Friday, September 10, 2010

Update time!

Well, I certainly didn't intend to let so much time go by between posts (again)!! Somehow, we are already into September and well on our way to fall weather. We just finished our first week of homeschooling. It went really well! I was so encouraged to see Sam doing better with reading. In spite of my big plans to have him keep up with his reading lessons through the summer, we didn't . . . and I was afraid he might have forgotten a lot. Although he definitely needs review of some things, he had remembered MUCH more than I expected, so I was very happy about that! And, reading is no longer his most dreaded subject . . . Writing with Ease is! (Mostly the copywork part, though he's not a fan of narration either. :)) I have a feeling he will do fine with both things, though, once he gets used to them. We had a nice week that was light on work, with quite a bit of review, helping to ease us into school. Our main read-aloud for this week was The Boxcar Children. What better story to start with, for a boy who loves anything to do with a train? :) Both Sam and Julia have been completely engrossed in this book. In fact, we have read way beyond what was scheduled . . . they are constantly begging me for "just one more chapter, Mommy!" Well, how can I refuse that? :) I checked out another book in the series from our library so they can hear more of the Alden kids' adventures. Sadly, our library only has a few in the series, but hopefully we can buy more sometime. I am loving our schedule of doing school 4 days/week, too. Friday will probably usually count as a school day too, though, as we catch up on anything that didn't get done during the rest of the week (today it was a handwriting page) and incorporate extra stuff such as art, craft projects, and nature study. I'm hoping to make time for nature study, in particular, every Friday. I just purchased this e-book for autumn nature study, and I'll let you know how I like it. This lady also has TONS of free nature stuff available on her blog . . . I just chose to purchase the book this time, because I would rather not have to visit the blog every week and print stuff off (just loading the pages takes quite a while with our slow connection!).

Last week, we headed to the beach with friends for the last time this summer. By last weekend the weather had cooled off and we have already cranked up the woodstove a couple times! Jim has been splitting lots of firewood and today the kids and I stacked a bunch of it. I'm thankful that we'll be able to heat the house very inexpensively this winter. :)

Next weekend I'll be going to a ladies' retreat at The Wilds of New England. Beth Lynch is the speaker. I'm really looking forward to that . . . she's one of my favorite speakers ever!! And this will be my first time ever at an overnight ladies' retreat, too. It will be weird to be away from Jim and the kids overnight! I'm excited for the opportunity to have a refreshing weekend away, though. Hopefully I will come away with some fresh vision and renewed vigor for the task of being a wife and mom, and most importantly, a deeper love for God!

I have so many more things to write about, but this will have to do for now. Hopefully I'll get some more posts up soon! In the meantime, hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

How exciting that your first week went so well! I'm ansy to read the boxcar children but we're currently in the midst of charlotte's web. I've been thoroughly enjoying homeschooling too though I need to add more into our routine in the coming weeks. I'm guessing that will be easy once the weather gets cooler and we're stuck inside more.

Thanks for the nature blog link, I'm doing all unit studies this year so I will DEFINITELY check that out!

Enjoy the retreat!

Mary Ann said...

So good to hear from you & get an update on your activities. Homeschool sounds like it is off to a roaring start! I'm sure this year will be easier & better.
The ladies' retreat sounds wonderful! I'm super spoiled b/c there is one nearby every fall. I only have to travel one hour & one of my best friends is on staff at the camp. Super good times! You will have to tell us all about what you learn :-)

Mrs. Doug said...

Hey Carrie,
Interlibrary loan probably could get you any book you would like to read.

Check it out.

Glad to hear you're doing so well with homeschool. I'm also looking forward to this weekend.

See ya there.

mindee said...

We went through a "Boxcar Children" streak, too, about that age. They are great books! FYI, the church library has tons of them. :)

Anonymous said...

Update time again :) -Joey

Carrie said...

Hi Joey! I know, it is DEFINITELY update time again!!! :) Hopefully tonight or tomorrow! I have LOTS to update about!!