Perhaps this too is for the best...

That's a quote from a rabbi in one of my favorite books to read aloud to the boys "Solomon and the Ant: A book of Jewish Fables".  The rabbi says this every time something goes seemingly wrong and drives his companion nuts on their short journey till they discovers the rabbi was right.

I found myself saying this a lot the past week as we journeyed and transitioned to our new home in North Carolina.

We started packing up the 26' Foot Penske Truck on Tuesday night with the help of the Parays to entertain the kids, Miss Natalie to deliver the food and our awesome packing team:  Hanif, Kassie and Kyle.  By the end of the night the majority of the house was loaded in the truck.

Kyle came back to help Wednesday night.  So I decided to reward him by introducing him to Thai Food :-).  Parays came to play again and help with Little Miss. Grandpa Harv came with desert and took a turn at entertaining Little Miss as well (trust us she needs many keepers).  That got everything from the garage loaded up and it didn't seem like we'd have much left in the morning.

Thursday morning the Parays came by before school for one last playdate. :-(  Kevin came by to help Chris get the mattresses in and Christina came to help with the rest.  So glad she came because for some reason the "little" we had left took a long time to get loaded and filled the truck, that seemed plenty big Tuesday night, to the brim Thursday morning.

During all this I was still conversing with the Lender and we remained on the edge of our seat as to whether we would close or not.  Then by noon Thursday we looked clear to close Friday and we started the first half of our drive around 1:30pm.  That's when our trip with the rabbi began.

• Overturned semi on 1-4 stops traffic completely on I-4 30 minutes into our trip and delays our forward progress over an hour.
• This was "for the best" because the lender called and told me I could not use a personal check at close for the down payment.  Since the car wasn't moving I was able to call my bank to find out what needed to be done to send a wire. 
• It turns out I needed to fax the information in and I didn't have a fax in the car.
• However, the stopped traffic was for the best again because we were only in Sanford and hadn't passed my parents house where Chris' dad was dog sitting.  So Chris calls Harv to prepare for our arrival and we take a detour to send the fax.  Of course the fax didn't work and we had to take pics and get a secured email, blah, blah, blah.  But at 4:01 the email was sent and we loaded up to start our journey again. 
• All this too was for the best because I had been worried about hitting rush hour in Jacksonville but that was no longer a problem.

We arrived at the hotel in Savannah at 9pm.  What should have been a 4 hour trip turned into 7.5 hours (we had a poop incident along the way too that lengthened our trip).  However, all that said the kids never complained once and neither did the dog.  They were really troopers.  I swear as I was starting to really worry about my night vision it suddenly and miraculously improved as I was driving as we were making our way to Savannah (I have avoided driving at night for years).

Next morning we head off without incident, only issue is the Penske truck is really, really, slow.  We cannot even stop for lunch if we are going to make our 1:30pm close.  When I asked the lender if there would be space to park the truck.  Ken quickly changed the location to someplace where there was room and Sarge would be allowed inside.  He had jumped through some serious hoops to get us closed in ten days and this was just one more and we are very appreciative.

We got within 500 yds at 1:30pm when Siri miss directs us into a neighborhood across the 8 lane road from building we need to be in but that too was for the best.  As I pull over to the side and turn on my flashers.  People from the neighborhood just wait patiently behind me, no one honks.  When I wave them around, a lady actually stops beside me rolls down her window and asks if she can do anything to help.  I'm sorry to say that's not how things would have gone down in Orlando, it gave a me good feeling about our new home.

Our realtor had called me on our way and knowing we were running late (b/c of the slow truck) offered to pick-up Panera.  Dawn has met and anticipated our needs about our home over the past few weeks and this was just one more thing.  Having food to eat somewhat entertained the kids at close.  All the kids but Amber that is who kept escaping and running down the hallway to sit in this one office (Oyeevey!).  Luckily no one in the office seemed to mind, I'm sorry to say Sarge was better behaved than Amber LOL.

We arrived at our new home for the first time a 3pm.  Dawn, gave us our first tour of our new home.  Everyone had told us the property was beautiful and they were right.  It was a much denser forest than we anticipated.  It was the sanctuary we have talked about having for years.  Inside the home was more spacious than I anticipated as well.  But more on the house in another post where I'll explain how we've been excercising the saying of the rabbi a bit more.  Here's some compare and contrast photos.

