BASKETBALL!

As you can see from the pictures below, basketball season is also chatting season for Cora.  She is a champion chatter.  Love that cute girl! 

Yesterday was actually our first day of the soccer season, so I thought I better get one last post up for Cora's basketball season.  I finally got the videos onto my laptop, so here are a bunch for you to enjoy.  In the second to last game, Cora went on a roll and scored ten points, which was so fun to watch.  They tied the last game, which her friend Shannon was happy about "because then no one has to lose the last game."  Shannon did not receive the competitive genes that my children received, obviously.  For the last post-game snack, the girls received a treat.  The parents of one of the girls on the team own a frozen yogurt shop, and they invited everyone back to the shop to help themselves to frozen yogurt (like a Sweet Frog, where you add whatever toppings you'd like).  When we got there, I wanted to clarify things with the mom, so I asked her, "Cora will receive hers for free, but I will pay for my other children, correct?"  She said no, they were happy to include everyone.  What a sweet family and a fabulous treat for everyone!  They have a cozy sitting room upstairs in their shop with comfy couches, games for the kids like ping-pong, and a huge TV set up tuned to the sports channel - which was showing a gymnastics competition so Abigail was thrilled!  It was a great end to the season.  Cora really enjoyed playing this season because her team "gelled" well.  They seemed to enjoy each other's company, and they laughed a lot.  Certainly, the best thing about the season was getting to go to practice every Thursday with her good friend Shannon - she misses those Thursdays now!

And now here are the videos for you to enjoy.  Sadly, they are in not grouped properly OR in order.  I must be losing my Type A personality edge, because I did consider putting them in order and then rejected the idea.  If it doesn't make me twitch, I leave it alone. :)  It's a new life motto.  You can probably tell which games go together from the gym and the hairstyles on Cora anyway. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 More videos to come when Blogger decides to cooperate and upload more than one at a time.  I have issues with Blogger, if you haven't noticed before. :)

 

 

Education Post

I know that this blog's main purpose is to post pictures of the children, :)  but I wanted to put one post up on our educational pursuits so that I can look back and remember what we were working on through the years of our homeschooling journey.  We're about to enter our last unit for Tapestry of Grace this year, which means we're winding down our 2012-2013 school year! Yea! :)  We don't school year-round, but we do start back to our math lessons earlier in the summer so that the children don't forget everything they've learned and I don't have to spend three months reviewing.  I also like the freedom of being able to take off on some days during nicer weather in the spring and fall.  Anyway, for posterity's sake, here is an overview of what we worked on this year:

Shiloh - 8th grade (HIGH SCHOOL NEXT YEAR! :) )
Bible:  Polished Cornerstones (this is just for our "curriculum" - we also have our devotional time/memory work/catechism during breakfast) - she is also working on a Bible study through Venturing Crew
History/Geography:  Tapestry of Grace, Year One
Grammar:  Just review at this point with Daily Grams, but we do vocabulary work as well with Wordly Wise
Writing:  IEW - just finished up Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons, moving on to The Elegant Essay
Literature:  Tapestry of Grace selections, as well as focusing on The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid with Memoria Press materials - these have been excellent!
Math:  Saxon Algebra I
French: Memoria Press' First Start French II
Latin:  Latina Christiana I (this is our second trip through - we got to Latina Christiana II and it was too much, so we put a halt to it and came back to it, starting with Prima Latina again)
Music:  We are just finishing up one of the series of books written by Opal Wheeler - this one is on Schumann; we also studied Handel and Chopin this year; piano lessons
Logic:  The Fallacy Detective - we read it aloud and it's funny to see how much the others pick up on; I haven't gotten as far as I would have liked this year in this book, but we do plan to start The Art of Argument next; she also does a Building Thinking Skills workbook
Art:  We're about to embark on a more formal study of several artists, but we've studied Greek art and architecture this year with Tapestry of Grace
Science:  Life Science (BJU Press) course through a co-op, and we're also doing this Nature Journal study: http://www.amazon.com/Nature-Connection-Workbook-Families-Classrooms/dp/1603425314/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363052623&sr=1-4&keywords=nature+journal

