http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Thu, 9 Jul 2009 17:02:00 -0500 Thu, 9 Jul 2009 17:02:00 -0500 April we started baseball GAMES!  The chaos wasn’t quite so bad but we had to get grand parents involved so that there would be SOMEONE at all of the boys games.  Several nights all 3 boys had a game at the SAME TIME!!  I did NOT like that at all!!  I don’t like missing ANY games!!  S hit 2 homeruns this season and I missed both of them because I was at one of his brothers games!! Fields for games were on the East and West sides of town!!!  We raced from game to game every night!  We spent most nights at the ball field VERY LATE.  All but 3 of T’s 20+ games were 8:00 games!!  We were seldom home before 10:30!!  We wrote Thank You cards to all our state Representatives & Senators that voted against same sex marriage.  We actually got a response back from 2 of them telling us thank you!  We also wrote out Red Envelopes and sent them to the White House as a stand against abortion.  Once again the boys were exposed to “politics”. In April we read the books of Judges, Ruth and 1 Samuel.  We learned a lot about David and Saul.  We began learning about Ancient Greece.  Now the Old Testament is getting exciting for the boys!  We started reading The Children’s Homer (very interesting) and T read The Trojan Horse aloud to us.  T used his own money and bought MOBY DICK and read it in April!!!  WooHoo!!!  I was AMAZED!!  I’ve never read that book. The Lea County Children’s Choir put on their concert in April. They sang songs from The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music.  HALF the choir did not show up for the concert and that was rather disappointing!!  But our boys did GREAT and had fun.  I don’t think we will be joining that choir next school year. Easter was in April so we headed to our Annual Easter Reunion on the Saturday of Easter weekend.  As soon as they got all the eggs out for the hunt it started pouring rain!  They went ahead and hunted in the rain so all the kids were drenched when they got done!!  S won the prize for the Most Eggs Found!  He’s won lots of prizes this year!! I think that about covers April. Moving on to May now... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706622/ Thu, 9 Jul 2009 17:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706622/ March winds blew in The Collins Crew CHAOS!!!!  March 2 we began baseball practices.  All 3 boys were in 3 different leagues this season… 8U, 10U and 12U.  They LITERALLY practiced at the most Southern point and most Northern point of the city with one right in the middle of town!!  All 3 practices started and ended at the SAME TIME 3 days a week.  The boys would wear their practice clothes to choir and violin and we would leave there and go straight to ball practice.  By the end of March we dropped violin lessons.  It just became TOO MUCH for all of us. We finished the book of Exodus in March and we built a Model of the Old Testament Tabernacle.  We moved right along through the books of Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua in March.  We read 3 different “read-a-loud” books by Patricia St. John this year during school and they were very heart wrenching stories.   Her books are wonderful examples of how God works in our lives IF we allow him  to.  Those stories we read brought my 9 yr old, N to tears every time!  To the point that he would just fall into my arms and sob on my shoulder!!!  He has a huge heart and I am more convinced than ever before that God has something wonderful planned for that boy when he answers God’s calling. T is really enjoying READING!!  He read books in March about the Titanic and Sharks.  I am so happy that one of my boys LOVES TO READ!! We don’t ever take a full week off for Spring Break but we did take a long weekend and go to Del Rio to check on my Dad & PaPa.  PaPa had an accident and broke his foot but it sure did NOT slow him down any!  We saw an Armadillo on the way to Del Rio.  That was the 1st time any of us had seen one out in the wild.  On the way home I got a great picture of our beautiful New Mexico sunsets.  After that break we came back home to our crazy baseball schedules. We had a PJ Nite at Kings Kids where we all wore our Pajamas and watched Space Buddies on the big screen.  The kids love those nites that we do something different. One Saturday, Daddy took the boys Havalina Hog hunting.  They had a blast!!!  It was actually a friend of Daddy's that had the tag to hunt but they all had fun hunting that ONE hog!! The boys learned a song on their guitars to play at 5th Sunday Sing.  T & N played the music while S sang.  It was  so cute!!!!  Mom was just on the stage for support so S didn’t feel like he was singing all by himself. For school one day I let the boys repair their go kart that my PaPa gave them.  