Esther to the Nutcracker

Esther was able to go with her friend, Kirstyn, to see the nutcracker ballet. The girls took their American Girl dolls with them. The looked so cute! Esther said that she liked the ballet, but she had to make up words in her head for the story because no one talked!

Esther Hope

Essie turned 9 this past weekend! We had a bonfire at church and a tinkerbell cake! She also had a few girls come over for a sleepover.Making a wishEsther and the girls!The next morning.Esther with her tinkerbell toys

Happy Birthday Baby girl! I love you to the moon and back!!

Dancing Queen

Esther Hope had her end of the year dance recital this past Saturday evening. She has not a competitive bone in her body and has not been interested in sports so far, but she loves her some dance class! Her teacher, Ms. Robin does an EXCELLENT job with the girls. They learn Scripture and dance to praise music. Every Monday all school year, Esther goes to class at In HIS Company dance and loves it. Her are some pictures from the queen's recital!

Merry Christmas form Esther Hope

Esther's Baptism

Esther has been wanting to get baptized for the longest time. She came to me over two years ago, when she was just 6, and wanted me to explain to her how to go to Heaven. We have waited a while for her to get baptized because we wanted her to understand a little more fully what she had done and make sure she understood.

The last time we had communion at church, Greg mentioned not taking of communion if you had not followed through with the command of baptism and Esther cried and cried because she wanted to get baptized, but her daddy wouldn't let her!:)

Well, we had a baptism coming up at church and Esther and another little girl from church both very much wanted to be a part of it. So Greg was able to baptize Esther. It is such a blessing that all three of my children have received Christ and now are baptised!

My Dancer

Esther has never been interested in any kind of sports at all, so we haven't pushed her to participate in any. I have been looking for an activity that would interest her and I think I found it....dance! She will be taking a summer session and if she continues to love it, we will enroll her in the fall too. She is taking classes at In His Company dance. It is a christian dance company that dances to praise and worship songs. I am very excited for her. Her are 2 pictures right before the first class.

Essie's Monty Python impression

Essie's big catch

While Abby, my mom and my sister and I went to Pigeon Forge last week, my dad kept Nathan and Esther. They went fishing and Esther caught a 20 inch catfish. She was soooo excited!

An Essie Funny

While working on school today ...

I said, "Esther, what rhymes with sold?
Esther:..ummmm ummm ummm
Me: Something Captain Jack Sparrow likes
Esther: Rum??
Me: No!! Not Rum! What else that rhymes with sold??
Esther: Booty??
Me: Esther, You know how to Rhyme!! Gold rhymes with Sold!! Gold!!
Esther: ( in her best pirate voice) Keep to the code Mum, Keep to the code, nevr speaks about ye gold!

Happy Birthday Esther Hope Mullis

On Friday Esther had her 7th birthday. We were in western NC visiting with Greg's mom and dad at their new cabin. We were able to go on a train ride and eat at a really cool restaurant right on the river. Esther was sang to 8 times with family calling her and people who found out it was her Bday! She loved that. Here are a few photos of her day!

Esther's graduation

Here are some pictures of Esther's kindergarten graduation~!

7 more years till she is a teenager!

Last night on the way home from church Esther kept getting louder and louder and Greg kept telling her to be quiet. Finally he just said okay no more talking until we get home. Well Essie began squeaking and moaning instead, so Greg told her when we get home go straight up to your room. Well, he took the wooden spoon upstairs and gave her a talking to and a few swats.
When I went up to kiss her goodnight here is how our conversation went:

Me: Did you get a spanking?
Her: Ya know that dad that is a preacher and he is married to a homeschool mom who has three kids?
Me: Yeah?
Her: Well, he is really really smart!
Me: Why?
Her: Did you see how he handled me with that wooden spoon? No more bad choices for me!!
Me: (Trying sooo hard not to laugh!) Did it hurt?
Her: No, it felt like an indian burn, but don't tell him, it might hurt his feelings!

Oh My goodness! What are we going to do with this child when she becomes a teenager!!!

