mini me's

This could be a picture of Chip and me during the first half. He was concerned. I was having fun.

Co-op

The parents were invited to sit in on this week's assembly at Streed's co-op. It was a review day of all the info they have learned in the past 15 weeks. And let me assure you it is a lot. It was fun to see not only his age group but also up to 4th grade stating science facts, history timelines etc all the way from Clovis, leader of the Franks, to Truman ordering the dropping of the atomic bomb. Streed thought that sounded cool...I had to explain that it in fact was not. And now we are on a break from his co-op until January. It was nice this week to enjoy a Thanksgiving break. We will start Monday with light review and phonics, phonics, phonics. I was worried about his reading ability but several people have told me lately that I am probably just having too high of expectations. I do not personally know any "normal" kindergarteners in which to compare Streed's reading ability. Some of my good friends' kids are just advanced in a lot of ways. You know who you are!!! :) So now I am more relaxed and am just going to teach him at a good pace. Isn't that one of the beauties of homeschool? Another piece of advice I was given: "if you are not having fun during Kindergarten homeschool, you are doing something wrong".

is he 10?

i got streed this sweater at a consignment sale a few months ago. it is like pulling teeth to get him to wear anything that is not a t-shirt and athletic pants. but, i finally managed to get him in this sweater. he looked so cute i just had to get some shots. he really does like having his picture made although it is sometimes hard to get an authentic smile.

Light: as in "not heavy" and "not dark"

Here is my little Nate Nate now. I took this yesterday afternoon. After my little revelation about what was going on with us, he perked up. No fever last night. It was amazing. I really think once I realized it was a spiritual battle the darkness lifted. I had prayed for him all weekend, but it was different. Right after my post I called Ella and Nate over and we all held hands and prayed for him. A few minutes later my leader from my Mom's N More group from church called and prayed for us too using my same words. It was and is by the power of the name and blood of Jesus .

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal,

but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

real life

At the risk of sounding hokey...I think I (and my family included) am under a spiritual attack. Nate has been sick for a week. He has been on an antibiotic since Saturday but if he is not on Motrin he is running a fever of 103. I have missed about 4 of 10 Mom's N More meetings due to sicknesses. After my blue weekend a few weeks ago I got in touch with one of the moms from the area who also has a child in Streed's coop. She invited us to her house to play. I had to cancel the day of because Streed had fever. I missed out on 2 other invites by ladies in our small group due to Nate's croup. Tomorrow I will miss the last Mom's N More of the semester due to Nate's lingering fever. I really am a slow learner. I am starting now to pray for health and healing both physically and spiritually. Feel free to join me!

craft finished

it turned out cute. this was a lot of work for me. i think the kids had fun. i got the idea from here. this was posted as a link on the homeschool blog from streed's school. i really do love it. we wrote on our leaves some things we are thankful for. i forgot to take a pic of one step but it is on the other blog link.

i am going to use this same "tree" for my Jesse Advent Tree. :)

coloring pages

I found some great coloring printables today at Coloring Castle. You can choose alphabet, numbers, shapes etc. I am trying to spend some "school" time with Ella in the mornings because the afternoon while Nate is sleeping is Streed's time. She is feeling slightly left out and also needs the educational time. She did tell Chip she learned a verse yesterday so at least she is learning something of value!

other halloween things

We did carve a pumpkin this year. We have not made it a great family affair just yet. We started while dinner was cooking. Then the neighbor kids came home and our kids bolted. I think we finished it up after dinner.

later in the night. chip is loving having them all over him while he is trying to work.
i cannot at all relate to his feelings!!!

Trying to get a picture of a two year old without a flash at dark was a joke.
Not a funny joke, mind you!



And we found one of the libraries in our new county. Not the one in our town but the one just down the road a bit. The kids made silly spider hats. Again, I could not get Nate in the picture so here are the other two.

I did not want yall to think I was curled up in the fetal position! We are hanging in there! Today we bought winter hats and started a fall craft. It is going to be super cute. The wind is blowing too hard to finish it today so hopefully I can post some pictures tomorrow.

never fear

In case anyone felt sorry for Streed's team...a pizza party complete with trophies has been planned by the previously mentioned mom. Can't we all sleep better tonight!

halloween 2010

a power ranger

wonder woman

(minus the cute head wrap she misplaced as we walked out of the door and found right as we walked back in the door)
spider man