Wordless Wednesday

This was the eerie looking sky and the glow it casted on everything, Monday night after a thunderstorm.

Baptism

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." - Romans 6:4
On Friday, September 24th my husband and I were baptized in a small ceremony at our church. It was such a special morning. We had some close friends in attendance along with a few staff members. The kids were able to be in attendance - missing out on their first hour of classes at Timothy.
My husband and I were both baptized as infants but, we had begun to feel very strongly that baptism by immersion was something we wanted to do. We both see a public profession of faith as an important step in our spiritual journey - it is an act of obedience to God.

We were so blessed to have one friend take pictures during the baptism and her daughter took video. I will look forward to sharing them one day with our grandchildren.

A Trip to the Fair

Today did not play out as planned, originally we had planned to head to Lookout Mountain for a day in the outdoors with our Sunday School Class. Instead, with the weather not looking to be great up that way we decided to spend the day as a family at the North Georgia State Fair.

I jumped on the fair's website first thing this morning and found that from 10AM - 11AM admission was free as were the mid-way rides. That saved our family over $60.

The kids love the fair ...

we enjoyed rides,

fair food,

seeing farm animals up close,

and trying out a TempurPedic Bed. The the last part was not exactly on our list of things we were looking forward to seeing at the fair but, my husband and I have been talking about getting one of these beds forever. The beds are super expensive but, it was the one bed that had been recommended to us due to my husband's psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis. Needless to say, we were sold within five minutes of trying out the bed (as were the kids) and we got an awesome deal due to a special they were running at the fair.

You just never know what you are going to find at the Fair.

Weekly Wrap Up - September 24, 2010

The first week of Fall ... yeah!! It was a busy week for us, while the public and many of the private schools around us were on break we were in session. Monday was Lexi's birthday and party but, she was able to get all of her school work done on Sunday and Devin spent the day at my husband's office so the party would not interrupt his school day.

In science this week we wrapped up our study of the Sun with an experiment. We used a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun's rays and melt chocolate bars that had been refrigerated. We also learned about thermonuclear fusion - or how the sun is powered.
Our science lesson tied in well this week with Ava Mae's Five In a Row Book - "Who Owns the Sun".

Our art project this week was to get outside and find fall leaves for a poster - in honor of the first day of Fall. Though we don't have a lot of leaves that have changed color yet - we were able to find a few.
We are more than half way through our study of the Book of James using the devotional "Boy Have I Got Problems". It has really been a good study for us. We have worked through how the book of James can be applied to our life and we are almost done memorizing the first chapter in James.

Before the kids headed to Timothy classes today they were able to watch my husband and I being baptized, which was a great ending to the week!

Now head on over to Kris's blog www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com and read all the weekly wrap-up posts from other homeschool families.

Wordless Wednesday

We just received these pictures from Devin and Lexi's baptism ... it was so nice to see their expressions up close - such joy.

Happy 8th Birthday Lexi!

Today is Lexi's 8th birthday, our sweet girl is growing up so quickly. Lexi decided months ago that she wanted a spa party. We invited twelve little girls to join us today to celebrate. We polished nails, curled hair, made lip gloss, and dispensed lots of glitter spray and body powder. It was so much fun but, I am so thankful for the help of a sweet teenager and another mom as there was no way I could have done all of this with 14 girls (including my two).

Lexi with a few of her good friends ... JK, Anna Beth, Daley, Sophie and Hannah.

A few of the girls working on their lip gloss made from scratch (a combination of Vaseline, honey, and Kool Aid)

The curling station.

A sampling of our "spa food" ...

And what party would not be complete without cake ... devil's food cupcakes with pink glitter frosting and candy lip gloss or candy rings.

Happy Birthday Lexi! We are so proud of the young woman you are growing into... God has given you such a sweet caring heart and so many talents. We love seeing each year, a little more of God's plan for your life.

September Field Trip

This month our field trip was close to home and more along the lines of a presentation but, it was probably one of the most educational field trips we have taken! Earlier this summer I found this great beekeeper who has a booth at our local farmer's market when I asked about field trips he told me about his program but, to book him early as he was pretty popular among the local schools, I can see why.
Pictured above - Devin was chosen to come up and put on all the beekeeping equipment.
Brian, the beekeeper, spent a solid two hours teaching us all about the life of honey bees. I learned that I did not know as much about bees and the honey making process as I thought I did - my kids were also really impressed. It is always a sign of a good field trip when the kids come home and talk my husband's ear off for a solid hour teaching him all they have learned.
What is so ironic is when I booked this field trip for our homeschool group back in June of this year I worried about his minimum booking fee. I felt we might be lucky if we had twenty families attend. You can imagine my surprise and delight when the field trip hostess let me know last week that we had almost ninety children signed up to attend.

Tag Your It

I have been tagged ... Nicole from Team Pipkin tagged me! I have 8 questions to answer and then I will tag some of my blog friends. I hope you will play along. Don't forget to check out Nicole's blog and see the questions she had to answer.

These are the questions Nicole picked for me to answer...

1. How do you start your day?
Most mornings I am up at 6AM to head to the gym before my husband leaves for work. I am home by 7:05AM and that is my "quiet" time - I work on my current bible study, write in my prayer journal, and then pray. Kids are up by 8AM and we try and get our homeschool day started around 9AM.

2. Nothing make me laugh like...
watching the videos my kids make with our Flip Camera especially the ones involving the crazy antics of our two indoor cats.

