Passport2Purity Get-Away

For my daughter's 12th birthday, I planned a little get-away for just the two of us. We didn't go too far away from home, but I planned things I knew she'd enjoy and make her feel special. While we were away, we went through five sessions of the Passport2Purity curriculum by Family Life. 

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We left on a Thursday afternoon, but she was all packed and prepared to leave by Wednesday afternoon. She was very excited. 

Before leaving town, we stopped by Starbucks for one of her favorite drinks, and enjoyed some laughs over a few mad libs. 

I knew I had to reserve a hotel with a pool because this girl loves to swim. Plus, she needed to practice all the new things she learned at her recent swim lessons. 

You know how Jesus said we can't live on bread alone? Well, I think this girl could and that's why I took her to Fazoli's for dinner because she loves pasta and bread. 

In between listening to the sessions on CD, we did an art project and we also did our nails. 

On our final morning we ate breakfast at the hotel, finished up our last session together, checked out of the hotel, did some shopping, enjoyed a lunch at a place of her choosing, and then headed back home. 

We were only gone for about 26 hours, but we learned so much, had a lot of fun, and made a lot of wonderful memories. We had some wonderful, tough conversations and she made it through all the sessions like a champ.

I highly recommend this product to all parents of adolescent children. It was a great guide to help me have some intentional conversations with my child now before it's too late.

The Week We Went to the Swimming Pool

This week I overheard a conversation my youngest daughter had with my husband. She was sharing with him how busy she is. She has school, swimming, AWANA, violin lessons, and Girls in Action (a missions club). Heath and I have had a couple good laughs over a child's version of busy and we are so grateful for all these wonderful and fun activities she has been blessed to participate in.  

On Monday, the children started a 6-week session of swimming lessons at the YMCA. There are only two other children in their class, so they are getting a lot of attention, instruction, and practice. 

In between music lessons, school work, and chores, I found the girls doing a lot of fun things this week. They are still enjoying working with chalk pastels, Kaitlyn is knitting, and they had fun challenging each other in a cup stacking game. 

We have also been busy in the kitchen. Lauren made a pumpkin pie for her dad, but we forgot to put sugar in and we don't recommend doing that. Kaitlyn cooked Shepherd's Pie for dinner one night and it was delicious. The temperatures are dropping, which means enjoying mugs of hot chocolate while doing math lessons. Tyler said this week he feels sorry for all the children at school sitting at their desks and taking pop quizzes while he's at home drinking delicious hot chocolate. 

Menu planning and crock pot cooking are incredibly beneficial during the school year. I like to set my crock pot out the night before so when I wake up I SEE the crock pot and it reminds me to dump the ingredients in and get dinner started. Also, I pull out the recipes I need for the week so I'm not searching for them at 5 o'clock when I want to start dinner. 

We are studying about the Civil Rights Movement in history and after reading about Brown v. Board of Education, we found this PBS website about Ruby Bridges (one of the first little African American girls to integrate into an all white school) and also Homeschool Helper has some wonderful FREE notebook pages like this one for Dr. Martin Luther King.

Our co-op starts next week and we are looking forward to it. Tuesdays will be busy days, but filled with friends, fun, and learning.

How is your school year going? Are you enjoying any fun, enrichment activities? Do you have any tips to share to make getting dinner on the table easier on those busy days?

I am linking up again with Homegrown Learner's Collage Friday. Please click over and check out this fun community who gathers each Friday to share some cute collages and homeschool ideas and encouragement.

Our First Week Back to School

On Monday, we started back into our school groove. This year was the easiest transition we have ever experienced and I believe it is largely due to the fact these three kiddos are older, more mature, and have a few years of practicing good habits under their belts (thank you Charlotte Mason). 

I liked the way our 1st day of school pictures turned out last year, so I did the same thing this year. It is so fun (and a little sad) to look back and see how much they have grown and changed in a year's time. 

We are adding more geography to our daily work after reading "The Core" by Leigh Bortins and some wonderful blog posts over at Homegrown Learners. My children know their U.S. geography very well, so I thought starting out tracing the United States would be a great way to ease them into this new activity. 

Lauren had her first violin lesson this week and was very excited. She actually described herself as "nervous-cited." Tyler is continuing his drum lessons and even plays in our worship service a couple times each month. Kailtyn is progressing well in her piano lessons as well. 

I am truly a blessed woman. My husband is so much fun to parent with. This week we had a lot of great family time and he is once again teaching science this year. He is using Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space and he has been pleased and impressed with this curriculum as he has been preparing lessons the past few weeks.  It is so wonderful having this subject taken off my plate. He is also going to teach a public speaking class at our co-op this fall.

I am linking this post up with Homegrown Learner's Collage Friday. You should check it out. It is always a fun place to visit on the web for encouragement and ideas.