Summer is Slipping Away

It has happened. The last precious days of summer are here. This week we get to have a few more afternoons of hanging out at the pool. If it doesn't rain--like it is supposed to do.

We can watch movies after breakfast if we want. I can clean out declutter or take a nap. I love summer. This one has been one of the best. I just wish it could go on for a couple more weeks.

I have a feeling we will have a few more of these days because my tomatoes haven't even started to turn red so one of these days we are going to HAVE to can some tomatoes. That isn't going to feel quite the same as being lazy by the pool. Well there are still the weekends. Whoops when does soccer start--oh September 12th. ;)

Pea Green Soup. . . .I think

Do you have a list of thing in your head that you just know need to be done but it seems like you NEVER have time to work on it? Well painting J's room has been on my list all summer. We probably longer than that but I definitely wanted to do it this summer.

Well it looks like this is our last sort of free week before school is in full session. We started doing some things this week to get ready and ease in to a schedule before it was necessary. Steve had this weekend off and he was taking the girls on a father/daughter canoe trip, so it was just me and the boys.

So we planned to use today to paint J's room. It was amazing. I ran to Lowe's early & got the paint. No one was out--quick trip. While I was gone the boys emptied the room & took down all the posters, papers, stickers & such that were on the walls. So we started around 10 and at 10:02 I thought "Oh my this is gross."

J has a camo comforter and wanted to have green walls. Not Christmas green, not bright green, not even forest green(to dark), but muddy yucky green. Well it did match the comforter but when we put it on top of the yellowy faded off white that was there already--things weren't looking too good.

M's said well let's keep going. I said maybe it will dry and look different. So we kept on and finished around 1. Thank you God for my oldest son who can roll paint on faster than I can trim. He saved me so much energy and amazingly once the old color was covered it looked a world different. It matched the comforter and with the color of wood trip we have--it looked AWESOME. Not anything like pea green soup.

School daze

Well it has begun.

M is a senior, E is an 8th grader, M is in 6th grade & J is a big 2nd grader! Wow. I cannot believe that our kids are are this far along.

I love this time of the school year. We are making plans for how much we are going to get done. Making up a daily schedule--fitting in all those fun activities. The daily grind hasn't really started. I am planning & plotting. It all looks great on paper. Soon it will be time to try it out. That is when it gets real & difficult.

We have to balance hard work with sickness, disturbances, attitudes(mine included!), and just life getting in the way of school. We aren't starting really early this year because we won't have our vacation in the fall as we do sometimes. Yellowstone in June allowed us to use the fall a little more for school.

Last year we didn't really have a schedule and that drove me up the wall & made planning anything sort of not happen. This year we are going back to a schedule & I think it will go better. It did make the kids more responsible for planning out their day & I think that is good. In fact M and E will continue that as they are old enough to take that initiative. M and J however need more guidance & it allows me to have individual time with them.

So today we took some tests to see what they retained in Math. We use Saxon and often the first 20 or more lessons are review. This is good as it can remind the kids of things they have learned but it also is not always necessary. We hit the lessons that they need out of those review lessons & move on to new things. The kids like the idea of skipping some lessons at the beginning. Okay I admit it, I like the idea of skipping things too.

This summer has been great for PE. We have bowled, walked & swam. One of my goals is to keep PE in the schedule! We aren't as active in the winter--I need to get creative when it gets cold. Maybe I will put Megan in charge of that as she was creatively doing the Skip It & Bop It at the same time this morning.

Crazy week!

I realize that as I get older time gets shorter. But MAN it was in fast forward this week. Thank goodness for quiet Friday nights.

Monday was a good day--we were home and able to get a good chunk of work done. Steve laughed at me for setting up a table in our room so I could find a space to leave planning work out. It always amazes me how much I look forward to starting the school year. It is new it is exciting & usually by the end of August we are ready to get in to a routine after the summer of doing whatever! Thinking of fall keeps creeping in--Monday night the older kids & Daddy went to a upward soccer coach meeting while I took the littles to the pool. :)

Tuesday became a bit hectic. We stayed up late Monday night deciding what M truly wanted/needed to take at the college level as a dual enrolled senior. I am excited he is taking these courses. However I am a bit intimidated by the whole process. He is the grand experiment and I shudder at getting this part wrong. Finally on Tuesday got him enrolled and registered for the class--American Sign Language. It counts as a foreign language--yeah! Then I went back in to shop for our month coming up. We have tons of meals in the freezer & stuff stocked up so that should help with meals as we get school rolling. I did this because I had some good rebates on groceries!

