Our First Week of Homeschool in Photos

This week we started our homeschool adventure. Eeks! I was geared up for a hard transition but the kids were very excited and eager to learn. A welcomed change from the usual back-to-school drama we experience leading up to the first day of school. I loved being so involved in curriculum choices, the flexibility and, to my surprise, I felt a lot less rushed and stressed during the day. And we all loved having NO HOMEWORK.

First Day of School

I'll be homeschooling Sienna full-time and Grant will be joining us part-time. He starts back at his private school in a couple of weeks. He'll be there for a half day in the morning and then we'll cover some science and history together when he's home in the afternoon. I want to include him in the homeschooling fun but I don't think I'm cut out for teaching ABCs and the fundamentals of reading. I'll leave that to the professionals! He'll continue there until we move and then I'll homeschool him full-time the rest of the year. 

US History

Wrote letters to our "adopted" Compassion International kids for Language Arts and then learned about their countries for Geography!

We haven't come up with a name for our school yet (any ideas?) but we do have a mascot. We are the Dangerous Dogs! And here's our fearless mascot...

Speaking of animals, the kitties were less enthusiastic about school. 

Something you wouldn't see in public school!

 

We had a great first week of homeschool. I'm hoping and praying this trend continues. I’m excited to see where this year takes us.

Lazy Summer Afternoons

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." - Henry James

Summertime is in full swing around here. It’s hot, hot and even hotter. Even typing this out is taking dedicated effort because the summer heat is making my entire body lethargic and eyes droopy and tired. But these relaxed afternoons are one of my favorite things about the summertime. No schedules. No rushing. NO HOMEWORK!

Since we don’t have a pool, the kids and I have been reading a lot in the afternoon. It’s too hot to do anything else – and eating ice cream all day isn’t really an option. I love reading with the kids and it’s been fun to see how their imaginations have been sparked by the stories.

For example, earlier this summer we read “George’s Marvelous Medicine” by Roald Dahl. It’s a hilarious story about a boy on a mission to make a potion to “fix” his cranky and creepy Grandma. Roald Dahl is one of my favorite children’s authors and this book was so entertaining that we finished it in two days. The kids were begging me to keep reading. Of course, I was happy to oblige. Anyway, after we finished the story, almost every day for about two weeks, the kids would go around the house creating their own magic potion. They thought it was the funniest thing.

This week we finished reading “Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I think every child (and/or adult) should read this book. The hardships and trials this family faced sure put my trivial annoyances into perspective. And I think it gave the kids an ounce of appreciation for their home, toys and life, too. The kids have been playing “prairie life” in the backyard. It’s amusing to watch Sienna pretend to be Laura and Grant pretend to be Pa (and sometimes Mary, when Sienna forces him). We haven’t watched the TV show yet. I’m waiting to introduce it until we’ve read most of the series. I didn’t watch the show growing up so I’m looking forward to watching it with the kids.

Speaking of shows, during our TV time, Sienna and Grant are hooked on the show called “Horseland.” We’ve been having trouble finding a good show for Sienna. She’s too old for the Nick Jr. shows and I really try to limit the amount of Disney TV shows she can watch. “Horseland” seems to be a good compromise and I love that Grant watches it too.

As for me, after the kids go to sleep, I’ve been hooked on a show called “Call the Midwife.” It’s based on a memoir of a midwife in London during the ‘50s. I think it’s fascinating!

I’ve also been doing quite a bit of reading. As with “Call the Midwife,” for some reason I’ve been drawn to stories about strong and inspiring women. Our book club pick this summer was the two-part book series, “Her Mother’s Hope” and “Her Daughter’s Dream” by Francine Rivers. I’ve always enjoyed stories that span generations and this story focuses on the relationships (and misunderstandings) of mothers and daughters through several generations. I think it’s a story most women can relate to in some way or another. And now I’m reading “The Favored Daughter” by Fawzia Koofi, Afghanistan’s first female Parliament Speaker. I’m only a quarter through the book but every chapter is inspiring and devastating at the same time. Another story that makes me really appreciate how fortunate I am to live in this country, at this time in history.

So, that’s what we’re watching and reading this summer. What about you?

"Do you know the way to Santa Fe?"

My friend/neighbor/deployment husband, Tricia, and I loaded up her minivan (2 moms, 5 kids) and hit the road for Albuquerque and then Santa Fe for a few days. It was such a nice break from the daily grind and I realize now how much we all needed some time away – time dedicated to fun and relaxing only. And someone else made the beds and cooked dinner! Yippee!

As a side note, it was impressive (and exhausting at times) how much energy my kids had during this trip. They did not and could not stop until they dropped and somehow bounced right back up at the early hour of 6 am. I did my best to keep up but – wow – just wow! Thank God for coffee!

Anyway, Albuquerque is about 4 hours north of us and Santa Fe is about an hour further north. It was a relatively easy and uneventful drive (well, for me!) and all the kids did great! The landscape was desert, of course, but it was a pretty desert view with patches of green farmlands, a few mountains and big, blue open skies.

We stopped at Albuquerque first and then Santa Fe but I want to tell you about Santa Fe first because I kinda fell in love with this city, to the point that I added it to my “where we might want to live when we retire” list. The Plaza area had a European feel; there were lots of niche little stores (Amethyst cleansing, anyone?), bookstores and shops; local artists and products options; street musicians playing soothing music of harps, guitars and windpipes; an AWESOME Saturday morning Farmer’s Market; and best of all, a gazillion pilates and yoga studios.

On our first night, we explored The Plaza area. There are so many restaurants with rooftop dinning – how fancy! – and lots of little boutique shops. We found a cute local bookstore, called Collected Works Bookstore and Coffeehouse. A lady at the bookstore recommended a “family friendly” restaurant to us (no guessing why?!) and so we walked about a mile (maybe longer because I kept taking us in the wrong direction!), in the rain, only to find out it was a “reservations only” restaurant. Argh! Can you imagine turning away two wet Moms with five hungry kids?! I was furious. So back we trekked into the rain to find a place to eat. We ended up at a Subway, it was the only place not crowded and we were getting desperately hungry. Surprisingly, it had a little outside patio area so I got my rooftop dining experience at half the price! And I wasn’t the least bit embarrassed when the kids sang VBS songs the entire time! 

Storm's a brewing...

The next day we visited El Rancho de las Golondrinas, a historical “living museum” rancho. The kids had fun exploring the adobe buildings and Sienna liked seeing “Josefina’s house.” I'm still not sure how to pronounce the name, though.

We ended our trip with a super delicious dinner at Blue Corn Café. Don't Google the menu...you'll start to drool.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn and really liked it. It was a clean hotel, great service, hot breakfast in the morning and an indoor pool. We were happy campers.

Local friends, Santa Fe is definitely worth a trip to visit! :)