Church in History Day

We heard about a wonderful day in church history event which was put on by some of our friends' churches.  The theme was Good King Wencelas from the 900s AD.  We participated in jousting, kudu, stoolball, and pillow fighting.  We also attended two talks and a dramatic presentation.  Did we mention that we dressed up for the affair also?  Next year the theme will be the Council of Nicea.

 

Jousting with time and accuracy getting points.

Stoolball...Bryce qualified for the finals.

Playing kudu against his brother...they battled to the end with Garrett coming out victorious.

Then, Griffin and Daddy battled...Griffin won the war.

Is this Sherwood Forest?

I challenge you to a duel.

Stoolball in the championship game...Bryce scored the only run for his team.

Pillowfighting...you have to maintain your balance, Bryce had the drive to fight.

Garrett utilized his skills in this first time event for him all the way to the championship round.

Garrett Piano- Yeah!

I finally got Garrett's video to load. If you are having problems with the sound don't forget to adjust the volume on the video itself. Enjoy!

Pancake Breakfast

This last Saturday was our boys first musical performance in public.  Suzuki musicians gathered to perform during a pancake breakfast.  Griffin led off our crew of 3 with his rendition of "Honey Bee," followed by Bryce who played "Lightly Row," and concluded by Garrett who played "Little Playmates."  Overall a successful opening performance after two month of practice with their teacher Lori, who has been impressed with their quick learning. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is a sampling of Bryce's performance.  He enjoyed the spotlight.

 This is Griffin.

I still can't figure out why I can't upload the video of Garrett.

Griffin 4y 5mo

 

Griffin has been unable to make soccer practice this month due to our commitment to Awana.  However, that has not quenched his desire to play soccer.  Instead he practices with whichever brother is not currently in practice or with one of his parents.  He loves it when it is his turn to play and doesn't want to miss any of it.  He has a continuous and infectious smile on the field.  He continues to amaze us with his ability and desire to memorize things. 

I am running away with the treasure, catch me if you can.

Mom, are you watching?

Coach David gets the Blue Ninjas to focus on the same goal.

I want the ball, give it to me!

Opening kickoff under ominous skies.  We got this game in before the rain came.

 

Garrett 8y 4mo

Probably the biggest change for Garrett this month was his transformation on the soccer field.  He has primarily played defense and never thought he wanted to play anywhere else, but there came a Saturday when his team only had one substitute, so everyone had to rotate through defense and forward.  When he played forward he found a new joy in attacking the goal and beating the opposing defenders to the ball.  He scored a GOAL in his first game playing forward and has continued to show the aggressiveness in going after the ball until it was secured by the goalie when he plays forward.

 

Garrett has enjoyed having Mommy as not only his homeschool teacher but also his CC teacher.  He has been very helpful in the classroom setting a good example of studying and obeying.

 

I'm serious about my pirate roles.

My version of abstract art...a time machine.

School motivates creativity in many realms of setting up battles when the work is done.

I'm open!  That is if you can get it over all these blue guys...

Nicholas and I greet the other team before the game gets started.

Some yogurt ice cream to celebrate the goal scorer.

Bryce 6y 2mo

Bryce had a new milestone this month.  He went from his first loose tooth to his first lost tooth.  It is true that we never discovered where he actually lost it, but we suspect it occurred some time while playing soccer in the backyard.  So, the history of our children losing and then literally losing their first tooth continues.  Soccer season continues and Bryce has learned that his favorite position is forward.  He loves to chase the ball down and shoot it on goal.  Have I mentioned that I love to do art?

 

Where did my first tooth go?

I had a great time partying at Mark's 40th...we should do this more often.

Oh, is that a ball coming my way, I think I got a little distracted looking at someone in the stands.

Heading toward the goal, breaking away from the pack.

My impression of the monster from Where the Wild Things Are.

Our Journey into Astronomy Begins

This year our focus for science is on astronomy, also known as the fourth day of creation.  Some of the early activities included building a model of our solar system and developing a compass in our backyard.  We spent an evening with Rex and Ali and their six kids (Sailor, Jack, Ben, Molly, Reagan, and Chad).  During that night we looked at Venus, Saturn, and the moon through a telescope.  We did some constellation spotting with the wonderful use of the app "Night Sky."  The most interesting was setting up a sun and then walking proportionally how far it would be to get to the next few planets.  After Mars,  we had to get in a car and drive in order to set up the rest of the planets.  That really gave us an idea of how far apart the planets really are. 

 

I think we should follow the directions, so we have an accurate solar system.

That's the sun...oooohhhh, how many steps are we going to have to go to get to Mercury?  180 feet...okay.

We are now standing at Venus, it is very small compared to the sun, and we have now walked 360 feet from the sun!

 

We used the sun to help us tell which way was north...the shortest shadow occurs facing north, so we measured out shadows from 11am until 1:30pm and we found it!

Classical Conversations Begins

 

Classical Conversations began this month with the start of the school year.  Changes are all around us this year.  Griffin has started to be in a class of his own, and he is loving it.  His teacher is Mrs. Heinrich, and he has definitely enjoyed having her as his teacher in his class of eight.  Bryce has advanced to the next class as well; his teacher is Mrs. Stencil.  Garrett has a first time CC teacher who has put a lot of preparation and creativity into her class preparation...his mother.  So, unlike in years past, we have to be on-time...actually early, so there is no more late arrivals as our responsibility to set up a room and be ready to go once the morning gathering has concluded.  It is now the end of the fourth week, and Joy really feels like she is hitting her stride, she knows the kids and their abilities and can utilize strengths and teach to weaknesses as well.  In the second week, we had our turn at a family presentation, so we chose to do one of Aesop's Tales, the Fox and the Grapes.  But we didn't just want to act it out, we memorized it in Latin and gave the presentation in Latin.  The kids loved it, and Bryce wore the paper mache fox mask that Mommy had made. 

Griffin's first CC class

As a part of motivating the kids to learn, Joy partnered with her friend, Ali's class.  She sent a challenge to battle in jeopardy-style at the end of each month to see whose class would come away victorious.  Both classes were motivated to learn as much as they could so that they would test and prove their learning.

A glimpse into the class of knights around the round table doing art time.

One of the in-class competitions...shooting a target to figure out which question they would answer.

Name some European rivers...

Mommy's victorious class hoists the trophy, inspired the Stanley Cup and the Holy Grail.