Cora - 7th grade
Bible:  Polished Cornerstones
History/Geography: Tapestry of Grace, Year One
Grammar: Shurley English 7
Spelling (because Cora is my inventive speller): Spelling Workout G - after we finished The Phonetic Zoo
Writing: IEW - same as Shiloh
Literature: Tapestry of Grace selections, and she's become a prolific reader on her own - she usually finishes her work before anyone else during the day because she gets up earlier (and she's the most diligent :) ) so if she doesn't have anything else to do, she can be found in her bed reading
Math: Saxon Algebra 1/2
French: Memoria Press' First Start French I, and Easy French Reader: http://www.amazon.com/Easy-French-Reader-Roussy-Sales/dp/0071428488/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363052899&sr=1-1&keywords=easy+reader+french
Music: same
Pre-Logic: The Fallacy Detective, Building Thinking Skills
Art: same
Science: same co-op class with Shiloh

Abigail: 5th grade
Bible: Veritas Press - the Gospels
History/Geography: Tapestry of Grace, Year One
Grammar: Shurley English 5
Spelling: Spelling Workout E
Writing: IEW - a mix of Teaching Writing Structure and Style and Student Writing Intensive - B, in a co-op I'm teaching - this has been a great experience! 
Literature: Tapestry of Grace selections, plus she and Adah are working their way through a list I made for them
Math:  Saxon 65
French: Memoria Press' First Start French I, and Easy French Reader
Music: same
Art: same
Science:  We've worked our way through Machines and Motion, Inventions and Technology, and now we're starting The World of Plants just in time for spring with the Answers in Genesis curriculum

Adah: 4th grade
Bible: Veritas Press - the Gospels
History/Geography: Tapestry of Grace, Year One
Grammar: Shurley English 5
Spelling: Spelling Workout D
Writing: same as Abigail
Literature: same
Math: Saxon 54
Music: same
Art: same
Science: same

Jackson: 3rd grade
Bible: same
History/Geography: same
Grammar: Shurley English 3
Spelling: Spelling Workout C
Writing: same
Literature: same
Math: Saxon 54
Music: same
Art: same
Science: same

Nathaniel: 1st grade
Bible: We finished up Leading Little Ones to God and now we're just reading through the Bible together, slowly :)
Reading: Slide Down the Sky, several ABeka readers, McGuffey Eclectic Second Reader, numerous library books now that he's caught the reading bug - he's working on a kids' version of The Odyssey now since he's heard everyone else talk about it with history
Grammar: Rod and Staff English 2
Phonics: We finished up Modern Curriculum Press Phonics B and now we're about halfway through Phonics C
Math: Saxon 2
Music: same
Art: same

These are just the "spines" of what we've done - we've added in studies, library books, experiments, and extra projects when something has captured our interest.  Abigail's favorite things for free time are math and logic games on the computer, and Jackson likes to do a "Place the State" game on the computer as well.  I really limit those kinds of things, though.   I started a typing curriculum with Abigail (Shiloh and Cora are pretty proficient typers, but they could use a brush-up) but I decided her time would be better spent doing a summer intensive with it.  Oh!  We also do "P.E." on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  We're pretty hard-core with P.E. because I see so many benefits for them - their minds get a rest from working, they get the wiggles out (BOYS!), their bodies become healthier and stronger, they develop good habits of moving regularly (I hope!), they learn to be competitive in a supportive environment (okay, we're still working on toning DOWN the competitiveness!), and they get fresh air and sunshine.  Lately, they've been exercising inside with the treadmill, bicycle, jumpropes, and our version of circuit training which includes our weights and mini-tramp :).  I'll be glad when we can get outside again!  Exercising at the same time with them means I have accountability, too, and I like that.  My runs usually go longer, but they either play basketball or soccer outside while I continue my laps around and AROUND (my neighborhood is SMALL!).  If I decide to do sprints with Shiloh, I can pretty much guarantee that I'll be done for the rest of the day. :)   

Do all of these things happen like clockwork every hour in every day?  HA!  HA HA HA HA HA!  I laugh uncontrollably at that idea. :)  If I need to take an extra fifteen minutes to explain again how to divide fractions or how to graph a slope-intercept equation, or if we need to help a friend in need, or if we need extra time at the piano, or if we need to chuck all book-learning and head outside for a nature walk to improve someone's attitude (mine) then we do that. :)  It's the beauty of home education - along with fleece socks and a second cup of coffee at the kitchen table while Nathaniel reads out loud to me.  This journey has been a good one, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity. :)

(Remind me of this tomorrow when someone hasn't read his or her directions correctly for the third time, someone is whining about how many problems there are in the math lesson, and someone else is panicking about a Bible test (Abigail - who ALWAYS panics about Bible tests and has never gotten below a 95) - reminders are good in the trenches!)

