Hi, Larry!

You can hear this dialog in our home almost every day! Listen in...

Quinn walks into the room
Brent: Hi Larry!
Quinn, cocking his head to the side with a big grin: Da-ad, me not La- wee, me Quin-ny!
Brent, mocking shock on his face: Oh, I'm sorry, Larry!
Quinn: giggles....Da-ad!

Today as Brent left for work he said, "Bye, Larry!". Quinn, just answered, "Bye". I think he is now answering to Larry permanently! Then, Quinn turns to me and said with a totally straight face, "Mom, me like that name!"

Too cute!

Spring Planting

Today, Brent left for a training and won't be home till Thursday, so I figured it was a good time to do a bunch of gardening projects to keep busy. After school in the a.m., we headed out to Home Depot and bought all our plants. After we got home we spent 3 1/2 hours planting everything. Here's what we got:

Red impatiens for the front gardens and well garden- 2 big flats- I want a full look! (The deer have eaten our flowers the past few years since our sensor light was broken. Brent finally fixed the light, so I'm praying and hoping they will survive the summer!)

Purple Heather- annual- on clearance, but nothing looked wrong! Two of those for the front garden.

White flowery low growing bushy type plant that I can't think of the name of right now! Two of those- and they're perrenial!

2 Blueberry Bushes- which I already had gotten a little while ago- planted on front/side garden

Purple clematis- I LOVE these, but have not been real successful with them. BUT, I'm determined not to let it die this year! LOL!

Then, the fun part! Veggies!

This year I gridded our square foot garden- somehow I missed this part of the method last year- duh! I used twine to grid off 12 inch squares. The kids loved hammering nails into the sides and wrapping the twine! (Yes, a staple gun WOULD have been much easier, but alas, Brent took the staple gun WITH him to training and I didn't want to wait! Besides, the kids had so much fun! I didn't have to hammer a single nail!)

2 Early Girl Tomato plants
2 Better Boy Tomato Plants
2 Bush Beans
4 broccoli, plus I sowed the seed so we'll have a continuing crop!
4 different kinds of lettuce seed
1 yellow pepper (this is new for me!)
1 Watermelon (you should've seen the HUMONGOUS one we got last year!)
2 Cantelope (actually, I didn't mean to get two. Somehow an extra one got put in the cart. Probably Jake since he inhales them!)
1 Honeydew- (also new)
2 strawberries (I think I want to do them in a container so they don't take over!)

I planted the vining plants next to the sturdy tomato cages. Last year this worked really well to have both tomato and cantelopes on a cage.
I still think I want to find a few other fun things- maybe sweet peas, sunflowers (kids loved them!), cauliflower (I don't know if I like this or not! LOL!), hmm... what else? This is the time of year when my eyes are bigger than my... desire to weed! The nice part is that the square foot gardening minimizes weeding!

So, all in all it was a fun day. We were tired but happy. And, the kids were soaked from playing with the hose while watering! LOL! I wish I had pictures of them planting but ONCE AGAIN!!!! the camera batteries were dead and my hands were too dirty to replace them!

Blogging!

Ok, all this blogging fever is sweeping our family! Now, Caitlin and Grant have their own blogs set up. I decided to let them keep a blog as a way of having an "audience" for their writing. I am hoping that this will help them feel like their compositions are worthwhile to write. So often a child is just assigned a paragraph, while both teacher and student know full well that it will be edited, and promptly stuck in a binder never to be seen again. This way, our few- preselected family members will be able to comment and offer their encouragement and feedback. (If you haven't received an invitation- email me! I just haven't gotten around to it yet!)
The way I see it working is for the child to physically write the paragraph on paper, (still needs practice that way!). Then, edit it. After a week or so of writing assignments (this time period is still being worked out) the child can pick their favorite(s) and type (another worthy skill!) it into their blog. I'm leaving the fun List categories on the sidebar to their fancy- with my permissions given, of course! And, obviously, any self-motivated writing will be welcome! I hope this works! It really could be fun- if they receive enough feedback!

JAKE!

