Playing catch up... again!

What do you know, I'm finally posting and catching up!

Things have been downright busy in our household the past few weeks! Thanksgiving brought a lot of pleasure and fun, but talk about exhausted! So much time spent with family can wear a person out! (Even if you are enjoying every minute of it!)

I realized at the end of the girls Karate class they took with our homeschool group this past month, that I never got a good photo of either of them! I do have some class photo's (thank goodness!) but nothing really post worthy. I am going to make sure that doesn't happen again! The girls had a great time learning some basics of karate. Kenzie came home after every class complaining of sore ab muscles (so I know she was working it!) and Chloe loved showing us all her new kicks and punches. Hopefully our group will do something like that again next year!

Other than that, things have just been coasting along. We ended our Africa Unit a few weeks back. The girls spent a good week and a half summarizing the things that they learned in report form. That was a big task! Now we just have to plan when we are going to have our Africa Night so we can invite family over. That way the girls can share what they've learned and their various projects. I am hoping to do that very soon so I can mentally move on! It was a great unit, but it's exhausting me! (Seems to be a running theme. ;)

Today we started our study of, "Early American History". It's a literature approach, which means we do all our learning from real books. The girls and I really enjoy that kind of study. Today we started studying Leif Ericson and the the girls enjoyed it. They shared with me things they already knew about the Vikings, and we read from a very colorful art filled book. I think it's really going to be great! (and unlike Africa, this time I have all the books ahead of time!) The girls also defined, "The Principle of Individuality" and discussed how everything God creates in unique, yet all works and fits together. What is God's purpose for us as people? For us as a nation? Yes... it's going to be good!

Other than that, things are just moving along. The girls are masters of using the verbs raise/rise, sit/set, and lie/lay. Well, master might be a strong word, but we are actively trying to find ways to work those words into conversation so we can use them properly! How often do you use the verb phrase "had lain"? ;) That's been fun.

I had a moment of happiness a couple weeks ago when Kenzie informed me, "It's so weird, I love all my school subjects now!" All I could think was, "Wow..." I feel like we really have to be making some progress! Learning?!? Fun!!!??? ;)

Catching up!

I have been terrible about posting any updates lately. For some reason I can't seem to find the energy to invest much extra time into thinking. (smile)

Things have been going very well, nothing too exciting to report. The girls and I are coming to the end of our Africa Unit. I am excited and bummed at the same time. It will be missed. If you notice, half of anything interesting we do has had something to do with this unit! Whatever will I talk about when it's finished? After Africa, we are starting an Early American History study. I am looking forward to it!

I meant to post a week or so ago about the "feelings" that homeschooling has erupted in Chloe. She has decided that she hates math. She's good at it, she just doesn't like the large numbers that she has to subtract right now. Plus all the carrying she has to do. She also despises word problems. This has been something we have had to work through. Oh the tears that have been shed! She decided about a month ago that she didn't really want to be homeschooled anymore, and she wanted to go back to public school. Ugh! I of course tell her repeatedly over and over the advantages she has at home, and remind her of all the things that she disliked before. She would say that she knows all these things, but missed her classmates. After a couple weeks of this, she told me great news. (For me great news! I was stressed!) She told me that she had a dream and that she really feels that God was showing her the benefit's of homeschooling. She said, "You don't always get what you want" and some other 8 year old explanation that is rather difficult for me to piece together. ;) But it made sense to her, and she has done a 180 on her feelings about school! She is starting to see the things we get to do at home as a blessing, and fun. Thank you Lord! :)

Last week we went to the zoo on a "safari" because we were studying the Savannah and grasslands of South Africa and Madagascar. It was fun. This week we are studying the Zulu tribes, and this will be the end of our unit! The following week we will spend preparing an "Africa Night" to invite family too. The girls have to prepare reports about what they have studied and learned. At that time we will make a couple dishes that are eaten by the people we studied, and dress in our African clothes. They will also get a chance to display the projects they have worked hard on. It should be a lot of fun!

The girls were also supposed to start Karate today with our homeschool group. I ruined it by having a hair apt and not remembering that until this morning. But they will get to go on Thursday, and the class lasts 9 weeks! They are super excited, and I am happy to get them involved in something where they can meet and hang with other homeschool kids.

We also took the girls to their first, big concert! We went to a Christan concert in our area (Casting Crowns and Matt Redman!) and it was awesome. The girls knew most of the songs, so that made it a lot of fun for them. It was a great experience that will surely mean more to them in the future! I fully plan on investing in my girls this way. Plays and concerts... and I look forward to the experiences myself!

The Congo and Pygmies!

These are pictures of the Pygmy (Mbuti) camps that the girls created! They had a great time making these! It's always interesting to me how long school can run over on art days, and no one seems to mind! :)




Getting through our study of the Congo has been tough. Talk about one distraction after another! Last week I went on a surprise trip to visit my sister-in-law in Georgia. That was a great opportunity and lucky for me my mom was not only willing to keep the girls, but willing to study all their basic courses with them so school didn't have to come to a stand still! Shout out to mom, THANK YOU!!!!

After a choppy week getting started, and a week off, this week is back on full swing. We are finishing up our book about the Pygmies over the next couple days. We have been studying the rain forest, and the animals that live there. Different terrifying fish in the Congo river, apes and chimps, and the Mbuti people that call the forest's their home.

We are really enjoying learning about all these wonderful things! But I have to say, I will be happy to finally make some headway and move on! (That's just between us! ;)

Nigeria Night!