Until next time-
The Chief Educator Extraordinaire

Blue and Gold

Two weekends ago was Jackson's annual Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts.  This is where we celebrate the Webelos earning their Arrows of Light and moving on or "crossing over" to Boy Scouts.  We also celebrate the various achievements of the other ranks of Cub Scouts.  Jackson earned 2 more silver arrow points (bringing him up to two gold arrow points and fourteen silver arrow points - he's been working hard!)  When the other moms and I saw our Bears going up there, we couldn't help but notice how much bigger our boys were than the Tigers (the brand-new Cub Scouts).  It seems like just yesterday that they were the Tigers!!  Jackson also earned the Religious Emblem and knot.  The outgoing Cubmaster gave us a "State of the Pack" address, and he mentioned that three years ago, our Pack only had 17 boys altogether.  Today, we have 53 boys, and we have 17 Tigers alone.   My husband's recruiting efforts are partially to thank for this. :)  Jackson's den began a revival in the Pack, and we look forward to seeing what this group of boys will bring to Scouting in a couple of years.  Daniel took over as the Cubmaster during Blue and Gold, and Jackson served on the Color Guard for the ceremony.  This summer, he'll be attending Webelos Camp - I can't believe it! 

 

 The theme for this year's banquet was "Ancient Greece,"  which was pretty cool since we're studying Ancient Greece right now for history!  Adah was the only one bold enough to dress up (everyone is encouraged to dress up, and the woman in charge of the whole banquet always looks wonderful - she was Athena this year with a stuffed owl on her shoulder!).  Shiloh designed her outfit for her, and I think she looked fabulous!  :)

 Jackson and some of his den mates receive the Religious Emblem. 

 Jackson is part of the Color Guard for the Webelos' Cross-over.

 Jackson is sneaking a look for me to take a picture!  Love that face.

 Adah didn't want to pose at the banquet for a picture, so Shiloh took pictures when we got home.  Doesn't she look Greek? :)  She received many compliments on her outfit at the banquet.

We love to support Jackson and Daniel at these events (and, hopefully, Nathaniel in the coming years once we get a handle on destructive behaviors and habits! :) ) and we look forward to many more.  Although the Boy Scouts are currently being assaulted for their stand to organize as they see fit (even though they're a private organization that accepts no government funds), our leadership in Greene County is committed to a quality program that focuses on giving boys opportunities for leadership, character development, outdoor exploration, and fun, and we are aiming for Eagle Scouts in the Houseworth household! :)   (Caveat - if they don't make Eagle, we'll still love them. :) ).With Daniel as Cubmaster of Pack 174, we're confident that our Pack will achieve great things. 

Next up:  Wrap-up of Basketball season IF ONLY BLOGGER WILL COOPERATE WITH ME.  Please, Blogger?

Aryanna

I received permission from my friend Kelly and, more importantly, from Aryanna to post this picture of Abigail and Aryanna from one of the hospital stays.  This was taken during Aryanna's second chemo round, and she was pretty tired of the hospital.  Abigail had just shaved her head and wanted to surprise Aryanna, so we headed to the hospital for a visit.  Adah had to stay down in the lobby with Shiloh because she had a cold, and she was sad to miss out on a visit with Aryanna so she made a video on our camera for Abigail to show her in her room. :) Being incredibly chatty and spunky, Abigail can't help but cheer people up, and I love to see how she can become a tonic to someone having a bad day.  Here are the cute girls:

 

