Capture Your 365, or not

Usually on Wednesday, I share my week’s worth of Capture Your 365 photos. But not this week. I knew we were going to a Civil War event this past weekend, so I thought I would take a break from the daily photo prompts and share some photos from our weekend.

ISO 200, 55mm, f/4.0, 1/160 sec

Kelsey and a couple of the girls decided to go out on the field as corpsmen with our 20th Maine group this past weekend. Basically, they are responsible for bandaging up any of the fallen soldiers on the field.

 

 ISO 200, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec

This past year (even though we have only been to two events), Matthew has been ‘playing’ over on the confederate side of the field. Which means my children were on opposite sides!!

 

 ISO 200, 200mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec

So here is my son, Matthew, kneeling, getting ready to ‘fire’ upon the ‘enemy’.

 

 ISO 200, 165 mm, f/5.3, 1/320 sec

Right in the middle of the photo, Kelsey is holding onto her ‘wounded’ arm.

At one point during the ‘battle’, Kelsey came to the front of their line and shouted, “Brother, stop shooting at us!” I could hear here all the way on the sidelines! Then ‘shots’ were fired, and over she went. Eventually, Matthew ended up being ‘shot’ and ‘died’ out on the field too.

 

ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/500 sec

Overall, it was a beautiful weekend! This was our seventh time at this event! Civil War reenacting has been a great activity for our family. We have learned a lot about the Civil War, and we have been able to spend time with some wonderful people.

Capture Your 365

Time for another week of Capture Your 365 photos!

 

ISO 100, 18mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec

Day 250 – Black and White: If you know me and/or have been following my blog for some time, you know that I love to go on day trips to Yosemite. Having this amazing gem of a place within driving distance is such a blessing. There is so much beauty there, and each season has something special to offer its visitors. On this particular trip, my husband and I spent the day bike riding around the valley, something neither one of us had done before. We both enjoyed it so much!

ISO 100, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/20 sec

Day 251 – Simple: My husband and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary this month. Anniversaries come and go, but it is the simple (and sometimes not so simple), day to day stuff that we each work on together that keeps a marriage together.

ISO 800, 34mm, f/5.0, 1/8 sec

Day 252 – Routine: Welcome to Monday! Monday around here usually means laundry day. Not the most beautiful photo I have ever taken, but just a small part of my routine.

ISO 800, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec

Day 253 – Around the House: Most week day mornings, you will find my daughter in her room, up on her new loft bed, diligently working on her school work.

ISO 800, 55mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec

Day 254 – On The Schedule: I know there are so many gadgets and apps to help you stay on task with your to-do list these days, but I seem to always fall back to a simple, written out, to-do list on a post it note. This helps me keep my to-do list somewhat reasonable for the day, and I don’t know about you, but there is satisfaction in actually checking items off of a list.

ISO 800, 48mm, f/5.6, 1/20 sec

Day 255 – Details of the Day: We like to have breakfast for dinner around here every now and then. I had purchased some strawberries at the local farmer’s market the night before, so waffles with strawberries sounded like the perfect dinner for this night. And a little whipped cream just makes it all a little bit more special!

ISO 800, 52mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec

Day 256 – On The Table: It is not my intent to have food related photos in almost every Capture Your 365 blog post, but when the prompt fits, you just have to go with it! Anyway, I do enjoy using our cloth napkins at dinner. It has been a simple way to make our dinner table just a little more special, and we don’t go through near as many paper napkins any more. There are plenty of tutorials out there to follow to make your own set or two.

So there you have it! A full week of Capture Your 365 photos! What photos are you capturing during your week? I would love to see them!

Mommy Jammies Night

When I started homeschooling back in August of 1999, the internet was, what I consider, still in the infancy stages of what it has grown into being today. No Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter, no Skype! Today, there are so many resources available to help each one of us grow in our faith, find resources to be better wives and moms, and to encourages us on days when things just don’t seem to be going the way we planned.

In fact, I am excited to let you know about a wonderful opportunity you can take part in right from your own home next week…and you can attend wearing your jammies!

