It feels like Spring!

It finally feels like Spring in our part of Pennsylvania.  I can hardly believe it.  This past week saw temperatures up in the 50′s. My heart is filled with so much joy as I write this post.  The sun is just beginning to rise over the mountains as I look out our picture window, and I know that winter is almost gone.  I’ll share just a few pictures of what we did this week.  We had some really great moments.  Of course I won’t show you the pictures of the squabbling and melt downs that come from spending too many days indoors (oh so many days….)  Here’s a few of our highlights.

Field trip to a Sheep Farm

This past week was a beautiful time to celebrate spring.  We took a little road trip to an Amish sheep farm.  The baby lambs were bleating and the chicks were just hatched.  It was a great day for the family.  It is all hands on so the kids got to hold, feed, and play with so many different kinds of farm animals.  Here’s a few of my favorite moments.

I had no idea that sheep were this big!  And they’re loud too!  Just as one of the boys would get close to feed them, they’d scare the socks off of them with a really loud bleat and we’d all die laughing.

The baby chicks were so cute.  Not sure who the girl is in the background…but, hey she was enjoying it too.  There really was a great mixture of ages.  I don’t think you ever stop loving animals.  I had just as much fun as the kids did.

This is a picture of my favorite horse.  She (or he?) was so nice.

There’s my handsome hubby with our oldest son, who was feeling a little bit wary around such a big animal.

I love buggy horses.  And we saw alot of them around this part of PA.

These little rabbits were so adorably cute.  The boys loved holding them the best, I think.

I’m glad my hubby snapped this one with his iphone.  I can actually prove that I was there!  I guess, that’s one of casualties of always being behind the camera.  And, I’m not sure if my hand on the above horse counts as “being” in the photo.  So thanks honey!

On Colder Days…

On colder days (which there were still a few) we had to find some way to keep ourselves entertained inside.  This picture, I want to frame in my mind and remember forever.  We got a new washing machine this week, and I gave the boys the big box to turn into a fort.  And man, did they get busy.  Their new fort is fully equipped with security cameras, indoor decor, warning signs, and a front door.  This box has become a new fun spot in the house.  Sometimes my little guy will take his toys in there with a flash light and just play for what seems like forever.  I’m not sure how I’m ever going to get this big box out of my living room though!  For right now, I think I’ll just have to get used to it.

In our Schoolwork This Week:

In our schoolwork this week, my oldest started reading the Billy and Blaze series.  What a great series for boys!  We were able to get the whole series through inter-library loan.  This definitely helps to keep the book budget down.  You can check out some of our other posts on “Books for Boys” here.  I have all of our favorite book selections on a convenient downloadable list, by grade level, that you can take to your library.  

My youngest is practicing his sight words and learning to read long vowels.  He’s doing such a great job, and this mom is so proud.  I also made these “Read & Trace Sight Word Flashcards” to make our learning and review a little easier.  They are also free to download.

Here’s the direct link to the download page if you’d rather go straight there.

       

What I’m Thankful for This Week:

I’m so thankful that we have the opportunity to do this homeschooling life.  Sometimes, I get a little discouraged when I look around our sometimes sparsely decorated house, or my sparse wardrobe for that matter.  But, then I look at all we are accomplishing with our sons.  I know it’s a sacrifice to choose to live on one salary, but quite honestly we have everything that we need.  And when it comes to what I want, I can’t say that I’m lacking there either.  It might mean delaying what I want sometimes, or prioritizing what I want because I can’t have it all at once, but there’s very few things I want that I don’t eventually get, either.  We’v had to live more purposefully, and less frivolously with our finances (which includes living as debt free as possible)  but, I can’t say that’s a bad thing.  Then, I think about all the things we have as a family that money can’t buy…like time.  Having our time to ourselves has decompressed our family life in so many ways.  Getting off the school bus has given us so much freedom to learn outside the clock.  Weeks like this week remind me of that too…and I am so thankful.  Thankful that we have diverted to a new way of learning and living that has increased the quality of our lives in ways that I never expected.

I hope this week has brought joy into your life as a new season appears and each new day is a reminder that we live under the canopy of His goodnes!!

This post is also linked up with these fabulous blogs:  

• The Homeschool Mother’s Journal
• Homegrown Learners
• HammockTracks
• Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers