Jonah Recognition Day

We’ve spent the last week at Cape San Blas on a much needed family vacation.  After completing the first nine weeks of our school year, I scheduled for us to take two weeks off before beginning the next nine weeks.  The Cape was the perfect place to take part of that break.  The boys LOVE sand and water, Jake loves that there’s nothing else to do there (he hates the beach) so he is able to rest (which is something that he never does at home) and I love that everyone else is happy and occupied thus giving me a break J.

Thursday (Sept. 26) was a very special day for our youngest!  We called it “Jonah Recognition Day”.  Yes, Levi had a little bit of a hard time with it (not the activities of the day but the fact that Jonah was getting special recognition), but he muddled through. J

Jonah really struggled last year in some areas.  Enough so that we were beginning to get a little concerned.  And while we did not want to come across to Levi that Jonah was “more important” than him in any way, we just really felt that the obstacles he had overcome recently were in much need of recognition.  That’s what made this day worth celebrating.  Let me explain…  

*in phonics last year things just didn’t click with Jonah for quite a while.  Reading was NOT coming easily for him (which is really sad for a kid who loves books).  Finally it clicked and he’s been reading constantly ever since (he loves to read and does it all the time). 

*math was also a bit of a struggle in some ways.  Don’t get me wrong, he made 100’s on almost every daily math page he was ever given, but in Abeka (the curriculum we use for our homeschooling) there are timed math drills every day and Jonah pretty much NEVER completed one of them.  This year, 2^nd grade, he’s completed every one of them with time to spare and has made a 100% on almost every one!  He even has a 100% average in math on his first report card!

*lastly, Jonah was just dismissed from speech therapy after 2 years.  While he sometimes can still be hard to understand, it’s not because he can’t make certain sounds anymore, it’s only because he gets in a rush and doesn’t pronounce everything.  He has really come a long way and has worked hard to get there.

All this combined with his report card (which was all A’s except for a high B in penmanship) caused us to declare a “Jonah Recognition Day”.  He loved it!!  This is how our day went.

To begin with, he was allowed to just “veg-out” and watch t.v.  That may not seem like much to most of you, but we don’t generally allow the boys to watch much t.v. so it was a special treat for Jonah.  Later, we had a family scrabble game (Dad helping Jonah).

  

 

(look at the concentration on Jake’s face!)

 

Eventually Jonah bored with this and moved on to play his tablet (another thing he’s not often allowed to do).

 

He requested hash for lunch, so… his wish was our command.  As you can see, he approved.

After lunch, he chose to go play in the pool where he greatly enjoyed his time until his stomach started hurting.

After a brief rest, we headed back to the house where we surprised him with the brownies Levi and I had secretly made earlier.  I think that made his stomach feel all better J (yep, the brownies and ice-cream are sugar-free).

As he and Levi were sitting on the balcony eating, they noticed a fish in the pond below so, fishing was the next thing on the agenda.  This was a very short and unproductive activity, but they enjoyed it anyway.  I think there are too many turtles in that pond for there to be many fish.

So, Jonah’s next request was a game of tennis (which was very short and could hardly be called a “game” or “match” as there was more chasing the ball than anything else).  But we all had fun.

(is this tennis or baseball, Levi?)

The tennis court is right by the pool, so before too long Jonah was back in the pool and Levi soon joined.  That only lasted a short while before Jonah decided the beach is where he really wanted to be, so…

Of course after you’re done at the beach, you go to the pool to rinse off.  And, just to keep things interesting, they chose to go to a different pool than we usually go to.

(as you can see, it was really tough for me, but I managed ;-) )

 

Then it was back to the house for yet another brownie for Jonah, followed by left-over hash and ANOTHER brownie.  This time, “Your Majesty” chose to have it on his room’s balcony.  He is really enjoying all this “service” he’s getting.

 

But then he discovered that our room had a bigger balcony, so he decided to relax there for a bit.

He ended the day by watching some football with Dad & Levi (only I think he spent more time playing with his toys than actually watching the game). 

I think he felt thoroughly “recognized”!!  Maybe that explains this attitude…

(I am the king of the house today)

 

And since some of my family & friends are not on FaceBook, I’ll include a bunch of pictures and videos from our vacation in this post.  Hope you enjoy them J

 

 

(first time trying to skim-board)

 

 

 

(still trying to learn to skim-board)

 

These next 3 pictures are Levi "throwing" Jonah up in the pool.  Jonah wanted Jake to come in and "throw him" but Levi assured him that he could do it.

(and THIS is why you can't really fish much in the ponds in the area)

I think Jake counted about 25 turtles after us standing on the dock for a few minutes (they come from all over hoping you'll feed them).

 

(Levi's about to get it figured out, but poor Jonah...)

