Just the facts mam....

I have often commented on the fact that I can see Connor with a future as a wikipedia writer or something similar. He loves to report the facts! He does not really enjoy creative writing assignments unless the idea is totally his. When he does have an idea that is not a school assignment, he gets excited for a little while then fizzles out. I think he currently has 5 or 6 "books" in the works;)

This past week a new opportunity came up. Sam, one of the kids from our co op, had a brilliant idea to start a newsletter for our group. I am excited to see what happens with it and think it can be a really good experience for the kids that get involved in it. I know Connor thinks it is a great idea and he decided to do a restaurant review for his first submission. He loves to go out to eat and felt this a perfect fit for him. He did this today, all on his own, with only a little help setting up the initial document. I think he did a terrific job and may even give him a "free pass" on Language Arts for tomorrow:)

A Whole Lotta Love!

I just love our co op group. Last week we had a Valentine's party and we all had such a great time. God has brought together some amazing families and it is so neat to see the kids gather each week developing friendships and learning things together. I am grateful that we have an opportunity to participate in such things as a Valentine exchange even though we do not participate in traditional school. It is one of those things that I would not want them to miss. They went through each one when we went home and were excited to have treasures from their friends at "class" (okay and some candy too).


Daddy had some cards waiting for them witha HUGE sucker attached and I showed my love to them by slaving over banana chocolate chip muffins which is their favorite breakfast...or at least one of them. By request I also made them some chocolate goodies they love, AND we enjoyed a nice day at home with no errands which is always one of their favorite "treats"!

BIG Smiles :)

It seems that Connor and Brody have a lot to smile about lately;)


Connor got his braces off after just a few months and what a difference in that smile! I am so happy we went ahead with the partial set now and feel it was totally worth it. He was so happy to get them off and kept saying how much older he felt. I remember driving home almost going off the road looking in the rear view mirror at that handsome boy! This is my new favorite picture of him even though the quality isn't that great! (indoor at night with my iphone...what do you expect?)

Brody and I went to his first 4-H meeting on Saturday and he really enjoyed it. Some of the older kids were working with him to pick up Dusty by himself and he is so excited to learn to do that. He also learned how to clip his nails and do quarter turns for showing. Not the greatest picture either, but the smile was SO precious!
Any time you can go to the Oregon coast without huge gusts of winds and a parka puts a smile on my face! On Sunday, daddy took us along with Grandma Louise visiting from Missouri, out to Newport where he has been working. It was a great time for a run around in the sand and I just love this picture I grabbed of the boys together having fun.



After that we headed to a great old fashioned diner for lunch and real ice cream malts and shakes. Big smiles there too, but no pictures!

Separate Ways

I LOVE having two boys and love even more them being so close in age. When I was still pregnant and shared that the baby I was carrying was a boy, just about everyone would comment on how they were going to fight and bicker. If I didn't know better, I would say that people almost felt the need to offer me some sort of sympathy. I have never needed it. Yes....they do bicker once in a while, but the good times FAR outweigh that. They are best friends and playmates and I love that they have each other.

Parenting them has been quite easy. Since they are so close in age, they like pretty much the same things. Since they are both boys...clothes and toys have been shared, and interests have been similar. They want to play the same games, watch the same shows, and go the same places. I even teach them together in Bible, History, Geography, and Science and it works quite well for us.

However...I sense that I won't be getting off so easy for long. In many ways, I see them going separate ways. I am beginning to see the age gap seem to grow just a little between them. In our co op, Connor is now considered one of the "big kids" and sometimes they are separated for activities.

This Saturday Brody will attend his first 4-H meeting and he can't wait. We have signed him up with his bunny Dusty and he is so anxious to get involved with anything animal! He is not sure if he wants to play flag football again and says that he just "doesn't like sports." He can't wait to be done with piano and has no interest in learning a different instrument.

Connor is chomping at the bit for flag football to start again and is wanting to play baseball too. I think he would play anything involving a ball. He has wanted for years to play the guitar and is now finishing up his piano books and can't wait to get going with his new instrument of choice.

I see Brody working to search out his identity apart from Connor which is a good thing. I also think Connor is seeking some time to himself and realizes that he is getting older, which is also a good thing.

On the practical side, it will be a little tougher for mom. I am already dreading the day when I have to be two places at once on a Saturday morning. I am already preparing them to support each other in their different activities, even if it means some sitting around for them at a practice or a meeting.

However, my possible inconveniences and calendar concerns are quite trivial and I know that. God has created them different and unique with their own gifts, and talents, and interests. I am truly more excited to see those things develop and grow into who and what GOD wants them to be. I am just honored to be along for the ride.

School News!

Yesterday marked the end of our first semester in school this year. We are officially halfway "done" and I wanted to make it special. We took the day off and had a "play day" which mostly consisted of me losing games. We slept in and dawdled most of the morning. I wrapped up and handed out some small gifts, then came....the progress reports! Now, I know as a homeschool mom, I don't have to do this and a lot of people actually disagree with it, but I have found that my boys LOVE it and look forward to it, so I do it. Throughout the year, the only assignments I actually grade is math and I usually save that for big reviews. Recently I did start giving report cards or progress reports two times a year with subjects including academics, electives, and character. I also give a grade in their effort which I believe to be more important than their actual grade. Of course at this point, there is no formula I use...just the E for Excellent, S for Satisfactory, NI for Needs Improvement and U for Unsatisfactory.

