Birthdays and a Field Trip

The Field Trip

We went on a field trip this past Thursday with our home school co-op group. We loaded up and all met at Welford's Farm Pumpkin Patch that morning. The boys were so excited! It was a beautiful Fall morning here in South Mississippi. All the kids had a good time running around and playing. It was our first field trip this year and it was very successful. They grabbed a few goodies from the General Store and then took a hay ride ( By the way, I can't believe how big my boys are getting and how independent they're becoming). Around noon all the families laid out blankets and had lunch in the pumpkin patch. It's such a blessing to have wonderful families to gather with and have a good time with. We're so thankful for our group, though we don't know them all that well.

Pumpkin Patch fun.

 

Hayride time!

Johnathan in the corn crib.

Tabitha enjoying lunch.

Telling a few jokes while eating our picnic lunch.

Birthdays

This past week my middle son, Aaron, turned five years old. It's hard to believe that it's been five years since I gave birth to him. Thursday was his official birthday. We celebrated with his brothers and Daddy with just some cupcakes and a gift. He is such a sweet little boy. He is tenderhearted, kind, thoughtful, funny, and loves to serve. We're so blessed to call him our son.

Michael Aaron turns 5.

We pray every day for God's will to be done in his life. We desire to see God do great things in him every day of his life. He still has a ways to go obviously because he's only five years old, but we cover him in prayer daily.

We also celebrated my oldest nieces birthday that evening. Tabitha turns 13 November 1st. It's hard to believe she is a teenager. She's a lovely young lady that we love very much. We had a great time with my brother and his family, my sister and her family, and my parents.

Tabitha the birthday girl.

What fun things does your family and friends do this time of the year? We're eagerly waiting for Thanksgiving. We love to gather with our family and friends to give thanks for the years harvest. Have a blessed weekend!

Games anyone?

I have always loved to play board games and nothing has changed. Though I am 30 years old, I am still a sucker for board games. My husband on the other hand is not that crazy about them. He plays because he likes to spend the time with me,but he would rather be doing something else. I don't force him that much,only a little.

When we had our children, one thing I could not wait for was to play board games with them. Is that crazy? I had no idea what all I would go through before getting them to that stage,but hey we survived! So now my two oldest are big enough to understand some of them and it's been really fun! I taught them how to play Uno,which we play a lot. I also like to look online to find fun games I can print out. I particularly like one site called Free Homeschool Deals. It is such a great place for educational and fun resources. Jamerrill has all kinds of neat stuff,including a list of free ebooks for the day. You can go to the site and just search for any of the three games.

A few months back I found 2 bingo games and 1 memory game. I was so excited! It's hard to find these in stores anymore. Everyone plays them on the tablets or computer I assume. I love technology,but I love playing actual board games. It is so much funner!

The ABC Memory game.

My boys have enjoyed this one. It has helped my oldest recognize his letters more. I love how colorful it is! I took postal tape and laminated the boards and calling cards. I wanted them to last and we all know with kids that is hard to do.

We first used play coins,but needed more. So Daniel picked out the patriotic buttons for us to use.

States Bingo game.

I almost flipped out,okay, I did flip out when I saw this on her site! I had been looking for a way to teach them the states,but in a fun way. My boys loved this game the best! My middle son recognizes each state by site,and he can put some states with the right names. I did the same thing with the postal tape and laminated these boards and cards.

Aaron playing states bingo. He is a smarty pants!

Daniel playing states bingo. He really loves this one.

ABC Memory game.

We have not played this one yet. I have 3 more cards to laminate. I ran out of postal tape and have totally forgot to buy more! So typical of a busy Mom right? It matches the upper case letter to the lower case letter. It should be fun when we play it!


Don't forget to check out Jamerrill's site where she has tons of free stuff to help educate while having fun! That was a goal for mine this year in home schooling: make learning fun! I have suceeded so far!

Linking up with The Better Mom today.

Our Fall Trip- Pumpkin Patch

Fall is my favorite season of the year. I love the coolness of the air,college football,and the beautiful scenery. We usually don't have a long Fall,but we have had some Fall days already here in Alabama. It's been so wonderful!

Last Monday I took my 2 oldest boys on a field trip with our home school group to a pumpkin patch. We don't celebrate Halloween,so I wasn't sure if the farm would incorporate that into the patch. I was very pleased that it did not! It was just Fall decor and pumpkins. There were about 50 kids there with our group. My boys had SO much fun too. I even had fun just watching all the kids. It wasn't far from our home here in Alabama,just across the state line into Mississippi.

They had some neat things the kids could do. The funnest for the kids was just running around in the patch, I think.

The kids loved playing on the old time hay stack. They had bells up there and the kids raced to the top.

My second son,Aaron,loved it.
 

Daniel and Jachin,our Pastor's youngest son.

The kids loved the corn crib. It was my first time to see one.

Aaron got on the metal horse to try it out. This was so cute!

They had it decorated so good! An outhouse for us to take pictures in.

Seth and Aaron playing on the wagon. Seth is one of their friends we go to church with also.

Kaleb and Daniel playing checkers. Kaleb is our Pastor's oldest son.

They had a general store where they sold snow cones and popcorn for a $1. It was so cute! The kids ran around and played on all the stuff they had set out in the patch. They had a hay maze,tire swing,wagon to get in,a checker board,and a fun house. That isn't all either. We also went on a hay ride through the nursery part of the farm. My boys really loved that!

So cute! Aaron isn't as social as Daniel. He just kind of played by himself a lot. So I followed him around taking pictures. :)

Enjoying a snow cone and popcorn before the hay ride. Another Mom snapped this photo.

