Homeschooling

I completely forgot to mention in my post last night - we are homeschooling this year! We have just completed our first week. We actually have a homeschool room in the new house and I love it. We have our maps up on the walls, a chalkboard painted next to a cork board (just waiting for hubby to trim it out...in all his spare time,) 4 bookshelves, and a "toy center" for Daniel. We also have a computer desk and we opted for a table instead of individual desks. The walls are painted and the floor is new. I can't wait for this space to be finished, but I am loving it already.

We are using My Father's World 'Exploring Countries and Cultures' curriculum for geography, science, history, music, and art. For math, Emelyn is doing Singapore, Abby - Horizons, and Liv is doing a whole mess of things :) In English, Emelyn is using ILL and Abby is using R&S. Liv is using MFW 1st grade. So far I am loving this curriculum.

I wasn't sure if I would like homeschooling - I already have trouble finding time in my day for everything that needs to be done - how was I going to add in hours of schooling? But it is working out well. I am enjoying learning right along with the girls (maybe even more :)). And the icing on the cake? Seen on the chalkboard the other day "Thank you Mama for teaching us. We love you." Awwwww.

Our only concern is friends for the girls, especially Emelyn. We have just moved to a new town and don't really know anyone yet. Although we aren't far from our old town (maybe 25 min), it's still too far to see people on a daily basis. In order to meet new people we have joined a co-op. We went Thursday and the girls had a great time. There are a lot of other activities for homeschoolers in the area as well --- bowling, rollerskating, gymnastics, park dates, field trips, etc. I'm sure we are going to meet lots of people in the next few months.

I'll try to post pictures when our room is finished. :)

And you can count on more posts since I finally got that overwhelming 3 mo update post over and done with! :)

We're still here...

Yes, I know I haven't posted in over 2 months. Sorry about that. Life got a little crazy here. And I lost my USB cord to transfer photos to my computer. I kept thinking I would unpack it at some point, but it is still gone. I found another one though. So even though I had planned to share a bunch of photos I just don't have to energy to!

We have had a busy summer (did I mention that?) There has been lots of working on the house and swimming in the pool. We've taken a couple of trips - well actually, the kids and I have. Garr has been working a lot - a whole lot. We went to Baltimore to visit friends and PA to visit family "Happy 88th Birthday Grandpa!" We went to VA Beach to visit Garr's mom and came home with lots of goodies for the house. We had a great time.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

The house is coming along, slowly but surely. The kitchen has had an entire facelift - painted walls, ceiling, cabinets, as well as new appliances, sink, faucet, countertop, and floor. I'm really enjoying the kitchen now. We had planned to buy all new cabinets, but couldn't (our septic has to be replaced.) So we repaineted them instead.

Before

After

Garr has been working SO hard. He was worn out after working in the kitchen and laid down on the floor to play with Rocky (our puppy.) You can see that he fell asleep there :)

We got the pool fixed and that has been so fun and relaxing for the whole family!

Before

After

And we got animals. lots of animals. It started with Emelyn wanting a bunny. So we went to the pet store and got her the cutest little lop-eared bunny, Honey. Then Abby wanted a kitten. So after the pet shop, we went to the SPCA and Abby picked out an adorable teeny tiny little kitten, Cami (named for our adorably teeny tiny little friend, Cami!) While at the SPCA, Garr just fell in love with a puppy, Rocky. A Brazillian Mastiff 75 lb 5 mo old puppy. yep. He drools too. a lot. So we brought our happy little extended family home. And then the next day my cell phone rings. Olivia won a coloring contest at the local library! Out of over 200 entries! Guess what her prize is? 2 Gerbils! Welcome to the zoo, Sarah and Cutie.




We finished the dining room floor this morning and I am in love. It looks beautiful. Now we just have to move our furniture down here! Sorry about the picture quality - it was the best I could do!

And last but not least, our puppy has been afraid to climb the stairs. He finally ventured up on his own today, but was too chicken to come back down on his own. I couldn't resist sharing these photos with you. He might be huge, but he is a little baby.

Garr carrying Rocky (our 7 mo old puppy) down the stairs

Now please excuse me while I scream. I cannot get the spacing to work on this post for anything. Sorry we'll both have to deal with it. :)