curriculum

This is what the kids will be studying this year. (This is mostly for my own records, so feel free to skip this post if you want =)

Conner -- 9th grade

• Algebra (Saxon; class at FACE)
• Physical Science (Apologia; class at FACE)
• Drive Thru History -- America
• Literature Guides from Progeny Press
• 50 States Under God
• Spanish (class at FACE)
• Writing Strands
• Spelling Power
• Typing

Chase--6th grade

• Math-U-See
• Apologia Science -- Astronomy
• Bible Geography(class at FACE)
• My Father's World history -- Rome to the Reformation
• Literature Guides from Progeny Press
• A Reason for Handwriting
• Spelling Power
• Spanish (class at FACE)
• Chess (class at FACE)
• Typing

Brenna --4th grade

• Math-U-See
• Apologia Science -- Astronomy
• My Father's World history -- Rome to the Reformation
• Primary Language Lessons
• A Reason for Handwriting
• Reading program (Options class)
• Spanish (Rosetta Stone--Options class)
• Sign Language (Options class)
• Art (Options class)
• Piano (Options class)

Aiden -- Kindergarten

• Sing, Spell Read and Write
• A Reason for Handwriting
• class at Options

As a family, we'll work on Our 24 Family Ways as a devotion.

new season

It officially feels like the end of summer to me now. Scott and all the kids spent the weekend in the mountains at my parents' house. Know what that means? I had the house to myself. All weekend. Just me, myself and I. Oh, and the cats.

I had planned to just rest all weekend and do some planning for school which starts next week. But I started thinking of ways our various bookshelves and storage areas could be better arranged. So Saturday I did way too much cleaning and moving of things. And I felt it afterward. I was so sore all night.

But I was much smarter today. I did the weekly grocery shopping and spent the rest of the day planning. This evening and tomorrow morning I'm actually going to rest like I'd originally planned.

This school year promises to be challenging. Last spring when I realized how hard it would be to homeschool a high schooler while juggling a newborn (not to mention the 4 kiddoes inbetween), I panicked a bit.

Scott and I prayed about it and I started looking at different options. We are still going to homeschool, we both felt strongly that it is still God's will for our lives. But I decided on a little help. Last year the kids took a couple classes at FACE, a private school that offers classes for homeschoolers, but they were mostly for fun. This year Conner will be taking some high school courses that will take a bit of the burden of me. He and I will still work at home during the week but he'll also have outside assistance to help keep him on track. Chase also opted to stick with FACE.

For Brenna and Aiden, I found a program funded by the public schools. This took a lot of thinking and prayer, but I feel good about our decision. They will attend on Mondays. Brenna has 6 different classes and Aiden will stay with one teacher and do a Kindergarten program. Again, we'll still school at home the rest of the days.

I'm hopeful that between these programs and our curriculum for home, everyone will get what they need this year. And I'm looking into some ideas to make up activity boxes for Zane to keep him busy and involved each day.

This is our tentative schedule for the year:

Monday -- Brenna and Aiden to Options 8:30-3:30 ; work at home with Conner and Chase
Tuesday-- School at home
Wednesday-- School at home
Thursday-- Reserved for field trips, bowling league
Friday-- Conner and Chase to FACE 8:30-2:30; work at home with Brenna and Aiden

For extra-curriculars this year, we have girl scouts, boy scouts, church choir, AWANA, bowling league, gymnastics and swimming.

We begin our new school year on Tuesday. I can't wait!

children's museum

I met a friend at the Children's Museum a couple days ago, with the 3 youngest kiddoes. Alas, the older 2 have long outgrown it.

I love this picture of Zane holding hands with his buddy, Jayden.

Brenna was a great help with the younger boys.

Acting like monkeys

The little store has always been a hit with my kids. Zane loved pushing the cart around, gathering "groceries". He even had the concept of scanning them down. Too funny!

Peekaboo!

MMM...strawberries

We went on a homeschool field trip this week to pick berries. They didn't have a great harvest this year, but there was still plenty to pick and eat while picking. We hope to go back within the next couple weeks once the raspberries are ready.

