SEEK Fall 2017

Today, was the final day of SEEK for the semester and the big Family Night Presentations, what a great night!

I am teaching a two semester High School Chemistry class called "Friendly Chemistry" again this year.  I'm really enjoying teaching the class. I like working with the high schoolers.  My Socratic approach to teaching took a few by surprise at first but based on the thoughtful thank you notes I got this year, I'd say its growing on them in a good way.

Lance took Study Hall first hour, which he used to take his weekly Greek Vocabulary tests and socialize a bit.  Then second hour he ran around with his friends in a PE Course.

Jared had the semester of his life!  First hour was a wonderful Drama Class.  He ended up being the spokes person for the class presenting his wax museum presentation of Louis Bleriot (first man to cross the English Channel by plane) to the whole assembly to encourage everyone to attend family night.  At family night he was one of the most visited statues and his friend Nathan had to protect him from too many people pressing his button :-)  Here's the link to the video of the assembly presentation:

Then, as if that wasn't enough, the whole class put on an incredible lip-sync presentation of the "Newsies" broadway play.  They that had the whole house in an uproar of applause afterward:  Here is a picture of the cast, followed by a link to the whole incredible stage show:

Then for second hour, he had an equally engaging class about Architecture, taught in part by my good friend Carey and therefore including his best friend in the mix.  He became a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright by the end of the class (kid has good taste) and gained a real interest and appreciation for architecture.  During the class they did a lot of hands-on modeling and even had an Architect for a guest speaker.

Titus showed how smart he was by taking an Apologia Anatomy and Physiology Class, designed for 5th graders (he's only a 2nd grader).  His teacher took me aside one day and said "Don't ever let him fool you, he's super smart.  He remembers everything.", point noted.  For his other class his took a fun and active PE Class to get all the wiggles out before Anatomy.

This was Amber's first semester taking structured classes at SEEK.  I admit to being a little worried how'd she do but my worries were completely unfounded.  Here first class was "Adventures in Etiquette". I figured why not, it was worth a try and I think she did come out a bit more polished.  However, note that in the Family Night Presentation picture above that she went on stage without shoes, Chris joked he wanted his money back.  People said nobody noticed with her beautiful dress.  

Her second class was a literature and crafts class that she really enjoyed.  It was taught by a mom she knew so I wasn't as worried about his class.  She brought home a bunch of adorable projects.

Fall Baseball

Today, was the season end bowling party for Lance's Mustang, travel ball team.  It worked out nicely that the best friends of our other three children lived less than a mile away so we dropped them off and were able to just hang out and talk with the other adults.

This season Lance received the "Sportsmanship of the Season Award" for....

"Lance battled through illness this season, yet continued to catch behind the plate in very hot, humid, uncomfortable conditions.  Lance never complained and continued to support the Mustangs through the season"

Lance played the first tournament of the season too soon after not completely getting over an illness and that threw him into the worst illness of his life for the next three weeks.  Worst of all Coach Keith injured his back, so the two tournaments Lance couldn't play, Chris had to go and be head coach anyway.  It was a rough month physically and mentally for our family.  I remember Lance saying "I'm glad Anthony got to play on the old Durham Bulls stadium".  Such a good sport but I could see it was a big loss for him none the less (Anthony was his friend who filled in as guest catcher during his illness).  Lance did get to finish out the last three tournaments of the season, which included a huge come from behind third place finish in the Rocky Mount World Series, beating the number one seed (where Lance caught the fall tip for the win).  It's Coach Keith's intent to keep this team together through high school and get all the kids scholarships to college.  That's a high order but we're game to give it a try.

This fall Titus aged up to Kid Pitch baseball; from modified coach pitch.  He now plays on a bigger field and the other players, not the coaches, are pitching.  His first coach in West Raleigh picked him up again for this season with the Padres.  He played a lot of Right Field and made a couple really great plays, getting kids out in the infield.  The Mighty Titus has quite an arm.  

Peter and the Wolf

I really like getting a great deal and boy did we get a great deal buying these tickets as a group with our friends and for the whole season; essentially we got three concerts for the price of one.  The fact that the deal involved going the symphony made it absolutely perfect.  I adore classical music, in fact the classical channel is the only radio channel I listen to at home or in the car, my kids are very cultured :-D

Today, was the first in the series, Peter and the Wolf, a family favorite.  Before the concert the kids had fun trying out different instrument at the instrument petting zoo.  Then they had a parade across the stage for all the kids that wanted to show off the costumes they had worn.  Amber of course was happy to show off her Princess outfit.  We were all very excited as you can tell.

The symphony was acted out on stage by some members of the North Carolina Ballet.  Amber had her picture taken with the ALL the performers (by request) but she said the duck was her favorite.  I think this was the best symphony, based on quality of sound, that we have ever attended.  We were all very impressed.

After, we had a picnic dinner to eat on the lawn, the parents enjoyed some lively conversations and the kids some fun running around on the lawn.  Great friends, great music, great weather, a truly wonderful evening.

Amber Turns Six

I say this every year, but its true, they all grow up too fast.  My beautiful baby is turning into a beautiful little girl.  

