Starting School, 2018-2019...

All done with 3rd Grade, age 8

Finished 7th Grade, age 12

Preston and Callen successfully wrapped up their 7th and 3rd grade years in the middle of May.  After just a couple of weeks off, on June 1st, we were right back at it, starting up their 8th and 4th grade years.  Hard to believe, but yep... my big guys are growing quickly!  Since Preston started First Grade, we have used My Father's World as our core curriculum.  It worked well for both boys, we all liked it a lot.  But... this year, because my hands are full chasing two littles, I need the boys to be able to do their work more independently.  We are trying out the free online Christian-based curriculum called Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool.  We are about 10 days in, and so far, so good.  The boys seem to like it, and while there has been a small learning curve (them figuring out how to follow instructions I'm not reading to them, lol), they seem to be doing well.  Did I mention it was free?  Yeah, that's awesome!  Here are a few pix from our first day...

Ready to start a new chapter

Of course, Josie wants in on the action.

Our 2017-2018 Homeschool Year Has Officially Begun...

I have not blogged about our homeschool adventures in a long, long time.  So, how about some catching up?

We started this year on July 10th, with Preston doing 7th grade and Callen doing 3rd.

What the boys do together:  We are still using My Father's World - this time going through 1850 to Modern Times as our core. That includes our Bible devotions, verse memorization, hymn study, history, science and read alouds. I recently discovered Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool, so we are using that for Art, Music and PE/Health.  We are continuing Etiquette Factory Intermediate and Spelling Power.

Math on computer

Preston only: This year we are trying out Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra. He is also continuing IEW U.S. History, Fix-It Grammar Robin Hood and Spanish for Children. Twice a year he will also do a Progeny Press Book Study (he already finished the first one during summer!).

Callen only: Callen is doing Mammoth Math Grade 3 and Easy Peasy Language Arts for Grade 3.

Josie is still not quite two years old, so the main goal with her is keeping her from being a distraction to the boys.  Good luck!

Josie is in pre-pre-pre school.

We are still a part of ECCHO, and enjoy doing field trips and Enrichment Classes will start back up in September.  Also, I am looking into getting Preston enrolled in 4H Arts (Callen isn't quite old enough for this group yet).

Waxahachie Courthouse 

Summer 2017 Recap with an Announcement...

Our official summer vacation was pretty short.  The boys finished school mid-May and started back up on July 10th.  In that little window we managed to squeeze in quite a few fun summer activities...

The boys participated in two different Vacation Bible Schools, they went to MRBC's Sports Camp again this year, and had Swim Lessons.  We took part in free Slurpee Day and Cow Appreciation Day.  They played tons of video games and watched way too much Netflix.

Who can say no to a free slurpee?

Entirely FREE meals for looking silly, we're in!

We also were able to sell our Saturn Vue, which lacked A/C, and buy a new-to-us Dodge Grand Caravan!  Which is good, because... turns out, we also need the extra room.  Read on...

Our first ride to church in our van!

It's so pretty!!!

Yep...we are expecting Baby Clark #4 due early December!  Back in April I had been feeling crummy from a cold, but on Easter I realized that I was feeling strange and all of my clothes fit a little funny.  I took a test, and WOW - can you say shocked?!  It took quite a while to get over that feeling (and honestly, we're still a little blown away by it!).  We told our parents that evening.  And announced to the "world" when I was about 9 weeks along - we kept letting it slip, so figured we might as well just tell everyone.  We're not good at secrets.  The exciting thing is several friends are due around the same time as us!  And most of those are complete surprises, too!  Haha.  I had morning (all-day) sickness up until about 16 weeks, and will find out if we're having a boy/girl in just a few days!  So exciting!

Silly Easter Bunny left us a surprise!

Facebook announcement photo.

Her shirt says Little Sis, haha!

My Babies...

Preston James, 2005

Callen Levi, 2010

Josephine Lilly, 2015

Callen Turns Five!

Callen is officially 5 years old now.  We are having a CupCake Wars party for him this evening, lol.  He went through a slew of party theme ideas and this is the one that stuck, because they get to decorate their own cupcakes... woo hoo!

Let's see, this year... Callen has learned his letter sounds, how to write most of them and sound them out so he's on the verge of reading!  He has a fantastic memory and often surprises us by bringing up obscure things that happened a long time ago (things that we barely remember), but he remembers clearly.  He loves playing ball of any kind, running around and riding his bike (with training wheels).  He likes to play on the iPad, of course.  His favorite shows lately are Scooby Doo Mysteries, Jake & The Neverland Pirates and Super Hero Squad.  He loves all things superhero and action-packed. 

We have been having some on-going issues with him thinking he's in charge and not respecting authority.  He is a strong-willed child, for sure.  He is also quite aggressive and will throw things and hit, still.  Praying and working on that!  But he can also be incredibly sweet and kind.  Every time he hears me say "ow," he asks if I'm OK or need help.  He doesn't know he's little, and tries to do everything (or more) that Preston does.  Which, obviously, doesn't always work out for the best.  He switches back and forth between being excited and not wanting to be a big brother, haha.  So, we'll see how he feels when the time comes.

