What a summer!



 

 

First away-from-home camp with church friends got mixed reviews. Looks like he had fun, but he wants either his dad or me to chaperone next year if he goes again.

This was Cullen's fourth year at Kid Chess Day Camp. His friend, Jackson, came, too, this time making it even more fun.

Of course, there were plenty of lazy moments like this.

Take advantage of all the cuddle time you can, Dad. He is growing too fast!

Hamming for the camera on his tenth birthday.

We took a stop in Chattanooga with friends. He is practicing being taller than me here.

The long walk underground through caverns to see Ruby Falls was full of wonders, but it was a little chilly that deep inside of a mountain.

Cullen was fascinated with the shark exhibits and especially the live sharks at the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg.

Which one of you is Nemo?











 




Ziplining in Gatlinburg was a blast! He showed no fear whatsoever. We could have done this for hours more. Next time...

 

Rafting on the Pigeon River required a little more nerve. The rapids were kid-friendly but did knock him off his seat a few times. Our boat mates are Estelle, a friend from high school, and her son, Kaden. And of course, our guide who did all of the actual work.



 

 

 

 

 

 

The usual silliness with Walker during a visit to Six Flags. The water park area made a hot, muggy day turn out to be big fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    Ready for the new school year!

 

 

 

How did April fly by so quickly?!?

I can hardly believe this is the first of May! We were incredibly busy this past month. Here are a few of the highlights:

Our big field trip was to the Georgia Rennaisance Festival. My favorite of the day was the Birds of Prey show. Look at this amazing owl.

It will not surprise you to know that the boys' favorite event of the day was the joust. They were mesmerized by the weaponry and the mock combat, complete with flaming sword and whip, while I admired the power and grace of the horses.

This spring has brought higher temperatures than expected. Kids know how to take full advantage of this! Here are our friends from next door and Walker and Cullen staying cool.

As far as school work goes, we've been plugging along just fine. I am proud of Cullen for working on writing a novel, not as an assignment, but just because he wants to write it! It is titled, Jack, the Champion, featuring five kids who love basketball and whose team makes it into the playoffs. He says you'll have to read the book to find out what happens!

Wordless Wednesday - math teamwork

Quick Catch-up and a Wild, New Rug

Long time, no post, I know. When life gets too busy, the blog is the first thing to suffer. But I thought about you often and have much I hope to share in future posts!

The latest and most colorful development here is a new rug for our school room! Goofy boys are same as in previous posts.

We just finished up reading Sign of the Beaver together and are now into a quick and easy biography of Thomas Jefferson. In the past couple of weeks, the boys' math curriculums moved into alignment on the topic of operations with fractions. Frankly, I'm pretty tired fractions right now! For history, we've learned about the Constitution and the federal government, actually having some interesting conversations on the process by which a bill does or does not become a law. Once gun control issues were mixed into a boring history talk, suddenly these guys were totally engaged.

Another unusual occurrence this week - an apparent explosion in art class.  ;o)

One thing that is working out extremely well is the new Spelling Power curriculum we've just begun using. After a few weeks, I'll post a review for you, but I can say now that I'm loving it so far!

Enormous Mushroom! Wordless Wednesday

This mushroom might be bigger than a little boy's brain!

Two Are Better Than One!

I'm not sure I can say that I've got it all figured out with having two boys at once since my nephew has joined us a few days a week, but I can say that it's much more lively around here! They keep me on my toes, to say the least. We're all having fun so far.

Shenanigans of all sorts are just part of the routine.

Hands-On Equations as part of our math is a big hit here. Shirts optional.

Both boys are reading Holes. What a fun book!

Walker's bobblehead sculpture: an alien from a video game.

Cullen's bobblehead sculpture: a camouflaged duck.

I appreciate the quiet moments!

Wordless Wednesday: DeSoto Falls Hike

Cloudy and Drizzly Sunday Afternoon

Justin is here in the basement playroom with Cullen, and they have been making so much noise. I just went down to see exactly what they were playing and found that the the yelling and shouting was actually coming from the little Lego people. Imagine that.

Cookie's idea of how to spend a Sunday afternoon is a little more appealing to me personally.

Well, I might stretch out on the sofa since I'm allowed on the furniture.

Hands-On Equations

Last summer, I bought a kit from Hands-On Equations to use as a fun supplement to Cullen's math curriculum, but never actually got very far into using it. He is taking enrichment classes this year through the Timothy Ministries at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, and I was excited to see that one of the available classes was Hands-On Equations using these same materials. So he gets to work in a small group with beginning algebra concepts and simple equations once a week, doing follow-up work and practice at home with me.

Cullen likes very much the logic of math, the assurance that if certain rules are followed, then the outcome is predictable. The visual and hands-on elements of these materials make it much easier to grasp the concepts of working with an unknown quantity, and keeping both sides of the equation balanced feels more like play with colorful little game pieces. The word "variable" can sound intimidating the first time you hear it, but it looks kind of cute and very non-threatening as a little blue game pawn.

I was really impressed with these teaching materials when I came across them earlier. Now that I see how well they work with a young mind, I am even more enamored. After two weeks, my nine-year old is solving equations that I was never exposed to until 7th grade.

The best part is he thinks it's fun!