Lydie's ART birthday party!

party favor...paint!!

 My parents allowed us to use their new house for Lydie's party this year.  This was a fun way to be able to invite her classmates without asking them to drive an hour to our house!  She chose an art theme, and it was really a lot of fun and fairly simple, too.  And most importantly, she had a really great time and felt celebrated.

I opted out of cakes this year for the kids' birthdays.  These were fun, easy cupcakes...sprinkles, polka dot paper lines, life savors, and fun flags.

Place cards were art easels made from Popsicle sticks.

Rainbow pendants decorated the windows.

The kids decorated frames, made jewelry, and played with play dough.

Precious little kindergarten girlies and cousins!

Aunt Chelle helped with the jewelry!

Two of Lydie's precious new friends from school!

Dear Uncle Rick and Andy....The kids are done and you are still making jewelry.  Too funny!!

Blowing out her candles...SIX!

Lots of fun, girlie toys!  This one was a huge bag of make-up.  She has REALLY enjoyed it already!

                        

Our school's fall festival

My precious friend, second from the left, entertaining us with her singing group.  Amazing!

Dance crew at the fall festival

Lydie was the only one we could catch up with that day.  The boys were off  playing with friends and we hardly saw them at all.

The weather was beautiful!

All in all, a great day for fellowship and a great fundraiser for our school.  I did my part, as I was put in "jail" three times by my students and then paid to be released three times by my students.  It was great fun.  There were huge auctions for about 50 items or baskets that were donated.  Our family bidded on and won a package with a photographer.  Good fun, great company, fun memories!

School fun

A fun snack at school

We playfully ate fortune cookies as we read A Cricket in Times Square and the story's setting changed to the Chinese restaurant.  We remembered that God, of course, is really the only One who could ever tell the future.  It was all in good fun!

As we studied archaeology in science and history, I created our own little digging site for artifacts.

Jackson was all dressed up for Tom Sawyer day at school.  He and a few friends made up a really funny skit for literature class that was a raving success and received a perfect score of 100%!

"The question is not, - how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education - but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?"

  ~Charlotte Mason

Nursery Rhyme Day

There are so many things that I miss about homeschooling.  To be honest, the first month of school I didn't miss.one.thing!!  But then as the reality of commuting, balancing work and home, and our time away from one another set in, I can now definitely see both the pros and cons!  But there are many days that being a part of a school community, particularly a classical Christian school community, is pure bliss.  This was one of those days.  This was a day when all the cons were not even a factor and I enjoyed this day to the fullest!

Lydie (Bye Baby Bunting) and her best friend (The Old Lady in the Shoe)

Every year the kindergarten class works hard to prepare for Nursery Rhyme day.  Each child memorizes a nursery rhyme, dresses in character, and brings a themed snack.  All the parents and grandparents are invited to watch them recite their rhymes and eat snacks.  I have several sweet parents in my third grade classroom who have offered to step in for me when my own children have special days as this one.  So I was so thrilled when I was able to be a Mom and not a teacher at school, and enjoy seeing her with her classmates.

Humpty dumpty....darling!

Daddy came to watch Lydie...

and Nana!

Fun treats!

The children all remembered their rhymes, with only a couple seeming very nervous.  There are 30 kindergartners, divided into two classes of 15.  They are so adorable and I am so excited to get to know each child and family and see Lydia Joy grow up with them!

Precious Joshua' birthday

This year my sweet middle child turned ten!  Joshua had exactly what he requested: a night at the hibachi Japanese restaurant with family and a Saturday with us and his best friend at the Lego Discovery Center in Atlanta.  He opted out of a traditional party this year, but was still much celebrated!

Birthday morning!

For his presents he got mostly Legos.  He also got some "Beats" headphones for all of the time we spend in the car on our commute to school.  It was a sweet, fun birthday for all of us.

Hibachi style dinner with the family!

Our favorite: the volcano onion!

The quiet boy is in the limelight!

Precious cousins stopping by for dinner on the way to the Auburn game!

Joshua still has me wrapped around his little finger.  My soft spot for him weakens every year.  He is just a kind, quiet, loyal little sweetheart.  I prayed for him non-stop this summer, so utterly concerned about whether he would make friends at school.  As usual, he is full of surprises.  As I always say when refering to him, "Still waters run deep."  He has really, really thrived.  He has made lots of friends, his teacher adores him, and his gifts are being used more so than ever.  His lowest average in his studies is a 96, and that is in Latin with his peers who have received a year of Latin, 3 days a week, from a Latin teacher.  After three weeks of studying and giving it his all, he caught up and has made 100+ bonuses on his tests ever since.  He has such a good work ethic and bright mind, and I hope he always uses them for the glory of Jesus!

Fun with Legos!

A stop at Starbucks on the way to Atlanta!

He started piano this year.  As we suspected, he is a "quick learn".  He takes his lessons on Monday, and by Wednesday he has all of his songs memorized and can play them smoothly.  It is something else.  And he also continues with art and is an excellent illustrator.  I love to see his personality and talents shine and expand!  I am excited for him to play his second season of basketball this winter.  It will be quite a challenge for him and I know he will learn a lot.

