Precious Moments

After a sad Friday (which I won’t go into as other people are involved), we were gifted with a weekend full of friends and busy-ness which was just what we needed.

Sunday we all had a lovely day at church, followed by fellowship with another homeschooling family as they joined us for an impromptu picnic in the garden.  Their daughter, Sophie, remained behind to watch the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables on dvd with the three older ones.  Afterwards the four teens began working on T’s original song with the aim of recording it by the end of the day.  Sophie is a wonder in the music department and I’m sure the four of them enjoyed the musicality of the whole afternoon.  Meanwhile Gary and I had been invited to a children’s party held at an incredible outdoor venue.  It was so much fun and the younger two had an amazing time and came home full of ideas for their next birthdays.

We have been venturing out for a family walk most days, and when the older ones are busy with groups and activities, we have been going out with the younger two:

The weather has been just gorgeous lately, and I have decided that this is definitely one of my favourite seasons:

We can chat about the day, watch the nature as we walk along, or simply enjoy being in the peace of the countryside:

In fact, there has been a lot of outdoor time this week as we have made the most of the weather.  In England you never know how long it will last and really the only thing you can be certain of is that rain is never too far away 🙂

L, of course, has been creating, with mixed media:

and jewellery.  Her jewellery party/presentation is coming up soon, which means the pressure is on!  She is over-the-moon with the new skill she has acquired, which was frustrating for a while due to a lack of the proper materials: paper bead making.  So now, every time I see her, she is in the same position doing exactly the same thing:

The jewellery she is making with these beads is probably her best yet.  Here is a picture of a few of the beads drying:

In addition to this she has completed an artist study on Mary Cassatt and used chalk pastels for the first time:

And drawn her still life key:

In contrast, her sister has been faithfully practicing the piano every day.  This week she is learning Soft, soft music is Stealing; Around and Around; Progress and Ode to Joy.  The piano is still in T’s room, but he is very generous with his bedroom and rarely complains about being chucked out for C to practice:

She is also heard daily practicing for her Grade three singing exam (Afton Waters; The Owls; Sweet Nightingale; Sicilian River Song), as well as her solo in the cabaret.  She is singing her very own original song, which she wrote for her Daddy called ‘Your Love is Amazing’.  Each time I hear her singing it, I have tears in my eyes.  I feel overwhelmingly blessed by the loveliness which is my family <3

C is also currently editing her second chapter for her book, as well as beginning illustrations for the first chapter:

And to top it all off, she has written her presentation on African religion and music, as well as practicing daily on her bongos:

She will be doing her presentation at L’s African jewellery party, as well as showing off her newly acquired bongo skills!

T has been working on a review product which is maths based.  We are hoping it will help him with his algebra, which he finds hard.   He is also ploughing through his chemistry.  Right now he spends most of his one hour chemistry writing, which as you can imagine, he is less than impressed by!  That said he is doing it with a good attitude.

T is also becoming more and more obsessed with his music.  Just recently he has had the opportunity to play his bass (the one he made) as part of the worship band and he also led the worship for Sunday school last Sunday.  He did so well, they have asked him to lead again in a couple of weeks:

He is completely self-taught, and gets so much pleasure out of it.  T has prayed and feels God calling him to lead worship.  This is a complete change from the boy who does not really like being center of attention and just a year ago would have hated the idea of leading up the front.

He has decided that he wants to learn the piano next, but again he will teach himself, he isn’t at all interested in having lessons.

Both C and T enjoy all sorts of music, and both have expressed the wish to learn some of the songs for Les Mis.  So with that and the upcoming summer, I have invested in the following book:

I am kind of excited because the children are doing more and more musical things together, and enjoying each others different approaches and talents.  Watch this space…..maybe one day there will be a band coming out of all this 🙂

I have lots more to share so watch out for my Seasons of Joy post tomorrow, and posts next week on our teen nook (which has now been built!), our teen youth group and ponderings on this whole homeschooling life style of ours.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with those you love and lots and lots of FUN!