Sunday, November 22, 2009

Sunday Blessings

Since we have started going to Phoenix for church our Sundays have been such an amazing blessing. Today was extra special because not only did we have a wonderful time of praise and worship and then fellowship at church but after that we got to spend time celebrating a birthday with some special friends of ours. What a wonderful time of fellowship for each of us I know that it refilled my emotional tank and I believe that it did the same for each of us. I was thinking about this as we were leaving Phoenix and just thanking God for how he has rekindled this friendship with these friends after a long time of being apart. We are sad because they will be moving to Montana in the not so distant future but we rejoice for the time that the Lord has given us to be with them and realize just how much we have in common. We are thrilled for them in this new adventure that they are going to be beginning and we are so thankful to have had so much time with them in the last few months.

We must hold loosely to the relationships that the Lord blesses us with and know that there are seasons when we are together in person and others where we may be separated by great distances, but the relationships remain precious just the same. I think the most wonderful thing for me is to realize that even if I will be separated from some dear friends here on earth I can take comfort to know that we will all be spending eternity together!! How fun to be able to look forward to this as well as treasure the moments that we get to spend together in the here and now. Thank you Lord Jesus for sweet fellowship, we are blessed!!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Top 6 from Weeks 7-12...

Hard to believe we are a full twelve weeks into our school year. Time flies and so do the countries we have been studying. It was hard for my older ones to narrow it down because there have been so many interesting things that we have studied but we have tried our best to make the list manageable :).

James has been enthralled with our study of China which we are still in the process of completing. He did one of his extra projects on the Great Wall and even made a presentation on it for his father...gotta keep Dad involved you know! He also mentioned loving our study of Korea and the book Tales of a Korean Grandmother.

Peter seconds the motion and loved the Great Wall as well. He even made a model of it with a whole lot of craft sticks. I think I'm going to have to replenish my supply he used so many of them but it looks fantastic and he did a marvelous job with the design. He also is loving the read aloud book we are finishing up this week called Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. This was one that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through but it has turned out to be quite engaging for all of us.

Emma dearly loved the Tales of a Korean Grandmother and she was so sad when we finished it. She got so that she didn't want me to read the required amount of pages each day so that it would go on and on. She too is loving our study of China. She has been interested to find out more about Chinese medicine and how it compares with western medicine. Oh how we love homeschooling around here!

Daniel has been loving his new Touch Math. I have not ordered the full program as it is very expensive but I got some samples from their website and I'm modifying his other math using the touch points. So far he is doing much better with this and I'm hopeful that it will give him more of a practical way to do math.

Ana is enjoying her readers. I have to say that even though reading is her biggest struggle she always puts it at the top of her list of things she likes to do. What perseverance she has. She is working now on the Sonlight I Can Read It series...and even though her mother is getting a bit weary of these stories being that this is the fourth time I've gone though them...we are staying the course.

I have to say my favorite thing in this series has been from China as well. But not the books but the FOOD!! Last night we made homemade egg rolls and boy were they yummy. One of James' projects that he chose for the unit was to make this authentic Chinese food. Sunday when we were in Phoenix for church we found an amazing Asian market and bought some egg roll wrappers. The market was a treat in itself and amazingly enough had foods from just about every country that we have been studying who knew such a place existed. I have a feeling we will be going back for more food items as the year progresses. Anyway Robert helped and we had a fun Chinese meal with Chicken Lo Mein with real Chinese noodles and wonderful egg rolls. What a treat!!

So as you can see we are staying busy around here and still loving Core 5. I'm impressed with how much James, Peter and Emma are learning about doing research and what creative ideas they are coming up with for their Choose Your Own Adventure projects. Daniel and Ana are finishing up with their Abeka Phonics and Language and I think I will be making some changes after the holidays as they finish up. Always looking for the best ways to meet their needs and that takes a bit of creativity at times. Stay tuned after the holidays for our coming adventures!!