My poor neglected blog.

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted on here. Our computer broke down, so I couldn't load pictures. Then I started doing Facebook and it seemed easier to just post a few things on there, but I do miss journaling about what we've been doing, so I'm taking it back up.

We've finished our school year and begun summer. The last half of the school year was busy and fun. We had co-op from the first of February until the first of April. I taught a hands-on history class about pioneer life for David's age group and helped sponsor a class for Hannah's group that involved a lot of building contraptions with unique items.

We all four went to Tybee in February with Anita and had lots of fun there. In March, we found out that Darin might lose his job because of cutbacks. By the end of April we found out he did have his job, so we are thankful for that. The kids and I went with Anita, Seth, and Angela to Disneyworld in May. We had a great time there.

We were done with our schooldays by the end of May. Hannah finished up 8th and David finished up 2nd. They are growing so fast. I'm so thankful that God has made a way for me to be home with them all this time. He is an awesome and mighty God!

Weekly Report and Catch up for Oct 25th - Nov 12th

I've been super busy these last 3 weeks, but I'm going to try and do a quick catch up. We've had family in town, performances, church events, etc. School has been getting done in there, too, though. We've been attending co-op, but that ends tomorrow. It's fun, but I'll be glad to have one last thing to do each week. We don't start back until well after the new year.

Hannah has been using the Bob Jones history textbook for a few weeks now. She is learning quite a bit. It has some rather challenging activities to go along with the text and tests. She did quite a bit with the Constitution and has been moving on to the establishment of the government. I had Life of Fred Fractions here, so I let her do it just for fun. She LOVES it. I was going to order the last half of her CLE math, but I've decided she's going to finish what I have and spend the rest of the year of Life of Fred. I have the Decimals/Percents book. She should get through those quickly, but I'm going to have her do both of the Pre-Algebra books in the series, too.

Her outside vocabulary class ended last week. She had a test over 220 roots and only missed 6. She was very happy to have done that well. The teacher was very pleased with all the students' results. The class will start back in the spring and will focus on grammar, writing, and literature. He volunteers his time to do this, which is amazing to me.

She is doing well in her science and trudging along through the material that doesn't thrill her. She is still reading God's Will, God's Best for Your Life and seems to be enjoying it. She's not had a literature assignment the last couple of weeks because switching spines caused her to back up a little. She's been reading the Artemis Fowl series that she had never read, but that's on her own, not for school.
Our church had a harvest festival. Hannah dressed up as a nerd and her best friend came as an 80's girl. David went as a Clone Trooper but quickly lost the helmet.

David has had a good 3 weeks in school. He read more about Lewis and Clark and the legends of American folklore. He has also been studying the War of 1812. He is continuing to like the added math supplements, especially the BJU materials. I am strongly considering switching him to 3rd grade in it when he has completed all the 2nd grade materials we have here. Grammar has introduced pronouns and using words such as to, too, and two. He has started to show a little frustration when he can't understand or get something right first try. I'm trying to show him that some things take time to learn. In bible, he's been covering Old Testament stories such as Ruth, Gideon, Samson, and Samuel.

He is in a musical performing group, called Arete. The group performed for a retirement home and a senior group at a local church. The group has learned patriotic songs. The leader of the group volunteers her time and donated the costumes. It is such a blessing to have people who want to make a difference in the lives of children.
My parents were able to come visit and see his performances.
In science, it has been a fun time. He studied genetics, classification, and started invertebrates with the Cnidarians. Here is David and his friend working together the day we did classification. I had started with classifying shapes, then the creatures that RSO provided. The boys ended up creating creatures with the shapes, but that somehow turned into building a tower and pretending to be Godzilla attacking it.



I'm very sleepy, so that's all I can remember for now. It's been a great few weeks.

Week of Oct. 18th - 22nd and the week of Fall Break

Darin had a week of Fall break with his school the week of the 11th, so we took off, too. His parents flew in town, and we picked them up at the airport. We really enjoyed their stay. It's hard not having any family here, so we are thankful when we do get to spend time with any of them. They love to eat at the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, GA, so we took the long drive there and had a fabulous southern meal.
They enjoyed playing the Wii with the kids and relaxing with us. We went to see Toy Story 3 at a nearby dollar theater. It was a fun week, and we were sad to take them back to the airport to return home.

