Resources—always available!

Each year I homeschool I am more delighted with how God provides everything we need! I'm not much help with high school math anymore, but Jamie is taking a Geometry class for homeschoolers, which meets after her vocal performance class *on the same day at the same place*. Wednesdays will be her day "off campus" (our home) and she will have guidance and input from other teachers who are passionate about their subjects. Fun for her, and a load off my mind! Anna gets to see her friends and do art, science and P.E. with a group of kids and adult leaders on alternate Fridays, and Joe will do his Physical Science labs with other kids on Mondays. We still love homeschooling (ask any of my kids), but that doesn't mean we must stay home all day every day. The whole community is our school!

Fall!?

It was HOT today! Jeff said it was 114 degrees—ugh. After church we went to a surprise birthday party for Jeff's friend Greg; it was held at Rose Canyon Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in Trabuco Canyon (about a 45-minute drive). The strangest thing happened: it felt like a sauna on the patio (where the party was held), but about 10 minutes before the guest of honor arrived, clouds covered us and the temperature dropped about 30 degrees. It was actually very pleasant for the whole party! It got hot again as we were leaving. Shelley (the hostess of the party and our friend) later told me that as they were getting ready to leave for the restaurant, she knew it would be a difficult time for many of the guests because of the heat, so she asked God, "Please change the weather!" Isn't He wonderful? I love it when He does things like that, just because we ask.

Back to our homeschool schedule on Tuesday! I look forward to the routine (and cooler weather) that autumn brings.

Tahoe!

In July I took the kids and two of their friends (Chris and Rachael Hiigel) to South Lake Tahoe (a 10-hour drive!) for a week at "Papa's" cabin (he was there, too). We had a blast! Playing tag in the woods, hiking down to the river to skip rocks (Rachael and Anna swam in it--brrr!), renting bikes to ride for about 3 hours down a beautiful trail along the lake (stopping for ice cream on the way back), playing miniature golf one evening.

Most evenings Chris and I played our guitars out on the front deck, then the kids soaked in the hot tub before coming in to watch a movie. The kids took turns helping with dinner and doing the dishes. Other than the mosquitos that loved Chris, it was a wonderful week. It smells so good there in the summer!

Winding Down the School Year

Joe, Anna and I went to Parents' Day at Jamie's Speech class yesterday; she gave 2 speeches as part of her final. She did a great job. She wants to major in Communications, and I'm sure she'll find her niche there. Today she has her last Biola Torrey class (Foundations of American Thought). I so appreciate these outside resources that make homeschooling richer. Joe is thinking he might like to take a science class with other kids next year, and maybe find a wood shop class or a carpentry apprenticeship. I'm looking for that now.

Right now Anna is teaching Joe how to play the flute! She has really improved in the few months since she started (she doesn't get dizzy and faint from the breathing anymore!) and she's a good and patient teacher.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was fun! After church (Anna and the kids worship team recited a poem, and I taught Sunday School 2nd hour) we came home and Jamie whipped up a scrumptious chicken broccoli casserole. Jeff prepared apples/celery and peanut butter to go with it, THEN we dove into warm-from-the-oven brownies with cream cheese frosting. Oh, my! After letting that settle for a few minutes, we went up to Brandy's park and played football! Well, not a real game, but we threw the ball around and played keep-away. It was a blast. I love to play ball in the park with my family!

National Day of Prayer

Yesterday the kids and I got up at 5:30 to go to a Prayer Breakfast commemorating the National Day of Prayer. It was a great time of praying together for our nation, our state, our city and our neighborhoods. Anna was a "Greeter", Joe was the photographer, and Jamie helped lead singing. I love how the kids are each learning about servant-leadership and have found ways to practice that concept. God always provides the resources we need, including opportunities to practice what He's teaching us!

We were so tired the rest of the day, I went easy on them with the academics. They did do a lesson of math, but mostly Jamie played the piano and spent a long time cleaning out and organizing her music notebook, and Joe and Anna played with our marble set (fitting chutes and tunnels together in different ways to make paths for marbles). Anna and I are reading "The Wheel on the School" together--what a sweet book! Joe often listens in...

Easter

What a beautiful day it was! (April 8 this year). Jamie was in a skit and had to be at church at 7:00 that morning. She performed in all three services—she did a great job. I taught my 4th grade girls Sunday School class, then we came home and the kids found their Easter baskets, then had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard (I guess you're never too old!). We prepared an early dinner. We decided to forego the traditional ham; Jeff barbequed salmon—yum! I added steamed asparagus and roasted red potatoes. I had made a strawberry trifle the night before. It was a simple but elegant meal, and we enjoyed Grandma's china and new candles. Jeff read the Biblical account of the resurrection of Jesus...then we watched the movie "Narnia." It was a great afternoon.

Music in the House

This is the end of our week off academics (spring break), but of course we keep learning and growing! A few minutes ago Joe was in my room playing the guitar, Anna was practicing the flute, and Jamie was editing and organizing songs from the Broadway musical "Annie" as she prepares for a rehearsal tomorrow. She's directing and producing the play with some homeschool friends and their siblings. Joe later looked up something in the encyclopedia, but got distracted reading about the Canadian military. I love that about encyclopedias—you never know where you'll end up! Now Anna is out back playing with her friend Rachael—they have their "pretending" gear and are in some other world. Jamie is playing the piano—it sounds beautiful.

