3 months later...

Whereever did these past three months go?  It has been a busy time for sure.  Here's a long recap with a few mostly unrelated pictures.

We are moving, and we know where we are going!  Come late summer, we will be heading to Jacksonville, Florida where the mister will be joining the CardioThoracic Sugery team of Mayo Jacksonville.   That's five hours closer to home being a 12 hour straight shot down I-95.  :)  At least you can do it in one day, right?  I am hopeful that the job will be the right mix of interesting, challenging, and rewarding for the hubs which plays big time into our family and home dynamics.   One positive thing is the lack of traffic that we expect in JAX as compared to some of the other east coast opportunities.  Easy, pleasant commutes make for a happier Thomas family, that's for sure.

What are we looking forward to?  The beach, the ocean, the pool, being close to Lego Land and Disney World the kids will tell you.  Sounds like I will need to get over my fear of the kids and water and get these guys in swimming lessons.  Actually, I might have to take some too.  I am eager to explore the area, find some yummy local treats, and settle into a home.  I am trying to keep a positive outlook because once again, we will be starting out completely new to an area.  We don't know anyone going in, although because of the Mayo connection we are already starting to meet people.   It's daunting and exciting all at the same time.  It definitely brings the family closer as we huddle close to each other and face a brand, new adventure.

What are we not looking forward to?  According to the kids (and their daddy), alligators.  Yes, there are alligators.  The Clinic even has signs to beware of the wildlife and has an alligator removal service.  Hilarious.  The heat and the humidity is what I say.  Oh, I would much rather be in the cold than in ridiculously hot, muggy weather.  But, I figure if we could survive three MN winters, we can adjust to a FL summer. 

We have finished our first year of homeschool. As with most things in life, homeschooling was a journey with both the good and the bad. Overall, I feel that we had a good year. We liked and used most of the curricula we had selected at the beginning of the year. I think the twins have a better understanding of their world and a stronger grasp on reading which we will continue to work on this summer. Nathaniel has gone through his second grade material with relative ease. His greatest struggle is creative writing. It's something that he can do, but on his own time and schedule.

We have decided to continue our homeschooling adventure into next year and then we'll research and decide on school options in JAX.

We are almost out of our house in Rochester.  This house selling business is a lot of work!  We put our house up on the market and showed it 18 times.   We have signed an agreement and are waiting to close, oh right about the time that baby # 5 is expected to make his appearance.  I think the hardest part was getting everything stored and put away so that we could actually put the house on the market.  It was probably a blessing that we showed the home so many times because it was easier to keep it clean.  The boys did a stellar job of putting things away and helping me tidy up when the time came to skedaddle.  Now, if I can just find the motivation to keep up with it.

Ezra turned two!  Special little man who really does think he's about 4 years old.  I'll leave his update for another post, but notice he has been inducted into the cleaning crew.

We are three months closer to having a baby.  I can't believe baby boy is scheduled to arrive in a couple months.  I feel like come July, I am going to be in for a big shock when we bring home a newborn.   Thankfully, it seems like things are slowing down just enough so that I can "nest" and prepare for having a tiny one in the home.  Baby boy is kicking and moving a whole lot and growing at a good pace.  It's so sweet to hear his little heartbeat and feel those not so subtle kicks reminding me that he's here with us.  I am so curious what he'll look like - like one of his brothers or some other mix, and I do have a thing for baby fingers and toes.

We have spent time with our friends here in Rochester.  I am, once again amazed at the people He has brought into our lives in our three years here.  I always worry when we move if we'll connect, who will the kids play with, who will watch the kids if I need to be somewhere?  God has blessed us for sure with a fabulous church, our neighbors, a good preschool where we met lots of friends in our first couple years here, and of course, my women's bible study group, Side by Side.  I had hoped that there would be an established Side by Side that we could plug right into in JAX, but that would be too easy.  :)  So, we'll wait and see what happens and where God takes us.  One thing is for sure, we are going to miss our friends.  The kids feel it more than they did when we left Pennsylvania.

