handsful

Nope. Nothing for me…but, that’s okay. I still was excited to surprise them this morning with a dozen assorted sugary doughnuts to begin our 1st day of the 2010-2011 homeschool year :)

Someone likes powdered sugar ;)

Marley’s doughnut choice is ALWAYS a french cruller.

The boys look a little tired, hopefully the sugar high would help. Payton scarfed his down before I could even take the picture!

After breakfast and chores, we were off and running. Bible first…next was math (a variety of 7th grade up to Algebra 1), grammar, spelling, and writing.

Lainey is getting in on the action this year…here she is working on a Handwriting Without Tears workbook. We also started our favorite phonics program, Sing, Spell, Read, and Write. As soon as the song came on, the boys ran up to sing along. How cute / weird is that?

After lunch, the kids worked on american history and general science. Abbey is actually enrolled in a co-op Biology class this year, which begins this Thursday.

This year, our history/literature program has a LOT more reading than in past years. Woo hoo! Not all the kids are thrilled about this, but I am :) (Insert semi-evil laugh here)

Unfortunately, Ethan would MUCH rather be reading those comics instead of The Red Badge of Courage. Sorry, dude.

Abbey, on the other hand, is very happy with her foreign language this year. She’s using Rosetta-Stone to learn Mandarin. Randy began this curriculum a while back, and I plan on starting soon as well.

Assuming we can EVER travel to get Dylan (more on that frustration later…), we hope to be able to communicate with him at least on a basic level.

So, all in all, our first day went great. A few tweaks here and there, like I expected…you always realize that something you planned out will work better THIS way once you actually get into it. We’re thankful and blessed to be able to homeschool!

Just like last year, our homeschool co-op held an Amazing Race for the middle and high school students.  Abbey was joined this year by her siblings…but, they were all split up and put on different color-coded teams.  This year’s theme was Bible, and the kids had a blast in the Florida heat.  Most of the kids are easy to find in the photo…Ethan is behind the girl with the white sunglasses. 

Abbey and Marley have their game faces on. 

Payton is volunteering for some unknown thing…

Ethan had a hard time finding the rest of his purple team members…it was confusing, his headband was a darker purple than the others! 

I wasn’t sure about all the challenges…it was difficult chasing down each of the 4 teams AND making sure Lainey got her playtime, too.  Here, Payton’s team is trying to put together a paper skeleton, putting the bones in the right places. 

This came from Matthew 7:6, where it talks about not “casting your pearls before swine”.  The kids had to dig through slimey mud to find 21 white “pearls”.  Some loved this, some did not! 

There was LOTS of running involved in the Amazing Race!  Go Ethan!

Lainey LOVES to swing.  I’m doing double-time here, swinging Lainey and her friend Elizabeth. 

Abbey works to put together a puzzle, so that she can read the verse on the back.  Part of their activities required them to write down the verse in a notebook that went along with each challenge.

Marley races to dump water that she gathered from another bucket, into this one.  Problem is the cup has holes in it.  I totally forget what the point of this one was.  I knew it at the time!  My brain cells are consumed with our upcoming move.  On FRIDAY.  And, I’m here posting…

We’re so thankful that our move was put off by a week, so that the kids could enjoy this last activity with our fabulous homeschool co-op.  :)

Matching game…classic, preschool task to learn.  Lainey digs it big time. 

And, Payton is more than happy to set aside his school books long enough to play a game. 

Afterall, school is more than just books.  It’s learning to take turns…to match pictures…and, to celebrate when the other person finds that perfect match. 

This little preschooler is learning her lessons well.

Notes from my kids MAKE my day… (this one is from EJ)

I didn’t want to be SO predictable and post about the kids 1st day of homeschool :)  Today was our SECOND day and it went really well.  This is my 9th year teaching at home – Abbey began her homeschooling in 2001 when she was 5, the triplets joined the “class” in 2003 (boy was THAT an interesting year…), and Lainey will officially begin in 2011.  I try to avoid thinking of how many years I have left to school …too stressful to consider! 

Seriously, though, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.  There are certainly days when I question my abilities, patience, and strength to get through each day – especially as they grow older, subjects become more difficult, and studies take longer to complete.  But, there are many more GOOD days than bad. 

