Jet hanging from the ceiling

Hey y'all!  I've missed you!  I've been so busy, but hope to visit with you soon.  Since the conference I just attended was about 20 miles or so from Washington, DC, I decided to take the family with me.  It was a homeschool field trip for us and what a great place for one!  We saw so much, I'm going to break it down into different posts.

Mitchell standing in front of the National Museum of the Marine Corps

We had about a 7 hour drive up there, but we stopped on the way in Quantico, VA, and went to The National Museum of The Marine Corps.  It's right off of I-95, so it's really easy to get to.  Admission and parking are both free, so that is a huge plus!

Mitchell in front of a tank scene

Let me tell you, this is a wonderful museum.  We were welcomed upon entry and told a few facts about the museum.  We were told everything, except one thing, I believe, was equipment actually used by Marines.  Also, each face used on the Marines in the exhibits, actually belonged to a real Marine.  How cool!

Some of the weapons of war

The museum is beautiful in design and huge, but well laid out.  You start out in 1775 learning how Marines defended the republic and you continue on up until Vietnam.  There is also an exhibit called A Marine's Life In Afghanistan.

Scene from a war

There are realistic looking scenes of warfare and artifacts including weaponry, vehicles, medals of honor, and much more.

Fragment of the Pentagon from 9/11

While we were there we saw the  9/11- We Remember exhibit.  It included a beam from the World Trade Center and a piece of the building from the Pentagon.

Beam from the World Trade Center

You were able to touch these and when I did, I was taken back to that fateful day and reminded how thankful I am to those who put their lives on the line to defend our country!

Mitchell leaving his memory

There was a wall of Memories where you were invited to leave your own memory of 9/11.  Mitchell decided to write something.  He was only 4 when it happened but he has learned more and more each year about what happened.

9/11 Memory Wall

The Gallery is amazing with aircraft hanging from the ceiling and  beautiful granite walls with famous quotes from Marines.  

Plane hanging from ceiling

I loved this quote:

Quote on the wall of the museum

There were lots of interactive things for kids to do.  My 4 year old loved pretending to be a marine and dressing up in different outfits.  He also liked the phones and he loved to pretend to "talk" to people on them.

Hunter pretending to be a Marine

There was also a place for kids to sit and read or color some.  I love that it was so colorful and inviting to children.

Hunter sitting in the reading area

I highly recommend visiting The National Museum of the Marine Corps!  My whole family enjoyed it!

I am so excited! It's only 10 days until the 2:1 Conference!  It's basically a conference for homeschoolers with a heart for God.  Today everyone who is going is doing a getting to know you post and linking up at Bowmania.

Here are 10 things you should know about me:

1. My name is Nancy and I've been married for 19 years.
2. I started homeschooling about 5 years ago after numerous problems with my oldest in public school.
3. I have two boys.  Mitchell will turn 15 next week and Hunter is 4.
4. My husband and kids will be coming with me to the conference.  If you hear extremely loud kids, they will be mine!  Sorry in advance!
5. I am from rural South Carolina.  I love living in the country!
6. I have lots of chickens and they all have names and are like my babies.
7. I am unorganized and a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl.  Although the older I get, the more I try to be more organized.
8. My favorite color is pink, I love chocolate and Disney World.
9. I don't know anyone who is coming to the conference very well and I'm scared I will feel all alone.
10. I believe that I will be blessed by attending 2:1 and will learn a lot from everyone there.

Me on the steps of one of the historic homes

Last month we went on a field trip to Camden, SC. It was the site of several key battles of the Revolutionary War. Since we homeschool, we were able to go right around the time Mitchell was studying that in US History.

Hunter, Mitchell, and me with cannons used in the Revolutionary War

I am so lucky that Mitchell is like me in that he loves history. He really enjoyed walking around and looking at the various sites and wondering how it felt way back then for all the soldiers who were there.

Mitchell in the stockades

We were able to tour several homes that date back to that period in history.  Inside were artifacts that had been unearthed in Camden.  We saw guns, tools, cannons, and lots of other things. 

