Middle Georgia Camping

Over Labor Day weekend, we packed up our camping gear and headed to High Falls State Park in middle Georgia to spend long weekend with some of Jonathan’s family. This year we joined with Richard, Janice, and Tim’s family to camp and met up with Elizabeth’s family for a day as well.

Jonathan came home from work a little early on Friday, then we headed north. We arrived at the campsite around 8:30pm. Richard had our tent ready for us so Jonathan just had to fill up our air mattresses and unroll our sleeping bags. This was the first time we camped that we didn’t have a pack-n-play for Charlotte. We weren’t sure how that would go, but it worked out great. The first night we found out that our air mattress had a hole in it when we woke up and it was almost flat, but thankfully we had an extra twin one along so we were able to rearrange things with the kids and we all had mattresses again.

On Saturday, we ate the crockpot egg casserole and skillet biscuits and gravy that Janice made for breakfast then got ready and headed to Juliette, Georgia to meet Elizabeth and family for lunch at the Whistle Stop Café.

Ben, Joshua, Sarah, and Rosemary

We got to meet the newest members of Elizabeth and Joe'l’s family, Nathaniel and Gabriel.

We took up the front half the the restaurant. There was a kids table and a (mostly) adult table.

Ben ordered a BLT (he even was the one who took this picture). He loved this sandwich. I’m pretty sure it ate almost all of it.

Jonathan held Nathaniel. And Nathaniel promptly fell asleep in his arms.

Charlotte chowed down on her grilled cheese. Jonathan and I had barbeque sandwiches and they had a quite a kick.

The exterior of the Whistle Stop Café, made famous in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

Jonathan and I ate there on our first camping trip after we were married.

March 2004

We even saw a few trains pass by while we were there.

From lunch, we headed to Jarrell Plantation. With thirteen kids between us, it was like going on a field trip.

He really wanted to pose with the insect repellant.

Charlotte really liked hanging out with Uncle Tim.

And Rosemary was beyond thrilled to get to hold Gabriel.

Our time at Jarrell was eventful. In addition to touring the grounds and buildings, at least one person in our group either was stung by hornets, poured red Fanta all over the front steps, or threw up. It was a memorable visit. :-) And I think most everyone had a good time.

From there, we headed back to the campground for a hot dog dinner. The next morning, Janice made Bananas Foster French Toast for Michelle’s birthday then we headed out to hike at High Falls.

Sweet sisters.

The two little ones were excellent hikers too.

After the hike, we grabbed a bite to eat at Subway then Jonathan dropped Charlotte and me off at the campsite so she could nap. He took Rosemary and Ben to Indian Springs State Park to swim with Tim and Michelle’s family. While Charlotte and I were at the campsite, a thunderstorm rolled through and Charlotte never actually fell asleep. A few hours later, Jonathan came back and picked us up to go to Dauset Trails Nature Center.

When we got back to the campground that night, Michelle, Tim, and Matthew made barbeque chicken for dinner.

The next morning we loaded up and all headed out. We didn’t leave until around lunchtime, so we stopped with Janice and Richard for some delicious Mexican food to celebrate Jonathan’s birthday a few days early. We stopped again for dinner together at Cracker Barrel before getting home later that night.

Ben’s train tracks

We recently brought the train tracks back in from the garage and Ben and Rosemary have played with them like they are new again. I believe Rosemary built this one day and it afforded Ben with hours of play.

He was excited about how big it was and wanted to emphasize that fact by laying down inside one of the loops.

A new cook

Rosemary recently learned how to make quesadillas. Since learning, she’s even made them for the whole family. I stay in the kitchen with her while she cooks, but she pretty much does the whole thing, even cutting them into slices for everyone. She claims that hers taste better than mine. :-)

Upward Soccer 2013

This year, both Rosemary and Ben are playing soccer. Rosemary asked to play this year and since the practices were at the same time, it worked out. Jonathan is coaching Ben’s team, the Hawkeyes, and Rosemary is on team Elite.

The season started out in early August and it was good and hot during the practices.

No shade for the Hawkeyes.

Rosemary’s first ever soccer practice.

First Day of Ballet

On August 15, Rosemary kicked off her fifth year of ballet. She has a new teacher this year and is now at the intermediate level, which means she does work at the barre and no longer begins the class with special news.

2009

 

2010

 

2011

First Day of School 2013

We started school on Tuesday, August 13, 2013. Rosemary began second grade and Ben began a strange mix of PreK and Kindergarten. His summer birthday makes things somewhat more interesting. We went with a Tuesday this year for our first day since we’d been out of town the week before and used the Monday as a day to get ready for the week.

We counted down to our start day on our chalkboard door. I painted this door in the spring and it made a huge difference in our school day…no more lugging the IKEA one from Charlotte’s room every day. I just need to find something to hang on the wall to hold the chalk and erasers.

Before coming back home from the condo, we stopped at Barnes and Noble and I picked up the kids’ first day of school books. I think it’s become our tradition to get new books on the first day of school. We did it last year, too.

We were finishing up the latest Magic Tree House book, Hurry Up, Houdini, when we started the school year. Rosemary really was excited about the accompanying magic trick book. If you stop by our house, you might just be treated to a little magic show now.

Ben is a big Magic School Bus fan. Since we’re studying astronomy this year, we got him the outer space book. Unfortunately, since Janet is one of the characters in the book, he wasn’t too thrilled. He did, however, really like the pop-up space book.

Charlotte and her Richard Scarry book

Ben looks troubled here, but he was really quite enthusiastic about the start of his day.

So excited about their first day!

We kicked the day off with our bell and pledges. Since we don’t have to leave in the mornings on a regular basis, I’m excited to be consistent about our morning routine that includes singing, praying together, reading, and doing our Bible lessons.

