STEM School Art

Although we love homeschooling, there are many great things that we really like about the STEM school Scout N attends. One of them is how they incorporate what one class is doing with another. This was a woman from history that he studied and then in art he built her image to represent her and her role in American History. Pretty cool! He has had the opportunity to use some really neat tools to accomplish great projects too!

Open a Restaurant

Last week our Homeschool Co-op used one of their classes to raise funds for our orphanage! Not only was it great fun, but also a great success! They raised nearly twice as much money as previous times they have done this, and we are so excited that For His Glory Orphanage is the recipient! The need there is always present, and we are so thankful for the care they provided for our boys!

This class taught the kids what was involved in opening a restaurant. They created menus, advertisements, assigned jobs, set up, cleaned up, and served a meal with suggested donations.

Yep! This is it, and just a few other things too!

So life is BUSY! And the next two months are jam packed, but I am so blessed to live the crazies with my amazing family! So thankful that my kids jump in and help and that I don't have to do everything all alone!

We are coming off a great week of Spring Break, but one that I didn't get anything done that I needed to! Unfortunately we have one who injured his ankle  -- the debate is still open as to what the damage really is -- and N now finds himself on crutches with his soccer season coming to a grinding halt! We have two others in the throws of 3 soccer practices a week and the girls ice skating year ending this week.

We have been busy looking for graduation party ideas and yummy cupcakes to serve instead of cake. We celebrated Easter with all the fun traditions that our kids enjoy -- including that Easter Egg hunt, but also -- and more importantly -- celebrating our Savior. Rob and I had the opportunity to participate in a David Platt Secret Church Service on Good Friday and were completely blown away!

We have taken a closet in our family room and turned it into a desk area opening up the room to create a seating area that I am now using every day! And I just attended the Midwest Homeschool Conference which really makes me wish I had so much more time on my hands! So many cool things to do with your kids if you had all the time in the world!

It is good and we are so blessed to be on this journey that God has taken us on!

Our Weekend at a Glance

                      Yes, we made green Pizza yesterday in honor of St. Patrick's Day and of course, followed it up with mint chocolate chip shakes!

This past weekend the boys set out for their annual skills camp with scouts. This year Scout N is the Senior Patrol Leader, meaning that he is the one responsible for running the show -- planning the scout meanings, running the meetings and campouts and making sure things are taken care of. That is a lot of responsibility for a young man, but what a terrific learning experience too!

It was a cold, damp, chilly weekend which was actually an improvement compared to previous years when it has rained the whole weekend! There were many activities to keep them busy, but one in particular was building their own shelters in which they had to sleep Saturday night! This is so not me, but I am thankful they got to learn it! They all mentioned being chilly that night, one left a glove back in his tent and all of them had cold feet. One had a winter coat, while another wore 3 layers of under armor! That being said, they were all glad to be in their own beds last night!

A Little March Snow Fun

We really haven't had much snow this winter so it was pretty fun to wake up to a winter wonderland this morning! Being homeschoolers, we still did some school while our oldest had to 'log-on' for his classes this morning, since they don't take snow days -- you just do it all online. But this afternoon allowed for plenty of fun. Even now the boys are outside in the midst of a huge snowball fight!

Deciding to take advantage of the snow, we also made snow ice cream, something we have never done before! The kids thought it was pretty cool and tasty too!

Science Fair Fun

Science Fair- one of those things that I don't get very excited about, yet one of those places I see several life lessons learned. Scout N pulled together a good presentation on the force, distance, and other variables on a soccer ball -- something of at least a little interest to this kid! But more than what he scientifically learned, he learned about deadlines, planning, procrastinating, organizing, being creative, and working with others. Although he has decided not to go onto districts, we are proud of ALL he learned through the process!

Small Blessings!

Our homeschool co-op has a class called "Open a Restaurant." We had one child who loved it first trimester, while a second child is taking it right now. One of the cool things about this class is that they choose a ministry to donate their 'profit' to and the boys orphanage was chosen as the ministry! So cool! One small way to get kids involved in helping other kids!