Learning through life

Today we went to Home School Horse Class.  These lovely ladies that love horses, love children, and love to homeschool decided to offer FREE horse classes and incorporate character lessons and their love of horses....offer them to anyone that homeschools and bring the whole family!  It was HOT...and there were a ton of kids today but we had a blast...and the thing I loved about it so much is just learning through life experiences...learning about horses, about puppies, about the heat, about how to be patient, about drinking lots of water, about sharing, about not complaining, and lots and lots about HORSES!  There was lots of waiting but the people had a huge great oak tree that had long branches extending all the way down to the ground and within it had built the coolest fort ever, complete with a climbing wall and zip line.  All the kids played all around it while waiting.  We ate a picnic and played with 2 week old puppies.  (Emily later had a complete meltdown at home begging her daddy for one of the puppies...it didn't work)  The kids all took turns riding the horses, Pilgrim and Shiloh.  They got to groom them and do some balance exercises on them and ride them around the field.  It was a good day and full of learning!  We can't wait until next month!

Tea Time!

It was tea time in Thomasville today for the girls!  We drove to Thomasville today with 2 other mommies and 4 other kids to enjoy tea at Bella Woods Cafe!  We love this place because #1 the owners are super nice and always go out of their way to make it special and #2 it is so cheap!  Me and my two girls ate lunch and had tea and dessert for $15!  They bring out real china tea cups and tea pots for each girl.  They have a miniature tabel for them to sit at.  They wait on them and pour their tea and serve their food on china plates with all the fixings!  The girls loved it!  This is the first time Molly has been and boy did she have fun!  She thought she was big stuff!  Emily was the oldest but enjoyed listening to all the little girls talk.  Ms. Amy brought hats for them to wear, which some did and some did not!  We did some window shopping afterwards in some of the cute downtown shops.  My boys went to Home Depot and Five Guys for lunch while we were gone....how manly of them!

Grilled cheese in little triangles and a fruit cup...they call it the "Nick"

She is thrilled to have her own big girl stuff!

Pound cake and more tea!

Where's Molly?

There she is!

Baby A wasn't as thrilled about picture time as everyone else!

My newest favorite quote!

What I love most about the homeschooling lifestyle is that we are all together, in all our glorious mess, day in and day out!  Ann Voskamp

Summer Birthdays!

Today after church and Sunday School we drove to Thomasville to celebrate some of the summer birthdays in the Gay Family.  John's sister, grandfather, mom, nephew, and John all celebrate birthdays in June, July, and August.  That doesn't even count all the birthdays in September in our family!  We had a delicious lunch and great conversation.  The kids love fishing off Poppy's dock.  They live right on a really pretty lake! 

John's Mom and grandfather...I think John looks just like them!

It's ON!

Can you tell I've been in catch up mode...can you tell John has been working?  Well tomorrow we have no plans, it is a Saturday but it will be our Monday....tomorrow is when we start with some initial scheduling.  I've organized our chores, I've written out some basic schedules for everyone, I have a plan, I have stuff I want to finish or go ahead and start with the kids....and it is ON!  We need to get back in our groove of Bible time, chores, math, reading, quiet time, etc.  It will be an early morning for me, very limited computer time, and probably a little bit difficult getting started.  First things first, we will have a organizational meeting with everyone in the morning...more like family meeting so I can sit down with everyone and tell them what is expected.  I'm not going to get frustrated with them if I haven't even told them what I expect.  We still have some planned activities and I've ordered all my books but they haven't all come in yet so it will be baby steps...but getting one thing down good is sometimes best.  I, myself have to also get in a routine....waking up early, having my own QT and exercise time, and getting started on chores and breakfast all before kids wake up....We won't actually start our real school schedule until probably August 22nd when our co-op starts but if we start with baby steps, it will be easier I think...even if it is Saturday.  Goodnight!

My MIS guy~

My little home school has an MIS department...it's a one man show but oh how he has helped me!  Not really but our friend, Mr. Jeff has helped us an awful lot!  He is our go to computer guy...it is what he does for a living...and I'm sure he gets tired of us asking his opinion but he is good at what he does.  He said we are such rookies!  But he likes to give us a hard time because John and I and his own wife are always exchanging medical stories!  Anyhow, I was describing to him what my problem was...how I hate paper and there is sooo much that I need to save, store, reference later, etc having to do with home school that it gets overwhelming.  John had the wonderful idea of a flash drive but as Jeff said, "What happens if you lose that little flash drive?"....all would be lost.  So he signed me up and got me registered for Drop Box which is an online web storage site that is available to store files and documents, it is password protected, and available on any device...even my phone.  And it is FREE! Whatever you store on it, you can then bring up on ANY device...like even my parent's computer and as soon as you save something to Drop Box, it immediately uploads to the web so it is safe and stored for later use...You can create all kinds of file folders and files within files.  For instance I have a folder named, "Book Club" and within it I have two files labeled "Books for 2011/12" and "parts of a story" which are two things I may need to reference later.  I have a folder labeled "high school tips" for later use.  There are constantly emails coming through my email about things related to the high school days and I want to save them but they are junking up my inbox.  So I file them in the Drop Box and simply pull it up later.  I do like some paper, I like seeing info on paper and not on a computer screen but it isn't practical in a small house with limited storage space, shelving, and desk space.  I print out what I need IMMEDIATELY and store the rest to look up later.  It has cleared my inbox out and organized my files.  I am now in the process of typing up all my written notes from different meetings and support groups to then file in Drop Box and eventually I just want to take my little laptop with me to meetings to type what I want to remember and hit save, file to drop box...oh how easy.  I literally have been carrying around like 4 spiral notebooks from meeting to meeting...stuff I like an want to refer to later but can't and don't want to have to flip through 4 spiral notebooks!  My MIS guy is cheap and very helpful and willing to help us with all of our rookie type questions! 

School Shopping~

I have been planning on taking the kids to pick out a school outfit and some school supplies....each one by alone to make it special.  So in trying to find time and planning it around other activities and John's schedule, it was getting hard and so Emily and I went one day last week...we had to take little Molly with us but that was o.k.  I promised John Daniel to go another time.  He said to me, "Mom, will you just pick out whatever you want for me to wear and can I just go shoot my rocket with Daddy?"  Right then and there, I knew he wasn't concerned and didn't care much so I said sure and decided to quit trying to make a big deal about it and just go with the flow!  Emily, Molly, and I had fun and found two outfits at Old Navy.  Then, today after the Quilt Show with Nee Naw she offered to shop with us and treat us to some school clothes...a few things for each kid which was so nice!!!!!  So John Daniel did up picking out a few things and the girls did too!  Here are some pictures of their fashion show they did for their Daddy when we got home.....

Shirt with our doggy on it!

Bathing suit for $4