Co-op Classes

Years ago when the girls were still in elementary school, a couple of us homeschoolers would get together at each others houses every other week or so for some group learning and socializing. We did that for a school year and then stopped - I guess maybe life got busy?! Since, then, we still have the homeschool group and have some field trips and park days, but nothing like a co-op situation.

Last year, several moms started mentioning it again and we began to meet, plan and brainstorm. What kinds of classes was everyone interested in, how often, how long, how many, etc. So many decisions and little details to work out. After it was all said and done, we came up with a plan that seemed to agree with everyone. There are many ways to "do" a co-op, but this seems to be best for us right now. Here is what we are doing:

We meet at one of the mom's homes (thank you Melissa!!!) every other week for about 3 hours. This seems to make it manageable for everyone's schedule, yet still allows for adequate learning time. We divided the children up into 2 groups - one for elementary and the other for jr. high and high school with a total of 17 children in all. Each group has 3 classes that meets for about 50-60 minutes each.

The older children are taking a Writing Class:


An art class - here they are drawing their hand without looking at the paper:


And a Yearbook/Newsletter class:


By the end of the school year, we will have published 4 Newsletters and a Yearbook documenting each family, our co-op and our field trips!

They also enjoy a little downtime to chat in between classes:


The younger group is also taking an art class:


Drawing caterpillars:


A Literature/Lapbooking class:


And they will contribute to the Newsletter and Yearbook as well - they have already turned in their first assignments!

Like the olders, they too enjoy the downtime between classes:


The whole group, aged 5-15:


I will honestly admit that before we began, I was a little intimidated and maybe a little overwhelmed at how it would actually work - off the paper and in real life! However, from our first class on, it has been just so wonderful. The children are doing well with the classes, they are ready to go when it is time for class to start and quick to come and do whatever their next task is. The moms are enjoying sharing the teaching with each other and enjoying some down time of their own - sort of! (What homeschool mom ever has TRUE downtime??!!) We began the first co-op with prayer and since then, it has all felt just right! I pray that it continues to be a blessing to all and that these children grow and let their lights shine for Jesus!

Cropping

I know that I have been behind the past few weeks again. There is so much going on here and yet, at the same time, not much to tell - does that make sense? Life is trucking along; school is in full force; dad is recovering slowly but surely; family is wonderful; friends are awesome; house is messy, then clean, then quickly messy again, often in the space of a few hours; life is full and busy and wonderful. That about sums us up in not a few words! So, in wanting to touch base across the internet with all of you, I have decided to share one of my little treats with you.

The past few months, I have been blessed to hang out with a great group of ladies on Friday nights as we meet at one another's houses to work on our scrapbooks together. Let me tell you, we truly know how to have a good time! We eat yummy food - brownies, ice cream, cookies (homemade pumpkin chocolate chip in time for fall!), homemade salsa - and so much more oh so good treats! Then, for the next bunch of hours, we spread out all of our pictures, papers and supplies and get busy scrapping! I have accomplished more in the past few weeks of these get togethers than I have in the past couple of years in my scrapbooks!

My personal goal right now is to get caught up on the years since my children have been born. I am through with 1994 - the year Holly was born. I am more than half way through 1995 now. We are moving right along and one day soon I may be caught up! However long it takes, I am enjoying the process - food, friends and fellowship mingled with crafting and laughter. I look forward to my Friday nights with the girls!

The process is more fun when shared with friends:

Caleb is 10!!

August 23, 1999 was such a special day for our family. Caleb James entered our lives at 4:30 PM weighing 9 lbs and 21" long. So much for the small baby they told me I was having! Now, he is 10 and only about an inch shorter than me (no short jokes, please!).

For his birthday this year, he asked if we could have a party at the Lego Store at Downtown Disney. Since we haven't really done any big parties for him and it was his 10th, we conceded. I am so glad we did. It was so simple, fun and inexpensive.



We all met at the Lego store in the afternoon and waited for our "tour guide." Once we were all there, Tim the tour guide began showing the children all the different lego creations around the store - telling them the history of it, where and how it was made and how many legos were used to create it, as well as any other interesting tidbits.

Tim shows them the undersea creations, pointing out the details:


I guess the boys would remember the name of this guy, but not me! He is very big, though!


Looking and learning and asking questions:


We learned that now, the creations can withstand Category 4 Hurricane force winds - this guy has changed because he didn't use to be so strong and now his head faces forward instead of sideways!


One of my favorites - the family on vacation:


After the tour, the kids got to go inside and chose one, small lego set each. Talk about a hard decision! Here, Andrew, Caleb and Zach check out one of the options:


"Oh, if only we could get this one!"


