Field Trip to the Columbus Ships!

Well, another week has flown by and while we had a sick baby as well as some other issues that kept us from a full workload for school we still made it to our field trip on Friday! Here's a little rundown on it and some pictures for you to see.

The Christopher Columbus replica ships were in port about 20 minutes from our house so we planned up a fun outing to go tour them. It was a warm, sunny day here in AL and we had a great turnout for the group.  The replicas are of the Nina and Pinta. We had a guide that shared some info about the ships and we were able to go on board and look around as well. Here's a link to the site that shares more about them. It's a fun way to learn about how they traveled back then and the history behind Columbus' discovery. And here's a look at the ships!

                                        The Pinta

                                         The Nina

 

 

So there's our last field trip for Septemeber! Can't wait to plan up some new outings for next month and be back to share them with you all. :-)

 

(linked up with Field Trip Friday over at Home to 4 Kiddos)

Field Trip Fun!

The first few weeks of homeschooling have gone by rather quickly for us. I guess that's partly because we've been so busy doing a lot more than just school work! Some of that business includes a few field trips that I thought I would share here for anyone interested.

During our vacation to Pigeon Forge we visited the Titanic Museum one day. Dathan is crazy about history and has always been a little fascinated with the story about the Titanic since first hearing about it so he really wanted to go. The museum experience was great. So many artifacts and real life details that you don't get just anywhere. Plus, you get to pretend to be and actual passenger on the ship and find out at the end whether you made it or not. The kids got to have audio recorders that they could punch in a code and listen to at various stations which gave them lots of neat info. All in all  it was a really good field trip that we fully enjoyed. The price is a little steep but well worth it if this is something you are interested in doing. Oh, and don't miss sticking your hand in the ice cold water! It was a very sobering thought realizing just how terrible it must have been that night to be on board.

Next we visited the Helen Keller birthplace (Ivy Green) in Tuscumbia. Delancey has recently gotten interested in sign language so we thought it would be a fun trip after doing some research about her. The house and grounds were neat to see, although you basically just walk through yourself so not as much info as we were hoping for. It was still an enjoyable tour though and remarkable to think about all of the handicaps she overcame and still managed to have a full life. Makes me realize how much I take for granted and fail to be thankful for so often!

This week we were able to go hear a local bee keeper talk about his work and learn all about the bees, how honey is made, and the process to gather it. Not to mention all the many things it's good for and what you can make with it. The kids had a blast and learned so much. I highly recommend that you look up your own local place if you have one nearby that is willing to provide a field trip!

So there's some of what we have been up to as far as field trips goes. We have another one coming up next week and plan to keep doing maybe a couple per month so be sure to check back as I share more!

(linked up to Field Trip Friday over at Home to 4 Kiddos blog)

Everyday Randomness

I didn't really have anything in particular that I could think of to write about at the moment (pregnancy brain?) so I figured I would just share some of what we've been up to lately.

Various doctors appointments for allergies, the dentist, and pregnancy check-ups seem to take up alot of our time lately! Most of it is needed obviously but sometimes it can be stressful to always be on the go. I'm hoping to slow down some in the next few weeks to have a break before the baby gets here.

Trying to get in some school days so that we can take off after Daxton comes without getting behind. Between not feeling good and staying gone alot that's been hard to do though! Oh, well, I'm convincing myself not to stress about that one and trusting that we'll get done what we need to when we need to. (okay, so I'm not always thinking that way about it but I know I should!)

Got to attend a fun baby shower for a sweet friend last week. Delancey was able to go as well and had a great time. We did a little shopping (mostly for groceries!) afterward and it was nice spending time with just the big girls for a change. Although Darcey is getting old enough that she really wants to be included more too! She may be referring to herself as "the baby" since we talk about Daxton alot these days but she totally thinks she's as big as the other two anyway.

The older kids and Blake got in free to watch the local baseball team play Saturday night. They had a blast while me and Darcey hung out here at home taking it easy.

For whatever reason my pubic bone starts popping out of place during later pregnancy and has since the very first time. Needless to say this is painful when it does it and combined with my hip trouble can pretty much get me down if it's bad. It did that early Sunday morning so I had a fun day for sure! Thankfully I had a chiropractor appointment already set up for Monday so was able to get adjusted. Lots of soreness and my hips still giving me a hard time today though. Hoping it will get better soon so I can actually walk around easier!

The kids and I visited my parents for breakfast and a swim before seeing the chiro on Monday so that was alot of fun. I had lots of contractions that night though so maybe a little too much fun swimming?! lol Actually, I think I'm just at that stage where things are getting started early which isn't unusual for me. Now if I just wouldn't do it for SO long and go over the due date! Contractions for weeks on end can get pretty tiresome after awhile.

