"Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours." ~Ludwig van Beethoven

We were granted the pleasure of getting to know the Burgess family about five years ago when I was employeed to be their babysitter.  It was incredible fun to watch my boys make their first real friends.  Carson was not quite two yet, and Randy was only four.  The Burgess boys ages fall right in between. 

A couple of years ago, after I retired from babysitting, the Burgess family had to relocate out of town.  They have ALWAYS taken the time to visit with us when they make it back for holidays and such.  I am always delighted to see how the boys interact even though there have been time lapses in between their visits. 

This picture is from this past Christmas.  I am so disappointed that I failed to capture a picture of their mommy, as she happens to have a cute little baby belly growing quite rapidly!  Baby Burgess is due to arrive in March! What fun it will be to share baby pictures when the time comes.

Thank you to the Burgesses for proving to be a great family in which to share friendship.

Carson lost his first tooth!

A friend of mine posted this article from CNN on his Facebook page.  You may have read or heard about it already.  Dr. Andrew Wakefield conducted a study in Britain that involved patients with autism and the link to vaccination, particularly the MMR vaccination.  The results of his study were spread all over the media and caused panic to many parents.  Consequently, a very large number of children were not vaccinated when they normally should have been.  This greatly lowered herd immunity and has led to a loss of the lives of many children.  To make matters worse, it appears that his study was falsified.  You can read more about that in the above link to CNN.

My motive for writing this article is not to support whether or not vaccinations lead to things such as autism or food allergies.  We truly do not have enough evidence to support either way. After reading this article, and learning the effects of NOT using vaccinations, I have come to realize the true importance of them.  I have had my own struggle with whether or not to use vaccinations after reading many claims of the links to autism and food allergies.  My oldest son has life threatening food allergies, and I have a strong desire to know what has caused it.  However, the effects of this bogus study have proven what can happen if vaccinations were stopped.  We have solid proof that these diseases in which vaccinations prevent have horrible consequences, including death.  We do not have enough evidence that vaccinations lead to autism or food allergies.  And even if we did, would we choose a path that could lead to death?

I truly believe that we will someday have an answer.  It is a shame that all the money that was spent on this falsified study was not used on a true one.  But, thank you Dr. Wakefield for clearing up my clouded thoughts on whether or not to vaccinate!

Joey and Mamaw were sitting on the mule while we were digging potatoes, and Joey heard a rooster crowing.  I thought it was perfect timing, because he just recently learned about roosters and how they sound.

The Rooster Crows

First our walk

The boys like to go into the barn (in the background) and see the dogs and tractor.  Mamaw and I thought it would make a cute picture of the boys together on the wagon… if only they would all smile and look at the camera at the same time…lol!

Walking down the long driveway…

And, into the barn, onto the hay…

More barn pictures…..

Mamaw and Joey.

Down by the apple tree…Someday you’ll be big enough Joey!

Okay, maybe with mamaw’s help!

After time in the apple tree, we decided to take a walk further down the road.  This led us to a storm drain under the road that leads to a creek (currently dry.)  The boys LOVE walking along the creeks.  On this farm there are a few of them.

Sitting on creek rock with mamaw.

Boys…. what can I say?

Once we caught up with the big boys, Joey cracked us up!  He ran right over to them and sat down.  He is always trying to keep up with his big brothers.

A squirrel hole?

Ummm… I am not sure you should do that…lol!

It’s amazing how things like an old tree stump can captivate the boys’ attention for so long.  They had fun tearing the bark off this old tree.

Time to dig potatoes!

The boys waited all day to go potato digging with papaw.  Needless to say, they had a blast!

Getting started…

Look at that! A potato!

A BIG one!

Another….

Even Joey got to help.

Joey and his ONE potato.

Nearing the end of a row.

Time to call it a day.

I will start with little R.  He is officially a second-grader this year, so we get to do much more!  The following is a list of subjects along with our choice of “tools.”

Little R

• Reading - First Favorites from Veritas Press.
• Math – Saxon Math 2
• Handwriting – Classically Cursive
• Spelling – Excellence in Spelling/Phonetic Zoo Level A
• History – Story of the World Vol. 1
• Bible – Child’s Story Bible and Veritas Press Lesson Plans
• Science – Co-op using Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology.

Little C

• Reading – Veritas Phonics Museum First Grade
• Math – Saxon Math 1
• History, Bible, and Science are all done with Little R

Baby J

I have not figured out what do do with Baby J while we are in school.  I have a feeling that by the time I do figure it out, he will be onto the next phase.  Isn’t that how it usually happens? I am sure I will be visiting Preschoolers and Peace quite often in the upcoming years!

So… for a peak into my crazy life~

I found some pictures in my camera that I have not yet done anything with, so  I decided to put them on here.  I don’t know about you, but I find blog reading much more interesting with pictures.  Even if they are kind of blah…lol!

I will start with the 2010 Butterfly Exhibit at the Krohn Conservatory.  As you know, we have been going to this exhibit every spring now since 2008.  There were so many beautiful butterflies from Japan.  Here are a few snippets…

As you can see, my pictures are kind of sad this year.  It happened to be a very busy day at the conservatory, and I had Baby J strapped to the front of me.  He was not very happy about this, but I had no choice.

