Will's First Year of High School at Home

Well, this school year has come to a close, and the new one is just around the corner. Well, kind of :). This year will be the first in a long time that I am choosing not to follow along with the school calendar (public or private) for our homeschool. Kate graduated in May and will be starting college classes at the end of August, so I'm thinking Will and I will probably wait to start school when she does.

Back to the Blog

Wow! I haven't been around here in quite a while! I can't believe it's already the end of June and the last time I was here was near the end of April. Wow!

I have to admit... I've kind of gotten caught up in the Instagram craze. Kind of easy to keep up with friends and family through the posting of pictures. But I realize I sure have missed blogging. A lot has happened around here since April.

Home Schooling...Just My Thoughts

When we first began our homeschooling journey in 1999, my oldest child (and only student at the time) was in 4th grade. (I also had a preschooler and a toddler.) I had no ideas of my own as to what home education would look like for my family, only that this was what God was telling us to do. Several homeschooling families that I knew were educating their children using Abeka curriculum, and since Abeka publishes curriculum for the traditional classroom, I chose to utilize their materials in our homeschool. I thought that was what I would be most comfortable with, given my traditional public school background.

Journey Toward Learning

Yesterday was Will's first day of school. I waited a week after Kate started back before starting with him. This year I wanted to give myself a little time to adjust slowly, rather than starting them back at the same time like I did last year. The extra week helped some. I know it wouldn't be a big deal if they were both at home, but getting back into the routine of getting Kate off to school needs some getting used to around here.

Final Decision = Learning Process

I received the news Friday afternoon. It's final now. The other insurance company has denied the claim. The lady who ran the red light, damaging my vehicle and injuring my daughter and me, has walked away free and clear. Her insurance does not have to pay for the damage that has been done. Because of an inaccurate police report. 

I have been angry. For a little over three weeks now my car has been sitting in the body repair shop, just waiting. I have been in physical pain from the injuries I sustained in the accident. For three weeks now I have just been waiting.

And in the waiting, God has used this time to teach me much. If God is God, then He is sovereign. It is within His will to work as He pleases in my life. I have to assure myself that God has my best interests at heart, that He (and not I) knows what is best for me, in all things. The question I must ask myself is this: Do I trust Him?

Do I trust that He knows what is best? Do I believe that this whole incident has turned out so wrongly because He has allowed it to be so? For reasons that may be known only to Him.

In these three weeks of waiting, I have been learning to wait on Him, to wait in His presence. Have I been asking Him to help the insurance company to make a decision in my favor? Yes, I have. Have I been so focused on me? On my perceived needs and wants? Yes, I have.

Have I, even once, asked Him to bring glory to His name through this? Have I asked how I could honor Him in this? No, sadly, I have not.

Until now.

As I have pondered all this, I have been reminded of something that I have forgotten along the way: God never promised that everything would be easy in my life, that everything would always work out just like I think it should. Simply put, God never promised that life would be fair. He never said that I wouldn't have to be uncomfortable sometimes, that I wouldn't have to suffer sometimes.

He also said that He would never leave me nor forsake me. When it seems as if nothing is going right, and everything has gone all wrong, I can take comfort in knowing that God is for me. That He is on my side. That He is working all things together for my good, and His glory.

As you can imagine, we've had lots of advice from well-meaning friends and family. The most popular advice being to hire an attorney and take the insurance company to court. Don't think we haven't thought about it, discussed it, considered it. It seems like the most probable solution to cover the debt we have incurred because of this accident.

But as we have been praying, my husband and I don't feel like this is the path the Lord would have us take. My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts.

In the end, I have to put it all in God's hands. And I have to leave it there. I can't keep taking it back, thinking there is anything I can do to fix it. I have done all I can. I have talked to the police officer, asking him to make the report right. I have talked to the insurance agent, asking her to consider the statements from the eyewitnesses. I have prayed, asking God to let this insurance company assume liability. I have done all I can.

So, no it didn't work out at all like I expected it to. Am I concerned about how much this will cost, and what my insurance won't cover? Yes, of course. But I have to let go and trust God. He is sovereign. He knew this would happen. And He knew how it would turn out. As I am still learning, He sees the beginning from the end. This is just another piece of the puzzle, and He sees the completed project when I can't.

 

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

Georgia National Fair

Our third field trip this fall (wow! are we getting any book work done? yes, we actually are.) was to the Georgia National Fair in Perry Georgia. My two youngest children and I have been to this fair once about three years ago. This time, my husband was able to accompany us.

