More Tiny Talk

Nate was looking at our world map in the school room and said,"See that really big orange spot on the map?"

Me: "Yes, Russia."

Nate responded,"No, it's Mississippi because it is so big!"

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Lydia: "I'm on chapter 9 of Mr. Popper's Penguins. You know it's kind of a "how-to" book."

Me: "Really, a "how-to"?"

Lydia: "Yes, how to keep penguins in your house."


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An afternoon TV show for Nate is sometimes a necessary evil so we can finish that last bit of home schooling. One afternoon the Roku was needing new batteries so Nate had to choose a DVD.

Nate was NOT please with any of the choices in the kids' DVDs. He opened the adult drawer and found Gilligan's Island! Excitedly, he ran around the house telling the other kids what he was going to watch and then instructing us what episode to turn on.

He's an old soul:)

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One morning while working hard we all stopped to listen to the rain beat the house. A very hard rain!

Anna started the conversation, "Oh, wow look at the rain coming down. Do you think that it's going to flood today?"

Lydia was next,"Don't you remember? God promised He wouldn't flood the Earth again."

Chris replied to Lydia,"Oh, yeah. But there still are floods that happen in just certain places."

Then Nate chimes in,"Maybe God forgot?"

I am thankful daily for the conversations I get to have with the kids and that I get to watch them "make sense" of the world. They want to understand and to have all the dots connect. They want a logical explanation and pattern. It's exciting! And also challenging as I get to see (and hear) their thoughts and encourage them to understand what we can about God and His ways.


What are your kids saying?

Throwback Thursday

I'm kind of in the "throwback" kind of mood lately :)

I just get soo wrapped up in TODAY that sometimes I miss out on "right now". Like today while trying to "school" the kids, they were just soo stinkn' giggly. The giggles that start because "nothing was funny but everything was funny". And I tried to be patient and play along... really, I did. And I loved the smiles and the laughter. But I was caught up in the tasks of the DAY and not the goofy kiddos in front of me.

If I can only hold onto those precious giggly kids... not always be pushing to the next task!

A picture from 2008 at Scott and Bea's wedding!  It's truly unbelievable that they've been married 6 years...

and that those sweet little chubby faces were so young, acting soo grown!

Those 6 years went WAY too FAST!

It's That Time Again

Oh, no.....

not, again.

Is it really???










Yep!














Time to get ready....

colorful jersey?

just as colorful socks? (really??)

shorts?

shin guards?

cleats?




Did anyone think of water?








We've practiced and scrimmaged each other.

We are all dressed up! Lined up! Zipped up! Taped up!

Ready and waiting!!!

And here comes the ball!!

We've waited all summer. We're ready to work hard

to taste victory!

LOL!!

October is soccer month in our area!! I have 3 kids playing this year, Anna, Chris, and Lydia, on two different teams!

Brian is co-coaching an 8 and under team that Chris and Lydia play on. So far they have really shown improvement! I really like soccer, so I'm so excited that they love playing and are really working hard this year. And we have a really sweet group of kids (and parents) on our team this year which makes it even more enjoyable!!


I have to share a story about Chris as the goalie! We played a tough team this week that was constantly shooting at the goal. Chris scares me because he comes soo far out of the goal. Anyway, for one attempt, there was a crowd of kids and I saw one the forwards kick hard right towards the goal. And at first I couldn't see Chris in the group of kiddies. It was then I saw him behind everyone catch the soccer ball right in his chest and bear hug it! He ran it towards the side of the goalie box and threw it to a team member to take down field!! He's really done well as a forward and goalie this year!

And yes, there was picture above of Lydia in goal. I don't think she likes the goal as much as Chris, but she has done very well in there, too!! She's also doing well as a forward and mid-fielder... I would love for her to score her 1st goal this year:)

Anna is playing on a 10 and under team. Thankfully she has a great coach who we attend church with and are friends with (that was a BIG answer to prayer since she couldn't be on her daddy's team any longer). Her team played well for their first game:) I loved how she really went after the ball and got it down field twice to attempt to score! That's my girl!

