Happy 1st Birthday, Joseph!

Summer School

Our family has hopes to visit the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Fort Clatsop this summer.  We have visited these sites before, but that was a number of years ago.  The older kids, especially Paul, already know a lot about Lewis and Clark.  Grace was required to read Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose this year as part of her history course. However, the little kids need their own introduction to the expedition. So in preparation for our trip, I've been taking the kids through a study of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery.

We started with the CD and companion book, Lewis and Clark:  Songs of the Journey by Kindra Ankney. We bought this CD/book set a number of years ago.  Unfortunately, it seems to be out of print now. Mrs. Ankney, a homeschool mom, wrote the songs on the CD.  She also wrote and illustrated the book that goes with it.  Our family had the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Ankney and her children perform about eight years ago. She signed our book for us. The CD has long been a family favorite.  The kids have all of the songs memorized.  We loved this volume the first time through and are loving it all over again.

I also reserved a pile of books on Lewis and Clark from the library.  Our library system recently built a new library on our end of town and I'm enjoying it immensely.  It's much cleaner than the old library, there are no transients there, there are no computers with "educational" games on them and the twaddle has its own seperate section, so it's easily ignored.  Another huge plus is that I can browse for books online, have them sent to my local branch (which contacts me via email when my books have arrived) and then I can pick them up at the library's drive through window.  Fantastic!

So I picked up my stack of Lewis and Clark books and the kids and I have been working our way through them.  The kids especially liked the book Seaman's Journal.  It's the story of the expedition through the eyes of Lewis' Newfoundland dog, Seaman.  It's beautifully illustrated with watercolors.  It was a captivating read--for all of us.

The other book we've really enjoyed is Lewis and Clark for Kids:  Their Journey of Discovery with 21 Activities.  To be honest, when I first glanced at the book, the word "activities" turned me off.  However, I've discovered the activities are very doable and don't require a lot of extra materials or effort.  For example, one of the activities was on latitude and longitude.  We got out the globe and answered the questions in the book.  Not difficult.  One of the activities shows how to make a tipi.  We already have a tipi, so we didn't do that one, but the kids did set up our tipi so they could play in it.

Our old VHS version of the Ken Burns movie on Lewis and Clark has been pulled out of the drawer and viewed by the kids.  I also found a single ViewMaster reel on the Lewis and Clark trail at Goodwill recently. It highlights the some of the sites we will be visiting near the end of the trail.  Yes, I know--how providential.

In between reading times, the boys have been dressing up in their Lewis and Clark garb, acting out what they're learning.  Yay for real books and hands on learning!  We can't wait to experience the "real" thing later this summer.

Gracie's Graduation

Matt and I can officially say we've graduated our first student from our homeschool.  A couple of weeks before Grace's graduation, I commented to a friend (a veteran homeschooler who has graduated several of her children) that I regretted never having had a "perfect homeschooling" year in all of the years we've home educated.  She just looked at me and giggled, nodding her head up and down.  Then it dawned on me what a silly thing it was I had just uttered.  Praise Jesus, that He works through our weaknesses and brings glory to Himself despite the fact that "perfect" homeschool years don't exist.

On June 20, 2014, we had a small celebration to honor God and our Gracie. We invited Grace's grandparents, her godmother (Auntie Em) and a few other family members to our house for a Korean feast. Grace remembered a time way back in the day when I made Bulgogi for one of Matt's birthdays.  She wanted that dish for her graduation meal.  We also made Bibimbap, Asian cucumber salad and sesame noodles. I bought kimchi from the local Korean restaurant.  For dessert, we had a traditional family favorite of Texas Sheet Cake and Grandma Dianne brought her famous Scottish shortbread.

After dinner, we retired to the living room for a simple graduation ceremony.  Both Matt and I expressed to Grace how proud we are of her, not because of anything she has done, or anything we as parents have done, but because of what God has done in her life.  From the time she was a very little girl, the Lord has nurtured in her a true and real faith in Himself.  Nothing--absolutely nothing--could be more important to us as parents as that one fact.

Grace, as always, has more plans for her life than what she has time for.  (She may or may not get that tendency from her mother.)  Right now, she's working on my Uncle Keith and Aunt Leanna's farm.  She's also getting a little photography business going and is busy learning all she can about gardening, sewing and marketing.  Her long time dream of attending cosmetology school looks like it will be fulfilled beginning this Fall.

