The boys and I are having great fun taking a break from book work and enjoying field trip adventures!  One of the great benefits of homeschooling is the freedom to get outside and play in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week,
or whenever we want! :) 

T1 and T2 are like their mama in that they really do not like crowds.  If we head to the park and it's full of kids, they ask if we can please NOT stay and if we find ourselves in a restaurant full of people, they'd like to take their food to go.  This suits me just fine.  So, we go on our "field trips" during the time of day, week, and year when I am pretty confident we will not be met with many other people.

Now before you call me anti-social (although, that may be a fair accusation), please remember that our ministry requires that we spend many hours every week with lots and lots of complete strangers.  For an introvert like me, that can leave me overwhelmed and drained!  One of the things God showed me a couple of years ago is that this is part of how He made me, and it's okay!  I still love to love and serve people, I just need to have some time by myself afterward to "re-charge". 

So last week, after a busy weekend of travel and ministry, we headed to the Oregon coast on a mild temperature, late Spring, Tuesday in the mid-morning,
and found ourselves all alone on the beach!

Me - "Wow!  This place is so beautiful and peaceful!
T2 - "Let's have a battle, Daddy!!!"

The one time I can always count on my boys playing well as a team . . . When they're both chasing Daddy!

Ha!  You can run, but you can't hide!

Lately my boys have been particularly fascinated by plants!  T1 is particularly interested and has even mentioned interest in being a "botanist" when he grows up.  In the past month, both boys purchased a small cactus and venus fly trap.  So, I figured a trip to a local botanical garden was a perfect field trip!

Ten O'clock and all is well!  This sun dial was so cool!  It gave clear instructions for where to stand to use your shadow to see what time it was!

I had fun pretending to be a photographer! :)

I've been planning to try my hand at a small straw bale garden, so it was fun to see one and I even got to chat with one of the OSU Master Gardeners and get some tips! :)

Eleven fifteen and all are hot and hungry,
so we headed home for lunch!

Our final field trip this week was the local natural and cultural history museum.  We've been to this museum several times and the boys always request to go when we are in town.  At this small but very diverse museum we. . .
 
    learned about: logging and it's effect on the forests as well as
    the succession of forest growth

    saw examples of antique instruments

    pretended to be traveling in a covered wagon on the Oregon
    Trail

    pet a "stuffed" black bear

    watched a video about snakes

    and dug for fossils!

I'll keep you posted on whatever "mischief" we get into next week! ;)

IT'S TIME!  I don't want to wait much longer!  I'm on tour for the next month and then summer will be in full swing for all of us! 
That means . . . 
                  Kid's Home!
                      Summer Camps
                           Vacation Bible School
                                Family Vacations
                                    Busy & Unpredictable Schedules
   
and Church Bible Study/Small Group/and Sunday School breaks!

I don't know about you, but I know that for me this also means that I am tempted to neglect personal time in God's Word and prayer!  And this is NO GOOD!

So this year, I've decided to take initiative to prevent this!

Starting in one month I will be leading an online Bible Study Small Group.  To get all of the details about how it will work you can follow this link! But below are the most important things to know.

Study Name - Gideon / Your Weakness.  God's Strength 
                by Priscilla Shirer

Required Material - everyone participating must purchase the member study book.  You can choose the paper copy or ebook, both are 12.99 and can be ordered here : http://www.lifeway.com/Product/gideon-bible-study-book-p005538485

Study start date - June 6

Privacy and Copyright protection - This study will take place in a closed Facebook group.  This will mean that only those who request to join the group and confirm that they have ordered the study book can participate. (more info here)

Flexibility - This study will be extremely flexible allowing you to participate as much or little as you'd like.  The schedule will allow for a two week grace period, so that if you get behind or can't attend our weekly Facebook small group, you will still be able to participate on each study by reading others' comments and commenting on past week's studies.  The ONLY REQUIREMENT is that you purchase the study book, this allows me to write out some of the questions in our Facebook group without violating any copyright laws.

As promised, here's the lowdown on my hubby's new CD.  It is here and available for purchase!!! You can follow this link to read the track listing, listen to a few tracks, and order your copy!  (and maybe one for a friend ;) )

Trust me, this one is REALLY GOOD! :)

Friday morning bright and early we will hop in our fully loaded pickup and head to Oregon!  This tour will be fairly short and will include lots of time with friends and family!  Although I'd be lying if I said that I'm excited to go live in our trailer again, I am anxious to have some fun adventuring with my kiddos, to visit with some dear friends I haven't seen in months, and to snuggle my nieces and nephew!  Also, Josh has a brand new CD we're going to be releasing in just a couple of weeks! (more on that soon)  We are very excited to share it with churches, as I really believe it will be a blessing!

It's been so much fun having a ""home" to enjoy this spring and to look forward to enjoying this summer!  My landlord and I have been working on some gardening, I planted a few flowers (which Curly promptly tried to snack on!) and I was gifted a lilac bush start! 

The boys were finally able to put up the birdhouses they made last summer and we're hoping that bluebirds will nest in them this month!

When we come home, most of these pregnant mamas will have had their babies.  This ranch will be full of baby goats (I know they're called kids, but they'll be way too cute and little to call "kids") and will be a much cuter, stinkier, and noisier place! :)

I'll write again soon with more info on Josh's new CD!  I'll also share more about the online Bible Study that I'm going to be leading this summer.  Until then, check out my first "affiliate" link on the right side bar!  I feel like a real blogger! ;) )