Mums the word...

...not the prettiest picture. Nor the most appetizing, to be certain. But they were tasty!!
We wrapped german brauts in dough and baked them for "Mummy-dogs" for Halloween AND it just happened to nip at the heels of what we just studied in History. We just concluded our study on Egypt and are moving on to early China but the kids enjoyed Egypt so much- we lingered on the subject longer than we had to. Countless books were brought home from the library. We looked up things on the internet. Studied maps. Watched movies. It's been fun!

Both kids are learning the construction of stories: how to formulate and organize ideas through mapping, creating a workable rough draft and the process of editing. I love when their subjects touch on the same things! It makes my life that much easier!

We've ventured to the park on numerous occasions- trying to absorb the last of the Fall weather before the stormy season hits (which appears to have been this weekend!). It never fails, Josie ends up bringing home sticks and flowers and all sorts of "treasures". I secretly kinda love it.

Books This Week...

Here's our book stack from this last week.
We'll be getting a new stack on Tuesday, so will post an updated "stack" soon!

I'm reading "The Well Trained Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer again. It was an inspiring breath-of- fresh air the first go 'round and I feel I could use a bit of a jumpstart again.

Our classes are going well and I still love our curriculum choices, but the struggle seems to be that there is never enough time to do everything I want to do. We get the core things done but I want to be able to incorporate some of these ideas I have floating around in my head as well.

AND I'm still trying to find that balance of homekeeping, schooling, time for myself... uncertain I'll ever quite figure that one out....

Where are YOU at right now? Are you happy with your choices in schooling? Schedule?Etc.?

Busy & Blessed.

There are many occasions where I fail to recognize the blessings that abound in my home everyday. I try to be conscious of them, but I fail repeatedly. The days where I see it for what it is...what a joy! I'm thankful that God put it clearly in our hearts and minds that we were to educate our children at home until we felt pressed/led otherwise...perhaps indefinitely. I've told many that when I look at this long-term I begin to feel panicked. Incapable. Overwhelmed. But for now, I rest in the knowlege it's where we are supposed to be in this season in our lives. And He prepared me for my responsibility. He continues to give me reassurance, peace and encouragement with various resources. Books, blogs, scriptures, friends with the common bond of home education. It's been tremendous!

And when I see that effort bear fruit... it's the most amazing feeling.

Some September Reads

I've been a lifelong lover of books.
There is nothing better than curling up with a good story and losing yourself for hours.
As Fall arrives, the number of cold,rainy days increases here in the Pacific Northwest- and with them our reading times increase in number and duration!

We visit our local library once a week (at least) and leave with multiple bags and arms loaded.
Here are just a few from the last week....






















*images from amazon

Field Trip..yes, another one!!

We attended the Answers In Genesis "Answers for Darwin" Conference Sunday evening and Monday morning in Tualatin, Oregon. Wow. Just WOW.
Not only was the content EXCELLENT and so very common sense and applicable..but to be in a room with so many others, hungry for truth and information to further their faith and reason...it was TREMENDOUS.



Ken Ham is a gifted speaker that engages everyone- I do believe the Aussie accent helps a little but still... God has certainly given him talents that he's using to further the Kingdom. Sunday evening was a general session and the room was at maximum capacity. I heard they had to turn people away from the main auditorium since every seat was full! The lobby was also brimming with people watching on monitors! Monday morning was especially for Homeschool/Christian school children and we came quite close to filling the auditorium once again... which gave me goosebumps. Seeing all of those children whose faith would be affirmed, strengthened or given to them through truth...it gave me goosebumps.



I was thankful that the littles enjoyed it and listened attentively. We talked about it on the way home and followed up with having them construct a short paragraph on their favorite topics/moments of the conference. After the Homeschool session on Monday, we ventured to a local mall to visit the Star Wars store and Build-A-Bear Workshop (and a few shops for myself) and lunch at SBARRO in the food court. The girls working at JAMBA JUICE thought Matthew was a "ladykiller" and offered us delish Pomegranate smoothie samples. He furthered his adorability with a purple 'stache... it was so cute! Wish I would've brought my camera in--somehow he managed to get an almost perfect looking pencil mustache with the smoothie cup...



Overall, a great field trip where we all learned a little something new!
My pictures weren't the best but considering we were up in the "nosebleeds" of the church, I didn't think my zoom lens did a bad job!

Recent library reads post coming soon....

Field Trip #1

We took our first "field trip" of the school year yesterday.
Venturing downtown, we visited the ELSINORE theatre for the first time to see Rudolf Budginas, a brilliant, internationally-renowned concert pianist hailing from Lithuania.
He was holding a special matinee concert for children and captivated them with his deft fingers and humor. It was much more interactive than I'd anticipated.


This is a clip from another concert, but it gives you a taste!
And now, some pics from our afternoon...


There was a cymbal sitting right next to him and it was throwing my pics WAAAYYY off. Especially difficult to do anything about it since we were sitting all the way in back and I wasn't free to move about. Oh well...



The kids loved going up into the balcony seating and peering down..quite cautiously!



He talked with the children about composers and styles of music, as well as things like melody, accompaniment, tempo, rhythm, and much more. I think between his accent and his energy- they stayed glued the entire time!





He encouraged the kids to be boisterous in their replies..what kid doesn't like being encouraged to be LOUDER?!







Not too shabby for a DARK theatre, seated all the way in the back! Bumped my ISO and used my wonderful 70-210mm lens...LOVE that thing.



The ELSINORE is absolutely GORGEOUS. Again- a very dim theatre but I had to try and capture some of its glory...



from the balcony...


This is the hallway architecture coming down from the balcony seating. Wowza.




The kids in front of the theatre with Rudolf's poster. Wish they would've had a larger one posted.

My littles LOVED the adventure and were inspired, as was I.

The BEST Math Manipulatives...

There are many wonderful resources out there for learning tools such as math manipulatives. It's quite easy to get sucked in and drop a lot of cash on pieces of wood, plastic and such! The products are marketed to convince you that with purchase, your child will instantly become a math genius!

Though I long for children who are brilliant in the subject of math, I would prefer NOT to spend a lot of money on the manipulatives. I recognize the importance of manipulatives, and know that my children respond well to hands-on activities. However, after looking at many companies...they're not cheap!
So I took to looking at things around the house a bit differently.


...colorful popsicle sticks



...coins galore



...beans of all colors, shapes and sizes




...colorful plastic cowboys and indians




...and the favorite, Legos!

The kids love when we pull these out for our math lessons!
I love how easy they are on my pocketbook!
Nothing like multi-purpose resources to make a frugal homeschool mama happy!