No More!

No more pencils no more books
no more mama's dirty looks!

School is out for this home school. I have to say that I am as happy as the children are. We're all ready for summer vacation.

I finished grading papers today. As a matter of fact, I took my books, my papers, calculator and pens and made myself at home at McDonald's while I worked and finished up. I felt funny sitting there with all my stuff scattered all over their table, but it was good and there weren't any distractions. So with everything completed, I can now retire my red pen for the summer.

Tomorrow we'll be packing up the books and putting them away for a later use.

Harrison's books will stay out. I feel like I should keep them out for him to keep his brain poppin' through the summer. But it will certainly be more relaxed than actual school hours. His reading has greatly improved. He seems to enjoy reading these days. Which makes me happy.

Hannah is focused on Puerto Rico these days. Now that school is out we'll be able to do some serious shopping for that trip.

Justin has several things going through his head these days. Not to mention he's turning 16 next week. AHHHHH!

So while we're enjoying our summer with the picnics, swimming, family get-to-gethers, church socials, and other extra curricular activities, I hope you're somewhere in your part of the world enjoying yours.

Your Time Is Up, Please Put Down Your Pencil

We finished our yearly testing, required by our state. What a load off it is to have that completed and out of the way!

Hannah and Justin were finished with their tests week before last, but I had to wait for my examiner's manual for Harrison's test. They forgot to pack it when they mailed the test to me. But it did come and we have finished. This was Harry's first year and he did pretty good. I know he aced his math. And he actually did very good on the reading and comprehension, which was a surprise to me. You know he struggles with his reading so I predicted he would not do good in that area. But he did way better than I thought he would. The Language Mechanics, however.....well, let's just say I don't need his test results back to see where he needs help. LOL But I'm not worried about that right now. The mechanics are pretty repetitive, so that will come to him, just like his reading has.


I worked at the church today until church time this evening. Mrs. Janet and I have been working on the ceiling. That's finished now. PTL! After church, the children and I went back down to vacuum the floor and pull out the tables. All of the finishing touches (decorating the tables) will not be finished until probably Thursday and then we have a few things to blow up and place around the room Saturday morning. Wow, that was vague, wasn't it? Don't worry....you'll see what I'm talking about when I post my pictures.

Math Hotline

Homeschoolers, take note....here's your Math Hotline!

Museums, Parks, and He's Home!

First things first...Our family thanks each one of you that have prayed for my daddy. He came home from the hospital Saturday with great reports from his doctor and is recovering nicely. He's high spirited...VERY high spirited. Moreso than what I have seen in a very long time. Bruce and I picked him up from dialysis this morning and were able to spend a couple of hours with him. He talked our ears off and laughed and joked more than I've heard him do in quite some time. So, thank you so much for praying. I know he appreciates it also.



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Thursday was our home school co-op day. There were two field trips planned. Mrs. Kim Howell planned one for the younger children to go to Kidsenses Museum. Harrison had a WONDERFUL time. He just could not stop talking about it that night. I planned for the older children to view the Gems of North Carolina Exhibit at the Kings Mountain Historical Museum, have lunch at Lineberger Park, and then view the Tusk Exhibit at the Schiele Museum.


Here are a few pics Amy sent me from their trip to Kidsenses. Thanks, Amy, I appreciated you doing that so much!
(Shadow Room)


Finding Harrison's pulse.



Some of the children playing around Puffy.



Harrison LOVED this...he and Cameron stood in a booth and when you pulled the rope, the bottom would come up and you would be surrounded by a bubble. He thought it was so great to be in a bubble.



Here they are playing on the fire engine. Malachi and Laurel have on firefighter coats.



Harrison and Cameron were learning about the teeth here. Harrison is wearing a Dentist jacket, looking quite professional, isn't he? He said you could take the teeth out but not cavities. LOL Cameron is holding a big toothbrush. Looks like they had a great time.
There was one incident when a little guy in the group took a tumble and ended up with three stitches. Poor thing. I hated to hear that. Other than that, they seemed to have a wonderful time playing and learning.



While they were living it up at the Kidsenses Museum, we were learning about the gems in our state. This museum is located inside of the old Kings Mountain Post Office.



I gave the children an assignment to be turned in at our next co-op. I'm looking forward to reading their reports and what they learned.



I was very pleased at how respectful and quiet they were in the museum and how they took notes on everything. Well, there was ONE who did not take notes. There was ONE that decided to pick up a few brochures and do his report from those. I won't tell you who that ONE was, but he knows. HA! And you thought I wouldn't rat you out!


Some of the displays...