My Favorite Homeschool Quote

" We're not trying to do "School at Home." We're trying to do homeschool. These are two entirely different propositions. We're not trying to replicate the time, style or content of the classroom. Rather we're trying to cultivate a lifestyle of learning in which learning takes place from morning until bedtime 7 days each week. The "formal" portion of each teaching day is just the tip of the iceburg. "--Steve and Jane Lambert ( Five In A Row )

Arctic Lesson Plan January 2008

Week 1
Day 1 ~ Read Magic school bus in the Arctic. Do the Blubber experiment. Make Snowflakes. Pick an Arctic animal for research study.

Day 2 ~ Read Storm Run. Check out the internet site about the Iditarod http://www.ititarod.com/. Do map worksheet. Begin Lapbook on sled dogs. Watch Balto

Day 3 ~ Write a friendly letter to a musher wishing them good luck in the race. Paint with Marshmallows and cut out a polar bear for center of page . Do Dog sled work sheet and work on lapbook.(Begin reading Black Star, Bright Dawn at night.(chapter Book)

Day 4 ~ Read Akiak. Research project.Mush dog craft . Watch Snowdogs. Work on Sled Dog Lapbook.

Day 5 ~ Listen to Stone Fox on CD. Make snowman rice krispie treats. Finish sled dog lapbook. Research on Arctic animal. Practice oral report of Arctic animal.


Week 2

Day 1 ~ Make a list of Arctic animals. Look over the animal flashcards. Read Tacky the penguin. Draw write now. Watch Arctic Tale

Day 2 ~ Go over the differences between Arctic and Antartica. Read North Pole South Pole. Draw animals in Draw write now. Research project note cards.

Day 3 ~ Read Arctic Lights .Draw the northern lights. Practice research oral report.
Day 4 ~ Who are the inuits? Read Mama do you love me? Make a comparison chart on how they live v/s how we live in Florida. Make an igloo with sugar cubes. Make an Eskimo puppet. Do oral report on Arctic animal for dad.

Day 5 ~ What is Snow? Read the lapbook info and do a small lapbook.

Esther's joke of the day

Esther just walked into the kitchen and said;

Esther: Mom, what did the snowman say to the other snowman?
Me: What??
Esther: I smell carrots!

An Esther Funny

Last night I was tucking Esther into bed and I handed her a purple stuffed elephant that she sometimes sleeps with:

Esther: " Ewww. I am not sleeping with Lumpy anymore!"
Me: "Why?"
Esther: " Because Lumpy farts in his sleep and it's disgusting! I'll sleep with Fiona the puppy, she is not nearly as rude!"

I was trying so hard not to laugh, I couldn't even say anything about using a word not allowed around here!

Happy Birthday Esther Hope Mullis!

Happy Sixth Birthday to my sweet baby girl, Esther!! We love you Sweetheart!

Esther's Snacking in Style

A Milestone

Essie lost her first tooth today! It has been loose for a long time and she would not let any of us pull it. She tried to eat an apple today and still no go and then after lunch she was wiggling it and out it popped! I have never seen a child so excited! She was squealing through the house and is so excited to meet the tooth fairy tonight. I can not believe my baby is losing teeth! She is growing up too quick!

A Praise!

Last night as I was cleaning up the kitchen, Esther came to me and started asking questions about God and why Jesus would leave Heaven and come to earth if He was going to die on the cross? I explained to her why He came and how we were able to go to heaven if we ask Him to forgive us of our sins. She said, "I think we need to go sit in the red rocking chair and you need to pray with me and I need to do that." We sat down and I tried to explain everything to her in a way she could understand and I was about to ask her if she would like to repeat a prayer after me when all of a sudden she started praying on her own. She ask Jesus to forgive her for all the bad things she does like being a tattletale and that she really wanted to go to heaven, so would he please come into her heart!

When she finished praying she wanted to know when we could all go to heaven together and that would she know when it was time to leave. She also had lots of questions about how He could live in her heart and be in heaven at the same time. I tried to not use "heart" when explaining it all to her, but she had heard that in Sunday School and it had stuck. She was just amazed He could live inside her and she could talk to Him whenever she wanted to.

When I was ready to tuck her in, she said tuck US in, because Jesus is here too and then she patted her little chest and said , Go ahead and say your prayers He is here and He is listening!

She went to sleep with a big smile on her face and told me she hoped that she would dream about Heaven! I am so thankful that the Lord allowed all three of my little lights to come to Him at a young age! So welcome Esther Hope into God's great big family!!