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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Oh, What a Beautiful Baby........

Here are some of my favorite photographs.
Joshua on his blessing day.
He is laying on a blanket that his Great Grandma Hales made him.
Proud Mum and Dad!
 Joshua loved his binkie........
 What a sad face!!
 Joshua laying by the Christmas tree.......
he had just gummed his present from Grandma and Grandpa open!!!
 Joshua was a little bit of a messy eater.....still can be
 Getting ready to go trick or treating.
 Cute cowboy!
 The Purdy children have all loved Winnie the Pooh and Storybook Island.
 Ridin' down the highway.......
Oh, how Joshua loved his 4 wheeler.
 Loved riding his bike as well.
3rd birthday party
Yesterday Joshua and Courtney posted the following pictures.
 Several months ago, we found out that Joshua and Courtney were expecting a baby around June 8th,
Yesterday, they found out if they were going to have a boy or a girl.
It was my birthday yesterday, so I got to do the cake cutting honors and the big reveal.
BLUE
We are so excited to welcome this little baby boy into our family.
When you find out that you are going to be a Grandmother, it makes you stop and think, and it stirs up many emotions.
It does make you feel a little old.......
But, then I stop and think some more.
 We have an 8-year-old, we can't afford to feel old!!!
It also made me think back to when I was pregnant with Joshua.  The excitement of becoming a mother with all its expectations and dreams.
I only have pictures of "little" Joshua in this post.  Mainly because these are the years that I have been reminiscing about.
Also, these are the photographs that Jim has downloaded on his computer!!!!
Joshua was such a beautiful baby.
Dark black hair when he was born, but it turned lighter and he had the most beautiful soft curls. 
 I am sure Joshua is thrilled that I keep using the word beautiful!!
Words could never express how much being a mother means to me.
I hope that my children will always know how much they are loved.
I am excited that Joshua and Courtney will get to know that kind of love.
I remember the moment that each of my babies was placed in my arms.
Joshua, Jessica, and Samuel.
Peace, awe, gratitude......
We only got to hold Emma for such a short time in this life.  I can't wait to hold her again and feel peace, awe and most of all, gratitude.
 
I am excited to be a Grandmother.
Different excitement than finding out you are going to be a mother.
But, it is still pretty darn exciting!!!!!
 
Sally-Ann



Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Something Just for Fun!

Not everything in our little corner of the world is work, work, work.
A lot of our curriculum contains fun crafts, recipes and field trip ideas.
Here are some of the other things we utilize throughout our day!

I would use them even if we didn't home school!
  We used Kiwi Crate before we started to home school.
Now, if I see one of the crates will go along with one of our units, I hold off using in until then.
Love, love, love Kiwi Crate.

 Little Passports is another one we used before home schooling.
We are using the world edition and just use the items and suggestions to go along with our geography lessons.  Sam loves the little things that come with it.


I know some of these items add up cost wise.  But, for us, when everything you need comes with it and I don't have to run all over buying things, it is worth it.  

 We use Legos quite a bit.  They are great to help Sam with his fine motor skills.
Plus, he is a 8-year-old little boy who loves Legos!!!!
I would love to eventually get some of these kits and add them into our curriculum.
Something for everyone!!
Next week we will be starting a monthly agricultural class.
Agricultural Classes 

Sam's absolute favorite "extra" thing that we decided to try this school year is dance.
Who'd have thunk it??
Sam loves tap and tumbling the best, but gives ballet a go as well.
Sam was very sad over Christmas break because he missed 3 weeks of dance.  He even wanted to drive back from Key West to go to dance class and then drive back to Key West that night.  We had to disappoint him and say, "No."
Sam loves Ms. Rhonda at Kim Hall's School of Dance. 
This is also a HUGE milestone for Samuel.
It is the first time he has participated in a extra curricular type of situation without one on one assistance.

We have a few more things that we do, but will share them in a future blog.
 

Sally-Ann

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Please be Upstanding..........

I have lived in the United States for nearly 28 years now.  
That is a long time!
I am still an Australian citizen and I really do not have any desire to change that.
 I am very proud of my heritage and if I hadn't met and fell in love with Jim, I would most likely still be living in Australia.  Every now and then I look into getting my American citizenship.  I will most likely take the plunge, especially if I can have dual citizenship.
That being said, something happened on Saturday at the circus that made me think on this a bit.
This is the wall in our classroom that has the calendar, weather chart, and yes, the Pledge of Allegiance and an American flag.
Every morning we start off our school day with:
A song (which ever the children are working on at church for the month)
The monthly theme and scripture from church
A prayer
Article of Faith
The calendar
The weather
and
The Pledge of Allegiance
It is something I have no problem doing.
It is important for my children to know that it is important to show respect.
It is important for them to know that yes, they are 1/2 Australian, but they are also 1/2 American and we live in the United States of America.
I also stand and sing the American National Anthem.
I prefer to sing the Australian National Anthem, especially during the Olympics!!
  We have this painting hanging in Jim's office.  I love it, it is one of my favorites.  It reminds of of a stage that Samuel went through where he would make a beeline to microphones and do the Pledge of Allegiance.
On Saturday, the National Anthem was sung at the beginning of the circus.
Out of our whole row, our family was the only ones that stood-up.
It struck me as sad.
I hope that this is not going to become "the norm."
Even if you do not agree with politicians, certain laws......whatever.
You can still have a love and respect of country.
My family does.  Even the Australian halves!!
 
For those who do not know the Australian National Anthem......here it is!!
Sally-Ann