First Quarter is done

Since I am actually keeping track of days of school this year (a first for me), I noted that September 27 was our 45th day of school, which means that was the last day of the first quarter of our school year. During the past three months we took 18 field trips and and read 17 chapter books. The two chapter books we just finished this week were Little Town on the Prairie and Caddie Woodlawn. The two we are in the midst of now are Nuts to You and The cat of Bubastes: A tale of ancient Egypt. What was really neat was that for our Bible lesson yesterday I read Genesis 37 and 39-41 (I skipped chapter 38 due to not thinking it is appropriate for young children) which was about Joseph and then later that day when we were reading The cat of Bubastes they also talked about the story of Joseph and why there were Israelites in Egypt. Perfect timing (and not intentional on my part)! Similarly, Nadia and Ian both happened to be studying the same concept (identifying coordinates on a grid) in math this week albeit Nadia was in chapter 5 of the 3rd grade textbook, and Ian was in chapter 11 of the 1st grade book. In light of them both working on that skill, I asked Paul to teach them how to play the game Battleship the other night since it uses coordinates. That is one nice thing about homeschooling. We can reinforce skills even

during game time at night. Nadia and Ian played the ancient Egyptian game of Senet (one was found in King Tut's tomb, for example) last night after Oliver went to bed.

I am pleased with the progress they are both making in piano lessons. Piano is going a lot more smoothly with Nadia this fall than it was a year ago. She is in Level 1B and Ian is in Level 1A. Given he has some fine motor issues (as demonstrated by his awkward pencil grip for example), I thought playing the piano might be very challenging for him, but actually he is doing just fine. He really enjoys it and asks me to work with him on it. I hope this enthusiasm lasts for a long time. 

In Bible we are reading through the Old Testament this year. We are getting near the end of Genesis. The next book we are going to read is Job. We are also studying Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. I also have picked a few composers to study along the way. Handel was the first one we studied. We also will be celebrating several Jewish festivals this year, but we haven't done any of those yet. 

I have never graded any of Nadia's work in the past, but since I am to submit a portfolio this year I thought I would grade things from time to time. I have only done so a couple of times thus far and just in science and math. This year I have started teaching Nadia English grammar, and she has been doing either typing or Spanish every day (which wasn't the case last year). Ian's school work typically takes about 2 hours to complete (sometimes as little as 90 minutes and the longest has been 2 1/2 hours). Nadia's school work takes at least 2 1/2 hours to complete. Ian's is usually done by the time we eat lunch (at 11:00). Nadia usually has a little bit more to complete after lunch. The two biggest factors in that are #1 what we are doing in math and #2 how many chapters she reads in her chapter book. Right now she is really enjoying the Boxcar Children books. In math when we were on the chapter on subtraction (up to four digits with regrouping), that took her quite a long time to complete. This latest chapter on geometry took her MUCH less time to complete, and thus she liked it a lot more. Generally she says that math is her least favorite subject, but she did like the geometry chapter. Ian loves to count (up to say 300), and she has no idea why he finds this to be fun as in her mind math is not fun.

I had been working diligently with Oliver on learning his letters, and now we have taken a little break. I need to get back in gear as he doesn't yet know all of the lowercase letters. I also need to teach him to identify all the digits from 0-9. I also want to start working on teaching him the sounds that each letter makes. He is doing really well with his scissor skills. He often asks to do some cutting while the others are doing their school work. He talks (to himself) nonstop while he's playing. It cracks me up when I get a chance to listen to him jabbering away while he's playing. I also want to teach him how to write his name. He can write "Ol" thus far.

In terms of the textbooks we're using, Nadia is working in the 4th grade text from Handwriting without Tears (cursive), finishing lesson 17 out of 27 of the 4th grade All About Spelling curriculum, in chapter 8 of ACSI's 3rd grade science book, and she just finished chapter 5 of ACSI's 3rd grade math book. Ian is working in the 2nd grade text from Handwriting without tears (manuscript), finishing lesson 13 out of 25 of the 2nd grade All About Spelling curriculum, finished chapter 3 of the 2nd grade

ACSI science text, and in chapter 11 of the 1st grade math book.