He's Reading!!!!
Jake went from the slow, painful sounding out of CCC- AAAAAAA- TTTTTTT to a quick paced reading speed! I think it happened when I blinked! I think we went without reading for about 2 weeks back in March (oops, bad homeschool momma!) and when we started back up, he wasn't having to hesitantly sound out each simple word. Oh, he still is sounding out, but he isn't struggling like he used to. It is so fun to see how excited he is to be able to really, really read!
I love watching them learn! If I, as a mom, enjoy watching them "get it" so much, how much more pleasure does it bring our Lord when we "get it" and learn our lesson!

School Musings

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the MACHE curriculum sale. I was only able to go on Friday evening, but that's fine because in May I am going up to the big convention in Harrisburg PA.
Brent and the kids and I all piled into the car for a 2 1/2 hour drive out to Hagerstown. (And no one threw up! Praise the Lord!) BookSavers is an awesome used book store that has millions (no, I'm not exaggerating) of books! They have a beautifully organized upstairs but then you can go downstairs and dig through gigantic boxes filled with hundreds of miscellaneous books. Unfortunately, they were closing shortly after we got there so I wasn't able to go "digging"!
I did however, get a good supply of books for our history curriculum next year.

The MACHE sale was fun, but since we arrived late, I didn't even make through the last building.
I did pick up a few things that I had decided on for next year and plenty of books I just purchased on a whim!
Brent, believe it or not, has gotten addicted to the Lamplighter book booth. Each night before bed he reads a book to everyone that has biblical symbolism or allegory. Many of the old fashioned Lamplighter books fit the criteria, so he is always on the lookout for more.
We ended up with a bunch!
I'm still making lots of decisions for next year, but here are my thoughts as of now. We'll see how much it changes by fall! LOL!

Together:
Bible-
Daily:
A Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos
A Chapter from the New Testament
A Child's Book of Character Building
Memorize James Chapter 1

History- (trying something a little new this year! of course!)
1.Truthquest American History for Young Students Vol 1
This is basically a total Literature approach to History. It is a guide that has introductory commentaries for each topic. You read the commentary then just read literature books to enhance it. There are no specific books that you HAVE to buy, anything from the library will do, but it does come with a huge helpful list of recommended books.

2. History Scribe- After we read our literature for each topic, we will be creating notebook pages with original illustrations and compositions.

3. Hands and Hearts Kits- This is a pre- assembled kit of projects and activities for the kids to make that correspond to the particular Early American Era. I'm looking forward to this and so are the kids!

Science
Apologia Elementary Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day- The kids requested this topic to study next and since we will have our aquarium membership I was happy to oblige! We did astronomy this past year from the same author and it was a terrific year!
Knowledge Quest Lapbook- This is a cd that we print off pre made lapbooking booklets to make our science a lot more fun. It is wonderful that it is already coordinated to the Swimming Creatures book and I don't have to go find the important information to include! I have good intentions for this, but if it gets to be too much, it will take a back seat to just reading the book!

Spanish-
I still am deciding on what to use, but as per Melanie's suggestion, I am going to try to find a dvd or video based program so we can all do it together.

Typing- I really like Typing Instructor, but the kids found the lessons too long to handle. We'll have to see if we can fit it into our day or not.

Now individual subjects:

Caitlin
Math- BJU 4 and Calculaddars
Grammar- Growing With Grammar 4 (But I'm still undecided. I'd really like to find a grammar and writing curriculum that I am happy with.)
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise
Spelling- Spell to Write and Read- an abbreviated version of it, though! And, studied dictation!
Reading- Mostly she'll just read the literature for our history curriculum, but I am still compiling a list of a few other kinds of fun literature to have her read. I may or may not have her do book summaries on her books! We'll see how much writing she's going to be doing in other subjects!
Writing- if I find a Grammar/Writing combo I like, we'll do that. But, as of now, I'm totally undecided as to whether I'm even going to DO a specific writing curriculum. I'm leaning toward grabbing a few Evan Moore books to play with through the year, but just focus on history compositions.

