Lest I Forget

It all came together quite nicely. Our camping trip that is. No one had rehearsals. Tony had Friday afternoon off. The heat that has been relentless finally abated for a few days. The nights would actually be cool! We chose Santee State Park because it was within an hour of us, and it looked like a lovely place to camp. We hope to visit all 47 state parks here in South Carolina to become "Ultimate Outsiders". We are just beginning, as Santee brought our total to 7. I thought we would be taking the interstate, but the GPS led us on the back country roads. The drive itself was beautiful. The cotton fields were dotted with white. Old farmhouses and barns were scattered between the fields. Dilapidated and abandoned buildings wooed me with their untold stories. I felt like the everyday worries were blown off us as we drove through the countryside toward the campground. We stayed two nights. For Friday, we had veggie stir fry with cashews.  I chopped up veg...

We use a little of this and that for our curriculum. The one we mostly use is Catholic Heritage Curricula. We supplement with Mater Amabilis and we use a different grammar book that works well for us, Voyages in English. CHC has a new reading/literature program for 4th grade that I am loving. The first book Therese is reading is Little House in the Big Woods. We have read this story many times, but now we are diving deeper, thinking about the characters and their actions, and putting it all together at the end into a report. But the part I like best is the midweek activities page. We can choose from several ideas. This week, we made breakfast for dinner and made pancake men like Ma. Of course bacon and sausage were added to the menu, along with some fruit. This is where Peter's science activity came in handy. He had to use a can of fruit to act as a fulcrum in trying to lift the couch with a broom. It was a success and we had one very dented can of pineapple to add to our d...

We have just finished our second week of school. We are slowly getting into the new routine. Anna and Jack are spending most of their non-school time at the children's theatre. They are in a production of Les Miserables, taking a theatrical tap class, and a Shakespeare class taught by a professor at USC. Thursday was the first Shakespeare class. To make things work out, we have go early and set up the computer for Anna to attend her online classes and then immediately head into the theatre. This was our trial run and I would say it was successful. The younger kids and I hung out in Barnes and Noble and did schoolwork, then played. Anna is also in a homeschool band once again and I am so glad we could make that happen. Some people are on a youth bowling league. And auditions for a play for Therese and Peter will be next week. I think we have enough extra curricular activities for now. The other day, I was scrolling through my photos, looking for a particular picture, when I noti...

The extremely hot temperatures were finally squelched by a series of thunderstorms that rolled through on Tuesday. Yesterday, the temperature of temperaments in this household was rapidly rising, so I herded the children into the van and headed to the zoo. Though some people may have taken longer to cool down than others, it was the perfect prescription for general moodiness. How can you not feel better seeing all the amazing animals? Although my great idea was copied my many others, it did not feel too crowded. I was able to get some nice photographs. At one point, half of my people did not wait for me and my camera, and it took quite some time to find them. I was only slightly freaking out. They were not freaked out at all. They were on the carousel. I have to get books ordered for school, but the weather is only going to be this lovely for a couple of days before the heat settles upon us again, as it is July in South Carolina. I feel the need to absorb every moment of lovely we...

for my friends who are not fond of snakes... *****WARNING***** THERE IS A PICTURE OF A SNAKE WITHIN THIS POST I was worried how I was going to keep the little people from constantly being on a screen now that school is out for the summer. Oh, they ask, and I say no, a lot. Reading earns time on the computer, so that is helping and also leads to quiet moments in the house. Then they began an outdoor project on their own which has kept them busy more than anything I could have dreamed up. It is called "The Treescapes" and is located under the giant magnolia tree in the yard. They have cleared out all the debris and have a nice dirt floor in there. A pulley system pulls back a branch for easy entry and exit from The Treescapes. While creating their clubhouse, they discovered a bird's nest with an egg in it. Now there are two and we hope to see baby birds. Whatever else is in there, I do not know, for they are working together, and that is all I need to know. Hummi...