... Jesus did miracles, People were surprised!  Our 1st miracle:  No fish.  So many fish.  Wiggle, wiggle, squish.  (Sing the italicized words to Row, Row, Row Your Boat and you've got the 1st stanza to the rhyme. :)  Here we're comparing stacks of fish with greater than, less than, or equal.

     Next, Jesus raised a dead man!  We experimented with our heart rate - resting and after doing a little jumping.  Your heart stops beating, and you're dead.

     Tape Day with the letter S.

     And, his work on his color book for the week - orange!  (Easy to find in our Cabela's catalogs... :)

     OK....I failed with taking pictures of Grant this week.  I tried...but it just didn't happen.  I really thought I'd catch his science experiment, but I missed it.  Next week I told him he CAN NOT clean up after himself until Mom gets a shot of it!  (Yes, I just told my boy that he CAN NOT clean up after himself... :)

     He finished Unit 27 of CTC.  We're both really enjoying reading Traveling the Way in storytime.  Today our Pastor was talking about Paul being attacked & drug out of the temple & taken to Cesarea.  (Yep, we were crouched by the road way with David & Cleon when that happened this week...)

     I'm also really enjoying my time with Grant studying Genesis - what a foundation he's getting here!  I am learning a LOT, and I went to Bible college for 4 years.  This study is so good and so necessary in building a Biblical worldview.  And the way it's scheduled , it's not intimidating at all.

     Here is the one picture I took during the week of his work.  His Roman soldier all fitted out and ready to go.

     I thought I'd put his pictures that he's drawn in his student notebook with Draw and Write through History on here.  He really enjoys these!  (Sorry, but you'll have to crank your head to the right for 2 of these...  I tried uploading them twice.  They're right on my computer...)

     And...our happy little sidekick along for the ride.  Allison & Garret thought Asa would like his own comfy little basket like Baby Moses.  (You know, speaking of Moses...after having Asa I think I can now understand how his mother could hide him at home for a while.  I seriously wondered about this with my other VERY LOUD babies.  Asa is so quiet, I now see how it could be done. :)

     Getting some laughs with Alli.

     Ready to dive into another week here!

Grow, Grow, Grow!

6 months old!

Wowsers!  Half a year already!

Asa, we've loved having you around as a little brother.

This month you...

• Continued to amuse your older siblings with your smiles & laughs.
• Prefer Mommy to anyone else!  (And I'll take it.  Pretty soon I will take 2nd place to Daddy who is w-a-y more fun when you're 2!)
• Love to stand on Mom's lap.
• Think toys are the BOMB!  (Except when you accidentally smack them into your forehead.)
• Can SIT up all by yourself...for a short time, before doing a faceplant.
• Went to Omaha and stayed in a hotel with Mom & Dad for DFA's YC Conference.  You were your good little self and slept when you were tired, and happily, quietly played on Mom's lap when you were awake.  The other young parents there were AMAZED.  We'd like to claim "professional parenting" here, but I'm pretty sure it's how God made you.

AND...the Big news of the month...

• EATING!

It all started with a little strawberry to suck on...

...then we got this cool little Munchkin thing(so you wouldn't choke)...

...and the next thing we knew, you were a GIANT mess!

We love you, Asa!

Mommy & Daddy

School Days

 Our Week

Feb 28-March 4

I have been wanting to blog about our school days this year...mostly so that I can remember and look back on the fun times we've had and see some progress.  :)  But...I haven't actually had time to sit down at the computer and do it - until now.  So, here goes!

Garret

Garret & I were working in Little Hands to Heaven (LHTH) Unit 22 this week.  We're reading about the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the Bible, and we had a lot of fun acting out some of the stories and lessons we learned.

Here he is listening closely to my voice & finding me.  (Just like the people listened carefully when they heard God's voice at Jesus' baptism.)

And, here he is carefully filling 6 "jars" with water, just like Jesus told the servants to do at the wedding that ran out of wine.  I could trick Garret and make the water look like wine, but only Jesus could really change it.  It's a MIRACLE!

Garret's BIG NEWS this week is that he can READ!

We started using The Reading Lesson last week, and he is cruising through it!  (I kinda figured it was time to pull it out when he could read all the words on his candy hearts at Valentines Day...)  We just started lesson 3, and he loves learning phonics with Mom.

Allison

Allison is oh-so-close to finishing Little Hearts for His Glory (LHFHG), and moving on into Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory (Beyond).  We were finishing Unit 32 and starting 33 this past week.

