{first day of school}

Well, after three years of homeschooling, God has opened new doors and opportunities for all of us. After an informational visit to NECA for my children turned into an interview for a teaching job, I knew that my prayer to be surrounded by believers was answered. I was offered the job (nearly immediately) and there was space for Ben and Leah to attend as well. I am excited to see how God will use me here and what growth he has in store for me. Here are the children on the first day...they were so excited to start (bitter sweet for all of us since we loved homeschooling.






My camera is on the fritz and taing horrible picutes...its really driving me crazy!

Fishing with Cousins, Swansea, MA

Aunt Renee bought all the cousins fishing poles this summer to take them out fishing on our camping trip. Of course, we had to practice before the real thing. It was a fun afternoon filled with jast a few mishaps and one lonely fish (caught by cousin Emma).

Leah with her Papa:

Third Day "Born Again"

I can't seem to get enough of this song. Some of you know my Dad was baptized a few weeks ago. He has been "saved" since the early 70's when he spent some time in Viet Nam. However, he recently converted to the Baptist faith and made a public staement of his faith through baptism. It was a beautiful moment to share with him and he continues to be an amazing witness to myself and those around him in everything that he does.



(You'll have to pause my play list at the bottom of this page to hear the video.)

It also reminds me of the baptism we witnessed on the beach last summer.

The Book Buddies Book Club

I have organized a children's book club that we hold here weekly for a group of homeschooling friends. Its been a lot of fun and the children are getting the "cooperative learning" component that is missing from a typical homeschool day (I believe to be the only missing aspect of HSing).

We printed up membership cards, we vote on the books to read, listen and encourage others to read and have book discussions about characters, settings, plot, etc. It's been great fun thus far. Here are the children's mug shots for their membership cards!

July 4, 2009 Cookout

My in-laws used to host a Fourth of July party every year. Now that we live here, we continue the tradition. We usually have games, crafts and activities for the children to enjoy. We had our second annual Hubba Bubba Bubble Blowing Contest. Last year, I won and the children got pretty upset. So, we had a junior and senior division this year.

This year's senior winner...

yep, that's me! I may have to take my talent on the road! You can imagine the jokes that come along with being the best Hubba Bubba Bubble Blower title holder!

Also learned today that my dad doesn't know how to blow a bubble. Here we are trying to teach him...at 58!

Success!

Volcanoes...

We're doing a unit on volcanoes this summer. It has been especially interesting since we got to climb a "quiet" volcano--El Malpais-- when we were in New Mexico. So we have been able to tie together what we learned from the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program to our unit study.

Here's Ben looking over the "rim" down into the crater. It was pretty impressive. It was a pretty hot day and hiking up 1/2 mile on loose lava rock proved to be a bit much for the five children. However, I believe they have a "real" experience to reference now while studying volcanoes.

Of course, we could not learn about volcanoes without erupting a volcano ourselves (not as exciting as I remember it being as a kid).

Note that is it JUNE and my daughter is wearing a wool sweater and my son is bundled in an over-sized jacket!

Here...now I have proof

After my last post when Ben caught me lounging and reading, I thought I should prove that's not all I do.

I DO have to clean the pool for pool parties!

We had a great day with our homeschool friends. I don't have any pictures without other children in them, so I'll need to get some parental permission for those.

Snow template

I know, this template could not be more generic, but I had to get rid of the snow. Regardless that it is June 12 and its 60 stinkin' degrees! Perhaps warmer weather and some sun will inspire me to find a great template. But for now...

Man, I am so behind on blogging I may just give up. Be patient with me folks--all you loyal readers (both of you). I'll be updating soon.

Caught me again

I'm hooked on some good reading these days (Left Behind Series by Tim LeHaye), and Ben caught me sneaking in a few pages between lessons, laundry, dinner, {fill-in any number of tasks here}!

We were almost there...

We actually went 5 years, 7 months, 25 days without Leah attempting what all children do--cut her own hair. It could have looked much worse than it does, but will take forever to grow in. Smack dab in the middle of her head!

