First Couple Days

Just a few pictures of our first couple days.  We started school on Monday.  It has been smooth in some respects, rough in others - but that is life, isn't it?  Our first day got us started with a Bible study.  This year we are doing "Boy, Have I Got Problems?", it is a study on the book of James.  It uses the inductive bible study method.  I myself have never done it, so I am interested to see how it works.  We have been talking about James 1:2-4 so far.  We should consider it pure joy when we are faced with trials.  Oh how difficult this can be to accept, but how true it really is.  We grow so much out of struggles and as parents, we teach our children so much as THEY watch US plod through our trials.

Even Sweet Baby is doing the bible study with us. Sweet Baby doesn't enjoy writing.  Her writing isn't very good either, she also hates to sit for long periods of time, but she seems to be doing fine with our bible study.  I read it aloud the first day with the girls.  Sissy has enjoyed it so much she has decided to work ahead, so she is doing it on her own at this point.

A first day of school smile from Peanut.  Gosh, she looks old here.  She is growing up so fast.  SIGH...

Here is a first day smile from Sweet Baby...her favorite time...lunch.  I let the girls pack a lunch, including special treats we do not normally buy, and eat downstairs in the school room.  They thought that was fun.

No first day shots of Sissy, she said, "You can't take my picture!  My hair is a mess!"  UGGGHH..so it begins.  A 13 year old who is not into "doing" her hair, does not worry about fashion or make up yet. But, after that comment, I'm sure it is just beginning.

Our 2nd day of school we discussed Christopher Columbus and his voyage.  The younger girls made tin foil models of some of his ships.  They really enjoyed this activity.  When the ships were done, they took them to the bath tub and floated them across the sea.

 They even pulled out some Playmobile people to watch the voyage begin.  Silly girls!

Getting Started

We have just a few days left of summer.  If I could insert a great big sad face, crying buckets of tears, I would.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching the girls learn and I certainly enjoy knowing what they are learning about, but I really enjoy the freedom of summer.  We start back to school on Monday.

For me, the most difficult thing about homeschooling is how so many things around my house have to be put off till around 2 pm.  I feel like I am constantly watching the clock to see how long things are taking us.  It drives me crazy to not start household things till 2:00 and by that time I have an hour or so to do laundry, pick up, etc. till I need to start dinner.  I'm wondering if this year will be a bit different, after all, the girls are getting older.

This year Sissy will be doing much of her school work on her own.  She said that she did not like waiting around for Sweet Baby on many things (specifically waiting for her to be disciplined when we try to do group work).   So, I thought we would give her most of her work to do on her own.

Sissy is going into 8th grade...is that possible?  This will be our 5th year of homeschooling.  We have used My Father's World for history and bible for the last 3 years - it makes it very easy to teach different levels of children at one time.  However, I've always been intrigued with Sonlight, which is very similar to MFW, but I especially like the fact that Sonlight is built around great novels AND they give you discussion questions to go over with the children in case mom does not have time to read the book herself.  So, Sissy is going to be working with Sonlight Core 100 American History in Depth this year.  I hope it goes well for her.  She is not typically a big reader, but I truly believe it is because she is intimidated by chapter books and so she steers clear of them.  She has recently discovered the Mandie series and has been devouring it.  I'm hoping that she has turned a corner this summer. 

So..what are all the kids working on this year?  Here is the rundown.

Sissy       8th grade

History - Sonlight Core 100 American History in Depth
Math -  Teaching Textbooks Algebra (mind you she still has several lessons from Pre-Algebra to finish up)
Science -  Apologia Physical Science (with lab work done in co-op)
Spelling -  All About Spelling level 5  (her spelling skills are a huge struggle, so we'll keep plugging along)
Writing -  Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Intensive B (our first year using this program)
Bible - Boy You Think You've Got Problems (Study of the book of James)
Computer Essentials - co-op
Art - Watercolor - co-op
Cake Decorating - co-op

Peanut       5th grade

History - My Father's World Exploration - 1850
               American Girl Book Club - co-op
Math -  Teaching Textbooks 6
Science - Apologia Swimming Creatures (lab work/fun stuff with co-op)
Spelling  - A Reason for Spelling (first time using this curriculum)
Writing -  Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Intensive B (our first year using this program)
Bible - Boy You Think You've Got Problems (Study of the book of James)
Gym - co-op
Art - Discovering Great Artists - co-op

