A Little Break!

We took off of school last Friday to join the homeschoolers for bowling. The group has been meeting once a month for skating and once a month for bowling all year, but this is the first time we went to the bowling. We loved it! We decided that we would like to do that for a while instead of, or in addition to, the skating. Carter found out that it's not as easy to hit the pins in real life as it is on the Wii :)!

Afterwards, we had lunch at McDonalds and then went for a swim at the wellness center. It's such a relaxing two hours for me, and the kids love the big pool. I take the time to write in my journal, read, and just sit and watch. It's as good for me as it is for them!

We've been working twice as hard with school...trying to finish before testing in mid may. It isn't necessary for us to be finished before testing, but we would like it to signify the beginning of summer break for us. We are ready!!!

Journal Pages

The Respiratory System

Welcome Summer Fun

When I think of summer, I think of days spent outside listening to music and watching the house/yard fill up with kids. I think of the 4-wheeler loaded down with Madison and her friends and pizza delivered to the pool deck. When I think of summer, I think of days like today!

I started working in my flower beds and raking leaves first thing this morning and worked until nearly dark. It felt so good to be out working, sweating, and getting something accomplished outside. The phone started ringing early and continued until we had a yard full of company..just the way we like it! The kids decided that the "too cold water" was worth enduring for a good swim. Jeff brought home 500 lbs of new sand for our sandbox, and we ate pizza outside with the sun beating down on the chill bumps attempting to chase the chill off of the kids' wet skin. We didn't plan the day, but then again, that's when the best days seem to happen!!

Respiratory System

We've been studying the respiratory system this week as part of our study of the organs and systems of the body. Today, we made a model of a lung, including a working diaphragm! I had absolutely none of the right materials called for to make it, but was determined to come up with something! Here is the result.








The stretched out balloon on the small end of the bottle served as the diaphragm. When we pulled it out, the balloon(lung) on the inside of the bottle inflated. When we pushed the "diaphragm" in, the "lung" deflated.

It worked!!!

From Me To Them

One of the greatest things that I could give my children is the love of reading. I've never pushed it on them, though when they were in the school system they were quickly growing to hate it through AR(accelerated reading). I only lead them through my example and make the books available to them. It's so rewarding when one of them picks up a book on his/her own and reads it.

Yesterday at Target, I told them to each pick out a book that they would like to buy. It was as if we were in the toy department. They were so excited about their books that the lady checking us out picked up on it. She said that she had never seen children so excited about getting new books :). They didn't want to put them down when we got home, even after I told them that they could get in the pool if they wanted to. They were all lost in different worlds....worlds that only their books could take them. One of the most beautiful sights in the world to me is that of a child reading!

It's Hard To Say Goodbye!

As I pulled into the driveway one day last week, I had to slam on my brakes to avoid what first appeared to be a large rock. It was, in fact, a large turtle, well, large to us. I ran to the house to get the kids, who were all excited, but it was Carter's eyes that lit up the brightest. He was in love!! It wasn't long before I realized that letting it go wouldn't be as easy as walking away. The next thing I knew, the turtle was on our back deck, and Carter's eyes were full of tears that he was fighting back, as he struggled with watching it go. He convinced me to let him keep it for one night in a small aquarium. I worried and worried with how to help him let it go, then I got the idea to let his write his name and draw a picture of himself and the turtle on its shell. It's not so cruel, really :). It made Carter feel like it would always be his, and the turtle was no worse for it...he was just happy to be crawling away. So, if anyone out there ever happens upon a turtle with a very strange looking shell, well....just let it go. Carter will be waiting for it to find its way back home!

Defining Moments

There are defining moments in our lives that remain at the forefront of our minds no matter how many memories there are vying for space. They are moments when everything stops..stands still while we fly past only to crash into the windshield of reality, as we realize that life goes on in spite of the complete pain or happiness that has gripped us. In that one moment, we are changed forever.Tonight, as I beg God for sleep that refuses to come, I close my eyes tightly and strain to see around the defining moment that brought my life to a halt today. I can’t see past it now because it is too big, swollen from emotion and tears. I know that with the light of a new day there will be confirmation that everything will be okay. The rest of my life will appear on the edges of this moment, shining around it and radiating its beauty as objects on the horizon when the sun rises on a new day. However, that which keeps me awake tonight will always remain larger than the memories that surround it. It, along with all of the defining moments in my life, will always stand out as the chapter titles in a novel. All of the pages of words are essential to the life of a book, but as one flips through them, they are a blur as the eye gravitates to these defining chapter titles.They seem larger than life, but we must remember that they cannot stand alone. They are only explained and given purpose by the life that follows them.