Grant
Math- BJU 3 and Calculaddars
Vocabulary- Wordly Wise
Spelling- Spell to Write and Read- again, the abbreviated version! And, studied dictation!
Reading- Finish up the Pathway Readers and then go to early chapter books from our History Curriculum
Grammar- Growing With Grammar 3-still deciding though
Writing- I think the GWG and history narrations will be enough! Probably too much!LOL!

Jacob-
Math- BJU 2 and Calculaddars
Spelling- Spell to Write and Read
Reading- Move through the Pathway Readers
Writing- Copywork and oral narrations for History

So, there we have it! I wonder how much I'll change by the time we start school! LOL

Karate Tournament

Two years ago in May, Brent, Grant and Caitlin began taking Karate at Oak Grove Baptist Church. It is a Christian dojo and we really love how it is such a godly focus on all they do. Jake joined recently.
Well, yesterday, everyone competed in their first tournament. Quinn and I came out to watch (FOR 8 HOURS!- He did soooo good!). What a proud momma day! First they did Katas, then sparring, one step sparring and grappling.
This was a big deal especially for Cait. She really balked at the idea of standing up in front of everyone and performing. But, God is so good. Through many different circumstances, and talks with momma and daddy, she is learning to quell the fear of man rising in her heart! She did a complete 180! Not only was she agreeing to participate, but she was excited and even signed up for 4 events!
Grant, of course, had no reservations about being a part of it. He really worked hard practicing and working his moves at home with Daddy. He is very motivated to do his best.
Back in the fall, Jacob started Karate, but promptly quit after just a few lessons. We didn't push him since we thought it just wasn't his "thing". Yet, out of all of them, he "practices" at home the most. I think he was just a little immature in being able to find his place in line and follow instructions. Then just recently, when he found out about the tournament, he decided he wanted to start back up again. We were pretty sure it was just for the fact that he wanted to be a part of the tournament. But, that's ok. I'm just glad he was learning to push himself through a situation that he was previously fearful about. (He's my kid who started hysterically crying while on stage having to recite a Bible verse!) He didn't have a lot of classes to perfect his techniques, so we didn't expect a lot for the tournament.
As to awards, Caitlin won 2nd and 3rd place in 4 of the events. It was so funny to keep hearing her name get called over and over!
Grant did receive 1st place in one step sparring and 3rd in continuous sparring. Not to downplay his award, but there were only 2 participants in his level of one step- him and Jake! LOL!
Jake was so thrilled when his name was called to receive second place in one step!
The one step sparring was so comical. Jake would act like he was doing a technique on Grant but he would barely touch him. Grant- who should be an actor- would flip and roll and fall as if a 200lb man was tossing him! The crowd was roaring with laughter! Of course, that only egged him on and he hammed it up even more! Jake couldn't keep a smile off his face and neither could the judges!

It was an exhausting day but so rewarding. They all gave their best effort, which is what the sensais really drill into their heads.
Karate is not something that I would have ever imagined our family being involved in. We aren't a sports minded family at all! Yet, God has used this in such HUGE ways for all of us- even me. (I really have learned to trust HIM when Brent sparrs- especially after his broken arm from a year ago due to sparring!) The Lord has used it to teach diligence, excellence, respect, friendship building, having encouraging words, how to lose gracefully, how to battle against the fear of man, humility, wisdom, and submission to authority, and more! We have been able to have so many conversations about spiritual maturity due to it. It has provided real life examples that I don't think they would have had otherwise. (Otherwise, it would have always been hypothetical situations.)
Well, just a little more bragging on the kiddies. But, mostly, bragging on my Lord. He is so faithful to bring growth out of every little situation.

Bittersweet Milestones

I love milestones. I'm not the overly sentimental type, and probably don't make a big deal over the BIG milestones, like most people may. Birthdays aren't huge events, first steps were captured with a few photos, first lost tooth was cute but without much hoopla.
However, it's the little ones that just do my momma heart in! Like, the ability to bake brownies without any help at all from Mommy. Cait just did this a month ago. Read the recipe, got the ingredients, CRACKED THE EGGS with no shells!, poured into the pan, and put it into a PREHEATED OVEN! All without needing me! It was wonderful and terrible all at the same time. My baby is growing up.

