Our classroom

Brian and I set up a dedicated classroom for our homeschool.  We bought a nice large round table so the kids and I could sit at it and work together.  We have our bookshelves and workboxes in it as well.  It’s a tight fit, but we LOVE it.  I am so amazed at how much smoother things went today.  When the kids walked in the room, it was as if it was the signal to get to work.  There was no complaining either.  When Hunter was slow to finish his math, the other kids and I stepped out to make lunch.  Being in the room alone gave Hunter the chance to focus, and it wasn’t but a few minutes before he joined us for lunch.  I really can’t believe the difference, and I am so excited. 🙂

Here are a few pictures of our room.  It’s still a work in progress, but that’s ok.  You can see the kids’ school pictures from last year.  I need to get prints made of their new photos to hang on the wall as well.  We have our world map and globe to go along with our geography studies.  We will hang our spelling board on the wall opposite the map.   We love our new room, and the best part is, when we are done, you just close the door, and school stuff stays in the school room. 😉


Meet Frank

Grandma has been here visiting.  When Grandma comes to visit, we get to do a lot of fun things.  The kids love that she always takes them to Freddy’s (a family favorite).  She always takes them to get a toy.  This time, she helped them make their very own Frankenstein decorations for Halloween.  They had a great time painting.  It was fun to see how each of them handled it.  Caleb was very independent and drew his face all by himself.  Hunter was very concerned that his stitches be perfectly straight, so he used a ruler.  He, however, could not use a ruler on the mouth or nose, so he asked me to do it.  Olivia did all of her own painting, but after the painting was done, she moved to a supervisory role, and just told me what to do.   She knew that she wanted her Frank to have a unibrow. 😉  They turned out very cute, and the kids had a great time.



A Book for Weak Mortals

(Written by Brian)

I was doing some additional reading for my New Testament lesson this Sunday morning, and found this introduction to the Book of Acts by Bruce R. McConkie, calling Acts a book for weak mortals.  How fortunate; this is just the book that I need!

“… Acts is more than a book of spiritual superlatives; it is also an account of righteous men and their weaknesses and bickerings, their jealousies and foibles, their failures and successes.

“The meridian saints are not perfect. Paul contends with Silas, corrects Peter, and rejects Mark as a missionary companion. And then with that dogged determination – without which he could not have withstood the Ephesians nor spoken boldly to Felix and Agrippa – he goes to Jerusalem, to bonds and imprisonment, in spite of the prophetic counsel relative to the trials ahead. James, the Lord’s brother, temporizes on keeping the Law of Moses, even a quarter of a century after that law was fulfilled, and hosts of Jewish converts mingle Mosaic practices with the newly found freedom of the gospel. All this is recorded by Luke, the faithful scribe.

“Thus Acts is a book for weak mortals. It shows the spiritual heights they can ascend – imperfect, jealous, and stubborn though they may be…” ~ Bruce R. McConkie

Olivia’s Birthday Pictures

On each of the children’s birthdays I take a few pictures of them.  I enjoy going back and comparing their old birthday photos with the new ones.  I am always surprised the difference a year can make.  Here are Olivia’s pictures that I took on Saturday.  She is growing up so quickly.  However, one thing has not changed at all, she still has NO patience for me and my camera. 🙁