Our Current Studies!

This is for all of our family and friends that are wondering what the kiddos are doing in school right now!!

David:

Geometry:  Logic problems/proofs. (David's favorite!)
English: Writing a research paper currently and studying gerunds and participial phrases with diagramming.
Geography: Studying the Northeastern U.S.
Biology: Mitosis, meiosis, and starting genetics chapter.
Spanish: Studying uses of of "ser" and "estar" with prepositions and relative pronouns.
Bible: Christ and the religious leadership.

Literature will begin in about 6 weeks after his Grammar/Writing section of English is completed. We will also be doing some keyboarding and working on some sort of building project??? We have not decided what as of yet! David is also in a shooting club with 4-H, teen helper for two other 4-H clubs, in Toastmasters, Teen court (prosecuting attorney), and in January will be the president of his shooting club. He is also involved in our homeschool group.

Braydon:

Phonics: Learning more consonant blends...still working only on the short vowel sounds in reading.
Math: Addition, subtraction, time, perfecting counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s, money, and introducing fractions.
Science:  We just studied the migratory patterns of several birds, and are currently learning about ants, bees, and some other insects.
Social Studies:  Learning the capitals, flags, nicknames, and one special point of interest of each state...currently Montana!  Just finished a study on Christopher Columbus and haven't picked our next person of interest yet!!
Bible:  Junior Bible Quiz and we do a daily bible reading/lesson.
Writing:  Practicing sentence structure and punctuation.

We are also working on the calendar/weather. After Christmas will be doing some music lessons! It will soon be time to start T-ball after that.  Braydon is also in a shooting club with 4-H and two other 4-H clubs.  He is the photographer/reporter for his shooting club. Braydon is also involved in our homeschool group!

Hope this answers your "wonder what those Smith boys are studying/up to?" questions!
Be blessed!!

Funny Shorts.

Braydon comes up with some funny material! I have to write them down as he blurts them out or I forget...here are a few of the recent ones:

• "Mom, I am ready to watch "Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid" when you are ready to put it on!"

• The song "Oh How He Loves Me" is really "WoooHaaa He Loves Me"....and everyone else in the world sings it incorrectly!

• "Mom, I seriously doubt I will be counting by these ridiculous 2s in Heaven, so could you really just let me know why you are inconveniencing me with this lately?"

• "Daddy, I would play some basketball with you, but I don't really want to put the smack down on you in front of your wife, ya' know, Mom."

• Getting his hair cut at Sport Clips, seeing all of the baseballs and footballs and such..."Boy, I hope this lady can cut my hair without watching the game on television. If she screamed, "touchdown", and made the wrong move...my hair could get whacked!  That would be an awkward day on the job for her!"

Will post more as he supplies them....

Already??

Really? Is it time for this already?  Jeez!  I cannot believe that we are researching colleges for my kiddo!  Time really flies, doesn't it?  This is exciting but scary for me all at once.  I am very proud of David and the young man that he has become and is becoming, but YIKES, why is he getting so old so quickly??  It probably doesn't go as fast for him as it does his Momma...I remember it went terribly slow when I was his age, but here I am...about to be the parent of a college kid....what in the world?? I am too young for this...hehe.

I will be buying some ACT/SAT preparatory stuff this summer for him to get started on and he will be hitting it hard for 2-3 years.  A very wise, wonderful woman did tell me a great tip which I plan on putting into place!  She said to treat ACT/SAT prep as you would treat a part time job.  Don't let him take a job outside of your home.  Make the 10-15 hours a week that he would spend at a job studying for his exams.  What a great idea!!  If you score a 32 (I think) or higher on your ACT in our state, you receive the Governor's Scholarship, which is fifty or sixty thousand dollars (I cannot remember the exact amount anymore) and then the school of choice comps the rest of the tuition costs that the scholarship does not cover, if any.  If you have any left over....it can be applied to graduate school! Awesome!  There is NO part time job that will pay off like that, in my opinion!  That is what we will be working towards.

The Funk.

Our household has been battling the "funk" now for a week or so and it has led to, at least it feels like, no other human life contact of any sort!  I MISS PEOPLE!  We, unfortunately, have not made it to ANY of the kids' Christmas parties or church events in the last week! I am feeling good, though, that we are getting through the "yuk" now rather than through the Christmas holiday. 

The stomach/intestinal bug has been going through our little town and thus far we have not been blessed with it, thank you Jesus, but I have been on high alert with leaving the house in our "weakened" state, so needless to say.....we are all craving some friend time!!

Friends:  I will be calling all of you very shortly for play dates and Mommy time....miss you!

Ol' Billy Sure Hits the Nail On the Head!

Here is Billy Graham's prayer for our nation:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.  We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done.  We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values..
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.  We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.  We have killed our unborn and called it choice.  We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.  We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.  We have abused power and called it politics.  We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.  We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.  We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.  Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!"
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "One nation under God!"

Preach it, Billy!

December Children!

I love this time of year...snuggling on the couch watching movies with the kiddos, drinking hot cocoa....treasured memories for this momma!! 

Braydon waiting for who knows??


  

The boys in Indiana...it was COLD!!

We were able to go to Indiana for Thanksgiving, but it was a rather short trip....just grateful to be able to see some family...wish we could have seen more, but feel very blessed that we made it there!!