And So It Begins...

This week marks the beginning of a new homeschooling year. Yesterday we began a new program called, Classical Conversations. The children go once a week for tutoring and the rest of the learning and teaching happens at home. 

I new we needed something different after all the struggles last year and this seems like an answer to prayer. I always say, "Be careful what you pray for." 

I know this is going to be difficult. I have more accountability, the children have more accountability and there is much more writing that we have ever done before. Not to mention, the Latin! I plan on learning a lot and covet prayers for my patience and grace as we go through these growing pains. 

I also began my twice daily Lovenox shots this week. This is a medication that I must take when I am pregnant to help prevent blood clots. For some reason it was emotional for me to start. Not because it hurts, it does not feel good but I have felt much worse, but I think because it means that birth is that much closer. I struggle with anxiety surrounding the actual birth much more these past couple of pregnancies. After I finally worked out the dosage with the doctor ( I had to hang up on him once because I had a child with a minor head wound that was bleeding profusely) I felt like I could breathe easier.

We started cutting our logging truck loads of wood this week. We got 5 cords or dry moved and ready for use and over half the load bucked, split and some stacked. I had some very hungry, sore and tired people on my hands. I feel a sense of security about knowing that I will be warm this winter. I almost am looking forward to cozy fires and reading books ~ Almost. I am not quite ready to say good bye to the warm sunshine. 

Sean and I have ridden the past couple mornings in the fog. I have to say it is not a beginning that eagerly anticipate. It sure was nice this morning when the sun (behind all the clouds) came over the horizon and lit up the sky.

My garden is in full bounty and begging me to can. I managed 21 pints of blackberry jam, 7 pints of balsamic fig jam, a dozen pints of rhubarb jam. Up next: green beans, corn, and peas.
Last week we managed  hike a Baker, a trip up to Canada, dentist appointments for all the children, a potluck and orientation for Classical Conversations, a fabulous party with some wonderful homeschooling friends and a Doula Client meeting.
Maybe I am ready for fall and life to slow down a little. 

Monks

 We have been learning about the early Christian Church. Monks and Monasteries were a large part of influence of the developing church.
Monks had to promise to give up everything they owned, to obey their abbot and not get married.
Medieval monks followed rules that were written by St. Benedict: Monks should pray, study, and work hard in the fields. They should eat plain food, wear simple clothes and look after the sick and the poor.

Just like the Monasteries, quiet, dark, and cold. 

We grew an herb garden with many of the same herbs that monks used in healing. Now we will work on learning how to use those herbs. We also looked at many of the manuscripts that were Illuminated by medieval monks. We tried our hand at doing some illuminating, it is definitely a tedious and time consuming art.
My favorite parts of this study has been reading, "Trial and Triumph" a book about Martyrs for the faith. Learning more about St. Francis of Assisi has been fascinating.
We decided to finish our unit on Monks by recreating a dinner in the Monastery. We did not use lights, we had the house really cold, and ate split pea soup with ginger ale in silence. Ian was our server so if anyone wanted anything they had to signal to him, and Ian would go get whatever they indicated they wanted. I was surprised that Liberty could eat the entire meal without talking! It was pleasant and gave us a small indication into what sacrifice the Monks made in their devotion to studying the Word of God. My one concern is that Sean will want to eat like this every night! Ruby thought it was the best, she wants to do this at least once a week!  Aaron was the only one who liked the Ginger Ale, so I had to put a stop to his finishing off everyone's drink.
And because I'm cool like that, or just because I didn't know how to end the meal, We turned on the lights and served ice cream sundaes.
What are you doing to bring history alive in your home?

Keeping It Real

Today was one of 'Those Days'. You know the kind you wish you could rewind, or start over, or skip entirely. The kind of day you don't want to repeat anytime soon. 

 It began with the child responsible for making breakfast wouldn't get out of bed. Finally, he got out of bed and immediately went outside to take care of his farm chores, but got sidetracked by the basketball hoop and sucked his brothers in to his game of PIG. 

I love to see these relationships grow and I am guilty of taking over their chores so that they will have time to develop their friendships with each other. I made breakfast. At breakfast, Liberty pushed herself out from the table and the chair got stuck somehow and cracked one of the bracing for the chair legs.  I then corralled the Erik and Ian for our Skype Math Lesson. I am loving teaching another student and have found myself more prepared and like the accountability with both my time and my attitude. 

