First Day of our New Co-op!

What a great first day!

I am so impressed with this co-op ~ how it is organized and administered, the caliber of teachers, and the class offerings.  We even made new friends on our very first day!

Daughter G has Apologia chemistry with labs, spanish 2, and a watercolor art class.

Son G has Apologia physical science, inventors and inventions, and a class about persecuted Christian children in other countries (today they sat in a dark storage room to simulate being in prison, while eating rice pudding from Vietnam).

Son L has Apologia general science, a class studying the book Pilgrim's Progress in depth, and the same class about persecuted Christians.

Son C is in the same inventors and inventions class as his brother G, and the same class about persecuted Christians.  He is also in a lego class, where they have a building challenge each week and learn to manipulate the pieces in new ways, a self defense class (basically beginning karate), and a chess class.  He is THRILLED with his schedule!

Little Man is also in the persecuted Christians class, a beginning science class, a Five in a Row literature class, and the self defense class with his brother C.

I am the chemistry class helper, so I spent two hours today helping supervise a couple of experiments (non bunsen burner, so no flames yet), learning the names of the 14 high schoolers in the class, and trying to remember how to convert metric measurements.  I am doing the reading each week along with our daughter, and having to brush up on my algebra.  This class will definitely stretch me!

We have in between hours at co-op, that can be used for getting other work done.  So we packed our backpacks last night with math and history books, and I stayed up late making lunches for everyone.  How do you building school parents do this every night????  (and how do your poor kids not have back aches every day?!)

Thankful.  Very tired (note to local friends ~ don't expect me to answer calls or be able to do much on Tuesday evenings).  But overwhelmingly thankful!

First Day of School ~ 2012

Out for breakfast per our tradition!  We almost didn't go because we ate out every night for dinner on the drive home from vacation, but tradition rates up there pretty high.

This year we are studying Year 3 of Tapestry of Grace, the 19th century.  We talked about all the different things we would learn about...beginning with the presidency of John Adams, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, pioneers and settlers moving west, states being added to the union, wars with Indians, the slavery issue, the Civil War, reconstruction, and ending with the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt!  Wow!!  So much happened in those 100 years.

For our cookie dough maps this year we made the shape of the Louisiana Purchase.  A few of the children also added the Oregon Territory to their cookie so they could trace the entire route taken by Lewis and Clark on their journey to the Pacific Ocean.  The kids all taped a piece of wax paper over their paper maps, and then made the cookie shapes directly on the wax paper.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking....."

Adding chocolate chip mountains, and green (for the grass) and gold (for the dry areas) sprinkles for the great plains.  Having just driven across much of the Louisiana Purchase, we could attest to its vast green and brown areas!

I then transferred the wax paper to cookie sheets and baked the cookies at 300 degrees for about 12 minutes.  After baking we traced the route taken by Lewis and Clark with blue icing.  Then we ate them!!

Daughter G (age 15) with her finished cookie map.

Little Man, age 7.

Son G, age 13.

Son L, age 12.

Son C, age 10.

While the cookies were baking we decorated new covers for our history notebooks.  This is son G's cover: Lewis and Clark surveying the Rocky Mountains.

Son L drew some dynamite blasting through a Year 3 "mountain" to make the transcontinental railroad.

Little Man also drew Lewis and Clark.

And daughter G drew her customary "collage" picture with lots of smaller pics showing different events of the 19th century.

It was a very fun first day!  Happy to have started!

HOME

We are H.O.M.E.!!

In our own beds.  No more living out of duffel bags, and buying ice for the cooler every day.  Three weeks is a long time to be gone....

But it was worth it!

We had a FABULOUS time.  Truly, truly refreshing.  Our bodies are a bit weary from the long drive home, but our minds and spirits had such a complete rest from our normal routine.  And we had so much fun as a family and made so many great memories.  I am extremely grateful that we were able to take this trip.

I went "big" grocery shopping this morning while the rest of the family slept, and am on my second load of laundry.  Hubby and the boys are emptying the car topper as I type, and putting away the camping gear.  Tomorrow we jump into school full steam ahead.

So thankful for the change of pace that a vacation brings.

And so thankful for the predictability of routine that being home brings!

Our niece is a married woman!

The last big "event" of our vacation was to attend our niece's wedding.  What a beautiful, God-honoring wedding ceremony it was!  Two people who love the Lord and are crazy in love with each other... it is a unique kind of holiness to catch a glimpse of their heart for God and for each other.

My hubby taught the bride to walk! Yes, he did.  When she was one year old, in the dining room of my parents' house, with a hair brush in each of her hands..... he worked and worked with her until she had it down!  He therefore took a bit of credit for her being able to walk down the aisle...!  Almost dreamlike to have known this beautiful woman all of her life, and to be there to help launch her into marriage with her beloved.  Son G and daughter G posed with this picture of the wedding couple.

Our son L swing dancing with his cousin!

Our boys had a blast dancing all evening long and later declared it the "funnest wedding ever!"  (it is the first wedding Little Man has been to, but still...)

We are now just three days from HOME!

Family Time!

We are still in California, soaking up time with our relatives!  We head for home tomorrow, but here are some shots from the last week.  My sweet and vivacious Aunt G!  (daughter G on the left, and our second cousin P on the right, who is also sweet and vivacious just like her grandma!)

 In her cute little kitchen at the senior/assisted living facility where she lives.

Pool time at my cousin's house!

Playing footsies.

Me and my cousin J.  We were pretty tight growing up.

My wonderful Aunt D, who was like a second mom to me when I was young.

Me, my mom, and my sisters!  LOVE.

Our beautiful niece and the man who has captured her heart.  We are off to their wedding in just a couple of hours!

Saying Goodbye

We are having a wonderful time in California with relatives.  We have been visiting my aunts, uncle, and cousins, and our children's second cousins.  Rich, rich times.  And fun!  And emotionally exhausting.  Yesterday we visited with an elderly aunt and uncle whom I will likely not see again this side of heaven, so saying goodbye was very hard.  I'm not sure I said all the "right" things, but I said what seemed appropriate at the time.  How much I loved them, how important they were to our family, and that we would be praying for them regularly.  We told old stories, reminiscing and laughing.  We cried.  We prayed together.  The children hung out in the room the whole time, listening to the stories and sometimes coloring.  I wondered what they were thinking.  Driving away felt wrong, and yet we had to go.

Lord, have mercy on them.  And on us.

Today we are driving several hours to meet up with my parents and one of my sisters and her family to go camping together for four days.  I'm super excited for that!  More good-byes today.. and hellos.  Love can be complicated and hard!  But it's also deep and rich.  I'm thankful for an extended family that truly loves one another ~ it is a rare gift.

Grand Canyon!

Posting real quick from outside a Starbucks in Flagstaff, AZ.  We had a FABULOUS time at the Grand Canyon.  Words cannot describe the beauty, the majesty, and the awe-inspiring experience each of us had at this amazing place.  I'll post lots more pics when I have time and computer access, but here is just a taste!  Picture above was taken right after we'd finished a four hike partway down the canyon and back up.  AMAZING.  My feet will not forgive me, but it was worth it!

10 point buck sitting right beside the road just eating!!  We saw lots and lots of wildlife.  Elk wandered freely throughout our campsite.  We got as close as about 20 feet away.

One of the many canyon vistas we experienced.

Today we move on to California for the next part of our vacation!