Back to School

Hard to believe that we are starting school again tomorrow. Summer vacation just flew right on by! Matthew is starting to read Red Badge of Courage for English. I had to get a copy for myself to refresh my memory! We are really excited about the new year. Matthew will be taking Physical Science along with his other courses. I am excited about science as it is my favorite subject. We have his textbook already and the lab manual will arrive on Wednesday. Here's to anothe ryear of fun learning.

Sean and Joseph will be completeing Friendly Chemisty this year. We'll reveiw the first several lessons and then take off again. Joseph has a pretty cool chemistry set, too... we love science experiments!

We're also hosting a Homeschool Science Fair this year-- our first time trying to put one together. The boys get to put the Scientific Methos into practice. If you are interested in participating in the science fair, shoot me an email. You can find info on the science fair at the link above.

Lots of writing for everyone this year....it is going to be a GREAT year. Matthew has started tackle football with the homeschool football league in our area. Sean and Joseph will continue with baseball and we hope to help a friend establish a home school baseball team in our area by next fall when Sean ages out of the Y baseball league. Wish us luck! It is going to be a busy year with all we have going on.

Our friend is also doing her annual Breast Cancer fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of the Triad. It will be held on October 16-- we've been helping with aution items for many years now. If you'd like to donate items, contact me and I can get you in touch with the organizers. It is for a great cause.

We're starting early this year so that we can take off to go to Cincy. We can still take time off for Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas and two weeks at Easter and have 23 days left to take off before June 30..... we've got a plan.

Pray for us as we start our new school year. 1, 2, 3 .....here we go!

Pumpkins are Fun

We've been baking away with the first pumpkin. We think the second one is much cuter. Joseph has affectionately named this one "Mrs. Pumpkin". We just cut her from the garden today.

Our first pumpkin

Our first Sugar Pie pumpkin. This tastes SO yummy! It is as sweet as a sweet potato-- no sugar needed! I'm thinking, pies, muffins, soup...... to see them growing in our container garden, see this blog post: Pumpkin garden I also wrote an article about growing pumpkins in a container garden-- the link is in the blog post above.

On Wings Like a Dove Mural

These are somewhat out of order.... this mural was painted for a ministry to loved ones of prodigals and prisoners called On Wings Like a Dove. The teens spent the week drawing the picture on canvas (using the grid technique)and painting it. They also spent a bit of time visiting a few downtown art studios for inspiration.The teens that worked on this project with their two teachers (Leo and Patti) did an awesome job. The mural is gorgeous. The teens drew it on the canvas using the grid technique and then painted and shaded the entire thing—with very little help from the teachers—the teachers guided and instructed, of course.

The theme of the mural is that we are spiritually free in Christ even if we are not physically free (as in prison) – that we are all called and accepted by God, Our Father –no matter where we are. The mural will be hanging in downtown Winston-Salem at the Wings Like a Dove office. The far right is a prodigal son with a father placing his hand on his head. The teens captured such great emotion!

The finished mural first ...then pictures of the work involved:




























Art teachers, Leo and Patti