My friend Kendra is going to be the guest speaker for the upcoming Mommy Jammies Night on Tuesday, September 10th. She is going to be talking about the topic of Homeschooling in Times of Crisis. Here is her description of the workshop:

“Homeschooling in Times of Crisis– Illness, job loss, moving, death… Life is messy and unpredictable but God is never surprised at the trials we find ourselves facing. If your path to homeschooling seems particularly burdensome this year, come hear a fresh word of hope and grace, and leave encouraged that even during the hardest times, our children can learn some of the best lessons ever while growing up in our homes.”

Are you feeling burdened about the tasks you feel God has called you to this year? Join in next week, Tuesday, September 10th, for the Mommy Jammies Night and hear about the Hope that only He can give.

Our Homeschool Plan 2013-2014

This past week has been our last week of summer vacation since we plan to start our homeschool year on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. Many of our friends have already started school for this year, but neither one of us were ready to start quite yet.

Here is what we will be using this year:

• Exploring Creation with General Science – I was able to find an older edition for $10! Kelsey is looking forward to the many experiments in this book.
• What on Earth Can I Do? – I went through the previous three books in this series with both kids and have been waiting for this fourth book!
• Mystery of History II – This will be our second time through this one. I will be assigning different activities for Kelsey this time through.
• Artistic Pursuits – Matthew went through a couple of these and I still had them on hand, wondering if Kelsey might like to try them.
• Language Lessons for the Secondary Child – These books fit well with our homeschool style
• Write with World – This is a new addition this year thanks to my friend Kendra for recommending it! I know we have been a little weak with creative writing, but I wanted something that wasn’t so structured and something that would challenge Kelsey in her writing. I am hoping this will be a good fit for us.
• Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra – Another saved from years ago when Matthew was at this point. Unfortunately we have the older version, but we have really enjoyed these books!
• PE – Kelsey really enjoys using our Wii Fit for her exercising, so she will be working in at least 3 mornings a week to her schedule.
• Drama – This is the big new addition to our schedule this year! From mid-September until almost the end of March, we will be driving out of town once a week for a 2-3 hour drama class. Kelsey is really exciting about this! The class will be learning the ins and outs of what it takes to put on a performance, as well as a Bible devotion at the beginning of each class and learning to stick to your Christian principles if they continue down this path. They will be performing ‘The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe’ in the spring.

At this point, the plan is for me to go through ‘What on Earth Can I Do?’ and ‘Mystery of History’ with Kelsey, the other subjects and books, she will be working through on her own. We will probably sit down together on Tuesday and ‘plan out’ how much work she should do each week. This is one of the benefits of having an older student, they start taking on more of the responsibilities of setting their schedule and making time to get their work done.

Are you ready for your homeschool year?

Guest Post: Kelsey’s App Review

My daughter, Kelsey, has a few educational games she likes to play on her iPod, so I asked her if she would like to share about them here on my blog:

So my mom wanted me to talk about some learning apps that I like. I only have a few so I will do my best to talk about them and tell you how much I have enjoyed them!

Presidents vs. Aliens

The Presidents vs. Aliens app is really fun if you want to know more about our Presidents and their nicknames, facts, quotes, and more. What I love about this game is that when I get a question right, I can use the circle picture to take down the aliens that are put in different places. It’s fun because it’s not just learning, you are doing something fun in between if you get the question right. Another thing I like about it is that you can change the settings on it. You can change the questions that it asks you. So if you want the game to ask you the nicknames that belong to a President or you can just do identifying. You can do more then one too. It has helped me learn a little more about my Presidents but I’m still learning. Another cool thing is that once you have gotten a certain amount of Presidents (after you have taken down all the aliens then you earn a President depending on how many questions you have gotten right), you can play some side games, which are still about the Presidents but they are really fun to play and I have been learning so much about all of our Presidents.

