our new project

One of my favorite Christmas gifts is a book Jonathan gave me.

Waterfall Hikes of Upstate South Carolina by Thomas E. King. We have ventured to several waterfalls around the area but this book is incredible. It has everything that I need to best decide on our next adventure. Each falls has:

• a picture of the falls
• length of hike to falls
• driving directions
• a brief description of the falls
• and difficulty of trail

There are several other details included like a rating for the fall and a desciption of the location that make this book so helpful. One of the best details is a regional grouping of the falls. The falls are grouped together by proximity so you can visit more than one if you have the time. All falls are located in Oconee, Pickens and Greenville Counties so it's fits us perfectly.

My new project, along with one of my buddies (and anyone who wants to join us), is to explore as many of these falls as possible. I'm so looking forward to our first trek...if I can decide on just one!

oh Santa

Tonight the girls are having a sleep over with their Saysa and Uncle Jim. They have been taking them to Darwin Wright Park to see Santa at Christmas time. I need inside info on what Santa is going to bring so there are no duplicates ;)

Ballet..ballet...ballet..

My little ballarinas had their performance last night and they were just brilliant!!

Emily and her buddy Emma.

The girls were so excited about their performance and Emily was feeling a little 80's with the way she wanted to wear her head band. She is so funny. She worked so hard but every time she looked at me she got a little distracted. She was too busy smiling...such a happy little girl.

They were so cute dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Lauren was intense as always. She was busy watching the older girls practice and trying to remember her steps. She was so concerned with messing up.

In the end she was happy with her performance. She did remember her mistakes of course but wasn't too hard on herself this time. She performed the Chinese dance from the Nutcracker.

Thomas thoroughly enjoys the dancing. He always wants to walk in the middle of them and help out. We made sure he had his buddies with him...Mr. Skidsteer and Mr. Tractor.

We ended the night with Gamma, Papa, Papa Mac and Granny Mac at Joe's Restaurant for ice cream, of course!

Ashtabula, Pendleton, South Carolina

One of my favorite things about homeschooling my kids is this:

The time we get to share together is priceless and I love how the kids love each other. Yes, they do argue and hit and... but the majority of the time is living, playing and learning together in complete harmony. No, rarely in complete harmony, but I must admit they do get along very well and I am proud of that.

(oh, and yes that is laundry on the back of the couch...I try to stay humble)

Anyway, we were able to learn together today thanks to my wonderful mom-in-law. She took us to Ashtabula, in Pendleton.

They have tours going on right now throughout December and it was a different experience. Each room is set in different time periods of the homes existence. For example, our first room was set around 1800 during the time of the house's initial construction.

Mrs. Gibbes is being visited by her sister from Charleston. They put on a 5+ minute skit. Each room has people relevant to the house performing a short skit in period clothing. It was a great experience and the girls loved it...I loved it!!

Each place along the tour was a new revelation of the time and the people. It really made it come alive.

 

It was a great day to spend together. And one of my and my mom-in-law's favorite things about visiting historical sites are THE BOOKS! You can always find a unique book or two that is more specific about the area than other book stores. We found two keepers that I highly recommend:

Did you know that the Swamp Fox could not swim!!! Just one of the interesting things I've already learned. Jonathan liked the maps in the book. They did a good job of illustrating the vast area that he fought. The man got around!

The other find was one that my girls really liked. They love studying other girls and women in history and this one is perfect:

In summary it was a wonderful day to spend together and learn about our history in South Carolina. I hope my little ones never loose that love for learning something new.

Season for Change

So I've been inspired to make a few changes to our school lessons. My friend Cayce has inspired me to change up our history a little. I really love My Father's World and how they bring literature into their lessons but it has gotten a little lite in that area. Cayce was having the same issue  with the program and in her research found  a wonderful history that we are going to try out. TruthQuest may just work out for us. I love American history and even more I love God's hand in our history. The homeschool mom that wrote this had a desire to create a curriculum that incorporated those two elements. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works for us.

Thankful

We've had so much to be thankful for this year. Our new home just to name one. But I will say the last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy. I'm slowly getting on my feet cognitively and literally.

The thanksgiving weekend has been wonderful. I've had a bit of a chance to get some things in order. My mom and her sister have been here visiting and we have had a great time together. We've also been spending time with Jonathan's brother and he has been a great help around the little farm.

