Tuesday, August 29, 2006

And So It Begins...

Today was our first day of school! We started about 7:15 with breakfast and a devotion with the Bible verse Ethan is learning this week. We started "school" at about 7:45 and were pretty much done by about 11:30. In case you think we're slacking we had these subjects today: Bible, phonics (3 lessons), math (2 lessons), poetry, cursive writing, art (drawing/coloring), reading, and snacks & recess, which I'm told are absolutely necessary! Oh, Ethan also had some seatwork to complete.

So, just how much time are people wasting in school being told to turn around, face the front, line up for (x,y,z), stop talking, etc.??

Isaac had some playtime and we worked on a few worksheets as Ethan did his seatwork. We are waiting for his curriculum to arrive.

Today feels like it was very successful - children learning , a sane Mom and we got lots of other errands done, as well! Praise be to God!

Monday, August 28, 2006

It's Almost Labor Day....

which in MI means that schools are gearing up to go back to school. Sad time of the year, eh? Due to some law passed, all (public) schools start after Labor Day. Here at our house, we start tomorrow! No, not private school nor charter school.

We are homeschooling Ethan this year! And we start tomorrow. Some thoughts that run through my head frequently are: "YIKES!!!!!! Yes, God is sovereign. God will lead us through all of this. Breathe. BREATHE!!! This is the best decision for our family. BREATHE!!"

We were planning on starting after Labor Day, however my sis and bro-in-law were planning on coming back from Ghana on the 6th. How can you disrupt a schedule if one doesn't exist? Moreover, how can you get back on track once disrupted? If I don't start tomorrow, I think it will be much harder to get back on track. Never mind the fact that they are now trying to extend their stay. :-)

Ethan is excited for school to start! I think he is excited to be able to work at his pace, which seems to be faster than the pace at school last year. According to his stardardized testing results, he's reading at a 3rd grade level, doing math at a 1st or 2nd grade level, and out-performing many children his age. From February until school ended, he started causing "trouble" -- getting up out of his seat, wandering, calling answers out in class, distracting other students -- because he was bored and already had a good grasp on what was being taught.

What about Isaac, you may ask? Well, the prevailing thought was that he would continue with pre-school at the school he attended last year; he doesn't meet the age cut-off to start Kindergarten this fall. Then, yesterday on the way home from church, a crazy thought occured: Why don't we homeschool him too? It would lessen the stress and drive time of racing across town to the preschool, set up "school" for Ethan and be much less running around that we would be doing, i.e. more time for school, learning, and reading. The tuition cost would equal 2 or 3 months of preschool. We plan on introducing him to a Kindergarten 4 curriculum and more advanced concepts, although he is having a hard time accepting the fact that Pluto is no longer a planet. When I asked him about homeschooling, he was so excited! He said, "Oh yes, I would like to be homeschooled!"

I plan to keep Scrapping and Stamping, along with monthly workshops, day-crops, and teaching classes. This will all keep me very busy!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

2 More Camping Layouts!

Marshmallows - Need We Say More?? It's funny to see my boys do the Korean Squat!


Here we are at our campground. Lots of fun!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Camping Picture Layouts.. Finally!


It's taken me this long to scrap the pics from our camping trip last month!

Dune pics -

Under the blue flap (top right) is a photo of Isaac crawling on all fours through the dunes and some journaling --

"The Dunes were so much fun! The boys got to the top and quickly became specks on the horizon. Ethan brought his car; Isaac crawled on all 4s...sometimes just for fun! It rained so heavily the night before the dunes became packed down & much easier to walk on... not as "beachy." What a great day! Fun was had by us all. :)"




Beach Pics -

We had so much fun at Lake Michigan! The quote is, "Something wonderful happens when the sky is a heavenly shade of blue." ~Frank Sinatra










Saturday, August 05, 2006

Mid-July: Camping Trip!

Now, I am a self-declared city-gal; I enjoy my air-conditioning, warm showers, privacy, sleeping on a mattress and most importantly, doors and windows! My Dearest broached the subject of (tent) camping this past winter/spring with fond memories of his camping days. These days were about 2 decades ago, mind you! I thought, "I should be an adventurous mom. I will try almost anything once." This dovetails along with my philosophy that I will do just about anything for my kids and put my own self-consciousness aside. Perhaps a better way to put it would be that my own selfconsciousness shouldn't be a reason for not doing something with my kids.

I had concerns about this new adventure, on which we were going to take our children. I was concerned about drunken people keeping us up all hours of the night (no real walls, remember?) and having a miserable time. I think my Dearest was stuck in we-are-going-camping-mode and found a lovely camp ground Stony Haven Campground.

Friday, August 04, 2006

July 1 -- Marriage...


Mawwage... That is the weason, we are gathewed togethah today. ~Princess Bride

Here's a layout of a friend's wedding. We didn't actually go to the wedding (due to distance & time) but these are pics and a poem written by the groom's mom in announcement form.

On a sidenote, it seems so much easier to scrapbook for others or the pages that belong in my "People We Love" album, rather than my own personal pages. I guess the key is organization and time! :-)

I'm home!

Since my birthday was during Convention week, I got to celebrate twice; once in SLC with my consultant friends (along with about 45 women who sang "Happy Birthday" to me in the hotel lobby!) and again at home with the 3 sweetest boys (whose singing may have been off, but was the sweetest sound)!

More Boys - Last Week of June































What did the boys do while I was at Convention??

Well... the boys had lots of outdoor fun! Enjoy these pics from that week, last week of June.