2014-2015 School Year

How blessed I am to be able to teach our children! Not just their hearts, but their minds too. This is our 5th year of homeschooling and I think we are finally in a groove. Don't let the number of years discourage you, though. God is good and if this is what he's called for you, it will happen!

 This year, more than ever, we are homeschooling with intention. That means being prepared. Going to bed on time, lesson planning, waking up to the alarm clock. Things are going more smoothly. Hearts and minds are being shaped. 

Here are the goof balls on their way to our first Academy Day. I'm always late in writing the back to school post and in the 3 months from this picture, they both look so different. It saddens my heart a little to see them growing. They will never be this size. ever. again. Exhale.

This year I was privileged to kick off AD with teaching the letter A. What a better way to learn about A than with applesauce! We chopped these up in class, added a little water, put a cover on and in the microwave it went. 

Aren't these the cutest applesauce samplers ever?!? Like I said, what a privilege to teach these kids. They are so bright, funny, and sweet.

They did a drawing and writing of their opinion of applesauce. Not sure what Soph was drawing here, but that's pretty good penmanship for the beginning of the school year.

Our Picture Day picture.

South America Part 2

When we got together this time for South America, we focused on their cuisine. We had a lot of fun with this! I went out to the Latin Markets around town and picked up different flavors of Empanadas to sample as well as different fruits. These were the empanadas that we made.

Chicken Empanadas 

These were delicious! You could even freeze these for a treat later. I haven't had time to do this yet, but it's on my to do list.

 Apple Empanadas-Oh my! These were even more delicious than our savory chicken pocket. But you can't really go wrong with apples and cinnamon. Hands down, the favorite of everyone.

The different fruits we sampled. Some were new to us and some not so much. There were some funny faces after they tried jackfruit. They were all good sports though and tried every single one. Mango was a winner! 

Quinoa a product of Bolivia(it said so on the package) haha Mama Shelly made this and it was the best quinoa I have ever had. It sure hit the spot for me! Broccoli with anything is always a winner in my book!

It's such a good feeling to be able to enlighten these youngens about the different countries and cultures out there. Summer learning is the best kind of learning! I wonder what we'll do next year?!?

South America Part 1

For our summer learning session, we chose Evan Moor's South America. As an enrichment to the book, we got together with some friends and did an art project on a Toucan(native to South America). I found a video from YouTube that we followed. We watched it a few times and then they went to town with it. We also had a box of Fruit Loops, as a sample, to eat and to look at!

 Look at them concentrating so hard! I love these kids! The best students ever!

The end product! They had such a good time and I had a good time too.

Promotion Night 2014

At the end of every school year, we have a Promotion Night to honor the kids. It's something we all look forward to. There's usually some sort of skit/video, a presentation of the families, an honoring of the moms, then dessert and fellowship.

My favorite part of the night is during the presentation of the families. Each child has a character trait that is chosen from their parents. It's such a chore to find one for each of the kids, but when you find one, you know it's the right one!  

Here are the kids practicing their songs the day before the big night.

 The only boys in their grade level. It's a good thing they like each other! Looking forward to seeing the shenanigans these two will come up with!

 Odin was super pleased when we put this shirt on for him! At that point everyone was already spruced up except for him, so when we put this on, he felt like he was part of the clan. It's so interesting to see how quickly they pick up on things!

 One of my sweet students! Man, these kids they grow and grow and grow. Here I am wearing 3 inch heels and she is almost as tall as I am. And she is only in 3rd grade!!!!

 A procession line lead by the Kindergarteners. Or in this case, the mature 4 year olds that were a part of the K class.

 Studly son!

 And beautiful Soph!

 One of my other favorite part of the night! The kids come down the aisle carrying flowers to give to their mama. Before we became a part of this group, I went to one of our friend's promotion night. Let me tell you, during this part of the night, I balled my eyes out! It was so sweet and it reaffirmed my desire to join in.

So now that I am on stage waiting for my children to bring me flowers, I don't ball my eyes out. I am too busy praying that they can make it towards me without fighting. That when they come up to me, I don't fall off stage and flash everyone my derriere and then some! So yeah, that's enough to keep the emotions in check!

