Catching Up

Whoa!  Time is just flyin' by!  And I've been neglecting this blog terribly.  Let's see - what has been going on around here...

• we celebrated Easter with our church family at Living Hope  by learning about the Jewish Seder and all the elements that point to Jesus as Messiah. Sheldon Alexander, a born again Jew, led us through the traditional Jewish ceremony and pointed out how Christ  transformed the Passover Seder into the Lord's Supper in that Upper Room with his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion. 
• enjoyed having the college kids home for a 5 day long weekend over Easter;  even though they aren't little anymore, my kids still like to get Easter baskets, and we still hide chocolate eggs around the house which everyone must hunt for before church :-) 
• Sarah learned that she has been accepted as an intern with Campus Crusade for Christ for next year! So now she isn't "aimless and directionless" anymore! ( a recent FB status )
• plans for the Homeschool Prom are coming right along! Registrations have been slooooooooooooowly coming in, but the pace has picked up considerably this week, now that the deadline is just one week away! I've added quite a few gray hairs over this event, but I think it is going to be wonderful and all the hard work and anxiety will be worth it in the end. We have learned that next year, there will be some big INCENTIVE for getting registration/payment in early!
• After thinking that she was going to end up going to Prom in a sack, Amanda found a very pretty dress at David's Bridal.  The styles at the mall were very disappointing - either they were very immodest, or they didn't look good on her body type, or they were really expensive! But now she's a happy girl!
• I'm having a great time with both art classes I teach! The high school girls are starting watercolor next week, and the 9-12 yr old boys are starting a 6 week session on art history, making these cool lapbooks from Homeschool in the Woods 
• Geography Club is a lot of fun. Attendance has been light due to sickness, travel, car trouble, you name it.  But we still have fun, even when there are only a few of us.  We meet every other Thursday, and focus on a different continent each month.  Last month it was Africa, and I bought a new board game called 10 Days in Africa to play. This was a huge hit with all the kids and the adults too!  The game is for 2-4 players, but we did it with 4 teams of 2 kids.  It is simple enough to learn quickly, but challenging enough that it keeps everyone engaged. It involves placing 10 tiles next to each other so that you can move from one country to the next by walking, driving, or flying. As soon as we finished the first game, the kids immediately wanted to play again - a sure sign of a great game! 
• Our monthly Lighthouse parent meeting was Tuesday night. The topic was Curriculum, and several people brought some favorites to let others look at and ask questions about -  Tapestry of Grace, Sonlight, My Father's World, Beautiful Feet, Shurley English, TruthQuest history, Happy Phonics. Upcoming activities for the support group are the annual Field Day and our Spelling Bee.