Little Miss Independent

 I am enjoying the fact that the math lesson does not drag on for hours or even days. I digress, My boys were irritated that they are having to perform in front of one of their friends, and that sometimes they are not the best, or they have to work a little harder than the next person.  Aaron was fascinated by the Skype and wanted to stay as close to us as possible. This does not work when you are quizzing a 6 year old on her math facts. He then got extremely offended when I asked him to take it somewhere else!
We moved on to circle time and I had this great game "Nine Men's Morris" that we were supposed to play, it went along with the time period we are studying. I set my coffee down and went to get the game off of the counter. In that time, Ruby climbed up on the cabinet grabbed a toy, got her foot stuck in the piano cord, knocked my coffee flying (there was coffee on the ceiling) smacked the hermit crab tank and fell into a chair, knocked it over and started crying. I calmly left the room, then told Liberty to leave me alone when she followed me into my room. After dropping to my knees, crying and praying for the strength to raise these children in the admonition of the Lord, I returned to find all the bickering, bad attitudes, and coffee (except what is still on the ceiling), cleaned up and the children reading and playing the game. So much more effective than if I had yelled at them.

Erik, Taylor and Aaron September 2005

I made lunch, we had our reading tutor come,(while I was occupied the little ones dumped the entire Rubbermaid bin of Playmobile, and disassembled a majority of the 39,000 tiny pieces)  then a friend who is trying to train her dog around children came over. In between making a new recipe for dinner, helping the children behave appropriately around the dog, and keeping Liberty off the counter, I placed a hot 11 X 17 Pyrex in my sink and it exploded! tiny shards of glass were mostly contained in the sink and nobody was hurt. But I am out my best fudge pan! 

I got the Ox Tail Soup in the oven, got my Pioneer Woman Crush Potatoes Ready, and the Caramelized Winter Vegetables all ready.  We had Turnips, Pearl Onions and Daikon. 

Surprisingly what took me 4 hours this afternoon to prepare was not nearly enough food for the family. 

Liberty spilled her water, in it's entirety, in my lap. Erik and Ian detested the potatoes, Sean asked for more, and Taylor asked to be excused! 

I heated up some Pioneer Woman Chicken Tortilla Soup and on my way to the table, spilled it all over. As I was cleaning it up, Sean asked for a spoon and crackers. I jokingly called him My Lord, and the name stuck.
 

Ian, September 2005

I felt like pouting like Ian in this picture! We are not a clean your plate club type of family, UNLESS, you make some snide, rude or otherwise ungrateful comment about what we are eating. Tonight we had 3 that had to finish their meals. We won the meanest parents ever award. What made it even worse was that Liberty and I had made Ginger Cookies tonight and they were fresh from the oven, waiting for those that were thankful for their dinner.
I finally sat down to register for a class that is going to keep me updated on my CEU's for both my Childbirth Educator Certification and my Doula Certification. The deadline to enter was today and thankfully I made the deadline, but I had to laugh at my confirmation code: Regionalass. Thanks. I think that pretty much sums up my day. What about you, how was your day? 

Lunar Learning

Which 2 balls represent the size relationship between the Earth and  Moon? 

We are studying Astronomy for our science this year. It has been fantastic because so far we have seen a complete Lunar Eclipse, and a couple nights ago both Venus and Mars were visible when the moon was rising. 

I did not plan this study to coincide with these events, God orchestrated it just for us!

 The Earth is 4 times larger than the moon, yet the moon is responsible for our tides, and has influence on the gravity of our planet. 

Did you know that only 12 men have ever walked on the Moon? Because the Moon has no wind or rain, the footprints the Astronauts left are still there!

We also did some experiments to see how high we could jump if we were on the moon. Surprisingly, my little girls could jump a whopping 8" here on Earth, if they were on the Moon they could jump 24". The big kids could jump 16" on Earth, but 96" on the Moon. You can jump 6X higher on then Moon, than on Earth. 

The Moon is also the only place in our whole Solar System that people have actually visited, beside the Earth. We decided to make some Astronauts and design a Lunar Module that could land safely. The requirements were that the Astronauts could not be secured in (i.e.: glued, tied, or otherwise restrained) and that the landing had to be soft.

Every day my Family Room looks, at least to some degree, like this. Apparently, the children learn better and are much more creative with some disorder and lots of options.

Ian took several tries to design a Lunar Module that did not contain restraints for his Astronauts. It looked amazingly like a parachute. His Module landed softly but his Astronauts were ejected from their device.

