Joni has been in for a visit! Oh how we love when she is here.
Here are some photos she snagged of life around the farm during her time here.
Our geese have created three nests right next to each other. We can't get an exact count because they don't get off their nest now, but there are at least 30 eggs beneath them! Yikes. That's a lot of geese. We set them up in a more "permanent" paddock while they are nesting. (We are using the pool to help them get some extra shade since the place they picked has no coverage.)
The Daddy goose keeps an eye out for trouble. There is one other girl who didn't nest. She just hangs out with him.
This tree is actually on the property bordering our's.
When you collect 99 eggs in one day, you need a BIG bucket! (We've had to actually switch to two buckets to prevent cracking due to the weight of so many eggs!)
Ritter has not proven himself off leash yet. Arabelle has the run of the farm, but when we are near animals, Ritter goes on leash!
That is our new mud room! And now we have stairs to get to it! (Don't worry -- the mortar will dry considerably lighter.) We are LOVING every bit of our house. Word on the street is NEXT FRIDAY the upstairs will be done and these little kiddos can move OUT OF OUR BEDROOM! Stay tuned!!
We had our third annual piano recital. I compiled a post showing videos from each year the kids participated. (Abigail started a year later than the boys.) Here you go. It's so crazy to watch the kids grow (physically and in their piano!) We've also been so honored to have Joni here with every single year. Abigail in 2017:
Abigail in 2018:
Sidge 2016:
Sidge 2017:
Sidge 2018:
Isaac 2016:
Isaac 2017:
Isaac 2018 (includes two songs -- his and his duet with Grama Joni):
We've had some fun at our homeschool co-op this last week.
First up, Sidge took an "Inventions & Inventioneers" class. It is a 4th-7th grade class so Sidge was taking it a year too young. (You can do this at you and the teacher's discretion.)
Each student had to "invent" something and create a board presenting their invention. Sidge came up with "The Farmer's Hose Clip." I really think it was a GREAT idea, and we actually are going to use it on the farm.
Sidge ended up winning second place in the competition! The two first place winners tied and were just ONE point ahead of Sidge in the finishing. We were so proud of all his hard work.
Here is a blow-up of one section of his board followed by some of the pictures we used as he prepared for the project:
Next up? Isaac participated in a The First Annual Heritage Home Scholars Talent Show. They hope to make this a yearly event. I did not push the kids to participate. Isaac wanted to play piano, and he did a great job. He got some fantastic feedback from one of the judges who was a professional piano player too. The piano was pretty out of tune and hard to play, but he still did a fantastic job presenting his talent. Here's a quick photo we got of him at the show:
All right ... but the adventures didn't stop there. The boys each presented a "Board" on a specific area of Asia for the Geography class they are taking in co-op. Isaac did Japan:
Sidge did Lake Baikal (a very famous lake in Russia). His board featured a picture and comment from our former Turkish wwoofer, Duygu, who had actually been to the lake! Thanks for participating Duygu!
A quick note -- this lake is over 5,000 feet deep but the sediment below that is over 20,000 feet deep! Incredible!
But the fun goes on! Yesterday was the Annual Geography Bee. This is the third time we have had a boy in the Bee! Here is a post from the first Geography Bee that Isaac did when he was just in 1st grade. But here is a Blog post from the second year that both boys participated when they were in second grade. That year, Sidge finished fourth and Isaac finished second.
A picture of all 16 participants. (There's Isaac and Sidge who randomly pulled numbers right next to each other on the far right.)
Isaac ended up finishing fourth in the Bee. That left Sidge with two middle schoolers.
And then the kid in the green shirt went down leaving just Sidge and one other young man, Aiden.
Aiden ended up winning the Bee. But Sidge finished second. Being much younger (and smaller) than the two other finishers, he was VERY proud of his accomplishments.
So much fun (but SO nerve-wracking!)
But it wasn't just the kids who had opportunities this past week.
John spoke to our Nature Time class about mushrooms! (Ignore the yawning student and Abigail chattering with her friend Morgan -- lol!) He also spoke to the "Health and Safety" class but I didn't get any pics/videos of that.
John showing some of his artwork in the discussion.
A video of JB's talk.
It's been a very full week here in our life. Tonight we actually had our piano recital and Grama Joni was here for it! I'll try to Blog on that tomorrow!!!
I'm very excited to introduce a new "sponsor" to my Blog! To be honest, this hasn't been an incredibly big part of our Because of Isaac fundraising but I really hope it can be! Basically the companies on my SPONSOR link have agreed to donate a portion of their sales to BOI if you mention them when checking out.
I'm introducing a new one today. This is my friend Angelica. She is now working with a group called NOONDAY. Firstly, some images, and then a word from Angelica!
NOONDAY is a christian company with a heart for the poor. This jewelry based business partness with women in underprivileged communities in 14 different countries around the world providing them of a steady income.
The jewelry is not only beautiful, it's also handmade with much, much love.
Noonday is also a big supporter of adoption . The company will donate 10% of the benefit of the party to adoptive parents.
As an Noonday ambassador and adoptive mother myself, I will donate an extra 20% of the benefits of the party to BECAUSE OF ISAAC when you book and online party with me! That is a total of 30% profits for adoption! You can contact me at: danandangelica@gmail.com.
This digital product is designed for kids in grades 3-8 and it walks hand-in-hand with the Fall 2017 issue of Creation Illustrated.