Hunter and Adam in the stockades, with their feet, lol

We also did a driving tour of the battles and saw graves and homes from that time.  I really loved seeing all those old homes.  The neighborhoods were so cozy and you could really picture how living back then would have been like.

I am so sorry!  I've been a bad, bad blogger!  I had good intentions to blog on a more regular basis, but, somehow that hasn't worked out for me yet.  Even worse, I haven't been visiting your blogs either!  I am so ashamed, I'm a bad blogger and a bad bloggy friend!

So, since the picture says no excuses,  I won't make any.  I will, however, give you some reasons (LOL!!!) why I haven't been around.  First of all, let me just say that 8th grade math is hard!  I am having to relearn everything I have forgotten over the years.  And apparently that was alot!  That takes up a good amount of time.  First I have to figure it out and then figure out how to teach it, lol!  But we're getting there.

Also, I seem to have a harder time coming up with things to blog about since Barb and her family moved in.  I don't really know why, you would think I would have more to blog about.  Who knows? 

Plus, I can't find my camera, and I really like to include pictures with my posts.  It's been missing for weeks!  I have no idea where it is.  If anyone finds it, let me know!

The past couple days I have been kinda depressed too.  It seems like there is so much going on and I am so behind on everything, I don't know how to get caught back up.

If I leave this one out, some of you that are my Facebook friends would know!  So, here goes, I am addicted to the game Frontierville on Facebook.  A friend got me started on it, and I can't seem to stop.  I know it's bad,  but I can't help it.

I didn't want y'all to think I fell off the face of the earth or anything.  I am going to try and visit y'all sometime in the next week, sorry I've not been by.  I promise to try and do better!

When it's nice outside, my children love to go out and play.  They walk around the land a lot and play pretend.  But sometimes, when my oldest is alone, he likes to go in the old family cemetery that is on our property.  It's in those woods pictured above.


He has made a friend in the cemetery.  His name is David and he was a a Confederate soldier in the Civil War.  I know that sounds strange.  But, sometimes he goes in there and talks to him.  My son says it's very peaceful.  He wonders what David's life was like way back then. 


Both Mitchell and I love history, so I tried to help him learn a little more about David.  We learned he was married and had a daughter.  He also lived to be 72, so he survived being a soldier in the war.  We learned a little bit more about the war, so he could understand what David had been through.  There were conflicting reports as to which Company he served in.  On his grave stone it says H, but in our research, we found it to be Company E. 


I am happy whenever Mitchell wants to learn!  Since we homeschool, we can stop what we are doing and focus on something that interests him for awhile.  Like we did learning about the Civil War.

My son is in 7th grade right now.  So I have a couple years before I have to worry about high school.  However, it's been one of the things I worry most about homeschooling a teen.  I have fears about not being able to teach him as well as he should be taught and exactly what to teach as far as requirements go.  I have been lucky enough to have been sent the Knowledge Quest: Upper Level Homeschool Course by Terri Johnson to help me out with all these questions I have.

This is a 13 week course that takes you through all the steps needed to successfully teach your teenager during the high school years.  At the end of each lesson you are given some homework to do.  For example the first lesson is about learning the requirements for your state and planning a 4 year course of study.  So, for that week you find out the updated requirements for your state and make a course of study for your teen. 

The course goes over such things as different ways to earn high school credits, what to do if you need help teaching a subject, all about transcripts, and SAT/ACT testing for your high school student.  They also cover such topics as CLEP testing, which is something I had never heard of and financial aid for college.

This has been extremely helpful for me.  I really need the step by step directions that are in the Knowledge Quest: Upper Level Homeschool course.  I am feeling more confident about teaching through high school now that I know the steps to take. 

Knowledge Quest: Upper Level Homeschool course is $45, which isn't bad for something that will help guide you for four years.  I think this course would be great for parents who are feeling a little unsure about homeschooling through high school. 

I was sent this course for free by Terri Johnson and Knowledge Quest in association with Mama Bzz in exchange for a review of the product.

 I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I hope you were able to spend time with friends and loved ones.

