this moment

a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. inspired by soulemama. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your moment in the comments...

It’s beginning to feel like fall!

Wordless Wednesday

this moment

a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. inspired by soulemama. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your moment in the comments...

Back to Homeschool!

Baseball

It’s almost time for the fall baseball season to begin and I haven’t even blogged about the regular season.  This year John Charles played for the Braves.

He chose the number 12 this year because that’s the age he wants to be.  He thinks that when he’s 12 he will be able to do all the things he wants to do – like chat online and have his own youtube channel.

 

Most of the season he played third base.

He also got to pitch a few times.

He only got 1 homerun during the season but he got hits and rbi’s in every game and for most of the season was the cleanup hitter.

The team celebrated the end of the season with a pool party.

After that we got a great surprise!  John Charles was chosen to play on the All Star Team!

The team was a wonderful group of boys.

 

John Charles enjoyed being with his friends.

He played outfield.

It was a lot of fun – except for the rain and rain delays!

this moment

a single photo capturing a moment from the week. a simple, special, extraordinary moment. inspired by soulemama. if you're inspired to do the same, share a link to your moment in the comments...

John Charles in his new Black Belt Club uniform, still waiting on his new belt and bow staff.

Blue Belt

John Charles is now a blue belt!

 

Before Graduation in his purple belt

After Graduation with his certificate and blue belt

Congratulations John Charles!

Wordless Wednesday

Zombie Lab

The Doctor Dreadful Zombie Lab combines two things that our 7 year old John Charles is into at the moment – experiments and zombies!  We thought it would be a fun Christmas gift for him, but we were not thinking about his weak stomach or his strong gag reflex!  When he opened the gift on Christmas Eve, he said, “Are you kidding me!  Don’t you think this will make me throw up?”! 

Still he was excited and couldn’t wait to try it out. The first experiment he tried was “Zombie Barf”!

So, how did the experiment end?  Well, he didn’t actually barf himself, but he couldn’t swallow the potion either! 

Seventh Birthday Party

John Charles turned 7 this week and yesterday we had his birthday party. The Spongebob themed party was held at Nana and Papa’s house.  His guest included his cousins and friends from karate class.  I think they all had a great time!

A Tribute to John Charles on His 7th Birthday

John Charles' Story

There was once a mother and a father who prayed and asked God for a child. The Lord heard their cries and gave them the petitions of their heart. He planted a new life inside the mother. The new life was the baby the mother and father had prayed for. The baby grew inside the mother and the parents love for the baby also grew.

Heading to the hospital

Finally God decided that it was time for the baby to be born and he delivered the baby to the mother and father who had been waiting. From the first moments his parents loved him and they called him John Charles. When he was born it was a cool Autumn afternoon and the sun was shinning down on him from the sky. Mamma, Daddy, Zachary, family, friends, pastors, and doctors had all been awaiting his arrival. He announced his birth with a loud animal sounding cry. Then he settled down and rested peacefully in the arms of one loved one after another, happy to be surrounded by so many people who would always love and care for him.

Then John Charles was one and he learned to walk and then to run. And he realized that he liked to be on the go and he liked it better than sitting still. So he ran, and he jumped, and he climbed, and he danced, and most of all he played ball. He loved balls.

Then John Charles was two years old and he liked to talk and to be loud. He liked to practice all the new words he was learning and to make the sounds of the things he loved - like trucks or kittens. And he liked to give us hugs and to say "Awww" when he layed his little head next to ours.

Then John Charles was three years old and he still liked to talk. He talked almost non stop from the moment he awoke until he fell asleep at night. Sometimes he even talked in his sleep. He liked to say "What's that?" and "Follow Me!" and "That's right!" All too often he said "No!" But just as often he said "I love you" or "Amen" or "Hallelujah!" He liked to ride things with wheels. He liked 4wheelers, and bicycles, and scooters, and motorcycles. And he liked to wear costumes while he was riding on his vehicles. He liked sports too. He liked baseball, and football, and golf , and basketball. But most of all he liked to play soccer with his cousin Colby. He loved his cousins and he loved his brother, and his grandparents, and all his family and friends, and he loved his animals - especially his kitty named Honey.

