Here's a few shots of our party.  I was busy chasing children and hostessing, and didn't take many pictures, but we enjoyed good food, extended family, cooking over the fire-pit (roasted apples, brats, and s'mores, oh my!), fireworks, and tractor rides for little boys!  (My nephew was especially excited about the tractor ride!)

Sunday morning we had a discussion over geography.  I asked Peter (who loves Geography) if he thought our eldest son 15yo would have a bank of knowledge that would be equal to a highschool course in geography.  ds has never studied geography but he seems (to me) very knowledgeable.   As we discussed what geography involves we became aware of a few little gaps but came to the conclusion that he has learnt geography while he has read broadly and studied history.  He absorbs information from all sorts of sources and makes connections to other bits of knowledge. 

This conversation led into ds and dh have a great conversation about South America (a gap for ds) but as they "prattled" (they were enjoying themselves) the rest of us totally tuned out!    It became obvious that dh and ds have very similar learning styles but the rest of us differ!

As I sat there - bored! - I came up with a scheme that my kids rejoiced over and my dh shook his sadly over (grin!!)  We are going to watch a travel show on TV (when we can but not an extreme priority) and then notebook different aspects, possibly even dig deeper each week.  As I tabled this idea the kids started talking, eagerly, about Greenwich and the Incas which they had seen on this show a week prior.  I must admit it is "twaddle" but it will be a fun relaxed way to cover some geography and maybe create an interest that isn't really there in my other kids just yet.   My hope would be that they would then start  to see these aspects in the books that they read and notebook/journal/learn from more “whole” book perspective.  

We will make a family notebook - probably divided by continents, though I can never keep a filing system so totally simple!  So they will be allowed to make dividers as their studies dictate.  I'm going to use this website  as my reference to help me get my head around what variety there is in the subject though the discussions we have together will really dictate what they notebook about.

Last night as I started to plan our next study block I realised the Olympics will be a great opportunity to look at different nations, their country, their culture etc.  Not just China but any of the countries that are competing.  One thought would be that if a child was following one particular event they could study the country that either won (or lost!), or played off against our own country.   A country’s values are often expressed in their anthem, their history in their flag. 

This will actually open doors to recording other geography aspects of our lives too.  I am particularly thinking of a camping trip we have coming up to some of the most amazing rock formations in Australia.  And then we have a trip around ½ of Australia later in the year.  That all comes under geography if we keep our eyes open!

I’m actually excited about this myself!

   Just thought I'd check in before I go up to bed. I can't believe how many days it's been since I blogged! I thought I was busy when Dh was in hospital.........that was nothing compared to having him home and trying to keep him out of mischief!!!  

   He is still on all the drugs they sent him home on. He flucuates between comatose - and feeling sooooo 'good' he thinks he is superman and tries to do gardening!!!!  So we go between trying to get him up so that he can sleep at night - and reminding him that he only feels 'good' because he is doped up to his eyeballs!! LOL!

   We went to our small church this morning. They were pleasantly surprised to see him come through the door with us! It turns out that no one was down to preach or really lead this morning and they were just going to 'wing it' as it were. Well, Dh came through and preached with no notice and while on all the pain meds!!!!  Yes. You heard me right! He preached this morning! It was a message that was on his heart anyway, so he didn't need any notes. He just sat in a chair at the front (he can't stand for any length of time) and talked to the people, very informal and relaxed. He went off on a couple of rabbit trails and ran the meeting over time, but other than that he did amazingly well for the amount of drugs in his system. I feel God really had a word for him to bring this morning.

   We have gone out yesterday and today since Dh was going a bit stir crazy staring at the same walls and wanted some fresh air. On Friday night we did celebrate the 4th of July with our first BBQ of the summer. (I'll post some pics and talk about that another time. Too late to sort photos tonight!)

   Oh! I got a real treat this week too! I got to 'talk' to my neice Peggy on the webcam for about an hour! She was being babysat by my parents while Mr and Mrs Chipper went out on a date. I got to sing and chat to her and watch her nearly crawling around on the floor! It was sooo wonderful! I can't believe that she will be over a year old before I get to give her a hug! She is sooo beautiful. I keep singing 'Twinkle, twinkle' to her everytime I see her on the webcam. I figure that when I see her in December, I can sing it to her and maybe she will remember me a bit. (Well, I can hope, can't I?)

   I better go to bed before I fall asleep at the keyboard. Playing 'nurse' is getting tiring!  Thank you for the continued prayers. He is doing well, I just wish we could lower the meds. We tried but he was in too much discomfort. Please keep praying - we need wisdom!

Seasons come and go, they bring with them unique opportunities and if we dont grab the opportunity now, we cannot replicate it during the next season. We cannot go to the beach in the winter! The beach is for summer, warm fires is for winter.

How do you implement Discipleship into your curriculum? Discipleship is more than a Christian education, it is more than .... read full article

It is important to have a purpose for writing and an audience to appreicate your effort. Here is a list of family-friendly, naturally created audiences.

In response to a question emailed to me I have listed some of the things that we have done to encourage nature journals, even when there has been some resistance.  Read Nature Journals for the Reluctant

Has Nature Journaling been hard to get started in your family? Both Kerry and I would love to hear how you tackled this. Read Nature Journals not happening and share things that you have done.

The kids are getting a big picture of keeping house too.  As they refer to this chart for their daily tasks, they are seeing all that needs to be done.  They see what I am working on, they see what each other is working on.  Over the two weeks we have had this new system going they have offered to help more, they have taken initiative with chores more and they have taken up their own responsibilities with a lot more "heart", often going the extra mile.  We still have aspects of training to work on, but their attitude has been different.  I am sure it is because this chart has helped them see they are a part of a team.