My goodness, am I ever behind on this blog! I know that by summing up a couple things, I am going to miss so much! I will try and get here sooner from now on! :)

These photo's are from our "Nigeria Night" that we had over at the girls grandparents!

The girls Great-Great Grandparents were missionaries in Nigeria. Their grandparent's, Jim and Vicki, took a trip about two years ago to Nigeria. They visited the school that Great Grandpa Ummel started, seeing the home where he lived and meeting wonderful people! There were many fun and interesting stories shared, about the past and present!

This is a night that I am sure will mean something to all of us for years to come!!!

Kente, talking drums, and peaches... OH MY!!!

Things are going very well this week. I find that I'm learning more and more "school" can happen around the things life throws our direction. It's flexible!!! As long as I remain flexible. :)

Last Friday we started a unit study on nutrition. I'll throw in my own selfish motives for this 'study', I have been trying to loose the same 15 pounds since... well January. I did great at first, I have been yo-yoing ever since spring! So I hope that by going "clean" with our eating as a family, I can find renewed motivation myself. (smile) It's actually working out very well!

Anyway... back to school. ;) On Friday we started by talking about the food pyramid and things we can do differently to eat more fruits and veggies. I had checked out some healthy kids recipe books from the library and they picked out a couple 'snack' recipes. They made their own shopping lists, and we made a trip to the store! Since we are doing a giant over-haul in all our eating as a family, we had some major shopping to do. Eating clean and organic is no piece of cake when you're starting from scratch! It's going wonderfully though, and with the girls being so heavily involved they are much more willing to try or eat something.

Yesterday we also made a trip up to my grandma's house and the girls and I learned to can! We canned peaches, and it was a lot of fun! I feel so blessed to have been able to spend that kind of quality time with my grandma. Also to have my girls involved, I know it will last forever. I am very thankful that being a homeschool family offers me many opportunities like this!

This week in our Africa Unit we are studying the bulge of Africa. Mostly Ghana and Nigeria. We are reading fiction and non-fiction books. We find ourselves very curious about "talking drums" (which I had no idea about and find absolutely fascinating!) and the culture of the Ashanti people. This study is going to be drawn out into next week as well. I have mentioned before that my husbands great-grandfather lived and was a missionary in Nigeria. So we are going to have "Nigeria Night" over at their grandparents next week! A couple years back they also made a trip to Nigeria to visit the school where he ministered. They have lots of photo's and pieces of Nigerian heritage. The girls also own a few African pieces they were given after their Grandma passed away last winter, she was the daughter of the missionary. So this is really a special week of study for us, and I want to get in all that I can.

Well, that's all the interesting stuff. Math and grammar, among other things, trudge forward for now! The three of us are having a lot of fun! Even the neighbor girl asks me when she get off the bus, what we learned today. My daughter loves to tell her about all the African things she is learning. So I breathe a sigh of relief... I must be doing something right! (Thank you Lord for your daily guidance!)

Styling with Moroccan flair!

Did you know the fez in Moroccan is called, "tarboosh"? :)

Is it only Wednesday? Really?!? I am wiped out! It's been a hard week though, I have been fighting something, and of course there's no time for rest when you're the teacher!

We've been having a good week, other than my sluggishness. Kenzie has (in 11 days, mind you) memorized her entire list of 53 prepositions! Now she can move forward in the book! It turned out to be much easier than I thought it was going to be. I was pretty intimidated! She is excited and looking forward to the lessons. Hopefully Easy Grammar Curriculum will be as enjoyable for my girls as some say it is! I just hope I can teach it! :s

We've been studying Morocco this week. Including the Berber people and more about the Sahara Desert. The girls are really enjoying it, and I love that they are learning and doing so many interesting things! We are also going to study "nomads" this week, and look at scripture that talks about Abraham being a nomad at one time!

I am also putting together a unit study on nutrition. This is going to be a lot of fun! (And hopefully beneficial to my waistline at the same time.) I will share more on that later I am sure!

On a more personal note, I am really praying that I learn to balance things a little better. So much of my time is consumed with "school", that I feel somethings are falling by the wayside. I know that's to be expected, but if you know anything about my O.C.D tendencies, you know that this can depress me! I need energy to keep going after school, and get more done! But I also know that I am learning balance in all this. Please keep me in your prayers! That I can continue on this path with a happy heart! I am completely willing to be stretched and taught my potential by my Lord, I look forward to the blessings of living for Him everyday. I just need a little more energy. ;)

What a week!

This week was (already) one of those weeks!

Our family had been planning our vacation for weeks. Counting down the days finally paid off!

This past Monday night we left for a mid-week vacation. As new homeschooler's, we have been looking forward to that advantage! It really paid off, Cedar Point was great! We managed to walk on most of the coaster's with no wait. Never again will we go in the summer!

Getting back in the groove Thursday was tough, we were all exhausted! We ended up doing all our basic things, Math, Grammar, some handwriting practice (Chloe). Today was a much better day. We found our groove again and things were kind of normal. My DH is still home from vacation, so things were still pretty relaxed. Chloe spent the whole day in her PJ's. I don't usually allow that (I like some structure!) but like I said, it's vacation week!

We wrapped up our study on Islam this week. That has been very interesting. I really feel like the girls (and myself) got a good introduction to the Muslim lifestyle. Next week, Morocco, camels, and Bedouins!

I got our first homeschooling news letter for the group we joined! Our first gathering is in a couple weeks, I am very excited! There are a lot of offerings as well. Everything from a swim day at the "Y" to a 10 week art class session! I am very much looking forward to getting the family involved. I really want the girls to make some good, close friends!