Our Year of Homeschooling

In May we closed out our 20/21 Homeschool year.

I feel like I would if I ran a marathon- sore, exhausted, and out of breath, but so happy to have reached the finish line. I was telling my fellow homeschool mom friends that I was a little dissappointed because I really wanted to finish the homeschool year strong. I had typed out plans and had the best of intentions, but life inevitably interrupted. My friend reassuringly told me that she believes “finishing at all is finishing strong”. I receive that encouragement.

I took countless photos and wrote out so many memories along the way. It really was a wonderful year full of priceless moments and lessons. Here is a look back at my first try at homeschooling.

We started out with a bang at the beginning of August. I wanted to start early to allow more flexibility for breaks.

One of my favorite parts of Homeschooling was getting to do so many field trips!

We were somewhat limited because of Covid, but we did more than if they had been in public schools which is zero (unless you count the virtual ones). My favorite field trip was to Heritage Village where we learned all about Ohio in the 1800’s.

The curriculum we used was Miacademy. I mostly did my own teaching and lessons, but the kids used Miacademy for their core subjects. I was able to get our subscription for free because I contacted the company and told them I was interested in writing about our experience on my blog. This took a lot of courage for me to ask and I was fully prepared to be declined. They wanted to work with me though and it it was so rewarding! That’s just one of the many areas of growth for me throughout this experience.

One of the other really cool things that I loved about homeschooling was collaborating with other families.

We got to do a lot of activities with the kids’ cousins/grandparents and some of our other homeschooling friends throughout the year.

I have two favorite homeschooling lessons that we did and they were actually back to back. One was learning about Indigenous People on Indigenous People/Christopher Columbus Day.

We did several crafts and activities that week along with multiple field trips. It was so cool.

My other favorite lesson was when we had an election the week before the real election to learn all about the process. We had a campaign and took a vote for what we would eat for breakfast. We worked hard, laughed hard, learned a bunch, and ate some yummy breakfast (monkey bread for the win).

I can’t post about homeschooling without including a chalkboard pic. I wrote a whole blog post all about the chalkboard.

One thing I never blogged about, but it was really fun and educational was when we did a week on healthy lifestyle choices.

I guess I already said that I had two favorite lessons, but can I make it three? We went to Jungle Jim’s super market and explored a variety of foods from around the world.

We each picked out an exotic fruit that we wanted to try and learned all about each one as we sampled them. My favorite was the Kiwano Melon from Africa. It had a unique jello texture inside and a mild citrus flavor.

The school year wasn’t without its challenges, but I got to know each child’s learning style more than I every knew before. We bonded and grew not just academically but in a variety of ways. After it was all said and done we have decided that it’s time to go back to public school. I love homeschooling. I see the benefits and I may come back to it someday.

I feel empowered to know that I did it once I could do it again. Not right now though. I love our school district. I see the benefits there too and with most of the pandemic stuff behind us I am ready, and the kids are ready, to go back this fall. Look out Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 5th grade, and 8th grade… HERE WE COME!!!

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By |2021-06-15T12:52:57+00:00June 15, 2021|Uncategorized|2 Comments

Memories and Dreams

My husband loves to be outside working in the yard and building things.

Every chance he gets (even as I type this) he is outside doing some sort of project. Lord knows we’d have a lot more livestock and homegrown produce if our property and city zoning allowed for it.
It’s our dream to own land in a more rural area someday.

This week I’ve been thinking about these dreams to possibly walk in the footsteps of my amazing father-in-law. Don has been on my heart and mind all week long since his soul went up to heaven to be with Jesus this past Monday.

He was so ready to meet his savior, which made a difficult loss a little less painful. When I remember Don, the list of talents and attributes goes on and on, but one thing that he was known for was the grit and ingenuity he had tending to his homestead. He has always been a skillful craftsman. If you look around at their gorgeous 11-acre property, everything from the gate, to the barn, to the house itself he built by hand.

On top of that, he could grow just about anything and work with animals too! He had an endless supply of knowledge about everything agricultural and mechanical.

One fun memory of Don that I can recall in great detail (because I documented it here on the blog) was a conversation I had with him about his upbringing. I asked him if he was raised on a farm.

He was hesitant to answer yes and needed clarification. In the sense of commercial farming as a source of income, he was not raised on a farm. They did live off of the land though (which back then where he was from was just living, not necessarily farming). They raised their own meat, milked their own cows, and planted their own crops. He shared memories of putting curdled milk in a pillowcase tied tight with a stick that would become cottage cheese. He remembered a wood burning stove, a root cellar, and a cantankerous rooster that when finally caught was slaughtered by his mother on the chopping block for Sunday dinner. He remembered that same rooster winking at his mother after being decapitated. She wasn’t able to kill another chicken after that day.

