Our little handy man!

Noah LOVES to work in the garage.

I wish the garage was bigger and

we could afford to buy him an unlimited supply

of materials because this boy can create

and LOVES doing it!!!

His latest project was his basketball back board.

The plastic back board had long been cracked and broken.

First, Noah went on the internet (for hours) searching all the NBA team names.

Second, he searched for the 'perfect' logo for his project.

Then, he got his plan and put it on with pencil and painted.

Mom got the pleasure of sealing it with a varathane.

Then, we put it up and have one proud boy!

Can ya tell???

WAY TO GO, Noah.

Your project looks amazing!

You worked really hard at this plan and the end result shows buddy!!!

Mom, loves you so much!

Week Three - Homeschooling

OK...so I don't know how long this will last (meaning typing about how things are going from week to week) but I like jotting things down so I remember.


Monday - very rough day.  Noah was very defiant and really resisted doing his work.  Our schedule was broken by having to run out in the middle of school and I wonder if that could have been what changed his attitude.


That said, I had a really exciting and proud moment while he was working on his grammar! He asked me a question and I gave him a very brief answer, in hopes that he could figure it out on his own. He still didn't get the answer and proceeded to open his text book to searched for the answer.  This was victory in a small way because I know he was wanting for me to GIVE him the answer, which I wouldn't do.  Now, he knows that he can find the answer in his text book - YAY. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were both very hard days as well.  My little man put me to the test in every way he could think of.

We stayed home and kept our routine this week, better than the first two - so this couldn't be it.  I chatted with a teacher friend, who told me that by week 3 the regular school kids are out of their 'honeymoon period' as well.  So, at least I knew this was 'normal', but still not acceptable.

We worked extra hard on Wednesday to get Wednesday's and a good majority of Thursday's work done in order to give my friend some company for a drive to Fredericton (about a 2 hour drive) for an apt. 

Thursday, he was a perfect little man.  Holding the doors, using his manners, being polite and patient, etc!  Phewwww...I thought that maybe I had gotten through to him with talking and consequencing on Monday through Wednesday!

NOT....doubly NOT.  Friday, he whammed me with some really nasty talking back and MAJOR disrespect.  THAT WAS THAT....

When 'the principal' (aka, DADDY) got home Friday night he didn't say too much to Noah other than "NO ONE treats MY wife that way".  He told him that he would not be dealing with this tonight because he was going to spend some quality time with HIS wife ALONE, that he would go to bed early (for a Friday night) and they would deal with this in the morning.

So Friday night was perfect, just my hero and me spending some uninterrupted quality time ALONE!!!

I don't know the conversation on Saturday morning because I was at the market but when I came home, Noah was in near perfect behaviour - considering he had NOTHING to do (part of the consequence) other than to FIND fun!!  He also called me into his room and gave me a very sincere apology. 

It's amazing the pulls that 'daddy's' have on their kids...I wish I had that kinda pull!!!  But then again, that's one of the (many, many) reason's that Jacques IS my hero - so we'll just leave it like that!!!

NOW, I'm really looking forward to see what this week at school brings!

All in all....when I think of our alternatives, I would still do this hands down!

On the bright side, we got several of Bill Nye the Science Guy videos to watch this week.  Noah LOVES, Bill Nye and is looking forward to watching some video's for school!  I've narrowed many of them down to be about the Universe, the Planets and things relating to these (considering this is what we are doing in science right now).  I'm going to take all the time we need because Noah is LOVING these Units!!!

Up next this week, dentist appointment, volunteering at Noah's old school to make cup cakes for the Kindergarten class (for the September birthdays), a field trip to a farm for a hay ride, picking a pumpkin and hot chocolate with our HS group and hopefully getting a play date one day after school with one of Noah's friends!!!

Happy Birthday, John!

A little something in lieu of a birthday card from Noah to his grandfather!

Today is his birthday and they (Mom & John) are on the retirement/dream vacaiton. So, Noah made John this video for his birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY John! Hope you have a fantastic day!

