Past News

2009-2010 Schoolyear
This year has already begun to show it's face as a year of trying new things, particularly in the area of teaching instruction and learning style. Abby is now at an age where she wants more freedoms, with more self-directed studies. It's already tested me to trust the Lord, and let Abby fly and find her own wind. Surprisingly, I've seen some real promise in our new method, with a lot less stress of trying to get on the same page (sometimes literally, haha) with each other. She is accomplishing more at a personal level, and actually completing more work, under her own directive. We've added our first official field trip of the year under our belt. In September, we joined other homeschoolers from the Triangle area for a day at the Equestrian Arts Academy. There Abby learned the basics of caring for a horse, the different equipment necessary, and she also got to groom a horse and later ride. She was thrilled! SMAAG also acquired four chickens to our "classroom" this year. The organic eggs are an added bonus, but having live agriculture right here on site, and having to take care of said agriculture, has been an invaluable learning experience for us all.

2007-2009 Schoolyears
As you likely have already guessed, the news of the last year has simply been that we have perservered.... a surprise pregnancy, a new preemie baby, moving out for 8 weeks as our home/studio was being refit, returning to the dust and putting the house back together (still in progress), school, work, ministry .... We appreciate all of our friends and family who have supported us through their prayers and help along the way. We are truly thankful and blessed to have you all in our lives.

In Other 2007/2008 News:

Happy Birthday To Our Kids!
In March of 2008 we celebrated Abby's 10th birthday and Max's 1st birthday. What a full, unexpected, exciting, and blessed year we've all had.

Max Updates & Picture Gallery
We've taken what feels like 10,000 pictures over the last year, but we've had few and far between moments to actually sit down behind the computer and organize them all into online galleries. With life settling back into somewhat of a schedule and routine, we hope to tackle this big job so everyone can enjoy seeing what we've all been up to over the last year. Stay tuned!

New Addition to the Family!
BIG SURPRISE! After a 9-year gap in age, Abby has a new baby brother! On March 15, 2007, Maximillian ("Max") joined us 7 weeks early. We want to send a deep heartfelt thanks to everyone who has prayed for Max. We very much believe that Max's stay in the NICU was dramatically shortened because of all the prayers (doctor's told us he'd be in for 7 weeks, but he stayed only little more than 2 weeks). To read more about Max, click here.

We have come to understand that some of our friends have not received our updates on Max. For everyone's convenience I have copied all of the updates since I went into the hospital on March 6, on the "Max Update" page. Perhaps down the road I'll make Max his own website. But for now, I will continue to post updates here on his progress (and then just plain old vanity pictures) in addition to the ongoing school happenings for Abby.

We returned back to church and public life on Mother's Day last year, after a long break away trying to keep "germ free" for Max's health. We are happy to be back, and have missed the fellowship with our friends and family.

Lights! Camera! Action! *UPDATE*
(See "Past News" below for preface to this) The Cheerwine episode for Taste of America on the Travel Channel did not air in the fall of 2006, as expected. Instead, it aired the week of January 8th, 2007, and Abby and Nicki were in it! Additionally, Abby was in the commercial promotionals for the episode, as well as, being in the actual episode. How exciting.

More Contest Wins
Abby won another bookmark contest at the library. Her winning design consisted of a fire-breathing dragon and the caption "Reading is HOT!". She received a certificate of congratulations, her picture in the local paper, and 50 bookmarks to pass to her friends and family. Her winning bookmark was also available in the library for patrons to take. (See picture on below)




Abby also won a coloring contest at the local teacher supply store. She received a gift certificate and a spot in their gallery in the store. She purchased a new book with her certificate. (See picture on right.)


Lights! Camera! Action! (Summer 2006)
Abby and I (Nicki) were in the right place at the right time in Salisbury, NC. We wanted a treat after lunch, so we went to one of the old soda fountains in town. Unbeknownst to us, the Travel Channel was filming for Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo for a spot on Cheerwine. The producer asked us to be on camera. It was a terrific experience. We are told it should air sometime in the fall of 2006.

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August 2006
Well, here we are again. Another schoolyear is quickly approaching as the summer comes to an end. We have learned a great deal in our first year of homeschooling, and are anticipating the new year. Our first day of classes will be August 21, 2006.

