Wildflowers

Wildflowers

Monday, August 30, 2010

No School Today!

No school today!  I know, I know, we just started.  My parents came for SarahAnne's birthday this weekend and stayed a couple of more days.  So, we took the day off and spent it with them!  We learned last year that spending time with the people you love should be a priority.  We lost Matt's dad in June.  We all still miss him a lot.

 We did take them to the library.  That was fun.  Samuel and SarahAnne loved showing them all of the books they could choose from.  After that, we did a little shopping and went home.

Maybe, we'll have school tomorrow.......

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Tuesday, August 31st, will be SarahAnne's 9th birthday!  Since we live hours away from all of our family and still have few friends here, we celebrated her birthday Saturday.  She decided she wanted a LUAU.  She is growing up and is getting away from all those character birthdays!   YEAH, for getting away from the character birthday themes, not for growing up so fast! 

She is our feisty, stubborn, artistic, original girl!  We had Emily and had tried for a few years to have another baby, when  we surprisingly got pregnant with SarahAnne.  We were thrilled and scared.  At that time I was on several blood-pressure medications and was apprehensive about that.  About 4 months into my pregnancy  my placenta pulled away from the uterus which caused bleeding and I was put on bed rest for a few weeks.  After this I was scheduled an ultrasound which brought up questions about down syndrome.  Matt and I decided that no matter, this is our baby and we loved her.

SarahAnne was born healthy and with attitude from the beginning!  She was and still is very vocal!  She loves to read and draw.  She adores animals, especially horses.  Little House on the Prairie is her favorite show to watch on DVD.  She is a blessing.

We had a great Luau with my parents and sister, my brother and sister-in-law, Matt's cousin and wife, and neighbors from next door.  We ate pineapple and chicken kabobs, chicken salad and crackers, fruit salad, punch and cake.  We all had a good day, but SarahAnne especially enjoyed having people there to celebrate her day!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Week in review...

It's Friday and we've just finished another week of school.  It was a comfortable week.  It seems like we are getting into that well-fitting groove.  Not everything was perfect, but things flowed pretty well.

Emily is so organized and independent this school year!  WOW---- that really helps me.  She is doing well in Latin and Geometry and is loving History, English and Bible (they all go together).  Chemistry is coming along, but we have had trouble finding items for a couple of experiments.  Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we will get on the ball with that as well.

Samuel and SarahAnne are doing great in MFW.  This week we finished the USA study of North America.  Concentrating on the geography of the US, we worked puzzles, filled in blank maps, looked at individual states, listed all the states we had traveled to and so on.  At the end of the week, I gave them a blank map and had them label all the states they could remember.  I was very pleased!  Emily did this with us and did quite well, also.

This week we have read about Harriet Tubman and it has been something the kids looked forward to doing.  Samuel always got his Bible notebook and was ready to write at the end of each reading.

We started All About Spelling this week also.  I am starting slow with this and have been pleased so far.  Hopefully, next week we can get our feet a little wetter!   LOL

The workboxes are so wonderful!  I only started with six boxes and will soon increase to eight and then to ten.  I need to plan this and work out a schedule soon.  The kids love doing them and I can't believe how easy it was to implement!

Writing this blog was something I wanted to do for a while, but now that I have started it, it seems like my time is filled with so many other things and I just haven't fit it in very well.  I am going to try to do better.
I'm wishing now, that I had started it earlier this summer, so I would have been better prepared.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Week #3 MFW- Exploring Countries and Cultures

Today is Friday and we have completed week #3 of our homeschool year.  We are learning so much.  The kids are really enjoying the maps and the Bible study with Hero Tales.  Samuel's favorite subject is science and he really enjoys the outside nature study, still.  We are all looking forward to some cooler temperatures, so we can really enjoy the outdoors more often!

This afternoon we made a trip to Raleigh to a homeschool curriculum store.  I have been wanting to visit there for a few months and just never made it until today.  I needed a couple of things and had called ahead to make sure they had what I needed.  I got what I needed today and saved shipping. 

One thing I needed was a teacher's manual for Emily's Latina Christiana  II.   Why we didn't get it when we purchased the rest of the curriculum, I don't remember.  I certainly do NEED it!

Another item was a spelling curriculum.  I have been back and forth on this for months and finally went with All About Spelling.  I have read lots of reviews and testimonials and this one seems like it could be a good fit for my children.  I have one very strong speller and one that struggles.  We will start with this Monday.

Monday, August 16, 2010

My husband started a blog for Homeschooling Dads!

Just a quick note to let you know that my husband started a blog for homeschooling Dads.  When he had looked before for something for Dads, there was little to nothing out there.  So, he decided to start this just to connect with other Dads.  He would love to hear from your husbands.

                    http://dadshomeschoolgarage.blogspot.com/

Hope you are all having a good Monday!  Ours went pretty well.  We had a full day with school, chores, a trip to the library and Walmart.  It is a good thing that Monday night, Emily cooks dinner!  Tonight we are having Lasagna!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Ready for Monday!!

I just finished filling my workboxes and I have gotten a few other things sorted and ready for this week.  I feel like I am finally ready for Monday.  It feels good to be ready.

We had a pretty good weekend.  We stayed home and that has been good.  I got a lot accomplished Saturday and we had some good family time.  It has been refreshing. 

We caught up on MFW this weekend and made our world cake.  Samuel and Sarahanne really enjoyed that and we all enjoyed eating it. 