For her birthday this year, she really wanted a bowling party with friends and thankfully we were able to comply and even do it on her birthday.

But before the party we needed to complete our traditional birthday activities.  The boys did a great job of decorating the downstairs to begin the day of celebration.

She really wanted to wear this new hoop skirt to the bowling alley but we convinced her to go for non-hoop version of the princess gown.


All three of her closest friends and their families came to celebrate with us today and she was extremely excited.

The older kids had their own lanes but they stepped in to help their younger siblings when needed.  After bowling we did cake and then used the free tokens we had to play the carnival games.  The boys were ball sharks at the skeetball game getting a couple thousands tickets, that they kindly told their sister they would use to get her a toy the next time we came.

Amber was very pleased with her special day and we were all pleased to make it special for her.  She is such a wonderful individual, with deep emotions and strong love, that is returned both by her parents and her doting brothers.

The Big Reveal

Nearly two years in the waiting, today Lance got his braces off.  Needless to say he was thrilled.  Check out the big change (1) Before Braces, (2) With Braces, (3) Without Braces.

Eclipse

We were really excited about the eclipse today.  We assumed at 93% coverage we were close enough, so we just stayed home for the event and attended an Eclipse block party in front yard instead.  It was truly a science day, each family seemed to have a different way to try to watch the eclipse; cereal boxes with a hole, telescopes with eyepiece projected onto a piece of paper, special glasses and my personal favorite a simple large dark bucket of water.  As the eclipse reached it's maximum we let the chickens out hoping they would act strange, as we heard animals do, but I guess our chickens missed that memo.  One of the neatest parts of the day was how all the shadows turned into eclipses.  It was wonderful having a science laboratory right outside our door.  The 7% apparently is a big difference, it only got dim not dark, so next time we might make a trip to see the total effect but we had fun at home none the less.

Summer Swim Team

This was our second year participating in the Dutchman Downs Swim Team.  In addition, to Titus swimming this year, Amber joined the team as well.  

Its no surprise that Amber won the "Most Improved Swimmer" award at tonight Swim Award Party.  At the beginning of the season she couldn't swim, wouldn't jump in the pool unless someone was there to catch her and the first few tournaments needed someone in the water walking beside her to swim 15 yards.  By the end of the season she competed in the City Wide Meet, swimming across a 25 meter pool all my herself and jumping in off the blocks.

We are always reminding our children that how they do things, their character is what matters most.  Therefore, we couldn't have been more proud today when they announced that Titus was given the "Sportsmanship Award" by his coaches.  In addition to this great honor, he swam really well throughout the season, winning quite a few point heats. I think we may have a real swimmer on our hands. 

We are very thankful we found this pool, the young people that run the team are all so kind and encouraging.  Can't wait for next summer.

Third Week of May

Monday was the much anticipated annual Footsteps Field Day, with all the typical field day competitions:  broad jump, 50 yd dash, wheel barrow races, three legged race, sack race, and kick ball game.

Tuesday was Music Day.  First as performers at the DaySpring Talent show:
Amber at Piano (See Video)
Titus at Piano (See Video) and he displayed some of his art
Lance at Cello (See Video)
Jared's at Guitar (See Video)
Then as an audience for our friends Homeschool Choir concert.

Thursday, was our big day of ships in Wilmington, NC.  This was our first time going to the city or anywhere near the beach since moving to North Carolina. We were pleased to find the trip, though long (two hours), very manageable.  For our day long adventure we met up with 7 other families, making up about 30 people total.

First stop, touring floating replicas of Columbus' Nina and Pinta.  The Nina is a full scale replica built in Brazil of Iron wood.  The Pinta is sized up because if was real size it would be too small to tour.  Our guide gave us a thorough history of the ships under Columbus and after.  Nathan got dubbed, "Juan", our cabin boy, who we learned was the only person who could fit below deck.  Apparently, the crew spent 100% of their time out on deck exposed to the elements.  We also learned the misunderstanding of the term "Poop Deck", it has nothing to do with No. 2 but actually a reference to rope idols the sailors would make and put on the front of the ship for good luck "Poupe Dolls"; the more dolls the more worried the sailors.  We learned a lot from our tour guide.  They do take summer hires to sail these ships around the United States for tours, however, none of our crew was interested; might have something to do with the 5'4" head room below deck.  Next stop the USS North Carolina.

After a quick picnic lunch in the parking lot we headed in for our tours.  I say plural because we had to breakup into three groups.  The first group was limited on time, they could only tour the boat for 90 minutes.  

The second group was full of the younger children and weren't sure how long their attention span would last.I took charge of this group.  Our tour guide was perfect for our age group, like an adoptive doting grandfather.  The kids loved his stories and his encouragement to touch, he even helped me lift them up onto and into different various parts of the battleship.

The final group was the kids ready for the full two hour tour.  Chris went on this tour with Lance and Jared.  This tour guide was a retired Navy Commander, with a love for the navy and history the boys were all absolutely bubbling with all the information the gathered on the tour.  It's hard to explain how truly thankful and in awe we all were after our tours.  Jared in particular can't wait to go again.

