A Surprise Smile

I pulled up our church website today, and I just had to smile!  Apparently, our church website has totally changed since the last time I pulled it up!  I don't even remember when the last time I looked at it.  I was surprised to see these beautiful faces on the picture stream.

The date was May 2, 2011, and Lauren had just turned 8 two days ago and she was in the 2nd grade.  Beautiful picture of Jesus' gift of salvation and eternal life for Lauren!  Love my church!

On the Farm (Weeks 1-4)

This school year I signed up the girls for a farm class at Hempstead Urban/Neighborhood Farm.  I thought the class would pair nicely with our Apologia Botany Study!
Every other Tuesday, we go over to Farm Class with Farmer Mark.  (examining the flower in the bottom right corner).  He is really good with the kids, and learning is FUN!  Week #1 was a tour of the farm.  He let the kids each try a tomato (grape variety I think it was) and they picked cucumbers for the restaurant and sampled a few!  They also divided up into Chicken Care groups.  Each week the class is responsible for chicken care duties like cleaning the water jar, putting out fresh straw, feeding the chickens, and gathering eggs.

Week #2 - I really thought Farmer Mark had planned too much for the day! 

Goals for the Day:

Chicken Care

Remove weeds from Homeschool Bed

Plant crops in Homeschool Bed

August soil testing

I looked at that bed and thought, "we only have 1.5 hours left in this class!"  Many hands makes a large job small!  They had the bed cleaned out in 30 minutes flat!  Then they partnered off, made stakes, and planted their food item.  See why I chose this class!  Now, I do not have to plant anything for our Botany class!  Right?!?!  

Next, they divided back different groups (I think) and choose a bed on the farm to conduct their soil testing.  Each month they will test the same soil to chart the changes and how different weather, bugs, and crops effect the soil.  Oh my, this is so cool! 

Farm Class #3 - Farmer Mark taught us about the different kinds of farm hand tools, how to use them, and how to clean them.  Clean them -- really, there is a way to keep them clean so they last longer!  I was raised on a farm and I never did this!  After chicken care and farm tools, we did farm investigations.  We investigated and observed a soil sample for what was in it.  

Week #4 -  This week was leaf and root evaluation week.  Lyndsey perked up when Farmer Mark started talking about leave margins since we had just covered leaves for 2 weeks in our Botany course.  They went out into the farm and pulled roots to bring to the group.  Then they told the group what kind of root it was.  The kids also did a reflection time where they sat in one some and recorded their observations close-up, on the farm, and in the distance.  They will do this again later and compare how the season has changed the farm.

This class is perfect for us this year!  The kids look forward to going to the farm every other Tuesday morning.  They are a little disappointed on the weeks we have "off from farm work". (Or are they just bummed because we are in the classroom on those Tuesday mornings!!!)

Taylor Swift!!!!!

JM's CNRA had purchased Taylor Swift concert tickets for her and her niece and families.  She ended up unable to use them, so I purchased the 5 tickets from her.  Corynne and Lauren each invited a friend to go with us to Nashville for the concert!  I had a great time with these young ladies.  It was a short, fast trip but it was FUN!  After checking into our hotel, we walked and window shopped for a while.  Then we found a nice place to eat dinner.

We found our seats and got ready for the fun to begin!

 The girls all had a great time listening, dancing, and singing along with the performers!  Taylor Swift was incredible even though she was sick!  She had to stop a few times to cough and clear her nose, but the music was awesome.  I don't think I could perform like that if I was sick!!!!!

The concert lasted until after 10pm!  We were exhausted, the girls feet hurt, and we tried to wait on our hotel shuttle.  i finally gave in and payed a cab to just get us back to hotel!  We were TIRED!!

State-by-State: Arizona

Moving east with our geography study as our history study moves west!  Our next stop was in Arizona.  It was HOT!

"G is for Grand Canyon,

a mile deep and ten miles wide.

hike the trails, raft the river, or

journey to the bottom on a mule ride."

from G is for Grand Canyon:  An Arizona Alphabet

The Grand Canyon is truly grand, stretching 277 miles in northern Arizona.  the mighty Colorado River continues to carve this gorge through rock over a mile thick.  Nearly five million people visit Grand Canyon National Park each year.  We hope to go there soon!!

The girls completed their scrapbook pages and lapbook during the week.

We cooked...nothing!  

But we did go for a visit on 1/1/14!

Nobody ever really wins these things...

A local FB friend posted a few weeks ago that she had raffle tickets for a truck give-away.  With each raffle purchase, you received tickets to a concert downtown on the riverfront.  I commented that JM was in the market for a truck and she should hit him up to buy a few tickets!  I warned JM that evening that I had passed his name on!  I justified the purchase of multiple tickets because the proceeds go to a great cause, Brantwood Children's Home, and he could always use a tax write-off!  He purchased the tickets.  The concert was on a Thursday, September 5th, and we really planned on going just for the fun but I was kinda exhausted from the busy week.  

