Random post

I don't know why I took a photo of all of G's Chucks......I'm a little sad, she has just outgrown them.....I love Chucks so much, and I know these are going to a good home, but it just represents her growing up more and more to me......I am on the hunt for a low top black pair AND a low top brown pair to "ease the pain" :)
Today was really good with homeschooling.....we started the day off with the Wii fit....G thought it would be fun to wear her scooter helmet while she worked out! hee hee.....

Today in health, we were learning about the parts of the eye.....as I was explaining that there were "many parts of the eye that we could not see but were very important", G grabbed her pointer, jumped up and began to show me the parts of the eye behind the eyeball that we see! This learning thing is FOR SURE a 2 way street!

Arts for Life is going well on Thursdays! We have switched things up a bit....Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we will "typically" work in the studio on mostly "book work". Thursdays are for enrichment and then Fridays are days for "creative learning".....crafts, projects, field trips, etc. Some days will be switched around, thank goodness for the flexibility of homeschool!

My confidence is building, as well as learning to just relax a little bit......Gracie is doing well, retaining information and growing. I'm thankful each day to my Lord for this chance to work with our child in all aspects of her sweet little life!

how busy we have been!!!!!

somehow the past 2 weeks we have squeezed in some school work! Now, it hasn't been in the "classroom" at the desk and chalkboard so much, but that is part of the joy of homeschooling....we can be mobile when we need to be!

Last Friday afternoon we picked up Briley and headed to Build-a-Bear.....the girls really enjoyed the time together (they started kindergarten together and also were in first grade together) Rhett met us at the mall and after raiding the bulk candy store, we headed to Logan's...

(oh...by the way, this was to celebrate the 7th birthday!!!!....and Rhett's 38th)

The day after this fun evening out we had practice for Sunday's halftime show where Gracie was a mini T-Rac!

The past 2 weeks have been very, very busy with taking care of things at Nanna and Poppa's house while they were in Hawaii, picking them up from the airport, Daddy's birthday, G's birthday and then the Titans stuff.....this week we are recuperating and getting thank you notes finished (a post on that later) and trying to get back into a routine.....

Next week.......back to the schoolhouse across the breezeway......
I'm ready for some structure!

NOT G's cup of Tea!!!!

I don't know what it is about Halloween that I personally enjoy. I believe it's the time of year.....bonfires, hayrides, hot dogs and s'mores....
masks? not so much.

Well, G is getting to an age where she has firm opinions on some things....she thinks in a more complex manner and yesterday she and I had a long talk about Halloween.

She has never been "crazy" about it. Masks and wigs make her head "hot". She isn't a big candy eater. It's just not her cup of tea.

She sometimes has nightmares about vampires. This, (which I attribute to the Twilight phenomenon) along with Halloween stuff on sale everywhere has it on her mind. Now, she is not a scaredy-cat. She simply does.not.like.Halloween.

I respect her feelings......we talk about the fact that it isn't "real", it's all for "fun", but she stands firm. There you go. No argument from me :)

So, if you are lookin' for little G to come trick-or-treating......it ain't gonna happen......
We are just going to celebrate Autumn....or Fall.....either way, no candy or masks for us.

This isn't a bad thing ;)

A day of FIRSTS....

FIRST time Gigi put in her own "pigtails".....

to take our FIRST trip to The Learning Circle. The Learning Circle.....so glad it isn't *too* close to us or I would be contemplating taking out a personal line of credit in order to pay for something that could easily become an addiction! It's a homeschooler/teacher's dream! Gigi and I were both oooh-ing and ahh-ing all over the place!

Our FIRST time using a spring-form pan and baking a cheesecake! These photos REALLY do not do this tie dyed cake justice! It was oh-so-fun to make too! The crust is a red velvet cake...we made this for Daddy's birthday (which is tomorrow, but we won't have time tomorrow afternoon to make it. The best part?! ITS as YUMMY as it is FESTIVE!

Make a wish, Daddy......we love you!

off to the library we go!

Gracie applying for her own library card


outside the library with books (of course) and the new card! Yipee!

Gracie was excited that we took a field trip to the Nolensville Library today! I'm ashamed to say this is her first library card....we always go to the bookstore, and there is no need when you are just looking for basic reading material! It's funny how a place can evoke feelings from years ago....as I was looking at the books, I started reminiscing about all the hours I logged at the libraries in college.....and high school.....and elementary school, too! Love the library!

First day at ArTs FoR LiFe!!!!!

G was bee-boppin' today to go to her enrichment program, Arts for Life, that started today. I believe I have already posted about what all they do, but each Thursday from 9-2:30 they have Music, Art, Science, Drama & World Cultures......this is an incredible program. When we took the leap to homeschool, I prayed to God for some sort of enrichment program to come along and within ONE DAY, I found out about AFL. I didn't even seek it, it showed up in my email inbox!
Here is G with the owner of AFL, Ms. Karen. She is the Science teacher & has been in the education field for over 25 years. We are excited to start this new relationship with Ms. Karen and the rest of the staff (photos will be taken soon!) at AFL!

Ms. Karen took a photo of the two of us also!

A cheshire cat grin after school......

G was bouncing off the walls, telling me about her first day and how she has made a wonderful friend, Molly. She said it was amazing that she found someone that she had so much in common with! I'm so happy that Gracie has these 4 instructors and 8 other classmates.....it's a great teacher student ratio. Looking forward to a fun year......

possible extracurricular activitie(s)

Rhythmic Gymnastics


Irish Step Dancing

Now that we are starting to get the swing of homeschooling and G's enrichment day starts this week, we are exploring the extracurricular activities G might like to try! It is my wish that we could do BOTH activites, but I doubt we can make that happen right now. We will just have to see.....I'm hoping she won't be torn on which one she prefers!