I am BLESSED to be able to stay home and teach-train-raise our kids with the knowledge and beliefs that WE desire they have.  And, our kids wouldn’t have it any other way. 

The teacher with her future student.  (note to self – try a little eye makeup next time maybe?)

 Lainey, are you excited to do school one day?

I’ll call that a yes. 

And, no, this pic has ZERO to do with the topic of this post – but it’s too darn cute not to include!  Lainey gave lots of lovin’ to Cammie while she was here (we were dog-sitting for friends).  She went home today, and the kids hated to see her go.

Two very nice waiters

Our homeschool group, Christ Church Homeschoolers, had it’s Spring Banquet last night.  It was so well done, we were very impressed!  Abbey, Payton, and Ethan were all servers.  Each table had it’s own server, Ethan was ours.  Payton has found a new passion – waiting tables!  He took care of his own table so well, he started helping others with theirs! 

Abbey loved being a server, too. 

Each table had our salads, honey wheat rolls, cupcakes, and little baggies of candy for each person.  Speaking of the food, the menu was planned and prepared by Chef Jessica (Marley’s cooking teacher and local celebrity chef).  She was assisted by the other cooking students – Marley had to be at the church cooking both Thursday and Friday to get it all done.  The main dish was a wonderful lasagna! 

Ethan shows Marley to her seat – she and the other cooking students were released from their cooking duties so they could eat!  The servers ate beforehand, in the kitchen.  :)

Our co-op leader is Barbie.  She’s extremely good at her job!  And, it’s a bonus that she’s just as nice as can be.  Here she is welcoming everyone and introducing Payton to pray for our dinner.  He volunteered to do this – the boy loves to pray. 

Happy girl, lasagna is coming! 

After dinner, each student received a diploma for completing their grade at CCH. 

Payton, Ethan, and Marley

The whole group of pre-K through HS.  If you include babies – 3’s, we have 250 kids in the group.   

Marley and her cooking class were recognized up on stage by Chef Jessica and presented with cooking tools as a thank you gift for their efforts in preparing the dinner.  I don’t have a decent picture of it, since Marley always hides in the back when she’s on stage.  Where would she get that from?

Some goofing around went on after it was all over – my friend Laurie and I get a little cheesy. 

Laurie’s daughter Kenzie…you’ve gotta move fast to get her picture! 

Lainey was seriously giddy about getting a balloon to take home.  She batted it and giggled all the way home. 

Hey!  Where’s my diploma?  I passed my 2’s and 3’s class, right?

Anyone watch the TV show “The Amazing Race”? Groups travel around the globe, meeting physical or mental challenges. On each show, the last group to arrive at the designated destination is eliminated. Our homeschool group organized our own Amazing Race this past Friday. We had 9 groups of 4 kids each, and our “world” was a local park. We spread all the continents around the park, with a challenge to meet at each stop. Here, Abbey’s purple group is trying to match flags to their appropriate country.

Lots of fun trees to play in at this park…

The kids did a LOT of running from continent to continent!

In Asia, Abbey amazed everyone with her chopstick skills!

Lainey loved the playground…

let’s run some more…time to put the books of the bible in order.

Payton running with a friend…the race was only for 6th-12th graders. They were bummed.

She climbed up to this slide over and over and over and…

another challenge – pogo sticks!

Ethan conquered the dinosaur rocker!

I had to do it…is this not the cutest thing? Yep, she’s big girl pants all day, every day now. (well, except nap/bedtime.)

After the race, Abbey’s Jr. High pastor gave a fantastic devotion about the spiritual race we run.

Our of 9 teams, Abbey’s team placed 2nd. 5 SECONDS behind the 1st place team. :)

She brought her “computer” and book box up to the table, sat herself in my chair, looked at me and signed “Lainey work”. Grin.

5th grade and preschool, all at the same table. Grand idea, don’t you think?

** Potty-training update: She’s been dry ALL day, and tonight at dinner actually stopped eating, told me she had to potty, and she went! I must confess, I’m using a combo of pull ups and big girl pants. This week is crazy with appointments (Payton gets braces on Wednesday, we have a consult with L’s plastic surgeon, skit practice, etc.) so there’s not a single day where we’re home all day. It’s worth it right now to use a few pull ups (only one today!) and go full-force next week – spring break.