More Lucy :)

Just a few of Lucy today. She is pulling up to a stand a lot on things...not quite cruising yet. She brings a whole lot of sweetness to our home!

School IS cool!

You know that old saying, "School is Cool" ? Well, I would have to say that it is true! We have been having a really great couple of weeks. I think we are more in our rhythm and routine as a family and this new life of homeschooling. The days are still long and tiring, don't get me wrong! But there is just more peace and joy in the midst of it too. I have visions of capturing all of the various parts of our day in pictures and recording it on here, but that just doesn't seem to be happening this year! And I"m ok with that! But I did want to share a few things that we have been up to so that you can have a little window into our world. So here you go...

We are using the Kindergarten Saxon Math curriculum. It is REALLY easy for Owen. BUT, we are really committed (at this point) in keeping "on grade level" so that if and when he goes to school he is the "right" age (among other reasons). Even though this is a really easy thing for Owen, he seems to enjoy it and is not bored. This day he was simply counting pennies and putting them in cups (1 penny in the cup numbered 1, 2 pennies in the cup numbered 2, etc). The picture below where he is smiling is where he has just figured out that he has 55 pennies (I think)... the boy LOVES numbers! It's neat to watch the joy in learning right up close!







Owen has a penpal this year! His sweet cousin Anna Rose lives in Connecticut. She also started Kindergarten this year. Owen and Anna have written a few letters back and forth so far. It is a GREAT day when we go to the mailbox and there is mail from CT! In this most recent letter, Owen had asked Anna if she likes football. She sent her card back with "girly" (according to Owen) stickers and said she liked soccer. She then asked Owen another question for him to answer in this next card. Precious!!



Today was apple taste testing day. We had red delicious, golden delicious, and gala apples. The boys had to taste each one and then pick the one that they liked the best. The both decided that golden delicious is there favorite. I always buy gala...hmmm...

10 months - and all girl!

I am about a week late in posting that our precious Lucy is 10 months old! Last year at this time I was one month into bed rest...enjoying the fall weather from a lawn chair on our back porch, hearing updates of field trips and watching my husband scurry around like a crazy man. All for this precious little girl. Oh, Lucy, we love you! You are well worth that whole crazy time!

She is sleeping like a champ - 12 hours at night and two 2 hour naps during the day. I wonder when the morning nap will fade away, but we're living it up while it lasts!! That is when we do school, puzzles, games on the ground, etc. She is a very busy crawler and likes to see everything! She is drawn like a magnet to any board game! She loves to play with any toy - especially the boys cars and balls! She is a momma's girl - always within a few feet in case she wants to be swooped up and cuddled (and then toted around, because let's face it, this momma doesn't have hours to spend just cuddling!). Her brothers and daddy continue to adore her, and she them! The smiles and giggles are too much for them to handle! She is a joy!

Here she is...Miss Lucy Grace, 10 months old!

"I do homeschool."

We had our first run-in with someone who put Owen on the spot about school. He handled it so well - I was very proud of his courage and boldness! We were leaving Costco after a quick shopping trip before picking Baxter up from preschool. The lady at the door (who checks your receipt to be sure you're not stealing anything) looked at Owen, and very loudly said to him, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?!" I paused, seeing that he was processing what he was saying. He simply, yet boldly, said "I do homeschool!" She looked and him and then looked at me and said something like "Well, good for you! Have a great day!" I don't know what she was thinking, but she was very kind in response to him.

I was just so proud of him - he does well with adults he knows, but is often very quiet with other adults. He just looked her in the eye and answered her question - confident in how he is being schooled. It was neat!

Thank you Lord for our precious son! May he always be brave and bold for you and your kingdom!!

Owen's first story

I found this idea on a blog that the women who wrote "A well trained mind" (which is what we have based our curriculum off of) had posted. They suggested that your child narrate a story to you, you type it out (or write it out I guess). I thought it would be neat to also print out the story, have him illustrate it, and then staple it together like a mini-book.

Here is what he came up with. It came out of him like he was just waiting for me to ask him a story. So sweet. Can you tell that he's read a book about lost treasure and that we have been reading Charlotte's Web together!! :)

Title: "Owen's first scene: A Spider Web Message"

p.1 "One day, I was walking down the street, and I saw a spider web. The spider web was so big that I could fit in it."
p.2 "And on the spider web was a secret message. It said "Across the sea you will find the last of the lasts treasure chest."
p.3 "And when I found the treasure chest, it was so great I wanted to keep it. And I opened it. And I saw lots and lots and lots of gold pennies. But then, I had to go back to my own home. See you next time. Good Bye! THE END."

About to start week 5!

We have completed 4 weeks of homeschool! It has really gone smoothly, which I thank the Lord for! Owen is really enjoying (most of the time) the work and activities we are doing. Baxter loves to "do homeschool" on the days he is at home. Lucy is still being a super third child and napping for 1.5-2 hours each morning while we are doing school. I am thankful for the planning I did this summer that has allowed the fall to be low stress. I feel a little better about him not being in a classroom with another adult and other children - thankful for the opportunity to see his friendships with Baxter and Lucy grow, thankful for a chance to know him and spend time with him, thankful that when we have seen friends and other adults this week he has interacted very well and with joy.

