Steedly Boys NOW

While I feel awful for the time lapse between posts I have to admit that I loved the review of where the boys were just 18 months or so ago. So fun.

They have changed so much, yet still have so many things that stay the same about them...

Tyler Wesley ...10 years old. 

Grade: 4th still, but not because he was held back or anything. We have always based his grade on his math book (its a weird thing we homeschoolers do). This year, we realized that while his math skills are 4th grade plus, we aren't quite ready to move on to 5th grade level things maturity wise. We still need a couple years to get ready for Youth Group and such things. So, if you were to ask..he is in 4th grade. But, 6/7th level of math ..so, that's weird.
Favorite Food: Pizza, specifically Jonah's Pizza in Charlotte, TN. Its a new family fav.
Favorite Things to Do: Play video games (currently, Lego Marvel but has fingers crossed for Little Big Planet 3 for Christmas) and read... everything.
Grown Up Plans: Be an inventor AND a zookeeper. He has refined this vision, as at the beginning of the year he specified he wanted to be an "animal expert", but not a vet. Since his CC tutor, Miss Jeni is awesome and a vet, he has decided it wouldn't be too bad.  :)
Hero: Daddy.
Reading: Everything he can find but right now, a time traveler series by John Luke Robinson called, Be Your Own Duck Commander. He also has enjoyed reading the Action Bible (New Testament) and all kinds of graphic novel/comic book things.
Most Popular Subject for His Imagination: Marvel Superheroes, pretty much exclusively.
Best Friend:  Luke Kirby and Connor Cherry
Scared of the Most: "nothing"
Big Decision of the Year: To be baptized on July 3rd, 2014.
Travel Plans: to the end of the universe ..way to be serious Ty.


Then, Canon Lee: 8 years old

Grade: 2nd grade... going on college.
Favorite Food: Chicken Legs
Best Friend: Luke Kirby
Favorite Thing To Do: Play football in the yard, imagination game "crystal"
Grown Up Plans: Builder
Hobbies: Read, play video games, play football with brothers, color-by-number books
Hero: Uncle Jared, because he is funny.
Subject of his Imagination:  football
Favorite Books: Imagination Station series, and his new Adventure Bible
Scared Of: Poisonous snakes (I feel ya, buddy)
Travel Plans: Memphis (?) and Colorado
Current Love Interest, aka ...girls planning on marrying him: Wendy Allen, Anna Kirby (actually, I think she may have moved on), and Allie (a girl from Luke's birthday party)
Stuff he's Really Good at: Math ...over fall break he did a math marathon and finished his math book way early just cause he could! Little nerd. Love it.

Canon still has a super sweet heart, and is always eager to do what he needs to bless the people around him. He is really, really good at pushing his brother's buttons and loves to wrestle with both of them.

Finally, Joshua David: 4 years old

Grade: K4 ..Joshua is doing CC with us, and that is about all he can handle right now. He is learning some letters and how to count, when he wants to :) He is also doing great at memorizing things like his states and capitals, some history sentences, some memory work and anything set to music.
Favorite Food: "Hot dogs. Actually....I like, brownies. No, I like apples."
Hobbies: Singing, dancing (anything with a beat will do), picking on his brothers and playing with cars. He also loves to play games on mommy's phone and on Starfall on the computer. He also loves to cuddle with mommy, and to race mommy and his brothers anywhere, any time.
Best Friends: Sam, David Allen and Anna Kirby ...as well as Kerry, Claire and Ethan.
Hero: His daddy. Basically, he thinks his daddy rocks the universe...still.
Talents: singing, dancing, hiding, running fast, riding his bike (no trainers for a year now), playing the "monster truck game" ..aka, a video game that he gets to drive a monster truck and run stuff over. He is a very good swimmer and loves to play in the water no matter what the temperature outside.

These boys are changing every day, but they are consistently making us laugh and be thankful they are everything that they are. They love each other, and despite the constant punching, kicking, tumbling and fighting they pretty much have an awesome time together. 