Stack the States

Stack The States is another really fun game that I really like to play. It is the same company that made Presidents vs. Aliens. The game will ask you a question about a state, like maybe where is Yellowstone Park located and it will give you options of which state to pick. If you get the question right, it will make the state as big as it would be and then you have to put it on a platform and well, stack them, hence the name. It has a ‘finish line’ a bit up away from the platform. What you have to do is stack the states up to the finish line and if you got a certain amount of questions right after you reached the finish line, it will give you a state to add to your map like the Presidents vs. Aliens game. This one also has side games for you to play once you have earned a certain amount of states. I really like it because again, you’re not just answering questions, you’re doing something fun in between. I have also ,been learning about the states and where things are located. I don’t believe you can change the questions on this one but it is still fun and you can learn a lot from it.

Another thing that is cool about these two games is that each player can have their own game. So maybe Tim and Bob want to play. Bob can have his own game and earn his own states while Tim can also do the same with his own game.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a cool language app that you can use when you, well, want to learn a new language. It has lots of different languages and you can learn more then one at a time. But for me that might be a bit confusing…. But it’s really cool and I have been learning quite a bit. It does get difficult sometimes just trying to learn all the verbs and things with Spanish, but that’s just Spanish. You can go back at any time to a lesson and review everything that you learned in that lesson. I think that’s really awesome. You have a certain amount of hearts in each lesson. When you answer a question wrong you will lose a heart and this will keep happening each time you answer a question wrong. If you run out of hearts you have to do the lesson all over again, which can be a good thing because then you can learn a lot more by doing the lesson over and over again. I like it better then Rosetta Stone because you know what the sentences are and what the words are because it switches between English and Spanish. Maybe one time you’ll have to write out a sentence in Spanish from English or an English sentence from looking at the Spanish sentence. Me and my mom both do it and love it. My mom and I have been learning a lot through it and hopefully we will be able to speak the language soon. Maybe when I am done learning Spanish I can learn a different one through it.

Well, that’s all I have for today and I hope that helped you learn a little bit more about three educational apps for your phone or other device. I have learned a lot about different things from these three apps and will hopefully continue using them. Thanks for reading and again I hope these helped you out.

-Kelsey

Summer Day? or School Day?

A couple of weeks ago, we drove up to the closest IKEA and Kelsey found a loft bed that she thought would be perfect in her room. She even told me she had enough money to pay for the bed herself. We didn’t buy the bed that day, but she did come home and she did take all the measurements necessary to see if the bed would fit in her room.

This morning, we measured the area in my car (a Saturn Vue, not a huge SUV) to see if the bed would fit. We decided to take the chance, make the drive, and do our best to fit the bed in the car.

Once we arrived at IKEA, we saw that the bed came in two flat boxes, so we were not sure if they would fit. Since we made the drive, we decided to go ahead and buy the bed and take the pieces out of the box to fit everything in the car.

The best part of this was when we went up to the register and Kelsey handed the clerk a wad of cash that she had saved up to pay for the bed. A gentlemen at the register next to us was impressed that she was paying for the bed herself.

Yay! Everything fit!

Once we arrived home, we got right to work: moved out the old bed, vacuumed, and got started putting the new bed together. It took quite a bit of work and coordination, but we were determined to get it done!

So, goodbye to the picket fence bed and hello to the new loft bed!

So if you ask me, I love these kind of summer/school days. I am a big believer in that every lesson does not need to come from a textbook. We had a great day together, overcame some obstacles, and persevered. It is hard to see her growing up so fast, but I love to see the young woman she is growing up to be.

Compassion Around the World

Quick! How many countries does Compassion work in?

If you said 26 countries, you are right! And the Compassion web site has a great spot for you to learn more about each one of the countries where Compassion is working to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Where does your sponsored child live? Does your sponsored child live in Colombia like our Lina?

By visiting this link (Colombia facts), you can find out when Compassion started working in Colombia and the number of children currently registered in Compassion programs at local churches in Colombia. But that is not all, each country page has information on the country’s history, education, religion, culture, holidays and festivals, sports and games, typical foods, greetings, and country facts and figures. Here is an interesting fact about education in Colombia, the school year runs from February to November!

Maybe this would be a great year for you and your family to learn more about the country where your sponsored child lives! Maybe find a recipe or two, add a craft project, learn a few phrases, find the country on the world map and you have yourself a great unit study!

