Columbia Christian Homeschool Co-op

Our co-op has a new webpage!  I thought if any of you were curious as to what it is we participate in as homeschoolers or what a co-op schedule looks like, I'd share. 

Enjoy :-)

http://www.cchcwenatchee.org/home

Love My Melia

This is a pattern for little knitted horsey blankets that Melia wrote up.  As in, made up, on her own.  And then wrote down so she wouldn't forget, and so that Kiera could use it later.  She also laminated it with packing tape :-) 

Love it... Adore her :-)

Isaac's Artistic Talent

I am thankful the toothpaste is peppermint flavored... otherwise who knows how much he'd have eaten!  But he came running to me saying his tongue was "HOT!"

Isaac, practicing his cutting skills with monkey scissors :-)

Amazing details

During school today:

I am reading the instructions to Kiera for her b/d page.  It says something like "b and d are best buddies.  they look alike and sound alike, but they like different things...." 

Melia, to herself: "Wow!  I never knew that b and d are best friends - that's SO amazing!..."

Me:  giggling... :-)

Hunting Pics

Daddy's deer :-)

 When we arrived, the kids were thrilled to have the freedom to run and play!  Kiera quickly returned yelling, "Look what I found!!!"  She was THRILLED.  As the story goes, Gabe and Shaun had been shooting at squirrels/chipmunks a few hours before we arrived, and Gabe had pegged this one... and forgot about it.  We all couldn't believe how Kiera fell in LOVE with her dead little chipmunk!

Melia, examining the specimen..

But, as you would probably guess, we could NOT keep a dead chipmunk!  This absolutely broke her heart- I cannot even begin to explain how she SOBBED for a good 20-30 minutes, and then again every time she looked at it's little tail (which was cut off thinking it would ease her pain...)  SOBBED, people.  No exaggeration needed.

Melia, later at home, watching as Daddy cuts up his deer.  She received a pretty one-of-a-kind anatomy lesson for a 7 year old, and fully loved every minute of it.  Not sure what God's got up His sleeve for this one, but boy, she's gonna be quite the little "lady!"

I know.  Gross, right?  Totally.  Gabe's.  Idea.  OK?  OK.

Pumpkin Craft- Can YOU Guess Who?

Today at Co-op in my math class we did a craft- creating a pumpkin out of triangles.  While Gabe and I were preparing last night (isn't he great!) we were discussing what kind of results the kids would come up with.  I so enjoyed watching the kids and their little brains working that when we got home I had the girls sit down with the leftover pieces... and I had to join... and then Gabe too :-)

Can you guess who made each pumpkin?  It was great fun!

 A.

B.

 C.

D.

Fire Station Fun

Saturday I took the kids to the Open House at one of the local fire stations (#2 I believe...).  Gabe took Melia and Kiera last year while I stayed home with Isaac, and the girls (Kiera especially) has been asking to go back ever since!  I hadn't seen the sign, but my friend (Thanks Brooke!) told me about it this week and thankfully we were free to go!

What a great time!  They had several stations set up- I don't think we even hit them all!  But we did build a bird house together (Thanks to Home Depot), the girls practiced calling 911 and answering the questions, we discussed our "emergency exit" plan, I picked up a magnetic 911 board that I can leave on the fridge which has all our information on it, all the kids' faces were painted (I don't think I've ever seen Isaac sit so still!!), we rode on a mini-pumper, climbed in a police car, talked to a K9 officer and met his dog, ate hot dogs, bought a brownie at the bake sale, and spoke with someone about carseats.  WHEW! 

And, to top it all off, Melia won the $25 gift certificate to Fred Meyer drawing!  Wow! 

A Healthy Reminder

This was in my recent Pioneers update:

" (talking about heading out to the mission field again...) But, we do it again and again because we really do believe there are things worth fighting for. And there are times when giving up or quitting isn’t the thing to do. But what makes this hard is that sometimes the exact same action that is right for one person can actually be wrong for another. Obviously, I’m not talking about moral or sin issues, but about life choices that can only be determined by walking in the light (Eph. 5:8-10) and listening to the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12)."

I found encouragement from this paragraph.  I often find myself comparing my life and experiences to others, and measuring myself against some imagined yard stick.  The wrong part is, I am measuring against a stick of my own creation, not the one God is measuring me by.  And just because God has called others to do certain things does not mean He has called me to.  I need to remember that I should make my goals what He has put before me, and not what He has put before others.  His best for their life is not His best for my life, and vice versa, even when it is all "good!"  I feel so tempted to get involved in all sorts of "good" things, but constantly must remember to measure things by what He has called my family to and if He is saying "yes" to that activity.  

Hope this encourages you today :-)

Another Homeschool Encourager

I love running into veteran homeschoolers!  People in general are pretty nice when they ask (and they always do!) "What grade are you in? Where do you go to school?"  Some are even sweet, saying "bless your heart momma!"  or "good for you, I could never do that!" (like it's not overwhelming for me! Ha!)
But homeschoolers who have been there and done that are SO encouraging!  I met one today while waiting for my bountiful basket.  She said something that brought me to the verge of tears right there in line..  "You will never regret homeschooling your kids.  No matter how much they learn, or how hard it is to teach each one individually, or how endless the days may seem..  You will never regret that YOU were the one to spend that time with them, and that you were there to see the light bulbs turn on.  No one can take that from you." 

