We all go to work with dad!!!

One of the things we love about homeschooling is the flexibility! My husband works for my father in a small business. I am very blessed that my husband and dad have a wonderful relationship! (My mom loves him, too!) Sometimes if my dad is out of the office the kids and I go in to man the phones and pull orders, and Ryan helps his dad unload trucks. We take our school work with us and do it throughout the day. The kids have learned a lot about hard work and how to have a good work ethic from going to the office to help out. They also get to see their dad and pawpaw deal with others in a business fashon and they have learned about honesty and doing a good job always.

Olivia taking a break.

Alec and Jack do some math!

Alec and Olivia taking a break and eating snacks that their Pawpaw brought them.

Jack working hard.

Taylor and Jack goofing around!

A day in the garden.

Today we woke to storms, which put our morning walk off. But we did get school done in record time and I treated the kids to McDonald's in St. Clair, where the play place is huge and they could run off a little steam. On the way back, we stopped at Grandma and Pampaw Davis' house to pick the garden. I love gardens, but I have never been successful at growing one. I am blessed to have a mother in law who will let me pick hers! We picked enough green beans for 10 quarts. LOTS of green bell peppers (I'm looking for any good stuffed pepper recipes? Got one?) and Alec's favorite, sweet banana peppers. And a nice lot of tomatoes. The kids love going over there. Ryan was a sport and herded the new cows out of our way, and part of the garden. I guess they haven't figured out that the "hot" wire is supposed to keep them out yet! It was muddy, which makes it all the more fun for my little boys who happen to be mud monkeys! We all had a chuckle as Ryan was trying to find a place to go to the bathroom, as the house was locked. As he was heading around the barn, Alec and Taylor yelled, "Remember to wipe with your left hand so you can eat with your right one!" (thanks to the Country study we did at our homeschool co-op where they learned this little tid bit about the people in India!) We all started to laugh, even though Ry did NOT think it was too funny! So we have canned the green beans and Alec has me looking up recipes to pickle and can the banana peppers tomorrow. Then we'll deal with the tomatoes, maybe we'll make salsa? Well, have a good night, I hear the timer going off for my last batch of beans in the pressure cooker!

A Monday in the Davis House

So I (mom) decided that this week we are going to start taking advantage of this gorgeous weather and start walking in the mornings before school. Today was day number 1, and all things considered, it went really well. We only had to carry Jack 1/4th of the way home as opposed to half the way ;-) We got back home around 8 am, had a light breakfast and dove into school. Ryan and Olivia take their book baskets and flop on the floor or a couch and start in, while Alec and Jack sit at the table with Taylor and I. This works out pretty well, if you can get Jack to sit up instead of upside down! But whatever works is typically the rule here. Alec and Jack typically start with math and Tay and I work with them, then they do a subject like handwriting and this gives me a few minutes to check in with Ryan and Olivia and answer any questions they may have. Then Alec and Jack do reading and language arts, and Tay and I usually split them up for this. After they both finish their individual subjects then they come back together to do history, science, art and music. They LOVE science, and now that Alec can read just about anything, they love to attempt their experiments by themselves. They are quite funny in the kitchen getting out their supplies and talking about their experiment and why it did or didn't work out. Ryan and Olivia are pretty self learning unless there is new material being introduced in math or science. Then I prepare ahead of time and teach the new concepts to make sure they understand it. Their other subjects are pretty self explanatory and when they have a problem they come and ask and we work it out. I try to check their work as soon as they complete it. This lets me know where they are having any difficulties, and what needs to be gone over again. It is also easier for them to see their mistakes while it is fresh in their minds. We love to read and discuss anything. So we typically add a lot of reading and discussion time to history, especially. We were all done today by 12. The boys went out and started demolishing their old swing set. We are really hoping to replace it come spring. The boys had a blast using the big mallet and the ax to chop it all up. Now lets hope they picked up all the screws and bolts before Ryan mows again! Taylor and Olivia go to piano Monday's at 2pm. Their teacher is wonderful! They both love Miss Faith. They have learned so much since starting lessons again. Faith is also good for Taylor. Since she was a lot like Taylor when she was younger, she is really good at pushing Tay out of her box. For those of us that really know Tay, this is huge! We are making homemade pasta carbonara for dinner and have both our crock pots filled with apples to make applesauce and apple butter tomorrow. Ryan goes to Boy Scouts on Monday nights. He is a Star Scout and is two ranks away from his Eagle. So that about wraps up our Monday! Have a great and blessed week!

Surprise. . .A Family Day on Saturday!