Cait is really maturing into a very pretty young lady. We've let her start growing her hair long (as she as been begging for the past few years) and it's probably 2 inches past her shoulders. She is brushing it and fixing it on her own,which was the deal! She has a simple beauty, not glamorous, but that natural kind of glow that each woman wishes she had! I don't like to dwell on external beauty, because honestly aside from a few enhancements, there's not much you can do to change your look. And really, it's not what matters anyway, right! The heart is the key. She is growing hugely in that area too, but that's not what I wanted to write about here!

This past month has brought a new milestone to the forefront.
First, you must understand, Cait (along with Brent and Grant and Jake) take Karate. And, they are NOT wallflowers. They all get into it and and work out hard. She has the biceps and quads to prove it. She is one fit 9year old! But, with the hard work has come "the glistening". You know what I mean, the shine on a proper lady's face after physical exhertion! I mentioned to Cait that ladies glisten. To which, she, in her tomboyish way retorted, "I don't know about you, mom, but I SWEAT!"
So, to help her in her new maturing, we took a trip to Target for some deodorant. Not an antiperspirant, but merely deodorant! Would you believe it is virtually impossible to find!! Finally, I spotted an all natural brand with no harmful chemicals and we got that. I think she was a little bit nervous about the whole thing, but refused to let on that she was. I tried to downplay the momentous occasion, but inside I was Screaming, "NOT YET! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! SHE'S ONLY 9! MY BABY!"
Well, I guess I need to just deal with the changes. I know they are going to come, but I sure wish it wasn't such a slap in the face when they did! Thankfully, that's the only "body change" going on right now. I need to get myself prepared before I face the future ones!

Baltimore Aquarium

This past week, Brent had 3 days off in a row. So, we decided to do an impromptu visit to the Baltimore Aquarium where we have a membership. What a day! I wish every outing was so much fun. When we arrived, we quickly hurried upstairs to watch the volunteers feed the fish. No one else was there and one very nice volunteer (who, it turns out, Brent knows from work) gave the kids (and me!) a container of peas to feed the fish! Nothing like hands on! While some of the divers went under water, a very sweet lady diver(Nikki)who wasn't diving that day, started chatting with us and walked around with us showing us MANY different kinds of fish. She stuck with us for almost an hour! She pointed out tons of different kinds of fish and told of their personalities and markings.
And, she had us get front row seats to see the divers pole feeding an eel that was new to the tank. That was very cool! Apparantly it has a very dirty mouth, so a bite could actually be deadly because of the icky bacteria in it's mouth. The eel was beautiful and reminded me of a ribbon twirler in gymastics! The divers had to feed it at arms length with a pole so they didn't get too close.
The most impressive part of this whole time was the barrage of inteligent questions from Cait, Grant, and Jake. They were 100% engaged in Nikki's information and asked so many questions she couldn't keep up- and didn't know the answers to some! I was so proud of their thoughtfullness and interest. And, they were very respectful in the way they asked, too! I was a very happy momma!
We saw the dolphin show after that, and had the kids pull out their nature journals. We don't do too good keeping up with them, but the Aquarium was perfect for adding lots of new entries.
On the way out of the show we stopped for a few minutes at the frog exhibit, but actually got to see and touch a horseshoe crab and some kind of creature inside a conch shell... wish I could remember.... (come on Apologia Elem Swimming Creatures book!!!LOL!) Then they all were given a mussel shell to take home.
Off to lunch- unfortunately the closest place to eat was Hard Rock Cafe- which I hate. Icky atmosphere and WAY expensive menu! Oh well, it was cold and we weren't walking far!

Back inside, we parked ourselves on the floor next to the shark exhibit and drew sketches of different sharks. Even I got a chance to do one!
Then, we went downstairs and saw the sting rays get fed. Right up to the glass! We spent a long time making drawings, writing information and loving all of it! I really enjoyed marveling over the immense diversity of God's creation throughout the whole aquarium. He has such creativity and imagination!
By the time we left, we were happily exhausted! It was a full day but so full of learning and exploration. I wish I could homeschool like this every day! This was learning at it's best.

While I was Away

This past weekend I (tiff) went to the Women's Retreat up at Blackrock Retreat Center. This was the 10th one we've had and I think I've only missed one!