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June & July 2006
We are enjoying our summer activities, which include swimming lessons, trips, summer camp, VBS, sleepovers, and various other fun things. In July we will be choosing curriculum for the new schoolyear. Last year gave us a valuable eye-opener of the difference between "grade level" versus "skill level". We will continue to choose our materials based upon the latter.

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May 2006
It is the last month of school! Wow, how the year has flown by. Upon reflection, we have seen Abby grow spiritually, academically, creatively, and in character. We have a clear plan for next year and look forward to the fall with anticipation and excitement. Though the 2005/20006 schoolyear is completed, we will continue to update this site throughout the summer.

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April 2006
lt's hard to believe that the schoolyear is almost over. Only 2 more months and then summer break will be here. We have a great summer of travel, construction, camp, and activities planned.

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March 2006
March was a quiet month here at SMAAG. Abby celebrated her 8th birthday on the 19th with a small family celebration. We will likely throw a mid-year party during the summer for Abby and a few of her closest friends. We discovered that a nearby regional library had such a better selection of books for Abby over our small local branch. During a recent visit to the regional, Abby checked out over 50 books and read every single one of them, some more than twice. Currently the "number of books we check out" rule is just whatever she can carry!

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February 2006
Washington, DC was a great trip. We visited the National Zoo and saw the new baby panda bears. We also found out that the Zoo offers curriculum. We purchased curriculum guides for the following: Giant Panda / Grades K-4 & Grades 5-8, Tropical Rainforest / Grades 5-8, Urban Habitats / Grades 5-8, and Grasslands / Grades 5-8.

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January 2006
We have begun the 2nd Semester. The 1st seemed to fly by. We are looking forward to later this month, as our good friends from Vermont are coming down for a visit with their 2 children. We will all then go up to Washington, DC for 2 days of fun at the museums, monuments, and the National Zoo. I am truly thankful for the culturally enriching and family-building opportunities that homeschool affords us.

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December 2005
Abby was cast as the Elf in our church's Christmas production of CS Lewis', "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe". Nicki designed the playbill for the production, and was one of the ladies who did the make up for the cast. After 2 months of a lot of hard work by everyone involved, the performances were December 7 & 8. Both nights were a great success! See pictures in the gallery.

May you all have a blessed Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

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November 2005
For her November assignment, Abby and Tripp wrote a puppet show about the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims and Indians. Nicki did the set design and made most of the "props", and we all performed it for the grandparents at Thanksgiving. We spent a whole month researching the history of Thanksgiving. Tripp and Abby made food like the Pilgrims would have (dried apples and baked squash), and they also built a log cabin from Lincoln Logs using the same Pilgrim techniques by "hoisting" the logs using a pulley system (string and other logs). It was quite a sight to behold! Pictures forthcoming in the gallery section.

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October 2005
Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins! On our field trip to the North Carolina Farmer's Market in Raleigh, Abby chose a huge pumpkin and we enjoyed looking at all the fresh North Carolina produce, handicrafts, flowers, and other products the market had to offer. It was another great outing with SMAAG, capped off with lunch at the fresh fish market. Pictures forthcoming in the gallery section.

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September 2005
Fall is both beautiful and warm in North Carolina. SMAAG's outing this month was a visit to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher in Carolina Beach (pictures above from this trip). After spending the morning at the aquarium spying and diagraming jellyfish, eels, sharks, turtles, and all sorts of other wondrous creatures, we headed over to the beach to play in the sand and surf. Pictures forthcoming in the gallery section.

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August 2005
Our first day of school was Monday, August 22. After a sweet time of praise and worship, we dove right into to our lessons with gusto. Nicki is teaching Monday through Thursday and Tripp is teaching on Fridays.

In our gearing up toward the first full day of classes, we have had some fun. We left different story problems on the dry erase board for Abby to complete at her convenience. She is learning about how the human body works via an interactive online website. We took a trip up to Washington, DC, where we spent the day exploring the National Air & Space Museum, The National Monument, Lincoln's Memorial, The Vietnam Memorial, and the Congress Building. We have also begun showing her the fundamentals in regard to sound engineering and audio recording. Pictures forthcoming in the gallery section.