Then John Charles was 4 years old and he was a little entertainer. He liked to use our furniture as a stage and to sing and play the guitar for us. Some of his favorite songs to perform were Sweet Home Alabama and Beat It. He liked to be Michael Jackson when he was  performing. He liked to "be" different people through out the day. When we spoke to him he liked to tell us "I'm not John Charles. I'm Zach (or Colby, or Benny, or Little Tree, or Pierre, etc.,etc., etc.). He also liked to recite from his favorite books and movies like Corduroy, Curious George, Frog and Toad or Star Wars.
To our dismay he liked to be mischievous. Each morning Mamma asked "Who's going to be a good boy today?". His reply was usually "Zach is". When questioned about why he had done something he shouldn't have he answered "Because I love being naughty!". But he was a good boy a lot too -especially when he was asleep! He still liked to sleep with Daddy and Mamma. He was not content to simply sleep next to us either. He had to be cuddled or as he said "Let me sleep on your arm".

Then John Charles was 5 years old and was a very strong willed child.  He was a self proclaimed genius who was going to rule the world.  John Charles had a very active imagination and was usually in a costume pretending to be one character or another.  Some of his favorite characters to be included Max from Where the Wild Things Are, the Ringmaster of a circus and Darth Vader (or any Star Wars Character) , which frequently lead to us hearing the phrase, “Let me show you what my powers can do”.

John Charles liked to help cook.  His favorite foods to cook were tacos, spaghetti and chili.  He also liked to bake cakes and cookies.  Though he liked to cook, John Charles did not like to eat very well and it had even been said that he acted as if he was afraid of food.  People got that idea because he often smelled or touched his food and then refused to eat it.  Even worse, he sometimes got sick to his stomach  from simply looking at or smelling food.  If John Charles had his way, he would have lived off peanut butter sandwiches with “Papa Newton Candy” (Junior Mints) for dessert. At one time John Charles said he wanted to be a chef when he grew up, but he changed his mind.  He decided he wanted to be a helicopter pilot, a doctor and a…….pizza delivery man.

John Charles liked all types of toys, but could amuse himself for long periods of time with simple sticks.  He liked to have adventures and to use sticks as weapons and such.  He had a piece of bamboo that he played with for a few months.  He called it his 3000 Lightsaber.

Then John Charles was 6 and he was quickly becoming our big boy.  He was growing very tall and strong, but he still had some cute baby qualities too.  John Charles still had a cute babyish voice and speech patterns.  He was so adorable when he told people that his Daddy’s name was “Wandy” and he said “I’m stinking about something wight now.” or just “Helwo”.

John Charles still had little dimples on his hands instead of knuckles and he had  not lost any of his baby teeth yet.  We knew it wouldn’t be long before all these little characteristics were gone and they would be cherished memories.

John Charles became a kindergartener.  He was homeschooled and called his school Hutcheson Heritage Academy.  His academic routine included circle time, table time, project time, unit studies and tea time.  John Charles enjoyed workbook type learning and also anything artsy.  He did not like phonics and thought it was not “real reading”.

John Charles also became a karate kid.  He took classes at Championship Martial Arts.  His instructors were Mr. Kevin and Mr. Hart.  They said that John Charles rocked and that his star block was out of this world.  His hiyas were really loud too.  John Charles was a white gold belt in karate, but when we watched him we thought we were watching a black belt.

He played baseball too.  The little lefty played for the Texas Rangers.  His coach was named Mark Goss and his team mates were Landon, Will, Lane, Cole, Little Joe, Clayton, Peyton and Robert.  John Charles was a slugger and played center field and sometimes catcher.  His team’s record was 6 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie.

John Charles still had a big imagination.  He had an imaginary friend named Terry.  John Charles no  longer did anything wrong at home.  If something was done wrong, Terry did it or Terry told John Charles to do it.  We hoped that Terry would leave soon!