3. Before you had children how many kids did you want? How many do you have?
I always thought two. My husband would have liked five. Ava Mae (our third child) was a complete surprise and I know three was the number God had planned for us.

4. What is your favorite cereal? Either now or as a kid.
My favorite cereal as a kid was Frosted Flakes though I think that was a rare treat as my parents did not feel it was a good way to start your day.

5. Hardly anybody knows I ...
am a magazine addict ...I think I have around 30 piled up next to my night stand right now everything from Stamping, Good Housekeeping, Taste of Home, Taste of Home - Halloween Magazine, Southern Living, and Country Living.

6. You get a phone call from your MIL, she's coming over. It's a lazy family weekend so nothing is picked up. What do you do?
Sadly, my mother-in-law is no longer with us but, I would say we would do a quick run around and pick up - piling everything in the laundry room.

7. If you could have one super mom power, what would it be?
The ability to be in several places at once.

8. What is your best organizing tip?
I like to keep a recipe binder in the kitchen that I put all of those great recipes I find in magazines that I would love to try some day. I also keep a coupon organizer in my purse with all of our favorite restaurant coupons in it along with a list of restaurants and what days "kids eat free".

So here are my blog friends I have chosen to tag ...

Dizzy In The Noodle

Emmy's Angels

Fish Out of Water

See Jamie Blog

Looking forward to reading your answers to these questions:

1. What is your favorite time of year and why?
2. What is your favorite bible scripture or passage?
3. If money were no object, what restaurant would you love to go out to, with just your husband?
4. What is the last movie you saw in a theater?
5. My favorite book I have read recently is ...
6. What is your favorite "go to" item of clothing?
7. Do you have a good housekeeping tip?
8. When life is crazy do you have one easy dinner recipe you love?

Fall Baseball Season Opener

Saturday, Devin's team had their official season opening game. This is Devin's first season in a Kid Pitch league.
Devin has wanted to pitch for so long and finally had that opportunity. On Saturday they brought Devin in during the 3rd inning as a relief pitcher. We were so proud of his pitching ... Devin was the only pitcher during the game to not walk a single batter.
He ended up winning Defensive Player of the game and his prize, an Airhead. Way to go Devin!!

Weekly Wrap Up - September 10, 2010

Another week has come and gone ... holiday weeks always mess me up. I always feel like I am a day behind. The girls are both taking extra dance lessons - Lexi is now up to five classes and Ava Mae has two. I am still not used to the schedule and completely forgot about Ava Mae's extra tap class until after the class was over. Needless to say, Ava was not happy. I am just blaming it on the holiday week.
Pictured above Ava Mae with her best friend, lining up all of her barn animal math manipulatives.

School wise things went along pretty well. Ava Mae did announce on Tuesday that she was done with Kindergarten. My child who loved workbooks all last year has decided she no longer likes them. So, for now, we are working on Five In a Row and her reading program. Math is basically just manipulatives - counting, sorting, adding and subtracting. She is still actively participating in our bible study and science we all do together and loves memorizing the scripture from the book of James.

Lexi's reading tutor had great things to say after her session on Tuesday and hopefully, by next week, Lexi will move on to the next level of Wilson. The only change on the horizon - I am not in love with Lexi's language program from Abeka. I think I may go back to utilizing First Language Lessons with her. Abeka's Math and History programs are great and Lexi is enjoying them both.

Devin got a small reprieve from his Spelling this week being there was only 4 days in our school week and one of those was at Timothy. Abeka's Math, Language and History for Devin are coming along nicely. Devin really likes the History book - it underlines important passages in red and he likes to write those notes out for his History folder. He also is enjoying the reading books from Abeka. I like having the questions at the end of each story to quiz him with.

The big news of the week was the kids' classes began again at Timothy. They could not wait for this morning to arrive. Ava Mae is in a 3 1/2 hour Kindergarten class; Lexi has art, geography and PE; and Devin has science, geography and PE. It is a nice break for me and with my husband working from home on Fridays it means we get to enjoy a breakfast out together. The kids reported back that they love their teachers and have several friends in their classes - all in all a good first day back!

Wordless Wednesday

Our cat Tigger loves to be a part of our school day.

Labor Day Weekend 2010

We are winding down from a fun weekend ...

Saturday Devin's fall baseball team had an exhibition game and Devin was able to pitch for the very first time in a game. He did so well and after one inning had struck out 2 batters. I just loved watching this huge smile on his face as he pitched.
After the game we rushed home to get all the kids cleaned up - my girls always end up covered in dirt at the ball field. Some dear friends of ours from church offered to keep the kids while my husband and I enjoyed some time alone. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of shopping, spending time in a bookstore and then dinner out. When we returned to pick the kids up around 8PM they were still not ready to come home they were having so much fun. They had surprised the kids with a trip to Chuck E Cheese and, though our friends do not have girls, Lexi and Ava Mae absolutely love the Mom - she baked and crafted the afternoon away with them. What a blessing this new family has already been in our life!

Sunday my husband performed for the first time with the choir at our new church. We have been attending the contemporary service and it was a treat to hear the more traditional service with an unbelievable orchestra and choir.

Today our church hosted an event called Holy Smoke - they had BBQ teams from around the area competing. We were able to sample a little and it was delicious! We also enjoyed our catered lunch, listening to great music, and what festival would be complete without jumpies for the kids.

What a great way to wind down the summer!