Week Two - Home Schooling

Week 2 is complete and I want to jot down my thoughts after week 2 of our home schooling adventure.

I have to admit, I think we were 'out and about' a little too much this week. 

Every day, we were on the roads visiting, shopping  and socializing.  It was fun and the flexibility of schooling at home is AWESOME.  Though we still got all of our work done, but running the roads this week left me feeling a little overwhelmed at times trying to get our work done. I think, this stress could have been avoided had we stayed home more often during our 'school hours'. 

We ended our week today with Noah's Gym Class through our home school group in Presque Isle, Maine playing tennis at the University of Presque Isle tennis courts.  It was a beautiful day!  The families we have met so far (probably about 5 families) are really great people and all, but one have boys around Noah's age! 

Coming up next Friday, we are taking a field trip (instead of gym).  We're going on a hay ride to a family farm to tour through a pumpkin patch.

So at the end of the week:

Noah continues to show a few growing pains, but is proving to be very 'moldable'!  THIS is very exciting!

I'm considering testing Noah in his math, to jump him ahead several lessons.  He is getting extremely bored with Math and this is why I am considering this.

The other subjects are going great.  Noah is such a smart little man!  So proud of his progress with our new adventure!

Family Photo Time

My goodness, I can't say enough just how pleased I am with these photos taken by Christa Hann Photography.  We got our family portraits done this summer while in Ontario, by a friend of a friend who is my friend too!!!  (Did ya follow that???)

Christa, was a friend of my friend but over the past few years, through blogs, email and facebook we have gotten to know each other.  She has supported me and I have supported her!  She is an all around SWEETHEART (and her boy is just the cutest too)!  I have had the pleasure of watching her talent blossom over the past couple of years (in fact, I am envious of her blossoming talent).

Our photo session was our first meeting (in person) ever, where we got to meet her cutie little man, Jesse and had our photo session! 

Here are some of my favourites:

Pumpkin Pie 101

Gut a pumpkin...

...and peel.

Cut it up and cook it.

Making the pie crust....

Measuring... 

Rolling the dough.

Add a little bit of adorable!

Pierce the bottom of the crust.

Add a little more adorable, with some big blue eyes and 1 c of pumpkin!

Add all ingredients and blend.

Poor into pie crusts and bake.

Admire the final result!

Act a little silly...

Then act, A LOT silly.

...and ENJOY!

Babies....

Everyone loves babies, right?

We certainly do!

That's why, when I heard about a 'market neighbour' told me about their horse having a baby that morning, I made arrangements to go visit.

We took a drive to their organic farm to see the little filly.

She was absolutely adorable, very reserved and stayed pretty close to her momma the whole time we were there.

Amazing to see the natural instincts of animals!

While there, Kevin & Annette offered Noah a pumpkin to take home from their patch.

He was thrilled and told them we could make a pumpkin pie.

But, to my surprise (considering I don't even like pumpkin pie and we've never even had on in our house) you use the small pumpkins for cooking!

SO, we got a second little pumpkin for this project, and the recipe's for the crust and the filling!

This horse was cute and memorable for one big reason:

HE has the same birthday as Noah:

APRIL 20th

Week One - Home Schooling

I am SO excited for so many reasons (in terms of our decision to home school this year).

This week went really great (I think).  When I asked Noah, he concurred.  Here are some highlights:

