School Time

Well Back to School is in full swing. The stores are loaded with school supplies and everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer. I've learned that I have quite an addiction to school supplies. I can't pass up $.40 crayons and cheap notebooks. School Supply wise I really don't need a lot. I picked up markers and could stand to get a few more pencils and maybe some Kindergarten ruled paper.

I also realized that I need to decide when to actually start school. Last week I received the last bit of my curriculum, so now I'm set. I just need to start school. I think we'll wait til the middle or end of August and pretty much follow the public school calendar. Starting in September we'll have a few additions to our schedule. We'll be doing BSF on Tuesdays, MOPS on Wed 2x a month and Co-op on Fridays. It's a lot and I'll probably have to cut things out if it gets too crazy.

Here is a breakdown of the curriculum for Belle's Kindergarten.

History/Literature: Sonlight Core A

Reading/Language Arts: Sonlight Readers & LA 1, and possibly some Phonics Pathways thrown in since I just discovered that book.

Math: Math-U-See Primer. Belle is already about a 1/3 of the way through the book, we may have to order MUS Alpha or supplement with Kumon books or something at the end. She does seem to be motivated by colorful worksheets so I may find something to add with her black and white MUS pages.

Science: Co-op class. I believe they are doing some sort of Magic School Bus curriculum.

Music: Co-op. They will be practicing all year for an Easter Cantata.

Phys Ed: Cheer class on Mondays and I think sometimes the Co-op goes to Franklin College to have students over there do a Phys Ed class with the kids.

Art: Oh all important Art. You'd think this would be my forte. Belle informed me that it wasn't school unless there were crafts. As artsy as I am, I am not "little kid" crafty. I need to find a book to help me here. I'm thinking maybe one of the Usborne craft books.

I don't even want to think about all the money I've spent on school stuff. I mean I guess it could have been worse. Sonlight isn't the cheapest option out there, but I was able to cut some costs. I found a lot of what I needed at homeschool sales and got a lot of read-alouds from a gal on Craigslist. So I only really had to order the Readers/Language Arts program from Sonlight.

I also seem to have a weakness for the Art & Education Store. Don't show me some cool little learning gadget or game, I won't be able to pass it up.

Now onto the school room. I really didn't need a school room, lots of people do just fine at the dinner table. But it was fun to put the school room together. And pretty much on the cheap as well.

We scored desks out of an old schoolhouse for free. Add a can of spray paint and they look like new.  I paid for one drawer system but the other drawer system I scored for $4 at a garage sale. The drawer systems are for something called the Workbox system. I'm going to give that shot to keep us organized.


Nic got the whiteboard out of the trash at work. Another score. Paid for the bookcase though. =)


Look at all these books


The poster wall.

Amazing Race

Our church has a super fun event called the Amazing Race. This is the second year we participated. Such a blast. We ran all over the city and downtown completing tasks trying to get to the end. It was about 10pm when we finished and they were cleaning up when we left, but we did in fact finish.

We did such tasks as (in no particular order):
• used a robot at Perry Meridian High School to try and pick up balls.
• rode a bull at Cadillac Jack
• renewed our vows on the canal.
• shot basketballs at Jillians
• ate Sushi at Sushi on the Rocks (not really, Nic threw it in his mouth and then spit it in the trash on the way out)
• completed a three legged race at the Gathering Place (Nic barely made it, thought he'd have a heart attack)
• Threw rose petals on the U of I campus. We had to say something we loved about each other and we both completely blanked.
• Fished for plastic fish at a park. And then dug for jewelry in the sand at the same park.
• Tracked down a Love & Sex book in Borders and had to answer questions out of it.
• Ate fondue at the Melting Pot.

Lots of other stuff I can't remember. Some people even had to dive into a pool fully clothed.

Here are some pictures from the night.

Firecracker Festival

Well our 4th of July got off to a rough start. Nic and I had a stomach bug. We still weren't feeling the greatest on Sunday, but were able to make it to church and then to the Firecracker Festival that evening. We haven't been back to the Masonic home for fireworks since 2008 when we had a horrible experience with Belle. This time we had a great time and I imagine we'll try to make it every year. They have food vendors and it's a great time to just sit, eat and people watch.

I was living life on the edge and took Ethan in just underwear. He did great, but had to go and was scared of the porto-pot. Can't say I blamed him. I eventually just let him pee in the grass behind the port o pots once it got dark. The kids thought the fireworks were awesome. Thankfully it wasn't as loud as I remembered it. I do believe they set them off somewhere different.

Backyard fireworks

Nic spent like $5 and got some little fireworks and we set them off in the yard last night.

Avalanche Ranch VBS

I got to be directly involved in VBS this year. I've got much appreciation for those who choose to lead VBS and the teachers who handle the classrooms. I only had to do decorations, the easy job. =)

Belle had a blast and loved that she was in the Purple Palaminos group. Even though Ethan isn't old enough to attend, he got to participate in the large group worship at the beginning and end. I think Ethan made friends with Jason Baker who was watching him most of the week. Everytime I'd pick Ethan up, he'd say "fun day!!".






On the last day there was a family night and they had pony rides and inflatables at the church. Big hit with the kids.