Field Trip

This morning Jamie turned in a coupon (given to her last Easter) for a field trip today, so we went to the Discovery Science Museum in Santa Ana. Usually we love our time there, but today it was VERY crowded and some of the displays weren't working. We still had a pretty good time, especially playing virtual volleyball. Joe treated us to lunch at Taco Bell (on the premises), then we left. Joe and Anna got haircuts, and now we're just hanging out at home. Joe has a headache and Anna doesn't feel well (not accustomed to fast food, I guess!). Joe and I did play guitars for a few minutes—he's getting good at improvising! He's fun to jam with. Anna's reading on the couch.

Already?

The other day Anna (age 9) said, "I just feel like baking something." We often bake together, but that afternoon I was too tired to think about baking again, so she suggested that she mix up the dough herself, then call me (or Jamie) to supervise the actual baking. About an hour later, she came into my room bearing a pretty china plate with the most beautiful snickerdoodle on it! She did a fabulous job baking these cookies, from start to finish. Jamie was on hand downstairs to supervise, but she said Anna did it all. This is happening too fast! Anna's my baby, and she doesn't even need me anymore to help her bake! I'm sure we'll have lots more fun episodes together in the kitchen, but we have passed a milestone this week. I'm not sure I'm ready...

Singing Kids

Guess what? I went to the movies again. I had a date scheduled with Anna today, and she wanted to see "Arthur and the Invisibles." She invited Jamie to come along (an exception to our usual practice of "one-on-one" time). I didn't care much for the movie, but I enjoyed being with my girls. I ate too much popcorn!

This morning the girls and two of their friends (Chris and Rachael Hiigel) led the worship music for our Friday morning homeschool group. They did a great job! Jamie sang lead and played the keyboard (we borrowed it from Wesley Zuidema--thanks, Wesley!), Chris played guitar, and Rachael and Annie sang and did some great motions. Joe set up the sound board and ran the PowerPoint computer. Anna goes to three classes at "Friday School"--art, science, and P.E. It's a great program and helps to round out our homeschool experience.

Movies

Goodness—this has been a weekend of movies. Jamie and I went out to see "Happily Never After" and the next day Joe and I saw "Night at the Museum". I had "dates" scheduled with each of them, and that's what they chose to do. Jamie and I stopped for hamburgers at In 'n Out first (she paid)—yummy. This afternoon after church and lunch, it was raining and Jeff built a fire for us in the fireplace...we watched "The Winslow Boy" and ate popcorn. I do enjoy movies, but I think I'm ready for some real life for a couple of days. (Hope I don't regret saying that!)

Birthday!

Today is Mr. Bear's birthday! Since he's at work today, we'll celebrate with him tonight. I had scheduled a regular school day for the kids, but all three of them really, really wanted a "relaxed school day", so Anna turned in a coupon for that. (She'd saved it from Easter). They chose their own activities for the day: Jamie worked on a story she's writing, Anna traced and labeled a map of Europe, and Joe played a lot of guitar (and attended his writing class). They also played Monopoly and Nertz (a fast card game). Anna helped me bake a German Chocolate cake for Jeff's birthday party tonight.

A Spider and Two "A's"

Jamie got an A in her Speech class and an A in her Honors American Gov't/American Literature class! I'm proud of her. The American Gov't/Lit. class is very demanding--lots of term papers and lots of reading great literature from our founding fathers. She loves the discussions and takes part in them energetically. To celebrate I took her and Annie out to the movies today. We saw Charlotte's Web. Other than the fact that Fern was rather rude and disrespectful toward her parents throughout the story, it was a great movie. The animatronics were wonderful. Don't tell anyone, but I actually got teary when Charlotte died!

Car Stuff

Today I finally took the van in to get it checked—the "maintenance required" light has been on for almost three weeks. Turns out we needed new brakes and the usual check-up stuff. It's a rare day when I can get by without a car, but we did it for most of today. The guy there assured me it would be done by 3:00; Jamie had a piano lesson scheduled for 3:30. Sonia (the owner's wife and business partner) picked the kids and me up around 3:00 and took us back to the car shop. I quickly paid and we screeched in to the piano lesson 15 minutes late. Quick lesson today. Sonia is great. She's from Slovakia and is so personable and funny. I always enjoy our 10-minute rides together when my car is in her shop. She says she and Henry studied hard to pass the test to becomes American citizens (and many of her American friends didn't know the answers), but that it was very worth all the work and expense. She also says, "if I'm not willing to work to change something that bothers me in this country , I have no right to gripe about it." I think that's a great attitude. It was a gray and cloudy day, and after piano the kids and I wanted to do something fun, so we stopped at a little doughnut shop and each chose a doughnut! We never do that! It was a fun treat.

The Spy Game

Tonight Annie (age 9) and I put on jackets and went outside while Joe did the dishes and Jamie was playing the piano. It was dark outside; we were hoping to look at the stars, but it was cloudy so we didn't see any. The moon was fuzzy, though. Anyway, as we stood in the driveway, we heard some beautiful music—our next-door neighbor leads a southern gospel quartet and they were rehearsing at his house. We stood in the dark and listened to the exquisite harmonies for a few minutes. Then we impishly snuck up to the edge of our driveway and looked in his window to see the band. We felt like spies because no one knew we were there. I have such fun with Annie—we become all sorts of people in our imaginations!