The Past Six Months...

One day I will look back on this and wonder what happened in the huge gaps between my postings. Maybe I will remember how tired I am, or just how bad of a writer I am.

Let's see if I can recap some of the happenings of the past few months. Hmmm...

Well, Paul is still working at the same company. It has been bought out and we are praying they will not close the GA branch, or that God would direct him if he needs to be elsewhere.

Matthew turned 11! How did I miss that blog? My little boy is growing up. He is developing different interests, loves projects, and is very dependable. He takes things very serious and has a wonderful heart. Oh, he gets to play football this year with Austin on the Force! I am both excited and nervous for him at the same time. Excited because I know he has been looking forward to it. Nervous, because...well, those are big guys and they play rough, and this is my baby. (he does not like to be called that anymore though :-(

Austin...Austin has really matured in the last six months or so. He still is a kid at heart but seems to have learned a good deal of patience. He also turned 13 last month, officially a teenager. I wanted to do something special for his birthday, he of course wanted simple. We created a little book for him, with letters/words of wisdom/advice from 13 close relatives and friends. He genuinely seemed touched. I hope it is something that he will keep and pull out every now and then during his life. I can already see the teen years as being full of challenges and decisions for him.

School; Austin is going to Classical Conversations next year; he will be in 8th grade (of Challenge B as they call it). I am very excited for him. I know he will probably not enjoy the extra workload, but I think he will enjoy the new experiences.

Speaking of experiences, the kids were both selected to be extras in a movie filmed here in GA. It has Clint Eastwood and Justin Timberlake in it. They were both excited and a little nervous at first. That wore off after the first few hours. Matthew was a fan watching a baseball game. He did get chosen to do a scene with an actor. They did about 10 cuts of it and there was no speaking, just action. Hopefully it will make it into the final cut. Austin waited for 3 hours to walk behind the scene being filmed. I think he was supposed to be walking with a friend/girlfriend. He was somewhat disappointed with how long it took.

That day showed me that both can be patient, as they both had to wait most of the day for their turns...doing nothing at all. Who knows, maybe it will open a career door for them. They were able to realize that there is a lot that goes into making a movie - and a lot of people and jobs.

Football is starting soon. I am excited and tired at that. Somehow I volunteered us to be Assistant Athletic Directors for the team. For some reason I was thinking that I need to be more involved. To be honest, I would LOVE to be more involved in lots of things. I just need to figure out a way to do without sleep or to clone myself.

Well, that is all I can think of for now. Hopefully I will not wait so long next time. Note to self; find camera and start taking more pictures. :-)

Patience and Faith

Over the past year and half our lives have been in...turmoil confusion maybe just unsettled. Essentially we have had control ripped out of our hands. This was especially difficult for me as I can be controlling like to plan.

Paul has lived in MD while we were here. Do we move there or stay here? Does he stay there until he can find a job here? It would have seemed like a no-brainer, he is there so we should move there. However I have a job here. The kids are involved in activites here. I have lived in GA my entire life. We did not like MD. Most of all, we never felt peace about it.

You might remember, we almost moved up there and then scratched the idea at the last minute. We decided to be patient, this oddly felt peaceful.

Then we finally gave in, threw control to the wind and Paul gave his notice in August and came home with no job lined up. This normally would have freaked me out but it didn't. After a year of waiting for God to show up before we moved, we stepped out in faith. And guess what? Once we showed our faith, he showed his promise. A year and half of applying to jobs with no real calls or interviews and the second week he is home he gets an interview and ends up getting the job.

Patience and faith are not easily obtained attributes for me. I will admit that I have trouble with both. I am glad that God is patient and forgiving, allowing me to grow in these areas.

For right now, I am very thankful that my family is back together again.

Where did summer go...

Wow, it is hard to believe it has been 3 months since my last post. What happened to summer? Oh, I remember now - I worked all summer.