Front yard - Florida

Front yard - North Carolina

Backyard - Florida (22x30 synthetic grass)

Backyard - North Carolina (.89 acre half is a Forest with deer)

A time to Swim

We have had a wonderful, fun, and productive time swimming this year.  The children have shown such improvement during the past season.  It's ironic that this weekend was planned to be our year-end party for the younger swimmers turned not only into a celebration of Jared's One-Year anniversary of his surgery but also a farewell party for us.  

After their final lesson, the kids played for a long time between the pool and the park, then filled themselves with pizza.  We adults spent the time reminiscing about how small the kids were when Hanif first started teaching them five years ago and how far they've come.  We spent time getting know Hanif's mom and sister and enjoying each others company and conversation as we always have. 

This summer we had fun not only swimming in the pool but also playing at the playground as the kids took turns taking their lessons.

Little Miss is not pictured probably because she was either refusing to get off the swing or ruling the rest of the playground :-)

The "Sportsmen" will continue swimming through the fall, but Coach Hanif was kind enough to have a pizza party for Lance after practice Friday where he expressed what a key member of the team Lance has been over the years.

Words alone will not express how we will miss all our friends in swimming; the camaraderie between the kids, the parents and our friend/Coach Hanif.

Michaelmas - Season of Change

For the last three years, Michaelmas has been a season of huge changes in our family.  Three years ago was our last big Michaelmas party that ended in a visit to the ER which triggered another journey that ended last Michaelmas when we returned home after a month-long stay in Boston with more hope in the future for our family than ever before.

This year, as we reflected day-by-day and gave thanks for each part of our journey last year in Boston, a new journey began to unfold.

On Labor Day this year (which was the day before Jared's surgery last year), Chris got a phone call from a recruiter about a job in Raleigh, NC.

On the subsequent Thursday (the day Jared woke up after surgery last year), Chris had a phone interview with the company.  After Jared woke up, we expected him to be in ICU for a week, and we expected it would be a week before we heard anything, if ever, about the job.  In both cases, we were wrong and things started moving forward at lighting speed.

They wanted Chris in Raleigh for an in-person interview on Monday, 9/9.  So, he drove up Sunday night.  The interview wasn't until 2pm, so he checked out one home in the area and met the best friend of a friend of his who was a realtor in the area.  The home wasn't a good fit but it was nice to look around the city. Afterwards, he went back to study some more before his interview.

All his studying for tricky technical questions turned out to be unnecessary; the interview was very casual and Chris was excited.  He hoped to hear back in a week or so and began the 9 hour drive home.  Two hours into his drive, the recruiter called; he had an offer.

When he had driven up, neither of us really expected anything to come of it, and if it did we figured we could stretch things out until the end of baseball season in November.  Once again we were wrong.  They wanted him up there no later than October 1st.

Since then, our lives have been in hyper-drive.  Finding health, home, and car insurance, finding a home and all that entails (financing, inspections, etc.).  Thankful that Dawn (our realtor) and Ken (our lender) have been amazing.  And if everything goes as planned we will be in our new home on Friday, 9/27.

A home in a town I've never been to.  A home neither of us have seen in person.  To a town where we know no one.  But also to a town full of possibilities for our family.  Chris getting out of the defense industry and into the banking industry is a huge opportunity and into a position where he can really contribute and learn new things again.  He can still bike to work, though its 4 miles longer each way.  Sports and Homeschooling seem to be really big for the boys.  Lastly, our new home is HUGE and sits on nearly an acre of wooded land; in a rural part of town; yet still remains close to everything.  We are hoping it is the sanctuary we have wished to have for years.  We can even have chickens!  

The possibilities are enormous, but so is the change.  We have always lived in Orlando since the day after our marriage.  We have lived in this house for the past nine years.  Though we have out-grown it (literally), it is still home.  The hardest thing to leave behind is the friends who have become family to us.  I feel like doing a tribute to each of you here but I would rather do that personally.

