Friday's Favorite

This was going to be my post last Friday until "Stitches" got his stitches.

With homeschooling, comes the ability to structure our days around learning and fun.

So Fridays are (usually) field trip days!

Earlier this month, we spent the day learning about farm animals at
The Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead.
This is one of our favorite places because there is so much to do.
Not only is there a petting zoo, but there's a pond to go fishing in, pony rides,
baby goats to feed, hayrides, and lots to explore.

Isn't that the goofiest caterpillar face ever?!!  What a silly boy!

Anna enjoyed Charlotte's calves (below), and learned about milking a cow.

We got to watch Charlotte the cow being milked.
And even learned about cows having 4 stomachs.
Anna also learned that a male chicken is called a rooster,
and a female chicken is a hen.
(What?! Why does a male and female have to have different names?
Aren't they all just called chickens????
I know she was thinking this by the puzzled look on her face.)

We spent the day on one side of the park,
just to give you an idea of how big and how fun this place is.
We look forward to going back again soon.

Spot Time

So, what does Micaiah do while I'm working

with Anna on teaching time???!?

Micaiah has spot time!!

He gets to choose a few things to enjoy playing with on his own (something that only happens during this time of the day) and he gets to choose where he wants to play. Spot time is great because it allows me to focus my attention on working with Anna, yet he is learning to have quiet play time on his own. For Micaiah, this is his time to explore, try new things, and figure things out without being chaperoned by his sister. Imagine--no fighting, no arguing, no craziness for at least half an hour out of the day! Its marvelous (to me!). Some things that Micaiah likes to do during spot time is: ride his tricycle on the balcony, play with trucks or legos or empty boxes, and cook on the cooker set.

Teaching Time

When it comes to homeschooling,
our favorite spot is scenic and peaceful.
Anna, Micaiah, and I head outside to enjoy sitting out on our balcony enjoying the nice weather while learning, working, and playing. Of course, its much different than the lazy days of summer when they had a lot of play time. Yes, we call homeschooling 'teaching time' because really its just a lot more fun to say!!!

Homeschooling Anna is a lot of FUN. She really enjoys it and surprisingly enough, I am enjoying it too. It can be tough especially when Micaiah is begging for attention. Yet it is so worth it to see her grow and expand on concepts and ideas, as well as allowing Micaiah to join in during coloring activities and reading time.

In our home, teaching time is three days a week (Mon/Tues/Thurs) in the mornings from 9-11:00am. For this semester, we are working on putting letters together to make and sound out words, handwriting, identifying and writing capital and lowercase letters, writing her name, identifying and writing numbers, counting to 20, shapes, primary and secondary colors, weather, and reading. Most of the handwriting, alphabet, and number lessons are done in workbooks though I'm not using one specific curriculum. I like to include one activity or craft that reinforces one of the lessons for the week. We also have lots and lots of reading time. Usually, I will read to Anna for 20-30 minutes a day out of a chapter book we've chosen. Right now we're reading out of "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Its the first book of the series and we plan to read all of them.
Anna really enjoys reading...and storytelling.

I'm excited to post some of Anna's work.
Thats our homeschooling journey so far.

Snow in September!

For my birthday...it was quite a day and quite a year to remember!

Brian and Anna made the traditional pineapple upside-down cake (my favorite!).

Anna, Micaiah, and I played in the snow! Okay, well, first we made the snow from a science kit. They were so curious about it all. It was especially fun and occupied them for most of the day.

Brian surprised me with...dark chocolate raisinets!!! One of my new found (hard to find) favorite cravings!!! It was so sweet! Then, he completely surprised me by taking me out on a dinner date to my favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. And of course, I enjoyed my favorite cheesecake, Godiva Chocolate.

This was, by far, my best birthday yet! We didn't stay out late though because it was a school night. Here's a picture my half eaten cheesecake with the birthday card that Brian gave me in the background.
Birthdays always remind me of all the special people that I have gotten to meet, know, and love in my life. There are so many!!!!! I'm especially thankful for my family and friends...and pray that each and every one of them know that they are loved!

I am 29 years young...and already I have had many experiences in life that have shown me how short and fragile this life is. When my mother's mental illness brought pain, confusion, fear, and death to our family. When I experienced the sadness of my parent's divorce. When I tried drinking as a way to forget the pain and as a social avenue. When a friend died. When my friends weren't there. All this happened before I was 21... And then on April 8, 2001, I could finally declare that was my old life. From that day on until now, I (try) to rejoice every morning knowing that I have another day to live my life with purpose, with passion, and with sincerity. I am a new person in Jesus Christ, and I live my life differently now. Through hardship, death, and frustration, my choice to fear the Lord my God above it all has brought peace, joy, and redemption in ways that I could have never made happen on my own. Not only have I been changed, but I have changed and affected others' lives. I share this in earnest that each of us may consider the direction and path our life choices are taking us in. It is never too late, until the last breath, to make a choice to make a change. May we be willing to change. May we become aware of the things that we cannot change. May our hearts be open to experience and embrace the greatest love in the whole world. Jesus Christ is as real as the air that fills your lungs and gives you breath. And may we consider how we use each breath to live before the living God, our great Creator and Redeemer.

"What then shall we say to these things? If GOD is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31-39)

Starting the year off right

Well, where to start?

The past few weeks have been busy indeed!

Wow--just thinking about it all reminds me of how blessed I am!

How amazing is the grace of God.

This summer, I started a new tradition called "Mama and Anna dates." Once a month, we plan a time and pick something fun to do together--just the two of us. She always looks forward to our dates and it has become an important part of our relationship. It has also been an opportunity to prepare and encourage her for the years to come. We've had some really great times and I know we're both glad that we started this new tradition.

Right now for many, its the start of a new season, a new chapter.
Its the start of a new academic year!

I am very excited!!! This year is going to be great. Anna is really looking forward to homeschooling. Of course, mostly its because she really enjoys playing with her brother and she really wants to learn to read.

When we sat down to start our homeschooling session this morning, Anna said to me with a big smile on her face, "I really like my teacher."
She looked at me and I asked her, "Well, who is your teacher?"
She giggled and responded, "You are Mama!!!! You are my teacher and I will learn from you."

In the moment when she said that, my heart was filled with such peace and delight.
I looked at her smiling up at me.
This is just a glimpse of the joy of motherhood.

Check out Angie's blog post about homeschooling.
Hope you all had a refreshing summer...and a great start to the academic year.