Sweet Baby    3rd grade

History - My Father's World Exploration - 1850
               American Girl Book Club - co-op
Math -  Saxon 3
Science - Apologia Swimming Creatures (lab work/fun stuff with co-op)
Spelling  - A Reason for Spelling (first time using this curriculum)
Writing -  Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Intensive B (our first year using this program)
Bible - Boy You Think You've Got Problems (Study of the book of James)
English - Daily Paragraph Editing workbook
Cooking- co-op
Art - Discovering Great Artists - co-op

So, that is what we are doing this year.  Switching some things like spelling up for various reasons, adding Daily Paragraph Editing in for Sweet Baby (and possibly the other two as well, I'm still working on this), I'm really excited to try IEW for writing.  I've heard so many great things about it.  I'll keep you filled in on what is working and what isn't working for us as we progress.  

Ridin' The Huckleberry Railroad

We have a local historic village that we like to visit.  When the girls were younger we were season pass holders for awhile and we would go on Sundays, after church, and spend a few hours looking around.  Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad is pretty small, but it makes for a relaxing day.  We all enjoy riding the train and the carousel.

 
The Huckleberry Railroad is a 40 minute train ride through woods and meadows around Mott Lake.  The railroad consists of 11 original and replica wooden coaches.  The train is run by a restored coal burning locomotive.

This weekend we visited Crossroads for the first time in a couple years.  We started with a train ride....we really should not have started with the train ride, I had forgotten how relaxed it makes me!  It was a time for reflection..... (pssstt...I LOVE this pic of Peanut)

It was also a time for snuggles....

After the ride, we strolled through the general store, barber shop and a couple other buildings.  We made our way to the toy barn, which the kids always enjoy.

This weekend was supposed to be Laura Ingalls Wilder Days.  Sadly we did not see any recreations about Laura or anything specific to her.  Sweet Baby donned her prairie bonnet all day though, does that count?

The girls did get to pump some water up from a well.  It never ceases to amaze me what things kids will find fun.  I'm quite sure that the children living at time that well pumps were necessary did not find drawing water fun.

In the schoolhouse we giggled as we discovered the dunce cap.  We giggled because when Sweet Baby was around 2 years old we had visited there and took her picture in the cap.  It has hung on our refrigerator ever since, so we needed to get another picture of her wearing it.

And Peanut wanted a turn....Don't you love this face!?!?!

Sissy as well, see that glaring look?  Her dad and I see that on rare occasions, her sisters see it a bit more often!

After visiting the school the kids wanted to ride the carousel.  The carousel is celebrating a birthday this year, it is 100 years old.  It was built in Kentucky in 1912 and was part of a traveling show that set up at fairs and carnivals throughout the US and Canada.  It settled in Riverside, California for more than 30 years and then was moved to Crossroads in 1983.  

The carousel has 36 different horses and is a fun treat.

The night before we went Sweet Baby randomly declared that someday she wanted to ride a ferris wheel.  Well, Crossroads has a ferris wheel, a ferris wheel built in 1910!  It takes you up just 45 feet, but for a girl who has a dream, it worked well.

Sweet Baby and daddy shared a cart.  It was funny to watch, each time they came around she was giggling from ear to ear, but at the same time, she was gripping his hand for dear life!

It was a beautiful day.  The weather was perfect and there were smiles all around.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Makin' Some Cake

 For some reason my girls are not that interested in earning extra badges for AHG this summer.  It may very well be because they earned more than $60 worth of extra ones at the last ceremony!  Sweet Baby did however want to get together with a friend and complete a badge together.  Last week we had her friend and her mother over for a couple hours so the girls could work on the cake decorating badge.  The badge requires that a Tenderheart aged girl make a batch of cupcakes, which she did the week before and took them to a family get together.  One  of the other requirements had the girls bake a cake and decorate it in a theme of their choosing using candies to decorate it.

Here Sweet Baby is flouring up the cake pan.