We got the rare occasion to spend today as a family since mom worked last night instead of her normal 12 hours on Saturday. So after a short nap and making a quick Apple Custard Pie, we went to enjoy fellowship and a fish fry! Both were excellent! I have to thank a new friend of mine, Amanda, for inviting us to the church her husband pastor's for a truly enjoyable evening. 4 of my 5 children actually ate fish! We all know who did NOT eat any fish. . .Jack! He stuck to his regular fare of peanut butter, chocolate chips and crackers with a few french fries on the side! Yum, if you like that sort of thing. Taylor and Alec have always eaten fish, Ryan and Olivia have NEVER eaten fish! One smell of it is usually enough to send them running the other direction. But not tonight, they both really enjoyed it.

Our Trip to Branson

We decided to go to Branson the Sunday before Labor Day and spen a few days letting Ry, Liv and Alec & Jack have a little vacation, while Taylor was gallivanting around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island with her grandparents (Grandpa Bob & Grandma Darlene). More to come on the Nova Scotia trip later! Anyway, I would post pictures, but seeing that we sent the camera with Tay, we don't have any! And sometimes certain trips are better not remembered later anyway! That would be the case with this one. We lost Alec in Silver Dollar City. Upon finding him at the Ice Cream Shoppe, the kind employee who sat with a hysterically crying Alec, felt so bad for him that she gave each of the kids a HUGE free ice cream cone. Now Ryan is trying to convince Jack that next trip it's his turn to take one for the team and get lost so we can get more free ice cream. Aw, the brotherly love! Did I mention that this was day 1 of our trip! Maybe that should have told me something. Jack was. . .well, Jack the entire time we were gone. So when he accidentally washed his mouth out with Tide, I wasn't feeling all that magnanimous! I forgot the laundry detergent, so Bobby's Aunt had given me some and we had poured it in a glass. Well, the washer/dryer combo was situated right behind the double sink in the master bedroom of the condo. It was hidden behind a set of double doors and I would make sure to put the detergent on the washer and close the door, but I had placed it on the sink top to switch the load. I got distracted by Jack getting into something and then I left for the store, forgetting to move the soap back to the wash machine. Jack comes bee-bopping into the bathroom, thinking that the soap is his Agent Cool Blue mouthwash (hence I said blue. . . it was the same color as the soap!). Well needless to say there was a very mad bubble blowing dynamo until his dad calmed him down and rinsed all that soap out! Dad told him he got 1 free bad word to me since he had already prepaid for it with washing his mouth out with soap on accident! Later in the day Olivia fell of a rock retaining wall. (crocks and wet rocks do NOT go together) She tends to be a little heavy on the "drama" so trying to assess the situation sometimes gets a little frustrating. She scrapped herself up and bruised her ribs pretty good, but thankfully no broken bones. A short time goes by and I am still tending o Olivia, when we here this loud banging. I do a quick head count and guess who's missing? Jack! Well, he had gone back outside with his Uncle Dave who was grilling, but when he came back up to the condo, he went 1 floor to high and was banging on the door upstairs from us. Jack started yelling at Uncle Dave, "My dad locked me out and won't let me in!" Dave is cracking up telling Jack that it's the wrong door and he needs to come downstairs, but my bright child just keeps banging away until his dad picks him up, shoves him in our door and tells me to keep him inside! Less than 10 minutes later, Jack "accidentally" pulls the glass front off the fireplace. It is the kind that has the fake logs and the glass front has two handles on it for cosmetic purposes only. But Jack, thinking it would be like Grandma Barb's, gave a good yank and there it went! Bobby and Ryan were able to fix it, but after that we adults were ready to go home! Talk about needing a vacation from your vacation! So we are now back home and back to a school schedule and all is right with the world!

The Girls!

Interspersed with our trips and travel over the summer, we have had the pleasure of watching the twins. They are growing into such characters! The kids can't get enough of them. They have twin withdrawl if we don't see them for a while! So here are some cute photos of my kids favorite past time!

Teagan and the bike helmet! Both she and Mairin played with this for hours!

Teagan helping Alec with his reading work. He would read, she would clap!

Here the tiny twosome jump on the couch and cheer while Olivia plays the piano for them!

Olivia helping Mairin play!

Teagan doing her version of a duet!

We love Vacation Bible School!

For the last three years we have done VBS (Vacation Bible School) at the First Baptist Church in Washington. This year, not only did Taylor volunteer, but Ryan was old enough too! This year's theme was "The Life of Paul and the Underground Church" So off to Rome we went! Tay and I worked in the leather working shop where the members of the underground church could make bracelets proclaiming the gospel story of salvation. Ryan worked in the Animal Sacrifice tent. Think small petting zoo! All the children that come are given costumes to look like Romans and all the adult volunteers dress up and get into character. My family is always blessed by our week at VBS!

The gang dressed and ready for VBS day 1!

Alec and Jack dress up like the Roman guard!

Taylor helps make a bracelet while teaching about God's love and our salvation.

Jack working on a toy top in the Carpenter's Shop.

Alec listens intently in the Grammaticus School before making his scroll.

Olivia and her group, getting ready to leave the market place.

Ryan, the shepherd!