It has been far too long since I last posted! We have finished six weeks of school, and my multi-tasking abilities have been stretched to the limit! This has been my most challenging school kick off so far (Warning, small whine ahead!). Between schooling the three older ones, keeping Eli out of trouble, giving Anna Grace attention, and keeping up with my household duties, I am wiped out by bedtime! Mark has been tackling our backyard drainage issues much of the past six weeks, so he has not been able to help as much as usual in the evenings. On top of that, I had a bad case of mastitis this month, which had me down for several days. As a result of all of that, there have been times when my joy has threatened to run away! In spite of the challenges, I am still so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool the children. They are truly a blessing! Now that we are settling into our school year, I hope to be more regular at documenting our day to day life!

Unplanned Science Lessons

We have had a few science activities the past week or two that I can not take credit for! Olivia got her little hands on a packet of sunflower seeds a month or two ago, and our house is looking quite sunny! The children decided to search for the seeds inside the flower, and had a great time harvesting the little black treasures!

Our Sunny Girl--

Treasure Hunting--

My dad gave me a Salvia plant when we moved into our house. I planted it by the front steps, and we have had a great time watching that plant! It attracts lots of butterflies, moths and bees. Anna Grace has especially been a moth catcher.

The Salvia plant has also attracted a beautiful spider (I never thought I would call a spider beautiful!).

Mark and Isaac were outside, and Isaac heard some chirps coming from one of the trees. Mark lifted him up, and they discovered some newborn baby birds. Mark became the elevator to help each of our children see the babies. It was quite exciting! I decided to call the little one with his mouth wide open Eli. I think he resembles our little Eli! I sympathize with that Mama Bird -- she has some meal planning to do!


I need to get busy and provide them with some resources to learn out more about the science adventures they have had!

Class Portraits

Not Pictured-- Eli, who was fast asleep!

Our First Week of School

We finished our first week of school this week. Olivia is in Kindergarten this year, so I am "officially" teaching three students this year. Anna Grace joins in when she is interested, and Eli is into everything! I read a book about "Workboxes" over the summer, and I am trying out a few of the ideas this year. I adapted the system to fit our family. Each of the children (besides Eli) has a tower of drawers. I separate their work for the day into the boxes, and they work start at the top and work their way down. Some boxes are tagged "work with Mom", and they work on those boxes with me. If I am busy with someone else, they skip that box until I am ready to work with them. Some of the boxes have games or other fun activities. Anna Grace has preschool activities that she works on when she is interested. I am very pleased with how it is working. It helps to solved the problem of everyone wanting my attention at once, because they know what to do next if I am busy. It also helps me to be more prepared for the day, because everything is laid out the night before. We are off to a great start!

Our Workboxes

Here they are hard at work on their journals--
Here is Eli doing his "work"!

Our Class Portrait--

Bailey's New Friend

Bailey & Kirsten

Bailey celebrated her seventh birthday while we were in Tennessee. She had two parties, one at each grandparent's house. It was great to be able to celebrate this special occasion with our family! She loved all of her presents, but she was especially excited about her new friend Kirsten!

Down by the River

Eli loved his first time in the river!

Anna Grace and her amphibian friend

The girls had a great time playing mermaid!

Mamaw and Eli enjoying the view

Uncle Jim and Isaac wading across the river.

Mark's mom was raised on a river in a beautiful area of southwest Virginia, and her brother Jim still lives there. Going to visit him is one of the highlights of our summer trips. I have learned to pack extra clothes, because the children love the river! Uncle Jim always buys the children special treats (this time it was M & M's, cookies, chocolate milk and Mountain Dew), and he is quick to pass out dollars whenever children are in sight! We had a great day at the river!

Catching Up

Eli's first time in the grass. He obviously loved it!
Quack!

"The Gang"

AAAAHHHH! It seems like I blink and a month has gone by with no blogging. I keep thinking that I will post when I have a big block of time, and it never seems to happen! So, here is a quick post to get me back in the habit!

We had an "action packed" trip to visit our family in Tennessee. Mark and I (and Eli too!) went away for a night to celebrate our tenth anniversary. It was very refreshing! I really appreciate my parents' willingness to watch our children! The next day we headed to Dollywood for some fun in the Smokies. Mamaw and Nanna came too, so we were not quite so outnumbered by our children! Mark and Bailey tried out most of the fast rides, and Isaac branched out and tried a few as well. Olivia and Anna Grace rode quite a few of the "kiddie rides", which were more my speed! It was lots of fun, but we were all exhausted by the end of the day.

Our three oldest children rode back with Mamaw and spent the night at her house without us. They always enjoy getting a little extra attention without us around. The rest of us headed her way the next morning and spent a few days visiting Mark's family. We made our annual visit to Mamaw's "home place" and the children waded in the river, splashing and skipping stones.

Mark drove back to Arkansas, and the kids and I stayed five extra days with my parents. We have several places that we always visit when we are visiting -- The Fresh Market (for jellybeans of course!), Dollar Tree, The Cove (park at the lake) and Chick Fil A (which is especially important now that we live in a town where there is not one!). My brother Bo and his girlfriend Lindley came over several times, and the children loved spending time with them. The time went quickly, as always. My sweet mom made the drive back with me, and stayed for a few days before flying back home (I got lost and she missed her flight, but we won't talk about that!).

I love the time time that we are able to spend with our family. I am thankful that our children have such a great relationship with their extended family. It is especially precious since we are not able to live close to them. Praise God for family!