Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A lesson I learned
Monday, August 29, 2011
1000 Gifts
Over the last week there have been little reminders of my need to count God's blessings. It's so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and forget to thank the Lord for His goodness. As of yet, I've only been writing down these gifts on the blog or just thanking God in my thoughts. This week I'd like to start writing them down. And it just so happens that in my cleaning of my homeschool room I've found at least a couple dozen empty notebooks, waiting to be used -- so I have no excuse to not get started right away!
91. A little girl who loves to pick flowers for her momma.
92. An evening poolside party, catching up with old friends.
93. Spending less than $20 for a dress and shoes for said party (I heart Kohl's!).
94. Temperatures in the 80's -- glorious!
95. My brother-in-law's love for my kids, and their love for him. On Saturday Uncle Dave took Ryne out for dinner and putt-putt golf as a belated birthday gift.
96. The symphony of sounds living in the woods provides -- birds in the morning, insects in the evening, owls at night.
97. Surviving the first week of Jacob's Elementary Algebra with Anna -- it's all coming back! In fact, I might be understanding it better this time round.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Back to School!
Don't worry, I'm working on it. Sometimes it just has to get more chaotic before it gets organized, and this is the more chaotic stage. These pictures are actually the sign of great progress. ; )
So here's the run-down of our week:
Anna started away-school on Monday (8th grade!), and Ryne and Grace started our new homeschool year. I took the kids to IHOP for a welcome-back-to-school dinner Monday night (Marc was out of town).
GRACE
Grammar, spelling, phonics, math, math drill, map skills, oral reading, Sunday School lesson, ballet (1 night), swim (2 nights).
RYNE
Spelling, grammar, math, math drill, oral reading, swim (2 nights).
TOGETHER
Daily reading from The Child's Story Bible (Vos), Latin, reviewed geography vocabulary from last year, and finished the Brahms composer study from last spring.
THOUGHTS
I'm embarrassed to say we didn't do ANY school work over the summer. So I was worried how much they would retain after a long break. Thankfully, I saw very little regression! In fact, math went quite smoothly. It is becoming clear that Ryne is starting to struggle with grammar though. We'll keep plugging away for now, but it's looking more like we will have to change programs. He did so well with First Language Lessons, and they are adding the first book in the middle school series this January, so we'll see.
For those of you who have started the school year -- Happy Homeschooling! If you're still squeezing out the last drops of summer - Enjoy! And for those of you on the east coast -- I'm praying for you!
Friday, August 26, 2011
So long, summer
So long, summer. I'll miss you.
P.S. Thank you to those of you who offered prayers for our trip. Dad's move went well and he's getting settled into his new house in Colorado. A big surprise was that his Texas house sold after just a couple of days on the market, even though he was expecting it to take a year or more!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
pictures, pictures, {ugh} pictures
But my hair was starting to look better! There was no label on this picture, but I can tell you with great certainty that it was the summer of 1990 because it was when I started getting spiral perms and grew out my bangs. It's the only time in my entire life I've loved my hair, because it was so easy to fix. If the Smurfs can come back, maybe there's still hope for the spiral perm.
Thank you for putting up with my trip down memory lane!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Pictures, pictures, pictures!
But the biggest mystery of all is this picture. WOWZA!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
1000 Gifts: Texas Trip
I'm a day late for Multitude Monday, but when you're out of your normal routine the days all seem to run together, so I'm using that as my excuse. A week ago the kids, dog, and I drove down to Lake Jackson, Texas, a town south of Houston near the gulf coast.
The purpose of the trip was to help my dad move out of the house he's owned for about 30 years. I was in the third grade when we moved from Michigan to Texas, so this house holds many, many memories for me. Dad has bought a smaller house in Colorado, just nine doors down from my sister's house, so this will probably be the last time I ever visit Lake Jackson or see this house. Who knows maybe I'll go to a high school reunion someday (haven't been to one yet), but emotionally this is good-bye.
Although I've been working hard for the last week, we've had a little time for play too. God gives us many gifts sprinkled amongst the craziness.
76. A safe trip with well-behaved kids and dog.
77. A son who didn't mind spending most of his 12th birthday in the car. Maybe it was because he got to eat things like this.
78. One last time to see the house in which I spent most of my growing-up years.
79. Seeing my mom's touches everywhere.
80. Finding little remnants of my childhood.
81. Showing the kids my first decorating craft project (and then promptly throwing it in the trash).
82. The pool. It served me well during my high school and college years and now it's keeping my kids busy while I work. I'm also thankful that the kids all know how to swim and Anna is old enough to supervise.
83. My dad's dogs. They provide endless entertainment as they jump into the pool, and they are welcoming to my big black lab.
84. A short visit from my sister. It was nice to catch up and to have an extra set of hands.
85. Getting to take home some new things. I'm trying hard not to add to my own clutter problem, but I've found some real treasures.
86. My dad's next-door-neighbors. There simply are not better neighbors than Billie and Bruce and their baby daughter Zoe. They moved here after my sister and I were out of the house, and have been like family to my dad. And this week they have practically adopted Grace. I hardly saw her all weekend. Grace has loved the attention.
87. The stories my kids are hearing as we sort and remember.
88. An early morning walk on the beach with my 13-year-old daughter.
89. Seeing flamingos hanging out in a marsh. Of course, I forgot to bring the camera that morning. But I remembered it when we had an evening picnic at the beach, so you get seagull shots instead.