It's a wonderful thing that we are going to be able to take a free trial class on each activity. The gymnastics class would be on Fridays at 5pm in Cool Springs. The Irish step dance would be on Wednesdays at 4:30pm....the instructor rents studio time from Elite in Nolensville, so that would be convenient! The step class also caters somewhat to homeschool students.

So, hopefully by October 1 we will be ready to add at least one of these activities to our agenda!

Labor day fun.....

G decided that Daddy needed make-up and a (pink) manicure!
Isn't he a beauty?
Such a good Daddy.....lots of fun and a good sport.
G reminded me today: "be sure and put those pictures on facebook AND the blog!"
hee hee hee.....

family fun day

started our day off with a yummy breakfast at Puckett's grocery off the square in Franklin. G is enjoying her chocolate milk from Hatcher's dairy farm. I went to high school with Jim Hatcher, one of the owners. I'm glad their business is doing so well!
After some shopping, we decided to go see "G-Force" in 3D. G got a bag of popcorn that was almost as big as she is!!!! Such a cute movie!

There is always time for a jump session on the trampoline after a play day....G has started doing front and back handsprings on the trampoline, plus cheerleading jumps like this one!

All in all, a nice day with my 2 best buddies! :)

Fun Friday!

Friday is PJ day and "mix up the order of lessons" day too! G gets a real kick out of this and enjoys picking which subject she wants to start with, etc. Here she is saying the pledge to the flag.........
Pledge to the Bible (this was one of my Pappy's Bibles :)

And saying a prayer for us to have a good day and learn a lot. I felt guilty taking this and not focusing on her prayer....she is so used to the camera sounds, she didn't stop for one second in her prayers......so very, very sweet!

Daddy came home with a large white board that I believe Poppa got a long time ago from a office supply auction/sale. I use it occasionally in class, but today G was excited to get to answer some questions on the board......

We got a call from Toodles saying that G's lunch purse was monogrammed and ready to pick up! You can't really tell by the photo, but it says "GiGi" in hot pink on light pink and brown. She was very excited about this! It's insulated and very well made....I think it will be around for awhile!

We finished our first unit in Bible on Biblical Obedience. We will start a new unit on Tuesday....I believe the next topic is going to be Biblical Compassion.
Homeschooling is so very rewarding for both of us. It's a blessing and a challenge and pure joy! I thank God for the ability to experience this type of education, and I thank Rhett for working so hard to help make it happen!!!!

(3 out of 4) Grandparent's Day

We know it isn't really "Grandparent's Day", but G saw 3 of the 4 today! Pa Pa is the only one who "missed out"! ha ha! The day started with Poppa and Nanna being "chauffeured" (by me!) to the airport for their extended visit to Hawaii! The little devils! (no, truly, they DESERVE some R&R in paradise!) Nanna started packing 3-4 days ago, so I know she was excited!
After the airport, we needed to go to Murfreesboro to pick up some items from my friend Jill. So, while in the neighborhood, we stopped by MNE to visit Ma Jo! The phones, students and teachers "left her alone" long enough for us to snap a photo! hee hee....she is a busy gal at work! Ma Jo gave us some lunch money, which we GREATLY appreciated!

Starting next Thursday, G's enrichment program will start. She is really going to enjoy the class, she spent some time yesterday decorating her class notebook (they were sent home with the parents Tuesday night so they could be snazzy for the first day of school!) Hers is fancy, of course! :) We stopped at Toodles and "ordered" a personalized lunchbox, since she will be taking lunch each day and won't have a back pack. Ma Jo, G's lunch "purse" is fancy like yours!!!! We will take a photo with it before she enters Arts for Life next week (of course!!!!)

Not sure if I mentioned this or not, but I will be putting together a yearbook of sorts for Arts for Life. This will be easy-peasy for me, since I will be snapping away with the camera anyway! This can be my "room mother" type of contribution to the group! I'm sure those kiddos will be sick of me and my camera by Christmas!!! hee hee....but I hope the book will be a happy memory keeper for them for years and years to come......!

Tomorrow we will do most of our normal studies, but will also include some "holiday history"....explaining WHY we will have a free day on Monday! This is something I think I should have learned when I was in school.....we never really cared WHY we had a day off, we just wanted the day off! Speaking of, we hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday.....

lessons outdoors: Dolittle style!

Our breezeway makes for a wonderful place to study when the weather is like this! We just drag the table and chairs from my childhood out and use "paperweights" of all kinds to hold stuff down! Here is G, working on Bible lapbooking....


G enjoys sitting on this turtle stool.....it belonged to her Great Uncle Ronald :) We had a short visit today from Pa Pa and made sure he saw the seating arrangements :)

We are learning to deal with "daily life distractions" as we incorporate them into our school day.....I hung the sheets on the line outside & had a little helper....we considered this a "play break" from lessons....although, things like this can be a lesson too!

we were outdoors, but Ike and Tina had other ideas.....

Sadie wants to help G with math problems.....

I forgot to add the one of Clyde, on his back and smiling, as G scratched his belly. Must add that one to the next post, it's a cutie!

We keep having the challenge of work being too easy for G. I'm not surprised,but not sure what to do....it's 2nd grade work, but she already knows most of it! I don't want to skip her and have her get frustrated, so these first few weeks/months may be a bit more review than normal. I'm praying for doors to open to different curriculum for Language Arts, if need be. If that is the case, I'm sure God will lead the way. He always does!