Project 365: Week 35

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Poppy had dinner and spent the night with us tonight. He had an early flight to Virginia to catch Monday morning. Say hi to Uncle M., Aunt W., and Baby Ezra for us, Poppy!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Exploring roto-copters for school today.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Now THAT'S a cute kitchen helper!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Have you ever had to condition a chalkboard? Yuck.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

This is right after dinner. You know. When everyone in the neighborhood is home to see us let our kids run around in their skivvies.

Friday, August 27, 2010

I woke up at 4:15 this morning. (You read that right.) And went to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Women of Faith Conference. The ladies at my former church were so thoughtful to invite me to go along with their group. It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends, meet some new ones, and learn a lot in the process!

One thing I noticed is that Downtown Tulsa has a lot of interesting architecture. Not that this is necessarily a picture of it! This is the Bok Center (aka "Gigantic Frigidaire") where the conference was held. It looks a bit too much like a space station to me. And, in its evilness, forces people to wear sweaters and parkas (okay, maybe not parkas) in August! (Do I complain a lot about extreme temperatures to y'all?)

Mary Mary was the featured music group today. I'd never heard of them before, except for the song "Shackles (Praise You)" which I really like. In general, though, they are definitely not my musical cup-of-tea, but they certainly have a lot of "swagga." (According to the urban dictionary, that means "How you present yourself to the world.") Anyhoo...

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Here's our group on the second day of the conference. As you can see, we're such a cool bunch that Sheila Walsh herself decided to get in the picture with us! Who can blame her, really?

And then...Natalie Grant. Oh, yes ma'am.

One of my favorite Christian musicians (if only for her sheer level of talent) performed. With. bronchitis! (The day before this she had NO voice.) Wow. Let me tell you, she has about the most amazing set of pipes on the face of the planet! I was floored with how great she sounded while sick. Girl can sAng!

Those of you who don't know, Sara and her pastor hubby came to our old church about five to seven months (maybe a year?) AFTER Paul and I had left to find a better fit for our family. Because some of her new friends were also some of mine, I happened upon Sara's blog through a mutual friend on Facebook. Of course, I liked what I read there. And we've been blogging together (is that what you call it?) ever since. 

I so enjoyed getting to know Sara better. It was the first time we'd actually been able to hang out! And FYI she's really good at the game Two Truths and a Lie. I...sadly...am not. 

Sara's Project 365 can be found here. What have the rest of you guys been up to? 

Project 365: Week 34

Sunday, August 14, 2010

Easy-going dinner with friends. Friends who just so happen to have a sweet baby girl. Aww...

It was a night of babies...

...and battle axes.  (Huh?!)

Oh, for the love of baby snuggles!!!!! You better believe I got in on that action, too!

Monday, August 15, 2010

First day of workboxes. My friend Julie called me last week to tell me she had tried workboxes with her son. Her son who, let's just say, has a LOT in common with my own. She was raving about them. Here's how dense I am. I had read about workboxes here almost a year ago, but because this particular blogger did them with actual BOXES placed on the hutch of a desk (or a bookshelf), I dismissed the idea due to lack of space for that sort of thing. My friend, however, purchased a scrapbook organizing cart with 10 drawers. And made those the workboxes. (Duh.) The idea is the child has to complete the activity in the first drawer before moving to the next drawer. When all have been completed in sequence, he/she is finished with school for the day. With the exception of a few minor distraction and discipline issues this week, these may be just what the mommy needed doctor ordered! 

Tuesday, August 16, 2010

A little geometry.

Wednesday, August 17, 2010

So thankful for this sign on a day when we roll up a couple of minutes past our appointment time and, of course, can't find a parking place.

Is that building not the weirdest looking thing you ever saw in your whole life????!! I am constantly perplexed by it. I mean, what genius thought that looked good?

Thursday, August 18, 2010

We took student portraits today for fun. Had to take them on the back patio during a downpour! Yeah, that was interesting.

Friday, August 19, 2010

Folding towels and washcloths.

Saturday, August 20, 2010

More peaches (and watermelon and okra...), please.

 

It's still HOT here. Just in case you were wondering. Let me tell you something: rainy days are bless-ed things. Bless-ed. *sigh* Is it starting to cool down in other places? School starting up? I'll be checking in with Sara's crew to find out!

The Students in Our Home

The new school year has officially begun for most students. But we Davidsons are always doing school. Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am that our little "students" don't have to go off to spend their days with other people? Not that there's anything wrong with other people, per se. It's just that...these "students" of mine are always here--surrounding me, keeping me company, letting me watch them grow with each and every moment. I don't miss a thing. I don't have to be away from them all day long and then have to squeeze in time with them in what's left of the day to try to get to know them. I am so grateful. These are our student portraits.

