Big Birthday Weekend!
It has been fun to see the excitement in Indianapolis all week! We lived there for more than 10 years and have been hearing all week about friends going to Indy to catch some Super Bowl action. I wish we could have made a trip up to see the festivities, but it did not work out. It was great to see how well Indy appeared to be hosting the Super Bowl for the first time!
This weekend marks my son's 11th birthday! He is such a boy, and yet I see more and more signs that he is becoming a young man. His birthday always brings back memories of my own hospital stay due to pre-eclampsia, his pre-mature birth, and a 10 day stay in the NICU. I wrote about his birth in this post last year. It is only by the grace of God my 4 lb. 8 oz. baby has become a big, strong, funny, caring, energetic boy who fills my home with lots of laughter! He has faced a variety of challenges, but he is sensitive and has a big heart! Just last week a friend was telling me how much she appreciated his kindness to the younger children in our homeschool group. I can honestly say that I would rather him be known for his kindness and having empathy, than for appearing to be the most successful student or athlete.
In our homeschool this week…
I focused on working with the kids' strengths in English and writing this week, instead of against them. Doing more of our memorization orally and working as a group was productive, instead of making them individually copy every single piece of information, every time. They did some copywork, but I have realized that they also benefit from oral drill in English grammar and we can get more practice done this way in a shorter amount of time. For writing, we are still working on our IEW Unit 6 Research project, so we continued to work as a group. I could tell that during this 2nd week of modeling the process to the kids, they were starting to have some "light bulb" moments and that is great too see!
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
We invited ten children to a birthday party and they had a blast! J wanted his whole group of guys from his all boy homeschool class and three other "old" friends to enjoy the festivities and they were all able to attend. We drove them over to our church gym and my hubby led some Dodge Ball games and obstacle courses, followed by free gym time. Later, we returned home and feasted on pizza and home made brownies and peanut butter icing! J has a great group of friends that have been a blessing to him this year. They were still talking about the party today!
Questions/thoughts I have…
I am asking again, who has some thoughts on what to see in Washington D.C. on a first visit? We have the opportunity to visit there and bring the kids this spring. We are getting excited, especially while our studies have been focused on American history this year! Does anyone have any tips or "must-sees"? Have you requested tours of federal buildings through your congressman?
I’m praying for…
I'm praying for a friend, Jessica, who was just hospitalized this week at 25 weeks gestation in her first pregnancy. Please pray with me that her blood pressure would be able to be controlled well enough that the baby could grow for a few more weeks! She is now out of the "emergency zone" and is on bedrest for as long as possible. Just a few more weeks would make a huge difference at this point! I am also praying for my husband because he works with Jessica's husband and is going to have to spend a lot of extra time in the coming weeks helping out.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
So, my son had his birthday, lost two teeth this week, and then we found out about this fun surprise tonight! He is one of ten kids whose photos were selected to be on the Columbus Indiana Children's Choir van! His choir director works for the Indianapolis Children's Choirs and she drives down from Indianapolis each week for rehearsal and uses this van to haul things back and forth. We were all excited and proud of him! As a vocalist, music teacher, and choir director, I was especially proud!
Happy Homeschooling,
Rachel
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