October is over!

It's November already! A lot has been happening in the last two weeks. I'll have to think hard to fill in any important blanks between the last post and this one.

Life Chain was scheduled for Oct 4th but it was raining (and had been raining) really hard. Some people in our area had no power. So, as a county, 5 towns, we rescheduled to the 25th. It was a big hit!

As we came to a stop in the driveway at the end of our big, monthly shopping trip I had an epic flat tire.
Thank you smallish persons who like to play with EVERYTHING, including but not limited to bricks and cement blocks, and who were told REPEATEDLY to not have such things in the driveway because your mother thinks she can straddle such. She can't.

At least we were home.
We only had one spare.
Its time for new tires anyway.

Papa was scheduled to have knee replacement at the beginning of the month but it got rescheduled several times and was on the 19th. Everything went GREAT! But the last two weeks I've had to be devoted to Papa nearly full time (and when I do get to be at home napping is the thing that happens).
He went to stay at a local Rehab place until his get'along gets along better.

Breakfast with Papa 10/22/2015

The week of surgery I was also teaching at Community Bible Study. I'm still in wonder at how God worked all that out. He really was in my comings and goings and interactions with others and my time. He brought the whole thing together - and once again - it was not me. Ain't it grand to be a vessel used for God's glory.
And I'm sure, I learned the most that week. (and I quoted Shakespeare to make a point).

from Community Bible Study, Romans Lesson 10

Papa gave us a scare the next Sunday evening. His leg was HUGE and swollen and tender. So, just in case it was a blood clot we had him carried to the ER.
By the way, when I grow up, I now want to drive ambulances, cause they GET to go fast - I had a great time following Papa to the hospital in the middle of the night - FAST! Woohoo!

I did NOT have a great time at the hospital. I was pretty sure by the next morning that they would soon have to treat at least two people for dehydration and starvation. It was a LONG sleepless night.
Thankfully, it was a bad case of cellulitis. That's a new word for me. It's an infection of the skin and tissue just under the skin. Which was really painful, but with some antibiotics not life threatening.

Last week, the children and I were going to learn (again) lots about the Protestant Reformation leading up to Reformation Day!
What's Reformation Day? Well, on October 31, 1517 . . . you can just read more about there here & here.
But between all of the doings with Papa - and subsequent naps, and praising God for a helpful, loving husband and BIG kids, we didn't.
BUT . . . a sweet friend told us about some other like minded theologians.
So we went and partied with the folks at Heritage Presbyterian in Royston.
It was GREAT, easy on Mama's, well done games and some humorous drama with "Tetzel and Martin."

Stained Glass - because "the church" was the Roman Catholic Church (Catholic = universal)
There were a few "heretics" (like Wycliff & Huss) but they didn't live long.

Luther was studying to be a lawyer but got stuck by lightening,
prayed to St. Anne (alleged mother of the virgin Mary)
and became an Augustinian Monk.

Luther, through study and teaching the scriptures, found fault with the teachings of "the church"
- especially when a dude named Tetzel came around selling indulgences.

Illuminating Scripture with a Monk
& the humorous exchange between the indulgences hawking Tetzel and smarty-pants Luther.

Knock down the False Teachings & the 5 Solas Toss

 There was also a throw the Papel Bull in the fire - but I didn't get a picture of that.

Hunting in the shooting gallery (Black Forest?) & Translating Scripture with Martin Luther

The Cat Game (see below) & our two biggest sticks in the mud.

The little kids were in the Wartburg Castle bouncing up and down while the big kids and I were playing Bingo in hopes of winning fresh baked goods (I'm still a little miffed we didn't win the Black Forest cake).
Suddenly, there was a pretty gray and white kitty cat under our table. (Looked a lot like Henrietta Mama Cat I had when I was little). Of course this pretty kitty caught the attention of several smallish persons.
Then, it caught the attention of Josiah who ran over to me, "I want to pay da tat dame!"
"What?"
"I want to pay da tat dame!"
A wave of understanding washed over me, "Son, the cat is not a game."
But he played it anyway, until the cat got away.
That's Jorja in the purple with her back to us in the picture above (Josiah is on her left in red).
You can see the cat's head and front paw reaching over Jorja's right arm.

