Friday Night Football

I am not sure how I managed to only get a picture of Nick before the game. Actually Hali took this one as we were walking out the door. I think Aaron was in a rush to get to the game and already waiting at the car.

This was the banner we made for the boys to run through. Lasted all of 1 second but well worth it! The Junior High Team held the sign while the varsity players ran through.

Doing their warm up drills and passes.

Pre-game exercises...

After the game here. Nick was injured (praying his ankle is not broken but its not looking real good at the moment). This is his girlfriend Chelsea who came with her parents to watch the first game. Doesn't she look cute wearing his away jersey?

Anyone who knows us, knows that we are a family that believes kids should play sports. Not only does it help to keep kids healthy in general, but later in life it also helps them (and sometimes gives them an excuse) resist the peer pressure of doing drugs. There has been a lot of research on this topic. For us it has proven true. A true athlete has no desire to pollute his or her body, nor do they generally want to "risk" their future.

We started the actual season of games this week. We have been practicing all summer long it seems like. I am thankful for our coaches who have made such a wonderful commitment to the kids along with the Wonderful Home school Sports Organization known as the Kansas City East Lions. Thanks guys for all your hard work!

The finished project

Would you believe me if I told you that our little classroom project actually cost us less than $20? Its true. My husband is so resourceful. And I for one am very thankful for his help this week. The kids are really enjoying the separate space, and once they get each of the areas decorated and we figure out what kind of vertical storage we are going to use we will be completely finished. We love our new work stations.

Standing at the classroom door looking in.....

Standing next to my desk looking towards the west.

The girls still have plenty of room for their shelves and table. Here they are working on a Sea Shell identification game. Mommy didn't follow the instructions and print on card stock... so the girls are covering the backs of them with construction paper.

Finished with our Second week of school

Wow what a busy week it has been! I don't think I would like to embark on another one quite like this for a while. We have all been busy beavers. My wonderful husband came up with the idea of building cubicles for the classroom. We were at first just going to put in one long counter top for the computers, but he had a better idea!

We decided to tear off my 8 foot dry erase board and "switch" it to the other side of the classroom. As you can see this became a WHOLE home school project.

Wrapping up the Summer

Hali and Abby all curled up for the fireworks show at "I love America 09".


Abby LOVES fireworks. Actually, we all love fireworks. Here Abby staked out her area and sank her mini flags all around.



This year we attended the "I love America" fest in Branson, MO. They had an Airshow, music, games and fireworks display. We didn't get home till after 2 AM but it was SO worth the experience.


A little friendly competition between siblings. Nick is still bandaged up. We got discharged the day before from the hospital. Nick was in because he contracted MRSA. Now THAT was an experience. We learned a lot at the hospital. The staff was wonderful and were always willing to explain this or that.

At last a pic of me and the kids. You know you will only see one of these when Dad has the camera. We spent half our day on the Midway.

Skydivers with the American flag. Every jumper had a bigger flag. I am not sure how many actually jumped but my guess is around 20 or so.

Agility at its best. Put Abby up against any boy her age and she will hold her own.

This is Hali and one of her Best friends Allie. They have been soccer playmates for years. I am also good friends with Allie's mom, Suzie. I sure wish they would homeschool!

One of the kid's favorite things to do is fish. Don't ask me why. We don't clean them or cook them. Its STRICTLY catch and release here!

And even Ms. HaliAnnah does her part. One of these days they will actually take the fish off the hook.

For many of the boys that my son's hang with I am simply "mom". This is true in the case of Shane~ Who has gladly been grafted into the family. Shane is a fellow home school football player. He is USUALLY game for anything we set on our agenda and loves to spend time in our house. Here these two are yelling "mom, take my picture".... It went on for hours... until the battery FINALLY died! Shane prefers NOT to come on days when we are learning Chemistry, Calculus, and Astronomy.

Mr. Nick is showing off those muscles he has been working on for years... Just don't get EITHER of the boys started on their "six pac or eight pac"....

One of our favorite summer time activities is swimming. It's great exercise and a lot of fun.

All play and no work? NO WAY! This summer while my new Niece Alley was visiting we worked on lapbooks!

We started with a Tree lapbook since Daddy own a Tree Service!

It's nice to take some time out for some double dating, don't you think? Our friends Pastor Devon and Jen were here visiting for a week from South Dakota. They used to live next door. We conned Nick and Aaron into watching all 7 of the smaller kids so we could go out for dinner!

Abby thinks she is Miss America~ And some day she just might be. If we can keep her out of the mud long enough.

Here is the clan. Its amazing that they were all still enough for a picture! This is my family and Jen's family. Lots of kids, huh?

Since Daddy own a tree service we take "tree swings" to a whole different level. One of the things the boys have been taught since they were young was to climb safely. They own their own climbing saddles and their own safety equipment. Here we are simply having fun. Abby told her dad that since the boys used to have two tire swings in the back yard, she HAD to have one in the front. Hali is shown here in the picture getting her shot at take off.

Hali is checking to make sure that she is geared up correctly.

Climbing saddle + Child= A really great time! Who said Recess was boring when your a homeschooler?

I wonder if I can include this as Phy Ed? Nick is pulling Micah on his first time ever in a tree swing.

Giving Micah instructions on how the saddle fits and which way it goes.

I am not sure which season we are the busiest. I tend to lean toward fall since we have an activity every night of the week, and both weekend days. However lazy summer days don't really exist either. It's so nice to take a look back at the last few months and know that we are really living life the the fullest! We are so blessed to be able to take part in activities with other people. We absolutely LOVE to have company~Love to share our home and Love to share our memories with others!

Our First Complete week

Abby is finishing up her Ocen Basics unit.



Hali having a mid-morning snack.




Abby on the first day~ All smiles and glad to be back to work.







Aaron doing his Switched on Schoolhouse.





Here is Nick doing his 12th Grade work on the computer.

Since tomorrow is supposed to be our Field trip Friday I am claiming our first week as finished! Being a homeschooling mom is not an easy job but it has so many rewards. I cannot imagine what life would be like if I had not made this decision. Homeschooling is not always easy~ but to me it's well worth the efforts.

Here are a few pictures from this week. Our classroom is mostly packed up into boxes at this point, so please excuse our progress!

First week back to School

Its been a pretty good week. Not only did we start school, we decided to start our own blog. I am hoping that keeping in touch this way will make things alot easier on me and our firends and family can follow along.

So be patient with me as I lean all these new things. I look forward to sharing our special moments with you!