 

A Day in the Life of Home-Schoolers

Okay, so I have to be honest and confess right up front that all our days do not look like this.  I’d love to tell you that every morning we faithfully and cheerfully get our chores done, do a little exercising and happily sit down to work on penmanship and spelling and all such academic things.  But I’d not be stating the truth, sadly.  I won’t go into what most days are honestly like, but instead I’ll relish in those days that things DO go smoothly and share THAT day with you (and just let you believe this is the “norm”). J

8:00ish – a healthy breakfast with a Bible story

8:30ish – chores

9:00ish – penmanship, etc.

10:00-11:00ish – walking

12:00ish – a little more academics before lunch

12:00-1:00ish – a healthy lunch (sometimes prepared by Levi while I work on more academics with Jonah)

After lunch – back to the books until all is complete

So while we’re all living in this nice and neat little world of everything going as planned, let me share some pictures of how it often looks on that “all is well” day.

PENMANSHIP

How do you like their choice for “seats” to practice their writing?  Yes, they have desks, but that gets boring if it’s what you do ALL the time—have to change it up on occasion. ;)

SPANISH and TYPING

And let’s not forget LANGUAGE, READING, MATH, HISTORY, SCIENCE, POETRY, BIBLE MEMORY, etc.

And I’d post pictures of some of the “fun” or recreational time, but I’m too vain to post the one I took of us out walking today (with my hair all pulled back in a headband); and I don’t have one of Levi out working in the bees with Jake (because, well… I’m here, not there); and we’ve not gotten around to art for a couple of weeks due to being on the run with appointments and such…  But you’ll have to take my word for it that the boys DO do more than just academics J and they’re both doing quite well in all they’re doing so far this year (we are on our sixth week of 2^nd and 4^th grades).  So, just let me bask in the warmth of a good school day and pretend that they’re all just like this (shhhhh… no one wake me up to reality just yet—that’ll happen soon enough I can assure you).

 

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Jonah played soccer at the Wakulla County Recreation Department this year for the first time.  He was actually very good at it.  I think we've found his sport!

 

Levi was chosen for the Wakulla 9U All-Stars team and he was so proud.  They lost their first tournament, but he enjoyed the team, the coaches and the opportunity.

The boys even spent a few days by the road selling blackberries they had picked in our yard.  They made a whopping $4 and were just as proud and satisfied as they could be.

They even got to try out Taekwondo last week and they LOVED it (as did I).  But, sadly, we discovered that we cannot afford it unless we find a way to earn extra money (which we have not given up on).

VBS with our church has come and gone and the boys, of course, had a great time.  We're now gearing up for VBS at Mt. Elon (church just up from our house) and I know they'll have a great time again.

But after next week, it'll all be over.  No more soccer, no more baseball, no more berry selling... and, unless God sees fit to provide, no Taekwondo.  We're looking for options of other extra-curricular activities right now and praying we find the perfect fit for us, but meanwhile... what does a homeschooling mother do with bored kids in the heat of summer with no other activities going on?  START THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR, of course!  Won't the kids be glad?  LOL

I know every kid who does NOT homeschool is feeling very thankful that they don't right now, huh?  But that's okay, because come hunting season, my kids will be rejoicing that they are off and able to hunt EVERY day of the season!  We really do love homeschooling around here.  Well, most of the time :)

 

Short and Sweet

You know I'm not one for  being brief or concise, but I just wanted to post a video or two since my parents are not on FB and cannot see it via that route :)

Here's one of Jonah reading (reading did not come as easily for him as for Levi, but it's finally beginning to click and I think he's doing okay for a first grader).

(of course he's read this book probably 10-20 times before I thought to get out the video camera)

I love that he is loving to read :)

 

 

 

Jonah's enjoying being on video so much, he decided to do some preaching again (it's been a while!). Notice when he says "if you don't go to heaven you'll go to hell" that he looks off to the side (he's looking at Levi). He is so concerned about Levi's soul. He's a precious gift for sure! (Levi realized he was preaching at him so he decided to throw in an amen or two---probably to divert attention). Those boys are something else!

 

Quick side-note... We're reading Pilgrim's Progress as part of Levi's curriculum (simplified version).  For those of you who don't know, that is a very "deep" book with spiritual meanings.  Sometimes the questions that go with it can be tough since it's spiritual allegory, but guess who most often gets the questions correct right away?  JONAH (and yes, it makes Levi mad).  His understanding and comprehension really is amazing.

Praise!

I'm not going to try to catch you up on everything between my last post and now, but I do want to take the time to give praise where praise is due.
On Wednesday night the boys were playing in the shower and Jonah took a fall and busted his head.  We prayed that God would heal it and take care of Jonah and just look at the results.  A picture is worth a thousand words so I will keep this post short and just let the pictures (and hopefully our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ) speak.  These pictures are almost EXACTLY 24 hours apart.  We serve a mighty God.