Fun Times For All !!

Whew! This little homeschool group has been BUSY!!! Activities that packed October were the "School House Rock" musical performance, a fiddlin' good-time at the Hadley Castille Show, lots of 4-H activities like the photography club and playing bingo with our friends at the nursing home. We also had a great time at the zoo. What a perfect place for our kids to act like monkeys! The kids loved it and I hope the parents did, too. We used our box-top money to pay for the trip and I really appreciate all those who help collect all through out the year. Everyone doing a little adds up to a lot!

Coming up in November, we have just a few events. We have scheduled a performance of "Pride and Prejudice" and a wild trip to the safari park. Those events, along with all the regular 4-H meetings and the holiday, should keep us plenty busy.

But, if you need more activities, there are also some events in surrounding areas that you may want to include in celebration of Veterans Day. Chennault Aviation & Military Museum will be displaying the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall. Information on dates and times can be found here. Historic Jefferson College will be hosting a free Civil War reenactment and the details can be found here. If you happen to be heading to the Civil War reenactment you may also want to catch the Cotton Pickin' & Ginnin'. Look for details here.

No matter how busy you may find yourself this month, I pray you will not be too busy to take the time to truly celebrate this Thanksgiving season. We have so much to be thankful for and I encourage you to take the time to count your blessings. As the words of one of my favorite songs says - "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done."

Have a wonderful Holiday,
:) Vicki

Back In Full Swing!

I am not going to go into great detail about how sorry I am to have missed posting the details of our back-to-school-blast-off in August. Needless to say, I am sorry if you missed attending because I didn't get the word out. (It was great fun, by the way!) But, never fear, it is not too late to get in on the September action. We have a great adventure planned for the 25th of September and it involves a museum, plantation home and an Amish buggy shop!! Wow, what a combo! In October we have two field trips planned. The first, which will be on October 4th, involves kids and music; the second, which we are trying to get scheduled for the 19th, involves kids holding many different species of animals - YIKES! If you are interested in more information on these upcoming activities just let me know.

Also, there is an event I thought some might like to attend. It isn't part of our homeschool group field trips but looks like great learning-fun. The Historic Jefferson College (16 Old North St., Natchez, MS) will be hosting their community event "Pioneer Days" on September 20th and 21st. The event is free to the public and has over 20 demonstrators who present information about Pioneer life. Topics include furniture making, quilting, story-telling, fiddling, pioneer toys and much more. More information and a map can be found at http://www.visitnatchez.org/includes/events/index.cfm?action=displayDetail&eventid=15988 . If you go please come back to this site and tell us how you liked it.

Don't forget, if you'd like to become a member of our group the annual fee is $25 per family until October 1st. After that it is $30. If you'd like a membership form just let me know.

Blessings to you,
:) Vicki

How Goes The Summer? FAST!!

Well, as usual things are moving at the speed of light around here and doesn't show signs of slowing. I hope all our homeschoolers out there are enjoying their summer. It's been a while since I've seen some of you so I hope all is well. The May skate party was great fun but seems like it was a million years ago! One of the things we've been busy doing here at my house is finishing the yearbook. We are glad to say it is done and we are now taking orders! The yearbooks cost $25 and the order deadline is July 13th. After the deadline they will cost $30. We do have a link where you can view them online before you buy. If your interested just drop me an email. Thanks to all those who sent pictures to put in the yearbook. I think it all looks great.

We are planning to have our back-to-school bash again this year as a skate party sometime in August. I imagine it will be after the public school begins. Anyway, go ahead and be thinking of what field trip you'd like to plan for next year. We will have a sign-up sheet at our first meeting for each mom to pick a month in which they'd like to put together a fun activity. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something your kids are interested in doing. If your kids like it our kids probably will, too!

If you know of anyone who is new to homeschooling or just needs encouragement/fellowship please share our group information! By God's grace we can help and be a blessing!

:) Vicki

Spring Has Sprung - AGAIN!!!