And here is Abigail sporting one of the sparkly headbands and one of the fabulous pairs of earrings that my aunt got for her to wear while she's sporting her short 'do.  Abigail's pretty brave - for the first couple of days, she only went out with a hat on, but she just goes out au naturel now (well, she does wear clothes :) ). Aryanna was inspired to host a headband-making party, and now all three girls have some wonderful head accessories to use.  (There is a rumor that Abigail ate FIVE Little Debbie cakes at the headband-making party.  Wow.)  Aryanna just went through her third chemo treatment out of six, and we are looking forward to the end with her...I haven't mentioned too much about this dear family on the blog because Aryanna is a private kind of a person, but would you lift her and her family up in prayer with us?  She knows the Lord and she needs courage to face this battle!  We are in awe of her strength and calm on this hard road, and we are privileged to call her family our friends.  Aryanna has taught Abigail and Adah much about love, grace, perseverance, and friendship.

p.s. We think Abigail's hair is growing back much darker - more like Daniel's shade of dark brown.  It looks gorgeous with her blue eyes!

In Which I Turn 34...er...39

But 39 still counts as a trophy wife, since Daniel is 42. :)

Mostly this is a post to brag on my children and husband, because they are awesome.  Shiloh thought that Daniel would be able to take me out to breakfast yesterday because she knew he'd been put on furlough (see "sequestration" in the news and you'll understand) and she thought that meant that he wouldn't have to go to work until Congress solved the problem.  Ha!  Oh, the idealism of the young.

Anyway, when I told her the hard facts of life, they decided to bring me breakfast in bed.  I wish I'd taken a picture.  I had a bagel, yogurt, juice, coffee, and two chocolate chip cookies on my tray. (As well as a piece of gum? Not sure who put that in.)  I was told to let them know when I was finished with breakfast.  They rushed upstairs to accompany me out of my room, and I saw why...Adah and Abigail had decorated the hallway and stairwell to the nth degree, and it was fabulous (as only creations by Adah and Abigail can be).  When did they do this, you wonder?  Yes, I wondered the same thing, especially with the streamers hanging down from my door frame.  Then the Bobbsey Twins explained that they had gotten up at 1:00 in the morning to decorate.  It had taken them an HOUR, and they were extremely WORRIED because Calvin (our cat) was running around and making NOISE and they were sure it would WAKE ME UP (emphasis Abigail's).  What?!  You mean to tell me that you worked outside my bedroom door for an hour in the middle of the night hanging balloons, signs, and streamers, cutting things with scissors, using tape, with Calvin running around and we didn't wake up?
Nice job, ROSCOE P. COLTRANE, protecting us from potential danger!  Some hound you are.  You probably snored through the whole thing.







Understandably, Adah and Abigail were a little tired later in the day. :)  A contingent of us spent the day at the Highfills' house, and Shiloh came with us this time.  She usually stays home and holds down the homefront while some contingent goes to the Highfills', but Cora had some sniffles, so I left her home this time in charge.  Cora helped Jackson with math and history, and she also made bread for me.  Shiloh had worked ahead the night before on her schoolwork so that she could be of more help to me while we were there, and she ended up making a triple batch of banana bread for them and a pan of brownies.  She told me, "I just wanted to spend the day with you on your birthday."  I'm writing these words down in black and white so that I can look back one day if we ever have hard times to remember that she once liked me. :)  She was awesome.  She even taught their older son the card game "Casino," which is NOT a gambling game, whatever Abigail thinks.  (Also - don't mention poker or this new game called "Pit" - she will give you an earful.  Next thing you know she'll be decrying the dangers of drinking while Daniel and I are enjoying a glass of wine. :) )  Landsakes, I get long-winded.

 

Anyway, we got home a little later than I thought we would, but Daniel was patiently waiting to take me out for my birthday - INDIAN!  Malai kofta, butter chicken masala, veggie samosas, and naan - oh, life is good.  Before we left, though, Cora wanted me to follow her scavenger hunt clues.  I do this for the kids for them to find their birthday greeting in the morning.  Cora's clues were HARD.  When I got to the end, what did I find?  THREE SIX-PACKS OF RICE PUDDING.  You don't even know what to say, do you?  (except, how weird is she?)  I don't care for cake, I can take or leave cookies, ice cream is okay, pie is better, but RICE PUDDING?  I can't explain the longing I have for rice pudding.  Daniel knows this and bought me three six-packs so that if I DO share, I'll still have plenty left for me. :)  He also got me the BBC productions of Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion.  Yea for girls' nights!  Again, my big girls held down the fort while we went out to eat.  They served pancakes - Shiloh's specialty when she babysits. After our dinner, we wandered around Barnes and Noble so I could spend my gift card (thanks again, Babs!!! :) ) and then planned to get some treats at Starbucks, where Shiloh had gotten me a gift card and Cora told me a rumor that you get free coffee on your birthday.  We decided to go to the Starbucks closer to home, but on the way, we decided that we were too tired to stop.  How sad is that?  :)  In Daniel's defense, he had to get up early to go to some Boy Scout training event, and in my defense, I'm older and watching younger children takes it out of me.  But still...rice pudding, fleece pajamas, and a new book were calling me home.

