David's 1st decade

David is 10 years old. As I looked at pictures to post for this timeline I kept thinking "that wasn't that long ago... that wasn't that long ago... that wasn't that long ago..." Where does the time go? It makes me sad that the time goes so fast but what brings me tears is how proud I am of our first born son. Thank you David for 10 years of smiles, laughter and all around joy. We look forward to many many many more. Love you!
(PS- This Blog update has been backdated because I am behind).

First Day of School 2015

Today is the first day of school for David (Grade 4), Angeline (Grade 1), and Samara (Kindergarten). David will be attending class once a week as well as Nature School once a month. He attended his first Nature School last week and spent a whole day in the woods. Angeline and Samara will be attending twice a week together in a K/1 split class. We have already began our school work at home with much enthusiasm but today is their first day in class.

David

David turned 9 at the end of June and celebrated with a handful of friends in early July. This Birthday was one of the hardest for me knowing that my Baby will hit double digits next year and that he is 1/2 way though to graduating high school (though he still currently claims that he wants to live with me even after he grows up).
He is currently reading through the Star Wars series and also continues to enjoy lego, bionicles, pokemon, minecraft, and board games. He is also continuing in Karate though his attendance has been more sporadic during the summer months.
If I could have a birthday wish granted and his behalf it would be that he wouldn't take life so seriously (sometimes) and that he would just enjoy being a kid... but alas, he is a first born.

First Day of School

Last week Angeline had her first day of Kindergarten and David had his first day of Grade 3. We have a lot of new things going on with school this year. While we are continuing to Homeschool we have changed which school we Homeschool through and with that comes a number of changes because there are many differences in how they operate. We were formally homeschooling though RCOA which is a Private Christian School. We are now currently homeschooling with HomeQuest which is part of Delta School District. HomeQuest operates out of PineWood Elementary School in Delta. So far we are really happy we made the switch.
Currently Angeline and David attend class on Tuesdays with the option of attending twice a week. We have decided to attend once a week for now and will look at attending 2 full days a week when school starts up in January.
One of the advantages of HomeQuest that we are really excited about is that they offer many field trips. We all visited Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch on Friday and are looking forward to "Learn to Fish" near the end of October. There are 1-2 field trips each week so you can pick and choose which ones to participate in (for free). The above picture was taken at the Pumpkin Patch and the kids each brought home a different colour pumpkin. We are looking forward to tasting the blue, white and red pumpkins we brought home which are supposedly much tastier then the average orange pumpkin.
I was not sure what to expect having 2 students when the last 3 years it has been 1 on 1 but much to my surprise we have transitioned very well. We are looking forward to another great year of learning, family time, and many memories made.

David's 8th Birthday - Lego Party

Well, it has been a busy few weeks. It is actually July 4th but I wanted to back post David's Birthday before I continued blogging with our Baby News from yesterday.
David chose a Lego Movie theme this year and had a fun party with 5 friends (Joel is missing from the pictures as he had to leave early). Thank you to everyone for coming and for the special gifts!

8 isn't one of those milestone Birthdays that brings tears to a mothers eyes but I am still in awe that my Baby (my first baby that is) is 8 years old! That is only 2 years away from 10! As part of turning 8 David got to move into his own bedroom which he is going to have to share eventually when his new room mate arrives. He love, love, loves Lego as you may have guessed from his party's theme. He has also recently developed an interest in Pokemon. A new age came with a bit of new attitude but he continues to be our loving, considerate, generous & happy first born son. We love you David!

David's Dirt Bike

Christmas Performances 2013

This Year David was part of the kids Christmas Choir at our church for their annual Christmas Musical. The title was "Out of the Box Christmas" and as you can see from the pictures there were cowboys, pirates and super heros. It was lots of fun.
Samara was our little Angel in the church Preschool Pageant and Angeline was a Narator. During rehearsal she wouldn't say her lines so we were all a little nervous but come pageant day I was feeling confident that she would come through. She did a good job with her memorization "Outside of Bethlehem some shepherds were watching their sheep at night. An Angel appeared to the shepherds and the Glory of the Lord shone around them. The shepherds were afraid!" Samara doesn't care to be up from and centre so we didn't get much singing out of her. Instead she picked her nose nervously.... bless her!

Introducing...

Our Super Man, Little Red Ridding Hood, Fairy Princess and Strawberry...