What else is going? Hmm...oh, the big news; Paul is home for good!!! Unfortunately he did not leave for a better job here in GA; he left to come home to his family! We are praying that he will find a good job here at home.

I have completely flip-flopped my work schedule. After 8 years of working nights, I am now working days (morning, early mornings) 5 days a week. This has been a transition for us, but for the most part it is working out well. I get home right after lunch and am home every night. The boys are doing independent work until I get home, then we work together.

Then, most days we go to football practice. My day’s start at 4:30 and end about 9:30 - not a lot of me time there, but it is worth it. Back to football; we love the Force. We are now having practice 3 nights a week, a high school game 1 night, and our game (MS/JV) on Saturday. It is a lot but so worth it. The coaches are wonderful and Austin likes his team.

As for school, we made some changes to my previous post. We are just in our 3rd week but so far, so good. We start a little earlier than some so that we can be into a routine by the time co-op starts, and this year we are in 2 co-ops. 24 Tuesdays and Thursdays, this school year, we meet with other families for educational and fun activities.

Well, I guess that is enough for now. Note to self, check in here more often or there will be too few memories to recall. :-)

2011-2012 Lesson Plans

Yes, I said 2011-2012. I mean, it is already the middle of May - I am behind here. Well, truth be told I started my planning about a month or so ago, it has just taken me this long to decide.

Have I mentioned that we (I) really enjoyed this year - at least most of the year. :-) In review, both boys really progressed which is one of the reasons I had trouble deciding. Huh?

Well, Austin is going to be in the 7th grade next year. 7th grade, I have a 7th grader?, (the way that makes me feel is probably best for another day) Anyway, back to school stuff. 7th grade really makes me think about high school years and there are SO many options and things to consider:
-Continue as current
-Outsource to tutors
-Sign-up for one of the many homeschool "schools"
-Go traditional textbook route following the public schools
-Online classes

I was thinking about a combination of all of the above, and we may yet do that in the future. But after talking with several other parents of high schoolers and college students, I have relaxed somewhat which has allowed me to be okay with still bucking the traditional public school route (at least to an extent).

That being said, here is what we are planning for this next year.
Language Arts - Winston Basic Grammar, Daily Grams, Wordly Wise, Paragraph Books, Time4writing (maybe 2nd semester)
History - BJU 5 & 7, as well as lots of movies, field trips, and activities
Science - Noeo Science Biology II
(oops - forgot to add Math) Teaching Textbooks 6 & 7
Art - Meet the Masters

Now that the curriculum decisions have been made, I will have to start planning the lessons. 7th grade is a lot more work and is going to be a big adjustment for us all.

Warm weather ramblings...

Spring is here at last, well at least I hope it is. Our seasons seem to have gotten a little confusing over the last few years. Many will argue that it is because of global warming. I am not going to start on that now, just hope that we will have at least a few weeks of spring before the blistering hear of summer overtakes us.

I love this time of the year, it is probably my favorite. Everything seems new and alive. Christmas seems to bring out the best in people - genoristy, kindness, and love. Spring is probably the next best time of year for these emotions.

Another fun thing about spring is planning for the coming school year. Yes, I know that many people wait until mid or even late summer for this. I love to plan though, and shop of course. There are so many choices out there, this has been my hardest time yet in choosing.

We contemplated sending Austin to a semi-private school for homeschoolers. Wow, that sounds complicated. It really seems like a great option, however we have decided to wait at least one more year. This has been our best year of homeschooling, in terms of learning and growing. Both boys have done so well that we feel it is best not to change anything at the moment.

So, I am in the process of completing my shopping list and searching for the best deals. Then I will likely spend a good part of the summer poring over my selections and planning our schedules. The other parts of summer will be spent; working, going to the waterpark, football practice (Austin), and playing.

As the boys are getting older, I am realizing that I need to really cherish these times. They will be over all too soon.

It's a Matter of Mass...or is it a Mass of Matter?