Don moved around a lot in his adult years, but his dream of returning to his country roots came true when they built a house on some farm land Texas shortly after J had moved out. They had cows, horses, cats, and a couple of dogs. It was true country living.


Maybe, when our kids are grown that will be our story too. Who knows.

When J and I celebrated our ten year anniversary we renewed our vows on his parent’s land. It was gorgeous and I’ve written about this special memory over and over.


I have even mentioned that we had photos of our wedding rings on some of Don’s old farming equipment.

One of my good friends took these photos. They represent us and our heritage so well. Another photo she took that day is this one of the two of us with our pastors and our parents. It’s one of my favorites!
It’s a big part of why we can have a thriving marriage after 20 years. All three of these couples were married young like us, they all went through struggles like us, and they all had a strong faith in God that carried them through. It breaks my heart that our patriarch is gone. We will miss him, but what he left that is even more significant than the things he built with his hands is the family he led with his heart.
We will carry the memories in our hearts, until we meet again.
By |2021-06-08T17:56:19+00:00May 23, 2021|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Isabella Then and Now

It’s been four years since SJ got the priceless gift of her very own American Girl Doll.

 

You can read the whole story here, but basically I wanted to get her a doll that could have hearing aids but knew there was no way I could afford an American Girl Doll. So, I posted this ISO on Facebook Market Place and received an overwhelming response.

I was just praying I could find a USED American Girl doll that I could afford and God provided above and beyond that! I received an American Girl Doll still in the box from a stranger which I was able to gift to SJ on her birthday.

It was the best birthday gift ever! The first year was really sweet and my mom brought SJ and Isabella to the American Girl doll hospital at the Mall of American in Minneapolis and she got hearing aids.

It could have ended there and it would have been worth it, but the fact is four years later she still loves her doll. It’s been such a treasure to watch her grow and change and still cherish Isabella. She’s 11 now and just got some new accessories for her birthday.

I know this imaginative play won’t last forever so I am documenting it while I can! Here are some of my favorite snap shots of SJ and Isabella throughout the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at how little SJ was when she was 7! Someone get me the tissues!

Here are a few other special memories with Isabella.

Isabella doesn’t go with her everywhere, but she’s been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit in her four years.

 

 

She’s been known to wear Elle and SJ’s old baby clothes.

Oh and you’ve gotta love the bows. 

They’ve had their fair share of matching outfits.

The dress in this Christmas photo was actually SJ’s when she was a baby.

Isabella was there when the world shut down and the kids suddenly had to do distance learning (SJ’s on a zoom call in this photo).

Spotted this scooter at a yard sale this past summer.

When you homeschool sometimes you have to do your school work at the car dealership while your mom is getting the oil changed.

SJ has made so many cool things for her doll and I wish I photographed more of them but here is a stage made out of a pizza box and the mic stand is adjustable!

I wish you could peek inside and see all of the details of this little bedroom that SJ made.

This year Elle got a My Life doll and so that’s been a lot of fun for these sisters.

Up in the tree house

Reading time!

Time for bed.


It’s been a fun four years.

 

By |2023-06-12T06:19:36+00:00April 14, 2021|Hearing Aids, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Messy Mom Compost Pile

Several years ago I did a blog post called “Composting Without a Bin“.

I still get questions from readers about that process. It’s been 5 years (at two different locations) that we’ve been composting.

This was 2016

and this is me and my little composting helper now.

We still don’t have a bin, but we got a little more sophisticated recently by using some wooden pallets to mark off where the compost goes.

The pile principal is still the same though.

For now I use a pitcher or a bowl for our compostable scraps, but I am hoping to upgrade that VERY SOON! The lesson though, is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. You can truly compost without any special tools at all.

With official first day of spring behind us I thought now would be a good time to write up a little Q&A answering some of those questions I have received along with a few other things I’ve learned since starting this endeavor.

Does it stink? 

No, it smells like dirt. It’s not the same as fruit that is decomposing. It is “dirty” though, literally.  We are fortunate to have a large yard so we can have our pile a decent amount away from our house, but when our kids have friends over we have to let them know it’s not a play area.

Does it attract animals? 

