Curriculum, t-ball, dance and combat crawling

Happy Tuesday all!
After many, many (many, many, many) days and much research I think we have finally settled on our method of homeschooling. For Swink3's kindergarten year we have pieced together an approach which has kinda worked but not as good as any of us would like. He reads exceptionally well and is pretty good at math, enjoys science (particularly anything pertaining to animals), and likes geography (thank you google earth). Anyway, we will be mainly using the Charlotte Mason philosophy which deals heavily in learning from living books as opposed to textbooks; it is also has a very strong emphasis on the outdoors/nature and purportedly creates a love of learning rather than just rote memorization of facts. That being said, I have a ton of books that I need to find (yay for used bookstores, craigslist & ebay) so... many of my hours will be spent doing that. Our math curriculum will be Saxon and yesterday I scored the year 1 workbook for ninety-nine cents!! I love a good bargain :-)

Tonight will be Swink3's last t-ball game of the season. He has enjoyed it but not nearly as much as he did football. I don't think it has enough movement in it, so while he enjoys batting and actually catching the ball; standing around in the outfield drives him a little insane.

Swink4 is still loving ballet. Her class will have an "Open House" next week where the parents can sit in on the class rather than watch through a tiny window at the door :-) I will, of course, be taking pics & video of the cuteness! She is the most encouraging person I know; there is absolutely nothing like having my 3 year old tell me what a great job I'm doing!

Swink5 has perfected the combat crawl...the girl can move faster at a low crawl than most babies can with an actual hands and knees crawl! She is quick!!! This week has brought the ability to pull up on things, shake her head (as in saying "no"), give sugars (kisses - she's been doing it for a while), and she will occasionally get on all fours for a few movements. The consensus is that she will probably go straight to walking...we'll see.
I am constantly amazed at how big they are getting and how much they are growing: mentally, physically and even spiritually. The insight they (the older two) bring to our daily devotionals is astounding and I pray that Swink1 & I are able to continue fostering a love of Jesus and for His Word. I pray that we continue to (and get better at) modeling His love and His purpose. I pray our children grow up knowing that not only do mommy & daddy talk about Jesus but that we live as He has called us to. Loving our Lord with all we are & loving our neighbors as ourselves.