I guess that's about it with the randomness for now. Oh, I almost forgot about being surprised with the news that some homeschool friends want to give me a baby shower of my own in a couple of weeks! So excited and thankful that they would do that. I'll be sure to share more details on that later though. For now I'm gonna head to bed and see how much sleep I can get. :-)

                                          Tyra

Homeschooling Stuff

I don't post very often about homeschooling on here, which is something I may try to change in the future. And since I had some thoughts on my mind about that subject at the moment I figured now would be a good time to start! :-)

We are almost done with this school year as far as days go, although we do have some more work in a few books that I want to finish up this summer as well so that we can start with some different things for the next year. I'm a little torn over what I want to try for the next grades just to be honest. We did some unit studies at the beginning of this past year but while we liked some things about it there were others that we didn't. We then ended up doing some Abeka and Bob Jones books in a few subjects which is what we are working to finish up now. I'm also still doing some of the upper level Sing, Spell, Read and Write with Delancey and she has caught on so amazingly well with her reading just recently. Due to various reasons it has taken her longer to pick up on stuff than it did with Dathan but knowing that every child is different I wasn't all that concerned about it really. I'm so thankful to have a homeschooling background that I believe enables me to be more easy going with things and willing to just go with the flow while the kids are young. They will get it when they get it and pushing too hard or worrying about it is just pointless I think.

Back to the question of what curriculum to use this next year though. Knowing that we'll be adding a new baby in the mix come August or September makes it even harder to decide what direction would be best to go in for everyone. I'll have a 4th and 2nd grader to teach plus an almost 2 year old and newborn to deal with at the same time! And since my 8 (he'll be turning 9 in August) year old and 7 year old seem to learn in different ways and even like different subjects that makes it a little hard to school together really. Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions would be appreciated in this area!

To be honest, academics isn't really my highest priority when it comes to schooling my kids or the main reason we choose to keep them at home. (gasp!) I'm not saying there's anything wrong with learning or that we will hold them back if they have the desire to advance as far as they are able, but it's just not where I want to put the most importance. Especially while they are little. I'd much rather see them learn how to become Godly young men and women who use their lives for His glory rather than get caught up in a certain career or worry so much about what they know or can accomplish in life in other ways. That being said, I think a certain amount of learning is good and beneficial to everyone, regardless of their goals in life so that is what I want to be able to help them with as they grow up. Not to mention that they both happen to be smart, little boogers who love to learn (about the stuff they're interested in anyway! lol) and I want to encourage them in that the best way I can. :-)

So anyway there's a few thoughts about homeschooling I had at the moment. I'm sure there will be more to come in the future! For now though if you have anything to share with me pertaining to this subject I would love to hear from you. Until next time....

                                           Tyra

p.s. I am linking this post up to The Modest Mom blog but seem to be having trouble with buttons recently so just click on the name above to visit her site! Thanks! 

Randomness :)

Can't believe it's already been a week since I last posted! This month is just flying by.....alot like this whole year has! I don't really have anything in particular to write about today, hence the title of the post. Just thought I'd share about what's been going on around here.

I think we're finally getting more adjusted to the time change, although Darcey still isn't sleeping the greatest and we all tend to wake up earlier than usual. The first couple of days/nights were kinda rough though so I'm glad those are over! (at least until spring anyway)

Our week was kinda busy with a play date, doctor's appointments, Delancey's last art class, and me volunteering at Choose Life again. In between that of course was schooling and normal every day stuff so we had plenty going on!

Friday was Veteran's Day so Blake was off work and we were able to see the parade in town....which was so good and really well attended. There may be alot wrong in this country these days but I'm still very thankful and proud to be an American!

The rest of the day we spent with my parents, eating out and taking our first trip to Costco. I'm thinking if we go there very often we'll definitely have to leave our wallets at home and just look. ha!

The weekend was spent mostly just resting up and enjoying family time. And of course there's never a dull moment when life is in 3-D! ;-)

How did your week go? I'd love to hear about it!

A God Who Answers...

A year ago today our family of four went to the homeschool picnic for the group we were in....and left our brand new baby girl behind with my parents. As most of you know she struggled with so many issues in the first few weeks and months after being born that we could hardly take her out anywhere. Days and nights were spent just trying to keep her crying less (and rarely ever fully succeeding) and going out only made that worse. My heart broke as I left that day and while we had a good time it was still so hard seeing all the other babies with their momma's and not being able to have mine there.
This year the same Thanksgiving picnic rolled around and I was so excited at the thought of the whole family getting to go since Darcey is doing so much better now. But in the past couple of weeks she had picked up something viral and just couldn't seem to shake it. We would think she's getting better and then her symptoms would flare up worse all over again. Once more I was so dissapointed at having to possibly consider leaving her behind if she didn't start feeling better by today.
Yesterday she seemed a little better but by evening wasn't that great again but I decided to give it til this morning and just see how things went. We of course had been praying for her ever since she's gotten sick and have already seen the Lord answer more than once in giving her relief or just helping her sleep some on the worst days, but last night I asked Him specifically to please touch her enough so that she would be able to go with us.
This morning she woke up early in a good mood and seemed to be feeling fine. And although she had some congestion and drainage while taking her bath after that I'm pretty sure I never had to so much as wipe her nose one time and her cough was almost totally gone! Needless to say, she went on the picnic.....and we thanked God for answering our prayers. It might sound insignificant or unimportant to some, but to us it was a little miracle. :-)

Stay-at-Home Encouragement

No matter how hard the days may be sometimes.....