I have high hopes that since we are pretty close to Disney World and since some of our friends will be rotating through Mayo JAX, that we will see each other again.  Consider this a standing and open invitation to come visit the Thomases in FL when you're in the area or just because...

Now, it's time to focus on what we'll be taking with us to Florida and what we'll do when we get there.  We have a house hunting trip scheduled and then after that no more trips until baby gets here.  We are looking forward to spending a couple more months with our friends here and family.

A couple weeks ago, I gave my departing "talk" to our Bible study group.  We call it a love gift.  I ended it with these few sentences, and I'll do the same here...

There are overwhelming moments when I realize we're supposed to sell a house, have a baby, find a new house, maybe temporary housing, and resituate ourselves all in the same month or so... and then I hear the echo of lessons past and that ever constant voice, "Who do you say I am?  Do you know who I say you are?  I have brought you this far, and I will lead you on.  I've got this."  He has indeed been good, and I trust that the Lord will guide our paths as we surrender to Him.

more on apples

We read so many books about apples, orchards, pies, and of course Johnny Appleseed during our apple unit.

We also did a few crafts including making this little flip book about an apple tree through the seasons.  This activity helped us summarize all that we had learned about seasons, how plants and trees grow, and of course apples.  We had learned about Van Gogh for art and we used I tried to put out as many textures/media as I could find like pipe cleaner, foam sheets, tissue paper, pompoms, and of course paint.  We had learned about Van Gogh for art, so we tried out some of different brush strokes and heavy paints like he used in his work.  I love that their handprints are included in this.  We used their painted hands for the leaves on the summer and autumn page.  But, we forgot to put in ladybugs and bees which are an important part of the process.

We also used fabric paint and apples cut lengthwise and crosswise to stamp the rest of our muslin.  Now, I have to figure out what to make with this fabric.  Any ideas?

And of course, we had a little taste test.  I only selected four varieties to taste - Honeycrisp, Sweetango, Golden Delicious, and Fuji.  Each voter received 3 stars (votes). I suggested putting two stars for your most favorite and one for your second favorite.  Of course, Nathaniel chimed in with every other possibility, so eventually I let them "cast" their 3 stars however they wanted.  Nathaniel put all three down in one spot, so he could be sure to make sure his apple won.  Jude liked the name delicious and sweet, so he divided his stars between the two.   Ethan was our most fickle voter moving his stars between the columns so he could be sure he would be on the winning apple.   Talk about personalities.

Once the voting was completed, they graphed the votes on a sheet that I created with the pictures of the apples.  This was the first time that Jude and Ethan did any graphing work. So interesting to watch their little brains go through the steps of processing this task.

leaf pounding

During our recent unit on leaves and plants, we tried out several new hands-on activities that the boys really enjoyed.  We did lots of leaf collecting and some leaf pressing and painting. 

Our kindergarten curriculum (My Father's World) has a Biblical theme for each unit.  The theme for this one was "I will live and grow in Jesus."  The curriculum suggested using a branch of leaves to illustrate this point.  We put a whole branch in a vase with water and then we pulled off one leaf and put it by the branch but unconnected.  The twins were fascinated and would check it every day to see how the leaf was doing.  After a couple days, the leaf is, of course, dry and brittle and the boys totally got it without any explanation.  That night, they greeted their very confused daddy waving the poor leaf and saying "See, this is what happens when you're not with Jesus."  Gosh, I love how these children see things so simply.

We also tried leaf pounding.  I read about it online and figured it would be most fun for the boys since it involved hammers, loud pounding, and smushing things to smithereens.  Of course, they loved it.

We collected leaves from around the neighborhood and pulled out the hammers.  I cut out two sheets of unbleached muslin for each.  The boys arranged their leaves on one sheet of muslin and covered their arrangements with another sheet.  We put all three layers on some cardboard and hammered away till we could see the imprint of the leaf.  I eventually took this activity outside where our neighbor kids could join in the merriment. 

I strung a few together with some vintage green and white polka dot bias tape I had collected from a yard sale and for now it's hanging by our front door.