• Noah is happier than I have seen him in so long.  He wakes up happy.  He cheerfully starts his day (well, in between those 'this is boring' and 'do I have to's') when he wakes up on his own, rather than the fight to get him out of bed.
• ON HIS OWN, he has been choosing to do more 'active' things around home.  Things like, playing on the WII Fit, or going outside to shoot hoops, or jumping on the trampoline.  He's empowered now and for a few weeks now, he has taken on a few pounds.  AND...he's doing all of this without being asked.
• He hasn't had a headache in a few weeks now, where as when he was at school he came home EVERY day and wanted 'couch time' only with a fight to take some headache medication.  
• Then, lets add in about the whole helping around the house.  When I ask him to do something, he just 'does' it (for the most part).  That said, I started a COMPLAINT BOARD.  What's this, you ask?  Well, I have a white board that is easily accessable. If he complains or refuses to do something or does an annoying behaviour (which I could write a WHOLE post on, but I will spare you the details) - I say nothing.  I get up, walk to the board and 'tick'.  After 10 ticks, he loses 100 points through his 'myjobchart.com' (this could be another WHOLE post, but if you want to read about it check out my friend's blog - she says it ALL and then some - click HERE).  Needless to say, he's learning real quick about what is acceptable and what is NOT!!!
• We met some other home schooled family's at 'GYM day' in Presques Isle, Maine on Friday - I've never seen Noah so compliant and not 'attention seeking' in a group.  We will continue to socialize and attend Gym Class day every Friday in PI, Maine.  We will also be participating in some of their outings from time to time - they are the closest home school support group.
• We do have some behaviours to modify, but in the process of the week I can 'already' see him conforming to what I say, with less defiancy.  We had a 'show down' one day that has left me in 'stitches'!  I wanted Noah to write a word (that he spelled wrong) 2 times and he REFUSED.  The more defiant he was, the more I insisted he write it.  Well, it ended up that I made him write it 5 times - over his attitude and defiancy.  BUT, this was after about 25 minutes of us staring at each other with him saying, 'you can't make me' and 'I'm NOT going to do it' and me saying 'oh yes you are' and 'I've got all day'!!!  When he realized that school took longer that day, I have a feeling he won't be doing THIS again!!! LOL
• At the end of the week, I asked him what he thought of schooling at home.  To my surprise, he asked for more 'projects'.   'Say WHAAAAT???'.  YUP, he wants more independent projects, you know (in his words 'the kind that you have to look on the internet and find information, then write about the subject and put it on a big board'.  Ummmm, okay (thinking, I wonder how long this is going to last)!!  But when I thought back to his public school experience, these types of projects happened maybe once per grade and when they did, he was in his absolute glory.  So...heck YEAH, I'm going to use his strengths like this.    This week we are starting a science unit on The Universe (Stars, Sun & Planets) and I think this is a perfect topic to do a project on, don't you???  Do share if you have any projects?? 
• TESTS - Noah already received a science test on Friday.  First we started off by 'studying'.  I taught him the importance of studying and "HOW" to study.  Then he got his first quiz/test of the year!  I think I am going to do this often - just to ease my mind that he is understanding the material for each subject!  He rocked it out too! 
• SLEEP - this mama needs some major sleep.  Don't know what's up with my sleep patterns, but I keep waking up between 3:30 and 4:30 AM - NO matter WHAT time I go to bed at.  Sheeeesh.....I can't keep this up, I know that for sure!  I'm hoping it's just the excitement of our new adventure (because each morning I am so drawn to reviewing & preparing what we are doing for the day and thinking about the day before. 

So...that's about it.  Week One was a smashing success.  Here's hoping (and knowing) that week 2 will be even better than the first!  I am the happiest I have ever been and truly feel like I am doing, what I am supposed to be doing now in my life!  YAY!!!

Our new school day & what it looks like.

So school started yesterday and in our house it looks a little different than in previous years.

I woke up feeling a little excited, a little nervous and very much relieved that Noah was going to be home with me this year!

It was raining and I didn't have a special 'first day of school' outfit, so naturally I was worried about how I was going to get our traditional '1st day of school' photos.

Before school even started, I left both boys sleep to go to my appointment to have my 'suspicious mole' removed from over my eye.  Looking forward to the results in a couple of weeks.  Here's the before and after:

                                     BEFORE                                      AFTER

So as I was driving home from the hospital, I realized that we don't need to take the same type of photo as last year on our 'first' day of school....because it's different!

