August Recap

Back to School!!

The month of August with pictures.

The way I'm relieving stress and anxiety.

Official first day with our Charter School

Blessings,
Elizabeth

School Year Recap

A Brief Update/Reflection

 

My how all three kids have grown since August 2016!! Growth comes in ways other than physical, but that is where it is seen the most. 

Miss E is now sporting braces along her top teeth. We are patiently waiting for one of her bottom teeth to erupt to avoid oral surgery. She is still a gymnast and will be competing level 4 again in the fall. She upped her hours in the gym to 16 hours per week in July. She is still our avid reader. She independently read over 10,000 pages this past school year. Daddy does not like books at the dinner table so we are often telling her that she can continue reading after she eats. She has learned that reading can be used as a procrastination tool, too. She has a very compassionate heart and loves serving the Lord through song. She helps lead worship in one of the children’s classes at church.

Little Man is definitely building arm muscles with gymnastics. It is pretty impressive if I do say so myself. He had a great time competing for the first time this past winter and is looking forward to the next level and competition season. Gymnastics has been really good for him and he works really hard in the gym. In school he grew a lot in reading. With a little bit of help, he read 10,000 pages. He read over 5,000 pages independently. For this guy, this is pretty impressive reading. He is our active child. Always busy doing something that involves movement; be it handstands in the living room, climbing trees, making forts, wrestling with his sister, playing soccer in the road, or just running to chase Dad as Dad leaves for work, this kid is never still. He has a sweet spirit and a heart to talk with the Lord about everything. He blows me away as he brings his requests to our Father.

Baby E is a charmer. He has pretty much everyone wrapped around his little smile. He distracts the girls at the gym, even coaches, as he flirts with them or back at them. He has friends everywhere; young and old. He is two, so he is testing his independence and will let you know what he wants. Baby E is very physically active. He rides scooters, peddles a bike with training wheels with very little help, and pushes himself around on the plasma car. He can pull his legs up to his chest while hanging on a bar, has mastered jumping, and loves doing push-ups. He spends a lot of time watching gymnastics so maybe that will be in his near future, too. He truly is a joy and I can't wait to see how the Lord shapes his little personality.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Socialization...classroom experience...break for mom...BSF

Today is the first day of C'lectives for the big kids. What are C'lectives? They are classes that are offered by our Charter School. Some of the classes are core classes while others are more elective or enrichment in nature. Why are my kids in C'lectives? This question is always funny to me. I get asked and then people give me their replies. I've heard, oh, you have them in these classes so they get socialization; oh, you want them to have that classroom experience... the honest, real answer is that I am a BSF lifer.

Now, what is BSF?? BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) is a wonderful Bible Study that I've participated in for over 10 years. On Tuesday mornings, Buddy E and I will be at our local BSF class. BSF has a wonderful, the BEST, children's program. The only problem is that there is only room for children from birth to Kindergarten. The big kids are too old to join Buddy E and I. So, what is a mom to do? I could ask for help from Daddy. Daddy could stay home with the big kids on Tuesday mornings and then go into work late, then he works late, and then Wednesday he tries to get back in the groove and then, and then, and then... you get the idea. For the past three years this is how we have tried to make Tuesday mornings work and it just didn't work. So, I found some classes for the kids to take. More on that in a minute. What is a BSF lifer? A person who will stick around BSF as long as they are welcome. As long as I have a child under the age of 6, I'll be at BSF Tuesday mornings, Lord willing. Then after the kids outgrow the preschool program, Lord willing, I'll move to the evening class which has a school age program. Side note: Eric takes the big kids to BSF on Monday nights. He is in a men's class which has the school age program. It is the BEST!! Let me know if you are interested in BSF and I'll get you some info.

Back to C'lectives. The big kids are taking a full day of classes on Tuesdays this year. They both woke up really excited this morning. I hope the excitement lasts at least through December. Miss E is taking PE, Art, Primary Writing, and Spanish. Little Man is taking Spanish, Art, PE, and Computers. I'm losing a day of instruction, but Tuesdays will be an important day for us.

Upon picking the kids up this afternoon everyone was pretty happy. Miss E is not excited about her Primary Writing class, but writing is something we need to work on so she will need to get over it. Next week in PE the kids get to go swimming so they are looking forward to C'lectives next week.

What are you adding to your week to help with instruction or give a creative outlet?

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Our Summer Break

At Domicile Lessons we've decided to take a full break from school for the month of July. The kids are really excited. I'm kinda on the fence. It is nice to have a break, but on the other hand I struggle when our routine is messed up.

What have we been up to??

Week 1: Miss E competed in Y Nationals. We celebrated the 4th of July with friends from church. We learned that Baby E does not like being in his car seat after dark. We also learned that there are a few songs that he will 'jam out to' which will cease the crying for a little bit. To wrap up our week we enjoyed a family day at Sea World which included staying for their little fireworks show.

The cleaner fish is one of our favorite stops at Sea World.

 Week 2: We ended up staying close to home. Little Man had has second trial class at the new gym which brought our time at gymnastics up to 13 hours this week. This was just a taste of what August will bring to our family. The plumber had to pay us a visit as our hot water heater is upset. I'm really not a fan of cold showers no matter how hot it is outside.

Week 3: This was an extremely hot week for San Diego which included a heat advisory. We tried to beat the heat with a sprinkler play date with good friends, a trip to the library cool zone, Rita's Italian Ice, and a trip to the beach. The girls also got a little pampering done with hair cuts. We ended the week with a movie night after church at church.

Week 4:  Again we tried to beat the heat. We saw "Finding Dory" in the theater and spent another day at the beach. Miss E had her annual Gymnastics banquet. She was awarded 'Most Improved' and was also given the 'Honesty Award'. Little Man had his last practice at the YMCA and Miss E got her double back handspring. It was quite exciting!!

He rides in style and then naps. A huge win for this mom.

Our summer has come to an end. Now to get back settled into a routine.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Fun Happenings {overdue update}

Here is what has been happening in the life of Domicile Lessons...

In March we became a family of 5!! The big kids were so excited to meet their little brother. We've continued the Biblical E theme with names so now we are 5 Es strong.

 

Here are a few recent pictures.

In July Miss E took a huge step in her gymnastics career and is now on Team!! {Her first competition} She was a little hesitant, as was her momma, in this next phase of life. I'm super excited for her. She participated in a two day clinic of intense gymnastics with a sleep over. I checked in on her a couple of times since I dropped her off and she seems to be doing well. The night was a little rough but she toughened up and stayed with her friends. Clinic ended with "The Really Big Show" that the girls worked hard on all weekend. It was pretty cute!!

On August 8, Little Man took a huge step in his walk with the Lord; he got baptized!! This momma's heart was about to explode and water leaks from my eyes anytime we talk about it. Back in February the story taught in his class at church was about having your name written in the Book of Life. He came home and asked if we would pray that his name would be written in the Book of Life. We told him that it was not a prayer we could pray, but we shared with him how to get his name written there. That night he accepted the Lord!! In July during our daily Bible reading we read the story about Philip and the Eunuch from Acts. If you don't know the story, Philip is helping the Eunuch understand what he was reading and then baptizes him. Little Man said when we were done that he was ready to be baptized, too. When asked why he wants to be baptized he says so he can show people he believes in Jesus!!

Homeschooling is still going strong. I slowed our schedule down a lot through the summer. We never really took a total break. I'm ready to hit the fall hard and get into our new routine. With Miss E's gymnastics at 10 hours a week, my work at our church, Little Man's endless energy and the baby things are going to be interesting... stay tuned there may be an update soon.

Thanks for reading.

Blessings,

Elizabeth