However, separating from our best friends/family, the Parays, is the hardest part and tears at the heart of each of us so much, I don't think I could say it out loud.  I am not good at expressing my feeling in words, yet though I may fail miserably I must try.  Our lives have been so interconnected for the past 8 years its like leaving behind half our family.  But we have prayed for years for God to never open a door that we should not pass through.  Our simple prayer has always been "God don't let us screw-up our family by doing something that is not your will."  We have to believe that this change, though terribly hard, will be good for ALL our family, the Otto's and the Paray's.  That this change will not harm any of the children but build them up to serve Him better.  That this is not the end of our families closeness but just a new and different phase.  

This time next week (the day before Michaelmas) we should be in route to Raleigh to close on our new home.  Let the journey begin.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Try a Tri (Again)

This is the third year of Lance and Matthew participating in the Mini-Maniac Triathlon run by some friends through the YMCA.  They had been practicing hard for the swim...

But what was really different is that this year they had another friend join them...

On the 11 month anniversary of his surgery, Jared participated in his very first triathlon!  They were all really excited!

For Jared, the course involved a 50 meter swim (one length, and he finished ahead of two kids), a 2 mile bike (That part was the easiest for him, averaging 10.1 MPH) and 1/2 mile run.  His performance in the run is what really surprised us.  Coming after the swim and the run we expected him to be tired out but he came into the finish jogging strong and smiling; beating two kids in his age group (equivalent of 12:46/Mile)!  What a kid!

For Lance and Matthew the course was a bit longer:  100 m swim, 4 mile bike and 1 mile run. They both did great! 

Lance got kicked in the face in the swim, which slowed him down a bit but he kept going strong.  He averaged 14.7 MPH on the bike.  Lance showed awesome improvement in the run; breaking a 10 min mile with a time of 9:51.

Matthew had trouble with the girls again - they keep trying to knock him off his bike for the third year in a row!  I keep telling him stay away from the girls :-)  LOL  He came 4th out of the water, averaged 14.2MPH on the bike and ran a 10:47 mile.  Another great performance!

And a photo credit to Titus who got up really early and road with the boys to the Tri to help dad take pictures! (Amber and I made it before race time by car)

New Testament, Greek and Roman History

I had a change of heart on how to go forward teaching Ancient History to the boys second semester last year (Stop laughing, I know I keep tweaking things.  What can I say my approach is a work in progress.).  Rather than trying to get through all of Ancient History in one year, I broke things up into two years.  

Last year we focused on the Old Testament and the civilization that had a direct impact on it, i.e. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persians, Hittites, etc.  

This year we will focus on the New Testament, Greece and Rome.  What I like about this approach is that it allows us to layer much of what we learned last year.  As we start studying the Greeks we will have time to review what was happening in other parts of the world we already studied,  My hope is that this layering approach will really cement in the learning.

We are about six weeks into our new school year and our new plan appears to be going very well.

We are using "On the Shores of the Great Sea (OTS)" by Synge as the backbone of our study, along with the first 12 chapters of "Discovery of New Worlds".  This was the original "Story of the World" (literally titled that back in the 1800s).  For those looking for an alternative to the Bauer books I highly recommend this series, the chapters are short, sweet, entertaining and informative.  Plus if you're budget conscious you can read it for free online.

We started the year with review, reading Chapters 11 to 18 and notebooking(I like these Notebooking pages with Rows by Donna Young).  We will doing a notebooking entry for each book/chapter we read this year.

Though "On the Shores of the Great Sea" will be our backbone, we will be using a few other core books, along with extra books on the side.
 
Children's Plutarch "Tales of the Greeks" is another core book. This is a series of biographies of the big names of history that the boys are thoroughly enjoying as well.  It is one of many adaptations of the original stories written by Plutarch born around the Greek-Persian War. It adds more detail and reinforces the information learned in OTS.  It too is available to read on-line for free or purchase e-book/hardcopy.  Later in the year we will switch to Famous Men of Rome.

I am going to try to use "Streams of Civilization" by Stanton & Hyma as review at each break in history.  For instance, first we read the OTS chapters on the Greek-Persian War, then Plutarch and other books, then we wrap it all up with Streams of Civilization.

