School Days, working and playing...

We are settling in to our schooling routine and new workloads. I am grateful that we 'tested' out the new schedule in August so that many of the kinks have already been tweaked before the 'official' start of our school year. Still have more 'tweaking' to do but at least our days are a bit more manageable:)
Having the 'light bulb' moments with the younger 3 is such a treat! I am so grateful that I have the privilege of watching them 'get' something for the first time. Our morning Bible and phonics time is always exciting with Mercy around. Her exuberance is contagious and before I know it, I have a kitchen full of singing, dancing kiddos as I attempt to get through the lesson of the day! My reading sessions with Mercy waver between pure hysteria and total exasperation. We both get the giggles when she tries to pronounce the sound of the letter 'R'...she pooches her lips out and concentrates so hard that she trips herself up. Her Liberian English causes her to drop the endings of many words so when we are reading the word 'meat' she will often say, "me'...but curiously enough when she is to read the word,'me', she will often pronounce it 'meat'!?! (Perhaps because of her preoccupation with food??) Soooo....daily I have opportunity to flex my 'patience' muscles as we do our lessons together. Despite occasional bouts of dramatic whining that school is 'so hard' , she is an eager learner and I do enjoy working with her. L is also doing the same reading program and he is progressing quite well too- he also has those moments of 'brain leaks' where he just isn't getting it but then will surprise me later on by making a giant 'brain leap'.( I borrowed these phrases from my friend and fellow home school mom, Kim) Since I've already had this familiar experience with the oldest 3 as they learned to read, I know now not to panic...they will eventually get it when they are ready!! Odesco is blowing through his preschool work and enjoys his 1:1 time with Mommy while L and Mercy have 'buddy time' upstairs and G is busy with her independent work. The big boys (especially P) are really taking responsibility for their work and becoming more independent learners.
Yesterday was our first day of Homeschooler's Day Out...it was a full exhausting day but really went so well. My heart is so grateful for the ladies I am blessed to home school alongside of. The wide array of classes and moms dedicated to teaching them just blows my mind. I am excited to be teaching a "Heroes of the Faith" class and look forward to seeing how God uses the true stories of faithful men and women to spur on the hearts of our young children! Again MAJOR evidence of God at work as I consider how well Mercy and Odesco did in all their classes...we had a FULL day and only minor issues to deal with...Hallelujah!!!

Today was our 2nd day of home school soccer. All 6 kiddos are participating this year. The 4 youngest are on a team together and coached by a good friend of our family which is a huge blessing. Watching these 4 from the sidelines is quite entertaining. Odesco amazes me with his coordination and natural inclination and speed , L is the character...waving, giving me thumbs up signs , moving his body in his unique 'rubber band man' manner...Mercy is one of the more demonstrative players on the field...her voice is definitely heard above all the others...I love watching her skip to her side of the field as the others are jogging into place...she is also the Drama Queen...today she was instructed to throw the ball out to a team mate and instead fell to the ground laughing! G is the Cheerleader...always ready to give a 'high five' when one of her teammates scores a goal and jumping up and down squealing when the ball approaches her end of the field. Today Mercy was at the bottom of a pileup and lay there wailing...she was fine...just needed to be encouraged to shake it off and get back on the field but L was being the protective brother...he had his little arm around her back and walked with her over to the rest of the players. It was sweet to see his tender heart for his sister...especially cute since Mercy is a full head taller than he is-
The big boys are all business and really working on their skills with the rest of their team mates.So, we are settling in to our new routine and I am enjoying the structure after a rather carefree summer of pool hopping :) Thanks for checking in!!
Mama. B (Sorry about the underlining and font colors...can't figure out what I did wrong!!)




Our big boys just keep getting bigger!! P with friend at soccer

C looking rather stylish with his tie-dye socks!

Our little guy with the fancy footwork :)

L with his buddy M at practice...

Our girlies...

The night before our first Homeschooler's Day Out...these 2 decided to get dressed like 'schoolgirls'. I actually have all 4 littles dress for Wednesdays on Tuesday nite'(minus the shoes!!)...makes for a much more peaceful transition out the door on those early morning scrambles:)!!

These 2 were supposed to be brushing their teeth and getting dressed in prep for our early morning departure...technically, they obeyed-teeth were brushed and clean clothes were donned-they just had a little imagining to do...I love seeing their little 'brother bond' growing!!

First class of the morning..."Teddy's Button" with Mrs. C~

Hard at work during 'Literacy for the Young'

Odesco, Jenkins and Mercy learning to use rhythm sticks in "God of All Creation'...and thankfully , they didn't attempt to 'make music' on each other's heads :)!!!

We had an impromtu 'family night' . While the kids folded laundry, I snuck down to my 'secret drawers' in the storage cabinet in the basement and I pulled this game called 'Journey to Bethelehem" I had purchased at the home school convention in May. While the kiddos were busy folding, I put on some Christmas music as they all tried to figure out what we were going to be doing! Talk about great motivation to get a job done!!! It is a very fun game that kids of all ages can participate in...there really is no winner- as you cruise the game board, there are goofy instructions ..."the last rest stop before Bethlehem...get up and flush a toilet!" ( a definate favorite among the littles!)...sing a Christmas song as loud as you can!' ( I think our neighbors heard this...and all the windows and doors were shut!)...' you're a shepherd- put a towel on your head', it's getting cold, put socks on your hands until you roll a '4'.. we made a memory, that's for sure!!! So, for any of my local friends...feel free to borrow it!! (sorry about the underlining...can't figure out where it came from or how to get rid of it!!!)

Wondering what Daddy is up to? He is rescuing L from his adventure(actually Daddy was there the whole time L was up in the tree)...L was 'on a mission' and staking out enemy territory as he spied way up high in this tree....hope the neighbors didn't see him peering into their yard!!! I just love his vivid imagination :)

Hard at Work...All 6 kiddos helped Daddy split and stack wood in preparation for those frigid winter days! It was great to see them all working together...often our days are filled with 'opportunities' for conflict resolution so when they pull together like this it is a joy to see and a reason for celebration!!

~ More Hard Work!! L's turn to control the log splitter~

Miss Mercy is such a diligent worker when she puts her mind to it!

A job well done ...that's alot of wood and believe it or not we will probably use it all!!

The transformation begins...after devouring lots of milkweed, our little caterpillar finally climbed onto the top of the jar lid and formed a 'j'...the signal that the next part of the amazing process is to take place. L enjoyed talking to this little critter while it was still in its creepy crawly state...L would sit at the counter and have a conversation...don't know if Mr. caterpillar heard him but I sure enjoyed it!!

We woke up the next morning and found the fully formed vivid green chrysalis...amazing!!! At the top of it is a shimmering thin gold line-when the sunlight hits it looks as if it is real sparkly gold... It reminds me of a a king's crown...I wonder is that why it is called a Monarch butterfly?? I love how the intricacies of God's creation often serve no other purpose than to cause us to marvel and give Him glory!!

Little boys at play...we never know what 'get-ups' they will have on next!!

C helped Odesco do these puzzles during his scheduled activity time during school