After my little conference with Connor, he decided to grade me as well in the teacher category. He said for sure my effort would be E and my actual grade would be an S. I told him it meant a lot that he knows how hard I try and I am completely happy with a satisfactory grade overall;) Brody didn't volunteer but when I asked him later he also said he would give me an E for my effort grade and he couldn't decide between an E or an S for my overall grade. I was very happy....needless to say!

We played a complete game of Monopoly which took a really long time then ate a lesiurely lunch while reading. After blasting some music and getting our chores done, we splurged with some Wii time where I realized that I am way to old for Mariokart! How on earth do they keep with all that is going on? They still loved playing with me which made me feel great! They didn't even complain when I pulled down the whole team and our chances for the trophy;) Then we pulled out the Wii Sports which I do much better in. We had a blast and it was a really fun and memorable day!

I figured this was a great time to post their school pictures for this year, it is going by so quickly! I am so blessed and honored to be home with them every day and I promise to keep trying to earn that Excellent grade for my effort in making our decision for home education a good experience for both of them!

Brody 2nd Grade 2010-2011

Connor 4th Grade - 2010- 2011

Stuff it!

I have two boys ages 9 and 7. Recently I have shared with friends, that I have been wondering when they would "grow out of" the stuffed animal stage. They probably hinted a slight touch of motherly concern, which I admit I have had some of. On the other hand, I absolutely adore their innocence and plan to keep it as long as possible. Admittedly, a lot of friends their age have started to outgrow them, but not all of them. There has been a slight nagging about it within me, a sort of unspoken crazy feeling that they should be outgrowing them.



These boys love their "pets" they call them. Webkinz are their favorites and they spend almost all their money on them when they get it. They keep their birthdays memorized and know their profiles as well. Mostly, when they "play" with them I realized they really do a few things consistently. They create sports teams; costumes and all, they participate in "Webkinz skiing" which involves a big toss and a wood floor, and they recently made them their very own Monopoly board. They are like a whole bunch of brothers and sisters, maybe the large family I always wanted without the extra laundry?......you never know;)



Well, yesterday after a great day of school they were enjoying free time in their rooms and I walked into this...





And this....When I asked what they were entertaining themselves with so nicely, I was given the details on the "5 stages of torture" that they had set up. They were laughing and giggling and having the best time. I took pictures of the first two then I was laughing to hard to get any more. The first one there is the "guillotine", which we recently studied about with the French Revolution. (I am proud they remembered some about it, but obviously not enough if it is the 1st stage???...) The second one there is the criminal on the catapult (which we made in our boys club at co op) about to be flown into the bookshelves at high speed. I don't quite remember the details of the other three but in the end there was a bungy cord and a hook, and it got pretty ugly. By then, I was already planning this post on how boys will be boys and how us moms need to allow our kids to move gradually from stage to stage not rushing where we think they should be;) After all, the stuffed animals won't make it long at this rate!

My Apologies Apologia

I have to start by saying that I LOVE this Science curriculum. As a matter of fact, I love them so much that when you combine that, with my very small, practically insignificant desire to purchase and collect curriculum (some might call it an addiction, but as you can see by my description, that certainly doesn't fit), you will find that I have already bought 5 of the books. If you don't know what that means... it is equivalent to approximately 5 years of topics including Botany, Health and Anatomy, Astronomy, and 2 years of Animal Science.

However, as a homeschool mom, one of many important lessons and benefits I am learning along the way is flexibility. I have the "power" to say when something isn't working for us and then I have the "power" again to change it. Wow! Having the power is cool, using it is slightly harder for me. I don't like change and I also really enjoy doing what I say I'm going to do...you know checking it off my list. However in a conversation with a friend of mine recently after listening to me whine about how bad we were doing in Science... she said simply this "You might not just be an Apologia kind of family". Ouch...that hurt! However she is right...for now.

A few years ago I was introduced to the concepts of lapbooking and notebooking. Honestly, my first thought was to literally "spare my kids the busy work" that to me looked like it went along with this type of program. Somehow an opportunity came up to try one and I quickly learned that they think it is the "coolest thing ever." I did what any normally sane homeschooling mom would do...I decided to add a little bit of it in with what I had planned since they did enjoy it so much. (control freak alert....)

So, my original plan for Science this year was to do 2 weeks of Apologia then 2 weeks of notebooking animals that we all decided we wanted to learn more about. That didn't last long, because we quickly once again, fell off the Apologia plan. I even tried Astronomy this year as I heard that was a lot more fun than the Botany I already tried. We did keep up with our notebooking plan though which is a good thing.

Many people have benefited from my lack of follow through on these books and I have lent them out to families that are embracing them and loving them as much as I know we will one day. I do plan to try again and I know when we are ready they will be awesome!

Since first semester is almost over, I thought I would post something Connor and Brody are VERY proud of. I bound up 5 of the animals they have worked on so far this year into one big notebook and they just love looking at it. So....here you have it...Bears, Cats, Dinosaurs, Lions & Wolves! Not bad if I do say so myself;)

Here is what the kitchen island looks like during one of the many creation stages...

This morning I put a challenge before them. After a short unit we are doing on The Human Body, I have asked them to come up with something THEY want to learn about...could be an animal or maybe not? Anyway, they are going to create the "notebook" on their topic from start to finish, no preprinted sheets this time. They are also going to do separate topics, and research and read on their own. They seem to be up for it and excited which is great! I can't wait to see what they do.