The maple leaf is my favorite. Such clear lines. 

I think the boys liked the colored leaves and the real wet leaves that would really splatter all over.. wouldn't you know? Fun to hammer but not such a good imprint.

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homeschooling: two months

Two months into homeschooling... and we are still going strong and even living together in peace.  I call this our golden age because it's fresh and different and therefore exciting. 

We have worked out a routine so that if we have a "normal" day, we know what to expect.  But, in fact, we make many exceptions.  I am finding that this is part of the fun of homeschooling.  We take detours and slow down to observe a little bit closer or to study a new interest.  I feel like I have been given such a gift as I learn, observe, and grow alongside my little ones.  I don't know how long this journey will last but I sure do hope the attitude of learning and the joy in being together stay with us for years to come.

Our routine, on a typical day looks something like this:



(also proof that i was once a consultant)

We haven't been getting in enough Spanish, artist study or music theory as I would like, but we will be working on that over the next couple months.  Jude and Ethan sort of audit the afternoon boxes.   They stay and listen and pick up what's interesting to them.  A couple afternoons a week, I do try and work with them specifically on their reading.  We take Fridays off unless there's a project to be done or we've missed work from earlier in the week.

I am thankful for the years of preschool the kids have done.  I use quite a bit of material for circle time and calendar from our preschool co-op teacher in Sayre, PA, Mrs. Hafer.  Because it was a co-op, the parents took turns being the TA and we learned the songs and various techniques that Mrs. Hafer used.  We use three of the songs she taught us in the morning for the months of the year, days of the week and the weather.

Nathaniel enjoys history very much.  We are using Story of the World on audio which has been a nice way to mix things up for him.  The boys also get very interested in the particular units we are studying.  I have discovered that they love craft/science projects and remember quite a bit from them.  We did a unit on the moon and just the other day after AWANA the twins were so excited to show me the moon, saying "Look, it's a gibbous."  :)

Jude and Ethan both started to read within the first couple weeks of school which is such a huge accomplishment for them.  They were at the brink for so long, I just couldn't wait for them to take the plunge.  They now speak phonetically which goes something like, "M-m-m-o-o-m, c-c-c-a-a-n..."  Very slow and very funny... thankfully, they seem to be just doing it with certain words these days. 

Our greatest challenge has been keeping Ezra occupied.  I was convinced that my various bags of during-school-only toys would do the trick.  But no, this little man needs to be doing exactly what his brothers are doing.  I still lay out a blanket for him with some play items, sorting toys, or puzzles. He sits down with it for a little bit but eventually comes over to be with his brothers.  So, we let him.  He has his own set of notebooks that he scribbles in, when the brothers show me their work, he comes over and says "mama" until I carefully examine his doodles as well.  If they read, he gets a book and reads with them and on and on...



I already get the sense that the "golden age" is approaching its end, not in a riotous fashion but it's becoming obvious that the littles need a few different things to keep it interesting.  I'm working on finding ways to keep them engaged and to change things up just enough that they stay with me on our ride.

my pupils

At school today, we had:

The captain pirate (L) and his brave knight (R)

The industrious artist

And of course, the class clown.

 When I looked around the table, I just couldn't help chuckling at how unique and interesting they all are, and then I ran off to quickly get my camera.



faith academy

drawing by nathaniel, bookmark gifted to mommy from nathaniel.  so true!

Well, tomorrow we start our first day of homeschooling. [I somewhat offhandedly named it faith academy for the obvious reasons and because it made be chuckle since it sounds so typical of indian & christian school names.]  I am excited and just a tad nervous.  I was one of those kids who was always excited for the first day of school, organizing and reorganizing my supplies and making sure everything was packed up and ready to go for the first day.  The same couldn't be said for the second week.. but the first day was always much anticipated.  I sort of feel the same for tomorrow.  I've reviewed the lessons for the day numerous times and I've got our materials ready to go.  Most importantly, I've prayed and surrended our plans to the Lord and asked for His blessing on our desires and efforts.

"reading" tintin.  once daddy's favorite.

