Very Late Update on Our Farm

We are slowly creeping into Spring here in the Pacific Northwest.  Our baby chicks have grown into young adult hens and roosters.  The tulips in the front are exploding through the dirt to reach for the sun.  And we’ve actually seen the sun and not just buckets and buckets of falling rain.

Homeschooling is going along pretty smoothly lately.  We still have our little bumps here and there.  But I can see the progress that have been made and it is very encouraging.

We just finished the History book that we have been reading for a while.  This would be the second book in the series written by Susan Wise Bauer.  The enjoyment that we get out of reading these history books beats any text book, any day!

I have a few videos, well, about 24, lined up on YouTube for the kids to watch before we start reading again.  This is basically to go back through the times that we’ve learned so far.  The kids like the change of pace.  I’m not sure what they will think of these videos though.

The guy seems a little cheesy to me, but hey, kids like cheese, right?!

Anyway, after we are finished with the videos, we’ll start reading The Story of the World book three.  I really can’t see starting a different History program now.  We will finish this out with book four when we’re done with three.

Watch soon for a review on book three.

I have tried to schedule our days a little more.  Mostly because I have so many things to do, that if I don’t follow a schedule and work on certain things at certain times, I’ll just run around like a tazmanian devil and accomplish many areas of nothing.

And of course, it doesn’t work at all on days like today, when I just do not have the motivation to do anything.  The kids wanted to take off President’s Day, like public school students, but I had said no.  This morning, my body was screaming YES!

Life on the farm goes on though.  The animals don’t stop laying eggs or ahem…depositing waste, just because I am not motivated.  And today was one of those days that work on the farm needed to be done.  I’m very thankful that the sun was able to hang in the blue sky, with very little clouds dancing in front of it.  It made working outside just a little exciting.  But just a little because I was still freezing cold.

I was also able to visit with the girls and roos while I was out today.  Even snapped a photo of one of the babies that we had last Summer.  She turned such a black that she is has glossy green feathers.  Very beautiful.  I named her Raven.  She is almost completely black, except for a little bit of white on her legs, and maybe beak.  And that’s only been the past couple of months, before she was all black.

So while we all anxiously await Spring here, we’re taking the time to enjoy the beauty and crispness of Fall.  Hope you are also enjoying your Winter!

Yearning for Spring

I sit here this afternoon, in the warmth of a pre-Spring day, sipping on a cup of coffee and just admiring the blue sky that I can actually see today.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, it rains a lot during the Winter, Fall, Spring and Summer.  Being able to look up and see that bright blue expanse of sky above me always makes me feel as if I’m looking at the sky for the very first time.

I have only one week to wait until the official day of Spring.  It’s one of my favorite seasons.  To watch the buds opening on the trees, hearing the song of the birds that frequent our house and even seeing the dartiness of the humming birds who have made it back this year just fills my heart with joy!

God really thought of it all didn’t He?  Birth, growth, fruit, death, and then re-birth.  It’s really amazing.

And a gift that I treasure each and every year.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go refill my coffee cup.

Homeschool 3/12/2014

The sun is actually shining here today in the Pacific Northwest!  Right now, my kids are outside, enjoying that sunshine, and throwing baseballs up into the air and trying to catch them before they hit the ground.  It’s 2:00 in the afternoon and kids are still in school right now, plugging away at their books.  While mine are getting their exercise right here at home.  All of the school work for today has not been completed, but they can do it a bit later tonight.

• Bible:  Confusion Part 2, the population of countries after the tower of Babylon, Acts 17:26
• Math 3:  Place value
• Math 4: has not been completed yet today
• History: The start of the Franks (France), Clovis, the ex-barbarian and the beginning of France
• Reading: Peter, the Goatherd by Grimm’s Brothers
• Science: No Science today, unless we decide to read a bit about Salmon later today
• English 3: Using the dictionary, practice spelling
• English 5: Being courteous, study habits and using the English book, practice spelling

We only have 2 stories left in Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  I want to hurry and finish that book, as well as my boy, so we can finish reading Scout.  If you have never heard of that story, and you like to read Christian books with your kids, you should check this book out.  There is a whole series of them.  I have the first one called The Secret of the Swamp.  It is written by Piet Prins.

You can find it in for some really cheap on Amazon. You can find it for sale on the right side of my blog.  Click on that link and you can easily get it for 1 penny!

Happy reading and homeschooling!  We’re halfway through the week today!

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