I have had people ask me if we get rodents or animals that dig through our pile as if it were trash. That has NEVER been an issue for us. We don’t seem to have a lot of raccoons and we don’t have bears in the area, but we do see plenty of deer, chipmunks, moles, fox, mice and dogs. For some people, animals are something that could certainly inhibit your chances of doing a compost pile that is exposed. As long as the scraps are buried in plenty of leaves and you are certain you haven’t added any meat, dairy, or other noncompostable items to your pile you could be like us and have no issues at all.

How long do you leave your pile before using it? 

We use our pile in the spring when we garden and then we stop adding to it in the winter. So it has about 7 months to collect and then from November to March, we let the pile decompose. Sometimes I feel bad about throwing away scraps and we end up starting another pile. The hard part is we don’t have a ton of grass clippings, if any, in the winter. So it’s hard to keep the materials balanced. I guess this isn’t a clear cut answer. Some people use thermometers and special equipment for their compost. We just eyeball it. Our goal is to do the traditional three bin approach. One for starting the compost, one for letting it sit and heat up, and the last one to turn and use.

Can I compost weeds? 

Okay, this was a question I asked! I was worried that the weeds would try to take root in the compost pile and then propagate. Weeds are so stubborn! A quick google search taught me that I can and should compost the weeds I pull. The sooner the better so that the weeds don’t flower and seed. Weeds can grow in compost, but again if you are tossing, watering, and balancing your pile it shouldn’t be a problem.

We love having a compost pile. It’s eco friendly and a great educational tool. The kids even add worms when they find them. Our latest development is adding what some farmers call “black gold”. Can you guess what that is?

It’s CHICKEN POOP.

We’ve got 9 little chickens now. While chicken droppings alone aren’t great fertilizer because they are super high in nitrogen, if you cool it down with some carbon compost it’s natural miracle grow. I am really looking forward to the garden bounty this year. Especially with all the COVID-19 stuff having a little suburban green life has been good for us.

My take on composting is that it takes a little extra work, but it’s totally worth it.

By |2021-03-30T09:45:42+00:00March 29, 2021|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Pandemic Anniversary and Moving Forward

I’m sure I’m not the only one whose social media accounts are flooded with flashbacks from when we were all thrust into our first official pandemic a year ago.

I know that I personally was so blessed that the pandemic didn’t affect us anywhere near as badly as it did thousands of other people. However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t struggle or feel scared and miserable at times! It was all so overwhelming. March- May was a very difficult time for me and as I encounter so many “seasonal” reminders of last year it makes me flinch a little.

It’s surreal to remember what that moment in time was like. I really thought the pandemic was only going to last a couple of months and here we are a full YEAR later.

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote on March 20th about my first week of social distancing.

“last week life was normal for us. I had a conversation with my parents in a Chick-fil-A on Monday (March 9th) talking about the Coronavirus and how in my little town in Ohio it wasn’t affecting us. My exact words were “we’ve been doing business as usual”. Then on Thursday (March 12) everything came to a screeching halt. As in- slam the breaks, no seatbelt, we are all ejected into an alternate universe. I was actually looking at my phone scrolling through hairstyles for my daughter to choose for the father daughter dance the next night. She was so excited. Then I got the text that it was canceled. I couldn’t believe it. It was 24 hours away, what had changed? Then I got the next update that school would be closed for 4 weeks. Tears welled up in my eyes and I even started to get angry…”

“Friday (March 13) was the last day of school for the kids. One thing after another was being canceled. First church, then restaurants, gymnastics, the roller rink where my daughter’s birthday party was scheduled to happen, dentist appointments and pretty much everything else. It really was like a real life apocalyptic sci-fi movie. I went to the grocery store to find rows and rows of empty shelves. I bought things I never would have like cans of peaches, and high priced paper towels because that was all that was left.

I had to pinch myself to see if this was really happening. I have daily to-do lists on an app and every morning I go through and delete the previous week’s list to add new ones. Here are some of the things that I did last week:

Go to the library

Dentist appointment

Meeting at church

SJ’s Gymnastics class

Pick Z up from Lego League

Make invitations for SJ’s Birthday

So every day (up until now) I looked at a snapshot of the week before, when those things were all very normal. Every day I was reminded that last week I was living my life not knowing my whole world was about to be turned upside down. I was devastated.”

 

 

Remembering all of that is difficult, and even though a lot of restrictions are still in place and people are still being affected by the Coronavirus I am seeing subtle changes. For example that birthday party that was cancelled actually happened a week ago!