Incognito Learning

When we started on our journey to homeschool, John and I went to a conference and sat in on a workshop. I don't remember what the topic was about, but she mentioned the words "incognito learning". That has stuck with me ever since. Any time I can get this going, there's a fist pump, a stifled giggle, and a swelling of the heart(the healthy kind). Of course, you can't let them see this. After all it is incognito. 

When I make freezer meals, I have Soph label the bags. In the beginning, it helped her practice her letters. Now, she is trying to spell the words. 

Yay, for incognito learning! Thank you Preschoolers and Peace! 

Abundant Blessings

When our friend Shelly shared about a missionary, who works at the orphanage that her daughter came from, needing a new vehicle to transport the kids, I thought why the heck not? We can help and the kids can learn about serving others. I didn't think too much of it. Other than, throw some money into it and maybe the kids will see how much they already have. Well, this project took a life of it's own and blessed many people in epic proportions.

We had a meeting where the kids brainstormed how to raise funds. Some were effective, some were not.

It's neat to see their brains working. And these kids are not even in the double digit age range!

We started by collecting change in mason jars. Slowly, but surely, it added up. We had John take a collection at work and a coworker gave $40!!! What!!! We were so floored with the generosity and it fueled us to our next endeavor.

We had a dine and donate event at Mary's Pizza Shack. It was a delicious fundraiser! We picked up a lunch order for SRPD, had take out for our lunch, and went back for dinner. Yep, we know how to eat!

We had a bake sale. Quite a daunting task for me since I am not known for my baking skills. Hopefully whoever bought these goodies will be content to know that the money went to a good cause...

Selah was rocking the sales table! She was in her element. Sharing her heart about the people she cares for.

We had a Read A Thon hosted at our house. I have to say this was probably one of Magnus' favorite way to raise money. Getting paid to read, what?!

Miss Angie reading to them so their eyes can take a little break. They read for a total of 180 mins with a few breaks in between for potty and snacks. I provided lots of snacks and these little people were quite happy. One had about 7 applesauce squeeze. We won't name any names...

And the finale, an ice cream party to celebrate all their hard work! Great job kids!

As we started out on this project, I didn't realize the impact that this would have on our family. Magnus was able to share about the project at church. His first public speaking venue! (His ears got red as he was speaking and as soon as he was done, his ears went back to a normal color) Another time, he and Soph sang a song each that they had been practicing to elicit donations. And people were so generous with their donations. That, I think touched me more than anything. I just felt so loved by all these people who supported our mission to support Maritza. 

Overall the kids raised a butt load of money, as you can see on the chart. With their hard earned fundraising money and other generous donors throughout the country, we were able to get Maritza a new vehicle.We did this all in about 5 months. God showed up everywhere, growing our faith in him, growing our children, and oozing love all around. Abundant blessings!

Ballerina Soph

This year, Soph took ballet lessons from Mrs. Jackson. Mrs. Jackson lives down the street from us. How awesome is that?!? We technically could walk there, but I don't think Soph has the stamina to walk, do an hour of dance, and then walk back home again. So we drive and we are never late since it takes about 1 min to get there! 

Through this class Soph has blossomed. She is letting go of her shyness, she is learning about girlfriends, and she is gaining confidence. And I'm pretty sure she is having fun too!

The girls in their Seven Dwarves costumes. Some were really in character! Love these girls. They are all so sweet!

Oh my beautiful Soph! So grown looking with a little make up applied. 

She was doing a count down until the day that she could wear makeup for the show!

And these were the Swans.

It's always nice to have some friends and family come watch your performance. During the show she was really nervous and forgot just about everything she was suppose to do. She did well though and looked adorable up there with her friends.

My beautiful ballerina. As we were taking this pic, a little boy came up to her and told her she looked beautiful. So stinkin' cute because he was probably no older than she was. He looked over to his Aunt and asked if he could give her a hug. Soph was quite unsure until I told her it was ok since we did know his Aunt. Hopefully this is not what the future holds for this beauty! haha

Academy of Science

In the fall, we got to go here for a Homeschool Day. The tickets were so much cheaper than going on a regular day. I suggest waiting to go until they offer this. As always, there's always so many things to see and do here. Some thing new we tried out during this trip was their cafe. Oh.My. It is delicious! Maybe we were hungry, not sure. Eat a snack or something before hand because it is expensive!

We got to see a reindeer. How cool is that?!?

And then there's "snow" Hypoallergenic and all! Didn't know snow came in this form, but whatever the kids liked it!