English Language Arts 2 (Term 1)

English Language Arts is are biggest subject. It requires the most time and it produces the most paper! We are continuing to use  the Sing, Spell, Read and Write Curriculum which we are continuing to enjoy. It is colourful, and offers a lot of variety to keep things interesting. I went through the pile and tried to list everything that we have covered this term. It also has a "Writing Connection" section which gives ideas for journaling and sometimes we come up with our own topics. Journaling is not David's favourite thing to do but he is coming along quite well with his writing and finds it easier to write longer entries then when he first started journaling in August.

SSRW also has stories for reading and comprehension. David participated in his first reading club this summer and read 2 Geronimo Stilton Chapter Books. He is independently reading so he does this throughout the day with whatever might catch his interest. He also likes to read to his sisters.

Manuscript Writing
Short a, Short e, Short i, Short o, Short u, Silent e, c=s words, ay, y=I, ge gi and gy, y=e
Sentence Scramble
Syllables
Compound Words
Root Words
Twin Consonants
Cloze
Suffixes
Verb Usage
Proof Reading
Word Clues
Rhryming
Matching (Word to Picture, Subject to Predicate)
Two Vowel Words
Literature Puzzle, Cross Words, Word Search
don't and doesn't, went and gone, came and come, did and done
Word Meanings, Word Association
Alphabetical Order
Sentence Structure, Complete and Incomplete Sentences, Subject and Predicate

Christian Foundations 2 (Term 1)

David started out first term using the same curriculum from last year for Christian Studies because we really enjoy it. After a few weeks I decided to take a break from it because I found he is learning so much just from the activities he attends. Studying God's word is a wonderful thing but we definitely don't want to overwhelm him with it!

This year David is attending BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) with his Grandpa on Monday nights. I recommend this to ALL parents who are wanting a more in depth Bible Study for themselves and their kids. It is a 2 hour program and the teachers are excellent. David has a really fun time.
During the week David completes 6 days of BSF homework. He also memorized a verse. These are NOT your typical Sunday School memory verses.
This year in BSF they are studying the book of Matthew. Here is the memory verse David learned for lesson 6.
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

David also attends Sunday School at our church. I really like the program they are using as well. He has 4 days of Bible Study homework. This is a themed study where they have been learning about Honor. He also memorizes a verse each week for Sunday School. This year he is working towards earning his second pin in a 9 year memory verse program. During Sunday School they have also begun practising for their Christmas performance. David is part of the choir so he is learning to sing as part of a group. He enjoys practising at home with the music CD.

For Bible Reading David has The Adventure Bible and The Adventure Bible Devotional. He also enjoys reading his Action Bible (which is the stories of the Bible in Comic Strip). He has memorized the names of the 66 books of the bible in order. Last week his Opa was telling a friend that David knew the Bible Books in order so the friend asked David "What comes after Ezekiel?"... David-"DANIEL!" He has also learned this term how to find the book, chapter and verse he is looking for.

As a family we enjoy watching "What's in the Bible with Buck Denver."



This year we sponsored a compassion child. Her name is Sabrina and we often pray for her before dinner. David decided it would also be good to pray for Dixon who is one of the Compassion Children our Church All Star Kids sponsor, they raise enough money during 1 week Vacation Bible School to provide for 2 sponsor kids all year long. David recently filled a shoebox for Samaritans Purse (this has been part of our Christmas traditions for many years now) then on Sunday he came home with another box so he went with me to fill it yesterday. These have been good opportunities to learn that not everyone has the same abundance we so often take for granted.

Mathematics 2 (Term 1)

Summer always goes by in a hurry. This is our 3rd year homeschooling and the school year now seems to pass just as quickly. Here I am beginning my reports for Term 1.

Math is David's favorite subject. He finds it easy and quick. It is the easiest subject for me to teach. We are continuing to use "Math U See" curriculum which I love! There is a DVD for each lesson which we watch together. If David needs more instruction we go over it further on our white board but this is seldom the case. There are also lots of online resources on the Math U See website. Each week we cover 1 lesson which consists of 12 worksheets and 1 test. There are also unit tests and each week also reviews the previous weeks so that it all stays fresh.

David is currently working on lesson 8 and will have completed 10 lessons by the end of term 1. These lessons cover the following:
1. Place Value
2. Sequencing; Word Problem Tips
3. Inequalities
4. Rounding to 10 and Estimation
5. Multiple-Digit Addition
6. Skip Counting by 2
7. Addition with Regrouping (Carrying)
8. Skip Count by 10
9. Skip Count by 5; 5 cents=1 Nickel
10. Money: Decimal Point and Dollars
Many of these lessons we covered in kindergarten and Grade 1 so they were review. David caught on to the new lessons easily. Estimation and Regrouping were both completely new to him. David does well on his tests. He completes them without help which allows him to feel confident and allows me to know if there is anything we need to work on. He often gets all the answers correct. He sometimes gets one answer wrong and the most he has gotten wrong on a test is 2. This is where we see his perfectionist side come out! He really doesn't like to make a mistake. He is learning to check his work.

