The Mother’s Banquet

Posted by Cindy on March 19, 2008

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m part of a WONDERFUL co-op.  Our leader, Cathy, is celebrating her 10th anniversary since starting the group.

I’ve been incredibly blessed this year to help Cathy out by leading the Mom’s Room.  The best way I can describe the Mom’s Room is in a series of words and phrases: prayer, devotions, homeschool information, homeschool workshops, marriage support, parenting support, homemaking support, friendships, encouragement……

Every year, we’ve always held a banquet (similar to a mother/duaghter banquet you might have a church) to honor the mothers.  It was a hard act to follow to organize the banquet myself after so many years of being pampered and uplifted by Cathy!  But, I pray that everyone was blessed and encouraged by our day Monday.  I went home exhausted, but incredibly blessed, too.

Nancy Carter was our speaker for the day, and let me tell you, her message on grace was perfect!  She spoke about the importance of remembering God’s grace as we strive to be great moms, wives, and homeschoolers.  And reminded us to show the same grace to our families in good or not-so-good moments.

Two thoughts really stood out in my mind from her talk:

-DON’T compare yourself to others, whether it’s as a mom or a homeschooler or whatever.  If God had intended for your children to have different parents, He would have given them different parents.

-Treat your family with grace whether they “deserve” it or not.

Not only did Nancy, and her lovely friend Candace, drive nearly 3 1/2 hours to be with us – they came bearing gifts as well!    Nancy brought The Old Schoolhouse Magazine for each of the ladies and Candace’s husband donated a copy of his The Star Spangled State Book and Workbook for a door prize! 

I promised to share the lyrics to a song our 5/6th grade choir sang.  The author is Zac G. and the original words can be found here.

Song

“We Are the Homeschool Kids Who Can’t Do Anything” – sung to the tune of the Veggie Tales “Pirates” song.

Chorus

We are the homeschool kids who can’t do anything

We just stay at home and do our work

And if you ask us to do anything

We’ll just tell you we can’t do anything!

Well we can’t pass notes in math class

and we’ve never bought a school lunch

and we’ve never had our homework eaten by the family dog

and we’ve never had a hall pass

and we’ve never owned a locker

and we’ve never had detention after school

Chorus

Well we’ve never been suspended

and we’ve never missed the school bus

and we’ve never got a fat lip from the bully down the hall

and we’ve never seen the school nurse

and we’ve never slapped erasers

and we’ve never had detention after school

Chorus

Well we’ve never changed for P.E.

and we’ve never had a swirlie

and we’ve never had a teacher that we didn’t like at all

and we’ve never had supply lists

and we’ve never answered roll call

and we’ve never had detention after school

Chorus

But we’ve often taken field trips

and we go to school in pj’s

and we often do our work while sitting on our favorite couch

and we finish school by lunchtime

and we find our books on ebay

and we don’t have any homework after school

Chorus

Here are links to the poems that were read.

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

Mother

Raising Boys

Dear Lord, It’s Been a Hectic Day

It was a wonderful day!   I can’t end this without a big THANK YOU to Brooke & Mike and Nancy, Gerald & Kelsey!!

A Thanksgiving Feast

Posted by Cindy on November 19, 2007

We are part of such a wonderful co-op!  Every year we attend a Thanksgiving Feast the Monday before Thanksgiving.  Each year focuses on an historical time period – this year happened to be the 1950′s.  The moms work to prepare eight different stations that teach the children about the food, clothes, games, and general lifestyle of the times.  Groups of children travel around the stations having all sorts of fun!  This year’s stations included clothing styles, fast food sampling, toys of the decade, games of the decade, popular books & tv shows, popsicle stick creations, paint by number, and beaded bracelets.

We usually end the day with a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but this year called for food from the 50′s.  We ate hot dogs, french fries, mac n’ cheese, jello and rice krispy treats.  Let’s just say the kids probably enjoyed the meal a tad more than the adults.

Co-op Competition Night

Posted by Cindy on April 29, 2007

Our co-op has a yearly “Expo” - a night full of competitions that the kids can enter.  What fun it is every year!  It’s such a great place for them to display their talents (and even get a well-deserved pat on the back.)  Mommas, Daddies, and grandparents fill the rooms with proud smiles on their faces, too.

This year, my kiddos entered the art, cooking and woodworking competitions.  They could’ve chosen Bible memorization, spelling bee, speech, knitting/crocheting/sewing, science fair, singing, instrumentals and drama, too.  With a newborn in the house, we entered only a few categories this year.

Here’s a picture of their art and woodworking projects.  Mahayla entered a tissue paper “stained glass” flower in the art(paper) category and a picture of our new foal with its Mom for art(photography).  She made Penne Pasta Skillet for the cooking competition.  Caleb did a printing piece for the art(printing) category, made a sand block instrument for the woodworking competition and made Amish Chocolate Chip Cookies for the cooking competition.

Every child who enters gets a certificate of participation and special certificates with ribbons are given to 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category.  The awards ceremony will take place this Monday during our regular co-op meeting.  I love that EVERY child gets to walk on stage no matter if they placed in their competition or not.

Oh yeah, after the cooking dishes have been judged, we all get to EAT the food!  That’s a nice fellowship to end the evening.

Updating to add:  Mahayla placed 1st in the Paper Art category and 2nd in the cooking Pasta category!  Caleb placed 1st in Art Printing, 2nd in Woodworking and 3rd in Cookies!  WooHoo!