We just started our 10th Year of Homeschooling!

I found the signs - love this!

The "babies" - just to keep it "interesting"! 

My little man is on his way!



Smile, Bop - it won't be that bad! 

Third grade Princess

Our favorite Class Clown!

My bug - really, 6th Grade?!

Sam- Looking like a teenager... akward :-)

A Decade of homeschooling... you've got to be kidding me!  How did it fly by so fast?

I remember that first day of homeschooling like it was yesterday.  Me and the little, barely 5 year old boy with me, sitting at one of our end tables  like a "school desk".  We learned how to write our letters, did some math, read tons of books together, took field trips to the nature center to learn about invertebrates.  And, I fell in love with being mom and teacher!

I remember when we got the "school table", and I had a "vision" that someday I would have 6 kiddos around it to teach...and I hyperventilated (a little).  Well, I was a little off - it will actually be 8 soon. And, the big guys don't even come close to fitting around it anymore!

But, #6 little guy just started Kindergarten, and I love being mom and teacher as much as I did that first year!  I will add, I think I'm much more relaxed now, and more prone to ditch the workbooks and let them play more.

Thank you God, for the beautiful journey you've place my feet and heart on!  I have learned so much more of you along the path.

I did it!

I actually cleaned out the schoolroom!  It does have a floor...I seemed to remember it from before we moved in - but now we can see it!

I'm taking bets - how long do you think it'll stay this way?  Can we make it last at least until school starts...

Next, clean out my bedroom (where I put all the stuff that didn't fit into the schoolroom) Oh, and the closet - notice no pictures of that!

How long can this last? 



This is going to be the Prek-K station - with a calendar and workboxes! 

The 5 older kids each have a "station" of their own.  Matt added the colored write-on boards this weekend and it gave them each a place to show their own style.

Our tables are just white laminate shelving on wood closet organizers (still left over from my college days).  The "Littles" get the blue school table, and I have a computer desk where I'm taking the picture from.  Beware of the closet!



Win $100 Giftcard to CBD

Hey Friends -

Just had to let y'all (see I'm becoming southern after all...) know about a Great Giveaway - you do NOT want to miss!  Unit Studies Amanda Bennett is giving away a $100 Gift Card to CBD!  Imagine the shopping you could do...

You can enter Here - it's simple - and you might win $100!

Minnesota Memories

Minnesota Memories  2011

Time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Matt and the boys at a Twins Game

Fun on the river at Uncle Steve's

Matt can still do one ski!!

One of my favorite places to be in the entire world!

Fourth of July Fun with the Paiders!

 

Dad and Essie, having fun - I think?

 

Sparkly Lydia!

 

Luke and I at the Eagle Center in Wabasha visiting old friends!

 

 A Highlight - Paddleboat tour of Lake Pepin

 

 My Bestest buddies - Miss you all so much!

A too brief stop in KC to say hello to the McClungs - we're up to 15 kids! (watch out Duggars, we're on the way....well - combined anyway!)

Go Vikings!  Precious TIME with my dear friends!!!

Josh and Seth - together again!

 

Thank you Minnesota Friends for a wonderful vacation!   You made the 30 plus hours in the van worth every minute!

Red Wagon Tutorials Giveaway

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this company! Don't even dare to teach science at home without Red Wagon Tutorials!!

A Bit About the Red Wagon Tutorials

For the past ten years, Steven Rosenoff has been teaching science courses full-time. Three years ago, he felt lead to start a new ministry, Red Wagon Tutorials. In addition to the individual module downloads, co-op teacher lesson links, online recorded classes, flash drives, and live-feed course programs, Red Wagon Tutorials now offers a thirty-two class lecture series recorded on DVD in an MP4-HD, double-disk, format.

Each class is sixty to ninety minutes in length, depending on how they are used. Currently there are presentations available for:

•General Science
•Physical Science
•Biology
•Marine Biology
•Chemistry
•and Advanced Biology

Physics will be added next year along with Health & Fitness, Geology, and Astronomy in the future.

Red Wagon Tutorials is endorsed by Dr. Jay L. Wile and here’s a little something that I love about this company ~ for every DVD sold, one is given away to a missionary family! Red Wagon Tutorials is currently serving missionaries in forty-five countries with free DVDs and curriculum support.

Would You Like to Win a Flash-Drive Science Class?

Head over to this blog (and tell them I sent you...) to enter!

Family Camp 2011

Family Camp - 2011

Here are my sad, sad kiddos...I call it the "Before" picture. They are waiting to be baptized in the river.

This is our "After" picture - they are New Creations!




What a wonderful time we had at family camp! Matt baptized 3 more of his children on Father's Day weekend - what a beautiful gift. (4 done, 4 to go!)

I wanted to mark this event someway...So, I got each of them a special necklace and a prayer journal. I was so excited to find 4 matching "boy" necklaces - I gave one to Sam, who was baptized in the same place last year and have one more waiting for Josh.

I gave Selah a "Crowned by the King" necklace (and have 3 in waiting). You can read about the ministry of Crowned by the King, and get your own necklace here. I am so glad I created a special tradition for us! They also each picked up a stone from the river that I will "customize" for them to be a "rock of rememberance".

Our best excitement came when we moved the stove in our cabin to retrieve a lost toy and a MOUSE came hurring out!!! Needless to say, you can fit 8 screaming people on top of a small futon. Matt was laughing so hard he couldn't move, and Essie was happily playing on the floor (next to the critter!) I guess she's so used of our erratic behavior it didn't seem odd to see all of us on the futon - screaming and yelling at Matt to "kill it" with a flyswatter....

Family Camp is always a hot, dirty, cramped, bug filled, and COMPLETELY WONDERFUL time! Take your kiddos next year....

Sunny Seashells by Download N Go

Sunny Seashells Download N Go
I love the smell and sound of the ocean, in fact I was just lamenting how much I miss it and need a vacation...anyone with me? But, here in Central AR - the ocean is pretty far away (closer than I was in MN, but still too far away...).

So, I opted for the next best thing... a learning adventure to the ocean with the Download N Go - Sunny Seashells and my 8 kiddos!

What is a Download N Go? It's a 5 day Unit study that will take you on an adventure of learning. It is filled with clickable, embedded links (no ADS!) that will have you and your children on a beach in no time! Additionally, you will have great book suggestions, hands-on activities, and Family fun ideas. You even get all the components for a lapbook included. Best of all, all this prep work is done for you and you can just Download N Go. Created with the K-4 crowd in mind, I can't keep my entire crowd from crowding around the computer!!

At only $7.95 - you can afford to take everyone on a learning vacation, anytime you want... They have over 40 titles to choose from, so you'll find a destination for everyone too!

So, what did we learn in Sunny Seashells? Here's a brief outline:

Day 1: Seashells--What Are They?
Day 2: Seashells and History
Day 3: Types of Seashells
Day 4: The Science of Seashells
Day 5: Seashell Party!

What we really learned was history, science, geography, Scripture, math and more - but, shhh....don't tell my kiddos. They just thought we were visiting the ocean, so that mom could have her "vacation"!

By the way, if you haven't downloaded a copy of the FREE Summer of Fun Calendar from Unit Studies Amanda Bennett yet, you will want to! It's full of fun ideas that are free or low cost to keep your kiddos from getting bored this summer. Each day has a clickable link for you to explore, and discount codes for these great studies.


(I was sent a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the review team).

See what everyone else thought here