The Agriculture Museum celebration was as sweet as ever- pony rides, watermelon and ice cream, train and carousel. There were no bouncies or band this year, due to the economy, but I don't like my kids bouncing in the bouncies in the heat like popcorn in the popper anyway. I did miss the bluegrass band I have to say. I was impressed by the indoor part of the museum, lots of interesting historical items pertaining to our state like crop duster airplanes, cotton farming and sawmills, as well as a huge train layout. I had only visited the outdoor part of the museum with the recreated farm and village.
I've firmed up my homeschool curriculum choices for next year. I decided against Tapestry of Grace after a friend told me about
Heart of Dakota. I am so happy with it. You just open in up and it tells you what to do each day- good activities (not twaddle!) ,"living books" and so organized. It has literature, vocab, spelling, history (pioneers and patriots this year), geography, poetry, art, some science activities, bible and Christian character woven in. I can't say enough good things about it. I am using
Horizons for Math, and supplementing the science in Dakota with
Considering God's Creation. There is some grammar woven in this year's Dakota, but I had already bought
Growing with Grammar, so I may use that or wait until next year. We'll be doing
Far East Chinese for Youth for Mandarin. I used this text as an adult and it took us grown-ups 2 years for level one- so I expect this to last maybe 4 yrs for Dora! (And I still have my textbook, so I only had to buy the workbooks and CDs) I also found some cool things on ChinaSprout- Chinese dice with characters, character flash cards, and chinese magnetic poetry(I thought that was really unique). We already have the Mandy and Pandy Books, Kai-Lan and Follow Jade videos, and an internet linked picture dictionary, Huy Voun Lee books, etc...so we'll alternate all the resources there to keep it interesting. We'll continue to attend the adoptive children's Chinese school here once a month as well. And I need to get husband on a schedule helping with this area for sure! The local library has a free online program we'll have to check out too. Dora will start
piano soon- we were blessed to recieve a free piano from a lady at our church!
The boys can participate a bit with the Bible, art, science and Chinese. I think I have enough educational resources for them, but I need to sit down and clarify my goals for each one. For example Zach needs more practice cutting and doing some pre-writing activities, so I need to plan how often to make that happen. I would also like to do a boy's devotional with him. I think that would be a special time for us.
I'm sure our homeschool group will be doing theme days, holiday parties, field trips, and Keepers (scout like badge program) once again. I think it's going to be a fun year and I can really see the Lord's provision in it all.
Love, Pam
Alex wasn't scared of the candle this year. In this picture you can see Alex's friend Emily who we were with in China. It is always special to have her here on his birthday.
Big Frosty cupcakes and mini-Frostys were a hit. I rolled them in chunky sugar for a real sparkling snow look. And here are my "stairsteps":
Alex wanted a "snowman" party. He does have a magical smile and loves to dance like Frosty so I can see the affinity. 