After choosing their sets, they were brought outside to a special area where they could work on them together.

Caleb is hard at work:


Max and Madilyn working hard:


Donald and Zach discuss the hard questions of life - which Star Wars set is the best??!!


The whole crew from left to right - Max, Delaney, Zach, Donald, Charlotte, Caleb, Jack, Madilyn, Andrew and Tyler.


Once the sets were built, Tim got the whole areas attention:


And had everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to Caleb:


That pretty much ended the party. We brought a cake from home and went to some picnic tables and let his friends sing and eat cake. This was my first ever attempt at fondant and it had been in the cooler for a while, so it was melting, but the cake is supposed to look like a lego! It tasted good, though!



Caleb had a great day celebrating with some of his friends (missing others) and being at the lego store. He has already asked if we can do it again next year!

Back to School

Monday was our first day back to school and I have to say, it really was a great day. Our family seems to thrive on schedule and routine and we get so much more done when that order is in place. I guess it forces us to be disciplined! Maybe that's why we can get MORE done when we are in school than when we are out. It makes me wonder how I filled my time without classes! We have a very full year ahead of us - Holly is in 10th, MaKenna is in 9th and Caleb is in 4th. They each have lots going on and are excited about the new year - well, the girls are! They have been wanting to get back to a regular schedule for about a month now, but I wasn't ready. How weird is that? Caleb, on the other hand, wanted to know why we couldn't just wait until after Christmas! It was hard for him to start the day after his birthday, too - presents had to be left un-played with until school was over!

I am not sure who may read this and be interested, but here is the lowdown on what we are doing this year - just in case you are! Maybe we are doing similar things and can share stories!

Holly ~

Apologia Exploring Creation through Biology
The Joy of Womanhood (Bible)
Far Above Rubies
Notgrass American History
Writeshop
Piano
PE
Sign Language
Driver's Ed on FLVS
Math U See Geometry
American Literature
Home Ec.

MaKenna ~

Apologia Exploring Creation w/ General Science
The Joy of Womanhood
Far Above Rubies
Notgrass World History
Writeshop Family Tree
Violin
PE
Sign Language
Computing for College and Careers on FLVS
Math U See Algebra 1
World Literature
Home Ec.

Caleb ~

Florida State History
Simply Stated
Math U See Gamma
Pathways Readers
Learning Language Arts Through Lit.
Writeshop Primary
Italic Handwriting
How Your Body Works
Exploring Creation with Astronomy
Various Phonics books
Miller's Stories
Bible
Character Building

I think that is all, but there could be others that I am missing and these may change as the year goes on - you never know! Ah, the beauty of homeschooling - being able to adjust to what works and doesn't work as you go while helping each child develop their personal strengths and interests. As I read back over the lists, I realized, wow, that sounds like a lot! But, some of them overlap each other or won't take the whole year, so we can spread them out. Plus, we only do what we can each day.

When I think of the verse "Train up a child in the way he should go..." I wonder if that is more than just Biblically and spiritually speaking. Maybe it also means to help them find the will of God for their lives - based on their unique personalities and talents - and then enable them to pursue those things. Hmmmm... Seems like, in the end, that will matter more than how well they know how to diagram a sentence or do equations made for rocket scientists. I'm just sayin. ;D

Measuring Up

Well, the summer has flown by while we busied ourselves with the business of life. I have been wondering the past few days as I prepare to start back to school with my kids if we did the things that we wanted to do with our summer. So, here are some comparisons.

Some of the things we wanted to do:

*Organize the house - school things, movies, bedrooms, closets, - ALL of it!
*Make - skirts, purses, aprons, quilts, etc.
*Complete lesson plans for the upcoming school year - all subjects for the whole year.
*Complete Holly's first High School Transcript.
*Grow a garden.
*Complete portfolios for the school year we just finished.
*Scrapbooks caught up.
*Go to the beach.
*Blog.
*Read.
*Get ahead in some school subjects - especially reading with Caleb.