This week (the 18th) we've had school as usual. We had our usual outside classes, co-op, Hannah's vocabulary class, and David's musical group. The group is getting ready for two performances next week. It was a great week.

I had Hannah switch from the Hakim series to the Bob Jones 8th grade textbook this week. I already had it here. I felt that she was reading a lot, but not retaining much of what she was reading. She finished the chapter on the American Revolution this week. After her test, I asked if she thinks she will learn more from the textbook and extra materials it provides. She said that she really thinks she will.

In math she's been working with multiplying monomials, probability, and constructing angles. In grammar she's been learning about infinitive phrases and how to diagram these as well as reviewing pronoun-antecedent agreement and use of commas. She has started microbiology in her science, which is not a favorite topic, so she'll have to buckle down and make herself learn it. In Bible, she is continuing the devotion book from the Navigators and started a book, God's Will God's Best for Your Life. For literature she read A Gathering of Days.

David finished up the American Revolution and establishing the Constitution and has moved on to studying Lewis and Clark. He read How We Crossed the West and A Picture Book of Sacagawea, as well as A Picture Book of Davy Crocket. In science he studied the nervous system and did a lab with our neighbor. In Bible he learned about Gideon. He started one of Bob Jones' Booklinks, The Treasure of Pelican Cove. He has been doing the Book Adventure website and has really enjoyed reading books then taking quizzes on them. He's loving the Magic Treehouse books right now.

He has started to get a little bored with his CLE math. I think it is because it has a lot of review. I love certain aspects of the program, so I'm not ready to give it up yet. I had the 2nd grade level of Singapore math here, so I'm supplementing with it and crossing off a lot of the review problems. I also still have the second half of Bob Jones' math that I switched from, so I'm going to use some of it as well. I will switch if I think one of the programs will be the best for him. I would probably lean towards BJU because I will more than likely use it in high school.

Golden Anniversary

This past weekend was my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. My sisters and I hosted a reception to celebrate the occasion. We had a great turn out. The decorations were great, the food was good, but the most fun was seeing my parents get to interact and mingle with close friends and relatives. It was a very special occasion that was worth all the planning that went into it. Here are pictures of our family.

Time to say good-bye

My grandmother passed away today. She has been an integral part of my whole life. I am one of only three grandchildren, all of us sisters. Needless to say, that allowed us to be very close to her. She was a great woman who loved us all so much. She was a wonderful grandmother who really took time to show us how she cared.

She would have been 89 in November. Until last summer, she lived by herself and still drove. She began having some falls, and through a course of events, we found out she had a brain tumor. She had a stroke and some mini-strokes last fall which lead to her being bed-ridden. She has been at home with my mother caring for her, with some help, too.

She was fiesty and fun. She loved shoes, and at one time had a pair to match every purse she owned. She loved taking us girls shopping for clothes, too. I remember when I was young that she would rub my ear when she talked with me. It was so loving and sweet.

I will miss her smile and sometimes mischievous laugh. I'll miss going by her house as I traveled to see other family or go home. I'll miss her cooking, too. She made great chicken and broccoli casseroles. Her hamburgers and french fries were so yummy. I'll miss getting the Hershey's Kisses she always had out for anyone who came by.

Goodbye, Mom! I love you and will see you someday. I know you are at peace.

July is already gone!

This summer has been fun and eventful. In June, I sprained my foot rather badly. It's doing well now, though. In early July we went to visit Darin's 96 year old grandfather. He is amazing. He lives with a son, but is still able to be home alone all day. We enjoyed 4th of July fireworks with my best friend's family. My sister and nephew came for a few days before we headed off to Ohio to see Darin's family.

While we were there we went to a water park. It stormed most of the day so we got rainchecks to go back the next day. We went to Ikea to purchase Hannah some new furniture for her bedroom makeover she is planning. That afternoon, we went back to the water park. As we were entering the park a lady's baby stroller got away from her down a steep hill. Darin took off after the stroller and fell, breaking his arm. The stroller was stopped by a pole, and the baby was fine. He was banged up pretty badly, but he broke a bone that is the best bone to break--no cast!

