Pick your own pumpkin

Just one layout for this. It is self explanatory. You know I love pumpkins and I love pumpkin patches so a patch where I go to hunt for my own was PERFECT. The only problem is I kept looking for the perfect squash and pumpkin and then I could never find the next to perfect one I had just left behind. Who knew finding pumpkins was so hard! If you want to know where it is... send me an email. :)!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2013

Field Day 2011

We love field day! It is a great day to meet up with friends and play around the playground and the competitions. To tell you the truth I didn't want to go because I was tired. We still weren't done with school but I had promised the kids that we would indeed go and so we did.

I am so glad we did because it was so much fun. I was rereading this post about our first field day and how we didn't know anyone. Well know we know a bunch of people so I get to talk to friends as well as watch my kids interact. Every year I fall in love with homeschooling a little more.  I guess God knew what he was doing when he called me to do it.

Both kids got first place in running. After Benjamin won he told me I was running like the wind! How exciting! Benjamin was one of the oldest in his group but Adreana ran against 7-9 yr olds so she did pretty great.

 We still run the 3-legged race together. I think that is what gives us a pretty good advantage (that and the fact they are the same height!) Next year I don't think they will be able to because she might be in a different category so I wanted to cherish this moment (although with homeschoolers it is all about who shows up so you never know!). They won 1st place in this too!

 This year Adreana had asked me for a hoola hoop (our cheap dollar store one broke last summer) and I forgot to go get it. She borrowed one but it was lopsided. But don't worry the next day we went to get one and a good one too. Next year she will be ready. She has been practicing already!

This year my favorite part of the whole experience was watching the water balloon fight. Jorge helped fill them thankfully that morning (as I had thought I might not go and didn't do it the night before like any sensible mom would have done!). What I loved though was that this is the event where kids from K - 12 go at it together. On the bottom photo you can see Adreana chasing a teenage boy with her water balloon. He later turned on her and emptied his water cooler soaking her.  These kids are used to being together. They don't care how old you are, they help and acknowledge each other. If homeschooling would leave us nothing else I would be happy. My kids have role models and good ones too. These kids share their knowledge and lives with those who are younger. It is expected and they know nothing else. This is what my kids themselves know so when a little one toddles around to them they are enchanted and become mini-role models themselves. I hope this is a lesson that will stay with them forever.

Homeschool: Eating like Romans



We are learning about the Romans. We have talked about how the Romans made roads, we talked about what it meant to be a Roman citizen and we talked about Roman soldiers and gladiators. But the thing that stuck in my kids mind was that the Romans ate lying down sooo we had to give it a try. It didn't last long as after a little while they realized it was easier to eat sitting down.  Little things that make our homeschool day so much funner!

Museum Field Trips

Last year I had plans about writing every now and then about why we love homeschooling so I could come back and review the posts on the tough days but I never got around to it so this year I am going to try again. and what a fitting subject to be our first post of the year.

Reasons why I love homeschooling #1:

Because I get to learn with my kids in and out of the classroom!

We are studying world history this year and have been talking about the egyptians and then the greeks. When I found out a museum in the area had a real mummy I couldn't help myself and talked a fellow homeschooler to plan a trip (Courtney thank you sooo much for going with us and getting the coupon! You rock!).



I had never seen a mummy so I was just excited as the kids. Benjamin packed his bag with books on the subject and off we went! Like I told the kids: the mummy was just what I expected! :) I mean it looked just like they do in the books but way cooler! They had two mummified cats also! Seriously as a cat lover I totally get that!

Tutu mummy

The cats



They also had a few Mexican and Mayan artifacts including these two:



 



They brought back so many memories because growing up my dad had some like these. The memories came full force. I remembered the smell and the feel of them... so wierd how that can happen.





After a couple of hours here we said goodbye to our friends and we went to the Santa Fe Depot Museum. This time because I had seen on their website that they had some prarie life exhibits and when the kids and I had read a book about a girl that lived in the early 1900s and they just couldn't quite imagine it so I decided we needed to go see. It was a fun little museum with lots of things for us to see including an original Model T car that impressed me much more than it did the kids. They also had a life size paper mache horse which impressed the kids way more than me.

 I took advantage that we were all in a good mood and took some pics and since you  haven't seen the kids on this blog in a while here they are:

my little model!

The good mood doesn't last forever! But I love this pout too!

Being silly!

The kids loved today and hopefully the seeing plus the reading taught them about the cultures before us and an appreciation of art. We shall see.





Homeschool - Packed Lunch

One of the things my kids tell me they are most "deprived" of as homeschoolers is packed lunches. They are missing the fun of carrying a lunchbox to school and back. It doesn't seem to matter that most their friends that go to school buy their food they are still seemingly missing out on soo much. My poor kids.

So this fine day we decided that we would pack our lunches and they would take them to the living room table and eat like if they were in school. The joys!

Adreana asked for grilled cheese sandwich but she likes it hot so we packed it when it was nice and toasty. Don't know how I would accomplish that if she was going to school but it doesn't matter because today she got to enjoy!

Benjamin can't seem to take a picture without something or other but one thing for sure: his grapes did taste sweeter because they were in a packed lunch! And what is that shiny thing he is holding? A treat! A special packed lunch had to hold a special treat so gold coins is what we got.

And lastly we have been training Molly to take pictures. She has to sit and stay so I can take a picture. She is soo cute and has stolen all my heart and as you can see she has no problem with the big camera in her face. After all she know it is me... and more importantly she know the treat is soon to follow!

First day of school pictures

Another year of homeschooling has started for our family and as has become tradition we got our first day of school pictures on the bench in front of our house. Adreana did great and as usual smiled nicely but Benjamin... well see for yourselves...

My beautiful girl

I love her smile.

A bit blurry but this smile is so her I just had to keep it.

Our first try. This has become my most captured pose.

A pitiful pose.

His response when I said he needed to look up: "I don't want you to take a picture of my face." and swiftly showed me his back.

When I made him show me his face. Another pitiful face.

And there you have it. Our school pictures. Maybe next year he will let me take a picture of his face.

Announcements (finally)

Here it is (finally), as promised, my announcements...





1. We are the proud owners of a new to us Toyota Sienna minivan... and I am loving it. About two and a half months ago our Pontiac minivan decided to not run anymore. As so much was happening to it (including no AC) we decided not to invest any more $ into it and get us another one... Benjamin calls it red rocket.






2. Yep, We are homeschooling. We are using abeka curriculum and are ready to start. Don't forget to keep me in your prayers this year. This is definitely an act of obedience on my part. I didn't think I would be doing it or that I would enjoy it but Adreana and I (and Benjamin) are having fun. We are reading tons of books and loving it!






3. We are the owners of 9 (I mean 7) fish! Yes It was 9 but two of them have gone to a better place! I thought we would get 2 and we ended up with 9. They are beautiful to look at and we love them already...The picture is of all 9.


Anyway that should catch you up on our lives for now... well not really but this should do for today!