(Winter Thoughts) by:Lydia

Hi! its Lydia again , and I want to share with you my winter thoughts. What i want to do this year is build a snowman, make a snow fort, and bury my brothers and sisters. Last year we took the recycling boxes and made a fort. Our mom helped too! We made it close to the mailbox, so people could see it. Once our neighbors helped to build it. It wasn't really big. Our neighbors even helped us shovel our driveway. In the winter the roads,and the driveway always get slippery. Some times we slide on the road. It gets really really cold in the winter time. Once one of our silver gates fell down. So some times , just for fun, we would sneak in to the neighbors yard. But they didn't really care, as long as we don't take anything. I love to go sledding! Sledding and swimming are two of my favorite things to do! I hope you are going to have a great winter bye!

What Should I Write About By Tyler

What shouled I write about. Should I write about my new brother Davey? Or should I write about school? Or about my bunnies, Or my pet cat sissy? I thinke I`ll write about what pet I want. No I`ll write about what I want to be when I grow up. Nah how about the things I want or what I like and don`t. I really like trees and flowers, I`ll tell you how they grow. Or maybe about fish and birds and any thing else I know. Well theres so much to write about, I just won't write any thing at all. Tyler

Mom's wagon by;Rachel

My mom bought a wagon last week. She said it was not a play wagon. She said it was for working,but one day my mom said you can play with the wagon. She said, "you have to take care of it". So we got the wagon out and we made a leaf pile and the wagon helped us make the leaf pile. We filled it with leaves and dumped it in the pile. We have been playing with the wagon all week. We hook up other wagons and sleds to the wagon. We take them up the hill and then went down siting in it trying to stear,or we just pull people up and down the hill. We take turns in it by ourselves and together,but we make sure there is enough weight in the front and back so it doesn't tip over. Also,we are careful when we are stearing because we don't want to CRASH. Now you know about the wagon my mom bought last week.

New Creature By Tyler

I have just created a new creature called a Morf. A Morf is an animal that can Morf into a person. But, when they Morf into a person they keep their animal features like their tail, ears, stripes, spots, and others. A Morf is born as the animal they are, and can not Morf until they are 2 years of age. If a Morf is a big animal like a bear it will be a big person in human form But, if the Morf is a small animal like a snake the human form of the morf will be small. If the morf is a snake it will stick out his tongue a lot and it may put a ssssss in betwean words. If the morf is a type of cat it will purr and grrr to show how it feels. Well I hope you like my new creature. Tyler

What I like and dislike by Rachel

This is about what I like and dislike. First, I will start with the toys I like and dislike. I don't like baby dolls,barbies,or Bratz. I don't like girl toys. What I like is remote control cars,and planes. Let's just say I like remote control things. Also, I like board games, water guns, and Nerf toys. Now the foods I like and dislike. I absolutely hate onions, but I like onion rings. I don't really like stir fry. I don't like plain tomatoes, but if they're mixed together with some thing else it is OK. But I can't have too many because I have a stomach disorder, and if I have to many tomatoes I will puck them out. My favorite food is macaroni. I love pasta. The subjects I like in school are math,reading,Bible,independent reading,science,and spelling. I love sports. I play soccer, and my family and I did baseball. I also like choir,which I am in a choir class and I like percussion,which I play percussion too. Now,the last part. The kind of music I like. I don't really like country very much. I like some rock,and I love christian music. Well now you know what I like and dislike.

IF I WAS PRESIDENT by; Daniel

If I was President I would watch a movie then I would play video games. Then I would look at My BIG house and have my agents go all over the United States and find homeless people and give them a home and 5thousand dollars$$ . I would have a agent go and get a dog. I would invite my family to my house. After that I will fly in my jet to the ARMY and ask men that are there their address to send there wives some money$$ if there husband died. I would take a nap on the way home. When I get home I will call people to make missiles for the ARMY. I will help doctors and patients by giving them whatever they need. Then I will go shopping for toys, food, clothes,school stuff , and kitchen stuff for the people in Africa, but I will translate the language for them. That is a couple things I would do if I were President. BYE

Science Camp part 2 by Tyler

Rachel and I have now gone to Science camp. It was soooooo much fun. But, it was like watching a movie a second time but with new characters and some old characters. I knew a lot people there like Rachel F., Emily, Eva, Charlotte, Julia, Josiah, Curtis, and others. Last year there was a chinchilla ( the softest animal in the world. ) and there were snakes, frogs, and birds like owls, doves, chickens, and an emu. This year there were also new animals like the skunk, some new snakes and frogs, and turtles. Not to forget the boa constrictor, Ace. Rachel and I were not in very many classes together. But, we were in the reptile class together, and I was wrong she didn't like the blue racer snake. She was scared of it. At the beginning of the class, Mr. T, the teacher for that class told us to write something down. Rachel and I sat right in the middle of the table, so when we were writing he throw a snake at us. Rachel freaked out. Then realized it was rubber. After that he put a snapping turtle on the table. It thought to taste my finger. well we did a lot at science camp, but I have to go make lunch now. Bye