We spend the rest of July relaxing, seeing the doctor, enjoying tomatoes from our garden, and getting ready for the start of our school year. Speaking of tomatoes, I made spaghetti sauce completely from scratch with our abundance of tomatoes. It was YUMMY!

Darin has a new principal who is seeming to be good for the school. Time will tell! Summers are short here following Darin's school schedule, but we like all the time off during the year, too.

St. Augustine

We loved our trip to St. Augustine last week. We had so much fun exploring the area. It was super hot, so we went out in the mornings, headed back to the hotel in the afternoon for rest, relaxation, and air conditioning! We would go back out in the late afternoon for more fun.
We enjoyed visiting the Castillo de San Marcos and walking around the historic district. We loved a restaurant we found that served gourmet popsicles that are made with whole foods right on sight. It's called The Hyppo and is on Hypolita street.

We also enjoyed going out to Ft. Matanzas and the beaches. Here's my wonderful hubby on the boat ride over to the fort. The kids climbed up on this huge, beautiful tree, so I had to get a picture.

Tybee Island

My family (parents, sisters, and nephew, and the kids and I) got to go to Tybee Island. We enjoyed a nice week on the beach and doing the activities in the area.

Relaxing in the condo!

Here are the kids and me with my Daddy.

We did photos on the beach. We will use several of these for our parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary later this year. Here my parents are with the grandkids.

Here we all 3 are with Momma and Daddy.

It was fun being at the beach together, but we did miss Daddy.

We visited several sites in the area, including Fort Pulaski, an aquarium, and the Lighthouse. The kids, my dad, and I all climbed to the top of it.

David's Birthday

We had David's birthday party at a jump factory type place here in town. He invited close friends, although all did not get to come. He had a fun and tiring time jumping and playing.





Our neighbors came. Amy is my other best friend. Their son, Ian, is David's best friend. This is Amy with their youngest, Elise.








David wanted a cookie cake, rather than a regular cake. He only eats the icing off of a regular one.







Food, fun, family, and friends! It doesn't get any better.

Fun on the Farm

David and I had the opportunity to go to the Rock Ranch. Hannah was visiting family, so we missed her. We were amazed at how friendly the animals were.

Easter

Easter Sunday! We couldn't find the camera that morning. The afternoon sun was bright, but I think the kids look great!

Hannah's Birthday Gift

For Hannah's birthday, we decided to take her to the Wilderness Lodge in Pigeon Forge. They have an indoor water park, which is one of our favorite things to do together as a family.

Here's David enjoying a pose with a bear that decorated the lobby.



Here's a picture of our room. It was a great room, with a sleeper sofa, refrigerator, and microwave. You get to start using the water park as soon as you get there, even if it's before check in. You can also use it the day you check out. One night can be almost 2 full days in the park.





We all spent a lot of time in the wave pool. It was so strong. I think being smaller since it was indoors really gave it a lot more strength than the bigger, outdoor types. She is the one near the middle in black and white.




Here's another view of the water park. It's a great place to visit and play. She really thought it was a great gift.

Hannah's Birthday

I finally am updating my photos from the last few months, so here goes.

Hannah's Birthday:

Her aunt sent these lovely flowers. They are a bouquet collaborated with the Smithsonian. It is inspired by the 19th century bouquets, Tussie Mussies.




On her birthday, we went bowling with our best friends. Her best friend happens to be my best friend's daughter.







Here are the siblings being their fun-loving, silly selves.








Here's me and Jenny, my best friend. I'm so thankful God brought her into my life. We don't have any family in the nearby area, but having good friends makes it easier.

Time to Catch Up

Things have been so utterly crazy in my life. I can't begin to think about catching up the blog as far as academics. From the 2nd week of March through mid April, the kids and I went out of town 3 times to help care for my grandmother and mother. My grandmother is bed-ridden with a brain tumor, mini-strokes, and seizures. She is at home with helpers coming in and my parents living there. My mother lost her sight in both eyes and had to have surgery on one of them. She is having a slow recovery, but should regain her sight in one eye. They will deal with the other later.

We did manage to get school work done, but it has been more of the essentials than any fluff. Co-op lasted through the first part of April. I was able to plan all my trips around that so we could be there since I am the director.