We went to my older cousin's house today. They are more like parents to me, since my parents have passed on. It was nice being with them, they had a full house, but still welcomed us. Hunter was able to play with his cousin Josh. Mitchell was able to see his cousin A.J. who just moved back to town.


We had so much food, there wasn't enough room for it all! We had ham and chicken and dumplings, and tons of vegetables. Lots of sweets too, like pumpkin pie, cheesecake, and brownies. My "mommy" even gave me a pecan pie to take home and enough leftovers for a few days!


Today I am thankful for my husband, my children, my home, my friends, my family and I am especially thankful for Jesus. I am also thankful for all of my friends I have met through blogging!  Y'all are awesome!   I am very blessed!  (The pictures from this post are from our Homeschool Thanksgiving party.)

I have been given the chance to try out SpellQuizzer with my son.  SpellQuizzer is spelling software for children that need help learning their spelling and vocabulary words. The SpellQuizzer web site has pre-made downloadable spelling lists that you can download and use with SpellQuizzer.  You can also go in and make your own lists, no matter what curriculum you are using.  It's great for homeschoolers and children in public school too.

I can either go in and make a list for my son by typing in the word and saying the word with a sentence, or I can download a list.  The lists can be shared among users, in case you don't want to make your own..  I tried to make it fun for my son by saying funny sentences or relating it to him somehow.  The program will even alert you if it thinks you are putting in the wrong spelling of a word on your list.  

I tell my son which list he is to study on, and he can do it on his own.  If he gets a word wrong, it flashes up the correct spelling, and at the end of the list, he can repeat only the misspelled words.  If he finishes the list and spells everything correctly, he is rewarded by cheering from the program.

The great thing about the SpellQuizzer spelling program is that you can make the lists as short or long as you want.  I started out making a list of about 20 words, but my son gets nervous when he feels pressured.  So, I discovered that it helped him a lot if I made the lists shorter.  There was less chance of him getting a shorter list wrong and that helped build up his confidence. 

You can also use it for preschoolers.  They have a list you can download that helps them learn their letters.  I think soon I will be able to use this with my two year old.  He loves the computer already and loves to match up things.

You can go here to see a video demonstration of SpellQuizzer. You can also download a free 30 day trial by going here.

Would you like to win a free download of SpellQuizzer (A $29.95 value)? I have one to give away. There are 5 ways to enter.

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Follow my blog for an extra entry.
3. Put my button on your sidebar for another entry.
4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway for another entry.
5. Post about this giveaway on your blog for another 2 extra entries.

For each extra entry you do, please leave another comment.
Giveaway ends Friday night November 20 at midnight.

SpellQuizzer was provided to me for free from the company in exchange for review.

Last night I went to the Encouragement For The Homeschool Family Conference in Sumter.  It was led by Steve and Teri Maxwell of Titus2.com.  In case you don't know who they are, they have 8 children and have been homeschooling since 1985.  They have a program called Managers Of Their Homes which teaches women how to schedule their days with homeschooling and chores in order to be the most effective. 

I knew about their book because my friend Barb loves schedules and lists, so she already had it.  She was going, so even though I hate schedules and such, I thought maybe I could learn something from them.  The thing I hated was that it was over an hour and a half away and I had to drive by myself at night.  Barb was coming with some friends, but they live in NC, so they came from a different direction.  It was all good because I had a safe trip and time alone with no kids for a change!

The first part of the conference was by Terri about managing the home and chores.  Some helpful things she mentioned were assigning playtimes for an older child with a younger child and assigning alone playtime with each child going in a different room for 30 minutes to learn to play by themselves.  Another idea is to let the older children help the younger children with their school, that way that frees up mom to work one on one with another child.

Teri said that every child needs to know every chore in the house.  That way even boys would be able to help out if their wives need help or are sick.  She started her children when they were around 1 by making them pick up their toys.  She also said chores are to be done with a good attitude, with a serving attitude.  My two year old happily helps me to unload the dishwasher every time.  He thinks it's fun.  So, I do believe starting them early is a great idea.

^{Lamentations 3:27} It is good for a man that he should bear The yoke in his youth.

