A Character Parade

We have a stellar library, and an amazing children's librarian named Ms. Heather. She planned a family reading night complete with a costume parade.  To say my kids were excited is an understatement. They ask over and over again if it was time to go. And because my children can rarely stick to one theme, Here are a few of my favorite characters :)

 Titus: Spiderman with a Bob the Builder hat.

Josiah: a doctoring, train conducting, Curious George

Eden: a blue karate chopping Power Ranger.

I love that she still added a little pink with her shoes.

The whole gang!

Ms. Heather was an excellent Fancy Nancy.

Fire Truck, Fire Truck, I Wanna Ride on a Fire Truck!

We were able to take our homeschool group on a tour of the Williamston Fire Department. It was a great experience for them. Not only were they able to see the trucks, but they learned a lot about fire safety in the process. After watching a video, the kids were able to ask questions and think through issues regarding fire safety. The tour was an A+ in terms of education through fun.

Our homeschool group at the fire station.

 A brief moment when all three were almost still for a picture.

 Eden and Titus posing at the fire station.

 The kids were able to climb inside the fire trucks to look around.

 

 To say Titus loved his time at the fire station is an understatement!

One day, we might have a fire fighter in our family :)

It's all Greek to Me!

 We took to the dramatic in our trek through ancient history, as we studied Ancient Greece.
The kids were able to color and cut out drama mask in order to customize our dress up time.

 While Eden and Titus seemed to enjoy the play, 

Josiah wasn't a fan of dressing up in a former pillowcase.

  

 Eden has a flare for the dramatic! 

She loved dressing up, but didn't like the masks.

 A pretty picture of Eden.

 Titus was more interested in science than history.

My crazy crew, In my crazy day! 

I wouldn't trade it for anything :)

Love in Action

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1John 3:18

Last week we were able to participate in a double service project. We're over achievers like that! Totally kidding :) Our homeschool group has adopted the local nursing home as a way to love on our community. We've been to sing for them for holidays, done a reverse trick or treat, and planted flowers with them. There is even talks of a future Bingo game with the kids playing too.

This past week we got together to make card with the residents, for the kids at Vidant Hospital. We found a connection with the hospital for children who receive outpatient chemo and others service through the children's hospital. We thought this would be a great way to love of the residents at the nursing home as well as some sick children who might need a pick me up during the week.

I could not have been more please with how the projects turned out. Everyone enjoyed themselves. It seemed a great lesson for the kids to learn, especially around Valentine's Day: loving people with our actions, our words, and our time.

 

Eden was able to work with Miss Sarah and Lydia making beautiful cards.

Josiah was the sticker king. He helped these ladies peel and place their stickers  on the cards. At one point he disappeared. I found him handing out cards to some of the residents in the front room. He didn't seem to understand the idea that the cards were not staying with the residents at the nursing home. It was "not fair!" So I let him pass out his cards to the little old ladies and the little old men. They loved it and him :)

Titus was also able to participate. He could put stickers on the papers. I am so happy that even as a 2 year old he get to participate in activities like these.

Sweet Reading Time

A few weeks ago we decided we needed unplug the electronics and spend more time reading with the kids. It's been a neat experience, though it has not happened without challenges. You would think as a homeschool family we would have enough reading in one day, but this reading is for FUN! The kids and I have finally gotten used to the new schedule.  We ( at least I) look forward to it each night.

 We have a loose guideline that from 6:00-8:00 there is no TV, computers, tablets or anything else that would need to be plugged in, instead we read or play. This has been a challenge for each of us in different ways. Josiah and I  have struggled with this the most. For me, it seemed like a lot more work at the end of the day, when I had already spent the day schooling the kids. Josiah LOVES his tablet and taking it away to make him read or listen to us read.... not an easy task. Eden is a struggling reader, and really doesn't like to read. She has probably benefited the most from the reading time. Each night we have her read 2 or 3 books to either Larry or I, one on one.  We feel like this time is crucial to her building the skills she needs to enable reading to come with less difficulty. She really seems to enjoy the individual attention, even if she has to read.

We've read through lots of little readers, and as a family we started the Little House on the Prairie series. We've already finished The Little House in the Big Woods and are half way through the Little house on the Prairie. Josiah is fascinated with the series of books. Knowing the order and title of each book in the series is important to him.  It's a great series! The kids have really enjoyed the stories. Plus they wind down while we read and bed time has become easier. I've been surprise how Josiah, my usual wiggle worm, can sit and listen to the stories, Sometimes he sits upside down or side ways, but he listens. Eden draws great pictures to go along with the stories.  We're going to bind them together at the end of the series in her own little art book. Titus is still a unable to sit still, but he's 2. I'm sure with more training and good examples from big brother and sister, he'll get the hang of things soon. For now, I give him a small toy to keep his hands occupied. The problem comes  when he makes the sound effects to go along with the cars and trucks. :)

 Typically by 6:00 we're finishing up dinner and dishes. The other night as I was running behind schedule. Titus anticipating reading time brought the book he wanted to me to read to him. Since I was still in the middle of cleaning up, I asked Josiah if he would read the book to Titus. Honestly, I wasn't sure what kind of response I was going to get. Brothers can be, well... brothers. I was pleased when Josiah agreed. They went to the couch to settle into reading.  It was the cutest thing ever!!!