Taylor's was by far the softest landing and least likely to lose an Astronaut. She rolled pieces of note cards into supports for her Lunar Module, then poked holes through the sides and inserted the supports and secured the whole thing together using tape. It had a wide landing and the helicopter like thingy on top made it land slowly and therefore more gently.

They are currently attempting to track the moon's phases for an entire month, and learning to use the telescope that they received for Christmas.
I enjoy learning as much, probably more, than my children and begin able to discuss what we have learned as we go about our day. Plus, it is really helpful to have so many hands clean up after we complete a messy project or experiment.

Chinese New Year Party

It's been awhile since we have had a party. What better reason to celebrate than Chinese New Year. 

This works even better for us, because Chinese New Year begins on the first New Moon of the Year and lasts for a week. We got to choose what day worked best for all our schedules. 

Chinese Dragon Crafts ~ Year of the Dragon

Syndi is amazing at prep work. She planned the crafts and pre-cut all the materials! One of my biggest pitfalls in homeschooling is the failure to prep prior to needing the materials.

We began by reading about how the Chinese Celebrate. We figured out that we had a Dog, Rat, Pig, Dragon, Monkey, Sheep, Chicken and Tiger in our mix! Talk about a variety of personalities. We did read them what the beliefs were but were sure to discuss the fact that we didn't believe in horoscopes. 

The Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Calendar. It is a type of huge birthday celebration as well, because custom has it that you don't turn a year older until the New Year    Celebration. So even if your birthday is in May you don't officially turn a year older until the New Year  Festivities~ That would give me an extra 6 months!

The Chinese also decorate windows and doors with red lanterns for wealth, good fortune, happiness and longevity. I still have the lanterns strung in the dining room because they make me happy! 

It is Chinese tradition to cleanse the entire house to sweep away ill fortune and make room for good luck. I am so thankful that I have hope in Jesus Christ and don't have to depend on luck. 

Although I felt quite lucky to be treated to Chinese Food. 

 One of the best parts of our Chinese New Year Celebration involved eating Chinese Food! Shockingly, my children did not like sweet and sour! Jess and I are shameless, we put our favorites to the back and served the children more of the foods we don't care for as much.

 My mother in law always says, "With rank comes privilege." I'm just going to go with that! 

I must admit that Justice has me totally wrapped around his finger. Look at those cheeks and the concentration.

I love that all our celebrations involve such a huge variety of ages. I made Red and Gold play dough for the children and Liberty so incredibly excited to play with it, she could hardly wait. I also appreciate the fact that the older children are able and willing to help the youngers and more importantly help clean up after them. 

Justice, Jess and Ian

Syndi brought a variety of pictures to color, some ribbon dragons for each family, the lanterns, and researched several games for the children to play. 

Paisley and Abigail are the only ones  missing from this photo! 

Jake playing a number game. 

A game involving picking up beans with chopsticks. You would have been amazed at the level of competition involved on this one! 

In the morning, children greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone.

Much to their disappointment, we opted not to give our children money in red envelopes. 

Isobel and Ruby 

Liberty and Justice

Savannah 

We had fun eating and reading fortune cookies. I think we can easily say that we are blessed, have prosperity, happiness, health and joy in our lives. It is always fun to turn a learning opportunity into a party with friends.

Anticipation!

I know Libby doesn't look like she is excited, but she has been the number one counter-downer of when Mikaela will get here. 

We are gearing up for a busy few days! 

We have history today, after about a 2 month break. All of us are super excited and waiting for a day of learning and friends! 

This afternoon, Mikaela flies in from San Diego. She will be here for 10 days. We can't wait to spend some time with her. Time with family, sledding, bowling, and just being together. It's good to have my family all in one place. 

Roman Feast

Shelly and her children are studying Rome to the Reformation as part of their school this year. I love that they are a year ahead of us and we can call them with questions whenever  we get stuck in our school. 

Sean 

They invited our family to their Roman Feast. But first we had to figure out when it was. Our invitations were written with Roman Numerals. 

Ian, Cael, and Liberty

We got some strange looks driving our BRV (Big Red Van) down the road on a Friday afternoon with children and adults in Togas. When we arrived at the Feast we were greeted, and the 'slave' washed our hands then we were invited to recline at the banquet. What nobody noticed here was that Liberty took the entire bowl of Caesar Salad and ate it all ~ right out of the serving bowl. 