 

And that, my friends, is how we do birthdays around here.  I am a VERY blessed woman.  For my kids and husband to serve me the way they did makes me feel very loved. I'm choosing to believe that Nathaniel's comment added to the sweetness of the day:

Nathaniel: "How old are you now, Mommy?"

Me: "I'm 39."

Nathaniel: "Wow - I thought you were a lot younger than that!"

I'm choosing to believe that he thinks I LOOK a lot younger and therefore he can't believe that I'm that old, not that he's surprised that I'm that old. :)

 

Off to our last basketball game today - I can't believe Cora's season is over!  More to come on that subject when I actually get some good pictures today.  I also have to use the thumb-drive to get the videos to load correctly from our desktop to my laptop - Carbonite doesn't seem to load them correctly for them to be able to play.  Technical stuff.  I just want stuff to do what I want it to do when I press the button - is that too much to ask?

 

Until next time...

(and go out and get some rice pudding - you won't regret it)



Venturing Crew - a new adventure

Shiloh is...ALWAYS reluctant to try new things.  However, she agreed to give Venturing a try.  Venturing is the co-ed arm of the Boy Scouts, and it focuses on high-adventure outings as well as community service.  We weren't entirely sure it would be a whole-hearted try since she doesn't like change or new things, but we figured we'd just see what happened and our real focus would be on Cora, who REALLY wants to join when she's old enough (you have to be 13 and have finished eighth grade, or 14).  To our surprise and delight, she came home from the first meeting VERY excited about this new adventure. A group for Venturing is called a Crew just like a group for Boy Scouts is called a Troop and for Cub Scouts, a Pack (you learn something new every day, right?) .She made an effort to get to know people, she enjoyed the ice-breakers, and she was looking forward to the Crew's first adventure - a SCUBA class at a local pool.  Here are a couple of pictures of the new Crew members of Crew 174 in Greene County (there's my handsome husband as the Crew Advisor).  

 

 They had a good turnout for the first meeting - 8 girls and 5 young men.  Since then, another young man has joined them.

 Here are some pictures from their second outing - snowboarding!  Shiloh said she spent a lot of time on the ground, but she still had a good time. :)  Daniel thinks the Crew Advisor (that would be he) should perhaps NOT do all of the activities that the (younger) Crew members do. :)  He was mightily sore for the next three days or so.  He also decided that perhaps his muscles might have liked skiing much better than snowboarding because they might have remembered skiing. :)

We're all looking forward to this new adventure and where it takes Shiloh (and, eventually, Cora).  We hope it opens a whole new world to them filled with new challenges, opportunities to fall on their faces (figuratively and literally with the snow boarding :) ) and then learn how to get back up, opportunities for service and leadership, and, of course, FUN with new friends. :)

And now finally...a birthday BOY

Our handsome boy, Nathaniel, turned seven yesterday!  SEVEN.  On his first birthday home, he looked like this:

And the rest of the kids looked like this:

And let me just pause right now to say...wah.  Time flies by way too fast, n'est-ce pas? :(

 

 And now look at this handsome, huge, TALL, long-legged boy!  Yikes.  He is definitely going to tower over Daniel and me someday...soon. :)

 