The last two days have been fun and tiring. The guys worked on clearing out the large trees from our future orchard and we all started working on clearing the fences. My brother-in-law has even gotten to practice blocking our driveway ;)

 

It has been great having him around and needless to say we have been living outside. The last couple days have been just beautiful...I love this place. We have a lot of work to do here but God has really blessed us with this land.

As far as school goes the educational experiences are endless! Relating what we are doing to what the first colonists to America went through...it really helps it to come alive. We've been taking a bit of a break from our structured lessons and moved to more, um, living school. I guess that's the best way to describe it. Next week Jonathan will be back at work and we'll start back to some of our more traditional learning. But the kids have really learned a lot lately and had a lot of fun doing it too.

How many two year olds do you know that know what a level is? My boy does...so what if he uses it to dig with he's just learning how to adapt...right? The girls have been attached to their Gran and loving this time to spend with her.

And we've all enjoyed sitting back in the golf cart watching the big guys work hard. Even Jeb, our dog, loves the entertainment.

We started the fence clearing today and I think it will be a winter long project. The way the vines have grown through the fences it will be a slow process. It was hard not to think of how this relates to our lives. Just how when we don't maintain the Godly boundaries in our lives things start to get woven in. And let me tell you it takes a lot to get them out.

God is everywhere in His creation. There is no better classroom!

Where am I?

No better time than 6am for me to finally sit down and catch up on all the goings on around here. So it's been about 2 weeks since my last entry and I'm having a hard time believing that it's been 2 weeks! The girls have been going to their homeschool co-op classes and little Buster and I have been helping out in the nursery there.

Lauren is taking a History Pockets class on American Indians, the Magic School Bus Science and ballet. The history was perfect for her since we are doing American History this year and she has enjoyed moving up to the older ballet class. She loves her science teacher and was able to earn a dollar from her by finding a word that rhymes with orange...yep there is one.

Emily is taking a geography class and ballet also. Their winter performance will be part of The Nutcracker. I took a bold step with her this year with geography. The class is for K-3rd. I wasn't sure how she would do since she is so quiet but she loves that class!

Monday was their last meeting for this session and they will only have ballet until their performance.

So that explains our Mondays....the rest of the time I have been working full blast on the house. I am repainting the kitchen cabinet and I'm really happy with the result. Jonathan has been working hard outside clearing for the orchard that we would like to put in in the next few weeks. Our list of things to do is growing (as we knew it would) but we have been slowed down a little by life.

Saturday morning Jonathan woke with pain in his lower abdomen. Yes, acute appendicitis! So off the the ER we go. My wonderful mom-in-law met us on the way to get the little ones and by 4 that afternoon our weekend getaway had begun. Awesome room service, cable, all the ice chips you want. It was heaven! We checked out before lunch the next day to continue our wonderful weekend at home. The kids had a sleep over with their Aunt Saysa and we were refreshed.

Not to be out done by my husband, and since he was getting an enormous amount of sympathy and all I decided I needed my own trip to the ER. So Monday morning I was off. Jonathan had no idea of my adventure and he had wanted to take the girls to co-op (because he felt so well) so when I called my uncle to meet me so he could watch little Buster he made an elective decision to take me on a tour of the Easely ER. I was so excited! Sitting in those comfy wheelchairs while havining excrutiating back pain was in deed a treat. So I left my tour with the UT Infection care package as well as bonus painkiller shots (yes it's still wearing off)

So the kids got an extended stay at their aunt and uncle's and Jonathan and I have relished this time together. It was like a vacation in another dimension.

School day

So, I've talked about canning with a two year old. But what is it like to have school with one? Well...he keeps you motivated and aware of time.

With this cute little guy you know you have a window of time in which he will be happy to play and build with his "Box". The "Box" contains whatever I find to throw in it. He loves it and can only have it during our more structured time of school (math, spelling, etc.).

Once that wears off you get this...

But the girls don't mind most of the time. And we were almost done.

We have been studying Tchaikovsky and the girls love that it is following along with their ballet lessons. They had fun coloring their Nutcracker pages and telling me about their performances they are practicing for.

You can see the girls different style of doing things. Emily just doesn't enjoy sitting too much. She likes to be fully involved in her work...love it! And she's been enjoying working on her Wordly Wise vocabulary builder. She asks to work on it every day. I started using it just to see what it was like but the girls really enjoy it. So it's a treat for them once they finish other work.