Now John Charles is 7 and music is his passion.  He plays his guitar for us almost everyday and makes up his own songs.  He says that we don’t understand the importance of music.  As he says, “Music isn’t just something you do for fun. It’s life!”.  John Charles plans to be a professional musician when he grows up and thinks he will be more famous than Michael Jackson.

He also enjoys being a gamer.  He enjoys playing Minecraft the most.  He watches youtube videos from Minecraft Dad to learn as much as possible about the game and has created some incredible worlds like a Mario course and has crafted lots of cool things.

John Charles likes science and concocting his own potions.  He is determined to find the exact ingredients needed to turn himself into the Hulk.  He can’t understand why no one ever wants to test his potions for him!

He still plays baseball and has played on two baseball teams this year.  He loved playing for the A’s.  They had just an average season with about equal wins and losses but John Charles  had lots of fun being with his teammates.  The other team he played with was undefeated, but his teammates were not so nice.

John Charles continues to take karate lessons and has come so far in a little over a year.  He is now an orange/green belt but acts like such a black belt in the way he listens and follows instructions.  It’s time for him to leave the little kids class and to be a part of the class for older kids.  He is nervous about that but we know that he will continue to excel.

John Charles lives life to the fullest everyday and there is never a dull moment when he’s around!

We are overjoyed to have John Charles in our lives and to celebrate his birthday with him. Happy Birthday John Charles! We love you!

Puppy Dog Tails

We rehomed our Husky dog named Jasper a while back. We hated to do it, but he just was not a good fit for our neighborhood life.  John Charles was upset for him to go and in the beginning he asked every day, “When are we going to get Jasper back?”.  When he accepted the fact that Jasper had a new home and wasn’t coming back he started asking if he could have a puppy.  At first, I thought it was just a wish that would pass.  It wasn’t!  He started reminding me everyday that he wanted a puppy and asking when we would get him one.  He was clear that he wanted a puppy and not a dog – and he would like a husky puppy! Before we left for our trip to the mountains he asked us to pleeeeeeeease get him a puppy, any kind of puppy!  We could get any free puppy we could find! When we got back home he ran to me, gave me a hug and asked, “Did you get me a puppy?”.  We started looking for a puppy that night! 

I would like for you to meet the newest addition to our family. This is Bentley. He’s an 11 week old Shih Tzu / Terrier mix.  He is such a cutie and we’re all excited to have him.

End of Fall Baseball Season

John Charles’ baseball team, the 7/8 Orange Tigers, won their last game of the season 15-0 on Saturday.  They finished the season with 10 wins and 0 losses!  Before this season, I never would have believed that being on a team with such a winning record could have been such a bad experience.

John Charles, who is still 6 years old, was the youngest player on the team.  At sign ups, we were told that he should play in the 7/8 year old league because fall ball is actually about preparing the players for spring and in the spring he will be 7 years old. He was the only 6 year old on the team and the other boys’ playing was much more advanced than his.  Neither the players nor the head coach made a secret of the fact that they were disappointed in having him on their team and many hurtful things were said to and about him during the season.  From this point forward I would rather he be on a team with winning character than a team with a winning record!

After the game, the team had their end of the season party.  They enjoyed pizza, cake and receiving their trophies.  This is one season that I’m truly glad to have behind us!

this moment

a single photo capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment from the week. inspired by soulemama.

Drawing with John Charles

Every child has his own strengths and weaknesses and I try not to compare my children, but sometimes it is so hard!  Zach is good at some things and John Charles is good at others.  One of my boys was a natural born artist.  The other one – not the case at all!  I would like to see him develop some pleasure and ability in art though and have been working with him lately to try to improve his skills in this area.

I love the simple drawing instructions from Fairy Dust Teaching.  Last week we spent a little time each day drawing owls.

John Charles was disappointed in his first drawing , but we saw some improvement by the end of the week.

This week we’re drawing Indians.  I’m confident that we will see lots more  improvement as the weeks pass and I’m enjoying our time spent drawing together!