Mary is a treasure. She is an amazing organizer, she has a delightful imagination and sense of humor that has me chuckling often. She is the best alarm clock; helping me to get up and get moving in the mornings. I really do love her for this. Really. I do.  Mary can turn anything from folding laundry to cleaning out the van in to fun.

For as long as I can remember, Mary has loved horses. While we were tossing around ideas for what she wanted to do for her birthday, I had a moment of sheer brilliance. We have friends who have horses and I was sure they would be delighted to have us crash their home and farm all for the sake of horse lovin’ gal’s 12th birthday. And I was right. Our friends so graciously set aside  a day in their busy life, so that Mary could make a dream come true.

Mary seems to be a natural on a horse. I wasn’t sure if she would be willing to come home. However, I think she is more determined than ever to have a horse of her own one day.

My Mary is such a  blessing to me. So hard to believe that she is 12 already. I blinked and she went from that cute little baby to a lovely young lady.

Mary, Happy Birthday!!! Love you bunches!

(We have more photos from the day at the farm. I’ll post them in a separate post. )

Sam..on a mission to the swings

Finally, I gave in and went the way of digital photography. And I love it. I admit it. It was a good change. I love being able to take 100 pictures and not worry about running out of film. I love being able to hand the camera to my children and letting them take a shot or two. No worries! We can delete any bad shots and keep taking pictures!

Caleb being a big brother and keeping a tired Sam occupied

There is a problem. Editing software. We can blur, smudge, brighten, crop our way to perfection. Guess what? Life isn’t perfect. And my pictures aren’t either. Once I cropped out the pile of laundry on the couch or the messy counter in the kitchen. But, who cares? That’s my life! Constant laundry. Constant cooking in the kitchen.

Goofy kids!

I want my children to look back at the photos and share some laughs. Laugh at the little sister that always popped up in a picture. Chuckle at spying a Dr. Pepper bottle at the edge of a picture. Or smile at the kiddo whose hair never seemed to be combed. Some of the most treasured moments could be edited out because they aren’t perfect. But they are real. And special.

Yep. They are mine.

So on Sunday, I caught a few special moments, some silliness and fun but most of all I captured beautiful memories. Imperfect, real memories.

Sarah and Me

Since this is my blog and I have freedom of expression, here are a few more…

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

What a glorious and beautiful day it was! I snapped a few photos (Ok, about 100) as I do every Resurrection Day. Before church pictures didn’t happen as we were running a bit behind schedule. Thankfully, the Lord granted us a beautiful, sunny day and a gorgeous backdrop for a photo session after church.

The Tribe - 2012

After the group shot, to the excitement of my children, we did some individual shots. Well, excitement might be too strong of a word but they love their mommy so they humor me. One day they will be thankful to have all these pictures!

Rebekah 13, Martha Ann almost 4 months

Last week, Bekah taught herself to crochet flowers and made some for all the girls! Martha loved her crocheted headband.

Mary, 12 on Saturday the 14th

Caleb, 10

As I was taking this picture, one of his sisters commented on the high probability that the grass was not sanitary.  Sweet, yes?

Lydia, 8

Hannah, 6

Matching outfits for Resurrection Sunday has become a tradition. When I was first learning to sew several years ago, I decided to have them completed by Resurrection Sunday to give myself a goal. And so the tradition began. This year’s outfits were simple paneled skirts for the older girls and peasant dresses with pinafores for the younger set.  They boys were happy to just wear blue shirts. Ah, boys.

Sarah, 4

Sam, 2

By the time of this photo session, Sam was done. I was chatting with him about improving his outlook and Mary snapped a picture.

Little Miss Martha, almost 4 months!

And Martha completely agreed with Sam. Her afternoon snooze was interrupted and she was not pleased.

Happy Resurrection Day! May we remember Christ’s sacrifice for us daily.

Snoozing Sam

I love quiet time. I love to see those heavy eyelids finally give in to how tired his body really is. I love to hear the quiet whispering of the child who is reading on her own but still hasn’t mastered silent reading. I love the quiet giggles of the “old girls” as they enjoy a break from their work.

Horse-opoly, anyone?

Quiet time is the perfect opportunity to read aloud. Everyone can find his/her own spot and settled with paper and pencil and drift away to the exciting adventure awaiting them. I am blessed that even my older children still love a good read aloud.

My precious girls!

Quiet time happens after lunch. We eat, clean up and quiet time begins. The generally procedure is: find your spot and then you may read, write or draw. Alone. Quietly. However, sometimes I let them do a group activity but they have to stay quiet or they lose it. On this day, everyone wanted markers. It was also a day I couldn’t read aloud as I had some admin stuff to do for my reviews.

Creative and Quiet. A lovely combination!

So how did I get those little chatty girls to be quiet? Librivox. It is a great resource for when I can’t read aloud. I can find a book that isn’t readily available at the library and let them listen to it. On this day, they were listening to Buster Bear by Thorton Burgess. Sadly, our library doesn’t have Burgesses’ books so this works out great. They loved the story of Buster Bear! My older girls utilized Librivox on this day as well. A cell phone we no longer have coverage for is still used for a variety of things. On this day, the girls used it to listen to Pride and Prejudice on Librivox while they play their game.

Sarah Bear

And if you are a mom with children in a wide range of ages…everyone was either quiet or asleep. Yes! The baby napped during quiet time. It was so quiet in the house that if felt a bit odd. Giggle. Quiet time is about hour and a half. Perfect amount of time to take a break and get ready for the afternoon!

Little Miss so happy after her nap!

And just a note….Caleb wasn’t pictured because when he is able, he works with his dad. So on this particular day he was working. However, he spends quiet time either reading or building with Legos.

