Tasks Rather Than Times

We have just begun our eleventh year of home education.

Our three young men have all graduated from high school.  Emma is our last student.

As the school year came to a close last spring, Calvin gave me some insight.

It was a light-bulb-moment.  Perhaps I'm just slow to learn?

It has revolutionized things for our girl.  And for me.

I always had assigned certain amounts of time per day per subject

on each child's schedule.  I thought it was the best plan of attack.

However, Calvin's way is better.  And, it is working fabulously.
Tasks rather than times, and weeks rather than days, are laid out.

  

When the week of work is done, it's done.  Brilliant!

Why didn't I implement this type of scheduling sooner?  I wish I had.

It has made such a difference in the way things run around here.

What about you?  Do you have any tried and true secrets to share?

Tell me everything.  I'm all ears.

Happy Monday!

With Love, Camille

Only One Left

Each of our three boys has graduated from high school.
Emma is the only one left for me to teach.
I'm working myself out of a job.  Or, so it would seem.  :)  

Austin was called home to heaven six days prior to his graduation day.
Two years ago, Calvin walked the stage and received his diploma.
And now, Fraser has completed his high school requirements.  

He looks happy about it, don't you think? 

The principal of our school gave a wonderful address to the grads.

He had the honour of switching the tassel from right to left.

Apparently, that one act signifies the passage from childhood to adulthood.

Just as quickly and easily as that.  :)

We all gathered together for a family photo.

Then, the kids posed for me.

And, we posed for Calvin.

And, that was that.

Fraser, we pray that the Lord will guide you as He has in the past.
We have every confidence that He will be faithful to lead you each step of the way.
And, we know that whatever He calls you to, He will see you through!

How precious it is to belong to Him!

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly,
and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"  Micah 6:8

With All our Love,
Dad and Mum  XOXO

London and Wales ~ Final Installment

We went on a few walks with our Auntie Mary during our time with her.
Some were journeys down memory lane ~ for her and for me.  It was good.

One of those walks took us down a local path for a visit with Honkey the Donkey.
(I am not sure how he got his name, but, it seems everyone calls him by it.)
He was abandoned at the property of the people who care for
him about 25 years ago.  The current owners were given one payment for his board
and then the original owners never returned.  He was left with lovely people.

Isn't he cute?

Or...maybe not?

Do you remember when I mentioned the previous trip to Wales I took in 2008?   

It was on that visit that I had the opportunity to meet Honkey.  Here's proof. 

This is me meeting Honkey, and you meeting the much younger me.  :)

 Isn't the property just lovely?  You can see the gate in the centre of the photo below ~

Honkey lives in the pasture beyond it.

On our last morning with Auntie Mary, we went for one more walk.

It's referred to as *Top Farm Walk* since there is a farm on it by that name.
We were about to leave this cute little house for the last time.

Just prior to our walk, we stopped in to visit with Auntie Mary's
neighbour for a quick good-bye.

The sun was bright,  so it was difficult to get a good picture ~
but, here we are with our friend, regardless!

Top Farm has horses.

Much to the delight of our girl ~ remember this?

Calvin caught some photos of us coming....

...and going.

As well as a few views along the way ~ of course.

We said our good-byes and gave hugs all around.  And then we were gone.  

We drove back down toward London in preparation for our flight home the following day.

Along the way we stopped for photos.  (Surprised?  Didn't think so.)

This is our little rental car (it accommodated seven...barely).

We are all in this shot ~ if you include Calvin's shadow.

Calvin took this photo....

...while Emma was taking this one.  :)

It was a great blessing that we were able to take Auntie Mary with us on our journeys.
This car was an upgrade from what we originally ordered ~ there were two *jump seats* in
the very back where the clothes are in this shot.  Emma mostly sat there ~ sideways.

This is the field Calvin wanted to take photos of ~ the reason we stopped.
May as well make it fun, right?

Fraser really enjoys Coca Cola.  We don't have this type in Canada, so it was a novelty.
(He actually prefers the classic recipe, but, it was fun to try something different.)

One thing that I found very interesting in England was the well thought out placement of
these rest areas ~ Welcome Break is a brilliant idea! It's a one-stop-shop experience.
Each one is equipped with a choice of restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores,
as well as a hotel and service station.  Usually, they were the same ones at each stop.