Science Camp Part 1 by Tyler

I am soooooo excited because Rachel and I are going to science camp. I have been to science camp before. But, Rachel hasn`t ever gone. I am going again, so Rachel knows someone there. Science is my favorite subject. Last time I went to science camp I had sooooo much fun. We touched snakes, played games, saw an emu and wild turkeys, and went for walks in the woods. The food there is really good too. I think Rachel will like the Blue Racer snake and Hermite the frog. The girls sleep in one big room with lots of bunk beds. The boys sleep down the hall. Between the boys and girls is a big room with a vending machine, a drinking fountain, and a box of balls to play with. Well I can't wait to go to science camp. TYLER

Monster Doll by (Daniel)

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away. There was a planet called Earth. Two girls lived in Pennsylvania and the the girls names were Rachel and Rachel Ann. And this is their story. In Pennsylvania Rachel and Rachel Ann were in the store in the toy department and they saw a doll!!!. And they asked there mom if they could get it, and she said not today. The next day the girls asked there mom to go to the store and she said yes and they got the doll! Then the cashier try to tell the girls things about the doll, but the girls did not hear him. When they got home and opened the boxes there was a beautiful doll with blond hair and blue eyes. Then they rocked it to sleep. The next day Rachel wanted to feed it, but Rachel Ann wanted to rock it. Then they began to fight. So, their mom sent them both to their rooms. Then the dolls eyes turned black and her hair turned brown. When they got out of their bedrooms they didn't noticed the doll changed. Then the girls were fighting again. The doll changed again. The dolls eyes turned red and her hair turned green, and then it got bigger and bigger. It kept changing until the girls learn how to share the doll! Then they stopped fighting then it went back to it's normal size and never got bigger until the next story. THE END. I hope you like this story.

GOOD BYE

School is a Success (Katie)

The kids and I were so excited about the new school year this fall, we had decided to do a science co-op, music, and sports. As always I was a bit nervous the first week of school wondering if it is all going to come together like I planned it to. This year I made some major changes and wasn't sure if it would go well.
In the past we have sort of done lessons in the big dinning room and in the living room area, sort of casual style. This year, we set up a classroom with everyone having their own space. I wanted to give them the opportunity to focus in a little more with less distraction. I also wanted them to have their own spot to keep all their stuff for learning. Next, we added to our already pretty heavy load of learning an independent reading hour before school starts. This is based on the Robinson Curriculum, but I created my own book lists. Everyone starts the day with one hour of silent reading and works through the book lists at their own pace. If your curious about my book lists, let me know and I will share them with you. I will say they are still a work in progress. Anyway, I wasn't sure if with adding this reading hour in if we would be able to do all our studies in the AM four days a week. But, that was my goal, still. Lastly, the really big change was buddy time. In the past I had each of the kids take a day for buddy day. That was their day to not work on school but help with the little ones. This year I decided to give everyone an assigned hour of buddy time daily, but also have Daniel sort of on call at all times. Daniel's school work is totally new this year in light of his learning disabilities, and he does his lessons in the afternoon, so he has other things he works on in the AM. Anyway, with so many changes I wasn't sure how it would go. Plus, Davey arrived home the week before school started. This was one more change.
So, we started the first week, and I wasn't sure how it was going to go. The first day was so excellent, I was almost to pleased to admit it for fear it would not repeat itself. But ,we got through the first week, and made a few adjustments for the little one's and Daniel, but no major problems. Now we have completed more than a month and it is so great how well they are all doing. I am a strong believer in kid's self teaching, so the older they get the less they need me. Sometimes, that's good and sometimes I miss their needing me. It always amazes me how different each of them are. They find different things interesting, some like learning in an orderly way, others like to be free to think independently, and some read really quickly, and others don't even care to read at all. I have to say, I sometimes worry that they will all realize they are so much smarter than I am, and not listen to me anymore. Hopefully, I have a little longer before they realize this. Thank goodness I don't have to have the answers to all their questions. I am so glad to be able to access information from books, the Internet, and others.
Just in case your wondering what we use for schooling our kids, here is some info on that.
Our base curriculum is ROD and STAFF (it is put out by the Mennonite church). We use it for reading, Bible, science, history, penmanship, and English. We use Math-U-See for math. We also use some of the Robinson curriculum ideas, such as writing daily and reading assigned books. We do add other things in for each student, depending on need and interest.
Here are the links to these curriculum sites: http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Rod_and_Staff_Curriculum/
http://www.mathusee.com/
http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/