A+ from Mom
Good Job David!

September Kids Update

David lost his 3rd tooth this month (with a little help from me). His adult tooth was growing in behind it but the baby tooth was holding on tight. A few weeks after the dentist said it would be out in a matter of days I took matters into my own hands. He will probably loose his 4th tooth next month as it is wiggly as well and the adult tooth is growing in. His front adult teeth are growing in a little farther back then I would like but I am hoping they come forward on their own. Apart from that he has started Grade 2 (at home) and is doing well. He has days where he wishes he could do away with school altogether but when he has his mind set he gets his work done very quickly. He would much rather occupy his time building Lego and K'nex. Mondays and Fridays are very busy. He starts his week with swimming lessons and Bible Study Fellowship (with Grandpa Rob) and finishes off with Community Class (had decided not to do this but changed my mind again) and Friday Night Friends, Sports Camp.

Angeline is now 4 1/2. She has been waiting anxiously to reach this stage since she turned 4. Next on the list is turning 5. She is eager to learn to read but not so eager to take directions from Mommy or anyone else. (Might have "fun" homeschooling her when she starts kindergarten next September). She knows what she wants and when she wants it. She likes to tell everyone what to do. She wants to be older so much that she is always trying to do grown up things which has been getting her into a lot of trouble. All in one week she cut Samara's hair, filled the laundry machine soap dispenser, filled the tub with Johnson & Johnson (2 minutes after I lectured her about the laundry soap), added oats to our porridge that had already been cooking and shampooed Samara's hair (what's left of it) with my face wash (that's jus what I remember... the rest of it is a bit of a daze). She often means well and can be very helpful looking out for her siblings, helping with chores and she keeps us all on our toes!

Samara bounces back and forth between Angeline's sidekick or victim :) I can see how she gets stuck in the middle not being big enough for some things and being too big for others. She is potty trained which helps a ton but bed time is still a bit of a struggle. She recently saw a paediatric ear, nose, and throat specialist because of her LARGE tonsils and has been put on a waiting list to have them removed. He surgery won't likely take place until she is between the age of 3 1/2 - 4. Her talking has really picked up since June... sometimes we can't get her to stop! Her favourite shows are "Dora" and the "Lego Batman" movie. She likes to sing and is looking forward to "Moms & Tots" starting up this week.

Rebekah. I can't quite decide what my bigger challenge is right now. 1)Angeline's Experiments or 2)Weaning Rebekah. We thought we were weaning Rebekah in August but it didn't work out like we had planned. I don't mind that she is still nursing (she is only 13.5 months) but she is getting up about 4 times a night and I am tired! It's hard to come up with a game plan with her. I think our next step is to sleep train her, just not sure when or how we are going to do that. Her walking has gotten much faster over the last month and she has also discovered climbing. She got onto our white kitchen garbage can without standing on anything else. She is often up on a stool peeking on the counter and has also climbed into our cupboard, toy bin and onto our white cabinet. She LOVES music... particularly the first song on the kids VBS CD from this year. As soon as it comes on she stopes what she is doing, gets a huge smile on her face and starts dancing and clapping.

Jonathan and I are doing well. We recently discovered a dating journal we kept so that was a lot of fun to read through and we are looking forward to celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary next month. Sorry... no pictures for now but I may try to do a picture post soon now that I've got the writing complete.

David has so much to celebrate!

Today we got together with family and celebrated David's 7th Birthday. He got an award at Sunday School for memorizing all his memory verses this year. He has one more week of his fist soccer season and he had a fun day at Sports Day with the Delta Home Learners. Now that we have finished up grade 1 he spends a lot of time playing lego, super hero's, on the backyard playground and with his nose in a book. His new favourites are Geronimo Stilton and Captain Underpants. We are really proud of David and we love him very much!

David's 7th Birthday - Super Hero

David's 7th Birthday - Super Hero, a set on Flickr.

David and his friends had a Super time being Super Hero's for his 7th Birthday. Every year I let the kids pick the theme for their parties and this year Super Hero's was it! The capes were a big hit and I was very thankful to have help with them (yay for Oma's, Nana's & Aunties)! Big thanks to David's Super Hero friends who helped make it a Super Fun day!