On a very exciting note, my brother graduated from The University of Cincinnati’s College of Engineering.  I think this is even more special because he went back to school late and turned the big 30 just days before graduation.   He has proven to all of us that it is never too late.  I am so proud of you brother!

Right around the time of this graduation celebration, my sister moved into my house.  Though her circumstances are not happy ones, I am very happy to be here for her.  This privelage also includes my 16 year old niece and my 9 year old nephew.  I love these kids like they are my own.  I pray that I can prove to be a positive influence on their lives while they are all here.

Little C finally started swim lessons.  I don’t remember if I wrote about this last year, but he refused to get in the water.  I, of course, would not force him.  This year, though, was much better.  He was very nervous and cried a little the first day, but after his first lesson he was so proud of himself.  This is how I knew I did the right thing by encouraging him to go through with it even though he was scared.

He even went off the diving board!

One evening while I was talking to a neighbor in the front yard, the boys… and, ahem… my 16 yo niece… were playing in the backyard together.  Let’s just say that these kinds of moments are what memories are made of…

 My husband and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!

Do I really need to comment on this one?  LOL!

We went to see the Monster Trucks!

It was VERY sunny and VERY loud!

We enjoyed many ice cream cones (Baby J’s first!)

Little R earned his orange belt in taekwondo!

Since I am a horrible picture taker, that is all I have… I am truly hoping to get back intot he blogging groove.  I miss being here!

I apologize in advance, since this post will not present any pictures.  I have actually been kind of neglectful in my picture-taking duties.  It seems as though all I have time for these days is teaching, cleaning, and changing diapers…lol!  It’s okay, though, I am loving my life more than ever.  I am going to try hard to get back into my blogging habit because it is something I miss doing.  I find it intriguing to be able to share my thoughts in a “live” atmosphere where others can actually express their thoughts and encouragement back.  Only you fellow bloggers will understand what I am talking about.

Our school studies…

In the beginning I was excited and nervous all at the same time.  Once the decision was made that we were going to homeschool, I knew in my heart that this is where the good Lord wants us at this point in our lives. 

(I have to stop for a minute and elaborate.  If you have ever had a struggle with a decision in your life, I urge you to give it to the Lord.  It is absolutely amazing how He takes care of us, especially when we feel utterly out of control.  All we have to do is give it to Him!)

Back to our school studies…

I started out very “gung-ho” with a HUGE list of what we were to accomplish for this year.  I admit now, a little too “gung-ho” …lol! I won’t bore you with  my list, for you would probably think I am crazy.  I was warned that this would probably happen, for the fear of failing my children is a strong one.  But, as we got going, I quickly realized that if we were going to be successful I would have to simplify!  And, later, I realized that it is okay to “tailor” school to my children’s needs – or my own for that matter!  This freedom is a huge benefit of homeschooling.  Once I learned to embrace this, our journey got much more enjoyable.  It is hard to pull away from the structured school mindset that many of us have grown up with.  It feels strange and wrong at first, but now I would have it no other way!  I love that my little first grader can be just that - a little first grader. 

There is more than one road that leads to the knowledge that our children are expected to attain, and we happened to have chosen the trip down “Homeschool Avenue.”  My first grader will meet his fellow first grade friends at the end of this road, just in a different manner.  My hope is that not only he will reach that destination, but perhaps he will acquire a few more souvenirs along the way ;-)

I have printed the Life Level One for my own family to try, and I am thoroughly impressed with what I see so far.  There seems to be a lot of detail, and it looks put together in a way that I believe will not be intimidating to my children (or myself for that matter!) 

I should add, too, that there is also Earth & Space and Chemistry available for science study.  Pandia Press also has available a large selection titled History Odyssey that I believe is set up to follow the classical education timeline. 

We had fun looking at Ancient India, and are currently diving into Ancient China.  For our Ancient India activity, we decided to make a Pacheesi board game.  It is not exactly like it would have been back in the day since we used poster board instead of fabric and beautiful embroidery.  But, it worked!  Here are some pictures…

Homemade Parcheesi

Homemade pawns made out of clay and beads

The boys got a real game of Parcheesi for Christmas. We enjoy playing it better than our homemade one.

This little noun

Floating around

Names a person, place, or thing

Like a nic-nac padd-i-wac

These are English Rules

Isn’t language fun and cool!

The homesite now.

 My FIL has told me stories about growing up in this little house.  There were many children raised here.  There were two bedrooms in the house- a boys’ bedroom and a girls’ bedroom.  I imagine there wasn’t much privacy, but I am also sure there were many memories formed to be cherished over the years.

The homesite then.

It takes us about an hour to drive our vehicle up the mountain, and that is in good weather.  I can only imagine what it was like in the winter.  I remember a story told to me about one of the brothers who acquired polio one winter.  The ground was covered by snow, and the only way down to reach a hospital was by sled!  Lo and behold, he did make it to the hospital and is with us today!

This leads me to the holidays.  My imagination creates an image very much like that of Little House on the Prairie.  I see a small Christmas tree that had been cut down from somewhere on the mountain.  This tree is standing in a small room  that is lit up by the light from the fireplace.  On Christmas Day I bet each of the children living in the house was very excited to surround the tree to see what treasure they may have been left by Santa.  But, most of all, I am certain that they must have been left with wonderful family memories.  When you are around my FIL’s family, you can feel the love between them even now.  I am so thankful that my children are part of such a wonderful family heritage!