#4's 4th birthday

We've never really been big on birthday celebrations so #4's birthday was just a family affair.  She got to open gifts, watch Frozen, and choose where we ate dinner.  She chose Jason's Deli.  For the salad bar.  And she got an ice cream cake, although we didn't get any pictures of it because we had to wait until Sunday to get it for her.  She hasn't stopped playing with her news toys yet.  Always a plus! 

Hard to believe our munchkin is four, but we're not sad about it either!  She continues to love to cuddle and is starting to come up with the funniest things to say.  She is coming out of her shell a little bit around strangers, but she still isn't completely comfortable with new situations and new people.  She still wavers between wanting to "do school" like her big sisters and being happy having all the toys to herself while they are working.  I'm enjoying watching her come out of the toddler stage and enter into the little kids stage.

Field trip to the farm and the State Capital

I felt pretty awful all week last week, but we did manage to get school done every day and had a field trip to a farm and the older two went with Hubby to the state capital with TeenPact.

First the farm.  The directions we had to the place were perfect, but I drove past it the first time because it looked like someone's home, not necessarily a farm.  After confirming with a friend that it was indeed the place we went back.  We were the first ones there so when I approached the man in the yard I told him we were there for the field trip with Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers.  He looked at me like he didn't have a clue what I was talking about.  I think if I hadn't confirmed it with my friend that I was in the right place I would have assumed that I just drove up to a random house and told them I was there for a field trip.  I finally found someone who knew we were coming and decided we were in the right place.   After that bit of awkwardness we were good to go.

First we learned about different types of farms and why they are so important.

Then we got to see piglets that were about 4 weeks old.  They really do scream like little babies when they are upset.  Not pleasant, even when you know they aren't really in distress.

These guys were about 4 months old.  And they reminded us that piglets may be cute, but grown pigs really do stink.  A lot.

The girls got to bottle feed some baby animals

After looking at the animals we were taken to the horses.  All the girls got to ride at least once, and some of them rode twice.  I got to lead one of the horses.  In my tennis shoes.  Trust me when I say that people who work on farms wear boots for more than a fashion statement!

#1

#2

#4 with #1 walking along beside her

Me leading #3

After riding the horses we got to go on a hayride.  At one point the girls were given a sticker that said, "I met a farmer today."  After the hayride I told the man that we should have all gotten stickers that read, "I survived the hayride of 2014!"  The driver, who was probably at least in his 70s, drove like the tractor was a four wheeler.  And the rest of us hung on for dear life.  One of the other moms who had been at the farm for something else said that when they went on a night-time ride that he actually drove even faster.  I think it would have been fine if we had been prepared, but we hadn't placed the children quite securely enough to be completely comfortable.  But we all survived.  And the girls thought it was awesome.

The girls also got to pet and hold rabbits. 

We also had to settle an argument about whether this rooster was real or not.  I thought it was real.  I was wrong.

We ended the morning by eating lunch there with a few of the other families.  We really enjoyed our time and the time we got to spend with friends.  But I'm really looking forward to our trip to the strawberry farm in a week!

#1 and #2 also finally had their day at the state capital with Hubby.  They both really enjoyed it and Hubby thought it was an excellent learning experience for them as well.  I love the idea of getting our girls involved in their government, even as young as they are.  I also love that they have 4 day classes for older kids that count towards a civics credit in highschool! 

They just happen to be wearing the skirts that I made with the help of my friend.  Well, she completely made #2's and most of #1's, but I did finish #1's by myself.  And I think I could do it again.  Everyone was right, skirts are pretty easy to make. 

Our First Homeschool Camp

A Church of Christ Homeschool Camp.  We were initially very excited to find this camp.  But for whatever reason as time went on, Hubby and I started to have some reservations about the camp.  We were going in to an unknown and didn't know what to expect.  We decided about a week before we left that we needed to have a more positive attitude about going, but we still weren't super excited about it.  We were going for the kids and that was about it.

Boy were we wrong!  It didn't take more than a few hours at the camp to realize that not only were our kids going to have a great week, but we were going to be blessed as well.

First, everyone was unbelievably friendly.  I don't have a problem meeting new people, but it is helpful when you go in to a new place and every single person you see introduces themselves and has a genuine interest in meeting you.  There were a lot of people who knew each other from previous camps, but also a lot of new people.  We met a lot of people that we are going to enjoy staying in contact with, even though we don't live close to each other.

The facilities were fantastic.   Hubby did have to stay in a different cabin even though it was a family camp.  But we knew that going in.  However, the girls and I were able to stay in a cabin with our friends from Houston.  We were also very close to the bathroom.  That was a huge deal!  They did that for us since we had two little kids.  I'm going to beg each year to be that close to the bathroom.  It made my life a million times easier since I was completely in charge of bathroom/shower duty for all four girls.  And we had heat/ac in the cabins as well.  Good thing since the first night got down to freezing!

The only picture I took all week!

The teenagers who were there were exactly the role models we want for our girls.  I am fully aware that no child is perfect, but Hubby and I were extremely impressed with the older kids who were at this camp.  We sat behind a couple rows of them in the worship services and they were actively engaged in singing, praying, and taking notes during the lessons.  Hubby overheard a couple of girls saying that even though they hadn't actually studied for the Bible Bowl activities that they might as well do it since they were there.  These are the kind of girls that we want our girls to look up to.  And eventually these are the young men we want our daughters to look to for future mates.  It was refreshing to be reminded that all hope is not lost for the future generations!

