Boyer Highlights from August/ September

~August is a big birthday month at the Boyers. We celebrated first Brittany Grace's who turned 18, then Kate Boyer Brown on Aug 11th. Matt's birthday was the 23rd. Each chose their favorite foods for supper and dessert. Kevin took Kate out of town overnight to celebrate her birthday and Lauren stayed with Nana and Grandad. They came home in time for the family celebration. Matt's was later in the month. We cooked out and ate in as it was a hot steamy day.

~We began the month by doing a webinar for HSLDA entitled Educating for Eternity. Rick and Marilyn were joined by Rick, Nate, Kate, Matt and Laura as we addressed aspects of the way we chose to home educate and train our children. Our children addressed how that affected them and which aspects they wished to pass onto their children in turn to ensure passing on the baton to future generations. It was fun and we got positive feedback from our listeners. A webinar was something new for us.

~We also attended our town hall meeting in August to make our voices heard by our congressman. The meeting was packed and concern voiced over the current health care proposal as well as other issues. It is a reminder that we must be involved and perform our duty to hold our elected officials accountable to the people and to the Constitution of our land.

~During the month we had a marker board on our refrigerator- with a countdown to Aug 29th- the day we left for our annual family beach trip!! All look with anticipation on a time of relaxation, enjoying each others company and a rest from the busyness of life. We rent a beach house and ALL 25 of us spend lots of time outdoors, swimming, bicycling, walking, shelling and playing games. Kelley found LOTS of really neat shells this year! She has quite a collection. We met another homeschooling family on the beach this year. That was fun!

~Each daughter-in-law and daughter takes turns fixing wonderful meals so no one has the whole responsibility. We had seafood one night which several of us thoroughly enjoyed. The grandkids had a great time in the inflatable boat, building castles and body surfing on the water's edge. So far, all the grandkids seem to love the water also! I think I could just sit and think and listen to and smell the ocean breeze and never grow tired of it. I did quite a bit of reading on the beach as well. It is definitely a highlight of our year!!

~It was September when we came home! Tuck turned 16 on Sept. 11 and Rick/Grandad/Uncle Rick just celebrated his 57th birthday on Sunday. Tuck, of course got lots of hunting gear- what else? Hunting season starts next month and he's ready!!

~We started "school" last Thursday. We always wait until after our beach trip and then take a few days to get things organized before we begin. It's always nice to get back on a regular schedule with the start of a new school year, new chores, and an earlier bedtime than in the summer.

~Currently Nate and Tuck are putting new siding on our house and installing new windows to help (we hope) with our high electric bills.

~Today we attended two sessions at Liberty University, one at the School of Law to hear David Barton (www.wallbuilders.com) speak of our Christian heritage and are refreshed again to have new thoroughly documented information to share with others.

~As you begin this new school year, guard against becoming bogged down with busyness and make time in your schedule for fun learning experiences together. Relationships are what homeschooling is all about. Enjoy your time with your kids!!