Lego Champ

I love this growing young man.  If I could freeze time I would.  My kids are growing too fast and this is my youngest who still likes building Legos with mom!  

Happy 1st Day of Homeschool

This year I have only one student in our little homeschool.  Jackson will be in 5th grade! 

We are super excited to start this year it is very different from years past, since it will only be Jackson and myself daily, but I am looking forward to this change to see what adventures it might hold!

I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me ~ Philippians 4:13

Beautiful Park Days

 

Spring has sprung here in Georgia.  Today our homeschool co-op group decided that we would meet at a local park for a picnic lunch and lots of play time.  This is only one family and Jackson in the above picture but its the only picture I got.  This family is very special to us.  These special children are our pastors children and very best buddies of Jack!!  We have been at our home church since Jackson was 3 so these guys have all grown up together!!

Daily Life Thoughts

Bartow History Museum field trip with Friends

 

True and False about our Homeschool

1. Homeschoolers always wear denim jumpers.
False....there was a time in the 80's when I was a kid that they were popular but my kids and I prefer pj's on most days.  Unless we have to leave the house.  Co-op day and Karate days we get up and dress but other than that it's pj's all day.

2. Homeschoolers sleep till noon.
False...my children would love too, but we do better to get up and get school started no later than 8:30 - 9:00 so we can finish up before lunch or at latest early afternoon.

3. Homeschoolers have strange schedules.
True...this one is strange to school kids and families.  We can bend the rules to stay up to catch a late documentary, or see an eclipse.  Do school late in the day because we have morning plans.  Life comes first because we recognize the education in all things.  So we are not tied to the 8 to 2:30 time frame.  This seems to mess most with those who do not homeschool.

My morning girn

A conversation overheard between my daughter and a friend. Both happen to be fairly tall as young ladies go. 

Dd: It seems to me that tall boys like short girls.

Friend: It also seems that short boys like short girls. 

Dd: So where does that leave us tall girls? 

There was a brief pause...

And then that was followed up with...

Dd:  I guess that leaves us tall girls with cats. 

And lots of giggles. I love teenagers.

Copper Creek Farm

We had a wonderful field trip with our homeschool co-op to Copper Creek Farm.  It is a new farm, in Calhoun Ga, that has really been done well.  It is beautiful and the people every sweet.  The kids loved it and the parents did too!

Coopers Furnace Co-op Trip

Homeschool co-op Science Fun

Yes those are spiders.  Yes I am glad I am not teaching this group.  But my son loves it!

Our Co-op Group

This is my co-op class.  We range in age from pre-teen to 16.  They are a wonderful group of kids that myself and another teacher share every Tuesday for a few hours.  They are learning and growing together and it is a blessing to watch.

1st yellow stripe

Jackson Earned his first yellow stripe in Karate today.  We are super proud of him!

First Day of School Photos

 

We started school today.  Much like every other year we began in prayer and then began by each looking over our new books and jumping right in with both feet.  It went very well for our first day and both Allison and Jackson seem excited about this year.  In addition to our normal school books, we are adding co-op which for Allison will include Personal Finance and Georgia State history.  For Jackson it will include book club and Georgia state history.  We are all excited about adding this in this year.  We also will be adding Karate for Jackson twice a week and Allison will begin Piano lessons hopefully after Christmas.  A busy year for all but we are praying for a good solid year.

Karate Kid

Yep see that one right there number 15.  That is Jackson at his second karate lesson and he is loving it.  I am so thankful he has found something he enjoys doing besides video games.  We are blessed that this school has a class just for homeschool kids on Mondays at 3 pm and again at 11:15 on Thursdays so Jackson gets two classes a week plus latter this month we will add back our homeschool co-op.  It does make for a busy year but I am truly looking forward to it! 

Trip to Booth Western Museum

We joined our churches homeschool co-op group for another field trip.  This time we went to our local Booth Western Musuem for civil war day.  It was a lot of fun.  We saw many different displays of military arms and marching techniques.  Heard Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettsburg Address.  Also toured the Musuem and even saw a cannon fire.  We had lots of fun.  

Homeschool Co-Op Field Trip Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotion History

Info from their website: 

The Southern Museum has first opened in Kennesaw in 1972 as the Big Shanty Museum. This early iteration of what is today a Smithsonian Affiliate housed the steam locomotive General and was dedicated to telling the story of the April 12, 1862 “Great Locomotive Chase,” and event which briefly rose that engine and Kennesaw to prominence during the Civil War.
Over time the museum changed its name to the Kennesaw Civil War Museum and began to collect and interpret other artifacts from the War. The General, for obvious reasons, was still the main attraction at this humble facility. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the impressive locomotive-building collection of the Glover Machine Works of Marietta, GA became available that the museum was able to grow into what it has become today. Following a two-year renovation and expansion, the facility reopened in 2003 as the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. The nearly-50,000 square foot facility houses three permanent galleries – Railroads: Lifelines of the Civil War, Glover Machine Works: Casting a New South, and The Great Locomotive Chase – and is home to various temporary and travelling exhibits as well. In addition to this broader focus, the museum also became a member of the prestigious Smithsonian Affiliations Program. This program allows the Museum to host traveling Smithsonian exhibits, book Smithsonian historians for lectures and feature Smithsonian artifacts within its permanent collections.
In 2007 the museum expanded again with the opening of the Jolley Education Center, an 8,000 square foot facility devoted to educating and entertaining youth through railroad history. This area offers classroom space for programs and rentals, as well as separate space for the very young to safely play alongside their older siblings. The Jolley Education Center also houses a “40 & 8” Merci Boxcar, a gift from the French people to the state of Georgia following World War II.
The newest addition to the Southern Museum will come in 2015 with the opening of a new Research Center. This 8,200 square foot structure will house the museum’s large and ever-growing collection of archival material: documents which trace the growth and operations of some of the South’s largest railroads.
Always growing and always evolving, the Southern Museum offers something for the train lover or history buff in all of us! Come to Kennesaw and see this exciting facility for yourself!

We had a wonderful time playing and making new friends and catching up with old ones!