There was a time for the moms to get together to encourage one another.  Not only was I encouraged talking to other homeschool Moms, I found out some great resources for our school.  I love talking with other homeschool Moms.  They have a wealth of information just waiting to be tapped.  Hopefully I was also able to encourage and help some of the other Moms as well.

The worship.  I know this idea is foreign to people who aren't a part of the Church of Christ, and even a lot of people who grew up in the church disagree with me, but acapella music is awesome.  Give me 200 Christians sitting shoulder to shoulder singing with just their voices instead of having a praise band.  Every.  Time.  I got chills the first time we sang together.  I had pretty much lost my voice by the end of the camp, but it didn't matter because you couldn't really hear yourself singing anyway.  They recorded the singing this year and we are really looking forward to getting the CD.  Listening to it will help remind us of how awesome the worship was.

All of those things were definite pluses of the camp.  But if I had to choose what the best thing about the camp was, I would say that it was being able to be completely open with everyone who was there.  Because when you homeschool, and you're the only one who homeschools in your congregation, you have to be on guard to make sure that you don't offend those who don't homeschool.  I am in no way ashamed that we homeschool, but there are a lot of people that when I say, "We homeschool" they hear, "We homeschool and think that the public schools are evil and that if your children attend public school we think you are terrible parents."  Hubby and I don't feel that way.  We don't judge people for the decisions they make for their children.  But when we walk in to a new congregation who doesn't know us, they don't know that about us.  And honestly, most of them don't bother to find out more about why we homeschool so they continue with their pre-conceived ideas about us and our thoughts on homeschooling.  Which means that we have to watch what we say about homeschooling so that we don't offend anyone.

On the flip side, when we are with people in our homeschool group, I don't talk about church stuff.  We're a part of the homeschool groups for social reasons, not to talk religion.  So when we're with other homeschoolers we have to be on guard about not saying something that might cause conflict with others. 

At the camp we were there with other Church of Christ homeschoolers.  Our two worlds were finally combined and we didn't have to think about everything we said.  No one was judging us for homeschooling and no one was judging us for our religious beliefs.  We could be completely open with everyone we talked to without fear of offending them.  That was more freeing than I ever thought it would be.

We are definitely making plans to go back next year and as many years as we possibly can.  I can already tell this is going to be our new camp to look forward to every year. 

Weekly Wrap-Up: A Better Week and a Little Reality

So this week was better by far.  I'm still ready for a break, but we all made it through without tears.  And as it turns out, next week we are going to a homeschool camp up in  Oklahoma.  I'm trying to have a good attitude about the camp.  We were really excited about it at first, but a couple of things have happened that have made Hubby and I wonder if we're going to enjoy ourselves as much as we thought.  But as I was complaining about it yesterday Hubby told me that he was trying to have a better attitude about it since he was taking a week's worth of vacation to go.  He said that he felt like he needed to at least give it a try before deciding it was going to be bad.  Which of course made me realize that I needed to change my attitude as well.  Did y'all notice how he did that?  Told me that he was needing to change his attitude which also gently pointed out to me that I needed to change my attitude as well without coming right out and saying it.  He's one smart cookie, that husband of mine.  Of course, I knew exactly what he was doing because I am also a smart cookie, but since he did it correctly I was able to listen and follow his example instead of becoming hard headed and getting in an even more foul mood. 

This week was mostly school as usual for us.  #1 and #2 did write letters to our state senator and representative as part of their homework for TeenPact.  They were very impressed with the fact that they could so easily contact their representatives and to learn that their representatives are supposed to listen to them about different issues that come up.  Which is exactly what we want them to learn through these classes.  How government works and how they can make an impact in our government.  Hubby is actually going with them for their class.  Government is his passion and I think he'll enjoy the day as much as the girls.  Once we get back home they also are going to write a bill that is going to be presented to the class.  I passed that work off to Hubby right away.  I don't want/
need any extra work to do with the girls!

I'm learning something with #3.  With her math, I teach her a new concept on Monday and then the rest of the week she works on the worksheets that review the new concept as well as review previous concepts.  With #1 and #2, when they were in 1st grade I was still able to sit next to them as they did each worksheet and make sure they were doing every problem correct.  I'm not able to do that with #3.  When she is working on her math I'm working with one of the others girls on something else.  Usually I don't even pay much attention to whether or not she is using the blocks to help her.  She knows that she is allowed to answer the problems without using blocks if she understands how to do it.  The thing is, she is getting everything right.  I know when I'm teaching the new concept when she has gotten it.  Once she has I can literally let her go and work on her own and she can do it by herself.  She still occasionally asks for help, usually on word problems, but for the most part, she figures them out on her own.  This year with #1 and #2 it was a big deal to put so much independent work on their own shoulders.  But I'm learning that even as young as 1st grade they can be left alone to do independent work.  That's a nice revelation.  It makes a difference in the way I look at school work.  That I don't have to sit next to them for every little thing making sure everything is perfect as they go along.  I can give them some independence, when it's feasible, and trust them to get it right.  Or at least trust myself to know when they are getting something and when they need my help.  It's a nice thought when I look forward a couple of years to schooling 4 kids.

But I don't have to worry about that right now!  School is done for the week so I just have to focus on getting packed, spending some time with family and spending a week with a bunch of other weird homeschoolers!  Looking forward to the break!

P.S.  Remember my post a couple of weeks ago about being real with each other?  This was my kitchen one night last week.  It took three loads in the dishwasher to get it all cleared away.  And no, I did not wash anything by hand to get it done quicker and no, I did not help the girls with their chores of loading and unloading the dishwasher.  I left everything there until someone else took care of it.  And I am not ashamed!  :)