Field Trips

We started school on June 21st. Will was really excited about his math program & did 5 lessons in 2 days. Oh how I wish that would be the case every day. :)

We will be doing school year round for the first time this year. 3 weeks on and 1 week off - with most of December off.

Our first week of school, we did 3 days of school and then had 2 days of field trips.

Our Thursday field trip was to a beautiful nursery for our final 4H Seedling class. Faith was so excited that she would be able to see babies. She was a little disappointed that it was a flower nursery.

Faith is pretending to be the teacher. I wish I would have videoed what she was teaching me. So funny!

Collin said that he wanted to do this to Daddy's redneck truck.
Tony didn't like his idea.

We learned what types of plants liked which types of soil, how to transfer plants, how to design a yard & lots more. Now, only if I could have a green thumb. I cringe every time someone gives me a plant, because I know it won't have a long life in my care.


All the kids were able to plant a flower & then take it home. So far, two weeks later, they are still living.

Will received his certificate, pins & t-shirt for completing the 4H Seedling class.


Collin received his certificate, pins & t-shirt for completing the 4H Seedling class.


We studied the Venus Fly Trap in science & decided to buy one. It has been a lot of fun to watch. Put the pot in a dish filled with water & it's good to go. The plant likes for the soil to be soggy. My problem with plants is either I don't water it enough or I water it too much. Maybe this one will make it.

Our Friday field trip was for our state history class.

We visited the state capitol. This is always a lot of fun. Each year we get a little more detailed about our state & government.

No matter where we go, the trees are one of the highlights. (Collin)

We found all 6 stars on the State House that represented where it was hit during the Civil War.

The House of Representatives. We were excited to find a Bible on one of the desks.

Will acting like George Washington.

Our 1st week back to school was so much fun. It was relaxed & not to demanding. Praying for many more weeks like this one.

Our Busy Last Few Weeks

Life has been so busy in the 'Buck house these past few weeks.

Will did a wonderful job on his piano recital. He loves playing.

Will has taken piano 2 years from Mrs. Star. She has such a sweet spirit, loves her piano students & most importantly loves her Lord.


We enjoyed making dinner from my dear friend Rhonda after she came home from the hospital with her beautiful baby girl. Collin made the lemonade all by himself.



Box Day: For homeschoolers, when your curriculum comes in the mail it is like Christmas . We waited for the UPS man for 2 days. Every time a big truck went by, someone jumped up to look at the window to see if it was him. We enjoyed looking through all the books & finding out about the new adventures we would be having throughout the year.

The boys had a great time at art camp.


Will's beach scene. (Mom's pick)


Collin's Deer in the field. (Mom's pick)


WE WON!!!!! $50 gift card to the Homeschool Bookstore. Our homeschool accountability group had an Educational Box Top contest. We sent in over 1,090 Box Tops in. Thank you friends & family for all your help. We couldn't have done it without your help.
(As you can tell, the boys were not as excited about having their picture taken as they were about winning. :)



We had fun visiting our local farmer's market. One of the vendors had a place where the children could make cards using vegetables. We love our local farmers.

Bill the Duck's Adventures

We are participating in a homeschool project. We have really enjoyed it. Check out Bill the Duck's 1st week with the 'lilbucks.

Bill arrived on Tues., June 1st from Germany.

Complete with passport, plain ticket & an adventure journal.

A few very excited 'lilbucks.

6-2-10 Bill on the way to spend the day at the lake.

1st stop, Chick-fil-a. Bill was very happy to hear that they serve chicken and not fresh duck.

Bill slide down the slide over & over & over.

Bill enjoyed swimming with friends on such a pretty sunny day.

Wed. night, Bill had a great time learning how to play the organ.

He got a chance to "quack" in our church pulpit.

6-4-10 Fri., Bill took pleasure in riding in the grocery cart at Publix.

He inspect the produce.

Bill was a little confused why these people were not moving.

He learned how to read at the library.

6-5-10 Bill was the talk of the Victorian Tea party.

8 Little girls enjoyed spending time with Bill.

After the party, Bill flew to a wedding where he got to be one of the 1st to see the wedding cake.
He was curious about all the penguins in the wedding party. (tux)

Late Sat. afternoon, we spent some time at a pond where he was eagerly anticipating Collin to catch a fish for his dinner.

6-8-10 Bill felt like a true American today when he got to help us vote in the primaries for our state leaders.

Stay tune for more Bill Adventures.

A Birthday Girl's Ramblings

This month has been one eventful month. Nothing major, just lots of little things.

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Yesterday, was my birthday. My sweet friend Sherry told me that when you turn 35, you start going backwards in years. I like that & I'm going to stick to it. So I am now 34 years old.

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Funny thing happened on my birthday. Will, my first born, was born on our preacher's daughter's birthday. Savannah, her first born was born yesterday, on my birthday.

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In the last couple of weeks, I've been able to see the strength of God through 2 amazing ladies.
On Thursday, a precious friend of mine's son was in a motorcycle accident. This dear lady has had a rough year & then to have this happen. Even in the center of it all, as I was driving her to the hospital, she was praising God. Acknowledging Him for His protection. God gave her

Strength when she needed it, because of time that she had spent with the Lord. (Because of God's protection & many prayers for this young man, he survived. He will have to be in the hospital for some time.)

Another Lady, Mrs. Carol, lost her daughter last December. Through it all, this sweet lady has been able to still praise the Lord. Of course, she still grieves, but she clings to the One who can guide her through life's journey.

Mrs. Carol told me of a book called 31 Days of Praise. It's an marvelous book. It is mostly scripture (which is why it is marvelous). Teaching you how to praise our Savior & Lord. When one praises Him daily, it changes the mindset. We focus on God. We fix our eyes on Him with a basic trust in Him.