Wow!  (Sob!)   It was like she had a message sent especially for me, here as we struggle to "find our groove."  Thank You Lord, for Your encouragement :-)

Sharing the Homeschool Love

I loved the gold nuggets found in this blog post at the Pioneer Woman the other day... Not in the article itself, but reading through the comments was SO encouraging and uplifting!

So I thought for myself and my homeschool friends, I will post things here that I find encouraging so I can reference them on days that somehow aren't going as planned... :-)

Things are clicking,.. when she's on tune?

Yesterday Melia really started picking up on the reading without getting herself all worked up!  She was reading words out and about, signs on the road, labels in the store... It was VERY exciting for me to see things clicking for her, especially because that's what I've been counting on instead of pushing her too hard. 

So last night, on the way home from Bible study, I asked her if she'd read any words to Gma Nae.  Her response had me scratching my head...

"No momma.  I wasn't in my reading tune.  It was playing tune time.  You know, I have lots of tunes:  shopping tune, reading tune, dancing tune, playing tune, math tune, singing tune.  My singing tune is on right now!..." (and she breaks into song..)  OK babe- as long as you've found the ON button for that reading tune!!!

Third Year's the Charm...

Finally, I successfully grew peppers.  I am happy.  :-)

Esther's Kittens

These little punkins were born Monday morning, August 29.  She actually had them in the girls' closet, and neither Melia nor Kiera had any clue!  Gabe heard the baby kitty cries from the living room and went to investigate!  We got the box all set up, then told the girls what had happened.  Right then, while they were watching, Esther had baby number four!  What a special experience!  We have two girls and two boys (to the best of my knowledge :-), one gold boy, tan/white girl, gray girl with a smudgy nose, and gray boy!

So... we're taking requests if you're in the market for a kitten!

Funny how circumstances dictate the day's plans...

Last night I ran out to our "outside" freezer to see what I could find for dinner.  (Note:  This freezer was free, so I am not complaining.)  When I opened the door, the frost had formed over the shelf on the inside of the door.  It was really hard to open, but the bad part is that when I went to shut it, the way the frost broke prevented it from closing! 

We've been planning on defrosting this monster for a couple years, so this is a good "forced" activity!  But in the process, several pounds of hamburger meat started to thaw...

Which means--- I get to do another something new today!  We're making hamburger rocks!  Yeah!  (hopefully, and yes, I know I say this every time... but hopefully, it'll turn out great and I'll post pictures!) 

Happy day to you all!

Quotes and Pix

While we were driving...

Melia: "Momma, I want to buy some peanut butter seeds so I can plant them and grow peanuts.  Peanuts grow in the ground you know."

Later... heading to the farmer's market...

Kiera:  "Momma, will you buy me something?"

Melia:  "I have a dollar, I'll buy something for both of us."

Kiera:  "Yea!  Something really super special."

Melia: "Something cheap."

:-)  (I was cracking up in my head!)

Melia normally gets up before anyone else, and she works on random things.  We've been using this spelling book lately, so she started working on a page all by herself!  She was able to do all the words, except this one... So she drew a "I don't know" picture.  I thought it was so cute I had to capture it!

I call this his Top Gun shirt... but he'd have to be a mini IceMan because of his hair instead of a mini Maverick :-)  If anyone sees some mini Aviator sunglasses that are reasonably priced, grab them for me!  :-)

Ice Skating after the last day of Co-op!

Kiera: revelling in her "big friend" time!

Yes, I did skate too! Brought back lovely memories... and made me very empathetic to Melia's requests to take lessons... :-) But she needs to learn to swim first!

David Thompson Tour

A couple of weeks ago, our co-op went on a tour at the Wenatchee museum through the David Thompson exhibit and to go down to the river and canoe like they would have done back then.

(Note: David Thompson was the first white man to travel the entire 1200+ miles of the Columbia River, mapping it out, and trading furs. He was a strong Christian, refusing to trade alcohol for furs to the Indians. Thompson has been called the greatest land geographer who ever lived.)

I was thrilled when both girls were able to participate in the canoeing, even though we were warned that the public school age limit was 4th grade. This thrill helped to ease the concern that my two daughter just disappeared down the river in a wobbly boat...

Learning how to row.
Kiera was struggling to make it through the tour. I thought she did fantastic, even though she was tired :-) At least she wasn't being naughty!

I was a little afraid that her rowing might flip her little bod right on out of the boat! Look how little she is compared to the oar :-)


In the inlet...


And out of sight... They did make it back safe and sound, having had a GREAT time!
Interesting tidbits: Thompson special ordered peppermint oil to help ease stomach troubles for his men. And they ate porcupine :-)

Baby bugs....seriously disturbing!

Melia found a leaf with lady bug eggs on it. They are now hatching and appear to be squirmy little alien lifeforms. Have a look, just don't plan on eating soon.

Homeschooling Tastes Good!

Making Letter Biscuits

Fun AND Tasty!

Busy in the Kitchen!

Today we've made cookies for Papa Tim (extra healthy :-), biscuits, and monkey bread.

While making the monkey bread, Kiera asked if she could lick her hands when she was done. I said yes, and she says, "Good, cause my fingers look SOOO yummy!"
:-)