My Little Drummer Boy

Well, Bubby had his first drum lesson last week and LOVED it !!

He has been practicing almost nonstop since. Every morning I expect to see For Sale signs in our neighbors' yards. None yet. We are strict about times of day he can practice. The neighbors swear they have not been bothered. I hope they are being truthful. I have been outside when he is playing and it honestly sounds like a radio that is just a bit too loud .... not too bad. I am amazed at how muted it is because I swear, I am considering buying myself some earplugs. It is SO loud inside.

To show you his passion level .... here is a picture of his to do list (helping set priorities) from Church this weekend: I guess I should be grateful that atleast his #1 is right.

We hung that up on the wall by his drum set .... here he is being silly:

And here are some pictures of him practicing:

Have a great week !!

A Nature Walk

The other day, after finishing up school and getting ready for work, I realized it was a FABULOUS day outside. I was ready a bit early, so the kids and I decided to go to the park. We were finished with school work for the day, but I figured I could count this "school" too ..... science .... a nature walk. I didn't tell them that ..... let them think it isn't a learning experience. hehe

We took along the sketch book and colored pencils, and the digital camera. I let the kids take some nature pictures of their own and they each drew some things they saw. Bubby drew bugs and Fancy chose flowers .... fits, I guess.

It was SUCH a great end to a school day and beginning to a 12 hour night for me. It was about 80 degress (cool Fall weather to us Texans), dusk was almost here, the park was quiet and almost empty of anyone other than us, the dragonflies and the squirrels. That one hour in the park gave me peace after a long day of school and the energy to make it through a long night at work after no nap during that day. Being outside can be so rejuvenating .... espeically when the temperature is just right.

Here are some pictures Fancy took:

And here are Bubby's:

(I was impressed he got as close as he did to take that one .... that was a pretty big dragonfly)

I took a few myself:

As we completed our walk around the park and were headed to the car, the kids saw the splash park nearby. My plan was to lay back in the seat of my car and doze off for a bit. Bubby asked (begged really), if he could run through the water for a bit. The Husband was on his way from work to the park to pick them up so I could head to work. We had to wait there anyway. How could I say no? Bubby immediately stripped off his shirt and literally ran right out of his flip-flops and straight in to the splashing water.

You can see by the pics the sun was escaping and it was getting downright cold (to us Texans) .... it was probably around 75 degrees. Add to that some cold water and NO meat on your bones, and you are sure to be shivering real soon. His teeth were chattering within about 10 minutes, but it didn't stop the fun.

Always the comedian - Here he is being goofy and pretending he is in the shower:Sheer Joy: Where is Fancy in all this, you ask? Well she was just too cool (and I don't mean temperature) to play. "I'm too old" is what she told me. "Besides, I don't want to get my hair wet."

So there she sat, on the bench next to me as I sat, enjoying the quiet, the cool air and a good book.But, all of a sudden, like a bolt of lightning, she was off .... the temptation for fun was too much. I think she may have also taken into account that there was NO one else around.

These moments (rare as they are) when she allows herself to be a kid, bring me great joy.

I plan to go to this park more often, especially as the weather gets nicer.

Have a great weekend !!!

Job loss, Six Flags, Canada, and a Wreck

No .... I am not going to try to come up with some cute way to relate these. I just had some posting to do on each.

For those who haven't already heard: I was laid off from my job last week after working there almost 2 years. Things have been really slow and I kind of felt it coming, but it was still unsettling and a bit of a kick to the ego. They did it strictly by seniority, but it still hurt a bit. Luckily, being a nurse, I didn't go long without a job ..... less than 12 hours in fact. I have been working full-time at my new job about 2 weeks now and things are going pretty well. It is in a SMALL hospital so it is taking some getting used to. I am trying to embrace the postive things about it though .... one important one being that it takes about 45 minutes off my commute (and that is ONE WAY). Pray it continues to be a good experience.

We had a great time at Six Flags over the weekend (Free tickets thanks to the hospital I now work for). I took my camera but had left the memory card at home ... so use your imaginations. The kids rode lots of rides while I kept things under control down where things were safe. hehe. We ate too much junk, got too little sleep and just plain enjoyed ourselves. We should really go there more often. Maybe next Spring we will get Season Passes.

We got a caricature drawn of the kids while there and the artist captured their "Love" for one another quite well. We got a good laugh out of it. I' m going to get a frame for it this week and decide where to hang it up.

We are finishing up our studies of Canada this week. The kids have not found it as exciting as Mexico and are ready to move onto Brazil next week. We will be going to the Library on Friday to exchange out our books after P.E. (which is a class they will be taking on Fridays at the Homeschool Co-op in our area). Bubby is really looking forward to it. Fancy .... not so much. But as I recall, I don't think in Middle School I liked P.E. either.

Here are just a couple of things they did on Canada .... a crossword and a flag.

Oh .... and someone rear-ended us in the Jetta a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd cry. Have I told you I love my car? Anyway, the damage is minor but here is a picture of the rear bumper. It should be in the shop for replacement soon. We have been dealing with her insurance company for over a week now. They aren't fighting us on it, it is just A LOT of red tape. ugh.

Have a great week !!

Schlitterbahn Fun

Here is a quick picture of the kids enjoying some Dippin' Dots at Schlitterbahn.

They went last weekend with my parents.

Moving .......

Yep.... We are done with Mexico and are moving onto Canada. I am posting some pictures of the art projects the kids did these last 2 weeks. They made "mexican tissue paper flowers" and did some "yarn art". Bubby went by an example in the book but Fancy wanted to do her own thing (as usual) .... haha.

They also each colored a picture of the Flag of Mexico aka "La Bandera de Mexico" and we learned what each of the colors and the emblem in the center represents.