One sweet thing is that Owen does a journal time every morning we do school. He has to draw a picture and then write one sentence about it. He can either do something that he thinks up on his own or get an idea from the "journal ideas" envelope. This hasn't been a favorite time of his - too vague I think. One day he was super cranky. I had him draw a picture of how he was feeling. He drew a sad face on one page and a happy face on the other. One said "I am sad" and the other said "I am happy." I know that feeling well - happy sad! Since that day, I have not asked him to draw how he is feeling, but he often will do it on his own. He'll do his one journal page from his mind or the envelope and then do a 2nd page with a smiley face that says "I am happy." I am thankful for that!

We're not sure what the future holds, but we are thankful for where we are today! This weekend Matt led a young adults beach retreat through church in Corolla, NC. We left as a family Friday morning - spent time at the beach house, climbing the light house and playing at the beach Friday (pictures will come soon). Saturday morning while Matt was teaching and Lucy was napping the boys and I did our schoolwork that we skipped on Friday. I appreciated the flexibility it allows - we could all go with Matt this weekend and school flexed around that. Pretty neat!

Here are two pics from this past week. One is Owen creating a big D and little d with lincoln logs (he also made a "Hebrew D" after Matt had shown him some Hebrew that he was working on at work). The other is Owen playing with Lucy - it's neat that he is around to know her as she grows this year!

Sweet lunch eater...

No words for this one!

Baxter's First Day!

Baxter started preschool last week! He went last year, one day a week, for the 2 year old class. This year he will be going two days a week for the 3 year old class. He has the same teacher that Owen did when he was 3! We are excited for him to have a place where he will be loved very well, told more about Jesus, and get some of his wiggles out! He's really enjoyed doing some homeschool time with us, but it would be too much for him to hang in there with us every day. He will be home with us on two mornings a week now which is great all around! Here are some precious pictures of our very intense (wether joy or goofy or sad or mad) middle child. We love you Baxter!!!

Overheard at our house...

A bunch of friends have a part of their blogs called "overheard at our house..." to capture sweet things that their kids say. I think I might start doing this too. We'll see!

Here are a few from today.

Me - Baxter, would you like to read your "God books" today during silent reading time?
B - Sure, I love God!

earlier this morning...

Me - Owen, what is your favorite part about fall?
Owen - Leaves, and homeschool

It's moments like those that make this all worth it!

Not so great are the moments that they are kicking and hitting one another or I am speaking in less than soft words...

God is good to be at work in it all!

Couldn't be sweeter!! 9 Months old!

Our precious Lucy is 9 months old! Can you believe it? I can't! She started crawling last weekend in the midst of Hurricane Irene. She is such a sweet explorer. She is very into figuring things out and tracking things down - especially the boys toys! She is as sweet as ever and so fun to learn more of her personality. She has continued her great napping this week which I am thrilled about since we have started homeschool! If only she could take a 1.5 - 2 hour morning nap through the end of may :) She loves "table food" much better than baby food, but she can't quite master it enough to eat much of it. So we're still shoveling the baby food in for a bit longer. Her brothers adore her - even when she comes crawling toward their sorry game or football endzones.

We love you Lucy Grace!

Day 1 complete!

So when we woke up this morning, Owen awoke as a Kindergarten-er and I awoke a teacher. We had our first day of homeschool Kindergarten (and preschool for Baxter) this morning. I would say overall it was a success. It didn't go exactly as I had envisioned it. In some ways it went better, in some ways anti-climactic and in other ways it brought up fears and wonderings I didn't expect.

I wondered if we were going to limit him by keeping him at home. He won't get to be in a class with other kids. He won't get to go to PE or art or music. Are my plans too simple? Why did it only take 5 minutes to complete something I thought would take 20 minutes? I am not trained for this!

He read THREE books to us during our reading time. He and Baxter worked together on a puzzle without fighting. I was able to remind Owen (and myself) that our learning of spelling and writing and phonics is to equip us to know God and to make Him known to others. Lucy took an awesome nap. We had Lucky Charms for a snack. Baxter discovered that a 6 and a 9 look the same depending on how you hold them.

Those are some of the wanderings of my mind from day 1. I trust that this is where the Lord has led us and He will be faithful. I am thankful that we ended the morning with smiles and joy. That is a blessing to me!

Here are a few pictures. I am sure more thoughts will come as the days and weeks go by...

A silly thing I did at the start of the day where we each wore two hats. Our normal hats (mommy, son) and our new hats (teacher, student). I think they got it. Baxter later asked me if he could call me mommy and not teacher. Sweet B.



Owen reading "Ronald Morgan goes to Bat" to us.



First day of school!



First "free writing/drawing" assignment. Yes, this is a picture of a house with stinky things next to it and it reads "My house is messy." Hmm...I thought it was cleaner than it's ever been in preparation for school starting. So encouraging!



