Homeschool Volleyball

One benefit of living in an area with a greater concentration of homeschoolers - high school level sports! Caty is playing junior varsity volleyball for the BEACH Breakers. Here are a couple of fun pics of her:

A new school year begins

After 3 months in this house, we're finally getting settled. School started 5 weeks ago and is going very well. Here is a picture of our schoolroom:



We've been homeschooling for over 14 years now, and although having a dedicated schoolroom is a blessing, it is definitely not a necessity. It was only in our last place in Hawaii and in this home that we've actually had a separate room to dedicate to school and school supplies.


This room is still not complete - note the piles and boxes against the fireplace wall. I'm still working to get everything put away and organized, but it is very workable as is for school. I prefer the school table to individual desks - it's easier to teach all three and work with them this way. Before the schoolroom this always took place around the dining room table. That worked just fine for us for many years, we just needed to be organized enough to put things away for meals.

Obviously with the fireplace this room was intended to be a family room, but our living room/dining room combination was much more spacious for living, and holds much more people for our weekly home fellowship group. I only wish that room had a fireplace as well.

I have big plans for the school room - I would love to replace the mismatched bookcases and furniture with built-in shelving and desk space. I would love two big comfy chairs on either side of the fireplace for reading and lounging around the fire at night. I am going for the look of a traditional library. Unfortunately that will have to wait as this house has more pressing needs.

I can only dream!

Quote of the Day

From Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham:

Modern American dating is no more than glorified divorce practice. Young people are learning how to give themselves away in exclusive, romantic, highly committed (at times sexual) relationships, only to break up and do it all over again. God never intended for His kids to live like this. And instead of stepping in and doing something, many Christian parents simply view these types of relationships as a normal and necessary part of growing up. Unless your child is wiser than Solomon, stronger than Samson, and more godly than David (all of whom sinned sexually), they are susceptible to sexual sin, and these premature relationships serve as open invitations.

Animation

We recently attended the state homeschool convention - wow, so much larger than Hawaii's. I was even able to take the kids with me, and they all had a good time.

One of the exhibitors was a company that makes stop motion animation software and cameras. They were so excited! I just had to get it for them. This is their first movie short, they made especially for dad on Father's Day.

Been Busy

So sorry for the long absence - we've been incredibly busy! We finally ended up in a home of our own, but it was a foreclosure and needs so much work. Every time we turn around it seems as if something new gets added to our list. But, it will be a great house in time so we are happy.

Here are some photos of our house:

Once it's been completed I'll post new pics.

Norfolk Zoo

The kids had been asking for several months to check out the local zoo. Funny, after years in San Diego, with yearly passes to their world-famous zoo and wild animal park, you would think these smaller zoos would be a disappointment - but not my kiddos. They love any zoo, no matter how small. The Honolulu Zoo was a fun place for them, and the Norfolk Zoo is no different.

the Norfolk Zoo's famous lion twins, born right here

This gazelle was just looking for a fight with this giraffe!

How fun - you can get right in the middle of this prairie dog town!

Nauticus

Back in January we joined Homeschool Day at Nauticus, a Naval museum in Norfolk. We had never been to this museum before, and we sure enjoyed it!

The boy is fascinated with anything mechanical.

They got to touch a shark! How cool is that?

Look out! There's a great white shark behind you!