Back to School

We are all officially back in school as of this week! Monday was a very exciting day because it was Laura's very first day of kindergarten!

Andrew began 8th grade with his online school. He loves it!

James began 6th grade and David 4th grade in our regular homeschool.

And Rachel doesn't have a first day of school picture but she began her sophomore year at Covenant Christian High School at the end of July. Her fall sport is golf which appeals greatly to me because this means I get to escape for a few hours every week to beautiful nature where I can sit in a cart, watch Rachel play, enjoy the outdoors, and think.

We took a field trip to the State Fair this week! The weather was nice and we always look forward to this tradition.

I loved the bonsai exhibit. I have always been drawn to trees, a bit like being drawn to cows and farms. Maybe someday I'll have a bonsai.....

The kids loved the Lego table at the fair. They did not want to leave it!

I loved all this farm machinery created out of Lego!!!!

And this farm!!! I loved it! Look at the wheat, and there were soybeans and corn too!

And the garden!

We chose our day at the fair specifically to watch the Knights of Valour perform a jousting competition. It was fantastic!

150 pounds of armor on each knight! James is all ready to build his own!

Imagine how hot it was for these poor "knights" in all that armor! But it sure was fun to get an up-close look at a tilt yard and just how a joust competition works.

Here's a little video:

We also love the Pioneer Village at the state fair:

To end our first week of school, and to help reinforce our study of Maine and Massachusetts in geography class, I decided it was time to introduce the children to lobster. None of them had ever had it. So we invested in one lobster. (Which Laura suggested she might like to keep as a pet.)

And we all tried the lobster!

The child who hopes to live in Maine one day LOVED it, some of the others enjoyed it, and one isn't into seafood that much. 

On Fridays we do "fun school" which consists of read alouds, educational games, crafts, drawing, hiking, cooking, art, Bible, and things of that sort. This week we had time for cooking and the kids made Boston baked beans, Boston brown bread, and blueberry buckle. Yum!

Here's what we are using in homeschool this year:

America From the Beginning (America From the Beginning: A U.S. History Curriculum for Grades 3-8). I always struggle trying to find a history textbook because I am never satisfied. I probably won't ever, even if I wrote one myself. That's my basic struggle with homeschooling in general -- there is SO much more to study and learn than can ever be taught. That said, I think I'm going to be happy with this textbook overall.

Trail Guide To Us Geography Teachers Man We've gone through this trail guide before -- maybe 3 years ago -- and have begun it now again. We are focusing on two states a week -- a pretty fast journey through America, but it gives the kids a little taste of the other states. Along with this I utilize the ABC books that you can find for each state -- like "H is for Hoosier". And, when time allows, we can make state foods to try.

  Hoosiers and the American Story. I am so excited about this new textbook for Indiana State History. It's time for James and David to study Indiana history this year and it's also perfect because we will be celebrating 200 years of statehood in 2016. I'm hoping we can tailor several field trips and many read alouds to facilitate this study.


Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning (TM)). Since we are studying American History this year I thought we could take a little time to learn more about great American artists while we are at it. This book is my guide and I can add in little clips from Youtube to help with various painters' lives and works.

Who Is God? (And Can I Really Know Him?) -- Biblical Worldview of God and Truth (What We Believe, Volume 1) is the book we are using for Bible this year. It seems to be a good level for both James and David.


Exploring Creation With Botany -- Young Explorer Series (Young Explorer (Apologia Educational Ministries)) is our science textbook and with this we will focus on doing a lot of botanical drawings and hikes at Eagle Creek. This may be my favorite area of science.

This is the curriculum we use when we do school together. The kids do grammar, math, and handwriting on their own and we are very blessed to have an excellent writing teacher nearby from whom they can take "Institute for Excellence in Writing" classes from throughout the year.

And so, off we go into another 180 days of education!

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State Fair 2014

This was our week to visit the Indiana State Fair! What a great time we had! We all managed to get there on Tuesday and I went back on Friday with a friend to see the Home and Family Arts and the Sheep!

Oh yes! We were happy that our visit coincided with sheep events!

We happened upon the cutest event ever! The first-time sheep shower's event where kids and their sheep dress up!

This three year old was my favorite. Little Red Riding Hood and her sheep was the Big Bad Wolf!!!

This guy was pretty awesome too with his Purdue outfit. I think he took second place.

At the same time the "sheep fitting" contest was going on. The 4h-ers had an hour to prepare their sheep for the judges.

These tractor trains go around the fair all day long. On Friday we decided to enjoy the luxury of actually riding one!

Tuesday was our "BIG DAY" at the fair -- 11.5 hours. We had a great day and even enjoyed several things we had never experienced before!

I always enjoy the agricultural building. We were too early for the prize-winning pumpkins but these cabbages were impressive!

And we visited "the big cheese sculpture". The artist does a different theme each year.

The donkeys were in the horse barn on Tuesday. They were so cute!

We made it into the historic drugstore which is something I had never done before. You can order sodas at the old-fashioned soda counter.

Our friends from Michigan came down to do the fair with us!

Another new thing to us was watching a live veterinary surgery! How cool is that?! We watched them perform a hysterectomy on a female dog.

The tractors are always a draw:

And so is Little Hands on the Farm. Laura is the perfect age:

Milking the cow:

And the Pioneer Village is a perennial favorite. I love the outdoor kitchens and the vintage furnishings.

The kids love the store with the penny candy!

And we always stop at the Rug Hooking place. This year I was just mesmerized by the Rooster Rug. You should see it in person! It is an amazing work of art! I heard it took 900 hours to complete!

Some of the kids took a turn at archery:

And another new to us adventure was the DNR fishing! The kids sat through a 15 minute talk and then had another 15 minutes to fish in the pond. There were adult volunteers for each child!

David was rewarded with a fish!!!

We popped into the 4h buildings to see Rachel and Andrew's projects! Sadly, Rachel's beautiful shawl was not displayed very well but it was put right next to the Loki dolls made by one of my Knit Girls!!!!

The Dairy Barn is also tradition. Yay for friends!!!!!

The milkshakes at the Dairy Barn are HUGE! Laura could barely eat half!

And then it was time for the Midway -- two rides each and the Ferris Wheel.

It took hours and hours to decide on which rides.

But they sure enjoyed them!!!!

Laura loved the carousel! The best fun is watching the faces of the parents as they watch the grins on their kids -- I think I counted at least 5 parents grinning from ear-to-ear.

We all managed to cram into one basket on the Ferris Wheel. I always forget how scary it is to go up in that swinging basket!

Here we are on the Ferris Wheel!

I do love the views from up above! And of course all the nostalgia that comes over me when I think about my favorite "fair books" I read as a child.

Back to Friday and the sheep barn. Most of the sheep were shorn, which is kind of a pity since it was their fleeces we really wanted to see!

At the Home and Family Arts Building, without the children, we could wander at our leisure and admire and discuss all the knitting/crochet/sewing entries.

Look! Someone knitted the "Royal Wedding"!!!! How cool is that?!

My favorite quilt was this one made in the style of the 1930's. Such intricate piecing and tiny little quilting by hand.

I was also impressed with this one -- all stitching throughout done by hand.

The row of knitting and crochet:

My friend, Janet, who came with me on Friday had only ever been to the State Fair once before in her life!!! An elephant ear was therefore a must!!!

And so ends another year's adventure at the fair. Already we are looking forward to next year!