She chose to decorate her cake like the ocean.  She wanted to use graham crackers crushed up as the sand on the bottom of the ocean.  

The girls were required to learn about various types of food coloring and how you could achieve different colors by mixing the food coloring.  They enjoyed putting the drops of coloring into the frosting and watching how the colors changed as they mixed it up.

After the cakes had cooled they were able to begin frosting.  Sweet Baby had some trouble figuring out that longer strokes were necessary, the more frosting the better and how to hold the spreader to do the edges.  Since Sweet Baby does not like being directed or her mom "teaching" her things, it did  not go so well.  She got frustrated, mom got frustrated...sigh....

After awhile things calmed down and she began using the decorator kit to create some seaweed for her ocean.

She chose to use some Jelly Belly jelly beans for rocks and Swedish Fish as well.  She even remembered that she had a mermaid Polly Pocket that she wanted to put in the ocean.  

Sadly, because of her attitude issues, she did not get to eat the cake.  Her dad and I have been wondering if her sassy-ness may be a result of sugar so we decided to stop the intake for awhile.  Don't feel to bad for her.  The whole time she was making the cake she was sampling jelly beans, frosting, and Swedish Fish - honestly, all that sugar could very well have been the problem.  SO...we gave the cake to some friends of ours, who I am sure enjoyed it!

The girls have one more optional to do in order to earn the badge.  They had fun making cakes, but I really think they enjoyed doing it with a friend.

Really? Who Says That?

I don't get it.  I honestly don't get it.  Some people say the strangest things....

Yesterday we dropped Peanut off for a week of summer camp.  This is the first year she has gone alone as I've counseled out at the camp for the last 2 years with her group.  This year Sissy did not want to go - someone had to stay home with her, so I decided to take a year off.

I was approached by a fellow mom yesterday who asked if I would be out at camp again this year.  I told her no because Sissy really did not want to go and that although Sweet Baby is old enough, she has really been having a hard time lately if her and I are apart.

The response was "Really?  Gee Crystal, you must be doing something right for your kids to want to be around you so much.  My kids can't wait to get the chance to go to camp or get away, but that's ok with me because I don't want to be with them that much anyway."  Now, the kicker is....she said this IN FRONT OF her 15 year old daughter.  And this is not the first time she has told me, in front of at least one of her girls, that she "would never want to spend that much time with her kids".

Are you kidding me?!?!?

Please let me say that I do not love every minute of time I am with my children - and trust me, as a homeschooling mom, it is alot of time.  It isn't always easy, sometimes I want to be selfish and run away,  sometimes I wish I could all the school system for just 1 day a week, BUT.....I love my girls.  I made the choice to have them all, I'm interested in what they do, the memories they make, the young girls they have become, and I want to share that with them.   It is very hard for me to understand the mentality that you would not WANT to be with your kids.

I do understand that, sadly, society has told us that "normal" and "necessary" is that two parents work and that once your children are old enough, we put them on a bus and send them to school.  I do understand that on a surface level.  I was that mom.  Sissy was in public school until 3rd grade, Peanut was in school for kindergarten.  But, it never felt "right".  After awhile, I began examining options.  Homeschooling was laid on my heart and in all honesty, I wanted to ignore it.  I wanted God to leave me alone and go bother someone else.  I loved my girls, I had spent more than 8 years as a stay at home mom, still had a few years to go and was content with that - however, I was excited about the prospect of working again and making some money.

Now, I'm thankful that God did change my heart and open my eyes.  For me, homeschooling, which began as the best educational choice for my children, has become about so much more.  It has become about character training, direction, family time and thankfully a way to shelter my kids from a world that grows them up to fast.  My choice is not the only choice, I do get that but I have such a hard time understanding how a mother could not want to be with their children the little bit of time they are home (after they have spent 7-8 hours in school, mom and dad have spent a day at work) let alone verbalize it in front of their children.

My prayer is that my girls can SEE how happy I am to be with them each day.  That they can see how happy I am that I chose to listen to God's direction.  It is not always easy and trust me, many times I do not show them how blessed I know I am.  I let the day get the better of me - the bickering, the disobedience, the  mess, but in the end, I hope they never grow up and say, "Yeah, my mom didn't want to spend time with me.  She was excited when I had somewhere else to go, someone else to hang out with."    