And then there's today.
Jacob played a rousing game of hide-and-seek with his "stuffies" this morning.
Of course, stuffies can't hide themselves. He even counted and pretended to forget where they hid (even the ones in plain sight).
Then he had Josiah "take pictures" of himself with his lined up stuffies.
So, Josiah is standing there with hands boxed in front of his face, "click, click. Click, click."
And Jacob begins to jump and wiggle and move in front of the "camera."
"You know what these are called? Motion pictures."

And the crowd went wild. (The crowd being two biggest sisters and the Mama).

We finally hit the reset button on our school lessons and began again this morning.
So, we are back at it. A new normal.

Today was Monday

Today the Brown Home Academy went to Mayfield Dairy with our homeschool group.
You can't take pictures on the actual tour - cause you might give away the secret formula for milk - but you can before and after.

We are rocking the hair nets!

The Littles milking the (fake) cow. They were very excited about this - especially Josiah!

The biggers were a bit reluctant to milk the plastic cow.

Then it was ice cream time!

This was the group. I was to lazy to leave my seat to get a picture in front of them.
Notice Josiah on the front row is still eating his ice cream, he wasn't going to leave his treat to take the picture.

Those Brown girls and those Ashworth girls.

 Then we started home. The scenic route.
I asked Ava if she'd like to drive and she said she didn't know. She'd drive if I'd promise not to freak out.
I said I couldn't promise not to freak out if she couldn't promise not to freak me out.
I drove all the way home.

Later, Josiah was telling some story about the lunch. I told him, "I think your full of it."
He assured me that he was not. "I'm never full!"

That's all folks!
Good night!

September in Review

September flew by fast - but it chock full of FUN!

We spent Mama's Birthday weekend in Tallulah Falls doing His Last Days Passion Drama.

Lunch and Play at the gorge

His Last Days actors

 We began preparing in August for a BIG Yard Sale the second weekend.
Everyone pitched in to help clean out every room in the house (even Grandmother!)

Getting Ready for the Yard Sale - the house was a disaster (we are still recovering)

We had a great turn out. It was our most successful yard sale ever (also, the 3rd ever for me).
Research and hard work go a long way.
The little kids had a Lemonade stand.

Friday morning vs Saturday morning (it got a little chilly)

After our trip to VA this past summer, the big boys came home and made wooden guns, like those we had seen in a gift shop in Williamsburg. You can see the fun here. 

The big boys made wooden guns to sale at the yard sale. They were disappointed they only sold 3 or 4. But now they do have this nifty little gun rack full of toy guns. Those are popular items here.

Handmade wooden guns by Elijah and Alex

We also celebrated the last two Brown birthdays of the year.

Jacob turned 7. He loved his Legos and his little vacuum cleaner. 

Elijah turned 14. His birthday was the first day of the yard sale so we celebrated the next day.
He was a very good sport about it. He also got Red Velvet cake again - the best looking one I've ever made (actually looked like a cake rather than a tasty explosion).

I had a Georgia Right to Life state board meeting and we elected new officers.

Secretary Charlie Greenwald, President Ricardo Davis (we are going to think we are cousins), Vice President Shannon Vogt (the brash Southerner), Delegate to Personhood Alliance Karen Lebarr, Treasuer Linda Powell, and Administrative Director Zemmie Fleck - it's a great group! Can't wait to see how God uses each of these people in GRTL and in the advancement in the sanctity of human life.

Some GRAND Briscoes came down Maine and gathered with other GRAND folk. We didn't want to pass-up the opportunity to be in the presence of such GRANDness so we went down to GRANDmother's house.