We watched for them and discovered that they
were strategically placed every hour or so along the major route.

Unfortunately, I don't have a *normal* photo to share as the camera was on paint mode ~
but, these images give an idea of how it (almost) looked.  It is definitely
one of those things we want to remember about our trip.

After a good night's sleep and a wonderful breakfast in our hotel (free with points!)
we headed on over to Heathrow to return the car and to catch our flight home.

Once again, we had plenty of time once we were through security.  (The way I like it.)

On this occasion, our extra time was used up with last minute souvenir shopping and eating.

And, then...we were off!
Calvin took this photo above the far north ~ amazing, isn't it?

We arrived home at about 4:30 in the afternoon our time ~
it's much easier to travel west (which is what we were doing on this
leg of the journey).  My brother picked us up and we went out for a bite to eat.
It took us a few days to get turned around, but, we did it with relative ease.

And that, my friends, concludes this chronicle of our recent trip to the UK.

We are so thankful to the Lord for the gift of this vacation ~
we know that all things come from His loving hand.  Always.
We do not in any way imagine that we deserved this ~ not at all.
Rather, we see it as a gracious gift to our family.  It really was!

Thank you for persevering through all these posts, and for joining in with me
in the remembering of it all ~ you bless my heart.

With Love, Camille

*Posts in this series ~ Introduction, Part One, Part Two, Part Three, 
Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Final Installment

**Photos in this post courtesy of my two photographers ~ Calvin and Emma.
Thank you SO much my loves...you bless my Mama heart.  xoxo

London and Wales ~ Part Seven

We had a total of two Sundays with our Auntie Mary

which meant that we were able to enjoy lovely visits with her church family.

It's amazing how that is ~ those you worship with

do become like family.  It's a wonderful thing!

Monday was our final full day together.

We opted to have an *easier* day and just do three things.  ;-)

We went to see the Acqueduct near Llangollen (pronounced fthlan-goff-thlen) ~

in which canal boats and canoes may be seen travelling along its waterways.
We went into the town itself and then, we circled around past 
a ruined Abbey on our homeward journey.

First stop, the Llangollen canal ~ see the canal boats parked?

Auntie Mary with me ~ have I mentioned we love her?

Calvin and Fraser with canal boats visible beneath them.

Yes, we walked across.  There are no railings on the other side of the waterway.
It is very high up ~ 127 feet above the river below.

Do I look a little uneasy?  Just a little.

The next two photos were taken on my previous trip to Wales in 2008.
We didn't get images like these on our family trip, so, I've included them here.

I remember thinking at the time that I was glad the children weren't with me.
It was (is) a little scary.  In the photo below you can see the buildings at the other end
of the walkway ~ that was the direction from which we had come!

In order to get this shot, I went down a little path just below
Auntie Mary in the photo above and looked up.  It's a magnificent structure.

This is the view from the centre of the aqueduct ~ the River Dee is below.

And, this is the view from a bridge within the village of Llangollen.

After we parked the car, we walked along the street and went in and out of shops.

Just ahead of us on the left you will notice a beige and green awning.

This is what was beneath that awning.

This photo is for Poppa ~ he spoke of these pork pies longingly.
I wish I could have brought one home for him.

So, we left Llangollen in time to view the Abbey before darkness set in.
We were there late enough in the day to warrant free admission.

It is amazing to think that this structure once had a roof and no grass underfoot.

Calvin was in his element.

Emma once again took photos of Calvin taking photos.

The shot above is Calvin's and the one below is Emma's.
They took these pictures at approximately the same time.

See me with Calvin and Auntie Mary in the distance?

Our three men inside the building which still has a roof on it ~ from two photos above.

The image below is one that Calvin captured from the same vantage point.
The next two shots were done using HDR imaging techniques.

Amazingly beautiful, wouldn't you agree?

Calvin had us stop so he could get a view shot on our way home.
We pulled over and he took a photo of us in our little car as well as the view.

See?  Howie is in the driver's seat, and I am seated directly behind him.

This is the view Calvin captured.

Almost done ~ only one more post to go.
With Love, Camille

*Posts in this series ~ Introduction, Part One, Part Two, Part Three, 
Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Final Installment

**Photos supplied by my two photographers ~
Calvin and Emma.  Thank you my loves.  xoxo