Oh, baby!!!

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Many of you know God has blessed us with the gift of a new baby to arrive May of 2016.  We are so incredibly grateful and in awe of God's perfect timing.  I'll write more later about what God has been teaching me through this process, but I wanted to post this to ask you all to pray.

I've been experiencing "all day sickness."  Gregg's work schedule is incredibly busy right now.  It is a tough season and we would really appreciate your prayers.

In case you need a little laugh, I think y'all will enjoy reading my pregnancy cravings (i.e. the only things I can eat without feeling nauseous)...Taco Bell crispy beef tacos, guacamole, Sonic cheeseburgers, black olives, bacon, peanut butter crackers, French fries, and NOTHING even remotely sweet.  Apparently I've reverted back to my teenage diet (aside from the no sweets thing!).

Thank you for joining us in praying for Baby Hall #3 and our entire family.

Kindergarten and Preschool (at home!)

As I mentioned in the last post, we started Classical Conversations this year.  Adalynn goes with us, but it is really for children 4 and up.

From their website, "Classical Conversations supports homeschooling parents by cultivating the love of learning through a Christian worldview in fellowship with other families. We believe there are three keys to a great education: Classical, Christian, and Community."

Classical education is "ideally suited to children's natural learning style. The classical model divides the learning process into three stages: grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric. In the grammar stage, children devour facts. In the dialectic stage, children ask many questions as they sort and evaluate these facts. In the rhetoric stage, teenagers synthesize their knowledge and apply it."

We use a lot of fun songs to remember our memory work.  I'm going to try to post a video in a separate post of Zeke and Adalynn singing the timeline song and Zeke singing the first five commandments.  I must say, I am learning so much too!  CC's goal is to also redeem the education of parents.

Below is our first "community day" for CC.  We go each Tuesday and begin with an opening assembly (prayer, pledge, etc.), we learn the memory work for the week, participate in several learning activities, and do presentation time (they learn to stand in front of people and talk).

We have decided to wear uniforms for school.  We wear khaki, blue, and white.  It makes morning smooth and helps us to separate school from home life.  I also wear a specific apron when I teach them at home.

Learning about the fertile cresent

Practicing her letters while the big kids learn

Taking it all in

Zeke's presentation time

Opening assembly

2nd CC Community day

At our house before school!

We enjoyed a brief visit from Wynna while Gregg is in Colorado elk hunting.  It went by too quickly, but we appreciate her coming.

Swimming with Wynna in the rain!

Making a poster for the Kairos prison ministry

Zeke got to go to his buddy Sterling's 7th birthday party

Aunt Debbie sent us adorable handmade aprons!

 

He dresses up like this often...just like Daddy!

Watching Mommy and Daddy's wedding video

August 2015

It just occurred to me that I let the month of August go by without posting.  It has been very busy around here!  We took a trip up to Johns Creek because Gregg was working in Atlanta.  It was a great time with family before the kids started school.  We enjoyed celebrating Jared's birthday, going swimming, celebrating Dad's birthday, and had several visits from Gregg when he was off work!

At Jared's birthday party

Lunch after church

My little superheroes

Playtime at the mall with the cousins

Lunch with Bethany (a former student) before she left for college)

Dinner date with my dad for his birthday

Heading back to Americus

After we returned home, we enjoyed 2 more weeks swimming, playing, and spending time together before school started.  Zeke is participating in Classical Conversations this year, in addition to the Bible, reading, and math curriculum we use.  I'll go into more detail about that in the next post!

Watching old family videos (that's Jared on the screen)

"I a ba-yeena"

She loves her baby dolls!

Heading to church

Before church

Always reading!

Reading like Brother

Daddy's birthday gift from Zeke (Captain America shirt) so they'd all match!

Swimming with Daddy