March week 4 & 5

Spring officially began 

this week and along 

with that came Easter.

We celebrated at my Aunt Susie's
house with all the cousins and
even a second cousin!
Of course with chocolate bunnies too :)



We had birthdays this week too.
Crosby turned 2 years old at
Choo Choo Bob's train store.
My brothers and I took Dad
to a Wild game to celebrate
his birthday. 


For our lessons we had violin.
Wesley is still doing well.
We bought him the next size up.
He loves to play and practice.

Our Tuesday co-op was
about orienteering.

We spent the afternoon
learning about maps, legends,
and finding our way.
Specifically without
a GPS. 
This is a lost art.
I would love for the kids
to have a healthy sense of direction.
There are more of these classes
and I plan to attend everyone.

We also hiked Sunfish lake Park
this week.  I also plan
to return here often.
It is a gem.
Beautiful rugged trails.

Wesley has been working on
more drawing projects.

He has been focusing on
animals more lately.



I love his artwork.
He has been able to
join in a drawing course
through the Art Academy.
I am excited to see how
he will blossom.

Until next week
~blessings

March week 3

This week started out with 

an exciting visit from 

Aunt Burp and the mini burpos :)

We spent the afternoon exploring downtown.

Surprised to find the river with this

beautiful fog.

We had lunch and played at 

this great new play land, the kid oasis.

Followed the day up with ice cream.

We all love hanging out with 

our family!

Our Tuesday was more

lesson plan focused.

It was a rainy day 

we spent watching 

documentaries on ancient Egypt.

Matthew's homework involved 

taking notes from multiple sources.

One of which was said documentary.

This class has been so good for him.

Very structured and formal.

Very unlike me :) and so him :)

Wednesday we had our violin lessons.

Wesley is progressing at a very 

rapid pace.  His teacher is encouraging.

He has a nice helper at home that makes 

learning an instrument a lot better.

It was also Saint Patrick's day this week.

I love telling Saint stories to the kids.

Of course we had to set a trap!

We almost caught him this year too!

He left us a nice pile of chocolates

along with his little jacket and top hat.

Thursday Matthew had a skate 

training session.

We are aiming for once a week to 

keep his legs under him.

Friday we finished up the week 

jumping at Skyzone for their homeschool day.

The weekend was capped 

with a sleepover at grandpa's!

Thank you Grandpa!

Until next week

~blessings

March week 2

Continuing with our nature
hikes this week!

Tillie graduated out of
her kindergarten workbook.
Now she has moved into a
first grade one!

I have her doing workbooks
along side the boys when they
work in their books.
Soon when she has more
of a foundation in her reading
I will move into the
Climbing to good English
series.

This week on Tuesday we
skipped out on our homeschool
co-op class and opted to have
Matthew's good buddy over.
It was a 70 degree day we thoroughly
enjoyed by a walk to the library and the park.



On Wednesday
we had two violin lessons.
Scope was off for the
week due to a spring break.

On Thursday we
went back to the ski hill.

It was the very last time
we could enjoy the hill of the year.
It was around 50 degrees and the
skiing was very slushy.
The kids still had the best time.
Skiing in sweatshirts and tank tops!

Friday we spent the day at
the pool for a good friends
birthday. 

Until next week
~blessings

March week 1

We started this week 

with a walk and playing at 

our favorite park.

We are all loving the warmer 

weather and mostly the 

return of the SUN.

Tuesday we were with our 

homeschool co-op group.

We spent the whole day at 

the Minnesota History Center.

We participated in a class

that was really well done.

The class was called 

"when we were young"

The kids all pretended to 

be children from 1910.

Here, Taggert is showing how the

kids bathed in 1910.

Matthew was a paper boy,

Tillie washed clothes,

and Wesley collected
water from a well and his name
was Byrd :)

It was informative and fun.

We loved it.

Wednesday Wesley started his 

first violin lesson!

He is doing great.

So far he loves practicing and 

is very excited about the instrument.

We spent Thursday with 

our friends at the 

ski hill for the homeschool day.

We stayed so late we even 

skied under the lights!

We celebrated Wesley's hockey 

season over the weekend.

He finished up with his jamboree.

Grandma, Grandpa and uncle Chad

came out to watch his last game as a mite.

Until next week
~blessings

February week 4

We are experiencing an early 

spring this year.

Melting snow and warm sun

feels really good.

We have been doing more

nature hikes.

Of course Matthew has been back to 

his best climbing trees.