Jamie was taking notes off of this poster identifying minerals. I told him to look intelligent and this was the best he could do. LOL


More displays....






There were other displays in the museum that were fun to look at. When I see pieces like this I always imagine the people of that time period working steadily. Do you do that?







We have some very old albums I bet would play on this. I would love to try it!! CD's are great, but I love the sound of a record on an old Victrola. Of course, this was an Edison, but you know what I mean!





When we left the museum, we headed to the Lineberger Park. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a picnic. We had a nice shelter in a great location at the park.


Just below us over the bank, was a little creek. The girls had a ball splashing in it.



The boys decided to scope out the tunnels.



The kids wanted to play for a little bit and it was such a lovely day we didn't want to rush them.



They were having a great time until Nicole sliced open the bottom of her big toe, needing five stitches. Yes, five stitches!! While "little man" was getting stitches from his tumble at the Kidsenses Museum, Nicole was getting stitches from a broken beer bottle in the creek. Can you believe that? A total of eight stitches on our co-op field trip. I guess we're trying to set a record!

An Eggcellent Night

The weather here in our state is really beginning to warm up. It's been beautiful the last few days. Yesterday was no exception.

When we met for SIGMA last night, Brother RJ's theme was centered around eggs.


We had an egg toss. Some of the eggs were very difficult to break, but eventually they were all broken, thanks to our NFL wanna-bes.




Justin W decided it was more fun to ride the big wheel than toss an egg.


The second game was a relay race. You carried one egg on a spoon to your team mate, placing the egg on their spoon to be carried back.







Brother RJ's sermon was on the Five Eggs of Jesus. Now, his sermon actually had NOTHING to do with eggs, but rather the EX's of Jesus. Here is his outline of that sermon:
Luke 2:11
*He is our EXact Saviour
Phil 2:9
*He is the Saviour that is EXalted
I Peter 2:21
*He is the EXample we should follow
I Timothy 1:14
*He is the Saviour EXceeding our expectations.
Psalm 8:1
*He is an EXcellent Saviour!

And because He is all these things, He can not be these three:
He can not be our EXcuse for not accepting Him.
He can not be EXchanged. Once you're saved, you're always saved.
He can not EXpire. He will be there for all eternity.

Very good sermon, Brother RJ!

Today was our Homeschool co-op meeting. The kids did their pledges, sang songs, quoted Bible verses, and Brother RJ preached our Chapel service.


For the older boy's art, Mrs. Rebecca had them draw a map. She was hoping they would be drawn to do a Midiaeval type map. A couple of them did do that. Caleb chose to do an overview of a Japanese city. They had to do a legend for their map also.


Harrison's age group made wallets. He liked this project.


I loved Naomi's intense facial expression while she sewed her wallet together.


And Hannah's art class made these tissue paper flowers. Are they not adorable??


Justin C was the only one having a birthday in our group this month, so this cake, made by Mrs. Pam, was all his.....to be shared, of course!


Isaac was trying to put his socks back on. I got tickled watching him wiggle his little toes. HA!


Justin C was sick when we did our Science Fair so he did his report on lighting today and showed a picture slideshow of different lightning strikes. Some of them were beautiful and some of them were just scary looking. The kids enjoyed seeing the different types of lightning.


This mom of 6 little ones was giving her eldest son kisses, which he thought was too girly!!! He is allllllllll boy! LOL


Here's the youngest of that bunch. Is he not BEAUTIFUL??????


Joseph was given an apple to eat while Brother Tim was giving a talk on his police dog and his brother Isaac enjoyed a soft sugar cookie. But eventually, they decided the grass was sweeter on the other side and traded snacks. That was funny.


We went outside so Brother Tim could show us how obedient his dog was and how he could find whatever it was that was hidden. He found marijuana that Brother Tim hid in an old tire and also drugs that Brother Tim hid under an old oil tank.


Brother Tim taught us a LOT about his job and his partner. Yes, his partner. Malachi the police dog is a certified police officer with his own badge!


He was very obedient and seemed like a very sweet dog, but he knows his job and can be aggressive when he is supposed to be! Needless to say, the children were not to pet him, they were to respect him from a distance.


Brother Tim took Malachi around the corner while Nicole threw Brother Tim's keys as far out on the ball field as she could. Malachi did a grid pattern on the field until he found the keys and then he laid down next to them, which is his way of telling Brother Tim he's found something.


When we went inside Deborah did her Science fair project that she missed due to being sick. Her project was on weather.


She told us how to make a cloud in a jar. Her mother helped since boiling water and matches were involved.

We had a great day today and really enjoyed Brother Tim and Malachi coming to talk with us. Thanks, Brother Tim!