Thankful for every moment!

This pic is of the boys with our new sponsored brother, Husiel from Honduras. We wanted him to know he was part of our family so we snapped this pic and sent it to him. :)

School Year: 2014-2015

Um, now awful that it has literally been almost 18 months since I have set foot here?

I have to admit that more than any time since being with these people, I am more focused on them and enjoying our moments together but, apparently am not as good as recording these said moments as I would like to be. I am inspired though, by my sweetest friend Kim to make this effort more of a purposeful one, so that these moments so appreciated will also go remembered for a bit.

I consider myself, recommitted. I have been working on getting my Project Life caught up, which has been a good exercise in gratitude. To recap my year in just a few days via pictures has been so great a reminder how wonderfully, ridiculously blessed I am.

I am going to work on that better in 2015 :)

As far as our school year, we are almost exactly half way through it but I can say definitively that we are doing the best that we ever have. We have delved into a new (for us) method of education, called classical education. We are also part of a community based on this method, where we learn together weekly, and encourage each other as we strive to develop life-long learners. The program has been a huge blessing to our family, and right now it seems that it is the direction we will be heading in the next several years. Classical Conversations (CC) has changed our schooling at home dramatically, making it feel so much more focused and productive.

Classical education recognizes various stages of a kid's development from when they are new learners who absorb everything in their path like a sponge, to when they are learning to logically analyze all that info they absorbed, to when they are able to defend right info and weed out weak or wrong info. Each stage of development has goals, and each goal builds on each other for a great understanding and appreciation of the learning in seven basic areas: math, history, science, latin, language, geography and the world timeline.

Right now, all three boys are in the Grammar Stage of learning, where they are collecting facts in each area. They are absorbing information that they don't necessarily understand nor are able to analyze yet but will serve as building blocks for their future understanding in later stages. All three of them are learning the same facts in each area, though the degree to which they comprehend it varies.

Joshua, as a preschooler only is learning new words and can recite a lot of what he is hearing. There isn't much understanding, but a lot of memorizing and some impressive sounding things coming out of his mouth. He has learned his states and capitals, and skip count a few numbers including 1,2 and some of 3. He knows the "bones of the axial skeleton" and can tell you some things about Columbus and the Pilgrims. :)

We have completed our first 12 weeks, and look forward to starting our second 12 weeks after the first of year. Yes, I actually mean it when I say that we are looking forward to school starting back after Christmas break! :) A miracle.

Because I apparently have to delve into anything I do with both feet, I am also a tutor this year. This actually has been great for me, because it has made me more accountable to the program and has helped me stay more focused on our learning. I have a class of 5, 1st and 2nd graders who are just precious. One of my favorites is Canon :)  We learned the weekly material together, each week and review past material so that we can keep in our brains.

My "kids" this year are Eleanor Holmes, Liam Patton, Nolan Toennies, Josephine Beall and Canon :) One of the little gals in this pic is Elizabeth, she was visiting this particular day and we may get to spend more time with her starting in the spring. For science these last few weeks of the fall semester we put together our "bodies", complete with a whole bunch of organs that we had to layer on. They will be a fun things to look at ..and try to find a place for in our little house :)

Lord willing, we will keep this as part of our Steedly School curriculum for many years to come. I have much faith in the potential of these methods for developing godly men who love to learn about the world around them and their place in it. Its gonna be a great rest of the year! :)

You May be a Homeschooler

…if on your first day back to school you come running in from outside proclaiming that science is covered because we found a cicada coming out of its shell:
    
Pretty cool. All of this took place over about an hour. It was pretty cool to come back and check on the little dude’s progress. A great science lesson indeed. It did not, to their chagrin count as all the science we needed to get take care of today :)

Steedly School 2013-2014

Crazy to think we are starting our 4th year of homeschooling!

We have had some great years, and we are looking forward to another great one starting today. Our boys are growing like weeds and what better time to take a quick snapshot of these little men, who are sure to change even more over the course of the next few months!