We had some fun times, too. Hannah turned 13, and we went to a resort with an indoor water park for her birthday. We felt like 13 was a time to do something really special. We went to visit Darin's family for his spring break. I'll post pictures later.

Week of March 1st

This week has been a little crazy. We did attend co-op on Monday, but the rest of the week was not our norm. My mother, who has been taking care of my grandmother for about 6 months, lost most of her sight in the past two weeks. She is diabetic and has an auto-immune disorder that can attack organs. She needed to have some procedures done on her eyes, so I went to be there and help her and my grandmother.

I dropped the kids off with my sister and went to my grandmother's house. The kids did actually get some schoolwork done while at her house (a little history, language arts, and math), but they mostly had fun with their aunt. Hannah is attending a discipleship retreat at our church. She'll have lots of bible study sessions. I'll do some more work with David this weekend, so they will get some school days out of this week, but not a full one.

My mother has fluid in her eyes that is seeping in from outside her eye. The diabetes has weakened the membranes or muscles around her eye allowing it to happen. While I was there her vision did improve slightly so we hope her body is absorbing the fluid. The doctors can see enough into one to know she has some bleeding going on, but could not see in the other at all.

Being available for family is such a blessing of homeschooling. I'm so glad that I could be there to help, and I know I could not if I were working and the kids in school.

Week of Feb 15th

This week was a week off of school because their Daddy had the week off as well. We were going to have co-op, but had to cancel because of so much sickness. The kids really missed that. Hannah had her last writing class this week. She is really going to miss it. The instructor is considering offering a Vocabulary class next year as SAT prep.

We did get to go visit some family this week, but had some bad news about expensive repairs needing to be done to our heat pump. Ah...that is the joys of home ownership!

Basketball Time

David had his first game this Saturday. They do not keep score, but his big sister did and his team won by quite a bit. He enjoyed it and had friends come to see him play.

Christmas Break

Christmas break was a time for relaxation and fun, even though we did travel quite a bit to visit my family and Darin's family, too. The snow didn't come on Christmas day, but it did show up before we left going home. We really enjoy those school breaks!

2009...A Look Back

I can't believe 2009 is almost over. It just seems like yesterday that we were taking down last year's decorations and welcoming a new year, yet here it is again. Probably the biggest change in 2009 was that we resigned our CE positions at our church, searched for a new church, and have now found one. It was not an easy decision, but one we felt led to do, so we were trying to be obedient. How God has blessed us in this change, for whatever time we are to be there! The teaching is phenomenal...very deep and challenging to live beyond what we so normally view as Christianity here in America.


Darin finished up last school year and began his 4th year at our public high school. He is teaching World History and Government/World Geography. The school has been in trouble academically for a very long time, and the administration has really put a load on the teachers. It has been a very demanding year, but he is so thankful to have a job.

I am still homeschooling the kids. I miss being CE director at church, but have a new endeavor. I started a homeschool co-op in our area, meeting one day a week for classes. We have 10 families and 26 kids. Our first semester was fun and enriching. The second semester classes will be even more so, I do believe.


Hannah finished up 6th grade and began 7th. She is now taller than me, and still growing. She got braces in September for her bite problem. She took sewing classes all last year, but did not continue this year. This year she is in a novel club that meets monthly to discuss the book, and watch the movie of the book. She has also had the opportunity to take a writing class from a retired English teacher. That has been a wonderful experience for her. She already loved to write, at least on her own terms. She has notebooks and notebooks of stories, histories and maps of imaginary countries, and the like. Our homeschool group also has social events for the middle school/high school kids. She has enjoyed those this year. Changing churches at this age has not been easy, but she does really enjoy her classes at the church.


David finished up Kindergarten and began 1st grade. He is tall and skinny, probably because he is constantly moving and talking. He played basketball last year and is playing Upward this year. He is in Cub Scouts and really enjoys it. I've been much more impressed with the Boy Scout program than I was Girl Scouts. He is moving forward in his academics, and probably enjoys history and science the most. He has a fascination with non-fiction reading, especially the DK Eyewitness books. He thinks he wants to read mysteries so we have a couple of easy chapter books to give it a try over the break.

We are so thankful that God has blessed our family with another wonderful year to be together. He is faithful and gracious to us in so many ways. We cannot begin to thank Him enough or praise Him in all the ways that He is due.