My Weekend by: Lydia

My Grandma Lisa, Aunt Prayer, Uncle Tyler and their kids came over. Uncle Brandon and Tracy came too. My cousin, Kia and I played a lot. We played Barbies, Doctors, and outside. I showed her my new polly pockets. We didn't play on the computer. We liked to look at Tyler's rabbits. Tyler's rabbit's name's are Bugsie, Tom, and Bob. We fed them every day. We played upstairs with Miah. I showed Kia the cats and my glasses. She told me about her cool bunkbed. It sounds cool to me. She painted her wall purple with blue, orange, and yellow pocka dots. She said she wants us to see it. Grandma brought lots of presents. She got one for all of the girls.. Rachel, daniel, miah,and bekah got a cool game, it was called hullaballo. IT is very fun! We played it a whole hour. We are probably going to play it today. We are going to see grandma lisa, uncle tyler, and aunt prayer on thanksgiving. I can't wait til my birthday next month! on november 3rd. THE END!

School By:Rachel

What I do in school is:

SPELLING,my favorite subject.

INDEPENDENT READING.

SOCIAL STUDIES.

SCIENCE co-op on Thursday.

MATH,that is my second favorite subject.

ORAL READING, PENMANSHIP, and JOURNAL.

ENGLISH,HEALTH,BIBLE,and my BLOG.

SOCCER on Tues. and Thurs., I am in the big kid league the thirteen and under group. My soccer team is very good, Daniel is also on my team. I think we are going to win lots of games.

MUSIC. CHOIR. It's called Bel canto choir. In my choir we learn all the parts, soprano one and two and alto.

BEGINNING BAND. I play percussion (DRUMS). My teacher in band is very nice. He always explains every thing.

So now you know what I do in school.

Somethings I like (by Brenden orally)

Three things I like are football, math, and being a home schooler. What I like about football is it is really fun. I play flag football on a team. My favorite thing about football is running for a touchdown. This is my first year on a team, and I think I am best at throwing the ball. I like math because it is really fun. Right now I am learning adding, subtracting, and estimating. It is easy. I do math with my sister, Lydia, and my older sister, Tyler, is our teacher. We usually do it on Wednesday. We do it by watching a video and paying close attention. Then we have to do the papers to see if we understand it. I like being home schooled because you have lots of people to ask for help, like your mom, brothers, and sisters. I think it is probably easier than going to regular school. I also like that I don't have to get up as early as other kids for school. That is three things I like, football, math, and being home schooled.

Davey's Home

Davey arrived home August 29th, and we started school the following week. I was so nervous how Davey would fit in and if the other kids could adjust to him and his needs. Boy, was I surprised. It was like he knew his place and everyone else knew it too. I was so amazed at the work the foster family had done to prepare him to come home to us. He knew he was a Hirn and belonged here. He knew all his brothers and sisters names and that they were his family. He knew Dad and Mom. He even knew his house and his dad's car. You may think, so what he is five, that can't be too hard to teach. But, even though he is five, he has some major gliches in his brain. Today he may be able to say, "help me please." and tomorrow I will be lucky to get a "help." Somewhere in his very mixed up mind, he knows one thing and that is that we are his family. This is totally amazing to me. As I get to know him more, the more amazed I am that he get's that. I give his foster family a lot of credit for what they did, but I also have to say it must be the work of the Lord. This whole experience of going and bringing Davey home has been so amazing. The hardest part was taking him from the foster home he knew there. It was very evident their love for him. It reminded Jeremy and I of a time when we were fostering and had to watch a child move on that we didn't really understand why God didn't call us to make that life time committment to. It is so strange how God makes it clear when to hold tight to a child and when even in the pain to let one go. It was so evident that that was going on in the foster familiy's heart. I praise God that he placed Davey with such a wonderful Christian family. The time he had there, I truly believe prepared him to come home to us. If he had remained in the hospital longer I think we would have brought home a totally different boy. Praise God he works all things out in his timing and way. Davey is such a joy to our home. He spends his days playing and learning from his brothers and sisters. They also learn from him. Davey loves wrestling with his brothers and helping his sisters. There is so much more to tell, but i must make supper.
My next blog will be about school and fall my favorite time of year. Keep watching.