Ian has completed his ninth chapter book. He reads them aloud to me. At some point over the year I will transition him to reading silently, but I don't think it's quite the right time to do that yet. Nadia had read 40 chapter books from January through April, but her pace really dropped off the past five months as she only read 15 chapter books over that time span. Part of it was due to not being home as much, and part of it is because she keeps starting so many books and then switching to another one. I am trying to get her to just stick with one book at a time. The good news is that she does love to read! All throughout the day as I listen to Nadia and Ian I hear references back to books I have read them or we've listened to on CD in the van. Nadia's nickname for herself ever since she got her hair cut short has been "Opal" and that is in reference to the main character in the book Because of Winn Dixie.  The kids were very disappointed when I told them we had listened to the entire Little House on the Prairie series, and they already asked me if there are any more books about Caddie Woodlawn (there is a sequel). At some point I do want to switch to focusing more on the chapter books I chose that tie in with our social studies curriculum (like the Cat of Bubastes that we are reading now).

I have been working with Nadia and Ian on addition facts (using flashcards). They have both come a long way but haven't completely mastered them. When they do, they'll be allowed to watch the first Clone Wars movie of Star Wars. The next big thing Nadia will be working on in math will be starting to learn her multiplication tables. They don't give very much review of it in the textbook so I'll have to supplement. That means we will be taking a LONG time to complete chapter 6 of that textbook because I think they fly through it far too quickly.

As usual, art is getting the short end of the stick. They sing in a choir and take piano lessons for "music" and play on a soccer team and take a 90 minute gym class on Fridays for "P.E.". I must become more diligent in doing art with them. I think that since Friday we follow a different schedule due to having gym class from 10-11:30 that I will make a point of doing art with them every Friday. Hopefully that will cause it to happen more often than it has the last several weeks.

Upcoming field trips for the next 3 months will hopefully include: a pumpkin patch, Corning Glass Museum, Rockwell Art Museum, programs about Owls and white tail deer/archery at a state park, a few programs at the Children's Museum we belong to, Landis Valley Museum, Maryland Science Center, Port Discovery, a program about camouflage at Camp Susque,  seeing Samson at Sight & Sound, Underwater Bubble Show at Bucknell, Carnegie Science Museum, Duquense Incline, and the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. My dad plans to join us for the outings in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and grandparents might join us for Samson as well. Having grandparents and mommy for "field trip chaperones" is pretty special!

Thankful Thursday

1. We found some good bargains at some yard sales on Friday morning. One example would be a boxed set of Cul-de-Sac Kids books (6 paperback books) in like new condition for $1. I had bought Ian a boxed set (last one in the series) on Amazon a few months ago and paid a lot more than $1. These are great beginning chapter books. Nadia and Ian have enjoyed them, and I'm sure Oliver will as well some day.

2. My dad came up on Friday night! It was great to have almost two full days with Grandpa.

3. The coach gave Nadia a ride to her game on Saturday morning.

4. My dad, the kids, and I enjoyed our time at Knoebels on Saturday.

5. I'm thankful for the Stephen minister I can meet with each Monday afternoon while the kids play in the play land at church.

6. We walked to a playground yesterday. This used to be an almost daily occurrence, but it
doesn't happen very often these days. I appreciated the opportunity to walk 3 miles. Nadia and Ian rode their bikes, and I pushed Oliver in the stroller. The weather was really perfect the last two days.

7. Yesterday I switched our home insurance to the company where we've had our car insurance for many years, and we will save $400 a year!

8. One of my favorite times of day is around 7:00 am when Ian comes and snuggles with me in bed, and then we both join Oliver in his bed or Oliver joins us in my bed. Morning snuggles are a great way to start the day!

9. The kids started AWANA last week. Last night was their second night. Nadia is thrilled to be in T&T (grades 3-5). It's Ian's second year in Sparks, and Oliver's second (and last) year in in Cubbies. We have been working this last week to get back into the habit of working on Bible verses at meal times in addition to continuing to read chapter books. I'm very thankful that the Alliance church that is about 1.5 miles from our house offers this wonderful program for ages 3- 5th grade.

10. My dad made it safely to Tennessee on Monday, and he made it safely to Texas yesterday. It's quite the road trip!! He will be seeing Maurice in Austin today.

11. Nadia was baptized on Sunday and her three grandparents were there to witness it.

12. We had two Facetime chats with the Towfighis this week! We had a little chat with them on Sunday while my dad was here after we got home from church, and they called us on Tuesday while we were eating lunch. The plan is to try to connect on Tuesdays whenever possible. The kids love being able to chat with their cousins. Thankful for technology that makes it possible!

Maybe you're right that the water in the outdoor pool is too cold, Mommy!