I know real life and four children are going to alter the course of learning that I've outlined, but isn't that part of the experience and, with limits, even the fun of learning together.  The boys are excited as well and have all sorts of suggestions for me.  In fact, we had to sit down on Monday and have a little meeting so they could express all their thoughts in advance of tomorrow.  Jude and Ethan want to call me Mrs. Faith.  Nathaniel suggests that if the class (of 3) isn't behaving, I have them put their heads down on the table like his kindergarten teacher did.  They wanted to know all about recess and what they would do if it rained and on and on the questions and discussion went.  Clearly, they've been in a school environment before and therefore have expectations... that will soon need adjusting, I'm sure.

I've been really blessed to be surrounded by so many homeschoolers including many local friends.  Some who have been doing it for many years and others who have littles just a little older or about the same age as mine.  I have received such great advice and plan on receiving much more.



how i love these little men.



My objectives for our year are to explore what we're curious about safely, learn lots, laugh a bunch, and learn to work together as a team.  {I might have to come back to these.}

Here's my curriculum plan for the year -

Nathaniel (6, starting 2nd grade):

Bible - AWANA, Sunday School, Christian Light Workbooks, and other at home education

Math - Singapore Math 2A, 2B

Language Arts (grammar, writing) - First Language Lessons 2

Spelling - All About Spelling

Reading - We'll use the library.  I had him starting out of with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but wouldn't you know, he already went and read it in the last two days.  So...

Science - Simple and Fun Science  (we'll be doing lots of experiments and hands-on learning)

Spanish - (we're going to start with the local library has and expand from there)

History - Story of the World, Ancient Times

Geography - country study starting with Egypt

Music - piano, (still working on extra curriculum here)

Art - tag along with Jude & Ethan's art project or tied to Geography

P.E. - local sports classes/team

Jude & Ethan (4, starting Kindergarten light) 

Bible, Math, Language Arts, Art - My Father's World Kindergarten

Bible - supplemented with AWANA, Sunday School, and other at home education

Phonics - supplemented with Hooked on Phonics

Handwriting - Writing without Tears

Spanish - (we're going to start with the local library has and expand from there)

P.E. - local sports classes/team

** Depending on their interest, they will also do some of the Geography, History, and Science that Nathaniel does.

Keeping our little man, Ezra occupied during our homeschool time may be our greatest challenge.  Anyone have suggestions?  For right now, I have some new toys and baskets of goodies for him.

daddy's home to help with homework

It's a special treat when daddy's home to help with school work.  Here's how it looks. 

discussions

working oh so hard

uh, there's someone extra and he seems to have lost a shirt.  typical, really.

and another... he seems to be a bit more cautious in his approach. 

maybe it's time for a break?  i'm thinking ezra thinks his brothers are pretty fascinating creatures.  I would have to agree.

we've come to a decision

I bet you can tell about what... Yes, we've prayerfully decided to homeschool the boys next year.  We are both very excited about trying this out although we both realize there will be some very challenging moments ahead.  This is not a long-term decision.... I think I would must rather sign up for just one year at a time.  But for right now for our family, we believe this will be a good thing. 

I have looked through a multitude of catalogs, read as many books as I could pick up at the library, and talked to several friends who homeschool both locally and not.  What a blessing to be able to have access to so much great information.  I am really excited about the plethora of homeschooling families and co-ops in this area and will definitely be looking to plug-in as best as I can.  We have not made final decisions about which curriculum, but some great friends have let me go through what they're using and that's been so helpful.  Unfortunately, none of the local stores carry homeschool textbooks anymore and the MN homeschooling conference is about 4 hours away, so I won't get to go through as many as I would like, but I'm sure you could never get through all of them anyway.  At this point, I will be cherry picking from several catalogs and mixing up the levels.  The twins will be starting Kindergarten and Nathaniel will be somewhere between 1st and 2nd grade.  I love looking through all the catalogs.   Who ever knew there was so much you could teach wee ones? 

At some point next year, I know I will need to come back and revisit this post and remind myself that I chose this option, and I really did think it was a good idea.