Mechanics is a GREAT thing to learn!  They fixed it and made it run!!  We also planted lots of flowers in March.  Spring was just around the corner. Now we blow into April…   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706593/ Thu, 9 Jul 2009 14:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706593/ My neice turned 2 on Feb. 1…  I LOVE to watch her with her Daddy!!  I am so amazed that my brother has made such a WONDERFUL Daddy!!! Feb. 2 Daddy & the boys went Barbary Sheep hunting.  Daddy fell – chasing a sheep – and hurt his knee really bad.  It literally took MONTHS to heal!!  So he gave up on getting a sheep after he got hurt, but T got his 1st Barbary Sheep!!  We were so proud of him.  He’s becoming quite a hunter!!! We had fun learning the 10 Commandments and the 10 plagues of Egypt in Feb.  We can all STILL recite them too!!  haha For Valentines Day,  Daddy took us bird hunting WITH DOGS!  It was SO FUN!!!  Daddy & T were the only ones that carried guns.  N & S got to work the dogs & get the birds from them!  It was so cool to watch those dogs work!  I got some awesome video that day!! At Kings Kids we had a “Cowboy Nite” where we all dressed as cowboys.  S won the prize for CUTEST COWBOY! Temple Baptist Children’s Choir sang at our 5th Sunday Sing in Feb.  It brought so much joy to my heart seeing S sing his little heart out!!  He kept begging me to QUIT choir but I wouldn’t let him so he stayed in there & ended up enjoying it!!  Imagine that!!!  haha We met our church youth group in Odessa at a Jackalopes hockey game one Saturday.  The kids had a blast there with some of their friends from church. I am posting a picture that is SO FUNNY!  S had got into trouble and was getting a spanking for it.  He came downstairs with his "blankie" in the back of his shorts!!!  I was so hard to sit there and not laugh!!  So I grabbed the camera & took a picture!! On to March we go....  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706287/ Wed, 8 Jul 2009 17:20:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706287/ JANUARY???  Ok, it’s actually JULY!!!  What’s my most used statement on my blogs???  WE ARE SO BUSY!!!!  As I sit down to update my blog I have to look back at pictures & homeschool records to see what kept us so busy in January!  So here’s what we did… We spent all of the Fall Semester of school in the Book of Genesis.   We did learn A LOT but I thought we’d never finish that book!  So when we resumed school in Jan. we FINALLY finished Genesis and started the Book of Exodus.  For Christmas,  Santa brought us all tickets to MONSTER JAM!!!  That’s monster trucks for those that don’t know.  So in January we loaded up & went to San Antonio to see Monster Jam!!  The boys have watched it on TV so they decided they would make home made signs to take with them like they see other people do.  It was VERY FUN!!!  None of us had ever been in a coliseum SO BIG!!!  Wow!!  We had front row seats and we were all in awe!!  THANK YOU SANTA!! Our favorite friends The Hughes Family met us there & we spent one night & one day with them!!  It was SO GOOD to see them again!!!  We took the kids to The Alamo (Again!  I don’t think they remembered the 1st time we took them.) and the Riverwalk.  We ate at Magic Time Machine & had loads of fun!!  We were sad to see them go!  We haven’t seen them since!  My BABY, S got baptized in January!!!  So I’m ready for the trumpet to sound ANYTIME!! Inauguration day was a very sad day for me!!!  As sad as I was we still got up to watch all the formalities on TV.  We watched the whole thing then we headed to Midland to see President & Laura Bush at their WELCOME HOME rally!!  We did not have tickets & didn’t expect to get in to the event.  We would’ve been happy seeing Air Force One fly over us.  But we got tickets and we were so excited!!!!  So we got in to the event & hung out for 5 HOURS waiting for him to arrive!!  It wasn’t too bad though.  When they got to Midland they flew right over our heads!  Then finally they got to downtown where we were.  His speech was AWESOME!  I cried a lot that day!  He was a WONDERFUL President that restored INTEGRITY to the White House!!!  It was so nice to see both of them with the weight of the world OFF their shoulders!  We love George W. Bush!!! As our new President took office we all became more involved in politics than ever before.  NM elected several liberal politicians and I felt a heavy burden to stand up for our beliefs!!!  The boys & I spent countless hours on the phone calling our state representatives and senators!  We made an impact THIS YEAR but we’ll have to do it all again next year.  The boys were amazed at all the phone calls and emails we made.  I feel that was a great thing for them to experience.   