Here's a shot of the new 'do

Travel Journal: Day 12

Where: Barstow, CA-Yosemite National Park, CA
Miles: 242 miles
States Covered: California
Attractions: Yosemite National Park

One of our highlights of this leg of the trip was getting to Yosemite. The trek from interstate 99 to Yosemite was long. However, it didn't compare to the treacherous, windy road inside the park to get to the village. It took about an hour once we entered the park and we felt like we were on the edge of the world at times. It was well worth the drive. Here are a couple of shots of the park.

Travel Journal: Day 11

Zion National Park, Utah

Zion National Park, Utah

Travel Journal: Day 6

Where: Columbia, MO--Hutchinson, KS

Miles: 361

States Covered: Missouri, Kansas

Attractions: Topeka Zoo and Rain Forest

Notes: The Weather was beautiful today! We skipped a planned trip to Kansas City Children's Museum and found a zoo in Topeka. We're still ahead of schedule and have time to explore and still make it to Denver by Saturday, so we've altered our plans (again). Tomorrow...Dodge City, KS-home of the Wild West!

Travel Journal: Day 5

Where: Carlyle, IL--Columbia, MO

Miles: 176

States Covered: Illinois, Missouri

Attractions: St. Louis Arch

Notes: We were really excited to be able to visit the Gateway Arch. The children have been learning about The Westward Expansion and the museum at the Arch is wonderful. Its a national park and they offically became "Junior Rangers" today. The activities the children must complete for their badge and patch are fairly extensive (for their age)...no freebies here (which I like). And they were pretty excited to earn their first of several badges they will get around the country at the National Parks.

Travel Journal: Day 4

Where: Carrollton, KY--Carlyle, IL

Miles: 275

States Covered: Kentucky, Indiana, Illinios

Attractions: Super suds Laundromat and Tony's Garage for a front end alignment. Not so attractive, but necessary just the same!

Notes: Walking the 3/4 mile from Super suds to Tony's in Louisville, KY with two children and two baskets of laundry is a sight to see! but we ended the day at Dam West State Recreation Area in Carlyle, IL. Nice place with a pond to explore.

Leah looking for fish

Ben with what we think is a fresh water oyster shell


Ben and Leah at sunrise (yep, you got it...we've caught the sunrise every morning!)

Travel Journal: Day 3

Zanesville, OH--Carrollton, KY

Miles: 218

States Covered: Ohio, Kentucky

Attractions: Fort Rapids Indoor Water Park Resort, Columbus OH.

Notes: We had a BLAST at this resort! We had originally planned on visiting the Cincinnati Zoo. However, the weather was poor so we came up with plan "B." This park was soooo cool. Ben was able to ride all of the water slides and tube rides and Leah was able to ride most of them (limited by height). I am still shocked at some of the rides that little girl went on...several times! Rich and I actually enjoyed the park as well ( not just for kids)! And best of all (from a mom's perspective) we found coupons online and printed them on Ben's picture printer. We SAVED $60!!!

Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium, Pittsburgh, PA

We enjoyed the afternoon at the Pittsburgh Zoo. I've NEVER seen soooooo many people at a zoo...and we've visited a few zoos in our travels. I've also never visited a zoo with so many "Star" animals. They had tigers, lions, polar bears, Kodiak bears (and several others), leopards, elephants, gorillas, giraffes, orangutans (and many, many more). The zoo was well planned despite several steep hills, but a great afternoon. It took over an hour for the closing crowd to clear the parking lot. That might be a problem for some folks...not for us...we cooked up some dinner and relaxed in the RV until the traffic was cleared!
Here's a shot of Ben and Leah outside of the aquarium (that was right inside the zoo!)

Travel Journal: Day 2

Where: Allentown, PA--Zanesville, OH

Miles: 414 Miles

States Covered: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio

Attractions: Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium

Notes: Great Zoo (see pictures above). Good day of traveling. The children are real troopers.

Travel Journal: Day 1

Where: Swansea, MA--Allentown, PA

Miles: 283 Miles

States covered: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania

Attractions: Crayola Factory and Museum (Over priced, but the kiddos loved it!)

Notes: met some new "friends" at the campground. They home-school and the children hit it off from the get-go. We've exchanged addresses and have vowed to be pen-pals. They even invited us to their campfire birthday party for the nine-year-old. Got to love home-schoolers.

