Right of Passage

Of the literally HUNDREDS of photos we took 

of JDS getting ready for Prom,

here are a select few that we chose to share with you,

our viewing audience.  :)

and now...

the POST-Prom pics

J . D . S .

(and friends)

at the

Christian Home School Prom

April 3, 2009

(Jr. Year)

Treasuring the Small Stuff...

At AWANA on Sunday night, March 30, 2009, when COS went forward to receive the awards she had won last week, her leaders presented US (her adoring parents) with an extra little something...

...a cute little treasure chest with her FIRST TOOTH inside of it!

She lost it during AWANA that night!

BIRTHDAYS!!!

Daddy and daughter--the b'day duo!

(This was taken immediately upon AMS

opening her new iPod from her Daddy.)

Here are some of the highlights from our March b'days...

:)

JSS, COS and Mom took Dad out for a b'day breakfast

to start his special day out right.

JDS, AMS and Mom took Dad out for an afternoon 

on the town.  We rode the light rail to downtown, stopping

at this fabulous Mexican restaurant for lunch.

Most memorable moment?  The waiter stating to 

us in a low whisper that he was willing to serve

Abigail (who had not even turned 15 yet!) a margarita!

Next, we rode the light rail to the museum,

where we saw a traveling exhibit that Dad

has been wanting to see desperately for MONTHS!

It was FABULOUS!!!!

Great Aunt PJ was in cahoots with us, so

while the big kids and I were galavanting around town

with Dad, she was at the house with JSS & COS

making and fully decorating his cake for his

special b'day dinner that night!  He LOVED IT!

(top and bottom photos)

AMS hosted a big spend-the-night party for 

her closest friends, all of whom I promised not

to post photos of on my blog.  Sorry.

Here are their likenesses on cupcakes, though.

Can you guess which is AMS and which is COS?

While the girls were at home having AMS's party,

the guys went on a weekend camping trip with 

JSS's cub scout troop!  They had a STELLAR time

and Simon was glad to use that as an excuse to buy

more camping gear.  :)

The following weekend, on AMS's actual

birthdate, we had all the local family over that

could make it to celebrate both of them over dinner.

(Above, Amanda forms AMS's initials in tea lights for dinner decor.

Below, everyone squeezed around the table for a fried chicken dinner.)

JDS got to make AMS's b'day cake this year.

Needless to say, it was very artsy looking.

(It's a big deal in our family to have this honor.)

Responsibility & Generosity (Vol. 2)

JSS earned & saved enough of his OWN MONEY to buy himself a NEW BIKE 

on Monday during Spring Break this year!  

We are so proud of how RESPONSIBLE he is becoming...

and that study doesn't come along until next year when we go through KONOS Vol. 2!

(Side Note:  By Friday, JSS rode his bike around a local BIG lake, 13 miles total!)  

And on a related note, he decided to GENEROUSLY 

give COS his OLD bike, yet another character trait 

we won't cover until we go through KONOS Vol. 2 next year! 

Consequently, she has officially graduated to a two-wheeler...

and she learned to ride it in three days time!

COS, in turn, gave her tricycle and her smaller bike 

with training wheels to her wee little friend, 

Arianna, so that she could enjoy years

of fun on her way to becoming bi-pedal, too!

I guess you could say they are just staying ahead of the 

character-developing curve.  :)

Animal Birth/Growth (Patience Unit)

JSS & COS enjoying the country life! 

We studied animal birth/growth for two weeks under the KONOS unit of Patience.  Here are some highlights, including a field trip with our local home schooling group to a working ranch about an hour from here.  It poured rain the day before (and sprinkled all morning long), which made for a muddy & memorable time for all of the kids!  They LOVED it!

Here are some highlights from our study, thus far.  Seeing as it's on Patience, there were some things we have yet to be able to do, but we are patiently waiting for them to come to fruition and will post those pics later on.  :)  

Enjoy!

Experimenting with eggs...can you tell which is cooked?

These next 6 photos are a series in which

COS learns that she does NOT like boiled eggs!

COS milking a goat for the first time!

JSS (on left) hunting for eggs!  He found a LOT of them!

Animal growth at it's finest, according to the kids...

get it, kids???  Ha, Ha!

Previous study rearing its beautiful head again...

The place was gloriously muddy, perfect for

discovering all kinds of animal tracks (from our Nov. study)!

Can you guess what made this track???

Goat cheese making demonstration!

This was the most glorious-tasting thing I 

think I've ever seen produced start-to-finish!

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm!

JSS was game for trying anything new!

He loved the cheese after the second bite!

A family field trip momento in front of the 

rancher family's store, where they sell their goats milk

for $14/gallon and even at that price there

is a long waiting list!  They sell their eggs,

beef, etc., too.

*NOTE:  We had such a stellar time!  It has revitalized in me a need to move out of the city and give the kids room to roam, explore and GROW alongside nature!  God's will, God's timing, God's provision...stay tuned.

Learning About the Weather

We made two different barometers as we learned about weather this week: a liquid barometer and an aneroid barometer.  Both measured the air pressure well and we were able to tell when the weather was going to change from fair to poor by simply checking our barometers (see changes in photos below). 

We kept them on the porch,

side by side, so we could check

them both at the same time.

Can you see that the liquid

has risen above our starting mark?

Making our barometers was a lot of fun!

The higher the air pressure, the further

the balloon on our aneroid barometer went into 

the pickle jar, causing the pointer (ie. toothpick)

to point UP on our gauge, reading HIGH pressure (ie. fair weather).

A few days later, the balloon swelled greatly,

indicating an imminent weather change.

Sure enough, it got colder and rained!

Want to make your own?  

We found our ideas online at: 

http://www.stuffintheair.com/how-to-make-a-barometer.html

Sacrificing for Lent

We are observing Lent for the first time in our household this year.  We have for years been wishing there was SOMETHING building up to the celebration of Easter other than buying new clothes and planning to have people over for lunch.  Something meaningful.  Something that kept our focus on what was to come.  Something engaging.  Simon decided Lent would be "it" for us, so this year we have all given up something for the many weeks leading up to Easter, remembering each time we feel the sacrifice that Jesus gave up so much MORE for us!  It's been wonderful, so far!

As part of this observance, I am doing a daily activity for Lent with the younger kids.  Nothing fancy, but something I had found online that listed daily activities leading up to Easter with a coloring page (the kind that "counts down" to the day).  We printed these ideas, cut them apart into strips and put them in a container.  The little ones take turns daily choosing our activity.  Today, JSS chose this:  "Sacrifice something nice for someone in the family."  I turned to the kids and said, "Hmmmm...what could WE sacrifice for someone in our family?  What do YOU think?"  They both set their faces to concentration mode.  A few seconds later, COS gave her suggestion--"A squirrel?"

I find this hysterical!  We had spent weeks and weeks and weeks constructing a tabernacle last fall (you can see pics in earlier posts), learning the ins and outs having to do with the sacrifices through a remarkable book titled The Tabernacle: Shadows of the Messiah by David Levy as we made the different articles that constituted the project.  It was an amazing time for us and we plan to get out our tabernacle and the book each year and use both to point us toward the reason for Christ's sacrifice on our behalf.  

What I love, however, is that COS's mind went directly to the blood sacrifices we'd studied MONTHS ago when the idea of sacrificing was mentioned...not giving up something, but KILLING it.

And the fact that she must think squirrels are "nice."  :)

Yeah, I'd say KONOS is a remarkable curriculum!