A day in our Homeschool

Sorry its been so LONG since posting!  Hopefully we'll get back to updating more regularly!

So we did the homeschool thing, an equation
Seeds+Dirt+Water+Tools+Time+Sweat=Our garden :D

So we found about a dozen Sweet potatoes that were trying to grow in a plastic bag in our pantry......

We also found some pumpkin seeds in the garage, soooooo.....

 We cleared an area in our field and pulled out the grass (well, we tried to ;) sweated, then we dug some holes, and sweated some more, and then we put in the sweet potatoes and pumpkin seeds, covered them with soil, and watered them. Now, we see what happens!!!

Hiking the appalachian trail

While on our mission trip we were able to take a little side trip to visit some old friends who we used to live down the street from, they now live in Virginia. It was about the end of the fall colors we were so awed to see the beauty God has decorated this earth with! We we so blessed to catch up with them as well as get a hike in on the Appalachian trail.

Deb and I talking and walking

Steve with the baby snug as a bug!

Kids lead the way

signing into the log book

the whole crew yes its a full dozen with only 2 families!!!
THANKS Maynards for blessing us with wonderful fellowship, comfy beds (even welcoming late arrivals!) and yummy food! We are so thankful for good friends and look forward to someday worshiping the Lord together!!!

On the road again but this time on a MISSION

We are setting off on an adventure... its been our desire to do a family mission trip for a while now. And God has finally brought all the pieces together! We are heading off to serve a poor community by ministering to the people through varrious small projects we can do as a family.

We were able to spend some time on our way there marveling at God's amazing creativity! We stopped at this natural bridge.... It was a nice hike to stretch the legs a bit! This is the view from below, over 85 feet high sits a 65 foot rock bridge.

The amazing ~and scary~ part is you can walk right over top of it....

and sit on the edge!

(OK, just so you know there is a small ledge below the children I WOULD not let them sit right on the edge!!!)
This was back at the base, it was incredible to enjoy nature all around us and marvel again at how God has created all things for his glory. How far and wide is His love for us!
We are so blessed to have this opportunity to grow as a family while we serve the Lord. More updates soon!

"What does the Lord require of you?
To act justly,
to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8

A day in the life of a homeschool family

We are into our 11th year of educating at home! And I was one who said "I would NEVER homeschool...." Interesting the roads God brings us down! (It was mainly because I was worried my children would turn out like THIS:)

He enjoys doing this to annoy me but he's so cute :)

As we begin a new year of school thought we would share a bit about what we are learning. (well, I had hoped to get this up awhile ago we are starting week 9 in school ~ but here is the overview anyway!)

The middle 4 "Tutu, Ria, Bernie and Eugene" are enjoying traveling around the world! The curriculum we use for school is called Exploring Countries and Cultures and as we travel around the world we learn about the people, the places, the biomes and various other interesting things in each continent. oh almost forgot art and music too ~ call our home phone and you can hear HELLO in 10 different languages!

a world map made by Eugene

a nature notebooking day -- learning about deciduous and coniferous forests

We are also studying the book of Matthew, praying for people around the world with an amazing book Window on the World and reading missionary biographies which are very inspiring! Yes to all you teachers they all do the 3 R's too (Reading - love the library!, wRiting and aRithmetic for all you non-teachers:) )

The day they received their passports in the mail -
great timing as we were "traveling" to Mexico later that day!

The youngest learner in the bunch is learning to sign as well as say lots of words, "read" books (she LOVES looking at them!) play with toys and so much more!

Our oldest "Chuck" began high school at home this year (yeah its almost unbelievable!) he is using a program called Ancient History and Literature for Bible, History and English, Jacobs geometry and Exploring Creation with Chemistry, and German with Rosetta Stone. He is starting week 10 and he and his dad have a healthy competition staying ahead of one another in Taking the Old Testament Challenge daily bible reading! He is working on starting his own blog to share more thoughts with you -- we'll let you know when its live!

here he is doing some reading

Well that about sums up our school schedule -- add some extras like piano, violin, volleyball, soccer, lego robotics, chess club, and co-op and it makes for a busy schedule! (more posts on all those to come!!!)

Oh, the kids didn't want me to forget about home ec -- cleaning, laundry cooking and child care are all in our daily routine too!
So there is a glimpse into a day of our homeschool family ....
and if you haven't seen the homeschool family video by Tim Hawkins here it is ~ enjoy! (we have watched it tons of times and still laugh!)



Blessings
Amy Q

Rocky Mountain Splendor

Wow. That is an understatement, in trying to sum up how blessed we have been traveling around this great country God has made! To see the mountains erupt from farmlands and then come down from the tundra of the mountain tops to the sun scorched land in the south was truly incredible to witness God's creative hand all over this great land.
We traveled to Denver CO, the mile high city, while there we squeezed in a trip to the Denver Mint getting a tour of the only US government department that MAKES $ (ha ha) We also toured the capital building, including a tour of the dome (yes up there ~ see the tiny spiral staircase? no we didn't climb that but we were right next to it!) From there it's an amazing view of the mountains!
After the homeschool convention, we spent Father's day in Rocky Mtn national park.
This had been a lake higher up on the mtn which broke through and is now a river; amazing the power of water, the boulders it moved were HUGE!
Ahh the view is just spectacular ~ yes I was just a wee bit nervous ~don't worry there was more of a ledge beyond them :)
Even Chuck did pretty good being up so high As we climbed higher and higher we were so thankful for a vehicle that could transport all of us. The thought of being in a covered wagon and attempting to cross these mountains is about impossible!
We made it to the highest point 12,000 something and enjoyed the snow at the top :)
Yes, snowballs were thrown and no, I did not get hit since I stayed in the van on baby duty!
And the camera specialist went for a few more optical illusions:
Lean on the mountain.....Hang on for you life! as we began to descend many of us suffered from the usual altitude dizziness and headache however when we got down everyone was feeling fine, with the exception of mom :( Maybe it was being overwhelmed with gratitude for all the modern conveniences that we have, or the grasping of this incredible blessing our family has to do all this traveling in between working or maybe it was just a plain old case of altitude sickness but I was knocked out the whole ride back to Denver, moaning along the way and wishing we had a bed in the van! when we finally reached the hotel the kids enjoyed dinner and a movie in the hotel "living room" while I crashed in our room! Didn't wake up really until morning at which point I felt MUCH better!
Especially knowing the history of this song.... it seems very appropriate to close with it.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
(to see more verses click the link on the first line)

A Little Bit of History....

The lyrics to this beautiful song were written by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) an instructor at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, after an inspiring trip to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 1893.

H2O

1 John 5:6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.