It's fun to watch her do school.  She is so totally opposite of her older brother in the way she approaches things. :)  Despite the obvious 'doing school in a princess dress' difference, she is just so quick to get her work done.  Grant likes to think & think...which has tended to lead to day-dreaming and imagining creative things and the school work not being done... :)  Allison is all business.  I give her work, and BAM, it's done!  It will be fun to see how God uses their different personalities for Him as they grow up!

She's loving math (especially the days that it's "snack math").  We're most of the way through Singapore 1A using the activities in the Beyond guide.  Here she was adding, counting on from the biggest number.

This week we were looking at some important American landmarks in our history.  We read about the Liberty Bell...and experiemnted with pendulums of our own.

We read about the Statue of Liberty.

And, the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston (the Cradle of Liberty).  She loved sailing and dropping anchor.

She even took Asa for a little spin around "Please-Fold-Me" Island.

Grant

Grant completed Unit 26 in Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ (CTC).  It's definitely fun to watch him grow from being that dawdler to a responsible, much more independent young man.  He has grown A LOT this year!

The highlight of his week was the Roman Meal that he planned and made for us.  We invited Grandma & Grandpa to join us, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here he is with the spread (including the Roman Custard he made).

And here is the complete appetizer plate (with the rolls that weren't quite done when we took the 1st one).

He's also really enjoying Write With the Best this year.  I have seen his writing continue to improve so much.  He writes some really good written narrations now (without any guidance from me!).  And he just loves the creative outlet from WWTB.  Here is his fable (that he actually completed last week).

Billy Buck Learns a Lesson

Bobby Coon is a sly, quick-thinking raccoon that has a dishonest past. He can talk anybody into doing anything if he has a chance.
Bobby Coon lives in a beautiful forest in North America. There are trees, bushes, fields, ponds, rivers, mountains, caves, waterfalls, and other animals he lives with.

One day when Bobby Coon was fishing in the river, Crafty Cougar came out of the bushes.
Crafty Cougar is a highly feared cougar that sometimes uses others to bring in his prey. He hides until his prey is near and then pounces on it.
“You had better bring big meat to the alfalfa field tomorrow or you may end up as my appetizer,” growled Crafty Cougar.
Bobby Coon slyly replied, “If I do bring you some big meat, what do I get out of it?”
Crafty Cougar, now furious, yelled, “Your life!”
Bobby Coon quickly said, “I promise I will get it done Crafty Cougar.”

The next day Bobby Coon met Billy Buck near the alfalfa field.
Billy Buck is a prideful deer who believes almost everything he hears. He has neared death many times.
Bobby Coon slyly said, “There is a doe in the alfalfa field today.”
Billy Buck questioned, “How do I know you aren’t trying to trick me?”
“Have I ever done such a thing?” asked Bobby Coon.
“Well there was that one time,” Billy Buck started to say.
But Bobby Coon interrupted, “We both know I would never do such a thing. So go on out.”

As Billy Buck proudly walked into the alfalfa field, he felt something bite his back right leg. In a shock of terror he ran with Crafty Cougar at his white tail. Fortunately he escaped with his leg. Unfortunately the wound was deep.

The moral of the story is to beware of trusting everyone you talk to.

Besides school, the kids also had their violin recital last week.  We're so thankful to have Grandma as our teacher!



Grow, Grow, Grow!

5 months old!!

-Trying out the Super Saucer...that thing's FUN!

-Singing yourself to sleep

-GIGGLING!  Mommy just loves your baby giggles!

-Giving Mommy big, slobbery kisses

-Rolling over

-Continuing to be the absolute easiest baby to take anywhere!  You're happy, quiet, and sleep when you're tired.  What a blessing that is to Mommy!

Asa, we're praying that you not only grow up physically, but also "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ".  You are so special to us!

Love,

Mom & Dad

Here's a line up of my 5 favorite people...

We've had SNOW much fun...

January was sure a snowy month here, so we've had plenty of "snow days".  (In our homeschool, that's where you finish school and then play in the snow because Mom gets spring fever bad in April.)  :)

The kids were SOOO excited when it finally snowed enough that Dad could bring the skid loader over to make a "mountain"!!

They each dug tunnels and connected them inside.  Grant was sure that he could sleep comfortably in his.  Uhhh...not so sure about that one!

Once it finally warmed up enough for the snow to be sticky, a snow man was in the works.  I never got a picture of him with a head.  Allison decided that she'd rather have a "snow baby".

Is that seriously not the cutest thing ever??

And...then we came inside...

Part of me wonders every.single.time. if it is worth the mess.

Then I remember that as a mom, I can grit my teeth and smile enjoy life with my kids while I've got the chance!  Plus, it gives us a whole lot of practice mopping!  And the reward...