The skating rink honored our deposit and I invited a whole new group of girls and we gathered together to celebrate.

I shared the photos on Facebook acknowledging that it felt very redemptive. I am hoping to see more and more redeeming moments like that. Last year we were all at home for Easter but this year we will be celebrating in person! My family is going to come over for our traditional egg hunt and lunch. Easter is all about redemption. Obviously Christ’s act of redemption is way bigger than something like getting to go to a concert that you previously missed because of Covid. However, sometimes when you see significance in the little details it sheds more light on the big things. I keep digger deeper into what it means for something to be redeemed.

We had so many things stolen from us last year, from relationships, to loved ones, to jobs and celebrations and the list goes on. My prayer is that this would be the year of redemption in all kinds of ways!

I feel like this FedEx commercial does a beautiful job of expressing these thoughts through their commercial. I’m not talking about the part about FedEx or the vaccine, but I do love how they are highlighting and reminding us of all the things that we’ve gone backwards on and how it’s time to start moving forward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQYDcR3YAUo

 

By |2021-03-24T15:28:35+00:00March 24, 2021|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Effective Ways Your Family Can Earn Some Extra Money

Boosting your income can enable you to achieve your financial goals and enhance your quality of life. Whether you want to pay down debt, save for a luxury holiday, or support your kids as they reach the next stage in their lives, increasing your annual income now will give you the flexibility and funds you need. To get started, take a look at these very effective ways your family can earn some extra money:

Start Driving

If you have a license and a vehicle, you’re already on your way to becoming a professional driver. From signing up as a cab driver with companies like Lyft and Uber to winning hot shot trucking jobs and delivering goods, there are a variety of ways you can turn your driving skills into a budding startup or side hustle. Just make sure you have the right type of insurance in place and you’re good to go. 

Become a Consultant

Whatever professional experience you have, you can optimize your income by sharing it with others. Setting yourself up as a consultant allows you to work with companies or individuals and share your knowledge and expertise. Whether you mentor new graduates and teach them how to succeed in your industry or provide advice to established businesses, capitalizing on your own hard work and professional success can be a great way to boost your income. 

Use Your Home

Your family home is probably your largest asset, so why not make the most of it and use it to generate some income? If you have a spare room, you could rent it out on a long-term basis or make it available to temporary residents via sites like Airbnb. 

Alternatively, unused space, such as garages or outhouses, can be transformed into handy storage units and rented out. If you have a large driveway and live near a town, city or event venue, you could even boost your income by making it available for parking. 

Pet Sitting

Not only is pet sitting a lucrative way to make extra money, but it’s also extremely fun! When you become well-known as a reliable pet sitter, you can be sure that your services will be in high demand. Whether you take pets in while their owners are on vacation or you walk the dogs in the neighborhood while their owners are at work, there are a variety of ways you can earn extra money and get all the benefits of having a pet without being an official owner. 

Sell Items You No Longer Need

If you could do with a little extra space at home, this will help you to declutter your living environment, as well as bringing in some extra cash. Decide which items you no longer need or want and get them listed on online marketplaces or local advertising portals before exchanging them for cash. 

Transform Your Family’s Finances

When you find fun ways to bring in some extra money, transforming your finances becomes a family effort. By getting everyone involved, you can teach your kids about financial management and protect their future at the same time.

 

By |2021-03-19T09:40:27+00:00March 18, 2021|Frugal Living, Uncategorized|0 Comments

How to Keep Your Roof From Leaking

A roof can sometimes be a daunting project to attend to – but it doesn’t have to be. But, your roof is one of the essential features of your entire house – without it, you’d basically have four walls, and no coverage from the harsh element nature throws at us from time to time. Luckily, there are easy things to look out for when you want to check your roof and repair a few things. There are also easy steps you can take in order to properly maintain your home, thereby preventing any leakages that may cause severe damage to your home. By following the below steps, you’ll rest easy at night, knowing that your roof is in top shape and your family is safe and sound under it.

Keep your gutters clean

This is one of the most important things to remember when maintaining your roof. Clean gutters ensure that there will be proper drainage when it rains, seeing as clogged gutters can cause water to store on your roof, leading to leakages through any cracks that may exist on your roof. Gutters can get clogged very quickly if there’s a lot of foliage around or if you live in an area where weather storms are a frequent occurrence. Cleaning gutters properly can sometimes be a tricky project, seeing as one doesn’t always have the proper tools to remove all the debris from the drainage pipes as well. If you feel like it would be safer to hire a professional, it would be highly recommended to get the Best gutter cleaners near Greensboro, NC – they do a fantastic job and even go the extra mile by sweeping away all the extra leaves on your driveway to enhance your curb appeal!

