Dear Readers,

I will be taking some time off...

mainly because I simply don't have time to hassle with Blogger & it's many faults.

I need to get our house in order.

I need to focus on school starting on Monday.

I need to get my family settled into our *new* normal.

Then... hopefully in a few weeks, I will look into Wordpress, and begin the switch over...

I LOVE this time of year and enjoy posting about the fresh starts of a new school year.
I hope to see you all again by September. =)

Blessings,
Sheri

Curriculum Outline for...

HISTORY:
American- 1800's

Our main focus will be on the Oregon Trail & the Civil War.

Read alouds, projects, & activities will be used from the library, Robinson Curriculum, a few resources from here
(http://www.hshighlights.com/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=37&ccSID=099cd4217a8b556a4db416c118a5f3a4)
and here
http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/Early19thCentury.htm

fyi- this doesn't sound lovely, but blogger sucks, which is why I am stuck with black plain font and can't hyper-link the sites I am sharing... I WILL be changing to wordpress oh.so.very.soon!! grrr... insert *fakey-smile* here, lol

SCIENCE:

1st quarter- Astronomy
2nd quarter- meteorology
3rd quarter- geology
4th quarter-biology

random resources that we will share in our Monthly Goals update.

LITERATURE Goals:

TJ- Swiss Family Robinson (RC)
Where The Red Fern Grows
Hans Brinker (RC)
Slave Dancer
Summer of the Monkeys
Grasshopper Summer

Katie- Dear America 1800's series
5 lil Peppers series (we tried to start last year) (RC)
Finish up the Little House on the Prairie series.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

McGuffey Readers,
Language Lesson from
http://www.cyncesplace.com/l-arts
& Daily Grams

MATH:

TJ- review Saxon 7/6, then move to Pre-algebra.
Still deciding if we want him to stay w/ Saxon or use Math-U-See.

Katie- finishing Arithmetic 3 (Abeka), then moves to Saxon 5/4.

FINE ARTS:

will share details in our monthly updates.
We will still focus on 1 artist, poet, & composer per month.

ELECTIVES:

TJ- woodworking, sandcastle art, welding, & basic mechanics.

Katie- Piano, sewing lessons, sandcastle art, & drawing.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:

Continue French, begin Spanish...

BIBLE:

New Testament studies.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

On a side note:

I will also begin to homeschool Savannah (aka "tutor")
Savannah is a girl whom I use to care for from when she was itty-bitty little til she began school.
(I also babysat for her younger siblings for many years)
Savannah struggles with sensory issues and is diagnosed with functioning Autism. She is going into 6th grade, but we are going to begin her homeschool journey at her learning level, establish routines, and help her to create social skills & boundaries. I will be sharing her journey as well in our Monthly Goals update.

On a 2nd side note:

Andrew is in transition from 'Learning w/ the Littles' status, to the bigger kids updates on l.i.f.e. Academy. For now, I will be sharing his goals & progress via L.I.F.E Discovery updates which is still geared towared the youngest, but thought I better re-phrase the title. I want Andrew to want to be big. ;^) At the same time, I will be doing some preschool activities 3 days a week with Bryson & his friend, Dustin.

hmmm, now if I could only pull my house together from the move weeks ago!
oh, btw, school starts Aug 01, yep 1 more week to get 'er dun! ;^)

First things first...

Nickolas is "18"!

Now a young man with a future to grasp and reality to face...

*pictured clockwise beginning w/ the back of blondies head~
Bryson 3
Andrew 6
Mikayla 9 (katie-girl)
Nick 18 ;^)
TJ 14
Joe(y) 22
Travis (friend)
Jenna (Fred's littlest sister)

Jenna made Nick cupcakes for his birthday. They are 3 1/2 months apart in age. Nick is older. *grin*

Nick had gone to the fair all day with friends, but we ended this night with our own version of STOMP (http://www.stomponline.com/show.php)


Dear Husband had to work on some rhythm skills with some of the children first. *smile*

Soon Joe joined in with another rhythm,

and Dad rapped it up with the best beat in town.

The Dad that can break dance is also the dad who has the skills with rhythm... Go Figure!

ON TO SUMMER TOPICS...


Our weather is cloudy with a chance of rain... every day! still.


Bryson needs to wash his "motorcycle".

So Sissy joined him.

Then the event was followed by a "tune-up" for the said motorcycle. This was some serious stuff. I am waiting for his front wheel to fall off...

And for those moments when it does begin to pour outside...



fyi... apparently this is a maze of "lazer beams".

