If you ask me, we had a really long, cold winter and it felt like it lasted FOREVER. So, when it finally started warming up we were immediately outside and we were all much happier. Warm weather means more adventures, more exploring, and later bedtimes.
Abram ended his basketball season with going to a Washington Wizards game. I thought this was a great ending to their season and much more memorable than a party. Jack and Luke were thrilled that at the last minute, they got to go... so, all three experienced their first basketball game together. Makes my mama heart happy!
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| Abram with his basketball team. |
This year in Classical Conversations, we studied Africa in geography, so this nerdy homeschool mom was thrilled when we heard that The Lion King was coming to Richmond! Chris and I surprised the boys with tickets and we all just loved it! The songs, the larger than life animals... everything!
Fall is spectacular here in Virginia, but spring time brings the cherry blossoms, which still continues to be my absolute favorite! This year instead of fighting the crowds and traffic at the Tidal Basin, we went to a new place. We ventured out to the National Arboretum to see the blossoms there, and they were stunning. Even better, the boys could run around and play with sticks, while I took in the beauty of the trees. It was just perfect. We even stumbled upon The National Bonsai Museum. It was amazing and Luke couldn't get enough of the "tiny trees." He loved them so much he did his presentation on them the following week at CC.
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| Abram is learning how to take pictures. I just love seeing him use my old camera. |
A big event every spring for an Essentials student (4th-6th grade) is Faces of History. This was Abram's first year and he chose to present on Bach. He had to write a five-paragraph paper, dress in costume and give a presentation to his classmates, parents and teachers. Because Abram presented on Bach, he also chose to learn and perform a song Bach wrote. It was absolutely amazing and he did a fabulous job. We were so very proud of him!
Chris is continuing to wow all of us by doing races... this spring he did the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.
Of course it isn't spring in our house until we celebrate Jack and Luke's birthday. This year they turned 7 and they had an amazing day! They were especially looking forward to this birthday because it was their Golden Birthday. They turned 7 on the 7th. They got to pick out all their food for the day, had friends over for dessert and went camping and to see "David" with their Gram.
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| Birthday waffles for breakfast |
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| Cheese and Meat tray for lunch... their favorite. |
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| The annual birthday flag picture |
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| Cookie dough and pudding dessert with the Hill boys! |
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| Ice Cream Sandwich birthday cake... look at those smiles! |
One of their special birthday trips was a camping trip to Westmoreland. It was a chilly, but fun weekend. We went hiking, searching for shark teeth and tried some new camping food.
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| Camp Nachos... a new favorite! |
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| I love this picture of Luke and Abram! |
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| Our findings at Fossil Beach |
Easter is always a special time in our house, and this year was no different. Its such a sweet time to share the truth of the Gospel with the boys and answer their questions. This year we read a new book called Amon's Adventure and it was just an amazing presentation of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Our Easter morning started with an Easter basket scavenger hunt (Abram's favorite) and then we made our resurrection rolls. After church we had a (chilly) picnic in the park with our friends and then came home to dye eggs. I love that my 10 year old still loves to do this with his brothers! The day ended with a backyard Easter egg hunt, which turned into throwing the eggs on the trampoline and then jumping with them and our Peeps Smores.
This year was a special year for our family in our homeschool journey. While it wasn't our first year to homeschool, it was our first year to start and finish with a CC community. We loved every minute of it. Our friends, our tutors, art projects... everything. This upcoming year will also be a bit different because I will be our community's director. A position I am very excited about but also very nervous. But I have no doubt it will be great because of all the amazing people in our community that we do this homeschool journey with.
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| Jack and Luke's class |
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| Abram's class |
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| Subject Memory Masters- Abram memory mastered in History, Timeline and English |
The second part of Jack and Luke's birthday didn't happen until the end of April and we also combined with with my mom's Mother's Day gift... we took a road trip to see "David" at the Sights and Sounds Theatre in Lancaster, PA. It was just spectacular! The giants, lions, forgiveness... it was breathtaking.
I took a special trip this year with my sweet friend, Heather. We traveled to Cincinnati to the Great Homeschool Convention. We had such a great time... the highlight of our trip was getting to meet two homeschool guru's- Andrew Pudewa and Sarah Mackenzie.
This has also been the time for frogs. We took a trip to our friend's lake to see their bullfrogs. Jack and Luke were petrified and didn't want to pick up the frogs, but they overcame their fears and loved it! Those bullfrogs were huge. And sure enough, our family went for a hike and Jack and Luke for searching for frogs and found three. They are now official frog hunters!
All three boys enjoyed their first full year of TrailLife this year, too. They earned their badges, took hikes, had a lego car race and even learned about beekeeping.
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| Taking a hike while on their weekend campout |
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| With their lego cars. Luke got a medal for the speediest car. |
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| Learning about beekeeping with our neighbor and a friend. |
Also, Chris and Abram took a special trip to our favorite place, White Sulphur Springs, for a passport to purity weekend. They had such a great time together... discussing hard things, but also getting to do it together. Our prayer for Abram is that he knows he can always come to us with questions and that he guards his heart.
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| He's growing up so fast! |
A special gift that my parents got the boys for their birthday is a Eat2Explore subscription. Each month they get a box from a country and three recipes to cook. We have loved it. We have had some yummy food from Southern US, Ethiopia, and India. The boys are learning so much and getting to try new food that they normally wouldn't try.
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| Cornbread |
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| How Luke prefers to cook with onions! |
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| Putting meatballs into the stew |
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| So fun cooking together! |
And finally, our last event of the spring was Abram's choir concert. Not only did he sing, but he was given the opportunity to play the bells for one song. He did a great job. We loved seeing his concentrating face while reading the music.
And now... we are ready for the SUMMER!! Pool time, the beach, vacations and snow cones! We can't wait.
