Really.....a Month?

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last. Seems I have fallen so far behind in so many things. I am afraid this post will be just like the one on our family blog. A little of this and a little of that. :-)

First up is Little E. I don't have anything structured for him. He is hard to keep in one place. :-) But he does love to color. One of his favorite things are knights. He usually says, "Mama...I want a knight paper." He likes to cut them out and give them to different people in the family.

Now why would I have a picture of a self-inking stamp? This thing has been a lifesaver! I wish I would have known about it sooner. No......really! I am serious. I am not always good at getting papers put in their place right away and they easily get mixed up. By stamping the children's papers as they finish allows me to put them in order more easily. I sort them by subject and then date. It is so much easier to file things away. I know I could just put them in their proper place every day, but we all know that won't happen. :-) So this stamper is my new school love.

Daily Sweet E hands in her school work with a picture at the bottom just for me. She is so sweet, but sometimes I wish she would just do her work. But I know that one day she won't doodle a picture just for me on her schoolwork. :-( So I will enjoy it for now.

Something I love about homeschooling.......It doesn't have to be in the home! WE frequently go outside and on little field trips. Special K joins in as well. They even sit in trees to do their work sometimes.

The week that we talked about Pocahontas and Squanto we also talked about the different types of homes different tribes lived in. The children made wigwams and tepees.

One warm Friday we packed up our nature notebooks, colored pencils and some water bottles and walked to the river. They had some new scenery to draw in their notebooks and then they got to explore the area afterward. Who wouldn't love having school outside on a rock island in the river?

Whoops!

I even have a video of their first memory verse for the year.

Hiking and Letterboxing

Our family has enjoyed letterboxing a lot. It teaches the children to follow directions and we get some P.E. in at the same time. We went hiking over the 4th of July weekend and I think, as a family, we hiked 6 miles total. Little E did a great job keeping up with his little legs. I think walking NY and Brooklyn helped him prepare for hiking. LOL We went up to Mohican and I think we found 4 stamps in one day. It was great to have time with the family and have a picnic lunch. We started out at the Nature Center in the campground.

Special K had the best view of all

I just want to say....this thing is a whole lot bigger than you think it is. I can remember climbing the fire tower in Jackson County Indiana all the time as a kid. So I thought, "No problem. I can climb this in a jiffy." NOT TRUE! I think I only made it up to the second platform and called it quits. Beloved said that having children changes you. He is right. My self-preservation instinct has been kicked into high gear! Big T was so upset we didn't go all the way to the top. He wasn't scared of anything.

The first hike we did was very pleasant. We walked about 2+ miles and it was all along the river. It was so quiet. I forgot how quiet it can be. I loved it! The children were sitting here watching the fish in the river.

After the first hike we had our lunch and the children wanted to walk across the covered bridge.

Two of my favorite people

This little girl is so stinkin' cute!

Then of course we had to make a stop at the swings. Special K loved sitting on my lap while swinging. She would get so made at me when I would stop. But I tell you what....those swings are not made for plump bottoms! LOL

After the swings we went over to Pleasant Hill Dam and hiked another 4 miles. I was so tired! But it was a good tired. The children can not wait to do it all over again! Hope everyone is having a great summer! We are starting a light load of school work next week (hopefully).

Nature Day and Memorizatioin

Beloved's work hosted a nature day at Camp Falling Rock. I have a lot of respect for the parents who take their Boys to Boy Scout camp there. It takes a lot out of you. We hiked for probably about 1+ hour around the trails and I had enough. The outdoor amphitheater was beautiful. Too bad our camera really doesn't work so I could get a picture. But anyway...since they hosted a Nature Day we decided to take advantage of it as a field trip. The children were able to make their own trail mix, roast a hot dog, and get some s'mores! Yummy! Here is a picture of the three eating their s'mores. But Little E disassembled his shortly after this picture and just ate the chocolate. LOL

Someone even snapped a picture of our family. I thought it turned out pretty well actually. :-)

We took along some of our school work. Last week we started a book of bark rubbings from trees. The children would take a piece of paper up to a tree and use a crayon to get the rubbing. We would then trace the leaf from the same tree on the paper. We had 3 done before we got to the campgrounds and I think we did at least three more. The children had fun seeing the differences between the trees. Too bad my camera won't turn on to get a picture of their books yet though.

It's been yet another busy week trying to get school work and housework done this week. It doesn't feel like I am getting anywhere, but I know I am...little by little. Speaking of...I need to get to work, but I wanted to share the latest video of the children's Bible memorization. Sweet E is sure to give you a laugh. :-)