It felt more like a spider web to me.
;^)













The transition has been slower going than I had hoped for, but we are bumping along, getting settled into our place. I suppose it doesn't help when we volunteer/go to VBS for double shifts (a.m. & p.m.) the second week we are back in town. *sheepish grin*

The littles are adapting well to the changes (house, schedules, routines, people, etc). The biggies are comfortably set. Katie, well, she's been a bit more off than I expected. I will be making a mommy/daughter date to clear up some expectations (from her and me). She's been needing a lot more nurturing and attention than usual.
so I whisper to myself
...slow down...embrace...communicate....

funny enough, I've been needing more nurturing and attention than usual, and dear husband is enduring it, but his time is divided amongst so many things right now that I really need to lower my expectations for this season of transition...it's just so much more easier said than done...
so I whisper to myself
...relax...pray...smile...


This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Complementing
a
Compromise.

I am not sure I have explained our exact living situation as of yet. I have been a bit vague due to waiting for the details ourselves.

Here are the facts:
All 6 of our children are living at home for a very special season. I will enjoy every.minute.of.it cuz soon enough two of my man-child's will be moving on... the oldest is taking a hiatus while preparing for bigger life plans, and son #2 is still in the throws of which way to head in life's many options after recently graduating.

Gramma "M" is moving in with us also. This would be my dear husbands mother. This is where the title of this post comes in. I downsized much when I packed out belongings 2 yrs ago. I do admit to probably an overabundance of books, but hey, I still have another 15 yrs of homeschooling to go. Gramma M has had a life time of treasures to collect over her blessed years. I knew downsizing was going to be more difficult for her. Every item she owns reflects a memory, or a quality, which makes it hard to let go. Can I say that she has been quite the trooper?! My husband (bless his heart) is a facts-n-logic man, so "things" in general have no purpose to him. He sees over 1/2 our belongings as non-essential (which is about right), thus not necessary... I, on the other hand, encourage that some "things" make our hearts smile, encourages a cozy home environment, and reflects a little about our personalities.
So dear Gramma M & I have been compromising our belongings.

We use
my dishes (hers are not children friendly, lol)
her pots & pans,
our furniture,
her TV's,
my tupperware,
her baking dishes...
(you get the idea).

So when it came to decorations, we once again compromised.

I love clocks *grin*
Here is just a simple lot unpacked.

She adores Hummels;
figurines, wall photos, music box.

I think when all is said & done,
these "things" will complement each other.

Just as being a family,
with different personalities,
quirks, interests, & gifts
complement the true meaning of our HOME.



So how big is our new home?

Well, after sharing living space in a small home with my parents (bless their hearts!), this house feels rather large, but really is of modest size.

Technically, it is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath home. but... it also has a huge bonus room, an office, and a "salon" aka formal dining room.

This is plenty abundant for us!

The big boys get the bonus room (man cave),
Katie has her own room,
Gramma M has her own room,
Fred & I share a room ;^D,
and the littles are floating a bit as of yet.
(See how honest I am *hee*)

We are using the formal dining room as a school room,
the downstairs closest stores all the busy toys,
and the littles use the little landing pad at the top of the stairs by our room as a mini-play area.

As for sleeping, the youngest 2 are in our room for now, quite frankly because they would be anyways, regardless of us choosing a room for them. There will be a futon available in sissy's room for them to sleep in, and also a bunkbed in the man cave... I really wasn't joking when I said that they were floating, eh? ;^)

Will share pictures of our home once we are completely unpacked...
our office is full, but effecient;
the family room is simple and spacious;
the garage, once cleared out from the sorting, will give us a work-out area;
and if I, personally, keep our individual items down to neccessity,
I will be able to use our rather large walk-in closet as a prayer room.
You know, a place set aside to spend with the Lord before each day begins.
I figure as busy as I am going to be, this will be a must to keep my priorities and sanity in check. *smile*

Discovering Treasures

in our new backyard.

We have found ...

lots & lots of STRAWBERRIES.

I'm dreaming of smoothies & strawberry shortcake. yummy!

Besides two strawberry patches, we also have....
an apple tree...

a cherry tree...

Grapes....








and a pear tree & apricot tree that I haven't taken pictures of yet.



Yes... we have 4 fruit trees, a grapevine, and 2 strawberry patches

in a teeny tiny backyard. *smile*

The move is going well. I have to say that we have spent the last week downsizing!! After living with very minimal material things for 2 years, it was quit the shock to adjust to all our stuff that has been in storage for these past 2 years. And to think I DID downsize when I had packed it all. oh my! I do have to remind myself we had lived in a decent sized home (back in the day)with LOTs of storage space.

This new home is beautiful & spacious too,
just less nooks & crannies to hide things in, thankfully.

Hope to share more soon, but I'm off for now to unpack some more boxes...