Their generation has got to be taught to stand up for what’s RIGHT!!! At the end of January we continued with Lea County Children’s Choir and violin lessons for another semester.  So that’s what kept us busy in JANUARY!!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706262/ Wed, 8 Jul 2009 16:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/706262/ December came & went pretty fast!  As usual we were BUSY but I don't think it was too bad this year.  We did get to ENJOY Christmas!!  The boys sang in 2 Christmas programs with the Lea County Childrens Choir.  T & N both got lead parts in the church Christmas program.  It was a very sweet heart warming story!  N as Leon stole the show and made his Mom & Dad very proud!!  There were not many dry eyes in the house when he got done singing to Baby Jesus! With my nervousness about our new government taking over in Jan. I felt the need to make this a VERY SPECIAL Christmas.  We had several days together AT HOME with nothing to do but enjoy each other!!  I thank God for those days!!  We were very blessed in 2008 and I pray that we all continue to be healthy and happy in 2009. Enjoy our pics from December.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/639341/ Fri, 2 Jan 2009 17:55:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/639341/ November we continued our study of Ancient Egypt.  We took a fieldtrip with another homeschooling family to the Science Spectrum where we saw some Ancient Egyptian Artifacts and watched a Mummy movie at the Omnitheatre.  That was a fun day. We went to Del Rio for Thanksgiving.  Rather than going to a lot of trouble to cook the traditional Thanksgiving meal we went out on the boat and cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill.  The weather was very nice and it was an enjoyable day.  N caught the only fish that was caught that day. The Lea County Childrens Choir did a Christmas program in November and they also sang at the Community Prayer Breakfast.  We had to be there by 5:30 in the morning!!!  Therefore, not many of them showed up.  They sang beautifully though!! Here's pics from November...   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/639325/ Fri, 2 Jan 2009 16:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/639325/ October was a fun month.  We started our study of Ancient Egypt, pyramids, mummies, etc.  Rather than write a lot for you to read I will let the pictures do the talking....   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/639291/ Fri, 2 Jan 2009 16:03:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/639291/ Ok, so it hasn't ALWAYS been so smooth but without those waves our marriage wouldn't be what it is today.  God has blessed us with an amazing relationship!!! We left on Oct. 1, drove to Del Rio & stayed the nite with my Dad.  The next day we got up & drove to Houston to stay a few days with our best friends that moved there in May.  We had a fun time with them.  We went to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory!  YES, we got free ice cream!!!  haha  That was a lot of fun & very interesting!!!! On Oct. 5 we took a 7 day cruise.  It was the highlight of my life to see my boys amazement that whole week!!!  I am so thankful that God provided the means for us to take our boys on such a wonderful vacation!!  We left Houston & sailed to Jamaica where we rode inner tubes down the river in the middle of the thick jungle!  I think I liked that more than the kids did.  They didn't like the fact that all our inner tubes were tied together & they didn't get to go down the river on their own.  The jungle/rain forest was just beautiful! The next day we were in Grand Cayman.  We fell in love with this island!  We'd love to go back & spend a week there!!  We went to the turtle farm where they raise & release sea turtles.  Then we swam with STINGRAYS!!!  T, N and Daddy LOVED it!!!  N was floating in the clouds after that.  He just kept hugging me & saying...  That was so awesome, that was so awesome....  He brought tears to my eyes seeing how happy he was.  S and I on the other hand did not like it that much!  I just stood there & didn't move!!  Those crazy stingrays just rub all over you like cats do!!!  It was really cool but not my favorite thing. Next we went to Cozumel - now this was my favorite day!!  We swam with dolphins and it was way cool!!!  We all loved it!!!  I'll have to scan some pics to post becuz I only took pics with my water camera that I have to have developed.  So be sure to check back for those pics. We had a great time!!  Loads of fun & relaxing!! After the cruise we spent another day in Houston with friends.  We were treated as family at their new church & we just fell in love with everyone we met there!! After leaving Houston we went back to Del Rio & spent a few days with my Dad & my PaPa.  