Buenos dias!!

A little of this and a little of that…

Today, I am just going to share some random things with you, I hope you enjoy them!

I have decided to join in on the Hello Mornings Challenge again. This is a great way to start my morning off the right way. Spending time with God, making a plan for my day, and taking time to exercise a few times a week. This fall, the group is doing a inductive study on the book of Ephesians. My book is ordered and I am looking forward to the lessons God has for me.

Quite a few schools out here have already started and I believe many more will be starting in the next week or two. At this point, our plan is to start at the end of August or right after Labor Day (one of the benefits of private homeschooling!). We have most of our books, but we are waiting for this one last book to arrive. Just got an e-mail that it should arrive just in time for us to start. We have already gone through the first three books in this series and I have been waiting for this fourth book to be published and ready.

And I can’t believe that when I first started the countdown for our Compassion trip, the number was 203 days! Matthew’s passport arrived yesterday and I am still making things to fundraise for our trip. Take a peek at my Facebook page, you might find something you like!

Happy Friday, enjoy this summer day, and have a great weekend!

Is it summer yet?

 

Canoeing on Lake Merritt in Oakland, July 2010

Sure is hard to believe it was three years ago that I drove my kids nuts! During the summer of 2010, I took my kids on some surprise day trips through the summer because I knew they were getting older and we wouldn’t always have the opportunity to do some of these things together. Now that Matthew has graduated and is working full time, I am thankful we took the time to spend together on these trips.

So this upcoming summer will be the first time that Kelsey and I will spend the whole summer together, just the two of us. Now it is not that we haven’t spent the whole school together, because we have. But during the school year, there are schedules to keep and definitely things that need to be done. For summer though, my youngest child would probably prefer to stay home just about every day, reading, or creating, or hanging out (literally!) in a tree in our backyard. She is definitely my homebody child.

To combat the homebody syndrome and to help her spend some fun time with a few of her friends, I decided we needed to come up with a plan. We sat down the other day and wrote down some ideas of day trips to go on this summer. Here is the list we came up with:

1. Tubing/rafting in Yosemite http://www.yosemitepark.com/rafting.aspx

2. Exploratorium http://www.exploratorium.edu/

3. Bowling

4. Rafting by Knight’s Ferry http://raftadventure.com/

5. Jelly Belly Factory http://www.jellybelly.com/visit_jelly_belly/california_factory_tours.aspx

6. Cable Car Museum and ride Cable Cars http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/

7. Slumber Party

The fun part about this list is for each day trip, she gets to invite one of her friends along each time. I think this will be fun way for us to spend our summer and I am looking forward to sharing our adventures with you!

What plans do you have for your summer? I would love to hear about them!

Capture Your 365

Five pictures for you this week and here they are:

ISO 100, 116mm, f/4.8, 1/80 sec

Day 111 – Blooming: This lavender plant in my backyard is blooming like crazy! I need to do some cuttings and start drying some of these.

ISO 100, 80mm, f/4.2, 1/4 sec

Day 113 – Mail: I was able to mail off letters to my Compassion kids last week! I hope they enjoy the bookmarks I made for them. Do you send your sponsored kids handwritten letters?

ISO 100, 55mm, f/4.0, 1/160 sec

Day 114 – Mobile: trying to get back into the routine of walking a few days a week. On my iPod, I have a playlist of upbeat Christian songs. This is a great way for me to focus on how amazing God’s love for me is while I do what I can to keep my body healthy.

ISO 100, 50mm, f/4.0, 0.4 sec

Day 115 – Spotlight: When I saw this idea on Pinterest months ago, I penciled in our history book to give this a try. We had just read about the Battle of Marathon in the Mystery of History and one of the activities was to learn about the moon phases. Always fun to combine lessons with food!

ISO 100, 50mm, f/5.0, 1/250 sec

Day 116 – A Fence: Well, there is a fence behind the California poppies, does that count?

So what have you been taking pictures of this past week? The May list for the Capture Your 365 is now available to print out. Go get the list and join me for capturing the little details of your life.