Second page of the "free writing/drawing." A heart and a pin that says "I love my pin." This is in reference to a pin he received at Home Depot on Saturday morning from a daddy and me project. That was more of what I was looking for :)

Saturday Bagel Time

This picture is a little snapshot of one of my favorite times of the week. In our house we simply call it "bagel time." Most weeks, on Saturday morning, we get up, get the kids breakfast, and get me out the door. I am generally gone for about an hour and a half. I head to our favorite bagel shop, Cuppertino's NY Bagel and Deli, with my Bible, notebook, a few books. I find a great corner to sit in, order my everything bagel toasted with plain cream cheese and a small coffee, and I sit down to meet with the Lord.

It is a time of refreshment for me. On one hand it it good to be away from my home for a little while - to have a break from the demands of my kids and my home. But most of all, it is good for me to be in the Word and in books that are instructive to things I am dealing with. God meets me there. I am refreshed. It is good!

I am currently reading through the Bible in a year - I have the ESV Bible in a Year. I pick up on whatever day it is. In reality it's the Bible in 10 years, but that is ok :) I am also reading through a few great books:

Praying Life by Paul Miller

Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp

The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

If you are able, I strongly recommend starting something like Saturday morning bagel time!

Who? What? Where? When? Why?

We are less than 2 weeks away from a new family adventure. One that we have thought about and prayed about and disagreed about and agreed about and wondered about for years. On Owen's Half-Birthday, he will have his first day of Kindergarten...at HOME. We are both thrilled and anxious about what this year will hold for all five of us, but we are confident that this is where the Lord has led us, and look forward to what He is going to be doing!

As a way to kick off this new adventure, I thought I'd answer a few questions that you may have about this adventure...

Who?
Owen (5 1/2) is starting Kindergarten - 4 days with mommy and 1 special day with daddy. Owen and Matt will get to spend Tuesday mornings together. I will continue to attend our women's Bible study at church while Owen and Matt spend Matt's day off together!



Baxter (3 1/2) will be in preschool 2 days a week and home 3 days a week (1 of those days at home will be at Bible study with me)



Lucy (9 months) will be napping for most of our school day - 9-11am - and hopefully playing peacefully for any other times we need to work on school.



What?
"To know Him and make Him known." I read that in a book recently and it has become our focus as we think about doing school at home with our boys. That is our goal. As we learn and as we teach - to love learning in order to know God more. And to use what we learn to reach the world with His gospel.

We are basing a lot of our thinking and planning off of a great book called "The Well Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer. She recommends keeping it fairly simple for the Kindergarten year. I am thankful for that - it's helped me to say no to a lot of ideas and just stick with the basics. We can always add to it as we go!

Math - Saxon Kindergarten
Phonics - Explode the Code
Spelling - Words Their Way
Handwriting/Writing - a journal for free writing/drawing and a "heart notebook" to keep verses on specific areas of struggle for Owen.
READING - lots and lots of reading - silent reading, mommy reading aloud and Owen reading aloud.
Bible/Church History - we'll be reading through Genesis and John as well as reading about various men from church history (including John Owen!)

Where?
Right here in our home!






When?
For 34 weeks of this next year, starting on September 6th, from 9am-11:30am.

Why?
A number of reasons, most of which are hard to express. First and foremost I clearly see that this is where the Lord has led us. That is the main reason. We have been discussing this since Owen was 2 years old. We really feel strongly about having our kids be at home for the majority of their time while they are young. For us to be the main influence and main teachers of character and the main ones to walk them through their sin and God's redeeming of them through the cross. I have seen a slight increase of brotherly love - and love towards Lucy - that has come out of more time at home together this summer and I look forward to them developing that relationship more and more this year. I also know that there are going to be hard days - more fighting - less mommy time- lots to balance - less peer interaction. We are seeking to trust the Lord with all of those things and watch to see Him provide abundantly for all of our needs according to His glorious riches!

I am thankful that this is where we are at this fall and expectant for the Lord to be at work.

GAP Beach Trip 2011

My brother Brett realized this week that our "Gillan And Purdy" beach trip should have been sponsored by GAP (Gillan And Purdy!). So clever! We had a really great week at the beach - I keep telling people that it was even slightly relaxing! Go figure! A beach trip with three kids can be relaxing. The key to that was our sweet Lucy. She napped pretty well on the beach every morning for her morning nap. When she was napping in her little tent and the boys were playing in the ocean or on the sand with cousins and daddy and aunts and uncles and gramma and grampa, I could site near Lu and read a book! Crazy I know! I even finished the book I brought with me (Left Neglected by Lisa Genova...neat book!).

We were very thankful for our time as a family at the beach as well as time with family. It's neat to see the cousins continue to develop friendship with one another and for us to get some time with my brothers and their wives and my parents.

After our week in Corolla with the GAP clan, we headed south to Kill Devil Hills (I think) to spend a few more days with Matt's family. We were thankful that the weeks overlapped so well. We got to take the kids to ice cream and we went to "the dunes" at Jockey's Ridge.

I think that pictures tell the story the best, so here you go...a LOT of pictures of a great week and a half!