A great ABC preschool project!

This is the new project that I am doing for the three youngest....they have been wanting/needing more from our school day!

Our School Year Plans...(as of now)

This year will be a challenge for many reasons. One, we have sold our home and will be moving to a smaller home while we build a house. The house is less than half the size of the house we live in now so we are putting over half of our things in storage. So I have been in the school room for days deciding what I will need and what can be stored until Spring.

This year I will also have FOUR I am teaching daily (although I am sure Linc will also choose to hang out with us and do his preschool/montessori-ish activities.) Carson will be in fourth grade so that brings a bit of "pressure" as well! Maddie will be a 2nd grader and Annie & Cam will be doing Kindergarten work. Cam is only four and is still lacking in many fine motor skills but for the most part I believe he can keep up with Annie.


Typically I have geared everything to Carson. I Planned his curriculum and added in whatever for Madelyn. This year that is changing a bit because Madelyn is different learner than Carson and he does well with anything. We have learned that she is a "creative" learner and does not do well with lots of "fill in the blank", workbooks etc. That is the great thing about homeschooling!! I can teach each child according them their specific needs!

For Madelyn (2nd) we switched to Moving Beyond the Page. It is a comprehensive literature-based curriculum that covers all subjects other than math. It is all hands on projects and most of the activites are open ended so she will use more thought, evaluation and comprehension than worrying about a right or wrong answer. I just know she is going to do well with it!! I can't wait to start!
A few of the projects I will bring down a notch for the Kindergarteners and give Carson extra work to research on his own.
For her math we will continue to use Math-U-See.
Foreign Language: Singschool Latin
We will also continue with a bit of phonics for her, since reading is her weakest area.

Annie & Cam: (K & pre-K)
Handwriting:Handwriting without Tears
Reading: How to Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Phonics:(still not 100% decided) Explode the Code or Bob Jones University
Foreign Language: Songschool Latin (mostly listening to the CD with maddie)
Math: MUS or Saxon (still deciding)
Extras: Dolch Sight Words, bible
We will also do 1 Theme Pocket a month and 2 FIAR titles each month to complete their other subjects.

Carson-(4th Grade)
Math-Math-u-See
Spelling-Sequential Spelling
Grammar/Writing/Some reading/vocab: Moving Beyond the Page literature units
Foreign Language: Latin for Children
Additonal Reading: readers from WinterPromise history program & possibly Bob Jones reading

We still have several weeks of our Winter Promise American Story 1 to complete and once we are moved we will pick up with Winter Promise Story 2.

Then all of the kids will do the following (depending on age): (we will also meet up weekly with another family and work on these subjects)
IEW-writing
50 State study
Barry Stebbing Art/Famous American artists
Apologia Flying Creatures

So the way I figure it this should get us through middle school!!!hehe

Oops forgot to add in what little Lincoln (and Annie & Cam) will be doing to keep busy. Most of the extra "keep'em busy" activities I have in mind are from this genius over and 1+1+1=1!

Camden's B-day Part 1

Horse Camp!

The culmination of this month was the craziest week yet! So both girls attended a local horse camp from 9-2 each day and Carson volunteered at autism camp each day from 9-2!! (Yes I know I had to clone myself and be two places at once twice a day!) Then we had VBS each evening ( and I taught!)!! This week was exhausting!! Add in packing, sorting and clearing out and whew!! I need a vacation!!
On to the girls....Annie has taken a sudden interest in horses. So when we told each of the children they could pick a camp to participate this summer, Annie said "HORSE CAMP!". I have never left her alone anywhere so I really encouraged Madelyn to go with her...but Madelyn wanted to attend a swimming camp. After much research I found a horse camp that offered swimming the second part of the day!!!The best part ...it was 4 minutes from our house! The girls learned to groom the horses and of course how to ride them!
On Friday they girls had a"show" for the parents to see what they had learned. Madelyn actually was able to get her horse to trot! I was amazed that she had that much confidence in 5 days!

Annie was trained with a unique double saddle. They train the younger children with these so they can progress to a trot and learn balance, rhythm and control much sooner than if they were on the horse alone with a instructor walking alongside! She did however ride alone too! If you know Annie this is amazing because she is not my adventurous child...quite the opposite actually! On a horse she is very content little girl though!

