Wednesday, August 17, 2011

The Home Stretch

It’s here.

Our final week of summer break. I’m left scratching my head and squinting my right eye, trying to figure out where all the days went.

This week I’m making a semi-mad dash to get our school room ready. Or as some might be prone to say… pulled out of total chaos from weeks of just dumping things here and there, running out the door with my eyes shut and pulling the door closed tightly behind me.  So, unlike me, but so absolutely necessary this summer.

I’m also investing my time by getting all the required information I will need for my first EVER high schooler.  My oldest son will be starting 9th grade this year.  It seems totally impossible that I could have a child this old since I am still so very young, and hip, and lithe (insert snort and hilarious laughter).  My fingers have been very busy typing away as I make up a very “official” looking schedule for the next 9 weeks.  I will be placing more responsibility on him to get his work accomplished and much less reminding done by his A-1 teacher.  I will be grading all his work for the first time and I am hoping this will help give him the bit of Oomph that has been lacking at times in his desire to apply himself.  Grading + good GPA + higher education= better college options.  Oh look! I’m a math genius!

I’m also working on finishing up a chalkboard that I have been wanting to make for a long time. Pretty much like for a whole year. I’ve had this frame sitting in the school room begging for me to make it pretty and useful. Well, now with the help of my Hollywood man, I am.  He lovingly spray painted a board with chalkboard paint and I got busy painting the frame (with not just a few helpful hints from the artiest in the family).

 

chalkboard

 

Now I have a chalkboard upon which I will display our memory verses! 

s-3

Well almost…Mister Man doesn’t trust me to use spray paint without leaving drips or something like that and I decided it needed another coat or two.  He lovingly obliged me and just added another coat to the board. I hope to put it all together tonight. I will try to remember to show you the final product soon.

And in a spare minute or two I took a few “school” pictures of my crew. When I suggested photos for school someone thought it a great idea to leap across the yard in a final hurrah for summer.  It snowballed from there with all three of the youngest ones talking loudly and begging me to take pictures of them celebrating.

So….One~ Two~ Three~  HURRAH FOR SUMMER and I say FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR!

   j-1  s-1 c

   

And because my younger boys have a really hard time being serious in front of the camera, I got a lot of this.

                  c-2   j-2

 

  And my more serious two. One of which is hard to get in front of the camera (hint: the tall, dignified, guy on the left).

                 I  sis-hat-2

 

  Not your typical “school” pictures, but HEY, I never claimed to be typical!  We’re traveling this home school road with individuality and panache.  Okay maybe not so much panache, but we are making our own well beaten path and learning with every step, stumble, sprint, and shuffle!

 

 

 

 nbts-blog-hop-2011

Linking up our school photos at Heart of the Matter.chalkboard

24 comments:

  1. Those are great shots of your kids!!

    My oldest starts 8th grade this year, and it's hard for me to believe.

    I am very interested in seeing your finished project!

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  2. Wow, 9th grade! That is how old we were when we first met! Seems like yesterday! So I say we are both still so very young, hip, and lithe. :)

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  3. Panache!
    Love it!
    And that frame for your new chalk board....LOVE IT!
    Good luck with your new schedule! Your such an inspiration to me!

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  4. I'm with you all the way baby!

    It seems like you blink your eyes and time just seems to slide through our hands...

    goodness;-)

    I can. Not. can Not believe you are teaching a 9th grader?1?!

    This does not seem possible???

    And I'm stressing out about 2nd grade and here you are in 9th grade. Whew!

    I can't wait to see your chalk board! We have a little something up our sleeve too in my kitchen. A project we started over the 4th and is just now getting done.

    I love the color of the frame!!!and the shot of your sweet girl.

    Those boys are some kind of handsome if they don't mind me saying so.

    So happy you linked up on the blog hop. Others will find a sweet gem when they visit your blog:)

    Love You!

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  5. Gasp! Beautiful, gorgeous photos with the sun streaming down!!! Love the outtakes, too.

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  6. All of my husbands 5 brothers & sisters home school. At least we have 2 short years to figure it out. Great color choice for the frame! :)

    Rebecca

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  7. Love the creative shots of your kids! Looking forward to seeing the chalkboard too!

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  8. I love it! Reminds me of the good ol' days:)
    You have beautiful kids. . .I think those are great school pictures.
    Have a wonderful school year!!!

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  9. Love the way your frame turned out! I want one!

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  10. Love the pictures! Enter my giveaway!!!

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  11. Oh my goodness! This post had me laughing. What goobers! I absolutely LOVE all of your school pictures! The last hurrah pics tickled me so much. I think it's great that didn't try to capture the "perfect" picture. I feel like these will create such good memories.

    Lastly, I am SO jealous of your chalkboard. I saw your frame in the schoolroom the other day and I had an inkling that was what it was for. It looks like it's going to be awesome. ME WANT!

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  12. School is starting...wow....

    I'm going to very casually start some preschool stuff with my twins this year.....just to get our feet wet. Preschool actually intimidates me more than the thought of other grades right now.

    Love your blackboard project. I'm hoping to do something similar, too!


    Love the school pictures!

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  13. I am seriously digging your frame! That is going to make a cool chalkboard.

    The photos of the kids are beautiful - but of course, look at the kids. You have a lovely family.

    Have a blessed day!

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  14. The count down is on....
    I have been organizing....
    Baking....
    Praying....

    I can so relate to what you said about the dumping in the school room and then closing the door!
    We got ours all spiffied up last weeks and it feels so much better...why do I allow it to get so crazy???

    Love the frame and the photos of your kids!
    I am thinking of painting a chalk board for our dining room as well...beings how we do way more school at that table than filling our bellies!

    Maybe you could give us a tutorial on how you painted that purty little frame up to look like that...then maybe you wouldn't mind if I tried to copy it! ;o)

    Happy almost school time!
    I am so excited!

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  15. Fun post Jenn! Great photos of the kids! Happy *new school year* to you!! :)

    Love,
    Camille

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  16. i am such a believer in homeschooling and
    pray this is your best year ever!

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  17. Beautiful photos!

    I LOVE your chalkboard idea and can't wait to see photos of the finished product!!

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  18. I love your Not Back to School Photos! We're in the country and did our school shots outside too:) You really take amazing photos and have such a beautiful family. Thanks for sharing!

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  19. That's one of the many things that I love about homeschooling - being individuals and not cookie cutter shaped! Love your chalkboard idea. I hope you'll post a picture of the completed project. :D

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  20. How exciting! I just realized you are friends with April from My Three Rivers Home! She is one of my IRL friends and someone that I knew you would click with! Ya'll have so much in common! :o)

    Homeschooling a high schooler! Glad it's you and not me! :o) My math and science skills stopped at approximately the 7th grade. I would have to hire a tutor for everything besides english. :o)

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  21. Great photos! The not-so-serious ones made me giggle. Reminds me of my boys who also don't like to "smile nicely for the camera". I look forward to seeing the finished chalkboard. The frame looks lovely.

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  22. Hi Jenn
    Love it!! Your kids made me laugh!
    My kids school pictures are never normal either- this year one was holding the cat like a baby, the other was holding a chicken!
    I hope you have a wonderful year ahead with lots of learning & fun!
    Blessings
    Renata:)

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  23. Lovely shots of your kids, you can really see their personalities shining through, love the top right shot of your son laughing, so joyous and fun!
    Thanks for your visit and lovely comment!

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  24. I LOVE these shots! I MUCH prefer these authentic poses to the awful staged, traditional school shots. :) Totally shows their personality. And your sweet girl is GORGEOUS. Wow.

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