Happy birthday to my Callen-Bear!

My Five-Year-Old Callen!

Looking back...

Newborn Callen with giraffe

1 year old Callen with giraffe

2 year old Callen with giraffe

3 year old funny face with giraffe.

4 year old Callen

Christmas, New Years, Gone Already!

I can hardly believe we are sitting on this side of 2015 already.  I know once we hit Preston's birthday, time just rushes past... and yep, happened again.  We celebrated Preston's birthday, then mine, Christmas and New Years all in a whirlwind!

Michael was off for a week and a half so it was really nice having him home and all to ourselves for that long.  We put together two of the Thomas Kinkade Disney Puzzles, checked out the Whistle Stop Christmas display in Cleburne (and had some yummy BBQ there), watched our own little home town parade of lights, enjoyed time with my parents on Christmas Eve, had a lazy, quite Christmas Day, celebrated New Year's Eve by popping balloons every hour from 6-midnight, watched lots of movies, read books, slept a lot, and who knows what else.  It was wonderful!

My guys decorating the tree.

Ready to start our first puzzle!  Those faces!

Christmas Eve.  Can we open presents yet?

I am so proud of my boys.  This year, instead of asking for big gifts from Santa, they only wanted little things in their stockings and we spent time giving to others instead.  We took yummy treats to our neighbors, and Preston donated his brand new Razor Scotter to a local boy who wasn't getting much of a Christmas.  They were so kind and not at all upset about not getting a big Christmas morning surprise!  Love their little hearts!!!

Halloween 2014

We had a pretty easy-going Halloween this year, as I just was not in the mood for much.  I was being a bit of a humbug, and the boys couldn't decide on what they wanted to be.  We purchased a Bilbo Baggins Hobbit costume last year on clearance for Preston to wear this year, only it was STILL too big for him.  And Callen kept saying he wanted to be "a Wolf again, no.. Mario, no... a wolf," etc.

A few hours before our little town's Trick Or Treat Around the Square began, the boys finally decided.  Preston would be Clark Kent - not Superman, mind you.  And Callen would be Fireman Small (one of our favorite books!).  Easy enough!  We had all the stuff to put Preston's costume together, and Callen wore an old costume from when Preston was 3 years old, haha.  And they ended up looking great!

Clark Kent

Fireman Small

Posers.

In front of the firetruck!

Even Daddy got in on the dressing up while working on the yard!

We spent the rest of the evening watching Garfield, Charlie Brown, etc.  Didn't get a single trick or treater at our door this year, even though we were prepared!

End of Summer 2015

I just realized I haven't posted the blog in a while, though I post them often on Instagram.  Here are a few from our summer to get you caught up.  ;)

ECCHO (Ellis County Christian Homeschool Organization) had an end-of-summer reading celebration at a little splash pad/park in Corsicana so we took a bit of a road trip to check it out.

We started Enrichment Classes with ECCHO here in Midlothian.  Preston is taking Scooby-Doo Mysteries, Singing, P.E and Board Games.  Callen is doing Storytime Activities, Scissor Skills, Creative Play and Little Builders.  And so far (after one day), they LOVE it.

I took the boys to the American Airlines/C.R. Smith Museum for the Lego Castle Adventure Exhibit.  We had the place to ourselves for the most part, and the boys had a blast!

The boys have had a great time just being creative and playing.

Our little town was in the spotlight for a little while, when a hate group demanded the local elementary schools take down their dedication plaques because they mentioned God and has the words "Soli Deo Gloria" on them.  There were several prayer rallies and peaceful protests, and, for now, the plaques are back on display.

First Week of School 2014...

Last week kicked of our first official week back in school.  At least for Preston.  We started My Father's World Creation to the Greeks, aka "4th Grade."  Callen will start doing more preschool type stuff once we get back from vacation in a few weeks.  All in all, the week went pretty smoothly, and Preston seemed to enjoy it.  As did I. 

We were blessed with unseasonably cool weather.  Like, we went outside, in the middle of the day, in July... and didn't die.  It was cuh-razy, but awesome!  We also learned about celebrating the Sabbath and what that entails, and tried our hand at having a special Sabbath dinner together on Friday night.  Because of our crazy busy schedule, it ended up being Hot 'n' Ready pizzas and crazy bread, but... the idea got across just fine.  It was a neat experience.  I hope we are able to do more of these feast celebrations as the year progresses!

Here are a bunch of pictures of the week...

All ready to go the night before!

Preston is a 4th Grader!

Keeping Callen busy!

Art, a lesson in frustration!

Chalking outside in the middle of the day, in July!

A google.

Worn out.

A puppet show at the library on Friday.

Sabbath dinner on Friday evening.

Flowers from my front garden bed for our center piece.