Do you have a quiet time? What does it look like at your house?

Isn’t she lovely in her sweet pink dress? I’m not sure if it shows in the pictures but she is growing so quickly!

Happy Baby! She continues to be a content little one. She gets fussy when she is sleepy. And she is still a great sleeper! Such a blessing. This week she has begun to give us a little laugh now and then. When she laughs she acts so surprised that she made the noise.

She is a delight and is still the center of attention. You can see she didn’t stay alone on the blanket for long.  I have to remind the other little ones that she doesn’t want someone in her face every minute.

And she has entered the advanced school for 3 months old. We take education very seriously. Lydia has taken over Martha’s science instruction. Below Martha is getting her introduction to space.

Happy 3 Months, Martha!

K5 Learning was designed to be an online after-school study program for children in Kindergarten – 5th Grade. K5 Learning includes reading, spelling, math and math facts.  K5 Learning uses an assessment that focuses on 8 key skills and places your child at the appropriate level. Placement based on ability and not age and grade makes K5 an excellent enrichment program!

The lessons are engaging and fully independent.  Clear instructions were given and adequate time for response prevented frustration. K5 let’s the child set the pace by having the child select “go on” or “next”.  You can view sample lessons for each area of learning and grade at K5 to see first hand how the lessons are conducted.

K5 Learning is a safe environment for online learning. It does not provide chat, external links or advertising.  Your child can focus on the task and not be tempted to click elsewhere.

Another great feature about K5 Learning is no games, tokens or other rewards need to be “earned” .  It is refreshing to have the creators of an online learning program realize that all the “bells & whistles” are not needed to motivate learning. Learning itself is a great motivator as well as parental encouragement.

And K5 allows parents the ability to track and guide learning. Progress reports are easily accessed and clear in presentation of information.  Parents can also assign which lessons they would like the child to complete or personalize spelling words.

Our Thoughts:

I was pleasantly surprised with K5 Learning. It is a lovely compliment to our homeschool. I utilized the program for my 6yr old and 8 yr old daughters. During the time that I was working with my older students, my younger girls rotated computer time on K5.  They were having fun and learning at the same time; building basic learning skills. My 8yr old loved the math facts and the reading. My 6 yr old always went for the math lessons first.

As one who is cautious of online programs, I loved K5 Learning. I think  K5 does exactly what it promises. It has been enjoyed in our home.

K5 provides thorough information at K5Learning.com . I recommend browsing the site, reading the FAQ and watching the sample lessons. Then take advantage of the 2 week free trail!

Pricing:

Monthly Subscription:

First Child – $25

Additional Child $15

Annual Subscription:

First Child -  $199

Additional Child – $129

For our family, the pricing is out of our budget. While I think it would be more realistic for families to lower the price, I also understand the cost of running an online program. By not allowing advertising, the cost must fall on the consumer.

Please take time to swing by the Crew and see what others think of K5 Learning.

**Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Review Crew, I received a complimentary 2 month subscription to this product. No compensation was made. The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

However, as soon as you see how adorable she is, you will forgive me. Right?

After 2 months, Little Miss Martha is still the star of the show. As soon as she is up in the morning, the line has formed on who gets to hold her.  Martha is a content princess as long as she is being held upright to gaze upon her kingdom.

When she is a bit fussy, she loves for someone to sing “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us”.  We did learn that she does not prefer being poked in the eye by Sam.  He was just trying to help her learn her body parts but got a little excited.

Little Miss Martha is one of my better sleepers. She has a nice long stretch of sleep, about 5-7 hours, that I deeply appreciate.

All that sleep makes for a happy baby! Speaking of happy…the big girls have worked out a system for “who gets to sit by Martha in the van”.  I wonder if that same system would work for who is going to scrub the toilet? I don’t think that has the same appeal as Little Miss Martha and all her sweetness.

And it appears that Little Miss Martha will be my second finger-sucking baby.  Isn’t she adorable?

Happy 2 Months, Little Miss!!

You won’t regret taking a step into Wynnewood and getting to know the creature who lurks within…..

I smile. Broken crayons, stray Legos, and missing pencils.

Sisters, math lessons and runny noses.

In the quiet, at the end of the day….I love my life. Thank you, Lord for making me rich beyond measure.

Despite getting off track with Bootcamp, training the younger crowd is always in progress. My big kiddos are great about letting the young crowd help out. Sarah and Sam both love to help unload the dryer. I was doing some work on the computer and heard Mary calling me to come see Sam.

Sam carried the basket of towels down the whole way, across the living room and managed to get the basket on the couch all by himself. He had to stop a couple of times to get a better hold on the basket and only lost one washcloth along the way. We cheered him on!

As you go about your day with little ones, never underestimate their ability and desire to help! What you do with them today prepares them for years down the road. Sam is only 2 and a little guy. That doesn’t stop him from helping with laundry, throwing out trash and putting toys away. He knows where the silverware and kitchen towels go and where the snacks are kept. He is happy to reward himself for a job well done.

Mary could have taken the basket of towels and moved a lot faster. But look at that face! He is so proud of doing a job. It can be hard at times to let little ones help. We can do it faster and better. If we wait until they are older to teach and train them to work, they will no longer have that desire.  So the four year old is a little messy when she prepares her own pb&j and yes, she spills the water when fixing the drinks at lunch; no worries. She knows where the towels are and can clean up the spill.

(This is Sam showing us how strong he is.) Tomorrow, I will attempt to get us back on track with Bootcamp and let my “In Training Crew” be a valuable part of the process.

Bonus pic of Miss Martha. She is working hard at being precious.