Our first TV appearance

Yesterday we had quite an eventful "first": Matthew and I were invited as guests of a national TV talk show, the subject being "families".
Matthew and I were asked to represent large families - a species on the brink of extinction here in Italy, which has the sad record of having the lowest birth rate in Europe, and the second-lowest in the world (after Japan).
You can watch a replay of the program (in Italian) here:
http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-a07da9f1-52ce-45cf-80d0-e56aa14666d7.html?p=0
To see our short appearance you can fast forward to 1:43:40 (1 hr and 43').... enjoy!
It is a learning experience: the studio was so much smaller than expected... and even though we tried hard to be relaxed, we were both rather tense. Next time (!) it will be better...

YES, IT IS DONE!

The girls did a wonderful exam and they all passed, of course! And with very good grades too! Did you doubt?
Eli is going to 8th grade, Sarah in 7th grade and Sophie in 3th grade. I'm still going to homeschool of course but we are looking forward to enjoy summer and do new things. We would like to paint more, read more, listen to good music more, create "things" more, enjoy nature more...........all these things together as a family.
Did I tell you that Sarah was sixth at the nationals. It was an amazing day, she has been great!
I can't wait to post some pictures!

Nationals.........here we come!!

Sarah is going to the Nationals (gymnastics). I'm so proud of her!
We (they) are studying very hard for the exam in school in 2 weeks. They all did 2 years in one this time so Sophie will go in 3rd grade, Sarah in 7th grade (seconda media) and Eli in 8th grade (terza media). Our days are being very busy. David also started to read his first books and he is working on 1st grade math. He just loves math!! So fun to being at home and learn with them!

Sophie's pony riding lessons

Sophie started her lessons yesterday. She was so excited that when she was done after 1 hour, she said " I can't wait for next time!" This was one of her Christmas presents!

Elizabeth is 12 years old!

What a wonderful day we had celebrating Eli's birthday! Lots of friends, food and laughter!! We love our baby!!I had fun making a Bible cake with the verse from Psalm 139:14 "Ti celebrerò perchè sono stato fatto in modo stupendo".

Spring time

My beautiful girls all dressed up the same in spring clothes!

First 5 reasons I love homeschooling!

I'm going to share my reasons for homeschooling, since some of you are wondering!
1. We can read, read, read as much as we like it without being distracted if the hour is coming to an end and the bell is approaching.
2. We can start a science experiment and follow all the way through the end, again without distraction.
3. We can learn about what we really like and spend a lot of time on it.
4. We can learn to enjoy each other company, learning to forgive brothers and sisters.
5. We can learn math using measuring cups, scales, pitchers, and everything else it is in the kitchen, for the joy of mum!

These are the first 5 reasons. I can come up with other 75........