With moments like these, you can see why this has become my favorite time of the day. :)

My favorite gifts :)

I forgot to post these during the holidays. These are by far my favorite gifts!

Out takes

It seems every time we try to take a family photo, I get way more outtakes than I do usable pictures. But the outtakes are always some of my favorite.

Josiah was in this picture but it was just his bottom, 

and Titus couldn't keep his tongue in his mouth.

Check out those expressions!

Josiah looking away

And another questionable expression

This was one of my favorite outtakes;

My silly boy!

The reality of life :)

Don't buy into the lie that quiet time has to be quiet in order for God to speak. Squirming, active children in a motion filled home is ripe soil for the Gospel. It's supposed to happen this way because this is real life with young children; at least that's what I keep telling myself. We attempt to have Bible reading as part of our daily life.  Most days it happens. Some days, life gets crazy and it doesn't. Some times it goes well. The kids sit still and listen. Great truths of our faith are shared.....

 Other times..... bad attitudes, unrealistic expectations and life with young children happens too.  Kids squirm. They tickle or hit the sibling sitting beside them. They are grossed out by whatever they just put in their mouth! Any number of things can interrupt the "formality" of our teaching.

 

Thankfully we've been instructed by scripture that teaching the Bible doesn't have to be a complicated thing.  Deuteronomy 6:7-9, "Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates." 

The reality of life with kids is that they are not going to sit still. The best listening they do is when they are engaged in the story, acting along, answering questions and are allowed to interrupt to ask. questions. I've been amazed at some of the thing they want to know.

Josiah needs something to do while he listens. Often, I will give him a toy car or something to occupy his hands. I've learned, even when they are running around or playing they are still learning. Sometimes, I'm amazed at what they pick up when I think there is no way they heard what I was saying. 

It's also a relief to know it is a continually process. We hope that we will have many years to share these truths with our children. We've read through many different children's Bibles with them. Many of the stories of the faith have been repeated over and over. The kids can can bring up details and facts that have been building over the past few years. We are also able to get onto more complicated and mature issue as they mature. It is our goal to help them see how all of the stories are not just individual stories, but are all connected. They are all part of the ultimate story; the story of Christ.

Christmas Parade

Our homeschool group was able to participate in our towns Christmas play. The

kids had a blast and we were able to put "normal" faces on homeschooling in our community.
 

 

In the Wilderness

 I feel as if we're keeping Moses's pace in the wilderness in getting through our History and Bible curriculum. Maybe we can complete our lessons in less than 40 years! While we're moving slow, I have to remind myself, we've covering important material, the basis for our faith. There is no reason to rush our children learning this material. God taught the Israelites many lessons on trust and obeying while they wandered. He'll teach us as well.

As part of our studies on the Exodus, we had a dress up lunch and tried foods like the ancient Israelites ate. I was as excited to try it as the kids were, But I didn't dress up. We have tried pita chips, hummus, lentils and barley though these studies. Most of our family liked it; Josiah doesn't, but they probably didn't have hot dogs and macaroni and cheese in Egypt. I have tried to add these new foods to our regular meals. In fact, I made a chicken and barley meal last night that was delicious. Barley will probably replace rice for our family because of the nutritional superiority. If you haven't tried it, please go pick up a bag and you can thank me later.

We borrowed costumes from the church. The kids loved getting into character.

 First we played a matching game on hospitality found in ancient customs.

We also read about life during the Exodus and looked at pictures of the area to see what it might have been like to live during those times.

Then we had lunch, lentils, pita chips, dried cranberries and raisins.

My picky eater trying somthing new. 

He liked the pita chips, but not the lentils.
Eden liked it all :)

Who's bigger: an Emperor Penguin or one of my kids?

One of the best things about home schooling is that we have lots of hands on activities. As part of Eden's math assignment for Penguins, we got to take measurements to see who was bigger an Emperor Penguin or one of the kids.

 Here are our stats based on the measurement the kids took:

Height

Emperor Penguin = 42 inches

Eden = 41.5 inches

Josiah = 40.5 inches

Titus =  32 inches

Weight

Emperor  Penguin = 90 lbs.

Eden = 39.5 lbs

Josiah = 41 lbs

Titus = 27 lbs 

The Penguin won by .5 inches,  and by 49 lbs!

Penguins  are some short fat creatures!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Our kids love Dr. Seuss books, so we decided to celebrate his 109th birthday with 2 days of fun. This fun included lunch of green eggs and ham, reading Dr. Seuss books, watching The Lorax movie, and a party at the library with lots of other kids. 

Lunch of Green Eggs and Ham.

Eden wasn't sure she would like Green eggs and ham, but neither was the cat in the hat!

 But just like the cat, she gave it a try, and Say 

she did, she did like green eggs and ham, she did like them Sam-I-am! 

Both Eden and Josiah had two helpings of green eggs.

Josiah proclaiming this was the best Dr. Seuss day ever!

I think Titus is one of the cutest kids ever, 

especially in a Dr. Seuss hat and a super man shirt! 

I do believe this will have to become an annual tradition.