Month: May 2008

Homeschool Phys. Ed.

| Stacy

I am totally dying here, laughing. I don’t know what is funnier, the notion of including this on my quarterly report, or the fact that I took the time to record it, instead of putting a stop to it. They did stop some of the more daring moves when they saw me approaching!

VERY busy week here. NYS LEAH homeschool convention is this weekend, as well as our trip to SESAME PLACE!! Pray for some nice weather for us, and I will have lots of pictures next week.

Another week!

| Stacy

I should say, “another week of winter!!!” Boy it has been cold. We did enjoy a mild day on Tuesday, thankfully, as Beau and I went to a 5½ hour field trip on the Underground Railroad conducted in the city. It was a wonderfully educating trip. It was mostly over his head, but he behaved respectfully and I loved it. Here is Beau and his buddy, Frederick Douglass.

My newpasttime is watching groundhogs. I spend a lot of time at the kitchen sink or at the school table in the dining room. Both settings afford a wonderful view of the backyard and the goings-on of our resident groundhogs. I am now working to get pictures of the happy, GROWING family. Harvey, Helen and the kids are reluctant to have me capture their images. I will get back to you. Just call me Dian Fossey. Or not.

Champ’s doing fantastic with reading. His sentences this week included silent letters, “The dumb lamb knows how to climb in my lap and nestle.” He thinks it is a bit odd to have so many silent letters. Um, yeah, so do I!

Skeezix is a trip. She offered to “put the wrappers on [sic] Angel’s shoes.” She meant if I put the shoe on, she’d do the velcro straps.

I forgot to share this photo from Mother’s Day. After a fun craft of tracing hands during Sunday School, she decided to replicate the project… on my dining room chair. This is her saying, “Not me.”

And Angel. Funny little kid. Champ is trying to teach her animal sounds. *sigh* They all sound so much alike!

While we went to the Underground Railroad, the kids hung out at our friends’ house. Afterward we all hung there for dinner. Angel and her fried Bear went for a stroll.
And Champ, not aware of his own strength, bumped into Skeezix, and well…

We shall try again!

| Stacy

Going to try this blog again! Now that life is a bit quieter [for the moment!]

Last week was a fun one. We had NO outside commitments and we enjoyed our days at home. Well, there was a bit of cabin fever by the end of the week, I think.

For Beau’s school we read Ephesians 6 and then our curriculum suggesting making armor of God for our stuffed animals. The three older ones all chose to dress up Maow. Since Skeezix’s was left at a friend, she confiscated Angel’s for the modeling job.

I think they look wonderful.

On Friday night, Skeezix and I went to Home Depot for marigolds. I allowed her to pick them out and she was very proud. She was also able to carry them! And she even helped me plant them.

Angel is doing so-so with the potty-training. She is a solid 8 weeks into this and it isn’t “done” yet and I am going wacky. I do not like potty-training. I have only been a mom 8 years and by far potty-training is the WORST part of the first 8 years of a child’s life. I loathe it. Diapers – you change them on YOUR timing. “Oh! Pee Mom. Pee!” means I have to drop everything and RUN to the bathroom. Still, I can’t throw in the towel and go back. It would feel like the time we’ve invested was for nothing. Like not using frequent flier miles before they expired. Potty-training. It is what will keep me from having more kids!

The weekend brought manual labor and landscaping. DH worked in the rain and got the side of the house by the garage done. It looks amazing. He’d have never finished in time had he not had help from his buddy, Champ. Champ not only kept Daddy company and talked with him for hours at a time IN THE RAIN, but he also got into the labor.

On a serious note, I told the boys about the earthquakes in China and the cyclone in Myanmar and the enormous loss of lives. Since we have been reading, Missionary Stories with the Millers, the boys associate these countries with their need to hear the Gospel. Champ said, “Mom! They don’t know Jesus there. That means those people who died didn’t go to Heaven, right?” Beau wondered what the people still alive would do. We decided to pray for them. Last night I heard them playing talking while they played with their play-doh. They were pretending that the characters they were using were telling other characters about Jesus. Boy, I hope THAT sticks with them.