Spring Break and Easter! April, 2011

Hello friends!  I am linking up this post with my friends at The Homeschool Mother's Journal and the Hip Homeschool Hop..  Please check out some other great blogs by clicking these links! 


In my life this week...
Well, I have not been blogging for about a week - because we have been having our Spring Break Vacation! Hip, hip, hooray!  We have family that live in South Florida and we have been having a wonderful visit with them this week. We had a long, cold winter in Indiana this year, so the sunny, warm Florida weather has been a treat! We have finally gotten to be OUTSIDE!

We reached the Southernmost point of the Continental U.S.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

Moms and daughters enjoyed a night out to Wicked

Our first weekend there, we packed up and all headed to Key West for the weekend.  We stayed at a beautiful, quiet resort while we were there and saw lots of sights.  We wrapped up our time in Key West with a day out on a catamaran boat and an "Island Adventure".  B got to briefly hold a kinkajou and go parasailing!  We also went snorkeling, riding on jet skis, kayaking, and B and I each had a short motorcycle ride with Uncle David. We also went to a Marlins baseball game, fishing out on the ocean, and my hubby went scuba diving with his brother.  One evening just the girls went out to see the musical, "Wicked", which happened to be showing locally this week.  It was great!  D and I even got in a couple of "date nights", thanks to the help of our teen nieces and nephews.  What fun!

This is how B felt AFTER parasailing!

J had fun with the camera that can go underwater

We caught some small Grunts and Groupers

B got to hold a Kinkajou at the Key West Toy Factory

My favorite thing this week was...

Even the "big" kids had fun coloring eggs

Although we have gotten to do a lot of really exciting activities, the thing that makes this trip so special is that we spent time with D's brother, sister-in-law, and their four children.  We love our family SO much! We only get to see them twice a year when they come to home and have to divide their time among the whole extended family.  This week we just got to be with them for the whole time!  We will have many great memories of this trip!

Cousins on a Florida sunset cruise

I was also so happy to get to come home for Easter!  We miss the family that we were with all week, but it was great to be with our church family and our family here on Easter.  I was able to direct the adult and children's choirs in "Easter Fantasia", a medley of traditional Easter songs, sing on the praise team, and join in Sunday School class.  We then picked up my grandmother and took her out to my mom's for the afternoon where we got to spend time with my sisters' families.  We didn't get to attend the annual church Easter egg hunt, but we heard that the weather was really stormy that afternoon and the event was very quick because of lightning.  So far our basement sump pumps are keeping things dry inside, but the river is still flooding less than a mile from our home.   Other people are having problems with the flooding, wind damage, and tornadoes that hit our area while we were on our trip. We are thankful that for now, our home is safe and sound.

Cousins on Easter Sunday

What's working/not working for us...

Well, we had to get back to work and school today and it's always a little rough, so I tried to do review and make some of the lessons easier.  I think that helped. {smile!}

I was so happy to find Bibles for the kids for Easter and got their names embossed on them!  B has especially been asking for one and today we cracked them open during our Bible lesson.  They both found the book and chapter that I was reading from and B read a section out loud.  I am thankful for God's Word and the love for it that is growing in the hearts of our children! This year both children accepted Jesus as their Savior, so this Easter was even more meaningful for them.

New Bibles on Easter Sunday

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

Only a few weeks of official "school" left for this year!  I am thinking about what to work on this summer and what fun activities or camps the kids would enjoy.

Have any of you used "Times Tales" to help your children remember the more difficult multiplication tables? They are stories and pictures to help students remember some of the upper multiplication facts that are more difficult to recall.  I found a free sample on their website that we started using today. If you sign up for their newsletter e-mail you can get the free sample, too.  We will see if it helps.  Click on this link to find out more about it:  http://www.triggermemorysystem.com/

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

The sunset from Key West, FL