Journey to Excellence

In our regular life this week… This was a pretty regular week for us. Monday night Eli had Scouts. While we were there Kyndal took Brynne to the sand volleyball court at the park so Brynne could practice serving. Then Tuesday night we went to our town's Lion's Club Kids Night. The kids participated in various races for ribbons. (I participated in this Kids Night when I was a little girl.) Eli defended his title and won the blue ribbon in the foot race! Eli and Brynne also entered Chloe in the pet parade. On Wednesday night Brynne had a volleyball game. Her team played 5th and 6th graders and they won! Brynne also got 5 serves over and scored 3 points with her serves. She did awesome! Immediately fter Brynne's volleyball game, my mom, Eli, Brynne, and I are drove all night to Pensacola, Florida, for our 8 day vacation! Kyndal and Dawson are home holding down the fort. In our homeschool this week… We only had three days at home this week doing our normal

What was in the kitchen ... Saturday dinners tend to exist of Italian meals with a salad and breadsticks these days. This week it was spaghetti. Then tonight we had to head out of town for a bit so we grabbed McDonald's. We haven't done that in a long time! An activity we did away from home ... We have lived here for a full year and haven't been to a particular nearby town at all, until this weekend. Different members of our family were there twice in two days! Brynne had a volleyball tournament there on Friday night and Eli's Scout den attended a Mozarkite show and swap meet and mineral dig on Saturday. Rick and my mom took Brynne to her tournament while I went with Kyndal to a jewelry party she was co-hosting with Collin's mom. I ordered a new silver ring and a cool necklace. Then today I ran Dawson "to town" so that he could pick up a video game he has been wanting. What we learned at church ... This weekend was Serve 2013 for th

In our regular life this week… Brynne had a volleyball tournament last night. Rick and my mom took her while I went to a jewelry party Kyndal and Collins' mom were hosting. Her team won second place out of four! Rick said they did so awesome! Today I took Eli's Scout den to a Mozarkite show and dig. We did not know what to expect, but were so pleasantly surprised! It was a lot of fun! In our homeschool this week… We only had two days at home this week doing our normal studies because of our super fun Lake School days earlier in the week. Bible -  We are not moving forward in Bible this week, but plan to finish up Samuel Monday through Wednesday next week. Grammar -  We took a little break from Logic of English this week because of our trip to the lake. If you missed my review on this amazing product, you can go HERE to read all about it! Spelling -  Our words this week all use oar, ore, and or. We will finish up this lesson Monday through Wedne

My long-time blogging and now in-real-life friend, Jodi, and I took our combined five children to my parents' lake house at the Lake of the Ozarks for three days this week. I had really been looking forward to this trip! It did not disappoint! Jodi's children are amazing! Her 12 year old son was a pure delight to have around, and Eli and Brynne were instantly best buds with her 8 and 6 year olds. We brought the necessities for a lake trip with kids, like swimming suits, board games, and ... the Wii . The lake house is a small house, but the kids played so well together that it never even got loud. It was wonderful! They fished, swam, played with toys, played games, played lots of Wii , watched t.v., ate snacks, and just enjoyed their new friendships. Jodi and I did the same, minus the swimming, fishing, toys, games and Wii. In otherwords, we relaxed in the living room watching television, reading, eating, sipping wine or coffee, and doing LOTS of talking! We knew we w

What was in the kitchen ... After a busy day of golf, organizing, and cleaning house on Saturday, we just wanted an easy dinner. I cooked a large frozen lasagna, some french bread, and salad. An activity we did away from home ... On Friday night Brynne had her first volleyball game and she did awesome! She still needs some power behind her serve, but otherwise she played very well! She even returned a serve for a point for her team. I would say that it was beautiful but, shhhhh .... I missed it! I was talking to Taylar's mom about the homecoming dress we got Taylar and didn't know the new set had begun! I am praying this isn't the only big play she has all year. Daddy, Dawson, Taylar, and Grandma saw it, though. We were so proud of her! Yesterday Rick, Collin, and Brynne went to play golf. Brynne is loving these Saturday morning excursions with her daddy! And Eli is loving the peace and quiet of him and I home alone together. Today the little kids and I

Is your child determined, influencing, conscientious, steadfast, or a combination of a couple of those? How do you know? And, if you do know, what can you do with that information to help your child grow to his or her full potential? PeopleKeys can help. We had an opportunity to review "The Children's Profile" from PeopleKeys . "This profile was developed for children ages 9-13 to introduce them to the concept of personality using the theory of DISC Personality Style (DISC) . Written in simple language, this profile was designed to help young people understand who they are and why they, and others, think and act the way they do." We received The Children's Profile and immediately got to work. The profile had the children complete statements, such as: "I like to ...", "When upset, I ...", and "When I want something, I ..." They put an "x" on the answer they thought best described them, with each answer fa

In our regular life this week… I am enjoying the last week of "normalcy" as the next few weeks will be cra-cra around here. I am happy to report that my quiver is now full as Kyndal has officially moved all of her stuff back into our home. Although she has been here for several days a week since May 1st, she is now here full time getting ready to start cosmetology school in a few weeks. No more bunking with Eli and Brynne in their room. On Tuesday night Kyndal and Brynne slept their first night together in their own room downstairs. It felt so good to go to bed with all the kids under one roof, settled in their own beds. On Thursday afternoon I took the Kyndal and Dawson to the dermatologist for a long-overdue mole check. Unfortunately for them, they inherited moles from both their dad and me. The good news is they are all healthy moles so nothing to worry about! Taylar went with us so that we could go shopping for her a homecoming dress, and Collin met us so that h

This is going to be one of those reviews where I have a hard time getting specific because all I really want to say is WE LOVE THIS CURRICULUM! We have just piddled along through our grammar studies every year. We have changed programs so many times that about all my kids have gotten through is nouns, verbs, adjectives, and punctuation. Then we figure out that we don't like the curriculum so we move on to another one and start over with nouns, verbs, adjectives, and punctuation, just to do the same thing again and again. Out of desperation I signed on to review Logic of English .  And we hit the jackpot! Logic of English is recommended for ages 4 and up. They have a program called Foundations A for children age 4-7. We have had the pleasure of reviewing Essentials   recommended for children ages 8 and older. And I mean it when I use the word "pleasure". Grammar has become pleasurable. Here's the odd thing. We do not like "textbooks", especially