Check your roof’s shingles 

The best time to check your roof’s shingles would be especially after the stormier weather season. The sun’s harsh rays can also do some damage over time, so when inspecting your roof’s shingles, ensure they are still functioning correctly, are still where they should be, and are not cracked or chipped.

Look out for ice dams

If you live in an area where heavy snowfall occurs, ice dams are something you should monitor closely. Ice dams are what happens when the warmer attic’s air rises to the roof and melts the snow that’s gathered on top. The water from the melted snow then runs along the roof, reaches colder parts, and freezes all over again. These ice dams trap any further melting snow water and cause the water to seep through the roof, causing damage to your ceiling and peeling of the paint inside. The vital step to take here would be to check your attic for appropriate insulation and ventilation – this will ensure your roof stays cool during the winter months and doesn’t cause ice dams on top.

 

The above steps are just some of the easy ways to maintain your roof and ensure it stays in optimal condition. Not only will you feel better and more prepared for anything nature might throw your way, but you’ll spare yourself a lot of trouble and money in the future!

 

By |2021-03-17T22:34:24+00:00March 17, 2021|Frugal Living|0 Comments

Big School Decision


The verdict is in. After a year of homeschooling we have decided to return to the public school option. I wrote recently about how difficult this decision has been and one that we take very seriously. I also shared just some of the beautiful aspects of homeschool which I will inevitably miss. With as complex as it is, here is a breakdown of some of the reasons why homeschooling isn’t the best choice for our family.

  1. I love our public schools. I always have. It’s the reason we moved here in the first place. We would have stayed in public schools last year if it weren’t for the pandemic. I know we are still in it, but the vaccines are out and things are definitely looking to be much improved from the past year.
  2. My kids learn better from a teacher- bottom line.
  3. They aren’t as social as they used to be. Hold up, because I know socialization is a biggie that people throw around in opposition to homeschooling and I am NOT saying that homeschoolers aren’t socialized. My two middle children have bonded and I love it, but they also have become so bonded that at times they were becoming exclusive and not opening up to other children at church because they had each other. We worked through this, but still they aren’t in any clubs, sports, or extracurriculars right now. So getting them back in school with friends (since it’s no longer prison level restrictions thank God) will be good for them.
  4. In public school they will have specialists to assess their needs. Each one of my kids have had various IEPs, IFSPs, and WEPs. I know ALL children are individuals and that’s the beauty of homeschooling, but I don’t have it in me to fight for these resources. I know that my children have special needs and I really value the extra set of eyes and expertise.
  5. Free tutoring. On the same note, if they do have struggles and need personalized help there are intervention specialists available to work with them. I feel a huge burden lifted knowing caring professionals are tracking their progress and will tell me if they see any red flags in learning and then HELP ME know how to help my child. This is a big deal for me because with one child in particular I am drowning with concern. I want to make sure they get all the help they need.
  6. Teachers can answer questions that I can’t. I am great at googling things, but I am feeling less passionate about the teacher role. I pray that my children will get teachers that are still passionate about theirs (Our district has a fantastic track record in this area).
  7. Public school is free. We have made some budget changes that leave us temporarily going from paycheck to paycheck. So I have almost no money to put towards curriculum, workbooks, arts and crafts, and other projects. Other than field trips, I know the schools are back to offering all of their cool learning tools so that makes me happy.
  8. My husband works from home and our house isn’t that big. This makes for a major struggle trying to keep the volume down on most of the day.
  9. Math is a HUGE challenge for me. It always has been. I don’t like helping with 4th grade math and I definitely don’t want to help with 5th. Right now my daughter is dividing, comparing, or converting fractions and decimals. Yesterday and today my husband had to swoop in a lot, which is hard because he has work.
  10. We feel God has given us a peace about sending them to school. That’s the biggest reason.

Last year we were prayfully led to homeschool and I don’t regret it. I KNOW that was the right choice for us and I was open to the idea that I may love it so much that homeschool would be my new calling. While I already mentioned all of the beautiful benefits of homeschooling I don’t feel it’s my calling, at least not right now. Last year we stepped out in faith to homeschool. This year we stepping out in faith again, but in a different way.

