Home school substitue teacher

With the arrival of our new daughter I was able to help with some of the home school activities. We did not do a lot of standard lessons, treating the birth as our "Spring Break". We did continue our attendance at the enrichment center which offers classes that my wife and I do not feel qualified or have the resources to teach. On Monday I also was able to take the boys to a home school support group Easter Egg hunt. I know my involvement this week was essential the fluff, the easy activities. What I did notice was how rewarding home schooling is. We enjoy our children and enjoy watching them grow in so many ways. To be able to have this enjoyment in the school environment when they are learning so much is amazing. Additionally, the support systems that are available bringing like minded parents together to share and help each other make the experience that much more wonderful.

Here are some pictures of the Easter Egg Hunt

Catching up...

The next few posts are bringing everyone up to date on our activities and life.

Announcing

Allison Nicole Wills

Born April 6, 2007 at 2:38 P.M.
Weight: 8 lbs 9 oz
Length: 20 1/2 in

Mother and baby are doing well

Here are pictures of each of the boys with Allison:
Brandon age 8:
James age 6:
Daniel age 2:

Blessings

We are blessed to have a loving older couple as neighbors. They are always available and willing to listen to the boy's stories. Helen always has the cookie jar well stocked... and the boys know it! For Daniel's first birthday, the neighbors gave him this cute stuffed puppy. All the boys like it and want it to be in their bed at night. Here is a picture of Daniel sleeping with the puppy watching over him.

Wildlife

Sometimes I feel sorry for any wildlife that dare venture close to our house. My two older boys love to catch any animal they can and keep it for a pet. In the past they have adopted lizards, frogs, tadpoles, chipmunk, stray dogs, and snakes. Today they caught a turtle they have named Snappy. One good thing about these encounters is we use them to study the animals, food, habitat, etc. One bad thing is they generally do not want to release the animals. Brandon usually does not handle this well but we try to let him know the best place for these animals is in the wild. Here is a photo of Snappy.

Spring growth

Several weeks ago there were a lot of posts showing spring blossoms. Being busy with painting I have not had the time to post these pictures. Here are some flowers, trees, and shrubs from around our house.

Nesting

We have three boys and are expecting our first girl. We have also been in our house for over 8 years and have painted only one room. Apparently the nesting instinct is much stronger with female babies. In the prior two months we have painted 3 rooms in our house. Daniel's (2) room was like this




was transformed to this


The colors for this room and the new babies were choosen with the assistance of my wife's sister. The colors should last a long time. We have just added "Cars" decals that Daniel recieved for his second birthday. The new babies room (name a secret at this time) went from


to this

I wasn't sure how this would turn out but the two shades of pink work well togeter. While I was painting I kept saying to myself that if the doctor determined the gender incorrectly, she would have to help repaint the room blue. I don't think the doctor will agree to this!

I have also painted the children's bathroom. I am replacing the towel rod with a set of pegs that will allow all the children to hang their towels.