Many people question homeschoolers, "Are you a certified teacher?", "How can you teach your child everything?". Well, the truth of the matter is; I can't teach my children everything. However, I am able to guide their studies, encourage them, and offer customized learning to their needs.

I admire the pioneer homeschoolers (10+ years ago) who had very few choices. Today we have such a selection of curriculum choices available that the problem we now face is how to choose. There are complete textbooks, online classes, co-op classes, tutors, and more.

I have found that a variety of the above works for us. This year I had planned a mini-coop with another family that would cover Art, Geography, History, and Science. Then my friend had to go and move to the Arctic so we made some changes. That is okay, we forgive them. :-)

For the most part, I have been very happy with our progress this year. We have been using a computerized Math program (Teaching Textbooks), and both boys seem to really enjoy it. Austin especially has really improved. For English we are using traditional textbooks (BJU). Spelling, Vocabulary, and Geography we are using online programs. History has been a combination of textbooks, videos and field trips.

The only area that I have really been lagging in is Science. I have never cared for Science, never really understood it. I have looked at curriculum after curriculum and it just doesn't seem to fit with me us. That is until this month, when I discovered a live video teacher for Science. (I told you, the choices are wonderful).

We had our first lesson this week about Matter and Mass. She was very good with the kids, there was about 15 children in the class - they were able to interact with the teacher and each other. We learned about the 3 main properties of matter; Solids, Liquids, and Gas. We learned the difference between them and then made a lava lamp to demonstrate. The boys really enjoyed that, and it really worked.

We are actually looking forward to the next session, who knows; I might have found the answer for Science. :-)

At night, they put a flashlight under the bottle and it looks just like a lava lamp. Matthew posted directions on how to make it over here.

I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore...or Georgia

Having been born and raised in Georgia, I am very acclimated to mild winters; the very rare deep freeze or heavens forbid a snowflake or two. In Georgia, snow is so rare that the entire state usually shuts down for a day to enjoy it.

Most of us have a nice warm coat to wear from the car to the nice warm building, and maybe a couple of pretty sweaters. That is about the extent of our winter gear. Sleds? What are those? We have a reason for such things.

Until this year that is. I blame it on my friend Kathleen. She just moved a couple of months ago from Georgia to the Arctic and has been ever so anxious for some of that white stuff. I am pretty certain I heard some prayers being sent for it. I think she forgot to give God her new address though as we have been blessed with snow three times this very young winter. Yes, she did get her blizzard - I think she has been properly introduced now.

As for us left down here in the deep South; it has been chaos. Freezing temperatures in the teens and wind chills in the single digits, snow and ice, and now...now, we are buried (well, maybe not quite - but still)

Last week the meteorologists started predicting a snow storm on the way. "Go now", they said, "Stock up on milk, bread, batteries, and anything else you might need for a week or two". Yeah, right. At least that is what we all said up until Sunday. Sunday night, it came - it came worse than they thought, faster too.

We woke up Monday morning to a beautiful winter wonderland. The kids even convinced me to take a snow day. Sure, why not - we have milk and bread and there is about 7 or inches of white stuff everywhere.








With this much snow, you have to go sledding. Wait a minute, we don't have a sled. Oh well, a couple of cardboard boxes and the beach tube will have to do.




Lots of fun...




Then everything everywhere started shutting down. They announced the schools would be closed for a week. Businesses everywhere closed - even Walmart!

Wait a minute, this isn't as fun as I thought. Hundreds of motorists stranded on the interstate all night. Can't go to work, means can't make any money. AND, lots of fun in the snow (without proper winter gear) means LOTS of laundry. I ran out of laundry detergent. They said buy milk and bread - they did not say anything about laundry detergent. Sorry, kids no more snow.

Just kidding - though I was mean enough to resume school the second day.

Well, I guess I will still have to thank Kathleen. All this snow she requested makes me feel a little closer to them, and it really is beautiful.