  Later that evening, we had all but forgotten about the raffle.  I was finishing up the laundry, and JM was outside playing ping-pong with Tyler.  I walked into our bedroom and I heard multiple buzzing from his phone which I ignored because he was not on call that night.  Within seconds, the phone rings.  I walk over and turn it over and it is Amy from work.  She really doesn't call him in the evenings that often so I take the phone to JM.  I just hold the phone up to the window so he could see the long list of texts and missed calls (I had not read any of them).  He yells through the window..."I won the truck!".  

 

At first, we thought this was a joke.  Nobody "real" ever wins truck raffles!  After talking to multiple people including the FB friend who sold us the ticket and the Brantwood representative, it was confirmed that he won the truck.  

Weeks later, he finally met with the Ford dealership.  We ended up applying the "truck winnings" toward this used Ford F-150.  Tyler got way more truck that we had planned on him getting!

JM and I get to enjoy driving it around for a few months, but at least part of my Christmas and birthday shopping is done for the next FEW years!

ECS Volleyball 2013

I admit now that I made Corynne tryout for the volleyball team this year.   She thought she was not good enough.  I kept telling her she played great last year, and she needed to play one more year before she past judgement on the sport! She did not want to play this year and I was disappointed so I made her.  There I admit it.  She tried out for the team.  She made the JV team. 

Corynne is a very good volleyball player.   She plays tough and with determination. She learned a lot through the summer....shreeeeechh....ahah....that was the issue in the spring at tryouts!  Unfortunately, volleyball eats up the summer because games start the first week of school.  She and I were both more relaxed about it this summer, and it seemed like the coaches were a little more relaxed also.  She was definitely prepared for the season, and she enjoyed her summer fun!

I never played volleyball.  Volleyball was not even a sport at my high school, but I have quickly fallen for the game.  It is fun to watch, and the girls are so pumped up when they play.  It is a great team sport and friendship building...at least at Eastwood with AWESOME coaches!!!

Eastwood Christian School

Junior Varsity Volleyball 2013 

The 8th grade girls...their future is bright!  I cannot wait for the 2014 season!

Tot School

I decided to try to keep Colleen at home this year instead of sending her to preschool.  I just was spending too much time last year going back and forth to preschool.  With the big kids in school, we really only have from 8-1 to get our homeschooling done for the day(that includes lunch). When I was spending an hour of that driving, time just seems to disappear!
So here is our trial of Tot School.  It looks different each week, and we are trying to work through the alphabet and numbers.
For the first few weeks, Corynne was home to help with Tot School.  I would get them started, and she would follow through with the activities.  This was useful to teach Colleen the routine and to finish the projects!
Letter Formation...

 

Shapes...

Water bead sensory fun...

Numbers...

Qtip Painting...

On Friday, we have to clean our desk when the day is thru!!

Guess who is 7!!!

Lyndsey!

Lyndsey turns 7 today!  She was so excited to celebrate with friends.  She has been planning this birthday party since last year!  Well, kinda!  She first wanted a Chuck E. Cheese party, then an ice skating party, then something else....!!  She wanted a party!!!  She has been wanting the Saige American Girl doll since January, and her mean parents have not given in.  She was told then it would be a nice birthday present!  While we were at the American Girl store in August, it hit me!  Why not a Saige Birthday Party!  Lyndsey was all for it!  I called up Mrs. Barb from Barb's on Mulberry to see if she could do a painting class with the girls.  It was a "YES!"  The rest of the party came together pretty easy!

 Invitations, decoration and a cake!

Mrs. Barb planned a fabulous hot air balloon for the girls to paint!

They all did a great job!

We had pizza and cake and opened presents!  They girls played and watched some of the Saige Movie.

 For her birthday lunch on Sunday, she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese.  So after church we went to the new Chuck E. Cheese in the Eastdale Mall.  Everyone had fun, but it is expensive to give all these kids tokens!!!  After we got home, Lyndsey opened presents from our family.

Our ball of FIRE is 7!  The world will never be the same!

Labor Day Beach

We had to reschedule our summer beach trip this year for Labor Day!  John Mark had to work Friday, so the kids and I drove down by ourselves to get this party started!  We made it the Lambert's in Foley in time for dinner.  The kids love this place!

Saturday morning, we slept late and then headed to the beach!  We had a great time with our feet in the sand.  Cousin Caroline came strolling down the beach with her friend, and Tyler left immediately to go find Preston!  This made my day on the beach so much happier easier without a fussy teen bored with family beach vacation!

For dinner we drove over to the Wharf for some burgers, ice cream, and fun!  While Tyler watched the Auburn football game on the HUGE screen down by the bar, the girls and I enjoyed shopping and the street dance party!

Dad arrived early Sunday morning before everyone was really awake.  He was ready for his beach time with the kids.  Tyler met up with Preston for his fun for the day!

For an early dinner, we drove over to Lulu's.  The kids enjoyed all the fun activities while we waited for our table.  

 

After dinner, we went back down on the beach for our annual photo shoot!