Book Club

I am so grateful that it is so much easier to homeschool in today's age! We are blessed by the support of much of society, our friends, our family, and our churches! And in addition to the many opportunities homeschoolers have, we have a wonderful homeschool group that has many additional opportunities for us! One of the opportunities is our homeschoolers’ book club! Each child brings a book of their choice which they have read along with a short report or narration, and it's a great opportunity for the kids to “speak” in front of a small group, and when the club meeting is over, the kids can collectively decide if they would like to all read the same book or to each choose his or her own selection! And then my favorite part...afterward, we usually get together for lunch! These are such sweet days, and I can already see them flying past!

Macy's Narration:
The Secret of the Old Clock

Annie's Narration:

The Velveteen Rabbit

Tressie's Narration:
Guess How Much I Love You

Wo-man's best friend

Annie's riddle for PawPaw!

Backatcha, PawPaw! (I've removed the video!) In response to your riddle for Annie, here's one for you, PawPaw!

PawPaw's riddle for Annie: Why was the math book so sad?
Answer: Because it had so many problems.

Annie's riddle for PawPaw: Why is eating at a restaurant on the moon so boring?
Answer: Because there's no atmosphere!

"Annie's Watermelon Patch"

"Annie's Watermelon Patch" is now officially open for business! She grew her watermelon plants from seed, has watered them all summer, and is now going to reap the bounties of her harvest...well, maybe she and the ants are reaping the bounty. But she and her sisters were thrilled to have been able to pick their first watermelon of the season!

Nature Study - Charlotte Mason Style!

Here are a few tips that I have learned and wish to better incorporate into our nature study, as Charlotte Mason would have approved!

1. Scheduling more regular time outdoors and encouraging a spirit of investigation.
2. Encouraging the girls to try to figure out answers to their questions rather than expecting me to do all the reasoning for them.
3. When answering their questions, make the answer living—not just facts from a textbook.
4. Not to overwhelm them with too much scientific terminology too soon.
5. By giving direction, sympathy, encouragement, and helping with experiments.
6. By teaching science through a combination of nature study, laboratory work (uh... albeit, that's daddy's department!), and living books, using both random and structured studies.
7. Remembering that dabbling in random scientific information is not the same as learning careful observation and understanding.
8. By not showing my fear and/or distaste of something that interests my children.
9. By sharing their wonder and admiration for their nature discoveries.
10. By my constant learning about science and nature so I will have information to give them as they desire it.

For Sale!

It's that time of year when I clean out the kids' closets, and look what I found! I warned my fellas* to keep their stuff put up! If interested, leave me a comment and make an offer!

*permission and blessing were given by dear husband to sell!

Here's what I found:

A really nice set of Men's Tommy Amour 845 Oversize irons. In excellent condition with graphite shafts and original grips. Played only 5 rounds. Includes stand bag with double shoulder strap. $200 or best offer made by Saturday, September 15th!

A Brand New Craftsman Professional 9.0 amp reciprocating saw! Comes in hardshell case with bonus kit (blades, gloves, extension cord, safety glasses). New... never used and includes manual.
$60 or best offer made by Saturday, September 15th!

A "nearly new" Sony TRV250 camcorder! This records to Digital8 media (2 hours per tape) and also has USB streaming or i.Link connectivity. Features include, Steadyshot, 700x zoom, nightshot, and snapshot. It has only been used for about 10 hours and has been well taken care of. I will also include the battery, charging cable, AV/out cable, USB streaming cable, infrared remote control, owners manual, software CD's, and unused media!
$150.00 or best offer made by Saturday, September 15th!

Brody's first vacation...Labor Day weekend!

Well, I've finally been allowed to ride in the car...I was a little nervous at first while riding around without a strap around me like my family was riding, so they finally pulled over and helped me into my crate, and I slept all the way to our destination...I had to rest up for my first vacation...ever! Once we arrived, I excitedly jumped out to greet my favorite cousin, Buddy, whom we lovingly call Prince Snarles!

Let's go over the rules one more time, for that's a long way down!

After a long day of following this bucket'o'fun, several romps under the bridge and getting to lap water out of the creek with my cousin Prince Snarles, I had to enjoy my first over-night vacation! After all, it's a hard time keepin' up with all of my gals, and I was ready for an evening of relaxation! But did I hear someone say, "Who wants a treat?"

What would stayin' at Aunt Jan and Uncle Eddie's be without a midnight snack?!?