First week of school!

The first week of school had lots of ups and downs...some of the ups - the girls' relationship is really bonding and taking off as we work on their curriculum.  Below we talked about Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent and we used a belt on the floor to pretend it was the serpent!  

Here are the boys learning about Heiroglyphs on the computer - from just a brief glance at the alphabet Dominic had it almost completely memorized.  They wrote homecoming notes to dad in heiroglyphics - awesome! 

Dominic completed his first chapter book on his own!  It was such a good book that I then read it aloud to everyone and Dominic enjoyed it even more the second time!

Currently we are studying The Life of Moses and Ancient Egypt.  We studied the geography of Ancient Egypt and did our first "project" - making "salt maps" which was a lot of fun!  We used salt dough and then after it was dry they painted and labeled everything.

Here are the boys finished maps:

This first week was met with lots of challenges ... deep breath, cry, pray, sing hymn, long talks on the sofa, hugs, hugs and more hugs, tears, prayer for wisdom and grace, more talks, more hugs, more tears, mommy wanting to run away at least twice, boys to the rescue, long hugs and lots of love.  This is what it is all about - why we homeschool... so we can have these talks and build character and disciple.  Thankfully, everyone shows up the next day with big smiles, and mommy washed by the Word.  Amen!

First Day of School

Monday, August 9 was our first day of school, and we started with our traditional special breakfast, followed by a picture of smiling faces and barefeet!  Now where else can you go to school with no shoes on! :)

Here you are showing Daddy what you did the first day!!

Our school name is The Cornerstone Academy, refering to Isaiah 28:16:  So this is what the Sovereign Lord says, "See I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed."  The Cornerstone of course refering to our Savior, Jesus Christ.  You see, kids, God called me to homeschool.  There are times when I feel overwhelmed, and I know I cannot do it (or anything else in my life) without Jesus, the Cornerstone of our family and our lives.  It is by His unending Grace that He pours Himself through me to you.

Our school is considered a non-public school and is registered in the State of North Carolina, along with almost 65,000 other homeschooling families.  Wake County also happens to have the most homeschooling families per county, so we have lots of support and things to do.  The children know when asked, where do you go to school, to answer The Cornerstone Academy, our homeschool.  I am blessed beyond measure and privileged to be homeschooling my children.   I cannot thank my husband enough for all his support, and for working so hard so that I may stay home with our children.  I thank God every day for showing both Dominic and I how to live simpler lives, free from the bondage of debt and that we are not slave to material things.  God has showed us how to be content with little, and our marriage and family is stronger because of it.  Our prayer is that we can show this by example to our children so that they never want more than what they have, and that if they do have more, they will use it to help others to further the Kingdom of God.

Mastering the Martial Arts

Just over one year ago Dominic and Dio joined the Spirited Defense, The Way Shotokan Karate at our church.  Their Sensei's first priority is in the keeping of the Word of God.   We are not looking for our boys to become martial arts experts, but in hearing the Truth shared, and to build them up emotionally and spiritually to one day boldly share the Truth with others.  There are a lot of "tough" kids out there who have no relationship with their Creator...Oh how God could use the people in this class.   Dominic and Dio are Green Belt Black Stripes.  They are up for promotion on Aug 28 for Purple Belt.  Should they choose to continue, after this is Brown Belt and then Black Belt.

These pictures below are from their last promotion in May:

About one month ago Big Dom joined their class.  He is a White Belt but is up for promotion also for Green Belt.  It is so nice to see them practicing their forms all together.  As part of our homeschool the boys practice their forms every day.

Recently they have been taught Bo Kata, and I took some pictures last week during their practice outside:

 

 

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Winding Down of Summer Days...

The week before our homeschool starts we wanted to do something special each day; one day we played games and built Lincoln Logs, another we went to the Museum (forgot the camera!), then another day we spent lots of time at the playground, we spent some time at the pool, and then on that Friday spent a lovely afternoon at our friends' home.  Here are some photos of us just being us.   These photos were taken the week of August 2.

The boys proud of their efforts!

 Fun times at Bailey Park in Bedford!

And the perfect way to end the week -

with special friends below!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

We enjoyed a nice afternoon/evening celebrating Grandpa Mickey's birthday! We had a "Mickey Mouse" theme and some fun snacks and yummy dinner. Grandpa sang his usual dinner song, "I remember the time when I was a bum..." - an old family favorite! It is amazing to me how all you children remember that song word for word!

The "Party Planners!"

Grandpa with his Mickey ears...

...joining in the fun!

Here's the rest of the Mickey Mouse fun house gang -

And below are some of the party guests enjoying some family laughs!

Until next year!