Aaron

It was very cool to eat a meal without utensils. I confess, it was the first time I have ever eaten an omelet with my fingers. It was the best omelet, well I may have had 3 or 4, ever! It was made with honey and walnuts! Liberty took the reclining seriously, she laid on her back with the drumstick held above her head and her mouth wide open. 

A Sample of Roman books and activities. 

I will spare you the photos of the boys with their big hunks of chicken on the bone. They were disappointed that they didn't get to be authentic and throw the bones on the floor for the servants to clean up. 

We had the opportunity to look through the work that the children completed so far this year. We also heard some of the verses and poems that they have memorized. As well as shared some of our own. 

Aiden and Erik

Shelly is a brave woman! She let the children drink grape juice from wine glasses while laying on cushions in her living room! I was the only one to spill, oops!

We had olives, Fig Newtons (figs), omeletts, chicken, roasted almonds, pickles, grapes, and Caesar Salad. 

I love seeing what our friends are doing and enjoying a great afternoon with friends.  

All the guests at the Triclinium

We learned some Roman games that Aiden, Ellie, and Cael made. I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon, eating with friends, learning about what they have been studying, and holding baby Gracie!
Plus, we took home one of their roosters with the hope that it will keep the rats from stealing our eggs!
Thank you Mrs. B, Aiden, Ellie, Cael and Gracie for The Roman Feast!

Failed Science & Meal Plans

I love science! There are so many things to learn. I have a slight obsession with science books. 

The thing is I detest doing things over. We get one shot to get it right around here. I think that is why I don't knit or crochet because often, one must remove stitches then put them back in ~ really not my kinda thing. 

We are studying about ancient Egypt and how they preserved mummies. So, we tried one of the experiments where you take three pieces of toast and burn one, put antiseptic cream on another, then leave one alone and see what happens. Then unfortunate thing is we left it for 3 weeks and only the antiseptic one showed a slight bit of mold. 

How scary is that!? Our regular bread did not mold. Why won't it mold when you 'need' it to, but when you really just need to make some sandwiches the whole loaf has specks of mold throughout? 

Learning about the Pyramids we discovered that there are pyramid shaped crystals throughout nature and that they are the most stable structure around. We had a 'fail-proof' way to make crystals. We managed to fail to make them. This is not the first time we have tried to make crystals and it's not the first time we failed.  Not sure we will try again,  unless it shows up somewhere in our studies again, OR if someone really does know how to make them.  

On another note, I am completely sold on planning meals and shopping accordingly. It just seems so daunting to take the time to plan and equally daunting to not have a plan. 

I had not been grocery shopping for over 3 weeks because I had no plan, and did not want to go and buy food and still have nothing to prepare. So Here is what I currently have planned: 

Layered Tuna Casserole

Ravioli Soup

Sloppy Joe's

Coq Au Vin

Bacon and Cheese Chicken

Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Mozzarella Meatballs

Orange Chicken and Rice

Home made Pizza

Beef Barley Soup

Pad Thai

I feel pretty good that I have some yummy recipe choices and everything to make the main meal, with the exception of the fresh veggies I  need for  meals that are not this week. 

Hope the ideas help and you are inspired to make your life easier by planning a bit ahead. 

Joys Of Homeschooling

Liberty and Erik in Ruby's bed reading some biographies 

Recently, I had someone asking me questions about homeschooling. She was thinking about homeschooling her children. She asked, "Wouldn't it be much easier to send them to public school?"

Of Course it would be easier! We are not called to do what is easy.  

I would be home with Liberty, who takes a 2 1/2 hour nap every day. 

I would miss seeing what they are learning, 

I would have 5 children in 4 different schools (that does not sound easier),

 I would still have to help with homework and make sure the work got done,

I would not get to take a field trip whenever we wanted,

I would not get to snuggle in front of the fire with my 5 year old and watch as she is learning how to read,

I would not get to listen to the creative play and sibling relationships that are so endearing. 

Guess, I just needed to convince myself that it IS worth it. I know it is, and I know I am not called to do what is easy, rather what is Right. 

Cuneiform Cookies

Our Study this year runs from Creation to the Greeks. We were learning about the first alphabet after Noah's Flood, which used shapes and pictures to record information.

Syndi watched the kids for me earlier in the week and made the cookie dough with the little girls. The cookie dough sat in the fridge for a couple of days and I could not stop eating it!

We had to make the cookies or soon we would not have any dough left!

After practicing writing their names and memory verse for the week using Cuneiform we 'engraved' our cookies with our initials. Sadly, there was only enough dough for each child to have 2 cookies with 1 leftover for Papa.

