Starting School Tomorrow Morning

Wahoo!!  We start school tomorrow.  Drew graciously took the kids to visit his parents so I could gear up for our first day. I worked on checklists for each child earlier in the week, as well as who I will teach what, when =).  Today while sorting through and reading scopes and sequences of the various curricula we will be using I came across an article I printed off last spring when I wondered if Baruch's slow reading might be a bit more than just "boy brain".  After reading the article and watching some of the authors lead ins (and more) to buy her dvd's, I decided Baruch just has "boy brain".  I did come across this exercise video that I think will help all my learners utilize the amazing brains God has given them.  Hope to incorporate aspects of this into our morning routine!!

Bill's Baptism

Drew, Bill and Kari

Grandma Kari and Gabe

Mary E.

Scrabble partners

Abigail and Anna

Terry, Mary, Abi, Anna

Chloe, Beth, Jacob

Children and Chickens

A neighbor stopped down and asked if I would take a few pictures of the children and the chickens for her.  Here are a few of the pictures I took =)

It was a bad idea to let the kids take the goofy face picture first.

Because it was really hard to get a serious one after that.

Then, Baruch's chicken flew away.

And he got it again!

Then Jacob's flew away and he pretended he was posing for a senior picture.  He said "In pictures people can't smell you so you can pose like this!"

Best Buds with their Buffs!

The Three Little Pigs - Shakespearean Style

In March we watched this:

In May we did this:

Morning Happenings

Here is a taste of what was going on at approximately 8:30 this morning around the house.

Notice Mary is missing from the pictures.  She is at a friends house this morning, being a mom's helper!  I am so excited for her opportunity.  She will be helping with whatever needs doing in a house with an almost 7 year old boy and a very active 2 year old girl.  I have had many trips down memory lane this morning.  First when I was making muffins for breakfast I thought of a day long ago during my first visit to Iowa.  I came to meet my now husbands family.  This particular morning of my visit Drew came to pick me up and take me ring shopping.  We went to his Uncles jewelry store in Milwaukee and were leaving rather early so Kari (Drew's sister) sent homemade muffins and honey butter for our breakfast.  Sweet memories!  And now I am off to look at James chapter One! 

Here it is if you are interested =)

James 1

1James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.

2Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

7For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

8being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;

10and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

11For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

12Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

 14But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

15Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

16Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

17Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

18In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

19This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;

20for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

 21Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

24for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

25But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

26If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

27Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.