***edited to add--judging by the pictures here and the pictures from our co-op Christmas party, I am convinced that it is not my camera that is lacking, but rather that natural SUNLIGHT makes all the difference. So, you'll have to forgive the blur here....... bah.***

Well! Since the last time I wrote, we have moved, sent the kids to public school for the last 32 days, and I started working as an editor. That'd be the jist of it, but naturally there are a lot more details in between that! LOL

Let's start with our homeschool. As the title of the blog indicates, that is our "school name" (always has been), and we are now doing 3rd, 1st, and PreK! The kids are very happy to be in the next grade level, and I will do my best to randomly update this blog with pics. Come to think of it, I don't think I even posted pics of our Polar Express Party we did last year.  Well, new year, must update blog regularly!

So, this would be our "Family Schedule." Since we are "in the swing of things" regarding homeschooling, I figured I'd get these up, and you can see how our day goes. I will tell you, though, that only the "schooling hours" are die-hard must.watch.the.clock. The rest of it, ehh we're more "routine oriented," but if we don't stick to our schedule during school hours, we don't get everything accomplished. Being a task-oriented, list-maker that I am, this is VERY important.

(For those of you who are not familiar, SOTW=Story of the World, www.storyoftheworld.com)

So far, this schedule is working wonderfully for us (oh - and this is about the third version, because the first two had some "kinks" to workout, but I guess you don't know that 'til you actually dive in, huh?

Here are some shots of our classroom, finally organized and in these I believe the children were writing or reading:

Main shot from by my bedroom door (since our school room is our upstairs loft):

(and I have no idea why it looks so DARK outside, other than camera issues. Sigh.)

I HATE the glare from the window and the blur of the camera, but I wanted to show a shot of the most adorable window clings I got at the dollar tree--and of course you can't even tell what they are in this pic. *eyeroll*

In Story of the World, we have been learning about Ancient civilizations, nomads, and Egyptians lately. We actually started reading from this book awhile ago (for bedtime), but the kids LOVE this book, so we have incorporated it into our school day (I read while they eat their lunch) as History.

So, below is a shot of a "village" they created tonight while I made supper. Before you look, let me explain a few things, LOL. A "shaduf" was an ancient farmer's version of our modern-day irrigation systems. "Tarak" is a girl in the story (it bounces back and forth between informational material and a fictional story, to help keep children's attention and make it easier to understand). She carries a bag made of animal hide, in which she keeps lizards she catches. Also, we recently learned that the farmers built villages and then made walls (such as the wall of Jericho) around the villages. Oh, and today we discussed the Nile river and how farmers would dig canals from the river for the overflow, so as to catch their own "good water" (the "good water" came from the river, which brought with it silt, which is soil with vitamins and minerals).

OK, so now that that is out of the way.......... I just didn't want you to be lost when looking at the picture and go, "???" at the stuff to which the arrows are pointing!

One important detail would be that we started attending a new church, which our whole family just loves. It is www.chapelbaptist.org, and is wonderful for us.

In fact, first you will see some pics of our VBS from last week. Also, after trying public school not once but twice, we have decided it just is not for us, afterall. My husband never was in favor of it, but agreed, begrudgingly. The last school they went to was great, as far as public schools go. The first day I walked in, I was impressed. I LOVED their teachers, and felt like the principal really pushed the kids (in a good way) to achieve in their academics.

Nonetheless, it is still the same "public school experience" we had the last time, and that just is not for our family. (Add to the the conviction from God that my husband and I were both talking about, and it is just very clear where we are meant to be. Tried it twice, and here we are again. )

With that out of the way.... here are some pictures from our church's VBS last week!

I won't take the time to describe what is going on in each one, but they start with a couple shots of the kids in the rows while we were all singing some hymns and VBS songs, followed by Loralai and Noah's class, and then Abby and Lexi's class. Also, at the end the pastor was doing a song with them, so that'd be him on the floor in the front with several children LOL (later I will scan and insert my favorite picture of Abby and Lexi from VBS):

Apparently my camera sorta blurs when the pic is in motion  but you get the idea. They had a blast, and learned a lot at VBS!!

Well, that's all for now! Hope you enjoyed!!

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