 So thankful for another year with this darling boy.  Praying he will be a tender warrior for Christ and grow in his grace and mercy this year!

Happy

We had another wonderful week.  Actually this was an excellent week.  Lydie decided on Monday that school is fun, after all.  And she decided to trust that I would pick her up every day after carpool.  So she just gave in, relaxed, and had a blast.  Here she is at "The Teddy Bear Parade".  It was really fun to take her stuffed animal to school all day.  She got to come by my classroom for the parade.  I waved frantically like a weirdo.  It's just so cute seeing her with her classmates.  In a couple of weeks she has nursery rhyme night.  Grandparents and parents come to see the kindergartners dressed up, reciting their nursery rhymes.  She is reciting "Bye Baby Bunting".  Oh my goodness.  Cannot wait!  She has two best friends, Meg and Anne Coulter.  And they have the funniest conversations at recess.  I am loving hearing about it.  Little boys asking them if they will marry them.  Talk of whether to be teachers, doctors, or artists when they grow up and what the latest American Girl catalog had in it.  Good stuff.  Her teacher is tender, but firm.  She is perfect for Lydie who is tender, but also sometimes stubborn.  What a blessing!

Joshua is just thriving!  We were most concerned about him, as he has trouble making new friends.  And although all of the kids have done excellently with the adjustment, he has probably done the absolute best.  He has made so many friends!  I get to see him at recess and he is right in the group playing tag and talking.  Oh, it's such a relief.  I took cupcakes to his class on Friday, as it was his birthday.  And his teacher and a few friends prayed for him.  I had to wipe tears.  One little girl said, "Just thank you God that Josh is a really good boy and that he could be in our class."  Sniff sniff.  He has been inducted into the 4rth grade spelling club and math club.  This means he has 100% in spelling and that he can do his math facts correctly in a certain amount of time.  It's really fun.  His teacher is absolutely darling, and always thoughtful of him and loves him so much.  Thank you, Jesus!

And Jack has really adjusted amazingly to the logic school.  He is normally an A student, but has a B in two classes.  But considering the transition from homeschool to note taking, new curriculum, lockers, changing classes, and having seven teachers, I am very proud of him.  His teachers all say he is attentive and eager.  He has a literature teacher who is fresh out of college.  She has taken a special interest in him and noticed his gift with words.  I am excited about her influence on him.  All of his teachers are kind and encouraging.  He tells us funny conversations he has with his friends, which boys have crushes on which girls, and what the latest trends are in sports or video games.  It's amazing what the kids pack into their conversations between classes, at lunch, and in their 10 minute break each day.  We were really concerned about p.e. for him, as he is not athletic and has not really had that type of class with homeschooling.  But he actually loves it.  So that's a surprise and really good.

And I have to say I am amazed at how completely happy I feel with my own students.  Again, I know Joy is always available and I feel it every day because of Christ.  But happiness is a luxury, and I am so deeply happy.  I am happy for my children.  I am happy as a teacher with my students and my new friends who are on staff. I am happy to have this great ministry with the parents of my students, as well.   I am so happy to see how my husband has adjusted and sacrificed in order to help me at home.  I know there are many reasons that God has us here.  But when we are at school I have that deeply satisfying feeling that He is revealing that all this time, He had this place in mind for us.  All this time there was this enormous blessing waiting to be revealed.  Wow.  I am in awe.  And I plan on enjoying and praising God for this time and place!

Today we are all like vegetables.  We spend Saturdays doing laundry and just doing nothing.  Oh, it's so good.  Work hard, play hard.  Love that feeling!

Our first week of school

This is the first day of our second week at our school.  Last week went so well for most of us (excluding Lydie who had a rough last couple of days missing me).  The boys are adjusting with ease so far.  And I love, and I mean LOVE, teaching!  I forgot how much the routine and order of a classroom is so comforting to me.  I relish the ability to do one thing at a time with one grade level.  I love the predictability and structure.  My class is full of so many different personalities and strengths, but each child is a treasure and I have enjoyed so much getting to know each one.  What a sweet age third grade is- still loving and wanting to please, yet so well trained and self-controlled! 

I appreciate the support I am receiving from the staff.  So much prayer, insight, creativity, and encouragement every day.  I needed these boosts in my teaching and love it.  It is an amazing feeling to work at a place that I can support theologically and professionally.  The philosophy of the school is my ideal and I am so thrilled to be a part of the mission of this school!  It has been more work than I anticipated. But you know what they say about doing something you love?  That you'll never work another day in your life.  It's fun, good work.

My children are all growing under the leadership of others.  God so tenderly gave them each the teachers that they need.  I especially love the two very godly men who are/will be teaching them in the logic and rhetoric school. Also,  Joshua's teacher is so thoughtful and attentive to him as a new, shy student.  She has made observations and encouraged him in ways that most teachers would not take the time to do.  I am so thankful!  And as a result, he is thriving and making friends quickly, which is usually difficult for him.  I saw a couple of kids pat him on the shoulder to say good-bye when I picked him up today.  God is already answering prayers for us in Joshua's life.  It is good to see, and I pray that we see even more, that Joshua is coming out from under the shadow of his brother and finding his own strengths and gifts.