GREEN: HOPE: The Independence Movement

WHITE: PURITY: The Purity of the Catholic Faith

RED: UNION: The Spaniards that joined in the quest for Independence

The Emblem: Symbolizes the Aztec Heritage

Here are their flags --- and you can see some of the flowers they made also:

We went to the library today and exchanged our Mexico books for Canada ones. We ended up checking out 27 this time. It really is amazing how quickly they go through them and get bored with them. We will study Canada for two weeks .... I am hoping these books will last them. Some of the ones we got are books about Canada and some are stories that take place in Canada.

Here are some pics of our reading area. Bubby spread out the books to give you the full effect. The basket you see is a GREAT find I made that has a handle that pops out (like on luggage) and the basket is on wheels. It is probably going to prove to be the best homeschool expense I had. 27 library books can get pretty heavy. Besides, Bubby finds GREAT JOY in wheeling that thing around. In between library trips, it also proves a great place to store all the books so we don't lose track of any. You can see in the corner there is a pillow. The kids love to stretch out on the floor and read there ... they typically get QUITE comfy with pillows and sometimes blankets too !!

Oh .... and as I see the pics here now, I have some explaining to do. My redneck husband is wearing off on Bubby. As you leave the library, they have old magazines for sale for 10 cents each. Bubby made some exciting finds (in his world) ..... 10 issues of Whitetail Journal and American Hunter ... that is ALOT of entertainment for $1. Life is good. Fancy got a couple of Fashion magazines too but they have already made it upstairs to her room and have been chopped up into posters for her wall. Maybe I will photograph that another day. She says she is going to be a baby nurse (sound familiar?) and a fashion designer when she grows up. Sounds like an interesting combo to me. Bubby, if you are wondering, plans to build cars, build fences (sound familiar?), be an "insurance man" (not sure where that came from) and also be a hunter and fisherman. Whew .... I feel sorry for his wife, he will NEVER be home.

On the wall above the "Book Basket"/"Reading Area" we post the weekly Memory Verse. We are reading through the Book of Matthew this year. Because this curriculum focuses heavily on Geography, Matthew is a logical choice to read with it. The last part of Matthew is what is called "The Great Commisson". It is the last instruction of Christ to His disciples that they go and spread the good news of The Gospel to all the nations of the world. This week's verse is Matthew 4:19: "Come to me", Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

The Great Commission:

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of The Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20

Be blessed.

Me .....

Ok, so for those of you that have wanted pics of the husband and I ... here is half of your request. I changed my hair (fairly drastically) this week, so I thought I'd post a pic of that.

As soon as the husband does something exciting and worthy of a pic, I will post it. hehe

Finally .... an update

Wow .... Time really got away from me. I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I posted. I hope I am not going to make a habit of that.



School has really been fabulous. I can't believe how simple and fun it has been. We have really enjoyed having so much more time together. Our days are not taking as long either. I find myself embracing the more relaxed style of homeschooling. We still get all the work done, but with a less rigid schedule. The kids do better when I give them a little more freedom as far as what subject to do next, etc. We also don't do 9am to 3pm necessarily. Some days we start earlier, some later. Sometimes we do school from 8-11 and then play all afternoon and wrap up school after dinner with Daddy. The freedom is nice ..... why did I want to do it like the schools do it anyway?

We are continuing on with our North America studies. This week we will finish up Mexico. We will begin a two week unit on Canada next week. We made passports for the kids and they will get to stamp them for each country we study. We took passport photos and everything. It was pretty fun. Fancy wasn't in the best of spirits that day .... hence the "Not going to smile" face.

Passport photos:

Their passports turned out pretty well. We used Navy blue paper and a gold pen to write the words on the front cover. We had my old passport to go by. They even filled out a "passport application" and wrote a "check" for the fee. Then I had them address the envelope and mail off the application and fee. (Did you know the passport office is conveniently located at my parents address?)

I think my favorite part of school this year is the fact that we have read and read and read .... both individually and together. The kids aren't exactly as excited about this as I am, but I am starting to see them come around .... especially Fancy. They much prefer to spend their time on the computer or playing PlayStation or watching TV .... I am ashamed at how much time they have spent doing those things over the last few years, especially when I was in school. Now that we can make an effort though, we have seriously been limiting that wasted time. All in all, for me, there is nothing better than ending a long day snuggled up in my bed with everyone and a good book to read together. I can tell as much as they like TV, they are finding this time reading together really fun.

I have successfully incorporated "Home Ec" (aka chores) into our daily schedule. They really LOVE that. It is nice to train them in this and benefit from the time it saves me too. I realized not long ago that my kids are definitely old enough to have some chores. How did I let them get to this age without any? Those days are over. The result: Thrilled children.

On a non-schooling note, Bubby got his birthday present on Sunday. "It's his birthday?", you ask. Nope. The husband and I went to Guitar Center this weekend to do some early shopping while the kids were out of town with my parents. They were having a really great sale so we went ahead and got Bubby's drum set we were planning on getting him for his birthday. My plan was to hide it at my parents' house until December (the birthday). The Husband's plan differed. He couldn't wait to see Bubby's excitement ..... let's be honest though: He set it up IMMEDIATELY when we got home Saturday and played with it until Bubby got home Sunday. It is too funny. I'm not sure who enjoys it more. Ok, so here is a pic of Bubby's face seeing the set for the first time (YES .... he started RUNNING):

And here is where the noise began:

It has not stopped since. He is actually pretty good. We think it will be something he will stick with. We'll see. I will be checking into lessons for the next few weeks.

I guess for now that is all I have to say. I will get back to school, and laundry, and dinner, and life.

Take Care