If we instill that serving attitude while they are young, it will carry on into their adult years.  I'll be honest here, my mom did everything for me, I didn't really have any chores.  So, it's been really hard for me to adjust to having to do everything now.  I usually only do things around the house when I have to.  My mom didn't train me to serve, she trained me to expect others to serve me.  I know she only did it because she loved me so, she always wanted to take care of me, even after I was married.  But, perhaps if I would have had chores to do on a regular basis, I wouldn't be so lazy now.

The other session was on keeping our children's hearts and it was led by both Teri and Steve.  Are we spending enough time with our kids?  At first thought, I would say yes, I'm here all the time, and so are they.  But really am I spending time with them?  Divide up your time between these things and see:
There are 168 hours in a week-

• work
• sleep
• TV
  
• entertainment
• children
• in the word
• ministry
• witnessing

When you put it like that, I am really falling short in a lot of key categories there.  Steve asked "Are we spending time with our children as if where they spent eternity depends on it?"  He said to turn our hearts to our children and that we need to have a vision for our family.  We need to delight in them and don't consider them an interruption, or a nuisance.

1 Corinthians 15:³³ Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."

Steve says to be with your children always, never apart. Because whoever they are with is the person they will learn from. That means he doesn't let his children participate in youth groups or sports, or any activity where someone else can influence his children. Their family also has no TV and urged all of us to get rid of ours. I do admit that most of what is on TV is pretty bad, but I can't see our family not having one at all. We have TVs in the game room and the living room. My son has one in his room that he only uses for video games.

The Maxwell family seemed like a really happy family and the children were so polite and always smiling.  At the end they all sang a couple songs for us.  While I wouldn't do everything they suggest, I did get a lot of useful ideas from this conference.  I also have a lot to think and pray on.  What about you?  What do you think of their ideas?  If you want to see what Barb thought about the conference her post is here, it also includes a picture of all us girls.

On Saturday our homeschool group went to a museum that was hosting a Digging For Fossils day. My sons love digging in dirt, so this sounded like something they would enjoy.


The museum had received a load of dirt from the Miocene period. That's around 13 million years ago. The dirt, which came from a phosphate mine in N.C. is rich in fossils.


Every child was given a identification chart and a large baggie to put their finds in. They were also given screens filled with dirt to sift through. My little one had some help from his dad. There were also experts on hand to make sure everyone found everything in their screens.


Mitchell loved finding shark teeth, whale bones, coral, and stingray grinders. He got his biggest great white extinct shark tooth made into a necklace.


When we got home we did our best to identify everything he found. In the baggies below are most of what he found. We put them in separate baggies according to what we thought they were.


We would like to visit the Aurora Fossil Museum sometime so the kids can search for more fossils. The museum is free and has a large pile of fossil dirt for children to search through.

****If you haven't entered my thermometer giveaway, please do, it ends at midnight tonight.****

A couple days ago we had our end of the year bash for our homeschool group. The grandparents of some of the students let us have the party at their home. It was a beautiful home with many fun things for the kids to do. We had over 40 people come, so the kids had a wonderful time!


My husband and sons went fishing in the pond. Mitchell was fishing on the pier with some of the other kids. That's him sitting at the picnic table in the gray shirt in the picture below.


My husband was teaching our toddler how to fish when Hunter started reeling it in. That's when he realized there was a fish on the line. Hunter's first fish! Well, he helped, anyway. He was a little scared of the fish, he kept backing up, lol!


After awhile my little one got tired of fishing and I got tired of pulling him out of the pond (he kept walking in). So, he went to play in the sand with some toys.


He also tried to play horseshoes and t-ball. My older son told me later, mom you took too many pictures of Hunter. I said, well, that's because I spent all night chasing him around while you were somewhere else playing.


Then we ate on the patio. My little one ate and ate and ate!


After that we learned of sand sledding. Where you use a sled to slide down the hillside. Mitchell wanted to do it, but he had to build up his confidence. He was scared of crashing or flipping on the hill.


As soon as he did it, though, he wanted to do it again and again. He even talked the girls into doing it.


Sorry for picture overload! I just wanted to share what a great time we had at our party!