Maria Girl Scout

Welcome Back Campfire with singing and smores

With Ashton at the tiger exhibit

With her troop and leader in the invertebrates exhibit

Grooming a goat

Maria is officially a Brownie and her troop has been busy! The two of us went to a campfire and on a zoo trip with her troop and they have already earned a Try-It which are the awards that Brownies earn.

Charles at 6 years old

Charles is 6!

Charles is a social butterfly with lots of neighborhood friends. I was thinking I was going to have to tie him to his chair for Kindergarten this year, but he has done very well. He is even starting to read (whew!).

He plays soccer on a team with Maria and is more than holding his own.

For his birthday dinner Charles asked for hot dogs, french fries, onion rings, and milk. He helped make his chocolate birthday cake and asked for Cherries Jubilee ice cream from Baskin-Robbins to go with it.

On Monday when we visit the National Gallery, he is looking forward to seeing his favorite piece, Wassily Kandinsky's Improvisation 31 (the Sea Battle).

For his birthday Charles got a Razor scooter with green tires and grips, money, and green crocs.

Did I mention that his favorite color is green?

Under the spreading walnut tree

I made a discovery at nature study on Monday. My kids think that 'outside' is really just an enormous play room. They do not pause to look at the furniture even when an adult is pointing it out. So while the smaller kids and I listened to an interesting study on the walnut tree in front of us, the bigger kids were running around and playing football.

At one point 2 families sat quietly under a tree and sketched the walnut fruit and rubbed leaves to put in their nature journals. My kids found big sticks to whack each other with and asked if they owned nature journals.

Sigh.

In case you are interested, here is a picture of a walnut fruit, the nut, and the contents of the nut.

We brought them home for further study and the kids are sketching them today...yes into their nature journals...right after they finish using them as weapons.

The Fall Season

It's time for extra-curriculars to begin in earnest. Monday, we start a 6 week nature study group for Catholic homeschoolers inspired by the new book A Haystack Full of Needles. Although it is school related, I still think of it as an extra since it requires extra planning and extra driving.

This week also saw the start of soccer season and Girl Scouts and Chess Club.

Our schedule looks something like this:

M--Nature Study

T--Maria and Charles have soccer practice at the same time Maria has Girl Scouts

W--Thomas and Anthony have soccer practice

Th--Maria and Charles have soccer practice

F--Thomas and Anthony have soccer practice immediately after Chess Club which is in a different town

Sat--Games for both teams

I think James is voting for a new sport next year...

Joseph's Journal--September

He's getting good with his hands. He started the month reaching for toys. A week ago he didn't want to go to bed so he cried and reached for me. Today, Bill tells me that he dragged himself across the floor so he could reach the Candyland board.

Learning vs School

We haven't had a lot of table time this week, but I think the lessons we've learned have been invaluable.

Monday: A lesson in faith

While we were spending a morning with our friends, we found out that their Papa had drowned saving his son's life. We gathered in the 26 children and 6 moms there and prayed for the repose of the soul of Mr. Vander Woude and for Joseph who had been rushed to the hospital. Each day this week, we have talked about this tragedy and prayed for the family. Mr. Vander Woude has become a hero to us, and my friend Maryan, his daughter-in-law, has written a beautiful tribute to him at her blog.


Tuesday: Thinking small


Tuesday the big kids willingly worked quickly and then packed up some seat work so we could take the Charles, Cecilia, and James to Storytime. Not that the kids mind going to the library, but I appreciated their cheerful spirits. Later in the day Anthony told me, "Mom, I can't wait until you have #8!" "Why?" I laughed. "Because then we'd have EIGHT KIDS! And anyway, babies are pretty nice...." I agree, but this is not an announcement.

Wednesday: Thinking big

Yesterday, Thomas, Anthony, and Maria went with my friend Michelle and her kids to a rally for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Their impression of modern politics was "We got to climb a really big tree!" They were so far back that only the child who climbed the highest got a glimpse of the candidates. I'm climbing my mental tree to get a glimpse of an America that respects life....

Thursday: Making connections

We're back to the Vander Woudes although they haven't really left our thoughts. Today the boys sat with me to look at the pictures of their friends baling hay with their Papa. We talked about Sarah Palin having a Down's Syndrome baby and Papa Vander Woude saving his Down's Syndrome son. Anthony and I had a conversation about the sacrifice Mr. Vander Woude made and John 15:13. Charles remembered Joseph in prayer. We got an email saying Joseph is doing better but now knows his father is dead. And I feel like all my quiet moments are filled with thoughts of my friend and her family.

Tomorrow all the seat work that I had planned out on Sunday night will be done. But I feel like this week's real lesson has been over and over again that Life is precious. That, truly, Life--all human life--is good.

Hmmm...I have no response to that

Yesterday was the first day of school for both us and the public school. We had a fun and busy day and I was very happy to head out the door with the little guys in the afternoon. I stopped to chat with a stay-at-home mom whose kids are in school all day, and she asked me, "What do you do all day? .... I mean, I know you homeschool, but what else do you do?"

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This morning as the school bus pulled away, Maria asked me, "Mommy, why do you homeschool us?"

Anthony responded for me, "Because she would miss us and she wouldn't have anything to do all day."

He's half right.