Snack Time!!

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Anyone who knows the kids know that without fail at around 10 am my students start asking what’s for their ten o’clock snack. The answer is always fruit but it doesn’t stop them from asking. Usually while they take a break from school and eat their snack I tend to our garden. The weather has been beautiful lately where they can take our snack outside. If you look closely, Abigail is wearing her swimsuit and rain boots. And yes, Caleb is still in his pajamas. Yet another great benefit of home schooling, no peer pressure to wear a certain label. I just care that they are in clean clothes before Jon comes home!

Uncle David's Visit

Uncle David came to visit us! He came in from Arkansas to spend a few days with us. The kids performed all their LTC events for him :)! We also took in a few area attractions including the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine. The kids love watching the fish and ducks, and seeing all the wild animals. It was great to have him here and we hope he makes it this way again soon!

5:30am Calisthenics

With the kid’s education, Jon is responsible for Math! He wakes the babies up at 5:30am every morning. They either run three miles, or if it is too cold they do sit ups, push ups, jumping jacks etc., anything to get blood flowing then they move on to math. While they do math I prepare for the other subjects. This morning I just happened to have the camera nearby!! They were thrilled to have their photo taken!!

Home School Group

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Our home school group has 200+ families. Beginning July of last year I joined the Board of Directors as the Communications Director. I put together a monthly electronic newsletter, along with a weekly electronic flash. It’s a lot of work and my family puts up with me having a computer on my lap for 8 to 10 hours a week, while I do my volunteer work. Our family benefits so much from our home school group, from field trips, great friends, and a lot of opportunities we wouldn’t have otherwise. One of those benefits was having Mr. Tim Lambert speak at our March meeting. Mr. Lambert is the President of The Texas Home School Coalition. He keeps Home Schoolers up to date on political events.

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Tonight different home school symphonic ensembles performed. We opened with the boy scouts doing the flag ceremonies.

Making a Joyful Noise

This is our 3rd-6th grade small chorus. Ms. Vyneta has been their coach each year. She is a veteran Sweet Adeline and enjoys teaching the kids new music. There are very few choruses that perform with actual four-part harmony, but Ms. Vyneta pulls it off each year with our kids! Aren't they cute!!!

Jess’s Birthday

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Granny brought Jess with her on her visit this week. Jess turns 13 on the 29th of March. Bobby drove up from Houston to celebrate. We enjoyed watching him open gifts and sharing his birthday cake.
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Abigail, being Abigail, caught Uncle Bob napping (and snoring!) so she snuck up behind him and pinched his nose close! I pretty sure if it had been one of the other kids Uncle Bob wouldn’t have been so nice about her orneriness!

Braces for Caleb

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Last week at the orthodontist appointment, we were told it's time for braces. This morning he had braces put on top and bottom. Sweet little man! He didn't fuss or complain. There was a quiet "Mooommm" when I took his picture in the dentist chair. He should be in these for the next 16 to 18 months. He should get them off just in time for Abigail to get hers!

Studying for Bible Bowl

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I thought I would give everyone a look at Bible Bowl practice at our house. It isn't just send them to their room and tell them to read. One of my favorites is like the 52 card pick up. The kid wrote the chapter headings from John on 3"x5" cards. I mix the cards up and throw them up in the air. The kids compete to see who can put them in the correct order first. Today, the winner selected our lunch menu.

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If the kids know the order of the chapter headings it helps them eliminate selecting the wrong answer.

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Immersed in Activity

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Oh, I am so behind in posting! Our lives seem to center around school, baseball, softball, gardening & LTC. Somewhere in there Jon works; I work part-time; volunteer as the Communications Director for our homeschool group, maintaining the website and weekly e-newsletter; freelance design work for political candidates; we teach the Sunday night 3rd - 6th grade class; I teach the Sunday afternoon Nationals teams.

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When I write it out, it seems crazy! But we manage to get it done, somewhere in there is sign language, piano, & Latin!

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Astronomy Class

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Our church homeschool families met this week for our monthly co-op class. Ms. Carina led us in a great class about Astronomy. Each of the kids gave an oral presentation about an assigned planet. The younger kids used fruit to represent the planets and their proportionate sizes.

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