(Photos by Essence Photography)

The little girl whose drawing project in the first grade started our family on an epic adventure is now a grown woman.  Her Daddy and I are amazed at all that God has done.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 
3 John 1:4





Photos by Essence Photography

http://www.essenceapc.com/

https://www.facebook.com/EssencePhotographyCompany?ref=ts

Summer

I'm not sure how half the summer has disappeared already, but it has.  I had it in my mind that our family would have a slower paced, relaxing summer.  A high expectation to be sure, but nonetheless, I was sure it would happen.  Now I'm dealing with the realization that our summer is not what I had envisioned.  As usual, I've had a hard time adjusting to dashed expectations.

We have accomplished much as a family so far this summer.  We pulled together a successful graduation party for Grace (more on that in a separate post), I finished up a 23 week long marathon of Bible study, five of the kids took three weeks of swimming lessons, Matt traveled to Alaska for a week on business and also to Denver (2 trips down, 1 to go!), we celebrated the Fourth of July (Matt and Paul were in the local parade) and we took a trip to my uncle's farm for a few days.

Matt in Alaska

We left Grace and Paul on the farm to work for the summer.  That was hard.  How is it my kids are old enough to leave home to work for the summer?  The years are short.  This will be good for the kids though, all the way around.  Come Fall, Grace's schedule will take her away from the house every day and it's good practice for all of us to get used to not having her here all of the time.

In the meantime, I'm reviving the lost skill of cleaning bathrooms and folding laundry (formerly Grace's jobs), Lydia is learning to vacuum carpets (only a temporary gig for her until Paul returns) and Elizabeth has been promoted to sous chef position, a job which she will likely hold for quite some time.  In other words, things around here are changing and as everyone knows, I'm not a fan of change.  I'm pretty sure the kids aren't enjoying it either.  However, it must be done.

I'm trying to cool my jets on my long "To Do" list as everything else in life seems to be taking twice as long (or more) than it used to.  The visions of decluttering projects, room redos and gourmet jam canning sessions are fast becoming forgotten dreams, along with all of the books I planned to read this summer.

We have managed to squeeze some fun into summer in little pockets here and there though.  The kids have gotten extra swimming time at Miss Peggy's and Aunt Julie's pools as well as the small town pool where my aunt and uncle live.  Isaac, who took swimming lessons for the first time this year and was a very reluctant learner, has now taken to the water as the proverbial duck to water.  With his life jacket on, he paddles every where the big kids go.

Last week I took the kids to 7-11 for free Slurpies and $1 hot dogs.  I used the promise of the treats to motivate the kids to clean up the house.  It sorta backfired on me, though.  The kids had never heard of Slurpies and weren't so sure they were worth the effort of a power cleaning session.  In the end, the house got picked up (sort of) and the kids found out that they really do like Slurpies.

Treats from 7-11 (take note of Jude's great fashion sense)

One night a couple of weeks ago after a very long day of single momming it while Matt was out of town, my friend texted me to say that her goat had birthed four babies that day.  She wanted us to come over and see them.  We loaded up and went on over.  The goats were adorable.  Joseph was especially delighted with them.  He's starting to grow out of the baby stage (he'll be one year this month--sniff).

I found a couch at a yard sale last Saturday.  I've been looking to replace the couch we bought off of Craigslist when we first moved here.  For the last couple of years, my searches on Craigslist and yard sales have turned up nothing.  This couch is a leather beauty with reclining ends, perfect for the family room.  The man who was selling it had just lost his wife and was downsizing.  His son even delivered it to our house. The couch had a couple of minor scratches on it.  I just covered them with brown Sharpie marker.  A thousand dollars in savings is worth a couple of scratches to me.  One week later, I'm still training Lydia to keep her sewing scissors OFF of the couch.  As others in the house know, Mama doesn't like cuts in her couches.  Knives are no longer tested for sharpness on furniture at our house.  (That would fall under the category of "Rules I Never Thought I'd Have to Make.")

This morning the kids were particularly stir crazy.  It's been really hot here for a week and we've been kind of holed up inside to stay cool.  Despite the heat, I told the kids to get on some water friendly shoes and get loaded into the van.  We headed to the water.  We saw Seagulls, Canadian Geese, a couple of pelicans and a pair of coots and everyone got their feet wet.

Speaking of birds, a few weeks ago I was on the back porch enjoying my mid afternoon iced tea when all of a sudden a Bald Eagle flew over the yard.  It was so close I could hear its wings swooshing and I could see the water dripping off of the sparkling fish that it had in its mouth.  Wow!  God's creation never ceases to amaze me.

Well, I'm off to inspect the kitchen clean up that Joel is supposed to be doing.  Then I'll read to the kids before quiet time.  Maybe we'll try to swim a bit in Miss Peggy's pool after dinner tonight.  I guess my "To Do" list will wait another day.  After all, these little ones are growing up way too fast.