Grand Uncle Larry, Grand Uncle Anthony, Grand Aunt Juanita,
Grand Aunt Audrey, Grand Uncle Dougie Poo, Grandmother, and Cousin Daniel

Grands and Grand spouses

There's always that one kid . . . they just don't out grow it (it was a different one in other pictures)

I might look like a Dunagan
(when I tried to tag these faces on Facebook, it "recognized" them all as GeneandErin Brown)

 AND it was time for school pictures. Our homeschool group does a yearbook each year, so a REAL photographer takes everyones pictures, then, because we don't spent a bazillion dollars on professional pictures we go to the Lake and take our own.

Those girls

Those boys

Silliness reigns.
Everybody made faces, except Autumn, so everybody made faces at Autumn

Peek-a-boo

Everybody Jump, Jump!

At the Hartwell Dam, the Savannah River & climbing the dam

One of these will be our Christmas card - feel free to cast your opinion of the best, card worthy picture in the comments.

Happy October to you all!

Love ya!

It was all a bad dream

The Barefooted Browns First Day of School - Monday, August 3, 2015

Last night I had a bad dream.
I dreamt we had put all the children in public school.
They had been going four days, one child had been sick for 3 1/2  days, and I was in tears.
Everyone was miserable.
We were on the way to school to bring them back home when I woke up, all upset.

I may very well enjoy a day (or days) of solitude and quiet, but OH what'd I'd be missing if I sent them away to strangers every day.

Our school year has begun and lots of other things have happened. So here's the update.

Where to begin is the problem.
This post will just be that yearly, back to school, overload of information. And I'll link to another post with all the fun  other stuff.

We know that this fall is going to be busy. Being a leader in our Community Bible Study class took up a LOT of my time last year, plus Papa will have a knee surgery in October (with another next spring on the other knee) and we will be taking care of him for a little while afterwards. And we've got field trips, work on the house, and ministry with The Daddy so we started school a little early.

Crazy Lady

There was a point early in July that I panicked. My family was all well aware that it was July because the
crazy woman they live with kept saying, "It's JULY!" and running in circles.
The new school year was quickly approaching, along with all the living life that comes with our largeness, and the end of the last school year was in pieces all over the place. And outside commitments were casting big shadows on everything. (I just realized my last two post, and lack of post, may have come from my overwhelmedness).

Since we've been doing the homeschooling thing for a while now there are somethings we have begun to reuse - just tweaked from year to year. Like our schedule (which is VERY important for this Fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants crazy lady), the checklist (or weekly lesson plans, one for each student), attendance sheets (very colorful doesn't mean better, but this has worked for me for years), school calendar (helps me plan), "Mama's Home School Brain" (aka "my brain" - has also worked for YEARS - this is where all this other stuff is stashed), and dividers (one for each child for the Mama, and the kids have one for each subject in their own binders).

The children are not all officially started in school (state law: Compulsory Attendance Ages: "between 6th and 16th birthdays." Official Code of Georgia Annotated � 20-2-690.1. So we don't sign them up until the school year after they turn 6 years old) BUT all of them have stared school. 

On Monday, August 3rd, early in the morning (like 8:30) the Brown Home Academy began our 2015-16 school year.
We have a new habit of waking the kids at 7 a.m. to pray with The Daddy before he goes to work (unless he goes in early or stays home - then everybody gets to sleep a few more minutes). Then we send the big ones back to the rooms and encourage them to have a quiet devotional time (some go back to sleep) while Mama and the littles sit on the couch and read in The Child's Story Bible (they actually listen, mostly. Josiah often falls back asleep before he makes it to the couch. And I have had to correct this story Bible, but still find it helpful - Know the Word!)
Breakfast & Chores and the day has begun.


Here's this years line-up:

Ava - 11th grade and duel enrolled with Toccoa Falls College Online (begins the 24th)

Autumn - 10th grade

Elijah - 8th grade











Alex - 8th grade

Lora - 5th grade

Jorja - 4th grade












Jacob - 1st grade (finally)

Josiah - Kindergarten (it's taken TWO weeks to learn the sounds for A & B!)