Playing Spot It on the cruise back to Plymouth after watching whales

View of the Mayflower 2 from our cruise

Their favorite ride at Edaville. They rode this more than 10 times!

Pictures not practice

Today and tomorrow the soccer teams are having their pictures taken. Nadia's coach cancelled their practice tonight so the only reason we are going to the field today is for her team picture. I am not complaining because the three nights they have soccer practices it is a challenge to get all three kids to eat their dinner and have their soccer gear on by 5:00 so we can be at the field at 5:15. Nadia always eats quickly, but Ian almost never eats quickly, and Oliver can go either way. I often have to start feeding them at 3:45 to have any chance of being ready at 5:00. Only  having pictures today meant we didn't need to leave the house until 6:00. That was wonderful. In the past I have purchased one thing when the kids have had team pictures for basketball or soccer (an 8x10 that included both a team photo and an individual photo). Considering buying one for each child would have come to $45 total, I opted not to buy any soccer photos this fall. Since Paul is making less money we need to trim our budget by thousands of dollars, and little things like this add up over the course of a year.

Last Monday I met with a woman from church who is a part of the Stephen Ministry. Earlier in the year I had a few counseling sessions via Skype. I was looking for help with processing the changes for our family in light of Paul's decisions. I didn't want to have to pay for a babysitter plus pay for the appointment so I opted for counseling via Skype, but it was challenging to keep the kids occupied and out of my room while I was talking with the counselor, and in light of the serious tightening of our finances due to the career change, I also felt like we couldn't afford too many sessions. So a few weeks ago I asked to be assigned a Stephen minister at church. They are not counselors, but still I thought it might be helpful in working through these changes plus also the grief of losing my mom. Last week one of her suggestions was to make a journal to record my memories of my mom plus the kids' memories of her. I really liked this idea because I am assuming in time Oliver won't have any memories of her, and I am afraid even Nadia and Ian might not have many memories because of how young they are. So I want to record their memories now before they are forgotten and hopefully in the decades to come this journal will be a way to keep the memories alive. I ordered one from Shutterfly last Monday with 3 pictures on the front cover and it also says "We love Grandma Harton" on it. It came in the mail on Saturday, but I forgot to get the mail that day so we got it this morning, and I already started writing in it. We are meeting at the Well at church on Monday afternoons, which means the kids get to play in the playland for an hour, and I get the chance to have an hour to talk with a compassionate, godly woman, and it doesn't cost any money.

The weather really changed a few days ago, and now it feels like fall instead of summer, which actually means the weather changed right when it officially became Autumn. On Friday I started the process of bringing out some fall/winter clothes for Nadia and also taking away some of the summer clothes, which also means figuring out what to save for next summer and what to give away because they will be too small next year. Today I did the same with Oliver and Ian, which in Ian's case meant trying on a lot of things because he's harder to predict sizes than the other two. At this time of year I always wish their dressers were a little bigger because it's hard to make room for both seasons of clothing. It will get easier once I completely remove all the shorts and short sleeve shirts, but it's too soon to do that. It always cracks me up how the same temperature (ex. 60 degrees) feels *freezing* when you've just been experiencing summer weather but then in the spring that same temperature feels downright balmy when you've just been experiencing winter weather. All that to say, even though I was wearing a light jacket this evening at the soccer field, I felt like I was freezing. One nice thing about when the temperatures are this range is that we don't need to use the air conditioning or the furnace which is nice financially. Expect a mishmash of continued mishmash of pictures this week as I am trying to get caught up from pics I hadn't yet edited over the past two weeks. In this post five pictures are from our field trip to Hershey last week, one is from miniature golfing in MA, and one is of Nadia's soccer team.

Yesterday morning we wanted Oliver to see Nadia's baptism. He normally is in Sunday School during the first service and the kids' choir during the second service. He's never sat in a worship service before. When it was about time for the sermon to start I asked him if he wanted to go to his classroom or stay for the sermon. He opted for the sermon (although he of course didn't really know what that was but I think he was influenced by the fact he was sitting in between his Pop Pop and Grandpa). Very soon into the sermon he changed his mind and told me he wanted his class not the sermon, but "where's my cake?". He had been listening earlier in the service when they mentioned there was cake for everyone in the foyer to celebrate one of the pastors being ordained that evening. Grandpa and I got the kids each a piece of cake to eat after our Sunday school class was over (and their kids' choir rehearsal was over). The kids' choir came down to watch the baptisms during the second service so my three kids saw all eleven baptisms on Sunday morning. Hopefully some day Ian and Oliver will also be baptized. I never mentioned it with Nadia. I waited until she brought it up totally on her own initiative. The first and far more important step for Oliver will be to become a Christian. He's pretty clueless right now so I don't expect it to happen in the near future, but hopefully some day he will also have a spiritual birthday.

