Descriptive Writing

What pleasure and satisfaction I have to see my children succeed in all they do. To watch them grow spiritually and see godly character develop in them brings me joy beyond measure. My children have special gifts and talents as all children do. Jacob has always been creative at everything he puts his hand to, including writing. Here is a paragraph he wrote for his descriptive writing class last week.


Water was trickling into my mouth and nose. It felt as if I had a bonfire inside my lungs. Up! I jumped off of the pebbly death bed beneath me and gasped for a breath of fresh air. Oh, the pure joy in that breath. I felt as if I had gone from being tortured to the pleasure of finishing my math lesson. Just like smelling a fragrant flower and that scent flees too quickly, I was sinking. “Help!” I cried, but no answer. As I sunk down to my watery death, I thought maybe I would be able to jump off the bottom again. Up! This time there was a couple next to me. “Help!” I screamed, but to my horror they didn’t hear me. Up, down, up, down. Finally, after what seemed to me like an hour, I saw my dad approaching. “Thank you, Lord,” I thought to myself. I clutched on to my dad’s shirt as I was being carried back. I whispered to him, “Thank you.”

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Ed and I were sorting through pictures tonight and found this video clip Sophie made with her camera. We've never seen it before and laughed very hard. Enjoy!

Coming To Theatres Soon!!

This is Jake's new movie project. Dedicated to Grandpa Jack who provided the soundtrack.

She's 1!!!

Fourth baby and I've finally decided not to introduce sugar just because its their birthday. So Amelia got a muffin made from scratch: freshly ground flour soaked in homemade buttermilk, farm fresh eggs, real maple syrup, and cultured cream cheese colored with beet juice instead of frosting. She loved it! This was probably the sweetest thing that has ever touched her lips. Plus, I didn't fear she would make herself sick after gorging herself.










This is one of Amelia's favorite friends, Mr. Hale. How sweet, she's sharing her muffin with him.




Amelia loved her presents but she loved Lucy's Rosy doll even more; so much that she cried every time it was taken from her. At the end of the party Miss Vicki made a special trip to buy Amelia her very own Rosy. Miss Vicki is the best!

By Popular Demand - Amelia 11 months

Gone are the days of turning my back for even a split second. She’s walking, talking, and keeping us on our toes; not to mention she puts everything in her mouth...e v e r y t h i n g. I won’t tell you what, it’ll make you gag. But she is sweeter than pie and such an obedient little girl. Here are some pictures from the past month to catch you up.

Homeschooling Helps

Jacob and Sophie just completed the first session of a homeschool online writing class with Home 2 Teach . They logged on to their class every week for an hour of instruction where they interacted with their teacher and classmates. They had three assignments due every week: a vocabulary assignment, a paragraph, and typing assignment. The class covered: grammar, spelling, vocabulary, sentence structure and reference materials to name a few. One aspect I liked about the class was that I was not able to help them AT ALL. There were tears the first week, but then the kids grew confident and were determined to hand their assignments in on time in order to make it to the Honors Club; which, by the way, had nothing to do with a grade. They typed all their lessons in MLA format and e-mailed them to their teacher. She would correct spelling errors in blue and grammar errors in red. They would then correct their original paper and re send. Sometimes they had several revisions before she sent them an e-mail saying, "This draft looks great, Sophia. You have corrected all the errors and your sentences flow smoothly. You are done with 4B." Teacher Kim. or "Looks great, Jacob. I like how you used "with that" as an alternative transition word. This is a nicely written paragraph; your sentences flow well. You are done with 4B." Teacher Kim.

Week 5 they wrote a paragraph where they had to persuade or convince using four reasons why their audience should believe. I was quite impressed with what they came up with.

Carel1

Jacob Carel

Teacher Kim

Fundamentals 1

12\12\2010

Every Child Should be Homeschooled

I believe every child should be homeschooled. One, your child goes to school at seven in the morning and comes back at five o clock with an hour of homework. After that it’s usually time to eat and go to bed, so you really don’t get much time to bond with your child. Two, when your child goes to school, you really have no idea who they could be influenced by .Three, some children need one on one teaching. Four, your child won’t get sick as often because he is crammed in a school room with twenty other kids or more. Five, after a while your child will come to love you and come to you for help. Six, it has been proven that home schooled children are smarter; for instance, I know a girl who just turned nineteen and already finished her bachelors degree. That is why I believe every child should be homeschooled.

Carel1

Sophia Grace Carel

Teacher Kim

Fundamentals 1

12/6/2010

Every Girl Should Babysit

I think that every girl should babysit; it would give them full responsibility for when they grow up. They will learn how it would be when they have children. And it will leave them to be able to take care of a child. It is also a really good way to earn money and a fun way to earn money. I also think it is good to have a little fun with the the kids. You can take things and teach them how to do some of those things. That’s why I think girls should babysit.

Our Pasture Paradise

Well we made it to the end of our living in the office, packing, construction, living in limbo season of life and crossed the finish line. See Millie in the beautiful new farm sink with the 100 year old restored planks for the backspash and oak countertops. We loved it.......while it lasted. With the passing of the above mentioned season of life and enjoying our freshly renovated home for a total of one day the unthinkable occurred, a broken water pipe in the wall. Can you say flood? Yes we had water seeping under our freshly handscraped and sealed hardwood floors just days after they were finished. Now we get to start all over again. Have you seen Groundhog Day where Bill Murray woke up in the sleepy little town over and over again reliving the same day? That's us. And while I know there are much greater tragedies in life, this one took the skip out of my step and the whistle from my lips.

So we breathe deep, thank God for his greatness and Allstate insurance for their policy and move on again. We have torn out much of the damaged material and will commence the renovation again next Thursday. We will keep you posted.

What's in store you ask? New cabinets, floors, trim, plumbing, paint and about four weeks with no kitchen...again. We are accepting dinner invitations.

Ed