We are trying a few new things this year. Like Writing Strands for the bigger kids and a Morning Board for the littles.

Teaching Central - during the day there's a chair in there, but we have to use it for supper

Top Left: Morning Board; Top Right: Judy Clock I found for $1.50 at the thrift store
Bottom Left: The book cases, the right book case is where the kids stash their stuff
(the big boys shelf looks rather bare, maybe they need more work?)
Middle: I put all the pieces to the morning board on card stock and keep it in a folder.
Middle right: We are also doing (or trying to remember to do) timed math quizzes once or twice a week
- my little weirdos think these are fun (they get two minutes to do as much as they can)
And the bottom (to fill space) is our school verse, 1 Peter 2:9

Josiah is his father's child

For those of you with to much time on your hands (and for posterity) here's our curriculum list for this year with links (cause that's cool). And I'll through in some pictures from our first day so you can skip this boring part and keep smiling.

Language Arts - everybody (but Ava) is using QueensHomeschool Language Lessons,
Middle and High School are using Writing Strands, Memoria Press Literature Guides 
Jorja also uses the Literature Guides
Lora is using the Rod and Staff Reading Text

Highschool girls

Jacob, Lora and Jorja are also doing QueensHomeschool Handwriting Printing and Cursive

(Ava is taking Composition this Fall through TFC - we ran out of things to teach her for Language Arts - "Alas, the student has surpassed the teacher")

Math - Middle and High - Life of Fred
Elementary - Math for a Living Education

Science - still loving Apologia
Ava - Chemistry
Autumn - Physical Science
Elijah & Alex - General Science

Middle School boys

All the little - Zoology 1: Flying Creatures (we started this last year but life happened and we never got close to finishing - try, try again).

History - Autumn is continuing History for Little Pilgrims (again with life happening - though so far she has been more responsible for it and the boys are enjoying it just a little more - maturity does happen, in fits and starts).
Autumn is also doing American History
Ava is taking several short courses Economics (this with this), World Geography (1/2 semester w/TFC), and American Government (this and this)
Elijah, Alex, Lora and Jorja are finally on Book 3 of The Story of the World

5th & 4th grades

Electives -  Spanish - middle and high school
Drama - everyone (except the principal) will be in His Last Days Passion Drama Labor day weekend.
and we are debating doing the Easter Play and Egg Hunt this year
PE - we might do PE with the homeschool group or Emmanuel College.
Art - Ava and Autumn have been given the task of teaching the other children from an art book, they must plan ahead and be ready to teach every Thursday.

Bible - I've saved the best for last
We are currently working through Vol 3 of the What We Believe Series.
This will be our 10th study with Community Bible Study (I think we started in the middle of the year so technically we're in our 9 1/2 year - I started in January after Jorja was born - NINE years ago this month!!! Good grief!) This year, beginning Aug. 26, we will be studying Romans. I'm still the Associate Teaching Director and I'm so excited to start another year.

1st grade and Kindergarten

Our class cannot currently support a Teen class (ages 14+ or 9th-12th grade), which means I'm looking for some other study for the big girls. Please pray as we seek God's guidance.
There are other Community Bible Study classes all over the place, day/evening, men/women/co-ed.
Check this link for a class, prayer group, or how to start a class near you.

Is that it?

For now . . .


Here's some more cuteness for your enjoyment.

First Day of School 2015-16
Top: Jorja checking out her new box'o'stuff; Alex and Ava cracking books
Middle: Josiah got to hold the Bible for pledge time on the first day; Lora's box'o'stuff; Lora doing reading
Bottom: Little doing something else under bossy's Jorja's direction so Mama could help others; Autumn doing Spanish

The clan - Josiah was back there but decided to
try to climb the basketball goal in his suit instead

Josiah doing math

Ava ordering college books!

Last Friday's TCCHE Back to School Party at the lake

We've also had a birthday, did a consignment sale, and went to a concert. That will just have to be another post.
Good night!