And yes, it means a month of late night dinners (planned ahead so we can actually eat something when we get home). And some other, awesome events we miss (always a bummer!). Some cool, damp nights. Grass cuttings dragged into the van. Stinky uniforms that need to be washed in 24 hours.

But we always have a good time!!

Tiny Talk Tuesday in the School Room

A question asked in the schoolroom, "Who is Sargon the Great?"

And answered by one smarty pants 10 yr old, "I know who that is! Its Willie Roberson's great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather."

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The question asked by the teacher-Momma, "What do we call it when a ruler uses an army to make people obey the laws?"

Chris confidently shouted out, "Dictation!!"

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And this didn't take place in the schoolroom, but the items destroyed were created in there by one tired momma the night before the class:/

The afternoon after the destroying event....

In a forget moment of cuteness, I may have said to my dog, "Jack, you're such a good dog!"

Lydia snuggling Jack responded, "Jack is always good."

Me: "Yeah, like when he ripped up my children's church craft this morning [as we were getting ready for church, where the previously mentioned craft was going to be crafted]."

Sweet Lydia's gentle answer,"Well, everyone makes mistakes!"

Yep! We all do!


What are you all "talking" about today? 

My Students...

We LOVE starting our school year with our "Back-to-school" pictures! Eagerly the kids decorated their "grade" signs days before we actually started learning;) It's kind of a tradition now for the kids to paint/color them whatever they want:) And it's a physical sign that school is about to start.

This year we did all the prep work but didn't actually get the pictures on that first morning,
or the second,
or the third, fourth, fifth
or not even on the sixth!
Nope... on a random day during the 3rd week, we finally got it together to get the kids dressed nicely and all the smiles on;)

And honestly, I was disappointed that none of us really were ready for pictures during any of those days.... I still saw the need for them. It will be awesome looking back a year from now and being able to see how much they have grown:) Or looking back 20 years from now and seeing them all together... longing for those days to have continued a little longer.

So we did the picture thing.. a little late:)

This the crew all together (minus Jack-the dog)! They are super busy, loud, insightful, creative, interested. And can be somewhat distracted, whiny and messy! But they are my sweet little class and we have some crazy, fun and productive days, too!

 




Anna
The 5th Grader

She's our "time clock"!  Often, she will ask "when are we..." or "how much time before we...."! If I show up anywhere early/on-time/5 minutes late it's because Anna has planned our departure so we can be "on-time".

Often she is also the "guinea pig"... as all first-borns seem to be:) Thankfully she is a hard-worker and sees some of  the material or tasks I give her as a challenge and does her best to complete it.











 


Chris
The 3rd Grader

The "artist"! Chris is our resident drawing creator! He loves drawing and often will be sketching away as we read. It's always fun to listen to him explain the drawings from reading time. Often they are a narration of a part of the story.

The "distracted one". Oh Chris, my Chris! There are some days he finishes assignments so efficiently with enthusiasm. And then other days when the math lesson drags on for hours (or at least it seems). If I could just figure how to help make every day the former, we'd be good to go;)












Lydia
The 2nd/3rd Grader


The "peacemaker". I'm not sure if all 3rd borns are as peacemaking as our Lydia, but I am thankful for her personality. She balances not getting walked over with compromising with her siblings so that everyone gets a little of what they wanted. And I'm praying that this isn't just a stage:)

Lydia also pushes herself to "keep up" with her older two siblings. For her it's motivating to finish work before them or to do the same projects. Or even not get as many wrong on the spelling test. While this is a GREAT quality it's also can cause extra pressure and discouragement, especially in the afternoon following an intensive morning school. And she really is keeping up!









Nate
The Pre-Ker


The "sponge". It is not unusual to hear this little guy answer a question that was asked of an older sibling. He's heard and been around schooling his whole life. And now we know he was just hanging out to absorb it all:)


The "attention getter". The youngest of 4 has to be loud (just for survival) and Nate fits that description well. Even his normal talking voice is loud. When it's not his words getting him into trouble; it's his antics and mischief made just for some attention!










Let's just say that the school room is NEVER boring... it's lively and full of busy little kids working and playing hard!!

Yep! Another crazy year!