Weekend with Grandpa

My dad spent 46.5 hours with us this weekend. He arrived on Friday night. Due to a flat tire Paul didn't come home on Friday night. Saturday morning my dad and I watched Ian's second U8 game and Oliver's first ever soccer game. All three games were at 9:00, and Nadia's was at a field VERY far away. Thankfully she was able to ride with her coach. All three kids are the weak links on their teams. It's not surprising for Nadia and Oliver considering he's brand new and only just turned four), but it is disappointing as Ian did really well the last season. Oliver played 3 on 3 for 3 of the 4 quarters. At U8 games they play 5 on 5 with three being on offense and two on defense. Ian sat on the bench for two quarters, played offense for one, and played fullback for the other. It was his second U8 game. The other game he played offense once and half-back once. Nadia's team won big time (14-3), and her friend Claire scored 7 of the goals. Nadia was one of two girls on the team who didn't score any goals. They have a goalie (which isn't true for U6 or U8). Nadia played offense one quarter and defense in two quarters.

Each team has seven players (including the goalie) on the field. Next week I won't see Oliver's game but will see Ian and Nadia's games. I am trying to rotate myself evenly between their games.

After we picked Nadia up from the meeting place, my dad and I drove the kids to Knoebels. I had picked that day because they were having a buy one get one free special. Sometimes we split up and other times all five of us were together. My dad and the kids had hand stamps, and I used some ride tickets we had purchased another year. Nadia rode several rides for the first time -ones she is finally tall enough to ride but didn't have time to ride when we went to the park in April. One of those included the Impulse. She rode it first with Grandpa and then later with me. It was the first time any of us had ridden that roller coaster. Usually we get one large pizza for dinner at Knoebels and eat a packed lunch. Yesterday we did eat a packed lunch, but we didn't get pizza so we paid more for our dinner than usual, but considering Grandpa graciously paid for the kids' hand stamps, it was not an expensive outing for us at all. The weather was nice although if it had been a little warmer we would have done the Skloosh. Grandpa did the flume with Nadia and Ian once, and I did the flume with Ian and Oliver once and with just Oliver a second time (because he begged me to do it again). After eight hours in the park we were all tuckered out. The boys all slept during at least part of the ride home. Nadia and I were the only ones who stayed awake until we got home a little after 9:00 pm.

This weekend was the annual yard sale weekend for our town. We did do some yard sale shopping on Friday before and after gym class, but I didn't do any on Saturday. Time with Grandpa was far more important. I did get a few items on Friday that I was hoping to find such as snow boots for Nadia and two booster seats for Paul's car.

The reason my Dad came up this weekend was because of Nadia's baptism. There were 11 children and teenagers baptized this morning, which is very different from the baptisms I have witnessed at this church over the past two years. They have baptisms every other month, and almost all the people I have seen baptized there have been adults. I wish I could show a video, but Paul experienced a technological glitch. I will be able to share in the future the video they made last Sunday which they showed the congregation right before she was baptized. I am just waiting for them to post it on the church's website. I did take some photos though (see below) of this momentous occasion. I still remember being baptized when I was about her age in Texas. I'm very thankful that Paul's parents and my dad were able to be there to witness this special event. I wish my mom could have been there also. My dad had a smooth trip home. He had toyed with staying until the end of the Steelers game today, but in light of how badly they played today, I am glad he left at 5:00. He is going to be driving to Tennessee tomorrow so I'm glad he got home at 8:30 pm.

I had gotten the DVD of "God's Not Dead 2" from the library last Monday so that I could watch it with my dad on Friday or Saturday night, but we didn't end up having time to watch it with him. Paul and I did watch it this evening, and I give it two thumbs up!

Thankful Thursday

1. We had a wonderful whale cruise last Friday. It was a delight to see about 15 different whales (three different types of whales).

2. We had a safe trip home on Saturday night and enjoyed two museums on the way - one in Rhode Island and one in Connecticut. I am so thankful for the ASTC membership (which cost a whopping $40).

3. All three kids were in Soul Patrol for the first time on Sunday. I am so glad they can sing in a choir all year long (Sept-May at our church and May-August at a church closer to our house).