Friday, was the year end party for Titus' Spring Baseball team, The Raptors.  The celebrated by attending a NC State Baseball game.  Coach Tyson, was a great coach with a real talent and passion for the game.  Titus really liked all the time he spent playing First Base.  It was good season of playing and instruction.  As luck would have it, Titus even got a game ball at the NC State game.

Saturday, was another busy day.  Lance had the start of a Mustang Tournament, the rest of us stayed home to run our stop on the "Tour d' Coop".  The "Tour d' Coop" is an annual festival of houses around the Raleigh area that people can tour to learn more about having urban chickens.  This is our second year as a show house on the tour.  Jared is a huge help giving tours.  Amber and Titus did a great job selling lemonade and managing the sign-in table.  Then in the evening we went to watch a play our friend, Nathan, was staring in called "Daniel".  It was a really long day, but the day wasn't over, our friends were arriving a day early.  More on that in the next post.

2nd Week of May

Monday started off with a great day at the NC Zoological Park.  We started with a class in the Aviary as a group and then split up into smaller groups to enjoy the zoo.  As a treat we let the three boys (Amber is too short) do the new ropes course with some friends.  They have this neat new electronic clip system that makes it impossible for the climber to ever completely unclip from the lines for safety.  Amber enjoyed time below with other younger friends simply running around, then we took all the younger kids on the carousel.  

Our family is of the size that its cheaper to buy a full year pass than a one day admission, so we have Zoo Passes.  Having passes freed us of the need to see everything this visit and were able to just tag along and enjoy the company of friends. The only requirement every time we go to the zoo is that Amber see the elephants.

It also gave us freedom to leave early to get to Titus' baseball game.

Wednesday, was parent performance day at Amber's dance studio.  Somehow I missed the memo about this being the day, so she wasn't dressed up.  However, she didn't care and had a great time.  I really like her new studio (we switched mid-year), the school stresses the fundamentals more than just fun, providing her the basis she'll need for future dance and some practice in self-discipline.

Thursday was the our docent tour of the new "North Carolina in WWI" exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of History downtown.  This is a special exhibit made just for the museum.Jared hasn't stopped talking about it and can't wait to bring Chris.  We broke up into three groups; boys, girls and a brave mom who watched the younger children since exhibit was rated for middle school and above (though Titus did attend).  It was very interesting to come together after and hear all the different perspectives of the same exhibit and of course Lauren's adventures with the littles. 

Friday, we toured the Joel Lane House.  The Joel Lane House is one of the oldest in Raleigh, its originally owner donated the land on which the city was built.  All that remains of the estate are the original structures moved to .22 acres.  Though the property is small the docents made the visit large.  They were very informative, engaging and as you can see, encouraging to the younger members to engage in the learning.

Also on Friday, we had the much awaited, annual hatching of baby wrens on the porch.

First Week of May

For some reason everyone waits till May to plan field trips.  Next year I'm going to be more proactive about this fact and plan for our year to end in April but for this year I have just suspended most school work for May and we will pick back up in June to finish the year.

Our first field trip this week was a double field trip to to the North Carolina Natural Science Museum.  The younger kids had a very entertaining class with Miss Linda on Rocks.  It was clear, Titus had clearly absorbed a lot from Jared this year about rocks.  We really appreciated how she worked hard to avoid beliefs about origins and stick to science.  The older kids weren't quite as lucky on that point but their geology class turned to an apologetic class for the teacher.  I was quite impressed with tales of one young ladies respectful questioning to get him to think about what he believed.

After the field trip we had fun exploring the museum and had a picnic lunch on the State Capital park, where the children also played and read a book together (too cute). 

Thursday was the last day of SEEK and Family Night.  Titus had two wonderful classes this year, one a music/art class and the other a "little inventors" class (Here's a video of one of his creations),  Jared enjoyed an Apologetic General Science course and an Art 1 class,  

Amber enjoyed her last year of pre-school and Lance enjoyed as semester at home with Chris taking his Lukeion class online and then joining us at the park after.

Friday, was one of Jared's favorite events of the year "Teen Pact".  He gets to spend the day all dressed up at the capital going through a mock legislative session.  This year the bill he presented was on stopping clear cutting trees for new construction.  Parents accompany their students throughout the day, we had lunch with some of the student leaders and finished our day together with a cookie treat before rushing to Titus' baseball game because we had his glove in our car (oops).

Saturday turned out to be a cold rainy day for Lance's second tournament weekend (He'll have five total).   Normally, Chis would take the kids but as the weather was nasty I took everyone else to help me sell our wares at a Used Curricula Sale.  We ended up buying as much as we sold but at least we came home with new stuff and what we had of the old stuff I took immediately to consign so it didn't come back to the house.  Thankfully at the end of the sale the baseball tournament was over, so Chris came to help pack-up and take the kids home for a break while I took our remaining wares to the Homeschool Gathering Place store.  However, baseball was not over for the day as Lance had a game with his training team "Moondogs" later that afternoon.

The weather warmed up and the sun came out for the second half of Lance's tournament games on Sunday.