this post and I am lousy with photos

GENESIS 8:22

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

I appreciate the gift of the seasons that we have been given. This season always reminds me to slow life down, for the things that truly matter are ever-changing

{ ever growing }

and before I know it this season in my life will have passed.

The kids and I love visiting the pumpkin patch. It means, hot chocolate, lots of pumpkins with warts, dirty animals eating out of our hands and plenty of photo opportunities that are perfect in my mind but never turn out that way in the albums!

I knew it would be wise to get all of the photos taken when we first arrived but they wanna go go go so I take what I can get!

I was certainly pleased that no blood was spilled getting in or out of the wagon.

I was even more pleased that no one walked in front of the camera (or anywhere in the picture actually) for the 3 seconds that all the kids were smiling AND looking at me!!

And off they went.

First they fed the not at all soft, begging for food, otherwise not friendly g-o-a-t-s.

And then it was off into the corn maze which had riddles like this one throughout

My Sunshine and My Angel went into the haunted barn while I took Miss Thang for some pictures.

She loves Wizard of Oz so she was really excited to find this.

I figured I would take the boys back to this before leaving for a complete photo.

I also wanted to get a picture of them in the covered wagon. Simple enough, no?

{ NO }

OK... so I am not going to get a picture in the covered wagon. It was the end of the day and no one had napped. Besides, maybe I was being too picky. Maybe I should just get the one photo I wanted and be done.

So, off to the Wizard of Oz cutouts we went.

{ Not gonna happen this year! }

Not only does the hot chocolate around Miss Thang's mouth make her look like The Joker with his smile painted on...

but she's actually crying hysterically!

This [ gentleman? ] was our closing greeter.

I think he had a longer day than I did!

I love it

when the SUN come through the trees, spreading warmth

and everyone wants to work / { play } outside!

My Sunshine helped with the leaves

While Santa, I mean Miss Thang, enjoyed not helping!

what is it like to be a christian?

It is like being a pumpkin.

God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you.  Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.  He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed.  Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.

what's not to love

It's the most wonderful time of the year. In addition to being able to enjoy all of the awesome colors God has given us, it's the time when we don't have to see those pesky kids down the street anymore; when we can go to the zoo without mobs of people; when the library becomes a quiet place again; when all the kids get haircuts and new clothes - KIDS ARE

Homeschoolers, or unschoolers, as we have been for 12 years, do things a little differently. We don't take a break for summer so my kids don't hate this time of the year. Homeschooled kids don't have the normal worries...Will I like the new teacher? Will I be popular? How am I going to pass the subjects I sometimes struggle with? Will the teacher give a lot of homework?

The questions my kids have are more along the lines of...If we get all of our chores done can we go to the park? What kind of seeds/fruits can we put out to attract different birds in the colder months? Will the pumpkins in our garden be big enough by Halloween? What services can I offer the neighbors to make some money for myself?

They have no idea that the life lessons I teach them all year long are furthering their education beyond what they would learn sitting at a desk listening to someone talk. Don't get me wrong, they have done plenty of book learning and workbooks, but to them it is fun. There are no grades given. If there are incorrect answers I let them work it out until they get it right. We stay on a subject as long as necessary and no longer.

How do I know that they are advancing? Simple. I refer to resources specific to answering this question. (although, this year I made the mistake of testing them and having them in an academy for a month but I convicted myself and corrected the problem)

Before making the formal decision to homeschool/unschool, we read our share of literature on the subject. After sorting through all of it I decided there were three books which best supported our choice, answered our questions, and helped us ensure we were on the correct curricular path. Those books are:

Complete Idiot's Guide to Homeschooling

The Homeschooling Book of Answers: The 101 Most Important Questions Answered by Homeschooling's Most Respected Voices (Prima Home Learning Library)

Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School

In addition to those great reads, we frequent websites that offer curriculum guides, online quizzes, reading programs, worksheet creators and more. Just a few sites worth checking out:

Book Adventure A Sylvan Learning site geared to make reading fun and rewarding. By choosing a level of reading, type of book (fact, fiction, funny, science, poetry...), and level of testing, you or your child is given a large list of books. After your child has completed the book(s) there is an online quiz to be completed. Based on the number of correctly answered questions, your child earns points. You can set up your own reward program after obtaining a certain amount of points OR your child can choose prizes online which are offered through sponsors! This site is amazing! My children are now rewarded for what they already loved to do!

Beverly Hernandez, your guide to Homeschooling at about.com offers this page FULL of resources Typical Course of Study with Annotated Links

Another favorite here at our house is Geosense "Test your knowledge of world (or local) geography alone or against another online player." My husband and I are even challenged by this one!

Alabama offers us these GREAT resources for curriculum and activities....you have to check out Instructables!!!

These are just a few of the very many sites we use in order to gain knowledge. Knowledge is Power you know. So as others go back to school, we will continue our learning through living. Oh, and don't forget to get to the bus stop on time, those guys don't wait for anyone!