Because my boys were on the younger side of the spectrum, there were some parts of this Unit Study that were a little too challenging for them to do. However, it was very easy to amend the study and make it work for my kids. Therefore, I really agree that this study is set to the correct age. Kids anywhere from elementary to middle school could use this packet as a great resource and unit study. You could simply make things a little simpler (easily!) if your kids were on the younger end.
That is one of the things that I LOVE about this type of homeschool curriculum. If you had kids anywhere from kindergarten through high school, you could study the same thing and just do different activities surrounding it. This is always wonderful for a family with many children spread across a wide spectrum.
For example, my kindergarten daughter jumped in on one assignment that required the kids to draw a pine tree. She loves art so she happily got involved.
And an example of how I amended one of the assignments that was a little too difficult? One of the sections had some questions that were too difficult for my boys to do. The resources were there to find the answers, but they just didn't have the maturity to find the answers.
So instead, I printed out the answer key and had them use the answer key and write the answers in the blank. It worked out perfectly! They got to read the question, read the answer, and work on their handwriting at the same time.
Here are a few photos I took of us working on the PINE TREESunit:
Page 2 of the Unit Study includes two sections: (1) Reading and Educational Resources on Pine Trees (2) Education videos on Pine Trees; all of these materials have a link provided so you can jump right to it online. I love stuff that makes getting there easy. There were no books to get from the library or videos to check out. Everything was linked and ready to go. In fact, if they linked to past editions of their magazine, that link was there too!
There were many pages that were totally age appropriate for my kids -- including this one on drawing a pine tree. As I mentioned above, on many of the pages, my six-year-old, Abigail, jumped in as well and wanted to participate in the unit with "the brothers."
Here is a sample of the section that I amended. The questions were a bit too challenging, so I printed out the key and let them follow along and write the answers down from the key.
These units are priced SO affordably. They are just $6.95! This is totally worth one unit of study and a very reasonable purchase for homeschool families to make.
*****The other Unit Study that we were given access to was this one: SNOWwhich was from the Winter 2018 Edition of Creation Illustrated. In addition, I strongly encourage you to check out the current issue online:Spring 2018.
Mr. Billylives right down the road from us with his wife, Gay. Across the street from Billy and Gay live two of Gay's sisters: her twin sister Fay and their other sister, Robbie. Robbie had a daughter, Kim, who lost her eight year battle two cancer just a year after we moved in. These four senior citizens take such good care of us and truly are our country family. They attend church with Dad and Mom and we call upon each other often for help. We are blessed that our family was able to help them this past week.
On Thursday, the three older kids had a quick piano practice at their teacher's studio. This Tuesday is our recital, and Ms. Leslie wanted them to practice on her digital keyboard since it feels quite different than a piano. (Each of the kiddos is playing one song. Isaac is also playing a duet with me and his Grama Joni.)
Afterwards, JB and I had to drive about an hour away to check out some granite countertops. Our friends Nik and Erin offered to let the girls play at their house for the day. Grama volunteered to drive up to town and pick up the boys so that JB and I could actually a bit of a date!
We said a very enthusiastic YES PLEASE!
Mom picked up the boys and headed back home. She had the boys, and is always the case, she had Isaac's "breathing bag" with her as well. This bag includes a bunch of medicines for his allergy and asthma, and it includes two epi pens as well. (By the way, I wrote this post about the ridiculous price-gouging of epic-pens back in 2016. I am pleased to say that there is now a generic, and you can buy these pens without insurance for closer to $100 instead of the $600 it was previously costing people.)
We never take Isaac anywhere without his "breathing bag" unless it is just a major oversight on our end. In fact, now that I don't have a diaper bag anymore, Isaac usually grabs his breathing bag himself. You don't want to leave it in a vehicle because it can get too hot so we diligently bring it in and out of the house every time we go somewhere. We very rarely need to use it. But we always have it.
Isaac himself hasn't had to use an epic-pen since back in 2014 when we were preparing to leave the Azores. But we continue to carry them for any "just-in-case" reason.
As mom turned the corner to head to her house, Mr. Billy's wife and sister-in-law saw her and stopped her vehicle on the road desperately asking if JB happened to be at home. Billy had been stung by a bee or wasp (I'm not exactly sure what it was) while out working on the farm and was not doing well at all.
(This had happened a few months earlier and JB had been home to administer a pen to Billy. They were not aware this was a major allergy issue and thought it may have been a freak occurrence. But obviously, with the second episode, major precautions have to take place.)
JB was on a date with me, but Mom called him and John immediately talked her through administering 1, 2 and even a 3rd epi pen that mom stores at her own house to Billy. Mom was a rock star, and Billy went from doing very badly (throwing up, trouble breathing, hives) to doing totally fine. (Mom is amazing in high-pressure situations! I'd want her on my team any day!)
The next day, Billy went to his doctor, and the doctor said, "You do realize that you met Jesus yesterday, don't you?"
Billy joked that while he didn't actually see Jesus, but he did see Mary walking up to him With Isaac's bag of modern medicine miracles hanging from her arm.
Isaac said that while he didn't like seeing Mr. Billy struggling, it was comforting to know he wasn't alone in this world of anaphylaxis and allergies. We also told Isaac that had he not had an allergy, Mom wouldn't have been carrying those medicines and Billy's doctor thinks he very well may have died before he got a half hour to a hospital or an ambulance got all the way out to him.
I told Isaac that the Bible says God uses all things for the good of those who love Him. On Thursday, God used one of the most frustrating parts of Isaac's life to save the life of someone we love very dearly -- our Mr. Billy.
I don't believe in coincidences. I believe in God leading Mom to be on that road with my Isaac in the car at that exact moment.