For lessons we have been

continuing our focus

on ancient Egypt.

We watched the movie

called the Prince of Egypt.

With Wesley we are talking 

about Jacob and
 Moses from the Old Testament.

I had been reading a classic to 

the kids every week.  

This week I decided they might like 

something lighter and maybe 

funny...

I checked out a little Roald Dahl.

We went with

George's Marvelous Medicine

The kids thought it was wonderful.

I still prefer the classics,

although this was a nice break.

On Tuesday this week we 

decided to go swimming with

our good friends.

We spent 6 hours in the pool.

The kids had a blast.

On Thursday we spent the 

day at feed my starving children.

I believe deeply in 

the power of service.

I love that we had this opportunity.

The kids benefited from this 

more than I could've dreamed.

I would love to do more volunteering 

whenever possible. 

With the sunshine we started 

exploring our hometown again.

I love going downtown.

We went out to a nice dinner this 

week with our friends/neighbors as well.

Until next week
~blessings

February week 3

This week for lessons

we worked on 

our English books.

Wesley has been working 

on digraphs, contractions,

and compound words.  He 

has improved immensely 

with flipping his letters.

We still work on reading 

(reluctantly) everyday.

Matthew has been working 

on the different kinds of sentences,

editing stories, and identifying

subject and predicate. 

He is also focusing heavily on

story writing.  

For his scope classes he has begun a 

5 week research project 

culminating with 

a written research report.

He has been doing his 

math practice on khan academy

only if he is rewarded with

 coding at the end of it.

Matthew has also been spending his 

time trying to finish his 

Minnesota gun safety.

Maybe Tom could've taught him 

this one :)

We were able to get in one 

more ice fishing trip

before Miller pulled it

off for the season.

On Tuesday for our

homeschool co-op

we went sledding.

It was an amazing hill.

HUGE.

It was at Battle Creek.

We were also able to 

use their gym and play 

basketball and soccer.

The kids had a really great time.

This week we also 

enjoyed ourselves at 

vertical endeavors.

We brought Matthew's

buddy with us.

The kids always have a great time there.

Thursday we went out 

of town for Matthew's hockey 

squirt B red tournament.

We spent four days in 

the Fargo pool.

This was the team's last hurrah.

It was a good season.

Now we are on to baseball 

and AAA hockey.

Until next week 

~blessings

February week 2

After my girls get away

I really wanted to spend the 

week regrouping.  I felt 

very rejuvenated and 

compelled to focus on the 

family.

In my world this means

Monday started out with

baking an apple pie. :)

The kids LOVE apple pie.

It is Tillie's favorite food.

They also love helping me 

bake.  This recipe turned out 

really well.  I do not want

to forget so I am adding it here.

Maybe you all will be inspired 

to pie making;)

This time the crust was half butter

half lard.  It was perfect.

I cooked the filling and

I will always do that now.

I used the recipe from the 

New York Times.

Currently I am working 

with more intention on Wesley.

Matthew seems to have hit 

a nice groove and knows what I 

expect out of him.  Wesley 

is slowly starting his nine year change.

I have found the Waldorf pedagogy for 

this time is perfect for their soul.

I have read many old testament 

stories. 

I was able to download Jakob Streit's

Journey to the Promised Land

He is responding very well to these stories.

When I read them it is like he is at a

well drinking them in. 

He is also working on more 

grammar and writing 

Thank you Mad Libs!!!

On Tuesday it was cold and I 

was desperate for my yearly

winter fix...Conservatory.

 

This place works magic

on us. I slowly make 

my way through all the 

beautiful flowers.

I take my time with all 

the humidity and the 

earthy smells.  I could live there.

Of course we ran around to

see all the zoo animals.

The kids really had a great day

checking it all out.

Wednesday was Ash Wednesday.

Matthew and I want to Mass.

I do like this time of year.

Lent for me is such an inner 

focused time.  I feel we slow down

and notice the sacred. 

Thursday we spent the 

day on a waterfall hike with our

good home school friends.

The hill is steep, but the kids made the 

most of it.

It was a gorgeous day.

A really good hike.

Seeing the places 

I love in all seasons

is an inspiration to me.

Friday we spent the morning 

ice skating with 

uncle Bryce and cousins.

Over the weekend we 

were invited to celebrate with

my cousins little girl.

It was her birthday. Tillie has 

so much fun with her.

Happy Birthday Madison
thank you for letting us celebrate with you.

Until next week
~blessings