This one was taken this morning …notice Josh is still in his pj’s (just between us, here we are 10 hours later and he is still in the same outfit ;) He is just excited to be included with the big boys.

Also, notice Ty’s nonverbal protest to having to start school..he’s not so excited, though you can still see a little smile trying to come out. I would say this is a pretty typical Ty-ism.

Canon is also in true form: all smiles and raring to go.

So, here is a quick snapshot…

First, Tyler Wesley:

Grade: 4th ..which is almost 5th.
Favorite Food: Pizza
Favorite Thing to Do: Play Little Big Planet 2, his creative outlet 100% of the time. He is always creating levels in his head, and is currently working on an awesome racing one for dad and a quidditch field to play with his bff, Luke Kirby.
Grown Up Plans: Go to college and be a video game designer (these plans include playing the games that he makes)
Big Questions about Life:  “How do we do know God is real and that the bible is not a big joke?” (insert a forced face of calm coming from mom).
Hero: Paul (one of the designers for Little Big Planet…Not gonna lie, was hoping for more like “I wanna be like you mom” but no. Okay. We have time.)
Hobbies: playing video games (clearly) and reading big books (read Harry Potter 1-3 this summer and is working on The Hobbit AND 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea currently along with school stuff)
Most Popular Subject for His Imagination: Harry Potter and Little Big Planet
Best Friend:  Luke Kirby and Connor Cherry
Scared of the Most: “Nothing..except broccoli” (he inserts, “lol”)

Clearly, there are some repeating themes here. He is a pretty complex kid.

He is awesome because he is super smart, is just like me and has an awesome sense of humor. I dig him.

Then, Canon Lee:

Grade: 1st ..way better than Kindergarten.
Favorite Food: Corn Dogs
Best Friend: Anna Kirby
Favorite Thing To Do:: Go to Goofballs (an arcade place, we’ve gone once its all he asks  about)
Grown Up Plans: Firefighter
Hobbies: coloring, play on the ipad and Legos
Hero: Daddy (that’s more like it. Ty’s our second favorite kid)
Subject of his Imagination:  “I don’t know”

Awesome because he is always happy. He has a most sensitive heart, and loves his mommy like crazy. He is a great big brother, and a pretty good little one. He is the first to reach out to the kid who is being left out, which is largely due to the fact that he is afraid of being left out himself. He is sweet heart.

Finally, Joshua David:

Grade: Preschool ..Josh starts a two-day a week program at church this fall. It will be most helpful for other people in Steedly School :)
Favorite Food: There is some disagreement. Ty says pizza, I say hot dogs. It’s hot dogs.
Hobbies: Singing, dancing  (he can breakdance to “Gonna be a Good Night” by Black Eyed Peas like nobody’s business) and playing on the ipad. He can get to Barney and Bo-Zone on Netflix all by himself. Up to about a month ago he had NO interest in any such thing. I am most grateful for his having something (anything) that will keep his attention more than 20 seconds. He also loves to irritate his brothers and experiment with things that will get him in the most trouble with his mom..
Best Friends: Claire, Kari, Conner and Sam.
Hero: His daddy. Basically, he thinks his daddy rocks the universe.
Talents: singing, saying prayers, getting into trouble, riding his tractor, making messes and swimming

Joshua is either the reincarnation of his Uncle Dustin or is being coached constantly by him. They are like the same person. I am little worried.

These boys are growing in stature and wisdom on a daily basis. We see great things happening for every one of them. We are most blessed.

A Steedly Spring

One of our favorite things about our new state of Tennessee is that we have four actual seasons!  That being said, our first winter here felt a tad long and dreary with lots of rain, and about three too many snow days. It makes us appreciate this current season all the more.

