Taking a Break

Hi guys,

If you follow us regularly then you know we try to post often but haven't been lately. We are too busy enjoying our summer and are taking a couple weeks off from blogging. Please come back and check on us August 25th when we resume homeschool and our normal routine. We are going to finish up the summer with VBS (Vacation Bible School), the State Fair, and a last minute vacation to Wisconsin.

I'll leave you with this cute picture of Pax! Enjoy!

Kendra

The Power of Play and Family

Sorry for the delayed post-we've been quite busy! I've been reading plenty of articles about how important it is for children to have time to play. The past couple of weeks have been just that and I can see a real difference in Paxton's disposition. He seems much happier and listens better when he's been given a substantial amount of play time and time to just be a child.

We've continued our curriculum throughout the summer but are spending about two days a week vs. the three to five when we first started. My goal is to start adding a day a week throughout August until we hit five days a week by mid-August. I have seen an increase in his attention span and the times we've spent reading our chapter books, he seems really engaged.

The past few weeks have been all about family too. We visited my step dad in the hospital while he was having back surgery and visited several times while he is "stuck" at home, recovering. We also try to head out to Greenview to visit my Grandma who will be ninety-six in August. AND, we were so excited to see our cousins from Tennessee- we hadn't seen them in two years. (That's just WAY TOO LONG!)

Needless to say, our time has been spent playing outside as much as possible and seeing as many family members as possible!

I'll quit babbling and let you see for yourself...

 July 9- visiting PaPa Tim in the hospital pre-surgery

Visiting Grandpa Biggs' house and got to explore the newly finished tree house he built for the grand kids!

                                  

Searching for bugs and learning to swim underwater. Both- a success! 

                                  

Painting Spiderman and working on our math work during a curriculum day. 

Ending the week with the sweetest surprise of all- we got to see our cousin Katie and her son Elijah while they were in town for a conference. They live in Tennessee and we don't get to visit often. Elijah and Katie are the ones on the end, next to me and Pax.

Next week will be another packed week as we volunteer to help out with our church Summit and meet various pastors and missionaries from all over the U.S. and assist in watching their children during the workshops/conference. I'll keep you posted on how that turns out and how much we actually accomplish in our own studies. Until then, have a fabulous weekend!

A Day in the Life of a Five Year Old

Yesterday was Paxton's fifth birthday. It doesn't seem possible that Donnie and I have been blessed for five years already as Pax's parents. Time flies and I am still trying to wrap my head around the idea of my little man growing up.

He woke up around 6 a.m. and the first thing he said to me was, "I thought when I turned five, my voice would sound different and I would be taller. Mom, I am not taller and I sound the exact same."
This kid cracks me up. I have no idea why he thought his voice would change but I had been telling him that he would grow bigger with each year.

Here is a recap of how we celebrated this little man turning five:

We started the morning off by opening the mustaches he got from his cousin Nate. We each placed one on our face and took selfies. (If you know me, you know this is a silly thing we do A LOT!)

After some breakfast and telling Daddy goodbye as he left for work, we ventured outside to do our usual bug exploration. We were quite pleased to find a giant moth and a bug we had never seen before. I must admit, it was refreshing not to have to search for spiders.

We released the moth before we could figure out what kind it was but we did research the other bug. He is an ivory marked beetle. We released him too! The bug catcher was also another cool gift from cousin Nate.

 

And then we went fishing out on Grandpa Biggs' pond. We had so much fun catching bluegill! Each grandkid caught at least three fish. We immediately released them back into the water-no worries!

PaPa Tim stopped by after we got done fishing with a ton of puzzles for Pax and an ice cream cone. Pax is so excited to try out all of these 3D bugs and dinosaurs!

We ended the day visiting Pax's favorite place to play- Chuck E. Cheese. Donnie, Pax and I had a little friendly competition at the Skeeball games and I am pleased to say I still hold highest score and ticket holder!

I must admit, I had just as much fun celebrating Pax as he did! :) Pax, you are one of the smartest, funniest, and sweetest boys we know and we are honored to be your parents.We love you buddy and hope you've had the best fifth birthday ever!

Summertime

I keep telling myself we will slow down, take a break from activities, and relax. And then I remember, this is summertime. We are still setting our own schedule and taking breaks when needed, but we are also soaking up the beautiful weather and enjoying lots of playtime.

Because of other obligations in the beginning of July, we decided to celebrate Pax's 5th birthday two weeks early. We had a small family party at the house with donuts and bagels and Pax blew out five candles from his favorite donut, a chocolate longjohn. (He is just like me!)

We spent the rest of the week doing a lot of outdoor things like tending the garden and looking for bugs.

We still managed to find time for schoolwork. Pax has really enjoyed working on his letters and basic writing. He even tries to sound things out, spell without assistance, and say the words that he recognizes while we read aloud.

But the best part of the past few weeks has been the family time. Pax loves playing with his cousins and he has had a lot of time to do that! (Kandice and I enjoy having sister time while they play!)

Hope you all are having a great time this summer. Might I suggest the article I just finished on the Sonlight website about how to spend summer.

 http://www.sonlight.com/blog/2014/07/dont-let-your-child-flunk-summer.html

It was a real eye opener for me and reminded me to slow down with activities and just enjoy the play.