AHG Pen Pals Unite!

I know I am constantly sharing about American Heritage Girls and how much we enjoy it, but I've been waiting to share this post with you for awhile now.

Our first year of AHG each of my girls signed up for the Pen Pal program.  AHG takes pains to set up pen pals throughout the program.  Their pen pal program is not merely an exchange of names, the girls are asked a few different questions and some magical elf at AHG picks a match for them.  The girls commit to writing to their pen pal, at least once a month, for one year.  

Peanut and Sissy, although they like the program, each had issues with their pen pals.  Neither of their pen pals seemed to write often enough.  They seemed to get one letter every 5 or 6 weeks or so.


Although the older girsl were a bit disappointed, Sweet Baby's pen pal and her were a perfect match!  They have been writing for the last 2 years and the first year they wrote each other nearly every week.  What excitement for a 1st grader to have a friend to practice writing to!!   We used the opportunity to write back and forth as handwriting and english practice.  

Sweet Baby's pen pal is from Cincinnati, Ohio.  Last March I was able to meet her pen pal, mother and two siblings at a home school conference I attended in Cincinnati.  This year when we planned our trip to Tennessee, knowing we would be driving through Cincinnati, we were able to set up a time for the girls to meet!  It was the sweetest thing to see them together.  They had talked on the phone a few times over the last couple years, but being able to meet was  like a dream come true.  

After driving for much of the day we were able to make it to Sweet Baby's pen pal's home, sit and visit for a couple hours and then we were invited to enjoy dinner with her family.  What a great time!  We truly enjoyed  our visit and hope we will be able to spend time together again.  

A Heavy Heart

It has been a very long week. 

Friday, June 29th I received a call indicating that one of our leaders at American Heritage Girls was killed in a car accident.  Amanda Rouse was one of our Tenderheart badge trackers and one of those moms who was ready and willing to help whenever she was needed.  In addition to serving as badge tracker, she was also working as our PR person - spreading the news of AHG to whoever would listen.  We also were blessed to have Amanda working on a fall fundraiser.  SIGH...Amanda was a jewel to our program.

Amanda was a jewel to her 7 year old daughter as well.

Amanda would have been just as precious to her unborn daughter Sophie - just 4 weeks till Sophie's delivery.  However, sweet Sophie did not survive either.

Of course I know that people die.  It is the circle of life.  THIS however is not something that you expect.  A momma leaving her daughter, her husband and losing her baby at just 34 years old is not what we expect.  It makes you begin to question your own mortality - honestly, I've never done that. I've never pictured leaving my family and certainly not leaving my husband a widower.  I'm sure Amanda never did either.

A couple things I want to leave with you...

1) Don't take anyone for granted.  If someone is making an impact in your life, in the lives of your children, in the life of a ministry...tell them.  Tell them you are happy to see their smile each week at church.  There were a lot of people who were touched by Amanda.  On Thursday, the day of her visitation, 1,000 people walked through the funeral home.  She was important, but did she know that? 

2)  Take as many opportunities to have your picture taken with you children as you can.  So often the moms are the ones taking the photos and we are not in them.  Amanda left behind a 7 year old daughter.  How many memories do you have from when you were 7?  I have very few.  Her sweet daughter will probably have very few, if any, memories of her mom.  At AHG camp, just 5 weeks before the car accident, two of our Pioneer girls wanted to take pictures of all of the moms and their daughters together.  I'm so glad they recognized this need.  Since they were being so thoughtful, we have this picture of Amanda and her daughter.

To honor Ms. Amanda some of the girls from our troop were able to do a flag ceremony of sorts for her.  They posted the United States flag and the AHG flag on either end of her casket.  It was sweet that they were willing to do it for her and her daughter.  At the end of the funeral (which was so packed the could not fit everyone in the room), as we walked by her casket the last time, we saw her daughter sitting in the front row crying.  It warmed my heart when Sweet Baby walked over and hugged her. 

So, remember to tell people that they matter.  We take things for granted so easily.  Remember to tell that special person that they are important and there would be a hole in your life if they were gone.