Spring in Tennessee is beautiful. We have been watching the property around us come alive with green leaves, flower blossoms, fruit tree buds, and lots of bunnies. We have been getting to know our local wildlife …

  Our daddy found a turtle on the golf course last week. Timmy came home with him, and moved into his new box house on our front porch. The boys have had a wonderful time learning about box turtles! We have learned that they are the only kind of turtle that can totally close itself up in its shell, that he can climb out of a shallow box and he carries salmonella. :)

Coinciding with Timmy’s arrival we got a touch of a tummy bug around here, leading us to conclude that perhaps Timmy brought more than a real life science experience with him.  Timmy found a new home in the up and coming turtle living complex near our pond.

We also are doing some planting! We are working on the flowerbed in front of our house, as well as laying the rows down for our summer garden. One of my favorite parts… I got to use my first batch of organic compost! We have been working on this batch for the few months, and it is strangely satisfying to find it all rich, black and ready to fertilize for us! It didn’t go incredibly far, sadly but that just means we gotta get to work on our next batch ASAP.

 

We have also added some Steedly baseball into the mix. Not really knowing what we got ourselves into we were a bit surprised with how often we are practicing and playing games (between the two we have 5-7 baseball related activities a week). While that stresses mom out a bit, daddy and the boys are having a great time. So far, between the two kids Canon is “winning” since his team has won the most games. Life with boys means everything is a competition. :)

Of course my favorite part is that they are both SO cute in their uniforms :)

 

So far it’s been a wonderful spring! …and it’s only getting started!

(Kim, you can leave my points in the comments below :)

Ashamed.

So, the bff has been hassling me/making me feel guilty/prodding me gently aggressively to catch my blog up. I see now that I am here that she is totally right. I have been horribly negligent in chronicling my little family's escapades for the past almost 2 years (?! ..how is that possible?!).

Yikes.

I am going to work hard to swallow my desire to go back all and catch up. I will not. I, Courtney Steed, will pick up right here. I will start right were I am, and not look back in guilt and shame. I will promise to be better henceforth, if for no other reason than to give my sweet friend all the updates she needs on my little family :)

My boys give me lots of material, so that will not be an issue whatsoever.

Here goes, again!

Disney Awesomeness Wrap Up

It was a wonderful, wonderful trip!

We had wonderful friends to spend our fun days with...

 We got to spend some wonderful time as a Steedly Family ...

 And, we got to meet Jiminy Cricket ...could it get any better?

 Until next time Mickey, thanks for a great time!

Disney Awesomeness ...Last Day

We planned on spending one more day in the Magic Kingdom and we are SO glad we did!

We loaded up the car to head home, then took a few hours break at the MK to fit in what we had missed before and rehit our favorites!

Canon's request, Dumbo and Peter Pan. Eventually, he traded Dumbo for the Winnie the Pooh Ride and we got to stand in that line instead. But, we all loved the second (or was it third) trip through Neverneverland. We loved it!

We also did Pirates of the Caribbean one more time ...this time Ty was looking out for how they did the special effects. He figured out the canon balls coming from the pirate ship that splashed in the water around our boats was just jets of water from the water itself. He also figured out how they made it look like the town was in fire, pointing out how there was red and orange fabric or paper with a fan blowing on it.  I was impressed ...argh. :)

 We had to the Speedway ..I wasnt that impressed but the boys had a great time!

 We ended up spending a pretty full day reliving all our fresh memories, and when it was all said and done, in the words of Joshua ..."yay!"

 Before we left, we got to see one last parade ...it was all wrapped up in a beautiful Disney bow :)

 Its moments like these when we realized and appreciate how blessed we truly are. How we are able to give such wonderful gifts to our children and bless ourselves in the process! We are one blessed Steedly family!

Disney Awesomeness ...Day 6

Okay, it took me a bit to get back to posting these great memories but since I have a ton to blog and my perfectionism will not allow any of that to happen until I have completed this task ..it must be done :)

So, as I was saying awhile back ...