They also had a new little pig on the farm. The kids just loved her. She was so calm and sweet. I want to trade my dogs in for pigs!

Ladies day out

Sunday I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with a few of my favorite people. We met for lunch at Pei Wei and then toured the Parade of Homes.

It was fun to look at these houses that are so far out of the realm of practical that it's ridiculous.

Why does one need five T.V.s on one wall?

This is a shower. One shower. That fit all these ladies.

And no pictures, but all the houses had refrigerators with four drawers of freezers underneath. Most had at least one other fridge or freezer in a pantry area. Almost all the homes had large wine cellers, one had its own small brewery. Who needs these things, I ask?

Okay...it would be nice to have a deep tub like this.

Or the double set of washers and dryers one house had. Or the large mud/craft room. Or... LOL

I really wouldn't want all the upkeep a house this large would need, but it was a lot of fun to walk through getting small decorating ideas and talking with my girls.

Baby update time

I had my 32-week appointment today. Very uneventful. All is well, although my blood pressure was just a tad high. Could be the total lack of sleep I got last night thanks to my teething Zane! The baby is doing great.

I will have another quick appt. at 34 weeks, and then my Dr. wants to schedule an ultrasound at 36 weeks. Since my quad screen numbers came back high, they want to check on the baby's size. I am also hopeful they'll be better able to look for the markers for Down's Syndrome at that time. That would still give us 4 weeks to prepare ourselves mentally.

I've been in a good place these past months. I've heard from so many ladies who have told me they tested positive for DS also and their babies were born perfect. So while it's definitely still a possibility, I've chosen not to dwell on it. If he does have DS, that is God's plan and he will equip us to deal with it.

I am slowing waaay down. Stairs are not my friend. Neither is bending over, lifting anything over 20 pounds, or trying to get up from our couch. But what I'm lacking in energy the baby is gaining. He is so active! It's fun for the other kids to see how much he moves.

Only 8 weeks to go! Or based on my previous experiences, 9 or 10. =)

soccer is over

Another thing bringing summer to a close...the soccer season ended last weekend. Aiden and Brenna had a great time and learned a lot. I know Aiden will want to play again next year, not sure about Boo.

They had their awards ceremony on Saturday. It was POURING rain, so the actual tournament games were cancelled, but they still got to have their pizza party and awards.

end of summer?

We had maybe 2 inches of rain so far this summer. Isn't that sad? Now in the last 2 days we've had more than that. And it's supposed to continue all weekend.

I'm loving the cooler weather. It makes me want to snuggle on the couch under a blanket and read a book. And it's also making me finally switch gears toward fall. I think I've been in denial that summer's about to end.

I have friends whose kids are already back in school. That's crazy. We start the Tuesday after Labor Day each year. So we still have a couple weeks to play. I'm hoping to fit in some more swimming at least.

On the other hand, I also need to buy school supplies and work out a good schedule for each of us this year. And try to factor a baby into the mix! That should make my schedule fly right out the window, right?

So that's where I am right now -- kind of in limbo. Trying to enjoy the rest of summer while getting ready for fall and baby.

Weeee!

We used our free amusement park tickets from the library last night. Zane was so excited to get to go on some rides!

And Aiden had a great time with his buddy Joshua.

glorious rain

It has been extrememely dry here this summer. So we celebrate each rainfall! =)

son and sun flowers

My sonflowers have really shot up this last week or so. Here is one taller than Aiden.

And one more his size.

Coors Field

Today we went on a homeschool group field trip to the Colorado Rockies stadium, Coors Field. My family is big into baseball so this was a real treat for us. Conner had to miss it as this is his week at his grandparents', but I plan to have him and Scott go on a tour themselves soon.

We learned a lot of new information about the field and got to sit in the owners suite for a few minutes. I forgot to take a picture, but we were told it would go for $186,000 a year, if the owners ever rented it out. I think we'll stick with our discounted tickets from King Soopers. =)

It's certainly a gorgeous field.

Sitting in the press area was interesting too.

The kids' favorite was the Rockies dugout. We learned they keep containers there for the players full of sunflower and pumpin seeds, Bazooka gum, and jolly ranchers.