Nathaniel had a full day and a half of festivities for his birthday, because we had Oma here to celebrate! The night before his birthday, Oma took us out for dinner after we enjoyed ice-skating at our local rink.  He had chosen Red Robin for his dinner out, but one of his siblings (ahem...the petite dictator) got to him and convinced him that he really wanted to go to Hibachi Grill, so we ended up there (I think he really enjoyed it; I'm just not entirely sure he made the choice without fear of retribution :) ).  The next morning, we went to Dunkin Donuts, (after his siblings finished their math, which he didn't have to do, because the birthday kiddo gets the day off!) then we traveled to Target to spend gift cards and money burning holes in pockets, then we picked up McDonald's for lunch.  The girls had piano lessons and then everyone watched a movie while I "rested my eyes."  Cora and Adah also decorated the dining room for the birthday festivities (man, I never get tired of expounding on the joys of helpful older children!).  We had our birthday celebration as soon as Daniel got home from work because he and Shiloh had a Venturing Crew meeting later that night.  Nathaniel got to open his presents and then have his cake and ice cream - lemon cake and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (suspiciously, also Abigail's choice for her birthday if I remember correctly - hmmm)

Look at all those giant people!  My mom says that's what happens when you keep feeding them.

Nathaniel is contemplating his pile of presents in this picture:

Abigail handed out all the presents - basically she was in charge of the evening.  Nathaniel did a great job taking the time to read all the cards. :)

Cora snuggles with Oma. :)

I think Abigail was giving some instructions on how order is to be maintained at all times. 

We gave Nathaniel one of those V-tech kid's digital cameras, but of course we can't show him how to use it because we have no idea.  Enter Cora.  That girl can figure out anything electronic.  The rest of the kids don't even bother to ask me how to work stuff - they just go to Cora.

Shiloh and I snuggled in between the present-opening and cake-eating part of the evening.  Abigail told us it was okay.

This is not my greatest attempt at a cake.  I was trying to be humorous because Nathaniel was having a Transformers/Star Wars combined party.  Originally, I was going to put a Transformer on top of the cake and we were going to have Transformers decorations, but Wal-mart didn't have them.  (I know - Wal-mart didn't have them?  I was gobsmacked as well.)  ANYWAY, Nathaniel decided he could live with Star Wars decorations, but then Jackson was REALLY bothered by the fact that the Star Wars decorations didn't match because SOME of them were from the old movies, SOME of them were from the new movies, and SOME of them were from the Clone Wars. ?!?  Meanwhile, I decided to put "May the Force Be With You" on the cake, and Jackson offered the suggestion to continue to include the Transformer theme by adding, "Autobots, Roll Out."  Do any of you know of this saying?  I was not aware that Optimus Prime often says this when the good Transformers are going off to fight the bad guys (Megatron included) until I got the run-down of the show from Jackson AT LENGTH with MUCH DETAIL.  (They watch the Transformers Prime cartoon series on Netflix; they haven't seen the movies!!  I watched it once with them, and here's all you need to know:  fighting, fighting, fighting, going someplace else, fighting, fighting, fighting - it's a guy show)  Okay, let me sum up:  Cake boring; Nathaniel ate it anyway. :)

Don't you see the family resemblance?  Oh, they're growing up to be just like their daddy.  So proud.

I had to include this picture because it looks like Oma is trying to figure out what's hanging from the chandelier...

...and I don't blame her, because here's what IS hanging from the chandelier:

Jackson's Star Wars figures!  Some of them look a little uncomfortable. :) 

We ate our cake and ice cream BEFORE dinner! :)  The kids decided they preferred this method because then they were never too full to enjoy as much dessert as they wanted.   Nathaniel also asked for spaghetti for his birthday dinner (I'm pretty sure that decision was 100% his own) so we finished up our lovely evening with spaghetti, salad, and yummy bread made with the spent grain my neighbor uses to make his home brew. :)  It felt like a celebration all day long!  We are so thankful for our cheerful, thoughful, (he kept trying to share all his birthday goodies with everyone! :) ) snuggly, loveable, giggle box Nathaniel. I can look back at our hardest times with him and see how God has been faithful to bring us through and, we pray, make us stronger as a family because of it.  We can see the progress he has made, and we continue to pray for greater bonds among all of us.  We have great hope for him, and we are eager to see what the Lord will do in his life.  As always, I am thankful for the care and sacrifice of his first mom, and I never fail to think of her on his birthday.  She has given our family a great gift in our son, Nathaniel Erickson.  Happy Birthday, Nathaniel!  We love you!