Hey! I'm April, wife to the wonderful Mark and Mommy to 4 little blessings. We are in our second year of homeschooling using Sonlight. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:25:00 -0600 Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:25:00 -0600 Go here to win a groovy girl or pet from my friend Kristi Anna! http://www.stylinstamper.blogspot.com/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/631928/ Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:25:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/631928/ I took Danya on a field trip today. We went to the Remembrance Day (Vetran's Day in US) assembly at the high school. Some of our youth were participating and I thought I would be good for her to be able to see it. It was a fantastic ceremony. Probably one of the best I've ever been to. They played a slideshow of pictures of all the men who have died in Afgahnistan and then a young man spoke who had just returned from there last spring. I think it really drove home how real war actually is. All too often I think younger people think that it's something that only affects geriatrics or people overseas. Unless we actually know someone involved it can be a very foreign concept. Seeing this man who was probably only slightly older than the students get up and cry because the slideshow contained pictures of 11 friends he had lost, really drove home how real war is. Danya cried a little very quietly in the middle of it, but thought it was really well done. We had talked a lot about war and why we need to remember and say thank you to all who have served. She was completely silent through the whole hour and a half presentation. She just sat and soaked it all in, watching the slide shows and listening to the dramas and speaches. It all made me really thankful that we live in a country where I don't have to worry about my kids being killed by a roadside bomb or raped by rebels. Our good friend Connie lives in the Congo and lives with these realities and fears every day right now. I am so thankful for the men and women who are willing to give so much so that I can live in peace. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/617865/ Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:02:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/617865/ My photo for Alyssa's panning challenge http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/607866/ Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/607866/ WOW! I'm right in between a week of VBS and then a week of residential camp. Both of which I'm directing. I'm TIRED :o) But it was a great week. We saw 46 kids and about 30 of them were unchurched!! Praise God. We now covet your prayers that the contacts we made would bear fruit! The kids are so great. They are all so sweet and such wonderful kids (can you tell I'm having a lovey day?). They keep us busy but it's always such a fun busy we don't mind! I'm sure I have more I could add but I'm so tired it's hard to think :o) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/361659/ Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/361659/ I find I'm always saying things like "next week when I'm not so busy..." but it never comes! This summer is almost half over and I have no idea where it went. Why is that when we are young and could enjoy doing nothing and having the days last forever we hate it! It's the same with sleep. I wish I could nap whenever I wanted... and my kids hate it! Too bad we couldn't switch places for a day! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/354951/ Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/354951/ Does anyone else ever feel sick of having to do it all? I don't mean to complain, I really love my life and my kids and even Mark (EVEN? ;o) But sometimes I just wish that I could hire maybe a housekeeper or a maid for a week even. It just seems that as soon as I get something done it's undone! I know a lot of this has to do with having 3 very small children fallowing me around. How do you make time in your day for everything? (I'm really asking this by the way) I find that if I get all the housework done that I wanted to get done then I've horribly neglected the kids, but if I spend as much time with the kids that I want to then the house goes to pot! I know I need to find a balance but I'm just not sure where that balance is. Maybe this is something I'll learn more as the kids get older. I was reading Alyssa's chore blog and really looking forward to the day that Danya does more than just make her bed. It did make me realize I can give her a few more things to do though. I wish I could motivate Mark with stickers too! LOL. He does help out but the mess really doesn't get to him like it does to me. So I usually feel like I'm nagging. Anyway thanks for listening to my whine! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/340167/ Sat, 9 Jun 2007 11:28:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/340167/ Mark and I watched this movie tonight. I thought it was pretty great. A few cracks about Evolution but other than that nothing offensive that I can remember right now. There are a few scary parts but it gets resolved quickly.  I miss my girls! I don't know how I am going to do 2.5 weeks away from them at the end of the summer... I know I will have fun but it's such a long time, I've only been gone for a day and a half and I already miss them. I am hoping to be able to just enjoy myself and try not to think about it too much. It will be nice to have a bit of a break as well but it just seems like such a long time! Thank goodness for webcams and phones!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/330992/ Sat, 19 May 2007 23:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/330992/ What do you answer when people (supportive, not the mean spirited one's) ask why you want to homeschool? I have a few people in my life who I know are behind me but have recently asked me this question. It made me think more about why I want to do it. I think my biggest reason is that I want to be the person that my kids spend the most time with, not some stranger who I barely know and whose values probably are no where near my own. But it got me thinking, why do people homeschool? I'm sure we all have different reasons and I'd like to hear other people's :o) ALSO I'm basically turning into a big hippy! I have just stared my Doula certification and already have my first birth lined up for early November! So now not only am I homeschooling, I'm also going to be a certified Doula. I promise I won't jump on the "free love" train next ;o)   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/329097/ Tue, 15 May 2007 22:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/329097/ You guys are all so encouraging! Please feel free to send me anything at all you think would help. I will diffidently have to check out that book Lisa. I can’t believe you guys didn’t know I was thinking about it. It’s always something I thought I’d do but Mark was never really on board. Well now he is! Which to me is a pretty sure sign that this is what God is calling us to do. I never would have done it had he not been 100% for the idea and all of a sudden it’s like it was his idea all along (in a good way - I’m not trying to be negative LOL). Danya would start school here fall of 2008. So our plan as of now is to not enroll her in pre-k in the fall again but to start homeschooling this fall. This way we have a year to see if it is a good fit for our family before she would even start kindergarten anyway. She will be 5 October 8th so she is very ready to start but the cut off date here is the 30th of September. Which leads to my next question, do you have a curriculum that you love? What do you like about it? Thanks for all your support and encouragement! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/326394/ Wed, 9 May 2007 21:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/326394/ I really love living in Quebec but there are times I get really frustrated at the government here. I have been going back and forth on home schooling since we had our first baby. There are SO many benefits and it sounds so great but there are a lot of reasons I'd like to have my kids in school too. I struggle with not knowing if I'm really the right "personality" to home school and if it's a good fit for my kids and I. Mark and I had come to what we thought was a good plan. We would put Danya in kindergarten at the public school here, she would get French immersion which we liked and we knew the teacher was fantastic which we also really liked. Well as it turns out that might not be such a great plan! Apparently in Quebec if you want to home school the best way to go about it is just to never enroll your kids in school. Because if you decide to pull them out later you have to jump through hoops and back again in order for it to be all "legal". So now we are back where we started. Feeling pressured into making a decision we aren't sure we're ready to make. I have time, she won't start school till next September but there is still a lot to think about...   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/323457/ Thu, 3 May 2007 20:49:01 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/hoppinghardwicks/323457/