And It's Five Months Later

I am a writer at heart.  My blog is my outlet to express thoughts, memories, and keep everyone up to date.  A lot has happened since April.  We finished our 7th year of home schooling.  We traveled to Washington, DC with some friends over Memorial Day weekend.  Mom and I spent a weekend in Charleston, SC to celebrate / remember Dad over his birthday weekend.  We began telling friends and family that Baby Brooks #6 is to be arriving in January!!  We traveled again to visit family in Kentucky and took a detour through Nashville and Knoxville, TN on the way home.  And our 8th year of home schooling began the second week of August.  This year we joined a co-op which means every Tuesday we spend the morning at a church in town where the kids each have their own classes of 8-9 children learning together.  It has brought both the kids and I new friends and new learning experiences.  Sully also learned to walk this summer and Rylan is now potty-trained.  Braewyn began playing the violin.  Juliet is doing great at learning to read in Kindergarten.  And Philip has moved up into the youth group at our church.  Things are a'changing!

Philip is now 11 and in 6th grade

Braewyn is now 9 and in 4th grade

Juliet is now 5 and in kindergarten

Rylan is now 3 and in preschool

Sully is now 20 months old and enjoying life!!!

Our schedule is busy but we know that God is leading us to these things and the blessings are incredible.  Matthew and I didn't foresee 5 (and soon to be 6!) children in our future 10 years ago but we wouldn't change a thing.  Thankfully, he and I got away last weekend for a short getaway to Asheville, NC for some needed R&R.  We know this season of life won't last forever so it's best to make the most of it.  As someone one told me, the days are long but the years are short!

We're all looking forward to meeting you, little one!

Mini-Vaca in Columbia

Matthew took vacation days from work and so was home from Christmas Eve afternoon through January 3.  It provided several days of lay-around-the-house-and-not-shower rest, but a few days out of town sounded good to me too.  We decided to visit Columbia, not too far yet far enough to validate a hotel stay.  What better way to use two days out of town on Christmas vacation than to fill them with stuff field trip worthy and get two more school days checked off  the calendar!  Our agenda included touring the SC State House and visiting EdVenture children's museum.  I found a hotel with an indoor pool and hot, continental breakfast.  Load the suitcases and the kids, and we were off!

More photos from the trip to come, but this was worth sharing.  When you upload photos into the Google Cloud, Google makes these super cool mini-movies ready to share.  Better than I could whip together in 10 minutes time!  Thanks, Google!

Click here... Columbia mini-movie by Google

Carl Sandburg Home Field Trip

We had a great day Monday visiting a National Park just up the road from where we live.  Carl Sandburg was a widely known poet and author in the 1920's and 1930's who bought a large estate near Asheville, NC in 1945.  When he died in the 1967, his wife donated their home as it was, leaving all their personal possessions inside, to the National Park Service as a memorial to her husband.  Between the educational tour of the home and the carefree enjoyment of walking among goats, this made for a great family day / field trip.  We could kill two birds with one stone by celebrating Labor Day together and getting another day of school checked off the calendar.  The kids learned a lot (I hope!) by completing these great Junior Ranger workbooks and earning badges after turning them in at the Park store.  They even had to raise their right hands (Braewyn was given mercy and could raise her non-broken left hand) and repeat a pledge to the Park Ranger!  This is definitely a destination I would recommend.  You even get a good bit of exercise as the parking lot is a distance from the house and house is a distance from the goat barn.  Makes for a wonderful day to experience God's creation all around you. (Click on any picture to see them enlarged but captions will not be present.)

At this point, we didn't really know who Sandburg was.

A wooded trail from the parking lot / welcome center to Carl Sandburg's house.

Part of the tour.  We were told to stay on the carpeted path and not touch anything!

Grandma and Juliet look at the photos of the families' prize-winning goats.

Braewyn looks around Sandburg's living room.  He thought TV was a thief of your time, but was given this one as a gift.  His daughters enjoyed watching it.

Victory after finishing the tour.  The house does not have air-conditioning so we were pretty warm.

In the work garage near the barn.  Guess my shirt is a little tight.  It's not maternity.

Rylan was not too sure about these goats.

Juliet warmed up quickly to the goats... on the other side of the fence!

Grandma, the boys, and some goats.

Rylan finally got his courage up and touched one!

Braewyn was working on her Junior Ranger workbook.  Do you know what color a Saanen goat is?

All smiles!

Here is your answer.

Hanging out at the salt block.

We saw chickens too. Check out that rooster!

Thank you Lord for a beautiful day!

My big girl and I had a great time.

Peaceful away from the busy pace of "real life".

"Let's go see the scarecrow, Mom!"

"Aaaahhhh, we're looking scared!"

A cold drink on a park bench.  This is the life.

Philip was excited to catch a butterfly.

Rylan says we need to go that way.

And he held on for so long, but Daddy's shoulder is just too comfortable.

Proud new members of the Junior Ranger program.

It is official. (Officially plastic!)

And Braewyn spent some of her own money to bring a goat home, too!

Brooks Academy 2014-2015

For the past three years of our homeschooling history, I've always begun our school year on the first Monday of August.  Sounded good again this year until another friend mentioned starting in July to allow time off for when her new baby came.  That made me think.  (Quick side note to announce, we're having a new baby join our family in January!  Think you all knew but just putting it out there to add to the excitement.)  I would like several (three-four) weeks off when the baby arrives so why not start a few weeks early?  Thankfully Philip and Braewyn were signed up to attend KidFuge at our church July 14-18 which would give me a good bit of the day to make preparations for school.  I wanted school to have a whole new feel this year even though we would be in the same space.  How to solve that problem?  Paint the bonus room.  We had talked about it last year but never did.  Matthew decided to devote July 4th weekend to this project and we made it happen.

The prep work involved pulling everything away from the walls and taping off edges.

 Our bedroom began a storage unit for a few days.

 Quick preview of our color palette.

 Still paint free at this time.

 As close as this kid got to painting. Have a good nap, Rylan!

And they're off!  Project has begun. 

The kids didn't stay long.  The girls were asked to go watch a movie and Philip helped for a bit before choosing computer time over painting.

Day two, we moved onto the green.  Matthew joked about the Brazilian flag with the blue painter's tape still in place.  We'll always remember painting this room during the World Cup.

 And done with the green.

 Our finished school room makes me so happy!

Everything fit back in nice and neatly.

 Elementary school side.

Preschool play side.  So extremely thankful to have a homeschool room in our home.  I know not all homeschoolers have one.  For me, it helps to let go of the rest of the house during school hours.  And it's a big help in keeping the little ones corralled while the big ones are learning.

Brooks Academy Directory for the current school year

Rylan, 1-year-old Preschool (1K)

 Juliet, 3-year-old Preschool (3K)

Braewyn, 2nd Grade

Philip, 4th Grade