Journey to Excellence

In our regular life this week… Ahh .. this has been a much calmer week, with the exception of the air conditioning guy who told me that because our drip pan in our ancient central unit is cracked (it leaks some water but otherwise works GREAT) that we should get a new central unit, a new furnace and updated duct work. Hmmm .... I think I'll pass and maybe just have a new drip pan made. Thanks, though. Kyndal has been home this week. It's so interesting having your adult child back home with you. It will be fun to see her experience life as an adult on a day-to-day basis when she moves back in with us full-time in September. Eli's Scout Pack had it's graduation ceremony and cookout on Friday night. Before the meeting our den gathered together so that we could do our landscaping elective. The boys made greenhouses out of half-gallon milk/juice cartons, straws, and ziplock bags and planted some cool viney moss that we took from my mom's house (this stuff sp...

I am in Portland, Oregon, with my mom this week helping my brother and sister-in-law paint their house in preparation of the birth of their first baby due in October. We are starting school next Monday morning, the day after I get home from my exhausting trip. So, this week the kids are doing nothing but enjoying the last week of their play time. Journey to Excellence will be silent this week. I won't have time to read Last Child in the Woods this week (what was I thinking when I assigned the next three chapters). So, the next three chapters are due for discussion at the end of NEXT week. Since there will be no schooling, there will be no Weekly Wrap-up or Homeschool Mother's Journal. The next time you hear from us, we will be reporting on our first day of school. There are lots of changes happening in our family, especially pertaining to school, so we'll be discussing all of that soon. I'll leave you with some pictures from our final Family Summer Camp a...

In my life this week ... Okay, I can't stand it anymore. I have to share what's going on in our life. I went to my hometown in Missouri this past weekend to see my newly born niece, and ended up making a decision (with my husband) to buy a home there in the town where I grew up, and where my parents still live. We are in the process of making an offer and getting inspections done. (So far, so good on the inspections.) If all goes as planned, the kids and I will move as soon as possible while Rick stays here to sell our house. Dawson has decided that he would like to go back to public school because it is a super-small school where he could really connect. There will be MANY changes in our lives and we are SO EXCITED about it (well, most of us.) More about this decision will come soon. In our homeschool this week ... It's all about Ice Age this week! Although we didn't get in our field trip to the Tulsa Geoscience Center because of the craziness of our possible li...

Only a homeschooler would have SCHOOL on a National Holiday like 4th of July. But, we are. Why? There are always such great unit studies and activities that come out for Independence Day, but we are always on summer break. Sure, we learn about these things during the school year. But, wouldn't it mean more to learn about it on it's anniversary? Now, this day will be fun, and won't even really feel like school (for the most part). We will count this as Day 4 of our 180 day school year. Here is what I have planned: Literature . The cornerstone to all we do is literature. I always try to mix in both non-fiction and fiction books. We will be reading ... Independence Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays) by Trudi Strain Trueit The Fourth of July (Wonder Books) by Kathryn Kyle Independence Day (Rookie Read About Holidays) by David F. Marx Hurray for the 4th of July by Wendy Watson Henrietta's Fourth of July by Syd Hoff Happy Fourth of ...

Day 3 of the 2012/2013 school year happened on a SATURDAY! I recently posted about the Family Summer Camp provided by Bass Pro Shop . We attended three workshops: Wildlife Exploration , Backyard Adventures , and Archery . At the end of each workshop the kids answered four questions on their activity sheet and then went on a scavenger hunt in a designated area of the store to seek the answers to two questions. Once those were completed they received a pin for that workshop to attach to their lanyard. In between workshops, Eli and Brynne painted a ceramic bear track ... They practiced shooting guns, a bow and arrow, and casting a fishing pole ... And then they looked at all of the boats (a couple of times). Eli says he no longer wants to be a Ninja or a Golfer when he grow up. He wants to be a Boat Driver. Rick met us at the end of the day for dinner and s'mores. This one needed a shower when she was done. She enjoyed every bit...