So here is our new 'first day of school' photo, Noah proudly and excitedly showing his school work for the year!

Can ya tell he's one happy boy?

So this is what our new school day looks like:

First period of the day:

GYM CLASS (30 min)

WII style

I join in, but probably wasn't a good idea.

At the end, my incision was bleeding a bit

and I had lots of throbbing over my eye!

Next up:

MATH (60 minutes)

Saxon 54

Noah is SO strong in math and loves it!

Next up:

LANGUAGE ARTS (30 min)

(on the couch with our dog)

Pathway Readers: Building Our Lives

Reading aloud and comprehension

Next:

back to the kitchen table for 

more

LANGUAGE ARTS (30 min)

using

Growing with Grammar

Grammar is something the public schools no longer teach (around here),

so this was a whole new concept for Noah.

I'm sure he'll struggle a bit, but we'll work that through!

Next:

more

LANGUAGE ARTS (30 min)

using  Spelling Workout

considering Noah has been in French,

we have gone heavy into Language Arts

to get his English up to speed.

In January, we plan to order 

Rosetta Stone French

to have him keep up what he has already learned in French.

For now, we want him to focus on English to give him a little base!

Then we had some outdoor play time and lunch.

After lunch:

SCIENCE (30 min)

Noah confesses that this is his MOST exciting subject

and can't wait to get into doing more experiments!

Then we did some reading about:

CANADIAN HISTORY (15 min)

&

CANADIAN GEOGRAPHY (15 min)

with the help of the cat and dog

from a couple of books I picked up through Scholastic last year

Noah LOVED these subjects and was FULL of questions.

I had to call a friend who 1. is a teaching mom and 2. IS a teacher & 3. is a Christian,

to help me out with some deep questions Noah was asking about Creation vs. Evolution and about dinosaurs and God! 

She was SO sweet and helped Noah (and I) out.  She went above and beyond.  We had her on the phone for a good 20 minutes.  I am SO thankful for her time, Thanks Shawna!!!

Luckily, she invited to attend their church on the 26th (I think), to meet a 'Creationist'.  A creationist is someone who specializes in creation theories. 

We are SO excited for this opportunity! 

We will do this every day and wanting to be involved, Jacques said he will teach the

full curriculum for these 2 subjects (yay, gives mama a break)!

After school was done, Noah worked on some cursive writing

with the cat's help, of course!!

After supper, Jacques was just as excited as

I was to get to his teaching so we did some more:

HISTORY (30 min)

I LOVE that Jacques LOVES history and he rocks it out!

Noah was FULL of questions

So that's it folks, this is what our new day looks like.

Thoughts after day one:

• Noah is ONE happy boy who is so excited to be learning. 
• He had a day FULL of RESPECT.
• He finished the school day with NO headache
• (last year, he came home EVERY day with a headache). 
• He's energetic and wants to do more.
  
• I am extremely tired (possibly to do with waking up at 5:30am).
• I have NO headache.
• I am one happy mama watching my boy LOVE learning today.
• I am excited (after we went to staples and got his science book all ready) to 'not' be confused about science today.
• Looking forward to another day!

We're ready....

....for school (I think) to start tomorrow!    Or as ready as we're going to be!

Got our books, our agenda and our supplies.

All the pencils are sharpened, the white boards are clean. 

Got this cute little cabinet from my cousin (who had been storing it for 2 years now for me)!

We just brought it home this summer and it was PERFECT to house all of our school books!

YAY for us!

One little snag in our plans...I have an 8am appt to have a suspicious mole removed! 

The mole has grown from a small freckle to about a 1cm mole.

This photo was taken in 1999 where it was only a freckle.

And this photo was taken in 2006 (where it was a bigger freckle).

And now this photo was just taken today where you can see it is about a 1cm round mole.

So the doctor thought it was best to have it removed, and we are!

Luckily, we can do school when I get home!

Happy 1st Day of School to all our friends!