Here's my current list of extra books we plan to read throughout the year:

• You Wouldn't Want to be a Greek Athlete by Michael Ford Boys love these books!
• Olympics by Osborne
• You Wouldn't want to be a Slave in Ancient Greece
• The First Marathon: Legend of Pheidippides by Susan Reynolds This book is awesome! We found it by accident at the library. I've seen the boys pick it up to read again and again.
• Children of the Fox by Jill Paton Walsh  I can't remember reading a better piece of historical fiction in a long time.  It's three books in one.  I was reading the first book this weekend out-loud and they all begged me (even Chris) to finish reading the whole thing, no one wanted to wait to find out what happened.
• Secrets of the Parthenon (video free online) The boys found this fascinating.  In the middle Lance asked if it was an hour because he didn't want it to stop.
• You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Soldier
• You Wouldn't Want to be in Alexander the Great's Army
• The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Lasky 
• Roman City by David Macaulay or watch here The boys really enjoyed the video on Pyramids this past year, they asked to watch it many times.
• You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Gladiator
• Cleopatra by Diana Stanley
• You Wouldn't Want to be Cleopatra
• I saw the Games in the Colosseum available in book or ipad interactive app
• The Flight of Pompeii available in book or ipad interactive app
• You Wouldn't Want to Live in Pompeii
• Pompeii Buried alive by Kunhardt
• Adventures in the Catacombs of Rome available in book or ipad app 
• Usborne Internet Linked Greeks and Romans (for reference or free time reading)
• Time Traveler - Story of Rome (for reference or free time reading)

So that's the plan and I think its one we might actually stick to this year :-)

Here's a random quote for the day:
Traditional school tramples the personality and starves the mind.

Rays Baseball!!

Who is Ray and why do we have his baseball??

After hearing the chant "Rays Baseball, Rays Baseball!!" for a few hours, that question rang in my brain.

Matthew just celebrated his 11th birthday and in continuing our tradition of incorporating baseball into our lives, we scheduled a trip to St. Petersburg to take in a Tampa Bay Rays game. From our house to the stadium it was a two hour drive. First pitch was scheduled for 12:10 which was great, since we could leave just after breakfast and be home for dinner.

I loaded up the boys and left the girls at home. The drive over was rather quiet; I don't think the boys were 100% awake, even at 9am.

We stopped at a Panera Bread near the stadium for a quick lunch break. The workers kept asking us if we were going to the Rays game. I can't figure out why, maybe it was all of us wearing Rays jerseys?? Well, all except Titus. After lunch, we arrived at the stadium and the first order of business was to buy Titus a jersey. He wanted one with a number on the back and we found one he liked.

First pitch was nearing and we headed out to find our seats. I feared we would have to walk around to the other side of the stadium to get to the outfield, but thankfully, the entrance we came in was just by our seats. We located our section and sat down just before first pitch. The first 5 innings were very quiet, baseball wise. It was "Parks & Recreation Day" at the ballpark and the stadium was filled to the brim with kids. It made for a very loud experience with boisterous kids and constant activity in the aisles as kids needed food and bathroom breaks. Also, the freebie of the day were noisemakers - inflatable cheer sticks. The kids loved them. Each package came with two and had to be blown up. They are basically long cylindrical balloons which make a loud noise when banged together.

The Twins tied up the game in the top of the 6th and we needed some drinks and snacks. I went down to grab something and Titus and Jared tagged along. Our timing was very poor as the Rays hit back-to-back home runs, one of which was hit very near to our seats! In the replay, I can just see Lance as he watches the ball come in and he points towards it. Very cute.....

The game really came alive after that and the last few innings were much more exciting. Thankfully, the Rays held on and won 4-3.

The drive home was much more lively, with the boys using the cheer sticks as swords and having many, many battles in the car on the way home.

Prince Lester

We were able to attend another theater production at the Orlando Shakespeare theater yesterday.  This time we saw a comical rendition of "Sleeping Beauty".  We went with the Mae, Matthew, Sophia, Lance, Jared, and Titus.  We took up nearly two rows in this cozy venue.

As we entered, we realized the boys were highly out numbered and we smiled at all the young ladies dressed up as princesses.  Apparently they all understood there would be audience participation; a detail we had missed.