Some of the things we did:

*Organized some things - definitely not all that I would have liked, but we did make progress!
*Made 2 skirts, one apron, 2 quilts and 0 purses - not exactly what we hoped for, but we made progress!!
*Completed lesson plans for the first month in 2 subjects - progress seems to be the theme here!
*We completed the transcript - WOOP WOOP!!
*We planted a small garden and grew: grape and cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, green peppers and watermelon. Our beefsteak tomatoes tried to grow, but caterpillars loved them and not one of them was spared. So far we have harvested about 5 green peppers, with more still growing. There are 3 beautiful watermelon on the 10 foot long vine that I can't wait to eat. The squash and zucchini plants grew big, flowered gorgeous flowers and then DIED!!! No harvest there! We also planted sunflowers and morning glories from seed that were so pretty. So, we did not get the full amount that we would have liked, but are thankful for the PROGRESS that we did make and the yummy goodness we could eat from our own garden. We are going to be planting more here in the next couple of weeks, too, so we'll see how phase 2 goes!
*Portfolios were completed in a very timely manner!
*Scrapbooking - we are NOT caught up, but meeting with a great group of ladies every week has certainly helped me stay focused, motivated and inspired. The girls help me and we are progressing at a great rate!
*We were able to go to the beach a few times, though not as much as the girls would have liked!
*Did some blogging.
*Did some reading.
*Fell behind in school!
*Spent MUCH time at Florida Hospital while my dad was in and out and then in for Aortic Valve replacement surgery. This actually took up the last almost 2 months of our summer, which explains the falling behind in some of the above things!
*Went on several field trips with great friends - to the lighthouse, a nature preserve, the beach.
*Completed 13 weeks of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.
*Had KC all summer!
*Lots of other misc. odds and ends that would bore you and tire me to mention!

Overall, we really had an awesome summer. Spending time with friends and family, being together, working hard for Jesus - these are the things that make our life complete. No, we didn't do everything we wanted to do and only made progress in others, but we choose to see the good in those things and be positive. And isn't progress really the theme of all of our lives? We are just works in progress - thank God that He doesn't give up on me when I don't meet His expectations. He choses instead to see me for what I can someday be by His grace. How can I do any less for my seemingly important projects that are only temporal?

"Be content with what you have, for God has said, "Never
will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So say with
confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid."

- Hebrews 13:5,6

AMEN!!!

So, how was your summer? Did you get to do the things you love the most? I hope that no matter what, you are able to see the good in all things - it just helps keep you happier!

Make new friends but keep the old...

This year marked a milestone in my life - my 20 year high school reunion! I guess I blinked when everyone told me not to, because that sure went by fast! We didn't go to the actual reunion, but I was able to make contact with some of my closest friends and get together. One lives in West Virginia now, but came in town for vacation and to see family. While we were only able to be together for one evening, it was so nice to catch up and fill in the details of what we missed over the years.

Then, last night we got together with 2 couples that we did a lot with throughout high school. It kind of hit home when we realized that Holly and MaKenna are about as old as we were when we first became friends! We had a great evening of eating, reminiscing, talking, laughing, catching up and just hanging out. Funny how as much as some things change, they also remain much the same. It is a blessing to have friends that you can just pick up right where you left off no matter how much time has passed.

Me with Michelle and Noel:


Our children:

A One Day Vacation in Clearwater

A few weeks ago, Mark was taking a class in the Clearwater area and, after much schedule rearranging and finagling, we were able to go over and spend some time with him. It was a VERY short but restful time away from the daily grind for which I am truly thankful. We got there mid afternoon and went to the St. Petersburg Pier. It was basically a bunch of stores and restaurants with an Aquarium, fishing and boating thrown in for good measure. We didn't stay long, but did go to the top for the view. Of course, we also got a family pic looking out over Tampa Bay:



This is the Pier - kind of funny looking!


The view from the top of the Pier of downtown St. Pete.:


The girls thought that the "old fashioned" phone booth was hilarious - Mark and I remembered when the price to use one went from a nickel to a dime per call. Does that make us old?????!!!


Caleb tried to make friends with a local pelican, to no avail:


After leaving the pier, we went over to the gulf to catch the sunset over the water. If you have never seen this, you are truly missing one of the greatest beauties of God's creation. Almost as soon as we arrived, Holly found this:


We didn't find any other Sand Dollars the whole time we were there, but this one was in almost perfect condition.

We walked and walked and walked, watching the sun slowly sink in the sky. There is something so peaceful and relaxing about the beach. The waves gently crashing, the birds calling and the feeling of the water on your feet are all soothing to the soul. We were far from most people and loved feeling like we were on our own private island. It was a much needed rest. Here are some shots we took as we walked, talked and laughed while waiting for the sun to set:







Not yet:






Getting closer:




Almost down...


Getting closer still...


Waiting:


Set...


The next day while Mark was in class, the kids and I went over to the beach. We found a quiet spot with almost no people and set up camp! The kids played in the water:


Caleb climbed on this while I made lunch. It is hard to tell from the picture, but he is pretty high up there!


Here is what I did:


I watched my children play, I watched the waves, I watched the clouds - all while sitting, relaxing and soaking up some vitamin D. Other than wanting more time with Mark, we could not have asked for a better day. Pure bliss!