Jack, as usual, has made friends with all the guys and most of the girls.  He just fits right in.  Our prayer is that he would become a servant-leader for his friends, even though he is the "new guy".  I am so excited about the good habits he is forming that I struggled to instill in him.  Simple, but good things, like organization, neatness, and independence.  He has really done well with his locker, switching classes, taking notes, and keeping up with all of his assignments and tests.  And he is trying out for the school play next month.  His literature teacher has already discussed with me his "insightfulness" with the books they are studying in class.  So fun to hear other adults recognize the same gifts that I have.  (And as far as weaknesses, I am just waiting for his very particular history teacher to send me an email about his sloppy handwriting.  So glad she is more of the enforcer, and I am the cheerleader.  It's good to delegate!

Poor Lydie has struggled the most.  And to think that we hardly even prayed for her!  I expected her to jump in and not look back!  But instead, by mid week she was ready to go home and cried many tears.  Today she did much better and we are thinking she was just exhausted.  So we are going to sleep a little earlier this week and leaving school earlier, too.  She has half the school praying for her, as many children and teachers saw her crying.  I am pretty sure 50 people asked her how her day went today and hugged her.  She is loved, and she knows it.  I am sure she loved the attention and praise everyone gave her.  I think she will come around and love school as much as the boys!  I am SO excited for all of us and cannot wait to see what the Lord teaches us all this year! 

My classroom

My only bulletin board.  I am going with a travel these the first quarter of the year.

My attempt at hot air balloons!

I chose to have to clumps of desks like these with a bookshelf at the end for extra binders, books, and supplies. 

My little area behind my desk.

I made these chevron-patterned curtains.  I tried to use red, brown, yellow, and turquoise for the main colors in the room.

It's hard to see in this picture, but we do not have desks.  We have plastic tables.  So I made a table skirt, lined on the top with turquoise ribbon, and I used velcro to attach it to the top of the table.

Happy owl pencil holder!

I cut maps and used yellow ribbon to make map pendants across the ceiling.

My door: "Let the Journey Begin", with each child's name on a license plate.

A gift for the students on Open House.  Rolos and hershey kiss pencils.

Framed Leonardo da Vinci sketches line the window.  He is the subject of our first artist study.

Refreshments for the parents.

Artist study wall.  I hope to add more soon!

These pictures do not capture my entire classroom, but they do show a few of my favorite spots.  I took these pictures on Open House night, so there were refreshments and flowers.  I try to keep fresh flowers in my room because I love them so much.  We will see how long that lasts! More on the classroom and school soon...

The first day of school

The 4 of us at 6:15, ready to roll!

We were so very excited about our first day of school.  As I have written, we prayerfully decided to end our homeschooling journey and join a private school.  Not only did the children go to school, but I joined them, as I got a job at their school teaching third grade.  This year will be an enormous transition for all of us.  I have not worked out of the home since Jackson was born twelve years ago!  And we have been homeschooling for four years!  But we feel called to this school and we are resting in that confirmation from God with eagerness and expectation.

My gift to my three sweeties the night before

It was a wonderful first day for all four of us!!

A few fun back-to-school parties

Our school is a classical, Christian school.  This makes it different in many ways to traditional schools.  One way is that the elementary school is called the "grammar school", the middle school is the "logic" school, and the high school is called the "rhetoric" school.  The entire student body, K-12, is on one campus, on various levels of the building.

When a student enters the logic school (6th grade), there are many transitions that are very exciting.  So this is a very big year for our Jack.  There are lockers, changing of classes, and special privileges.  Two of the favorite traditions are being inducted into "houses" (much like Harry Potter) and school dances.  The children learn four or five basic dances (swing, fox trot, waltz, etc.) and have many formal and informal dances.  They learn how to ask a girl to dance and how to thank the girl and walk her back to her seat.  Before their formal dance (cotillion), they take etiquette classes during lunch and more ballroom classes during p.e.  It's a big deal and the kids love it.  They also learn fun line dances, too.  Little did we know that at the back-to-school luau, Jackson would be dancing!  So we arrived 30 minutes early and the upper class men helped the sixth graders learn the dances and learn the way to treat the girls.  It was SO PRECIOUS.  Here he is at his first dance.  (This dance was the Saturday before school.  He knew NO ONE.  And there he was, expected to dance with girls!  Can you say BRAVE??)  Afterwards he said, "Wow, Mom.  Who knew dancing could be so much fun?"  All I could say in reply is, "Jack, you are amazing!"

That week I also attended a little party.  My sweet friend and fellow teacher hosted the grammar teachers in her beautiful home for a luncheon.  Her home is amazing, cozy and adorable from top to bottom. And she had the tables and the house all decked out in a back-to-school theme.  Our devotion and prayer were so inspiring.  I could not quit thanking God that this year I will be teaching with a TEAM!!  What an answer to prayer!