November Notes

I started out so good and have had so many ideas and thoughts to blog about it, but it just hasn't been happening. I believe the weather is partly to blame. Here in Oregon, fall or an early winter is in full swing and since we practice zone heating....I am found more often in the living room by the wood stove. The computer room is completely in the back of the house and I am spending less and less time there because there is no wood stove! I have pulled out the space heater so things might pick up, but the ambiance just isn't the same.

However, I feel the need to catch up some....so here is some notes from November so they aren't forgotten!

It has been a busy, but fun month already. Our last boys club event was wonderful! We had the grandparents of one of the families volunteer and they delivered a fantastic afternoon. There was a devotion, followed by the making of their very own personal stomp rockets!

I had to make them pause to take this picture because I couldn't get one that wasn't blurry! The best part was that Mr. Martin was a shop teacher and had lot of experience setting

up for a class setting like ours. All the boys were allowed to cut their own PVC pipe and hoses and it was such fun for them. I tried not to be nervous as I watched each one of "my boys" pick up a hacksaw and go to town:) Here is my brave friend Becca holding the board for Connor and Brody to have their turn!

We also had our Harvest Party with our co op and spent some time decorating gourds which was a ton of fun for the kids. I love having these adorn my kitchen counter for the holiday season;)

School has been going great. I decided last Monday to take a week or two off from our traditional Sonlight "core" classes so we can start American History in the fall at the same time as a few families that will also be starting. This will make it fun to plan some field trips and share ideas so I am excited about that. With the free time, we decided to study the dinosaurs and the age of the Earth from a biblical worldview and it has been very interesting. We also spent some of the extra time finally reading the first of the Chronicles of Narnia...The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which we finished tonight and enjoyed. Here is a few shots of what our school mornings have looked like around here...

Connor and Brody love to make desks in odd places and this day they set the cushions on top of the arm rests with the back pillows and had so much fun doing their work there. As you can see Owen liked it too.I absolutely LOVE this picture. Jake certainly likes to be where the action is when he is not sound asleep and as Connor was working on his vocabulary, he got to spend some quality time with boys best friend. I think it is so sweet the way he is petting him with one hand and holding that book with the other.

So, now we are getting ready for Thanksgiving reading books about Squanto, and the Pilgrims and enjoying some much needed time off that Bryan has been blessed with. Aunt Lara is coming Friday to visit for a few days which us all very excited and eager for the week to hurry along!