My Dad is not good health wise and taking care of my PaPa is taking a toll on him mentally.  They both did not want us to leave. Enjoy our vacation pics....  I'll post more after I scan them! Our trip continued.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/606664/ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/606664/ Well, September was a GREAT month for us.  We were married 20 yrs on Sept. 3.  Wow!!  We aren't old enough to have been married 20 yrs!!!!  When P proposed to me, he had my ring tied on a dozen roses & wrote a sweet poem asking me to marry him.  I was so young & DUMB that I didn't GET IT until he pointed out the ring on the roses!!!  Well, on our anniversary I woke up to find roses & lillies on the table.  As soon as I bent down to smell the roses I saw the ring in the lilly!!!  I told him...  You didn't get me this time!!!  Well, the joke was on me AGAIN!!  A good 30 min later he asked if I was going to take any pictures of the ring in the flower.  So I did and he said....  Stand on the chair so you can see BOTH lillies.  N stood in the chair next to me & I was shocked when he said....  Mom!!!  There's another ring in this one!!!!  Sigh....  He got me AGAIN!!!  I have the BEST husband in the world!!!  We started school the last week of August and we absolutely LOVE our curriculum this year!!  The boys are doing great with it!  This is the 1st year EVER that we actually get up and start school by 8-8:30 EVERY DAY!!!  I am amazed with all of us!!  We are going thru the Old Testament this year and we have had some really good "new" lessons come out of scripture that I've read a hundred times before!  God is so good to us!  We are studying Old Testament Feasts & celebrations.  In September we learned about the Sabbath and how to celebrate it from a Christian perspective rather than Jewish.  I was really overwhelmed by it at first but then I was so glad we did go ahead & do the study & the actual celebration becuz it became an amazing time of bonding for our family!!  The boys are really enjoying the art program we are doing this year too!  We do art LAST so that they have that to look forward to after all the other school work.  We took a fieldtrip to the Post Office and another to the Staked Plains Round-up where we learned about Ranching Life.  T & N are in the Community Choir this year and they are having fun with that. I do not like the Fall and I really fight depression when the leaves start turning.  We had several cloudy & rainy days which don't help either but overall, September turned out to be a really good month. We left Oct. 1 and took 2 weeks off to celebrate our anniversary.  We had a wonderful vacation that I will blog about later today. So for now here are some pics from the end of Summer and our 1st month of school.    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/606661/ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/606661/ We are home from a wonderful vacation.  I am relaxed, refreshed and READY to begin our school year!  I love this feeling!  When we left town I did not even want to THINK about school yet!  I took all my teaching manuals with me and got really excited after reading thru the 1st few weeks.  I knew when I ordered this year’s curriculum that this would be a fun year.  Now I’m even more excited about our year long history (His story) unit study- Creation to the Greeks.  We will travel back in time to Old Testament times as we learn about the history & culture of Israel & other civilizations; Egypt, Greece and Babylonia.  I am looking forward to recreating the feasts commanded by God that the Jewish people celebrated.  I hope to better understand these Jewish practices as the year progresses.    We will begin school next Tuesday.  The first week we will learn about the Shabbat or Sabbath.  Wow!  There is A LOT of preparation for this 24 hour day of rest!  I’ll be exhausted & ready for a day of rest by the time we get all that done!!  haha   Before we start school I have a few more goals I need to achieve this week!  Haha  My big goal is to get all of our closets & drawers cleaned out then get the boys rooms cleaned & organized again!  I know I just did that at the beginning of summer!  WHAT HAPPEN?!!  ;o)  IF I can get all that done I will have accomplished every “summer goal” except cleaning the garage!  I’ll wait for a cool Autumn day to tackle that one! I haven't loaded vacation pics on my computer yet but I'll post some soon.  All 3 boys learned how to waterski this week.  We also had a blast at Schlitterbahn!!  My favorite was getting some REST!!  NOW I'm ready to think about school!!  Keep us in your prayers as we begin our new school year. Check back soon for pics....  Closets are calling me.....   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/579928/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/collinscrew/579928/