Wednesday we decided it was time to trade in the old clunker of a truck that Steve was driving--got to take advantage of the govt $ too. That just took ALL day! So not much else was done and we were exhausted.

Thursday we again got to be home in the morning and I got all the previous year paperwork DONE so now I can move on to next year without any guilt! I like starting a year but I hate having to finish things up. Then I went back in to sign paperwork with Steve on the new Rav4. Didn't get home until after 7. Thank goodness for M and his willingness to run the house and fix supper for his sibs. He even grilled meat for them--awesome!

Friday I realized that J had shared his lovely cold with me. I have been dragging all day. I did get to go and get my bangs permed--missed my appt on Wed. So now I won't have all those bad hair days I have been enjoying! E & I just went shopping afterwards and I got worn out.

So I am taking the advice of hubby and resting so I don't make the cold worse. He is so wise. Maybe next week will SLOW down and I can be home more. I sure hope so . . . .

Mama is takin' us to the zoo tomorrow

I admit it I didn't want to go to the zoo.

There is the unfinished basement. School needs to be planned. My garden is going crazy with weeds & green beans. The house isn't organized at all. However, we had promised the kids to go there on Steve's next long weekend off. It was also E's 13th birthday. But when we got there I remembered why it is good to go on vacations. We had FUN! Every trip is an adventure. We opened gifts before we left & didn't get out of town until 5 and it is a 5 hour drive. Ick. However with a DVD player in the suburban anything is possible! We pulled in to the hotel at 1 1 p.m. and everyone went to sleep quick! At breakfast, we met another home school family & enjoyed talking to them. It is funny how you know who is a home schooler & who isn't. I think we must have a "look" or something.



Lion's Tigers & Bears--Oh my!

At the zoo we first saw a polar bear being fed. He had carrots first & had two sticking out of his mouth at one time. I didn't get a shot of that. Bummer. But I did get one when he ate a WHOLE melon.





The monkey house was next where the gorilla's did a great job of turning their backs on us. No pictures for them. Then we found this really cool looking hippo statue that the kids climbed all over and Megan even sat in his mouth. I got a great group shot and then we realized "this is a trash can." Did I say that every trip is an adventure?


Then we had a blast feeding the budgies. We used to call them parakeets but for some reason they have this special name. Either way they are fun to chase, feed and sometimes put on your hat or shoulder. Last time we were here it was blistering hot so it was awesome to be there when it was only 80 degrees. On the second day we were there it was actually cold in the shade.

We also got to walk through the Dessert Dome & then the Aquarium. We love the aquarium because you can walk through a tunnel & see TONS of fish, sharks & turtles. Best of all we got to see the sharks being fed right before we left. It wasn't bloody or anything. Just a fish on a stick & CHOMP--it was gone. The penguins were a blast too. We saw them being fed too--they are wild. Jumping, diving, in and out of the water. All choreographed to be moving at the same time. We also saw some cool jelly fish. They were beautiful. Finally it was time to head home. It was very quiet on the way home but everyone was glad we went. Even me.

12 Hours of Time

Cell phones. Hard chairs. Laughter. Time warp. Beepers. Doctors. Lunch with sisters & mom. Worry. Waiting. Relief. Hugs. Home.

It isn't often you get to spend 12 hours in a hospital. I did today waiting with my Mom since Dad had surgery. She kept saying thank you for staying with her. It shocked her that I would do that. That makes me sad.

I hope that my family really knows that I love them and want to be there for them. In any situation any time for any reason. I can't always fix anything or even do anything, but I can be there. For support, to tell them it will be okay, for comic relief, to buy lunch or whatever. That is what families do. Ours feels like it is getting a second start after taking a couple of decades detour.

I am glad I know my mom, sister, dad, brother & sister-in-law better now than I did a year ago. I hope in another year I can say that things are even better.

Nationals Picnic

Well after a crazy 2 days of garage sale madness, our family drove 2 hours to a picnic with some great people.

In April we went to St. Louis to for the Bible Quizzing National tournament. Michael's team, Crunchies, was the surprize team on stage. They were not Lee's Summits top team but they were awesome! No pressure to win but oh they came really close. It was great to be back together for a few hours. And now to start studying next years material. Well maybe soon . . . .