Our 6th, and last full day in Orlando we took a peek at Downtown Disney ..we had a great time at the Lego Store and with the Lego people and creatures :)

The awesome lego table where the boys could build their own car and race it against other kids was so much fun, and gave us something to do for a bit longer than mommy cared to spend there. Since Josh spent most of his time eating the Lego's we didnt get a ton of pics of that but we did get a good shot of Ty and Canon with Lego Lochness ..and Woody of course :)

We strolled Downtown Disney a bit, but really didnt find a ton that we were really excited about. I think part of it is that we were all winding down a bit. The boys were tired, mommy and daddy were getting a bit cranky...we are just about Disney'ed OUT! Not too Disney'd out to catch THIS though :)

And we did still have at least one great Disney evening ahead ..since we were celebrating Anniversary #10 in this wonderful place!
It took us all week and then into Thursday to decide on what we would do. We were just excited to get to leave the kids with friends and head out in freedom! :) We ended up at Benihana which I love.

At least, I love the food. It wasnt until we got there and sat awkwardly with one other couple at the table that we realized the flaw in our fabulous alone time plans. We spent dinner WITH someone, but also with each other ...aw :) We didnt get to have any deep conversations, but learned all about the other couples meeting in a bar and getting married late in life. Oh, and about how their daughter was sick, so they took her 3 week old on vacation with them. The three week old got his picture with the waitress to mark his first trip to Benihana.

Okay, so it wasnt a romantic dinner for two, BUT we had a great time and still had a whole evening ahead of us.

Next we went to The Boardwalk at Disney ..which we loved. It is the neatest place, looking like an old victorian boardwalk situated around a beautiful lake with a beach. We ate ice cream and watched some street performers, one of which had us in stitches as he tortured some 12 year old kid with an apparent magic trick gone wrong. Hilarious.

 After a bit, we just sat and watched people. After the stimulation of the week it was nice just to hang with my bestest friend, be quiet and enjoy all the blessings we get to claim are ours right this moment :)

What a great way to celebrate a wonderful 10 years ..I would do it again in a heartbeat...the date night, as well as the 10 years :)

Disney Awesomeness ...Day 5

Animal Kingdom as Day 5 ..we weren't expecting to spend the entire day there, but we ended up shutting the place down!  We went to every show we could find, and rode just about every ride possible. It was a really fun day!

 Yay Animal Kingdom!

 Where to first?! ...Expedition Mount Everest!  Mommy and Ty have been planning on this one, but after one run through Ty had experienced all he wanted in that department ..but daddy when through twice :)

Then, for a quick pic with Goofy and Pluto ...

 

We had a deal with the boys, and mostly Canon because he is only one who seemed to care ...but we told them they could pick one character and would we stand in line for however long it took to get a hug and picture. Everyone else was a total happenstance and only required a few minutes wait...

Hey ..Pocahantas looks alot like Jasmine ...

  Ty didnt care, but Canon picked Mickey ... we did our part and waited in line for about 30 minutes

Yay Mickey Mouse!

Its Tough to be a Bug ...the boys found a love for 3D movies ..this one was no exception :)

 We were sad to get home with exactly zero great pics of us with the Tree of Life ..but it was amazing! 

Per Tour Guide Rachel, we did NOT want to miss The Lion King show ..and so glad we listened to her. It was a great experience, and I think I was as amazed, if not more than the kids. Here is where Jared a super terrible impression of an elephant :)

We also saw and loved the Finding Nemo musical ..no good pics there, but it the puppets were great and the kids really enjoyed that one. Even Josh loved all the colors and music :)

We took a train ride to Rafiki's Island ...that is where we enjoyed a small break and got to get a quick shot of our group ....

While we were there we got to do a quick photo shoot to promote Hope4Life, the name of a mission team that is made up of wonderful friends going to Nicaragua this fall ..:)

 Finally, we jumped on board the Safari ride, and had SO much fun getting up close and personal with all the most awesome animals! ...we were super close to hippos, alligators, a lion, a black rhino and elephants ..close enough to be awesome, not so close as to make anyone nervous :)

After getting DRENCHED at the Kali River Rapids, we walked out the door as they were locking the gate behind us! So much for making that a short day! :) 

That was a huge favorite ...but we need ANOTHER rest day ..this stuff is hard work!