So that's what it kind of looks like on a good day with a two year old. Life is so fun and learning to deal with people who act like a two year old is definitely applicable for real world learning...I'm just sayin.

Wood Stove take Two

So last night and this morning Jonathan searched the internet and called around everywhere trying to find another stove. The problem was the style of stove that we had to have. He failed to find used one but did find one on sale about an hour away. While we were discussing when he might go one of our wonderful friends, Dave, unexpectedly stopped by. He brought a plate full of cookies to welcome us to our new home.

While we took him on a tour of what we had accomplished, we showed him our cracked stove. As he studied the damage he mentioned, "I might have a stove that would work...I have four." ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!

So our angel gifting us with cookies gave us an awesome deal of a new/used stove. It's twice the size of our old one and it heats our home perfectly! And it cost a third of what it was going to cost. All I could think of was how blessed we are and what kind of cookies or pie could I make for Dave.

We are so blessed!

Exploring our new backyard

We took a break from moving/unpacking and went exploring around our new home. We found several large rocks that the kids could pose on.

The woods on our property are just beautiful. There is a particular tree that Jonathan and I have named our favorite. It is a huge Beech tree. As with many things in nature it's size is difficult to capture in a picture. I'm looking forward to more attempts but for now..

There were so many beautiful things to see this time of year. Fall is definitely my favorite. It was a great time for the kids to find trees they wanted to identify as well as other neat finds.

I enjoy every morning I wake up here even though I'm exhausted from our move. Hopefully the move part of things will be over very soon. Until then I can still take a walk and see this.

Learnin'

Our internet is up and running and I've found my cord for my camera! I'm still missing some clothes but priorities..right?!

So tonight is our first fire in our wood stove!!! So excited and Jonathan has worked so hard the past few days hooking up the stove. And with help from a friend, lining the chimney. So hear we go.....

 Everything was set to go, when......

See the orange line on the side of this here stove? Yep, that's a crack. We now have a big donation to our scrap metal pile.

Jonathan is off to craig's list and hopefully we will have a replacement soon. We're a learnin'!

The Rescuers

Today has been some what restful. We had an awesome lunch with the inlaws. Jonathan and the girls went adventuring around the house. They decided to walk the pasture and the perimeter of the property. I stayed at the house and arranged furniture and boxes while little Buster watched Cars. He started running a fever this morning and has slept most of the day. Hoping it's just fatigue.

So while Jonathan and the girls were on their little hike the came across a big box turtle. Apparently he had tried to traverse a fallen fence and had gotten stuck. Who knows how long the poor guy had been there but he was quickly rescued by the trio of explorers.

We'll be starting back our normal school routine this week and I am looking forward to all the nature studies we can do here at home. Jonathan is planning on helping the girls make a leaf book...they better hurry. The girls have already collected wildflower, leaves, lizards and frogs. Who knows what else we will find on our little farm in the woods.

home

We are now finally in our new home and we are so happy and exhausted. We are so thankful for all the help we had today and for all the prayers getting us to this point....so blessed. Pictures to come.

tough

Read this verse tonight at Bible study and it stuck with me. I thought about our oldest and how hard she is on herself. She wants to be perfect the first time on anything she tries. I think I know where she gets it from.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 

Hebrews 12:11


We're still working hard to get moved in. Saturday is the big move. Hope I can make it til then!

Just for you Mom

Here's our family....

Our week of fun

 I absolutely love Edisto Island. I remember coming here when I was little and exploring. Jonathan came here most years with his family. It's where we were engaged on one such family trip. And it's a place that I hope we can always go to for years to come.

This year was the first time that my little guy could fully embrace the beach experience. He is so cute in beach mode!

The girls equally enjoyed their beach bumming time. We even ventured off the island to Beaufort. It was a longer trip than expected but we had fun once we got there.

During high tide the girls brushed up on their checkers skills.













It is such a beautiful and unique place.

The Mystery Tree

My favorite thing at the beach to do is to watch the sun fall into the horizon over and over again.

The island has a really neat Serpentarium that added to our educational experience. It was so informative and the girls had a blast and were so brave.

My favorite picture from our trip.

Our last destination was one that I'd hoped would be one of our first. Botany Bay Plantation is an enchanting place. The beach is a half mile walk and has been left untouched. The shells that are there cannot be taken home so they are everywhere. And they are HUGE!! The kids enjoyed listening to the ocean in everyone they found.

 

It was a perfect ending to a fun week.