4. I was happy to go to choir rehearsal last night. I have missed it! I can't wait to listen to the CD's to hear all the anthems we will be singing this year. The music pastor picks a wide variety of styles of music, which means I usually am not crazy about a few of them, like a lot of them, and love some of them. Scanning the list I did see one that is one of my top five favorites of choir anthems I have song over the past 30 years - "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name" which actually the choir sang at my mom's funeral. I am thrilled we will be singing that oldie but goody.

5. Both of our football teams won on Sunday which means we're both starting out the season 2-0.  Yay! Since both of our games were on at 1:00 I deferred to Paul and let him watch his game (we only have one tv).

6. I'm thankful Paul was able to go to the doctor last night and get the antibiotics he needs to get over his strep throat. I had scarlet fever once as a child from strep throat so I know it's not good to let that go untreated. He also is feeling somewhat better this evening, which means he'll be going to work tomorrow. Over a period of 21 hours he slept for 19 of those hours.

7. Although I would have been able to spend a lot less if I had a free shipping code, I placed my first big order (in 6 months) on Shutterfly on Monday night. My total would have been over $400, but after using a bunch of coupon codes I got it down to $50. I was doing Christmas shopping for several people. I am very thankful for Shutterfly and all the coupons they give out. The canvas I ordered already came today, and I love it! I got that one totally free thanks to My Coke Rewards.

8. I was able to watch all of Ian's first U8 soccer game on Monday night. Oliver and I cheered him on in Milton while Nadia was at her practice on our home field. I dropped her off and then took Ian to his game.

9. On Sunday I started working on lining up rides for the kids to soccer games over the next 6 weeks, and I found all the rides I needed by Tuesday night. Now I just need to trade the time of one of my three snack shack duties, and I will be done with making arrangements. It's rather tricky considering I have three kids playing soccer and Paul works on Saturdays. None of the weeks are all three games on the same field. Every week they are on either 2 or 3 different locations. Sometimes all three games are at the same exact time such as this Saturday all at 9:00. I worked out a schedule so I would see about 1/2 of each child's games. I am thankful that others are willing to give my children rides and help me out in this way.

10. We were able to connect with the Towfighis by FaceTime on Tuesday. It was the first time we had talked in a month. I am thankful for technology that makes it possible!

11. I really enjoyed my Bible study on Tuesday night. We spent an hour discussing the homework lessons, and then we watched a dvd for an hour (Kay Arthur) on Hosea chapters 1-3. They just started offering Precepts Bible studies at our church a year ago, and without any advertising aside from word of mouth, it has grown to about 75 people being in studies this fall. Some of the people are doing all three studies (they are offering a different study on three different nights). They are going to start advertising in the future. I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate.

12. We had a wonderful field trip yesterday in Hershey (it was Homeschool Day at the museum), and we were able to do a little shopping on the way home at stores I don't get to very often (Aldi's, my favorite bread outlet, and a huge thrift store). The thrift store always has most everything 50% off on Wednesdays, which made it perfect timing. I bought mostly shoes and books for the kids (a lot of soccer cleats).

13. The older kids at church (which did include Nadia) were given life journals. It has a page every day for recording certain things about what you read in the Bible that day (observation, application, prayer, etc.). Nadia is very excited to start using this. I hope she will develop the habit of daily time in the Word!

14. The kids usually don't get up before 7:00. This wasn't true on vacation, but aside from Sunday morning when Oliver got up at 5:40 am (way too early!), I can often sleep until 7:00, which is the reason I have been staying up later than I have most of my life. My body is still programmed to wake up at 6:00, but most of the time I am able to go back to sleep.

15. The grass didn't grow much while we were on vacation, which was a blessing as I mowed the lawn several days before we left, and I usually mow once a week. I mowed today which meant I had definitely gone longer than usual without mowing. I ran two miles during the soccer practice in addition to mowing. I'm very grateful for the exercise.

16. When Paul emerged from the bedroom to eat breakfast (and then promptly went back to bed for another 4 hours), I took advantage of this and took my shower because on Tuesday while I was showering Oliver decided to color on a wall and a door. Lovely. That child is continually doing things his siblings have never done before. This too shall pass, right? Anyhow it was nice that he had adult supervision during my shower today (a very rare phenomenon).

17. Nadia ate her potato soup without any issues last night. This is major progress. Ian took a very long time, but he did finish it last night (whereas often he doesn't finish it until the next day). Of course Oliver asked for seconds. He loves soup!