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Monday, May 27, 2013

What do you get...?

 when you have a three day weekend 
plus all these kids
 plus and obstacle coarse


 plus a waterfall hike

plus a lake with 
a rope swing
 a 100 foot water slide
 kayaks
 and canoes
 plus a movie night 
 plus Sunday morning worship focused on creating family mission statements
 plus family hikes
 plus more hiking
 plus lots of games
 plus a LOT of food
 plus a bonfire to wrap it all up?
A surprisingly great weekend, filled with sweet friends, lots of laughter, encouragement, memories and a plan to do it all again next year!!!
(Thanks Ben and Tracy for organizing such an amazing time!!  You all are the best!!)

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Day 180 (but please dont' tell my girls :)

Two weeks ago I counted the official school days for the year to see if we were really as close as I thought we were.  We were actually a bit closer than I had earlier figured.  If we were to attend "Second Saturday" at Roper Mountain the following Saturday we could officially have day 180 in the book and be officially done!  But please don't tell my girls!  We have lightened up a lot.  There are just a few more math lessons for Haleigh to squeak out to complete her book.  Sophie is always willing to plug away a bit longer and I really couldn't let her stop while Haleigh is still going at it.  Then there is Mackenzie who will follow suit, if the girls are working in open math books you might as well just open her's too, even if she thinks it is just for fun.  It has been nice having a lighter load, a much more gentle schedule inside the house as the one outside the house seems to speed out of control with all the end of the year events.  
 
Our first end of the year event was probably one of the most special for me.  It was our Closing Ceremony for our co-op.  This was Mackenzie's first year to be part foundations and Sophie's last year.  My heart could almost burst at that reality!  But it is all good, actually it is all great! 

Sophie successfully attained "Memory Master" of all three cycles so she is stepping off the "Classical Conversations path" next year to explore her passion for drama and the arts before jumping into the Challenge program.  (She is already counting down the days for this new adventure to start.  I on the other hand am happy to soak up each and every summer day!)









 Haleigh also stepped up to the memory work challenge.  She attained Scripture Memory Master!! Exodus 20: 1-17!!!  We are so proud of her.  She did such a great job!!

Mackenzie loved every second of co-op this year.  Her tutor was her hero (and still is.)  Mackenzie  still sings random history songs throughout the day no matter where we are.  Her favorite is the Presidents song, even though she may skip a few here and there, within a week she has usually covered them all once.

I had the sweetest class of kids this year and I really do miss them already.  They taught me so much and made the year unforgettable. 

I am so thankful for our CC community and all the sweet families that made it such a special place to meet each Monday.  

I am also so very thankful for the encouragement and support we get from Mark.  He celebrates our accomplishments well, whether they are the daily victories or when big goals that take weeks or months are met.  When I am tired or questioning my abilities he is nothing but solid as a rock and reassuring that we are doing what God has asked our family to do. 

So blessed, so thankful, so excited for summer!!



Sunday, May 12, 2013

Mother's Day, Taking Time to Stop

 Many Sundays, even though I know we should just be, stop all the "to do - ing" and observe a bit of Sabbath  I usually plow on through, taking advantage of the "school-less" hours to catch up with some of the many things I didn't get to during the week.  But not today!  Today it almost feels wrong to plow on through.  
Mark had to work today so we just chilled.  The sink full of dirty dishes,  no less than four baskets of laundry wait to be folded and then there is a school room that you really can barely walk into let alone teach or learn in, but stop we did.  After church we headed to Your Pie (Haleigh can eat a whole meal without any prep on my part) after a quick stop by Whole Foods we headed to the back yard to play and laugh.  We played croquet for a while, until the neighbor kids started peering through the fence to see if the girls could shift their attention to the gathering group of cul-de-sac friends.
Then I sat, in the sun with a dish of mango sorbet and looked at pictures from the past year and smiled.  The echos of laughter from the neighborhood kids playing and the sweet memories spurred by the pictures took turns gaining my attention.  Here are some of the pics that made me smile the most on this sweet Mother's Day that forced a Sabbath and time to look back and be oh so thankful for my three precious gifts!   


Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!  I hope your day was sweet and I pray you will have a Sabbath (forced or not) soon to reflect on all of your blessings!