Aaron in the hay maze. It had already been kind of messed with by the big kids.

Riding the tire hose swing. So cute!

Seth,Aaron,and Daniel having fun. Such a neat idea!

Another snapped by a Mom there. Aaron decided to push the truck ha!

My big boys playing with the checker board.

Our home school group. This isn't all of them either. So blessed!

The people that were running everything were so nice! We knew some of them from teaching at elementary schools that a lot of us Mom's attended when we were younger. It was nice to be around such friendly faces. I really want to take them back before they take the Fall decorations down for Christmas decorations. If not it was such a fun experience for them and the rest of us.

We ended the time there by having a picnic lunch in the patch. This was our view. Such a beautiful Fall day!

 We usually don't do much until November for Thanksgiving,then December for Christmas. This was something new for us.  What Fall activities have you done this October so far?

Our September

I've slacked off of my writing lately. My blog will always be here and if it isn't, then it wasn't that important. I do want to still write some,but just not every day like I was trying to do. I loved having guest bloggers too. I want to still and try do that some. Thank you for all who do read my humble writings.

So here is what has been happening around here lately....

• Our boys caught some kind of virus that has been causing a stir. They caught a virus that was causing mucus and that was causing bronchospasms at night. It's been something we have never experienced and never want too again. We saw 2 Doctors and 2 Chiropractors and none could pin point it or they just wouldn't say. We suspect viral asthma and it will go away. It's been 4 weeks since it began with our oldest and the virus has about run it's course. The younger 2 are going into the second week of it. They have been improving though after we started giving them a honey and lemon concoction. Thank God for His natural herbs and fruits. Prayers are still appreciated for them and us. My faith was rocked that's for sure. I questioned so much. It's hard to explain what they were doing,but it was terrifying. I just got discouraged and down. Thank God for other believers who encouraged me and for my husband who would not let me give up.
• We went to Texas for vacation last week. With the spasms we weren't sure about going that far,but we decided to make the trip. The spams were not going to kill them and there was nothing we could do here that we couldn't do there. We left last Tuesday evening with some friends. Oh it was so much fun! We went last year and it was our first vacation. Some family friends live out there and love us like their own. We spent Wednesday,Thursday,and Friday out on Lake Livingston. They have a home right there on the lake. It was beautiful and peaceful. I could have stayed there a little longer. We left Saturday morning for home. Our boys had so much fun!! I just love watching their faces light up with joy. We are so grateful for the people God has put in our life. We are so blessed with people who are willing to open up their homes to us. 
• I have been planning for school to start. We started this past Monday. My oldest is 5 1/2 and my second oldest is 3 1/2. My oldest started history,science,and some math. I love our curriculum too. It's simple and hands on. It's all Bible based,which I love. So far so good. I have only a few goals. The main two are: for my boys to learn more about the Word of God and for learning to be fun. They're small and we never stop learning. We are always playing and doing things,we just don't do formal school year round. I'm just thankful to be able to teach our boys our morals and the Word of God.

So that's our September so far. I will share a couple of pictures with you all. I pray you are having a great month so far!

Daniel and Aaron ready to have some fun.

The view that greeted us each morning. Breathtaking!

I love this shot.

The beautiful lake.

Johnathan enjoying the boat.

Aaron coloring his page.

Doing a craft with the letter A.

Daniel doing some work.

Daniel's collage representing Jesus as the center of history.

Home Schooling In Our Home

We have been enjoying a good summer break. We finished up the last of May with our first year of home schooling. My boys really did enjoy it,for the most part. They are kids and some days it was like pulling teeth. Some days I just wanted to cry or throw in the towel. I never envisioned myself as a teacher. I've never been fond of children and I surely didn't think I would be teaching my boys at home. Funny how God changes our hearts isn't it? He threw me for a loop with all the changes He has made in my heart and mind over the last 5 years. It's definitely Christ working through me because I could not be a Mother or teacher without Him.


What Curriculum We Chose

I love that we can go at our own pace with home schooling and we can choose what works best for us. We are using Heart of Dakota curriculum and I love it. It is very flexible and hands on. The best thing about it is the whole curriculum is Bible based. I love that! We started out with Little Hands to Heaven and I will use it again for my 4 year old. My 5 year old will move up too Little Hearts For His Glory. I already have the curriculum for next year. I have looked through it and I am very pleased. My 5 year old will start some history and science next year. Once again it all goes back to the Bible and that is what we want our boys to know more than anything.


Why We Home School

Everyone has a reason why they home school or why they don't. My husband and I decided when we were pregnant with our first son (only 4 months after we married) that we would teach our children at home. Why you may ask? We wanted our children to be taught the morals and values we had. It's not a hidden secret that our society and nation has strayed away from God very much. Children are so impressionable and we wanted to be the ones impressing upon our children the things of God. God is not the center of the public school system now days and that isn't something we agree with. God is the very fabric of our being. Without Him, we perish on earth and spiritually. We want our boys to know the Word of God and know He is our source of life. I am learning that not all families school for this reason,shocking I know. I was naive and believed all did. We are to protect and shelter our children. We want to be the ones answering their questions and telling them certain things when we feel it's time. It's sad what children are put through today in public schools. So it's our conviction,not preference, to home school our 3 boys.


I love being with my boys. I love teaching them how to write and stories of the Bible. My oldest can write his name so well and can copy anything you show him. It's amazing really. My second oldest can recognize his ABC's without hesitation. It is very trying,but it is so worth it. To know my boys are being taught the ways of the Lord even while doing "school" is something we are proud of. Why do you home school? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Linking up with Ruth@The Better Mom.