First, they asked for six girls to volunteer to play the "Wise Women" and then they asked for one boy.  To our delight, they picked my beautiful Thespian Jared!  He was to play the young Prince Lester.  He was rather thrilled too.

He did a wonderful job with his facial expressions; the couple in front of us even took the time to complement his performance.  He even did a little ad-lib when they threw way his "horse" and he said "You can't treat Poppy that way!" and the other actor had to ask "Whose Poppy?" and Jared said "My horse."

Mae and I kept looking at each other and smiling throughout the play, it was a truly delightful rendering of the old classic. All the kids enjoyed it as well.

Unfortunately, they did not allow any photography during the show but we did get to take pictures with the actors after the performance.  Above is Jared is with Princess Rose and below with the older Prince Lester.

Character Sketches - Great Horned Owl

I have had this beautiful three volume set of Character Sketches sitting on my shelves for over six years.  Chris and I bought it at the last FPEA Convention we went to years ago.  The books link a character quality you want to encourage in your child with both an animal and a story in the bible.  Being the animal lovers that we are it seemed perfect.  The drawings inside are gorgeous (Audubon quality sketches) and the concept so inviting we couldn't resist.  The issue was that the boys were not old enough to appreciate them until now.  

As part of of our new school year that started this week, we have added this into our study.  After reading the suggestion of how to use the book, Chis and I decided to divide and conquer the task and this is how it worked.

The first animal was the Great Horned Owl.  On Friday, the boys and I read the scientific pages about the Great Horned Owl and then spent some time learning to draw a great horned owl.  Here's the neat drawing video we used:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjnp84HNT7A

Then we decided that breakfast on Saturday was the best time to get everyone together to do the study.  It didn't quite happen like that, but Chris did get together in the morning with the boys while I took Amber outside so that she wouldn't distract them.

First, Chris asked a general question about what they would do if....(choice the bible character had to make).  Then he read the bible story, they discussed some more and then read how the Great Horned Owl showed loyalty in his timing (the character quality).  

Then we told the boys to get dressed and we took a trip to the "Audubon Birds of Prey Center" to see a Great Horned Owl in person.

Much to our delight, a volunteer was willing to not only talk to us about these beautiful creatures but actually took one out for the boys to see up close.  He even pointed out their asymmetrical ears and gave a demonstration of how their wings allow them to fly silently compared to the other raptors on hand.   I was so thrilled I forgot to take any pictures till the boys were examining the feathers.  The picture above is a picture Chris took of the same bird (we think) years ago when he was doing some photography for the center.

We had a delightful time after this exploring the rest of the facility.  It was so exciting to have the opportunity to explore a subject from so many scholarly and hands-on angles.  We may not be able to do a field trip each week but my goal is to make it fun in some hand-on way. 

Next week the animal is the Canadian Goose.  Thankfully we saw them in person on vacation since they aren't in any zoos around here.  Though ironically we did get a photo opportunity at the Birds of Prey Center....

Back to the Books

I'm a tough schoolmarm.  I only give the boys three weeks off in the summer but the reality is that I know how life goes and I know my children.  If my boys turn off their brains too long they don't restart easily (like a car trying to start in really cold weather).  Also, I know life will happen (illness and other distractions) so that if we school year round we generally avoid the stress of feeling behind when life does happen and we take a short break.

However, we are not starting full time schooling till our friends go back to school in August.  I'm hoping to ease them into a very different schedule for the coming school year.  We are using a lot of different curricula and strangely (if you know me well make sure you're seated) much of it is from the same source.  I'm a self admitted curricula/book addict but am overcoming my addiction for the sake of my children.  LOL

Here's the full time schedule.  Right now we are at about 60% and will ramp up over the next six weeks.  Adding something new each week till we are functioning at full capacity (I hope).