The only thing that was disappointing was the fact that the livestock shows were not scheduled to start until the next day! We don't show any livestock, but it is fun to watch some of the shows. The first time we went to this fair we were able to watch the miniature horse show. That was pretty cool, so we were disappointed that we didn't get to see that again. But other than that, we had a fabulous time at the Georgia National Fair!



at the poultry exhibit

It was fun seeing the baby chicks. We were even able to watch one hatch in the incubator!



watching a baby chick hatch

at the petting zoo

maybe he's not too happy with his cage mates



Are we in Mayberry?

This is my child that keeps us laughing!

an archaeology exhibit

at the circus

 an Australian animal exhibit

my little "upside-down" joey... I told you he's the family comedian.

heritage exhibits

enjoying honey straws while waiting for the show to begin

photo op with the cast of "Wild West Shenani-Guns"

As you can see, we had a wonderful time at the national fair! I hate that we missed the livestock shows, though. Well, some of them! As I said before, the miniature horse show is so cute. We enjoyed a magic show, a science show, an animal education show, a pig race (my son was chosen to participate in the race, but his pig didn't win), and the circus. There was so much to see and do, we didn't have time to go to the midway for the rides. But no matter. We had a fabulous day nonetheless!

Jekyll Island Field Trip

We have several fall field trips scheduled for this month. This past Thursday we went to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and the 4H Tidelands Nature Center on Jekyll Island. My daughter was out of school the last half of this week, and my husband took off work so we were able to go on this field trip as a family (minus our son at college).

the group

Here is our guide, about to feed Amy, an injured loggerhead sea turtle. Amy has trouble swimming down to feed, so for now she lives at the Center and serves as an ambassador for her species. They expect her to overcome her injuries and be released in the wild soon.

We were able to meet the patients at the Center and our guide shared with us about the injuries these turtles have suffered. This one was injured by a boat propeller. One of the turtles even had a stroke! He is currently unable to dive down to feed, and he is in rehabilitation where he is relearning to swim!

friends

We even saw one of the patients having some sort of procedure performed.

It was fun learning all about sea turtles, about their journey from hatchling to adulthood. I thought it was neat that no matter how far they migrate, females will always return to the same beach where they were hatched in order to lay their eggs. Wow! Only God can get the glory for that! And males will spend their entire lives in the ocean, never going ashore.

Our next stop was at the 4H Tidelands Nature Center where we participated in a herpetology program and learned much about the reptiles and amphibians native to our area.

getting started

We learned that this terrapin lives in the salt water marshes of Jekyll Island.

petting a yellow rat snake

father and daughter, enjoying the program

These next photos are of some of the inhabitants of the Nature Center:

yellow-bellied sliders

I forgot what kind of snake this is, but I thought it was so cool to see it drinking from its water dish!

soft-shelled turtle

hermit crab

watching the starfish move about in their habitat

It was such a nice day, we decided to finish up our trip with a stop at the beach! Some of the kids swam, but most just waded in the surf. The water was definitely a little chilly! Even we adults decided to take off our shoes and roll up our pants legs and walk on the shore. A fun ending to a fun day!

I do believe a fun time was had by all!

Pioneer Harvest Festival

We took a group of kids from our church to the Pioneer Harvest Festival on Saturday. Although only two from my family went, we had an enjoyable time. It was a nice day for it, perfect weather. Personally, I love history, so I really enjoyed myself. It was a good history lesson for my son too, seeing the people dressed in period costume, hearing them explain what they were doing, seeing what life was like in that time period. I think his favorite thing, aside from the animals of course, was the blacksmith shop. All the volunteers did an excellent job portraying their role, but the "smithy" really took the time to explain to everyone exactly what he was doing and why. Here's our day in pictures.

on the hayride from the parking lot to the Pioneer Village

asking this lady some questions about quilting

this lady showed us all the steps involved in taking wool from the sheep to the loom

enjoying watching this little girl make candles

inspecting her handiwork

at the smokehouse, learning how pioneers preserved the meat the father provided for his family's food 

taking a turn at sawing wood

at the blacksmith shop, the kids all had a turn at being a "bellows boy", keeping the fire at a high temperature

by means of pumping air into the fireplace with a hand-cranked bellows or forge

probably the funnest part of the day for him, meeting all the animals on the homestead, learning about their care and upkeep, and why they were needed on the farm

feeding the goats

a tunnel built onto the side of a tobacco barn, we never learned of its purpose...

mom & son

sitting on the back porch of the cabin, just outside the kitchen

We had a great time learning about the pioneers and their way of life. We watch Little House on the Prairie at our house, so he knew a good bit already as we were making our way around the village. In the HOD curriculum this year, we will read A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840, by Barbara Greenwood. I can hardly wait to get to it! I just love history, and seeing how everything weaves together for God's glory. After all, it is HIS-story.