We went flying

Rick has 2 uncles that are pilots. Uncle Mike is a pilot by profession. Mike and David own this plane and they took us FLYING this past weekend. It was awesome!!

Here is the gang with the fearless (and generous) pilot.

Henry and Claire are excited (and a bit nervous) about their first flight. Henry's first words when he got off the plane were, "that was SUPER fun!"

Claire's turn to fly the plane! Both Kate and Claire flew and Mike said they would both make great pilots. :)

We had the BEST time! Thank you so much Mike for letting us have this experience and for the multiple trips! I hope we didn't wear you out!

1st Day of School

We had our first day of school this Monday. Everyone is having a great time so far, but we sure are tired!

Here is a picture of my sweet Kindergartner - Claire. She has the best attitude and always asks to do more.

Kate - 1st grade, the old pro

Henry - He tells everyone he is Kindergarten :)

Our "show-n-tell" to explain a biography.

My captive audience (literally, in Sims' case)

Kate wanted to "dress up" her dress when we went to lunch with Rick.

I LOVE SCHOOL

Kate's spelling list.

So, I'd say we're off to a great start. I like having a routine again and we are all truly enjoying each other's company.

We went skating :)

We went skating last night. I must say, it was such a fun night! I wasn't quite sure how it would go, but we all loved it. Rick and I laughed the entire night and the girls had a blast!

This was Kate's first attempt at standing up:

They "skated" on the carpet most of the night as sweet Claire is demonstrating:

Simon was happy because it was dark and loud the entire time:

I'm pretty sure they were on the ground more than they were upright. The LOVED every minute though!!

This little guy stayed with the girls almost all night. He told me was was going to show them some "tips." He even gave Kate a present as we were leaving...It was middle school foreshadowing:

Jack wanted to skate SO badly so the owner let him try on a pair :)

Then the girls decided to try inline skating, or crawling, same thing.

I love this picture. Pretty much sums up the night.

Here is Claire laying on the ground. They were worn out after the 2 hours we were there. They didn't want to leave and have already asked me 10 times today about going back. We will be back!!!

Memory Work

How many times have you (or your children) memorized scripture (or something else) and then forgotten it because it wasn't practiced. It's happened to us numerous times. Last December, the kids memorized Luke 2:1-14. They had it perfectly but it's been forgotten because I didn't review it with them. It's hard to remember what all we have learned, when to practice it, etc. I've been looking for a system to help because we are going to have a recitation period every morning this year and I need it to be organized!

I wanted to share it with you in hopes that it will help someone else too.

Here it is:

1. Start with a 3 ring notebook and dividers. I used file folders and cut them in two.

I bought 50 at Walmart for $3.68. You will need 31 dividers.

2. Number each divider 1-31 on one side of the tab,

and M-F (repeating) on the other side of the tab.

For example. 1-M, 2-T, 3-W, 4-H, 5-F, 6-M, 7-T, 8-W, etc

3. Choose what you want to memorize and place that in the front of the notebook

4. Practice! Once something is said perfectly 3 days in a row, it's complete.

Place the completed information memorized behind the day it was complete.

For example, if you finish memorizing the "Months of the Year" on the 5th, place that piece of memory work behind the tab labelled "5".

5. Review! If it's Monday the 8th, review all information

behind the tab marked "8" AND behind every tab marked with an "M".

This will ensure that everything memorized gets practiced frequently.

Also, I'm grouping items that are short on one piece of paper. 10 catechism questions will go on one page. Once all 10 are complete, that page will be moved to the appropriate numbered tab.

I wanted to make sure our system reviewed "completed memory work" more than once a month and that it didn't involve review on the weekends. :) We'll see how it goes this year and I'll be sure to let you know! I'm sure I'll have to work something out for items that need reviewing less frequently but for now, once a week seems about right.

Happy Days!

Homeschool Planning

I think I need a teacher's aide

Simon Oliver - 8 weeks

Boy, I love this little guy...

Henry Potter