LANCE (5th Grade):

Latin - Latina Christina I
Math - CLE Grade 6 and XtraMath
Spelling - All About Spelling
Grammar - English Recitation Grammar Workbook I
Writing - Classical Composition:  Fable Stage
Literature - CLE Grade 6 and Memoria Press Literature Guides (Lassie and Door in the Wall)
Geography - Geography I: Middle East, North Africa and Europe
Science - God's Design for Weather and Planet and Wonders of Creation (Weather, Ocean and Geology), and Planet Earth by Tiner w/ Notebooking supplements
Classical Studies - D'Aulaires' Greek Myths and Famous Men of Rome
History - Greeks and Romans via Tina's Curricula 

JARED (3rd Grade):

Latin - Latina Christina I
Math - CLE Grade 4 and XtraMath
Spelling - All About Spelling
Grammar - English Recitation Grammar Workbook I
Writing - Introduction to Composition
Literature - Memoria Press Literature Guides (Grade 3)
Geography - Geography I: Middle East, North Africa and Europe
Science - God's Design for Weather and Planet and Wonders of Creation (Weather, Ocean and Geology), and Planet Earth by Tiner w/ Notebooking supplements
Classical Studies - D'Aulaires' Greek Myths and Famous Men of Rome
History - Greeks and Romans via Tina's Curricula
 
TITUS (Pre-K):

I have ordered and have on my shelves a variety of resources to try with him this year.  I'll post later when we find the combination that works best.  He is showing both ability and interest in reading so that is the goal this year.

You'll notice a number of similarities in curricula between Lance and Jared.  Much of this is driven because of my change to using Memoria Press.  Jared is right on target for 3rd Grade but if I rush Lance ahead in all subjects he would be missing important foundational elements.  Doing subjects together is not new to us, frankly I feel its part of survival when you have multiple kids.  To that end, we have always done Science and History together as a family.  I have just expected more out of Lance than I did Jared; by using the note-booking method this is easily achieved.

We start out our new year this week and I'm sure I'll tweak things along the way but I think we are closer than ever to being on the best path for our family.

Summer Camp(S)!

This all started out so innocently.  The boys had such a great time at Westwood Farms Horseback Riding Camp last year we decided to have them do it again.  Then they wanted to stay the whole day.  That meant I would have to drive there twice, instead of hanging out, but Amber would get her nap... so we decided it would be okay. 

Then Lance and Matthew had done a three day baseball camp over Christmas that was offering a whole week over the summer.  That was hard to resist and it was conveniently the week before Horse Camp. 

Then I thought it seemed unfair that Jared was only attending one camp so I signed him up the week before Baseball Camp into a half-day Art Camp at the Orlando Museum of Art.  We had done many things with OMA in the past but leaving Jared alone would be new and a little stressful but it was art and only a half day I told myself.

So that's how I ended up with someone in camp for three straight weeks.  I congratulated myself on my planning thinking this would give me three weeks to do the stuff I needed to do before the new school year started....that was the error in my plan because for three weeks I was busy with kids at camp or those missing the kids at camp.  However, from the boys perspective it worked out great and really that's what it was all about anyway :-)

ART CAMP

Self-portrait

The first day we picked up Jared from camp he was so excited he couldn't contain himself.  He wanted to enthusiastically teach us and tell us all he had learned and experienced.  It was great to see!  He was a bit more sedate the rest of the week but no less excited.  By the end of camp he had some beautiful works of art to bring home and a greater appreciation for the art he sees.

Christ saying "It is Finished"

BASEBALL CAMP

Lance and Matthew had as much fun this summer as they had over the winter.  The Incinelli family really knows baseball and has a passion for teaching.  The camp went from 9am to 2pm in the sun so Lance was a bit more sedate/exhausted at the end of each day but no less enthusiastic.  I forgot to take any pics of them at camp but here's there Spring Ball pics I haven't posted yet.

HORSE CAMP

The boys absolutely loved being at camp.  In addition to riding, they cleaning the stalls, doing art, working out with Kyle, and helping out however they can.  They came home each day tired but with big smiles on their faces and stories about their day and their new friends.  Miss Janie and Miss Kassie had glowing reports each day on their behavior, which is always nice for a mother to hear.  The final day of camp they have a horse show to show off what they learned.  Lance won the Leadership Award and Jared won the award for Most Motivated.  It's no surprise they enjoyed camp, we alI like going to the "barn", as we call it, just to hang out, the atmosphere and the people are so awesome.  The barn is the only place we have found where the boys can learn some real old fashion responsibility in the city.  Learning to control a 1000+ animal is great for their self confidence and we think makes them more accomplished men.