Singing and dancing to start our day.

We did the rest of our work at the table. Here, Rosemary is working on her math meeting strip. I found a place online where someone pre-typed all of the information that goes on a Saxon meeting strip and sells them for only a few dollars. I think that it was the best money I spent this year. Meeting strips are actually getting done! (Saxon 2 and Saxon 3 strips are available here).

Ben enjoyed playing with the pattern blocks.

While it was a full first day, it wasn’t a hard first day. Everyone had great attitudes and it felt like a good, natural start to our school year.

Second Grade Curriculum for Rosemary (it’s not as overwhelming as it looks since we don’t do everything everyday)

• Saxon Math 3 (4-5 days a week)
• Life of Fred read-aloud (about 1-2 days a week)
• XtraMath.com (3 days a week)
• First Language Lessons Level 2 (2-3 days a week)
• Writing with Ease Level 2 (4 days a week)
• Zaner Bloser Handwriting 2 (2 days a week)
• Explode the Code 5 and 6 (2-3 days a week)
• All About Spelling Level 1 and 2 (4 days a week)
• Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading (2-3 days a week)
• Sonlight Second Grade reading list (4-5 days a week)
• Abeka Phonics Charts
• Story of the World, Middle Ages with Activity Guide (2-3 days a week)
• Bible Study Guide for All Ages Level 1 (4 days a week)
• Family Time Fitness (when it happens) :-)
• Apologia Astronomy with co-op (read chapter and do notebook page, 1-2 days a week)
• Art and Music with co-op (each once a month)

PreK and Kindergarten Curriculum for Ben

I’m still figuring out the routine with Ben. He wants to do so much more than I have planned for him to do! I’ve got to find the rhythm and the right level. Right now, he’s really enjoying whatever math, handwriting, and Explode the Code work I give him and just wants to keep going. He’s also taking off in BOB Books, but is more reluctant to work through the Ordinary Parent’s Guide, which is tougher reading and less interesting to look at since there are no pictures.

• Saxon Math K and 1
• Life of Fred read aloud
• Explode the Code, B, C, and 1
• BOB Books
• Handwriting Without Tears PreK and K
• Five in a Row (when we can fit it in!)
• Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading
• Apologia Astronomy with co-op
• Art and Music with co-op
• Story of the World, Middle Ages (along for the ride)

Our Ideal Routine

• Ring bell at 8:30am
• Pledges
• Prayer time – we’ve been writing down our praises and prayer requests so we can record how God answers them
• Music (we’ve been doing school songs and praise songs. Our favorites right now are 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman, Build Your Kingdom Here by Rend Collective Experiment, What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, and various Jack Hartmann songs)
• CNN Student News (just 10 minutes, keeps us up on current events…otherwise most of my news comes from Facebook)
• Bible (I am so enjoying doing this with the kids. We’ve been working through the story of Joseph a chapter at a time and they look forward to each new lesson. Rosemary has commented that she has learned so much more this way).
• Table work (usually just math, maybe handwriting or something else short)
• Snack (a scheduled snack time makes our day easier)
• Table work (writing, spelling, ETC, handwriting, FLL)
• Lunch (read Fred aloud)
• Wrap up anything we haven’t finished (SOTW, reading, XtraMath, but we really try to be done by lunch, even if that means a later lunch!)

So that’s the ideal day, which happens maybe half the time. Much of it depends on my diligence on getting up at 6:30 and making sure that I get my chores done before we start school without getting distracted with the computer. The computer is such a temptation for me…I think, oh, I’ll just respond to this e-mail, then it’s 20 minutes later! So I know that in order for our day to be smooth, I need to be disciplined. I have so far to go. I need to learn how to keep up with school, my quiet times, my co-op commitments, the house, and family and friends while still keeping enough white space in my life so that my introverted nature doesn’t go crazy.

I’m thankful to not have to get anyone to preschool this year. It really does give us more time in the day although we miss seeing friends at pick-up and drop-off. Our afternoons are full with speech, ballet, soccer practices and games, and soon Girl Scouts. We are also looking forward to co-op starting again. One thing that is nice about this year though is that most of our activities outside the house are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It makes those days somewhat crazy, but having three whole days at home…that’s wonderful and we get so much done! And it gives us a day to run errands in the afternoon if needed.

So I have to say that the school year is off to a pretty good start. We all have our moments, but once again we are thankful for the opportunity and freedom that we have to enjoy this journey of educating our children.

Lil’ Miss Charlotte

This little girl is so full of spunk and personality. She came up with this whole outfit all on her own.

Week at the Condo 2013

To wrap up our summer, the kids and I met up with my parents for a week in Orlando at Grand Villas. Jonathan joined us for the last few days.

We intentionally planned a relaxing week, venturing out to IKEA and the outlets, but not many other places. We spent hours in the pool, visited with the Pates, and enjoyed some good food. When Jonathan joined us, we spent a day at SeaWorld.

This little boy is a fish. He’s not quite ready to pass the YMCA swim test (treading water for 30 seconds is tough!) but he’s swimming all over on his own.

Swimming with Grandpa and enjoying the ‘boat’ they made out of pool noodles and dive rings. Charlotte just went all over in that vest.

We were also able to watch Shark Week, which we wouldn’t have been able to do at home. They were fascinated.

Watching Shark Cam follow Large Marge.

The kids enjoyed seeing the sea lions. We also got our first ride on the new Antarctica attraction. So COLD!

Not sure why we had the stroller… :-)

These two kids were so excited to ride in the front of the train!

Charlotte tried so hard to pull the lever to ring the bell.

On our way back home, we headed over to Janey’s to celebrate Camille’s first birthday.