Friday, August 13, 2010

Taking the day off

It's been a long week.  My husband has worked longer hours and hasn't been at home as much.  It has been incredibly HOT and Humid.  We have all been a little grumpy.  It just all exploded (or should I say I exploded)  this morning.  Everything I started to do just went wrong.  So, I loaded the kids in the car and drove to a park.  The kids had a little phys.ed and I took a  breather.  I also called my husband and talked with him about my morning.  I knew this would help!  I thank God for my husband, he is just what I need.


Sometimes, things in life can be overwhelming and we just need to stop and take a break from it all.  God is in control when we can not see.  He will lead us through this. 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."   Proverbs 3:5-6


After we finally returned home, we had lunch and some rest time to re-coup.  The younger ones did some handwriting and followed a map to find treasure and are spending the rest of the day playing upstairs.  Tomorrow, we will finish school and make a world cake as part of MFW- ECC curriculum.

This week, we have (almost) finished our second week of Exploring Countries and Cultures.  On Monday night we moved half our schoolroom/office around to make things flow better and to make room for our gigantic world map!   When we get everything in it's place, I'll post pictures!  It is the most organized school room we have ever had. 

I have a lot of preparations for next week to do this weekend and somehow in the midst of it all, relax a little.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Getting into the groove

We are slowly getting things going here.  Finally the kids are all home from visiting with grandparents and school is in session!  MFW is going well and we are enjoying it and learning a lot.  The workboxes are great and I think will even be better as I get more into the groove. 


Getting into the groove is more my problem than the kids.  (It usually is, isn't it?)  I know that I set the tone for how our day will go and sometimes I fall short on this.  Way back when I taught in a classroom in PS, I could walk in and teach and not have to do laundry, fix lunch, plan dinner, pick up prescriptions, deal with air conditioners on the blink, etc.  Now, I do these things and teach and although it doesn't always go accordingly to plan, we are accomplishing so much more.  ( although, sometimes I NEED reminded of this!)


One thing we have started this year with our chores is having  a 30 minute time period after breakfast and before school to do chores.  Not everything gets done then, but a lot gets accomplished.  It is a good thing!  Laundry is loaded,  DW is run or emptied,  kitchen is cleaned from breakfast, vacume is run, etc.  Now we concentrate on academics.  We also have a time right after dinner each night, before any TV is watched.  It is a good thing!


On our MFW plan today is our Nature Walk.  Here in NC it is forecasted to reach 100 degrees.  We are headed outside as soon as I am finished typing, before the temps soar any higher.  I hope for all you other MFW followers that it will be a cooler nature study for you. 

May we all continue to find our goove and continue this homeschool path, Wildflowers and all!
 

Friday, August 6, 2010

In need of time...

We are on the last day of week one in MFW ECC.  This is my second week doing week one.  Last week I did week one with my son and this week I have done it with my daughter.  Next week we will progress to week two.   Last week  went rather smoothly, but this week was a little rocky.  LIFE got in the way of my plans.  We've just had one of those weeks.  I am hopeful, that this weekend, we will get back on track. 

As for blogging, it will have to take a backseat for a few days.  I really need to do some planning.  I am amazed how some can do so much with their 24 hours and I just can't seem to get there!  Anyone else?

Hope to come back refreshed and have a few helpful posts, until then May the Lord bless you. 

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Wildflowers in our life

The title of my blog is Wildflower Paths.  It was not the original title I had chosen and I really didn't give it an enormous amount of thought.  I am pretty happy with it though. 

I have always loved flowers.  Especially wildflowers.  Probably because where I grew up (in the country) they were abundant and free!   I can remember when I was little, I would almost daily pick a bunch of Queen Anne's Lace and Daisies or Violets and Clover for my grandmother.   As I got older I would put a bouquet in my bedroom and change them often.

When we lived in Kentucky, I was in bliss.  The original owners had planted flowers everywhere, (Roses, Irises, Daylillies, etc.) but my favorite was the wildflower patch back by the garden spot.  (The picture at the top of my blog is from there!) It was an ever changing, out of control, surprising array of beauty.  I could go out and pick a bouquet one day and a totally different one a day later. 

I think that life is like wildflowers.  Sometimes we just see the weeds and sometimes we see the beauty.  It offers a colorful combination and an assortment of wonder.  Life is always full of surprises and the best things in life are free.

This can be said of homeschooling too.  Sometimes, we must see past the weeds to find the flowers.  Wether this is in curriculum, schedules, or waiting through a particular hard season.  We can plant and water and get nothing but weeds or so it seems to us, and then surprisingly a rare and beautiful flower emerges and we can bask in it's beauty.

As we walk this path of homeschooling (life) let us see past the weeds and look for the wildflowers.  Sending you each a bouquet of wildflowers!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Not so ready for Monday....

I really had good intentions, really!  I was going to be so ready for this morning with a nice blog post, my workboxes all ready, my calendar looking nice, the office/school room neat and organized, my grocery shopping finished, etc. etc. 
What happened?  My parents came to visit and bring back SarahAnne and pick up Samuel for his week to visit, so the weekend was spent visiting.  I do have my workboxes finished and I graded and looked over all of Emily's school work. (That was a chore!  My head hurt when I was finshed reading Latin, history and Geometry! Whew!)
And to beat it all, I have to run to town to take care of some errands this morning, so school will wait until this afternoon.  Hopefully, the rest of the week will be smooth.  I am anxious to do school with just SarahAnne.  She has already asked about starting a new reading list for this school year.