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As fire melts unrefined silver, bringing the impurities to the surface, so trials bring the "scum" to the top in your life. When you praise God in the midst of a trial, you cooperate with His plan to remove the scum; when you complain, you resist His plan and stir the impurities right back into your character. this means that God, to accomplish His good purposes, may have to send or permit another trial; it may delay the unfolding of His good plan for you and your loved ones.

Above is a quote from 31 Days of Praise. Oh Lord, help me to praise your name through the midst of trials. Help me cling to you.

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Since I teach the children's choir, on Sunday night, Tony & I drive in two different cars. He took Collin & Faith to pick up supper. When I came home Faith meets me at the door and yells (for all the neighbors to hear) "We've got Subway - Eat Fresh!" Wish I could've had it on video & sent a commercial to Subway. :)

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This morning, Collin was helping Faith button her "new" dress for church. Such a sweet picture perfect moment that I did not get. I did, however, get a picture of Faith in her "new" dress. It was my dress that my Nanny made for me when I was a little girl. Faith loved it.

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It's that time of year again. Ordering curriculum. I decided to go with Sonlight curriculum. It would have been almost $500 for just reading, history & science. I found a wonderful homeschool used book fair on the internet. I was able to get it forless than half. Woo Hoo! What an answer to prayer. I was doing the happy dance.

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We finished with school 2 weeks ago. I sent in our reports last week (it took me 2 days to complete). We are going to try something new this year. We are going to do school year around. We will start the last full week of June, off the next week for music camp and then on for 3 weeks off for one week for the rest of the year - taking off most of December. We were so burned out when April came around. I've talked to several homeschool moms that do this & they all love it. We'll see.

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So thankful to be born in America. Thank you to all the men & women who have protected us. For all of those who gave their life, may God bless your families.

Here's to a wonderful 36 years for me. I can't wait to see what new and wonderful things that God has planned for me this year.

Longing for the Days of Old

I love watching shows & movies and reading books about the days of old. I love the simplicity of things & the slower pace. Yes, they had a lot more work to do, but they didn't have "things/clutter" to keep them busy. No internet, no phone, no toys here and there, no gadgets that we don't use, no driving from here to there... I could go on and on.

This past year I have cut out a lot of going, buying, TV, etc. I still feel the need to do more. I feel that we (as society) have lost sight of what is important. Spending time with our family - quality time, teaching Christian & family values, & doing for others - not being a "what's in it for me" person. I can't do much about the rest of the world, but I can work on our little world.

One thing that I've been trying to do more of is letter writing. Not e-mailing, but writing letters on stationary & mailing them. A thank you note for someone's kindness, "I'm thinking of you" note, a letter of encouragement, and a letter of what's been going on in our life to a friend miles away. Yes, it would be cheaper and faster to e-mail, but I know how it brightens up my day. I want to do that for someone else. I love to get a letter in the mail. It's not to often that I get one, but for some reason, every day when we go to mailbox, I get a little giddy inside with the anticipation of what awaits. Most of the time, it is only junk mail & bills. Oh well, I think, tomorrow is another day.

Last night, Will & I started crocheting a bag ~ one each. As we worked, we talked about this and that. Nothing of real importance, but I got a little glimpse of what was on his mind & in his heart. Something that I might have not gotten otherwise.

Collin & I love sewing on the machine together. Making gift bags, quilts, you name it. Making memories.

Faith & I love our tea parties. (The boys like to join in too.) We love the etiquette, life lessons and making up wild tales that come along with our tea time.

We also love to bake and give it away ~ just to let someone know we were thinking about them.

Going back to the movies & stories of the days of old, I have noticed that they only have the bare essentials. Not a lot of material things. Which allows them to have time for everything else they needed to do. I am trying to declutter (as Flylady tells us to do) the clutter in our home. I have spent way to much time picking up things that we don't even use.

With only 2 more days of school left in this school year, I am looking forward to getting back to simplicity.

Bitter Sweet

Yesterday, was a bitter sweet day. An end to 3 good things.

1. We finished our Swiss Family Robinson Unit. Will read the book, we all watched the movie and the the T.V. series . We really loved doing this. It's funny how you get so into the characters when you do a study. We will miss the Robinson family. We are now looking for a new adventure, in reading, to start.

2. Our dear friends, the Murrays went back to the Philippines where they are missionaries. We are so thankful that we've had them in our lives over the years. Their love for the Lord is so evident. They love the filipino people very much. They are our spiritual heroes.

Will & Calab. (the little girl is Calab's cousin, she was not happy to see them go either.)

Collin, Andrew & Will

Our preacher praying before they boarded the plane. There are so many lost souls that need to be saved ~ to hear the gospel from them. They are adopting a little girl that will be waiting for them in their living room when they arrive back to the Philippines. Bitter sweet. So hard to see them go, but so excited for them for what lies ahead.

After the plane left.
No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the 'lil Bucks to smile. They were soooo sad.

3. Faith had long beautiful curls. It was time to get her 1st hair cut.

She had some split ends, the tangles were unbearable (for both she & I) and it was getting caught in things.

Tony cuts the boy's hair at the house. When I first told Faith she was going to get a hair cut, she was very upset. All she had ever known was the boy's hair cuts ~ very short. After talking to her about it, she started getting very excited. She was telling everyone she ran into about it ~ even the cashier at Wal-Mart.

Mrs. Carolyn had to brush out her curls before she could cut it.

Faith was very curious about these "space" looking things. After her haircut, she wanted to try it out.

Even though, it was very sad for me to see the curls go, she did have a very cute hair cut and Faith was happy.

Since we have 3 guys with an inch of hair & had 2 gals with curly hair, I don't own a brush. I don't even know how to fix straight hair. Oh dear........