There's Some Learning Going On...

After finishing the first two weeks of school, I can honestly say that I am exhausted but I am having an absolute blast.  We have a routine down each morning and a basic schedule that we follow, although we do have to change things up a bit due to one very feisty 22 month old.

One thing is for sure...she wants to be at school too!  For about 5 minute intervals she wants to be with us and then she moves on.  I am learning to have lots of tricks up my sleeve and offer many options of "school" for her to join us. 

She does like to color.  For about 47 seconds.

Then she will move on to more challenging activities such as counter climbing.

She must be ready for P.E. Or she just really wants my lemonade.

I am learning very quickly that school at home is not like having a classroom at school.  Life happens here and will continue to happen during our school time.  So I am learning to be flexible and change it up quickly when we need too.  So far, it is working out great and I have to say that my pupils come to school everyday with huge smiles and eagerness to listen and learn. 

And why wouldn't they? 

We make models of reptiles and mammals.

We work on Word Families

We read.  And read. 

We make pictographs.

We do math.

We check our spelling and ABC order.

We make wheat fields and maps.

I do believe that we ALL might be learning.

Is That the Sun?

We spent the better part of last week inside due to almost 6 days of rain.  And rain. And then some more rain.  You get the picture.  Needless to say, we were all getting a little stir crazy.  When the sun made an appearance over the weekend, we headed out to D.C.  We spent the afternoon at the Museum of Natural History and walking around the city. 

Luke was speechless for a while after seeing TRex.  I think he was very thankful that dinosaurs are extinct after seeing how huge they really are.

It was HB's nap time.  Can you tell?

Chris and I were pretty proud of ourselves for navigating into D.C. without our trusty Donna (aka GPS) turned on.  It took us about 45 minutes to get in town and park.  Not too bad.  We will definitely be making many more trips to our Nation's Capital.



And So It Begins..

A new school year.  I have to admit it felt a little strange getting up and not have to head out to the bus or hop in the car to get to carpool line.  After I got over the strangeness, I was actually so excited.  We all ate breakfast, took care of morning chores, read our devotional and headed downstairs to begin 2nd grade, 1st grade, and tot school.

My big 2nd grader

My precious 1st grader

My almost 2 year old

I wanted to get pictures outside, but the rain forced us in.

To say we had an awesome day is an understatement!  Having Hannah at school with us is definitely "interesting"  but I am coming up with little activities she can do with us when she is not having play time. 

We did history, geography, spelling, Bible, Working with Words. writing, reading, and math.  It only took us about 4 hours total.  I cannot even count the amount of smiles, hugs, and "I love homeschooling" that I received today.  I know that everyday will have it's ups and down, but today was an incredible first day.  Hope you all had great first days of school as well.



Labor Day Weekend

What a fun, busy, last official weekend of summer!  We had cheer leading practice (oh my, the cuteness), football practice, a birthday party to go to, and last minute school items to get.  On Sunday afternoon, we decided to take a trip to Lunga Reservoir on base.  The weather forecast says rain, rain, and more rain for this week, so we thought we would seize the moment and enjoy the sunshine while we could.  We packed up a picnic dinner, and headed out for the evening.  It was HOT but no one really seemed to mind.  We ate and played on the playground for a while...

After a while, we decided to head down to the water to throw a line in.  I sound like a am a real fisherman, don't I?

Hayley enjoyed hopping on the rocks.  She is such a curious little thing.  I wonder what she is thinking in the shot.

Hannah threw about  137 rocks into the water.  Some actually made it into the water. 

Chris took L and H to the dock to fish for a while. 

We piled into the car hot, sweaty, sandy, and muddy....but everyone had a smile on their face.  Perfect ending to a great summer.

Crisp Fall Air

So my last post was about the earthquake.  Then we had a hurricane/tropical storm blow through here that Saturday.  I think God was showing us all the awesome things He can do :)  He got my attention that is for sure.

My sis and mom were here for the Hurricane party because Holly is moving to NYC for 9 months to work on a project for KPMG.  Very exciting.  Even more exciting that 3 tickets on Amtrak to NYC would only cost us $121!  I am thinking about when I want to take Luke and Hayley to see Holly.  Chris volunteered to stay behind with Hannah Beth.  I don't think she is quite ready for the big city and I know her good ol boy Daddy isn't.  I don't know if I will ever convince him he should go.  He would do it for me, but I know he is much happier in the mountains, woods, or by a lake somewhere. 

We had so much fun that Saturday just hanging out, cooking, eating, painting toes and fingers, playing board games, watching movies.  Everyone has decided to come back for Thanksgiving and I can't wait. 

I have been knee deep in planning for the beginning of school the past few weeks.  I wanted to cry when the phonics program I had ordered for H was not exactly what wanted for her.  I pulled out all my resource books from teaching and basically built my own program.  The lesson plans are all written and I am so ready to go. The kids are too.

One of the things I love most about this area is the 4 distinct seasons.  This past week we have been feeling Fall just about to roll in.  All these pictures are from one evening after dinner.  The air was cool and no one complained from being too hot.  We stayed outside until way past bedtime just running and playing and talking and sitting!

 I love these little faces.  Can't believe how big they are getting.  I know I know.... I say it all the time.  I am so glad to have them with me all the time this year so that I can savor this growing up thing and watch them learn and bloom with my own two eyes.