I never cease to be amazed at how fast a year can go. The warm, beautiful days of spring have come around again and as always I am shocked. Many things shock me about this time of year - how fast the Christmas holidays have passed, how much my kids have grown since this time last year, how the world and all it's craziness has increased, how beautiful new life can be.... I could go on and on. But one thing that should never shock me is God's goodness. Everyday, over and over without fail, He is good to me. Morning by morning new mercies I see. I hope you see them, too.

As I sat this morning, in awe, thinking of all God has done for me and my family, I pondered the real meaning of Good Friday. (I know many people think every Friday is a good Friday!:) But why isn't the Holiday we are celebrating today simply called 'Crucifixion Friday' or 'Day of the Death of Jesus'? To me as a Christian, the Friday before Easter Sunday is especially good. In fact, maybe we should call it 'A Great Friday' followed by 'An Even Better Sunday'. It is truly a great and wonderful thing what Jesus made possible for me by His death and resurrection. I celebrate it every day and I want to teach my children to do the same. I think that is the greatest thing about homeschooling. While our children are with us everyday they see our faith (or lack of it) in action. We show them a living sacrifice walking in the power of God's Holy Spirit. All this is made possible only because of the blood of Jesus. Keeping that in mind should make everyday a celebration of Good Friday.

I pray this Easter that all of you are safe in God's care and close to the ones you love. Not just close in proximity, but close in heart. Make an extra effort to look for God's hand of goodness and mercy, even in the most troubling circumstances, and be sure to point it out to your children. If you don't do it no one else will.

May the Lord continue to bless you,
:) Vicki

Homeschooling Is SOOO Much Fun!!!

Sometimes when life gets really hard and getting through school seems like such a struggle, I can forget just how great homeschooling is. Today has been a wonderful reminder for me of just how blessed I am to spend precious time with my family and other homeschooling families. The Valentine skate party was wonderful. I feel so much better after getting to visit with the super moms in our group. I really do think we have the best group around!!! :) We may be small in number but we are large in blessings! The decorated boxes the kids brought were simply the sweetest. They had such a great time giving out their valentines and visiting with friends. My girls will be digging through their boxes for quite a while "oooh-ing" and "aaah-ing" over all the goodies they received. Speaking of goodies, we had some moms bring some super snacks! Delicious!! All those home-made goodies and so little time!!!

Be sure and set aside some time on your calendar to be at the outings we have coming up. The March field trip will be to the Knuckleheads Gym. It looks like a great place to wear the kids out so the trip home will be nice and quiet (unless they are loud snorers! :) My kids are already making plans to tackle the rock wall. The 4-H and Food, Fun & Fitness meetings are on for March but there will be no 4-H meetings in April. Our fund raiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital will be in April. Also, in April we will be taking the CAT test and having our Graduation ceremonies. Before we turn around it will be time for our end-of-the-school-year skate party. Time sure does go by fast!! If you'd like to get more information on our group or any of these events just leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you.
:) Vicki

Yes, We ARE still here! :)

          Is anyone other than me having a hard time believing a new year is here!? It seems impossible that time has passed SO FAST! Needless to say, a lot has happened since my last post. The yearbook pictures have been taken, the September and October field trips were great fun and the holiday get togethers were extra special this year. The kids had a blast visiting the pumpkin patch and celebrating Christmas with a skate party. Our Krispy Kreme fund raiser was a success with over $300 being raised. Thanks to all those who participated. Your hard work is greatly appreciated! The 4-H meetings have been super with the kids focusing this year on effective communication. They are also collecting pull tabs from aluminum cans to raise money for the Ronald McDonald house in Monroe.
           Speaking of the Ronald McDonald house, that is our field trip destination for January. We will be touring the house and delivering much needed supplies which were donated by the families in our group. After our tour we will be heading over to Excalibur for a time of crazy fun. My kids are super excited! Other upcoming get togethers include a Valentine skate party, a bike-a-thon, a "build-it-with-boxes" competition, and the ever popular year end skate party. It will be here before you know it! If you would like to join us at any of our events and need more information, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you.
:) Vicki