Piano Recital

     Maggie and Will had their first piano recital in February. They had been practicing so hard, and they were very excited. I was wondering if they would be nervous since I have never liked playing in front of people, but neither of them seemed to be, and they both did an excellent job. Their piano teacher is Jenn McGillvray, and she is the most fantastic teacher. She loves music and kids, and she is always so patient and welcoming and encouraging. Maggie and Will both love practicing, which is huge because I remember thinking it was such a chore. A lot of times, I have to tell them to get off the piano to do other things (like housework!!) I am so very thankful for Jenn, and she has come to be a dear friend and sister in the Lord; and I am enjoying seeing our kids progress so well in their love for the piano and music. They have such a sense of accomplishment, especially after working on a difficult piece, then being able to play it well.
     Another big bonus for the weekend was that all the grandparents made it for the recital, and they all stayed with us. We were all spread out, and it worked beautifully, and we were so thrilled that they could come!

This is Ms. Jenn

Outside our favorite Memphis restaurant -- Los Tortugas Deli Mexicana -- and of course, we had to take a picture with the awesome Dodge Viper motorcyle.

Yummy cheese dip -- makes my mouth water just thinking of it -- with homemade tortillas

Fish tacos, an all-time favorite, even with the kids!

Carne asada tacos -- ohh, heavenly!!

Homeschooling

     Since I was in college, I have wanted to homeschool my children. I actually came to the decision before Ryan and I ever met, so when we started dating seriously, I had to make sure he was onboard. He was not too keen on the idea at first, but after meeting some homeschool families that I already knew and some that we came to know together, he slowly changed his mind before we had children.

     Back then, I had a very idealistic view of how my homeschool would work. Our children would all be enthusiastic learners (which they are for the most part now) -- every day! We would all be ready to start early in the morning, and we would have all our work completed by lunchtime so our afternoons would be open for free time or extracurricular activities. My visions of multi-tasking with various age levels and keeping up the housework usually involved one or all our children cooperating with the day-to-day work with a song in their hearts and a smile on their lips. I, as mother and teacher, would always be patient and soft-spoken, able to answer every question perfectly and handle every problem with grace.

     Fast forward to present times where our "school" consists of a 9-year old, a 7-year old and a 4-year old, each with his or her own unique personality, learning style, and sinful nature. I have only begun to realize how very sinful and selfish my expectations of "my" homeschool were/are. Our days are definitely not without their potholes, and if we ever have a day when we finish by lunchtime, it's probably because we didn't do half of our work!!

     Even though homeschooling is not the easy road that I had envisioned it being, I will say that I am very thankful to be able to do it. I LOVE having our children home with me -- most of the time -- and when I look back at pictures of projects we have done together or places we have gone, I know that I would not trade one second of it. I now realize that there will never be a "perfect" situation, and homeschooling in and of itself will not fulfill all my needs. Yet God can and is redeeming my sinful dreams, and for that I am very grateful!

    So, below are a few glimpses into what our school looks like. The first pictures are some science projects that the kids and I did as we studied rocks and fossils.

Maggie's sandstone sculptures -- her giant arch, a couple of hearts, a "rock, and a bird

Will's sandstone car

Meredith even made "a land"; oh, and she pretty much stays in a dress-up dress most days

     One new thing we have done is for the kids to go to a Mother's Day Out homeschool program one day a week at First Evangelical Church. We decided to do it mainly to incorporate more social time for Maggie and Will. I send their schoolwork that I would like them to do, and they also have other topics and projects they do as a class. They LOVE it! (The older ones that is; Meredith is a Mama's girl and has a hard time when she has to go to "that school thing.")

Maggie with her nutcracker from her study of Russia at 1st Evan

Seashells and cast fossils that we made with the shells

     I thought that I might also include some of my favorite manipulatives, books, and reference tools.

LOVE these -- geoboard and rubberbands; pattern blocks; interlocking cubes; tangrams

This board really could not be lived without. Meredith drew  a picture for me although I'm not sure what it is. We use it for every subject and for just playing around. 

Meredith's math book and her phonics. This phonics is the 3rd book in the primer level, and she loves doing it. The math book, though, is her favorite for now. It's a kindergarten level book, but she is able to work it without any problems. 

Someone gave me these for free -- all 5 levels -- when I was trying to find a reading program for Maggie. I decided to try it, and it is a great program. Will also used it, and Meredith will be next in probably another month.

Here are Will's books, but they include all my personal favorite curriculums: A Beka spelling, phonics and math; Saxon Math (Will's favorite subject is math, so I use both texts); Shurley Grammar; Primary Analogies; and Zaner-Bloser handwriting

Other favorites: Latina Chrisiana Latin; Answers in Genesis earth and space science; Mystery of History

Favorite references -- the thesaurus was mine in high school and still going strong

Our children cannot be as geographically-challenged as I used to be, so we look at the map very often!!

Our history time-line -- from Mystery of History Vol. 1; wonderful reinforcement.

And last but not least, I could never make it through a day without my Kroger French Roast, my reading glasses, and my Bible!

     

Snow Days and Winter Fun!

Our first snow of the year came last night. The kids were so giddy, they didn't want to go to bed. It started around 6 p.m., so we already had about 1 - 1 1/2 inches when they went to bed.  It looks like a total of about 3 - 4 inches. Maggie was giggling and squealing when she woke up. Thankfully, the kids were patient and let us move slowly before heading out. They played a while in the backyard with Babe before breakfast. Babe was hilarious. She tucked her tail between her legs when she found her ball and took off running around the yard. She had us all laughing.
After a yummy breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese toasters, grits and orange juice, we bundled up well and headed out in the front. Even Babe came with us and had a great time. The kids each piled up snow for mountains, hills and snowmen, then the snowballs started flying. We quickly had to make the rule of no snow in the head (at least for the kids) because of the tears. Ahhh, one day they won't be so sensitive, I can only hope. But it was lots of fun, and I was exhausted and out of breath! For now, we are relaxing and doing a little schoolwork and playing some games indoors. Ryan is home, which is a treat, and the kids are loving some extra Daddy-time.

This is the "before" picture of our front yard.

Love how the snow piles up on things.

The camo suits really kept the guys warm. Ryan actually got overheated during the snowball fight and retired inside for the morning.

Don't know if you can see Meredith's face, but she was not happy with taking pictures. She said it was too bright!

Babe was a little crazy still.  And Meredith is now in tears. The rest of us have smiles!

The solution -- SUNGLASSES!

Babe trying to escape from the photo shoot.

Sorry, but I just love the contrast in colors! And Babe is such a sweet dog.

Showing the snow depth.

Now this is my cheerful Meredith.

Backyard view

Meredith and our snowman

Will is loading up for his snow mountain.

Maggie's snow girl

And the "After" picture

Maggie warming up with some hot chocolate while Will and Meredith warm up in the bath.

Reading time

Here are a few other pictures of some of our winter activities:

Meredith in her tutu skirt from Jan Jan with her cozy princess slippers and her princesses from Disney World. She has LOVED playing with these all week.

Mama laid down on the couch for a short rest only to wake up and see this -- sound asleep.

Another little surprise outfit from Jan Jan. Meredith immediately changed clothes to wear it. 

This is Will's cheetah "Jason" that he bought at Disney World. He is fine in this picture, but the week before he had died -- from rabies.

Just some silliness.

And as part of our school curriculum, we are having photography lessons. This was Will's turn.

Maggie had to try several times, but we finally got one that wasn't blurred.

Maggie helped me cook some meat and onions for Santa Fe soup so that she could wear her new apron and chef's hat.