We watched a Beth Moore Video Series called Loving Well. Oh, it was awesome!
She based the study off of 1John 4.
One thing that really convicted me was that our spiritual maturity can be measured by how much we love people- and not just easy to love people either!

She gave us 4 points for us to memorize and recall when we are facing a difficult to love person.
1. God is perfect love. 1Jn 4:18
2. Nothing can separate me from God's perfect love. Rom 8: 38-39
3. God pours his perfect love into our imperfect hearts. Rom 5:5
4. ACCESSED, I can love anyone through anything. Phil 4:13


I am realizing that my love (apart from reliance on Christ) is only manipulative and self seeking at best. In order for me to love others honestly, I need to drink my fill of the truth that God first loved me when I was so undeserving. The only way that I can show love to others is to learn to love with the self sacrificing love that God gives us through the Holy Spirit.
The people in my life that give me the most difficulty loving have been lovingly placed in my life by a wonderful Father God who has chosen them to complete and perfect something that is lacking in me. I need to constantly remind myself of this. It allows me to be grateful for that difficult person.
We are not, however, to be doormats. Phil 9: 10 says "that love may abound more and more in knowledge and DEPTH OF INSIGHT, so that you may be able to discern what is BEST and my be pure and blameless until the day of Christ." We are to love with insight! Since I am not getting hung up on my rights in the relationship, I am freed to discover and understand how the other person is broken in some way.
Finally, we are called to love even when we are being unloved. We are able to offer our love to that difficult person as a sacrifice on the alter of God. He finds it a sweet and altogether lovely offering from us. We look so much more like Christ when we are able to love sacrificially and forgivingly. This is so hard but the Holy Spirit gives us the power to do it.

She said so much more, but these were the points that God had picked out for me to meditate and reflect on. He is so good!

I had such sweet fellowship with so many ladies over the weekend and I feel uplifted and refreshed in the spirit of the Lord.


When I got home, I was in for a wonderful surprise. Brent was busy and productive with lots of little projects that I had been wanting done. He replaced the faucet in the bathroom so it runs consistently. He hung hooks to hang the bar stool at the top of the steps. He replaced the bath light above the mirror with a pretty wrought iron light that Cait and I had picked out at Home Depot.
And, to my GREAT SURPRISE- he painted and had the kids decorate Growth Chart sticks. He took long thin strips of wood, painted them white, and had the kids decorate them with thumb print lady bugs and drawings. Then we can transfer our measurements that we've had on the wall onto the wood strips so if we move (or I ever want to wash the wall- nah!) I can take it with us!!! This is something I've wanted to do for so long but it always got pushed out of my mind because it was so low on the priority list! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful hubby! And kiddies! They were so excited to show me all their accomplishments!
God is so good. He spoils me! I love enjoying HIM!

Castles!

In history, we are studying the Middle Ages. Yesterday the kids and I started making a homemade castle out of a cardboard box. We cut the parapets out of the top and used two oatmeal canisters for towers. I cut a drawbridge and Cait used bamboo skewers to make the metal gate that lowers in the entryway (I can't remember what it's called!) Then, we all had a blast painting it. Each of us took a side of the box to paint grey. I think Quinn and Jake painted more on ME than on the box! All in all, it was messy but lots of fun. The kids are getting to an age where these projects are more independent and easier on Mommy. They have their own ideas and can physically do most of the work themselves. (Although we all banned Caitlin from painting. She just doesn't have the talent! Just kidding!) Cait got very ambitious with a needle and thread and sewed a bed and sofa and made a little tablecloth for a toothpick-legged table she made. She's very ingenious! Grant and Jake decided to make a peasant's house with a thatched roof. I didn't get a chance to explain that they would have used bundled straw so they just glued a bunch of hay from the hayfield onto the roof very haphazardly. Oh well. They are engaged and motivated. Good enough for me!
I wasn't going to do this project because it seemed messy and complicated, but on a whim, I decided to, and I'm so glad I did! They are so proud of their work of art! And I'm so proud of them! At least we'll have something to display for the table at Presentation Night!