Homeschool Field Trips

For the past month I've been trying to be intentional about taking weekly "field trips" with the kids... going somewhere out of the house just for the sake of having fun and engaging with the world around us.  So far we've visited: the nature refuge (twice), a local park, and an orchard to pick muscadines.  We've all had so much fun, and I'm thankful that homeschooling allows us this flexibility and freedom!  Here are some pictures (though I don't have any pics of the park):

 This was a baby gator we saw on our first visit to the refuge.

And a beautiful white bird.  We also went and played in the nature center, which had some fun displays and a few sensory objects that the kids could touch.  Since we've been reading some of Thorton Burgess' books, Enoch noticed a few of the animals on display and asked some thoughtful questions.  

 

On our second visit, we got to watch this man catch a gator on his pole and reel it in to about 10' away from the shore.  Then the gator got angry and fought back hard, breaking the line.  

Can you see the gator swimming away after escaping?

We also saw some deer on our second trip to the refuge - 2 babies and one mama.  The mama is in the photo below.

Karis was happy to be outside!!!

  

 Our trip to the orchard to pick muscadines was also a lot of fun.  We went to Reese's Orchard, and Mr. Reese was sweet enough to walk with us through the field and show us which muscadines were ready to be picked.  And my were they delicious!!  

There were also butterflies galore, and the asian pears were tasty.  

Enoch pretended to be a bear, tromping through the forest.

 

And here's a picture of Alaythia after a game night we all went to one evening.  This is one of her favorite places to be, and she is more and more becoming a Daddy's girl.

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August/September Catch Up

I've been a busy little beaver lately, and I honestly feel like I have a new part time job between applying for adoption grants and becoming more regular at doing school with Enoch.  So here's a quick update on the past few months...

hugging one of the last of the watermelons we bought... maybe we'll still get one more before the season's over though.  

every one keeps on growing!!  

Karis has been learning how to use a spoon, and though it is still a messy enterprise, she is doing such a good job, and is now quite the little independent eater 

Alaythia's been considering using a spoon, but she still prefers her fingers.  This was some of Gramma Patti's homemade applesauce, and everyone loved it!!

 

We bought a keyboard, and all of the kids enjoy playing music on it as well as dancing

Someone learned how to climb... and how to move furniture to get wherever she wants to climb... watch out world!

Enoch learned how to change a diaper.  He doesn't do it real often, but sometimes it is nice to have an extra set of hands on those wiggly girls.  :)

We visited the splash pad again

We call this "taxing" Daddy's snack. 

Enoch and Daddy camped in our living room, which went well and was enjoyed by both parties.  

Some of our sweet neighbors gave us a slide... the girls both love it so so much!!

Karis has become quite the little "reader"

 Enoch was hoping that the garage door would be able to lift up his red car...

We've been playing with our Amazon boxes.

And Karis has been helping Hugh mow.  Yesterday, he carried her while pushing the mower, and she enjoyed every second.  

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FFF: My Summer Girls

Just a few pictures of my girls from this summer.  

Wearing a scarf that one of our sweet neighbors gave her

Chillin' on a different (but still sweet) neighbor's backyard bench

Riding in the bike trailer

Playing in the little splashpad

Trying on Karis' bike helmet

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Cow Appreciation Day 2016

This is our fourth year in a row now to put on our spots and eat some free chicken.  :)  We love Chick-Fil-A so much - the staff, the food, the play area, the local events and community partnerships.  Unfortunately though this year Hugh had to travel out of state on Cow Appreciation Day, so he wasn't able to come with us.  :(  We still had fun, and I tried to take a few pictures.

Enoch & Karis loved loved loved the huge cow out front

Alaythia wouldn't even look at it.  (She is actually saying "no" with her own made up sign language in this picture.)  She also didn't like the cows inside the building and would cry relentlessly when one of them walked up to us.  But as soon as the cow would turn away, she would yell "bye, bye, bye" real loud at it, just to be sure it knew that she was happy to see it leaving, I guess.  

Enoch's face

Karis' face

This is one that one of our Chick-Fil-A friends took of us altogether.  :)

Karis wanted to give a few more hugs to the huge cow on our way out

One last pose, just before naptime because "cow" girls in skirts are just too cute

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My Busy Worker (Boy) Bees

Hugh and Enoch have really gotten into quite the groove of working together well on Saturdays.  It is so cute to see my little guy learning alongside his Daddy, and they both really enjoy the time together!  Enoch has also just begun staying up during nap time on most days, which gives them even more time to conquer big projects (which I personally love!!).  For example, a few weeks ago, they tackled three things on Saturday:

the toilet...  it may not look like they did much, but they removed the whole thing, replaced some stuff under it because it was rocking; replaced the handle, which had broken and no longer flushed; and replaced the seat & lid because it had seen a few too many years of use.  From my perspective, it's like I have a totally new toilet for a fraction of the price!  (Hugh even cleaned it when he was done working on it.  ;)   

 They also mowed, weed-eated, and blew off the hard surfaces.  This was their first week allowing Enoch to help with the blower while Hugh operated the weed-eater.  He loved the extra responsibility and did a good job helping.

And then they tried out their newest gadget - a small chainsaw attachment that works with our weed-eater (kind of like a power pole saw).  It hooked up easily, and Hugh cut quite a few branches with it.  

testing it out on an old dead branch 

 Can you see him up there?  He cut back all of the branches that were touching our roof.  Enoch then helped him haul them off to the street.  :)

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FFF: An Interview with Enoch

I've been trying to take more videos lately so that I can remember some of the sweet things the kids say and do as well as to be able to listen to their little voices years from now.  This video was taken at dinner a few months ago, and it is a great example of how Enoch talks when he is in an amiable mood.  (Some of you are probably thinking that Enoch seems to always be in a good mood and is always smiling; however, this is certainly not true of any child, let alone our firstborn.  These days he generally has a few different modes: amiable, rebellious, complaining, and big-boy-helper.)

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Our Garden: Summer 2016

This was our garden back in April... 

 freshly planted tomato plants

front row of baby pepper plants, then a column of cabbage, swiss chard, kale, and radicchio

And this is our current garden... lots of growth since April!  

 these are our tomato plants (also pictured is my #1 tomato thief)

caught...  red-mouthed??

 these are my pole beans (left) and baby cucumbers (right), both are growing up a trellis on the back side of the tomatoes.

This is my other bed.  The front row of peppers and a back row of okra. 

 In the middle you can see my eggplant and swiss chard. 

Overall this year, we have had a lot of success with our tomatoes (Sweet 100 and Juliet and Husky Cherry Red) as well as with our swiss chard.  I'm hoping we'll begin harvesting some cukes in a week or two.  A few of my plants have suffered from not having enough fertilizer or organic matter in the soil.  I tried to remedy that mid-season by adding some of our compost, but I need to do a better job of adding it in before planting next year.  (I also had some zucchini planted earlier in the season, but a vine borer got them before I realized it.)

tomato thief caught again...  

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