{Coast to Coast}

Today is the day we hit the road on our cross-country adventure. The kids are packed, lessons prepared, maps outlined, camping reservations made, and the cameras are charged!

California or BUST!

Quote of the Week (or month...or year)!

Said by Leah over a bowl of chocolate ice-cream:
"Mom, I'm so glad we're a God-full family. That's a family that has lots of God in it. And he's the all-Father of all fathers."

She melts my heart with her faith and love of God.

And since I've been really bad at posting I'm just going to throw in a pic of my little girl.

"Flat Jonathan" Project

An old friend of ours from TN, Jonathan, invited us to join in his class project. His class was asking family and friends throughout the country to bring their "flat friends" on adventures (an adaptation of the "Flat Stanley" project based on the book of the same name by Jeff Brown). Jonathan mailed his "Flat Jonathan" to us so that we could bring him along on some of our adventures in Massachusetts. Ben and Leah loved bringing him along and trying to involve "Jonathan" in our daily activities. They even made up a little story to share with Jonathan's class. Here are some of the pictures of our adventures.Bedtime Stories

Bicycle ridinghikes in the woods

Our China presentation for our Homeschool Geography FairBasketball games

Keyboard Lesson

Tea Party

Rhyme activities

I know I can't be alone...............

I know I just can't be alone in this world of crazy questions, bizarre conversations, and awkward moments about the birds and the bees! If I believed that, I might be concerned about my children. I know I have posed this question before, but do other people have these conversations with their children and are just too embarrassed to share ~OR~ should I start the fund for therapy now???????????

Recent conversation with Leah while I was brushing her hair and she was holding a babydoll (she still amazes me with her thought process):

Mom: Oh, honey, you're going to be such a good Mama some day.
Leah: yeah, like Mary (the Mother of Jesus), she was a good Mama.
M: You're right, she was a great Mother.
L: I've got to be married first. Ya'know, Mom, Mary and Joseph weren't married when they had Jesus.
M: Well, I believe they got married before he was born. But remember, Joseph and Mary didn't create Jesus. God put him in Mary's belly. That was the miracle.
L: {as if the lightbulb went on and she was appalled all at the same time--get this}

"YOU MEAN MARY MATED WITH GOD???!!!!!"

After I picked myself off the floor and prayed for forgiveness--being raised as a Catholic, the very thought of that statement would have sent a five year old into an exorcism--I tried my best to explain the miracle again to set her mind at ease...for now!


Recent trip to a zoo (for my southern friends---the 'P' word is mentioned in this post)
There we are...enjoying a seasonably warm winter day (about 41 degrees) at the zoo and practically had it to ourselves...(in hindsight, thank goodness)...running from exhibit to exhibit...throwing snowballs at each other...teasing the African Wild Dogs that are too lazy in the summer months to bother with zoo patrons...and there it is...a sign welcoming the new baby giraffe! We were thrilled!
They were inside their building because of the cold and nearly close enough to touch. It didn't take me long to notice that the daddy giraffe was very interested in his counterpart. It didn't take the kids long to notice that he really had to "pee." In fact, for the four other patrons in the building, Leah made it very clear in her very respectful and inquisitive tone, "Mom, he has a big penis." Not sure what to say to this...the only thought that is going through my mind is...

please, please do not mount her in front of my children.

But as my dear friend Kelly would put it...Its like the bad car wreck that you just can't take your eyes off but you know you shouldn't be looking- all at the same time!!!! We observed for a few minutes, not to make a scene and scooted out of there to give them their privacy!

Tell me (even if you have to lie) that YOU, too, on occasion, find yourself in awkward situations with your children.

Uncle Mark's a REAL Firefighter...

well, he always was a REAL firefighter, he was on-call in his small town. However, he was just appointed to a full time firefighter/paramedic (one of eight in his town). He has busted his rump this past year working full time and going to paramedic school nights. We are so proud of his accomplishments.


The kids decorated a firetruck cake complete with trick candles that wouldn't go out (despite his firefighter training)!

CONGRATULATIONS UNCLE MARK!!!!