The camp had a whole litter of kittens which the girls LOVED!! There was also a little baby goat that they bottle fed each day!

Ready for the first day!

Welcome Home Tedi!

With the huge crowd...this is the best picture I got :( but nonetheless another precious little one is home from Ethiopia in the arms of his forever family!
This was extra special situation because Paul met Natalie by chance last year in a doctors office in Somerset, Ky. Soon the talk turned to adoption and after a few emails they were attending our agencies anniversary celebration. (I am thinking that was in November)....well 7 months later and they are parents for the first time of this precious little guy!!!
They designed the shirts she is wearing and I love it...
5 million minus 1.......and they did just that they took in one of the 5 million orphans sitting in Ethiopia waiting for a family.
If you want to read about their journey...check out their blog!

Paul and I rarely get time alone to try new things. I have also become quite the chicken in my old age...actually I like to blame it all on the children (who wants to die doing something ridulous?)! Let me also state for the record,I have never really wanted to be dangled from a overgrown kite hundreds of feet above an ocean filled with man-eating sharks. Well I am not sure what happened but before I knew it we were signed up for all kinds of craziness! The trip to the parasailing boat was 10 times as much fun as the parasailing! We had to ride the big banana pulled by a jet ski and it was wet, wild and wacky!
I made Spencer (my cousin) and his girlfriend Kayla go first...to put off the getting in the air for as long as possible!! They were cute and loved it (young people?!?!?!) and saw lots of sea turtles!
Once it was our turn I liked it for about 8 or 9 seconds...then I looked at the little bitty teeny tiny rope that was holding us to the boat. It was about the diameter of a dime! So I began to get a bit queasy! Then I realized the only thing holding me into the "seat" were 2 metal clips...SERIOUSLY... who invented this activity!?!?
I asked Paul politely if I could throw up and he said no that he was down wind...so I struggled not to. I also realized quickly not to look behind me! I began to relax a bit and then it was time for our two water dips! I was SO nervous...I was afraid they wouldn't be able to get us up again! They did and we lived....but I am still not doing it again!

Below are Spencer and Kayla!

(Below is us on the banana....I seriously thought Spenc was gonna fall off (with out cameras).

Mothers Day/Arrive in America Day!

Okay so we have been rather confused as whether the boys Gotcha Day should be.Should it be the day we "got them" in Ethiopia or the day they got America, the day the 7 of us were together, the day we were a complete family, the day they "got" the extended family etc.
So this year I truthfully lost track of time or days I should say. So the day we "got them" passed full of craziness! So I planned on making Monday the Gotcha day...the day we arrived in America. Well I am a total goofball and mixed up my dates again...turns out the 9th was on Sunday NOT Monday...seriously how dumb...right?!?! So while we are at my aunts for Mothers Day...I realized it. So our Mothers Day dinner was also our Gotcha Day!

Our morning started very early. Madelyn is in the church choir and arrived at church at 8am. The choir led all three services for worship. Madelyn was so excited she had counted down the days for this (little drama queen loves the stage!). **front center row in a butterfly dress.

We left church and had planned to eat lunch with Pauls parents but after not figuring out a place we all agreed on we decided to do a raincheck. So I chose Famous Daves! I love all of their food...it is not Pauls favorite so i figured I needed to use the "mothers day card" . It worked and it was a lovely meal!

Next we went to Aunt Doe's to eat with my entire family. Spencer decided to bake brownies and I think he had more help than he could have imagined! After they all fought to lick the bowl he just put them on the ground! I told him you could tell the only thing he is used to caring for is a dog!

My mom opens her gift, a colorful necklace and earrings! (Notice her shirt...this is the shirt they wore at the airport when we arrived home!) She had realized it was the 9th and even gave the boys a gift....a fun Play-Doh set!

So momma has to have a pic with all of her kiddos..my poor uncle cannot see without his cheaters which should explain the pic!!hehe

Here we are with 4 generations! My grandma, mom, aunt, me and the girls!

Hmm sorry about the pic being sideways! (it takes too long on blogspot do re-do all of these!!)

Here is Paul and his mama and of course my camera lovin girl, Madelyn!

Here is a pic of the boys with mamaw and papaw on their 1 year anniversary of being "home"!