Noah Paul

Age 8, Third-Grader

Intelligent, Inquisitive, Energetic, Ring-Leader, Always Gets the Joke, Amazing Reader, Teenager Trapped in Little Boy Body, Often the Unwilling Participant--But Beginning to Show Signs of Maturity

Saylor Kathryn

Age 5, Kindergartener

Gorgeous, Musical, Girly, Giggly, Imaginative, Mommy Wanna-Be, Often Begging for Schoolwork--But Limited Attention Span Too Often Prevails

Gabriel Isaiah

Age 3, Preschooler

Quiet, Mischievous, Sweet Spirit, Playful,

Project Speech Therapy 

(Can We Really Do This Thing By Ourselves?)

Atticus Joseph

Age 22 months

Always Smiling, Cuddly, Bookworm, Easy-going,

Never Seen a Movie He Didn't Like--Thank Goodness

(I Promise He Doesn't Watch Movies All Day...Usually)

Davidson Homeschool Academy 2010-2011

My treasured pupils...

...students of life.

Project 365: Week 33

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Daddy left right after church for out-of-town depositions. I didn't take one single picture today, because frankly, we were all too depressed for pictures. So, instead, I'll show you a picture of what we looked like on Wednesday evening when Daddy finally returned!

That pretty much says it all.

Monday, August 9, 2010

We had special friends over for breakfast and a morning of play. The girls played Calico Critters the entire time!!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

 I could just cry tears of joy at the sight of this. And Wednesday we got an even better shower!

Wednesday, August 11 2010

We went to a great concert tonight, but my phone couldn't get a decent picture. (Read: One in which the singer's face is not one giant blob of light.) Oh, well. Instead, Big Sister read a bedtime story to Little Bit. She makes up the story as she goes along, but she uses great inflection and dramatic pauses to make the story quite intriguing. It certainly held Atticus spellbound!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Paul took all. four. kids. to the Travs game while I went shopping at Rhea Lana. What a man!

Silly girl.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Gotta love a grocery store with live Jamaican music playing outside.

And let's don't forget about the free kids' treats.

And yes, we've mixed our camouflages. *gasp*  Is that a fashion faux pas?

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Today we celebrated with Cousin Heidi for her first birthday party.

Eek! Watch out, world. Would somebody please get control of this kid?!

And speaking of control, time is flying by uncontrollably, isn't it? I can't believe it's going to be fall soon. That's just crazy. Is any one else having trouble keeping up with time? I'm so thankful to Sara for at least keeping up with US trying to keep up!!

Our Mobile Schoolroom

The theme this week at the Blog Hop is "The Schoolroom." In case you missed last week's "Curriculum" post, you can catch up here. We have a great schoolroom. One where Noah can hang his gigantic timeline.

And we can store our treasured artwork.

Our schoolroom, which is also the playroom AND the guest bedroom, is upstairs over our garage. It's great for many reasons. It has its own full bathroom, so potty breaks are easy, and we have access to water for painting or washing up after gluing things. And--BONUS--I found this awesome "World Map" shower curtain to hang in there. How apropos!!

It has walk-in access to the attic, so a lot of our supplies can be stored in there. My craft closet is up there, too, so I can be working on something while the children are occupied--but still being supervised. And I feel the freedom to hang all kinds of primary-colored paraphernalia up without worrying about clashing with the "decor," such that it is, in the rest of the house.

The classroom teacher in me adores this room. I really have a longing to stay in there all the time, teaching, playing games, watching creative little minds flourish, making stuff.

So, what's the problem?? Well, the reality IS that homeschool moms have to make meals, do laundry, and scrub toilets just like the rest of the world, only they have to do it while their kids are at home with them! I'd find myself needing to run downstairs to prepare lunch, mop the floor, or put a load of laundry in, and when I'd get back upstairs, all control would be lost. It was truly exhausting. And it got so bad, that after a while it was just easier to NOT do school. You know? I mean. Do the math!

Well that, of course, couldn't last long. So I started toting things up and down the stairs so we could do school at the kitchen table. I'm sure you can imagine how much fun that was. In desperation, I finally cleared out an entire bookshelf which contained books belonging to us A-dults. We got rid of a bunch and put the rest on a shelf in our closet. Then I moved as many school materials as possible downstairs to the now empty bookshelf. We bought a school desk for our little book room under the stairs, pictured below, for those moments when quiet concentration is in order.

And my friend Kelly gave us a couple of school desks with flip tops (great for storing school books...while at the same moment not tempting the toddler(s) to drag them all out). The flip-tops have officially joined our collection of kitchen furniture.

Yeah...it's not ideal, but it's what we have to do for the time being.

When we sell the house and finally build our "homestead" on our piece of dream land out in the country, the layout of our home will better reflect our family's needs. And I. can't. wait. (There is a mudroom in my future. Oh, yes there is!) In the meantime, I guess we're being flexible. Upstairs, downstairs, wherever there are children who need to learn something.