By |2021-03-12T00:08:01+00:00March 12, 2021|Uncategorized|0 Comments

The February Flurry

I haven’t blogged or really been social online in several weeks. My biggest reason for this has been my computer crashing! I haven’t had any computer issues since I got my iMac 5 years ago. Everything from my meal plans to my side hustles are on my computer, and when it’s not functioning properly it’s fair to say that NEITHER AM I! It appears to be fixed now so I’m hopefully back in business.

I won’t go into all of the details of what made February such a whirl wind of a month, but I did want to document one of the most memorable parts.

We got snow.

BUCKETS OF SNOW!!!

I know Ohio is not alone in these crazy winter storms. My poor friends in Texas got hit so hard that most of them were living the frontier life with no electricity or sometimes water! I remember what that is like from when we had that terrible power outage last April. No fun.

I personally love the snow. The last couple of winters here have been fairly mild so I am grateful for this surprise snow dump.

We made the most of it. The day after we got the first 8 inches J took off of work and we spent our afternoon sledding.

We even brought hot chocolate to-go in those mugs that keep beverages warm. While we were at one of the best sledding parks ever we bumped into some friends.

These two have been buds since they were 2 years old so that was a fun impromptu reunion.

The next week when we got more snow we made our traditional snow cream. I looked up the recipe on MessyMom.com.

It was really sweet because SJ was the one leading this activity and there were pictures of her on the recipe post from 6 years ago.

Times have changed, but snow cream is still the perfect winter treat!

I can’t even remember the number of snows cancellations and two hour delays this month. It doesn’t affect us too much since we are mostly at home, but it’s always fun to have snow days, even for homeschoolers.

We had fresh eggs throughout the snowstorm too! We were worried about the chickens with the temps being close to zero. Most chicken breeds are actually really winter hardy though and they all did great. They didn’t love necessarily love the snow. Our white hen, Mary, flat out refused to walk around outside. But most of the birds eventually ventured out a bit.

Getting eggs that weren’t frozen was a chore, but we managed to brave the tundra a few times a day to collect our breakfast.

The snow has pretty much all melted now leaving a slushy mud pit in our backyard. The chickens are thrilled to be able to forage again.

They have spent the past several days pecking away at the soft ground in search of bugs and other tasty treats. I loved the time that we had in the snow, but I am also getting excited for spring. It will be here before you know it!

 

 

By |2021-02-26T15:52:48+00:00February 26, 2021|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Our Chalkboard

One month down for homeschooling in 2021. I have to admit, I have felt so defeated lately. We had a nice break at Christmas and I knew that it would take some time to get back into our routine, but every time I thought we found our rhythm again there would be some kind of emergency. When it comes to what we will do next school year we have a lot to evaluate, contemplate, and most importantly meditate (okay, pray is what we need to do, but I was on a rhyming roll).

That being said, my chalk board still says Happy New Year, however there was  time when the message on our family chalkboard changed every week. It usually involved something we were learning about that week. So while I have not been able to keep this up, I did have a lot of fun designs and memories to look back on.

This was the original chalkboard message from the beginning of August 2020

The next week was a Bible verse that we memorized and learned the sign language to.

Another Bible verse. We learned the fruit of the spirit verse and ASL signs about 4 years ago, but this was a good refresher for sure.

Everyday we learn about a new country (in alphabetical order) and then we say a prayer for that country. Sometimes we go to the prayercast.com website where you can click on any country and they have a video prayer specific for that nation. It’s an incredible ministry that I stumbled on while looking up individual countries prayer needs.

We also had a little tradition of doing the birthday boy or girl message on the chalkboard. SJ’s is coming up so I definitely need to follow through with the final birthday message! 

September 11th was a difficult but important day that we learned about. 

Then we learned all about the constitution on September 17th, CONSTITUTION DAY! 

Then we had another important Bible verse.

Ezra’s 8th birthday. WaHoo!

Then we got Covid, so SJ wrote the chalk message for me.

After we were fully recovered and out of quarantine we had the coolest unit study the week of Columbus Day.

This one didn’t turn out as planned but we traced our hands and wrote our favorite things about fall in each one.

Election week!

For our 20th anniversary I wrote Matthew 19:6 and Elle drew a photo to go with it.

Elle’s fifth birthday. Fun times!

We watched Little Women and read up on the history of Louisa May Alcott.

Thanksgiving was a great lesson and Holiday.

Skip ahead to Christmas. SJ’s artwork this time.

Last but not least Happy New Year!!!

 

By |2021-02-04T21:48:07+00:00February 4, 2021|Uncategorized|1 Comment
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