Vanilla Sugar Cookies

1 Cup Butter

2/3 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tbsp Vanilla

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine first 4 ingredients.. Add flour and salt mix well. Chill for 2 hours (or 2 days and eat some of the dough).

Roll and cut out cookies. Bake at 350 for 8 - 10 minutes

Random Quotes

The other day when Taylor and I were shopping I commented that I needed to look for a new waffle iron. She replied, "Why would you want to iron your waffles?"

We were at the checkout at the grocery store and Ruby looked like she was hula-hooping with an imaginary hula hoop. She turned to Ian and said, "I like to keep moving that way people know the world is still spinning."

I enjoy seeing how their minds work and I LOVE being able to witness when they make the connection between what we have learned and the world around them.

Science With Noah

Last week we read about Noah and the Flood. Did you know it took Noah 120 years to build the Ark? The Ark was built in the middle of a desert, and it had never rained on Earth before.

Prior to the flood, the earth was watered with a mist and from the deep. We converted cubits to feet and then went out in the field to measure 450 feet, the length of the Ark.

The weather has turned from our beautiful Indian Summer to a crisp fall.  I admit I was not looking forward to leaving the warmth and cozy feeling inside, but once we went out it felt wonderful. The fresh air and imminent feeling of a storm brewing was just what my soul needed.

See the little white fence in the background? It is 450 feet from where I am standing.  Hard to imagine what it must have been like for Noah to build something so huge in the middle of the desert. I think about the ridicule he must have had to endure and the faith he had in God to continue with such an outrageous request. And I was relieved that we didn't have to climb under any barbed wire or electric fences!

Often it is difficult for me to make the extra effort to actually go and do these types of projects because they don't seem worth it. I can see that it brings to life the things we are studying and is good for all of us.

Under My Belt

Huge sigh of relief, We have the first week of school under our belt! I was really struggling with the decision of whether or not to finish what we did not complete last year (due to the move) or start fresh and begin our new curiculum.

I am happy to say we started with our new material. I did not want to be bogged down trying to finish.

We are doing My Father's World Creation To The Greeks.

I like to celebrate the beginning of the year with something special that we can look forward to. Last year, Syndi and I took the children to Starbucks and Haggen for donuts. Ruby puked everywhere and it was rather spendy. We opted to invite Ben and Syndi over and have a fabulous morning of donuts, hot cocoa, bacon, eggs, and of course, coffee for the adults.

It was extra special for Erik and Taylor since I allowed them to eat the donuts even though they are gluten-free. Sacrifices must be made for the sake of memories. I daresay they were all happy campers.

They were even more excited that they were able to play after and work on their forts in the woods.

Our studies this year include God and the History of Art. Lesson 1 was a Lesson in Frustration. Ruby and Erik were in tears and Taylor was pretty close to it. Liberty, Ian and Aaron loved the challenge of drawing a butterfly using only their teeth.

I participated as well, but I must confess that putting the pencil in my mouth made me gag, and my butterfly was not nearly as good as the children's.

We will also be Celebrating Biblical Feasts so much of our first week included preparation for Celebrating the Sabbath. The meal was amazing! We made Challa Bread and Golden Yoich Soup and enjoyed it with wine and grape juice.

The meal has a very sacred feel to it complete with silver candlesticks, white candles, fine linen, and our good dishes.

My favorite part of the meal was the youngest son, Ian, washing everyone's hands and Sean placing his hands on the children and praying a blessing for them.

He also prayed Proverbs 31 for me.

The book we used, Celebrating Biblical Feasts by Martha Zimmerman provided us with the meaning of all the elements, recipes, prayers and crafts. I highly recommend it. We will be celebrating the Sabbath again along with some other feasts.

All of the children worked on a covering for the Challa Bread but Taylor is the only one to complete hers! She stitched the entire thing in a few short days! This, from my daughter who says she isn't crafty (don't tell her that is a craft!)

We also enjoyed 2 wonderful days at our beach. Once by ourselves and the next with lots of friends! Click over to Rene's blog to see some photos!

We had company for dinner one night and went to our friends The Hollister's for an amazing party based on the book, The Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleishman. We panned for gold, had a treasure hunt, threw pick axes, hit pinatas that looked like bags of gold, had the most amazing food!! I love potlucks! enjoyed rootbeer floats, made new friends and saw longtime friends. It was my perfect kind of day.

I would say we had a pretty productive first week of school. Let's keep up the momentum.