May & June

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It's been a busy spring!  Seems like we're always running, doing something.  Guess that's why come May, I generally tell folks "See ya in August!"  May, June, and July are my busiest months.

The girls had horse shows and did fairly well in them.  DD11 is buying a horse from her grandparents.  He's only 3, and has not been ridden much, so no riding for her this year.  His name is Moonshine, and he is the brother of DD13's horse Sunshine.   DD13's horse is now 7 (has she really owned Sunshine 5 years now?!?!), and she is enjoying taking Sunshine on trail rides and swimming in The Pond.  We're now completing 4-H projects and gearing up for fair.   Both girls are taking Trail Riding.  DD13 is also doing a self-determined project on Carnivorous Plants.

Both girls are looking forward to their summer church camps.  We also have family reunions coming up.

Our new hens continue to mature.  They will hopefully start laying next month.  We got a rooster from a friend, and he is happy with his girls.  His name is Dude.

Our co-op classes are on summer break, but we continue to meet periodically for swim or park days.  The girls miss getting with their friends on a regular basis though.

Our new youth pastor is settling in.  My youngest and their oldest child (who is a couple years younger than my youngest) have become pretty good friends.  She likes horses too, and can't wait to come see the girls' horses!

We had our VBS.  This was our third year using the Answers in Genesis VBS, and as with the others, Gold Rush was great.  We have a great group of volunteers to do the different stations.  I had the 4th graders.   Our church drama team did all the skits.  My oldest had such fun with it.....she got to be an aspiring actress (complete with wearing a southern belle style dress with hoops!) who learns what's really important.  Our children's minister was the "bad guy" who also learned about Jesus.   We had more than 70 kids for the week...and most wished it were all summer long!  I did too really.  I had a good time with the 4th graders! 

I'm teaching the 2nd and 3rd grade Sunday School for the summer to give the regular teachers a break.  It's been fun.  We're learning about the Ten Commandments.

It's funny that my last entry was about Soul Surfer, because it was at our local dollar theatre this week, and we went to see it again.  I enjoyed as much as the first time and have already pre-ordered the DVD, which comes out the beginning of August.


Next on our list of movies to go see are:  Mr. Popper's Penguins (now playing), Dolphin Tale (September 23), and Courageous (September 30).  The girls are cleaning their rooms right now, hoping to go see Mr. Popper's Penguins today!

What else have we been up to?  Oh, I worked our annual used curriculum sale.  This year we held it in a different place, but it went well.  Only a few tweaks will be needed for next year.  

I took over the library ministry leader's position at church.  We have a small budget (which we used most of this year purchasing more, much-needed bookshelves!), but operate mostly on donations.  We're hoping to expand our family films (on DVD) and parenting books sections.   If you have any recommendations for those sections, please let me know.

Last weekend, I attended our state homeschool convention, which continues to grow smaller because of the MidWest Convention.  Funny, when I first started homeschooling, I would not go to the state convention because it was huge and overwhelming.  When the Cincinnati (now MidWest) Homeschool Convention started it was so much smaller, and I went to it instead. I've continued to go to it each year, and now the MidWest is absolutely, insanely huge.   The state convention is much more relaxing, but there were less workshops that I wanted (needed?) to attend.  I did enjoy listening to Bill Jack (WorldView Academy) speak this year, and purchased some of his talks on CD.  I also got to help out at the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) booth.  That was fun!  I also attended a Support Group Leaders' Meet & Greet....it was nice meeting others in the state who are also support group leaders and learning how each group or co-op operates.

Despite the busyness, I've actually gotten quite a bit of reading done.  I've read several Jessica Day George books, wanting to preview them before DD11 reads them.  I really enjoyed them.....unique spins on familiar fairy tales.   I've also been working on Family Driven Faith (Voddie Baucham), When You Rise Up (Sproul), Defending Your Faith (Sproul), and Nothing But the Truth (Edwards)......I read non-fiction so slowly!!!!


Well, I guess that pretty much catches y'all up on our lives....nothing too exciting, huh?  Hope y'all are having a good summer!


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