Introducing beautiful Daniel Jeremiah

Daniel Jeremiah

Born March 19th

8lbs 12ozs** (A huge jump from our 7pounders!) **I originally wrote 15oz by mistake...I am running on lack of sleep.:)

And oh so sweet... :)

This never gets old!  Babies are so precious!

Holiday Part 2

So we went to Rotorua overnight and enjoyed the park... This is a geothermal area so boiling mud pools, and hot steaming water is normal as is the smell of sulphur.

 Wouldn't want to take a swim in here.

 We found out about a place called Bibleworld.  And decided to have a wee visit.  Neat little place with some real artifacts and replicas from Old Testament/New Testament times.  The kids thought it was very interesting.

 They also had a good children's section...Keith and Aaron tried the Roman armour.

 I think it was actually pinching Aaron's skin....poor guy.

Lake Rotorua

 Or what Amelia called it, Swan lake!

 We finished off some ice cream at this lake...yum!

 I believe this is one of the most photographed buildings of NZ.  Government house in Rotorua (I think it is?)

Holiday part 1

I ws going to try and get these up a lot earlier but I suppose sometime is better than not at all.  After the communion we took a couple weeks off and did some day trips, and even stayed in Rotorua for a night.  Here we are at Omana.

 Omana Beach.

We've planned  trip to Tiri Tiri Matangi Island for Dad and the two oldest.  Mama didn't feel like traveling on a boat or walking far....so she wisely stayed home with the youngest two. 

Tiri Tiri Matangi is a bird sanctuary.  So Amelia was definitely in her element.

 Talking to the guides and asking lots of questions.

 Not sure what bird is in this picture, probably just a Tui.

We tried out Kiwi Valley Farm, nice place, but not sure if we will go back again. We were met with an annoying goat who wouldn't leave us alone for awhile....found out that this little guy is known for this.  I was hungry though and wanting to eat lunch!  You can't eat with a goat who jumps up on the table!! 

So we abandoned lunch for awhile so some of the kids could hold guinea pigs, and feed a rat... :P

 Finally we ate lunch!!  :)

 Owen liked getting on the tractors.

 But probably the highlight of the whole excursion was the pony/horse rides.  All of the children enjoyed this - especially Owen!

Aaron..

 Amelia

 Look at Keith on such a BIG horse!

 It was funny when Owen had  turn.  The horse stopped for whatever reason and Owen said, "Go! Go Fast!"  It made my day to hear him say that.

Curriculum 2016 & School Pictures!

Oh it is that time again....time to really sit down and pull out the books and get working.  We've delayed by about 2 weeks or 1 depends on what school your "following".  

We've been on holiday and trying to make the most of it with Jett (Daddy), hopefully I'll get around to posting some of our pics from that.  But now we've got to dig in...baby is due in 3 weeks time which doesn't leave much time to get some school done!

So today was officially our first day of school. :) I did two hair cuts this afternoon in order for them to look like proper school children and not some raggedy boys.  Here is Aaron, starting grade 3 (year something or another).

And Owen is kind of in a mixed grade, but to make it easier we'll say grade 1.

And Amelia. :)

And some of our books...

Owen is doing Math U See- Alpha(dvd shown but not the textbook). But I think he'll be into Beta before the end of the year.  

Aaron is in grade 3 bob jones math....not sure if we'll continue this next year.

Both Amelia and Aaron are doing Abeka for grammar/language arts.

Mystery of History Vol 1....yes this is embarrassing how little we've actually gone through in one and a half years, but we hope to get much more done this time! :)

Kids are sooooo excited to start Zoology 1 by Apologia (excellent Science program). Amelia is our bird expert and Aaron is into bugs/insects both are covered in this book!

More books...

I've decided to try something different for Spelling....Aaron and Owen are trying out sequential spelling this year.  And the other two books here are Owen's as well.  However, he is more advanced in the Explode the Code series.  I use these as a way to get him to follow instructions and just some busy work.  Beyond the code I think deals with more comprehension which is what he needs most(something I'll be getting in the future).

Here is the notebooking journal for the Science curriculum and Amelia's Spelling book and Math (both new things this year).  So far she is enjoying doing her math on the computer, so hopefully this will be a good fit.

Other things I haven't included here:

• Swimming Lessons, 
• Memory work for Sabbath School
• we are reading Little House in the Big Woods together,
•  the two oldest are writing diaries - this will be good for their handwriting skills, 
• and my kids are ever reading nature books from the library not to mention any good books from our own library (Aaron is currently reading Pilgrims Progress -my favourite).

I haven't put much more effort into Art or Music yet. We are hoping to have a baby soon so will have to think about this as the year progresses.  Anyways, this is what our homeschooling will look like this year!  Always exciting starting off new. :)

New Years BBQ and Devonport

Happy New Years everyone!  NZ is a bit different from other countries, well at least from the US.  Lots of trades, and some shops are closed for what seems like a two week period. This year I was really missing family.  So, I decided to host a BBQ here at the manse with a few families (lol which means loads of children).It turned out very nice, the men cooked. And some of us women were busy chatting away.:) 

Here is Tanya and myself.  She is a homeschooling Mum of 8 children.  She also is very photogenic...unlike the big pregnant mama beside her. :D

We had dreary weather, but with the little cover we did have the bbq's stilled cooked up some yummy meat!

See what I mean?  She always has this cheerful smile. Maybe I was needing food... :)

Paul (a Deacon in our church) helped himself to washing up and his wife followed suit and did the dessert dishes. :)  It really as an enjoyable evening.

The following Monday, a lot of the same people met up in Devonport to have a picnic lunch and a walk.  It was a beautiful day and the views were spectacular.

North head was a WW2 artillery emplacement.  The Kiwi's were prepared to fight off a Japanese invasion should one happen...thankfully it didn't.  There are tunnels to go through and a lovely coastal walk as well.

Here are some of the children, myself, Jett and Alasdair (an elder in our church).

 More children looking out...

 Another lookout.  Yes my hat has gone all floppy, but it kept my head from getting sunburnt. :)

About this time I turned around and walked back to the vans.  I am pregnant and didn't want to overdo it.  So insteadof doing the whole coastal walk I got to visit with Ruth and her 2 week old baby boy, which means I also got a cuddle too.  He is such a cuddly sweet boy!  I have still about 2 and 1/2 months to go, before we see our little one Lord willing.

And here are a few children getting dirty. :)

 

Another year is over and another has begun.