....or how many long nights you have......

.....always remember that.....

"Faithful is He who calleth you, who also will do it" 1 Thessalonians 5:24

So when you feel like you're a failure......

....and maybe even question giving up....

....just stop trying to do it all yourself....

....and let Him!

"And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season, we shall reap if we faint not." Galations 6:9

These scriptures encouraged my heart today and I hope they will yours as well! I'm thankful to serve a God who is faithful to help us when we need it. What encourages you when you're going through a hard time?

Sounds Like a Great Movie!

We are always on the lookout for good, decent movies to go and see. The kids love going to the theatre but we're so limited on what we want to watch there! A couple of years ago we were on vacation and stopped the aquarium in Clearwater, FL where a dolphin named Winter lives. She has an amazing story of survival and the kids were thrilled to learn a little later that they were actually making a movie about it! I had seen the trailer and thought it looked like it would be a safe one to see but normally try to research a little more before actually going. Then today I saw this link on facebook and was excited to learn that it's definitely family friendly and even better is being promoted to and by homeschoolers because of the kids they chose to play in it! You'll read more about it by clicking on the link above and then I hope you'll want to go see it. :) Be sure to let me know if you want to go with us cause we will totally be there!! But before you do that, here's a cute picture of Winter for you to enjoy.....

Flyin' By!

It's hard to believe another week has come and gone, but here it is Monday again so I guess it's true! Here's a little of what we've been up to these past few days.

Visited a local museum that has Spring farm days every year and had fun checking out all the neat things there. Sheep shearing, wool washing, "panning" for gold, and playing a washboard....just to name a few! We've been several times now but the kids still love it and of course this was Darcey's first time to go. She rode in her Moby wrap and did pretty good until we both started sweating. lol

The kids did great with school work, with Dathan doing some extra at times and Delancey catching on to her reading a little more. It's so exciting when they are actually liking to learn! Wednesday was a playgroup with the other homeschoolers so we had fun going out to spend time with everyone. It was good to get a break in the middle of the week.

Darcey is still liking to eat and I'm hoping to figure out a few more things to add in that she'll do well with. It's always challenging to figure out what to give them what with allergies and stomach issues. She definitely is ready for more though and has started fussing and reaching for our food when she realizes we're eating and she's not! :)

Delancey's tooth is soooo loose now and really needs to come out since she has the "shark teeth" growing in behind just like Dathan did. I'm really hoping that hers come forward and straighten up after the baby ones get out of the way like his as well. It makes it hard to pull them when the new ones aren't pushing up underneath, but Dathan's look fine now....just makes for a little more frustration when trying to get them out!

To end the week up we went to a Mickey Mouse magic show with my parents and brother. It was so fun!! We love seeing live shows with the kids and Disney never fails to deliver a good one. Darcey was a little fussy at times what with reacting to the smells, plus just the loudness and darkness but she made it through okay. (Blake and I took turns standing at the exit with her for alot of it) The kids have been putting on their own magic shows ever since so that's been entertaining to say the least! lol

But I guess that about wraps it up! Here's to hoping all of us have another great week this time around too. Until next time...

Just a Little Note

I keep promising myself that I will post more on here, but so far that just isn't happening! For today I'll be keeping it short and sweet and hopefully get around to finish the gazillion other posts I have started another day. :)

As I'm sure most of you know by now we've had snow since last Sunday night here in the south. This is the first 'big' snow we've had in years and especially that has stayed around for this long! The kids have been loving it of course, but it's also gotten a little old being so cold and not being able to get out during the day because of Darcey. The roads finally cleared off by Wednesday and Blake had to go back to work but the kids and I didn't go anywhere until yesterday. Can anyone say stir-crazy?! But I'm still glad we got it and the kids were able to enjoy having so much to play in here at home for a change. And I have to admit that I think it's beautiful too.

As for where we went yesterday, the homeschool group we're part of had a field trip at a local museum and since the kids were dying to get out and actually see someone else I decided to try and go. I wasn't sure how Darcey would do and actually it was the first real trip for me alone with all three kids, but it went really well! I was amazed that she hardly cried at all while we were there for over 2 hours....and then not amazed at all when she screamed most of the way home afterwards. Guess you can't have it all easy, right? :)

Well, that wasn't the greatest update in the world but it's late and I'm tired so it'll have to do. (and it's actually longer than I even meant for it to be so that should count for something) Here's hoping for a good night....