I've had all of Lulu's books and planning done for 1st grade for about a month now. I was hoping to start school the Tuesday after Labor Day. Lulu has had her own plan. She has been asking DAILY since about the beginning of June to start school. I have finally caved. When she asked me this morning if we could start school I said yes! I can't tell you how much I absolutely LOVE homeschooling my children. It is wonderful to be able to spend the day with them. I love that we start each day with prayer and bible study. I love that we eat lunch together everyday. I love that Lulu and I snuggle on the couch during reading time. I love to see Lulu teaching J his letters and colors. I love to watch my little people play during break time. I love that I can still choose who her friends are. We have the most amazing group of homeschooling friends. I love that I am in charge of what Lulu is learning. I love that we aren't rushing in the evening to get the dreaded homework done. I could go on and on. I am so very blessed to be able to stay home and teach my children. Here are some pics from our first day of school.
I love that we can school barefoot
Can't leave the little man out!
puzzle and math time
Eating 101 is still J's favorite subject
Sometimes we take schoolwork to the desk
Other times we take schoolwork to the most comfortable and scenic place in our house. I love this rocker. Lauren and I have spent many hours in this rocker reading and sometimes watching the deer in the wet lands.
all smiles after a successful day...if only they all could go this well ;)
This post is a bit late but I couldn't get figure out how to get Lulu's balance beam routine uploaded to the computer. I figured it out today by accident. Sooooo, here we go!
On May 20th Lulu had her first gymnastics show where the students did vault and balance beam. It was 4 HOURS long! Fortunately, I was able to leave J with Grammy and was able to stay the entire time. Daddy left work early and was able to get there just as Lulu's class was beginning. She was thrilled to see him because she didn't think he was coming. She did amazing and had a fun time. We are very proud of her!
J turned 2yrs old on June 22nd and we decided to have a 2 day celebration. His birthday fell on a Wednesday and Daddy was able to take the day off. After we dropped Lulu off at vbs we took J to breakfast at the Omelet House. It was the first time we had been there and the food was so yummy. J ate 4, yes, you read right, 4 scrambled eggs for breakfast while he sang "Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuu!" Later that afternoon we took the kiddos to Lovin Spoons for a little yogurt. You serve yourself the type of yogurt you want and then add your own toppings. Both kids enjoyed the process more than the actual dessert.
On Sunday, Grammy, Pawpaw, B and his family, and our dear friend Baawaa (as J calls her) came over for pizza made by Daddy and gluten free cake with homemade vanilla frosting. I was so surprised at how good the cake was! J wanted no part of the cake but LOVED the frosting!
"Happy birthday to youuuuuu!"
CHEESE!
Look what I got! GA peach sorbet with sprinkles!
J's sorbet was a bit too cold for his liking.
Lulu was very pleased with her thin mint cookie ice cream with a variety of chocolate toppings.
J opening his Thomas the Train set from "Baawaa" and "Sushi"
J and Lulu decorating his cake.
We were singing "Happy Birthday". This was his expression the entire time.
Our local library has a summer reading program where children can earn prizes for reading during the summer. For every 15 hours of reading, up to 45 hours, they can earn a book, coupons, and entries for a grand prize. Lauren LOVES to read. She is averaging at least 1 1/2 hours a day. Right now her favorite reads are any book in the American Girls series and The Betsy Tacy series.
In addition to the summer reading program, each library has a summer schedule with at least one activity a week. Every 3rd Monday our branch celebrates the Dog Days of Summer by reading to therapy dogs. I thought that this would be something that Lauren would like to do so we went on Monday. Not knowing what to expect, Lauren was a bit nervous. She decided to read her newest Betsy Tacy book. When she sat down by the dog "Killer" he immediately jumped on her. She got scared and started to cry. After a few minutes she calmed down and read to Killer for about 10 minutes. I was surprised that she didn't enjoy it more than she did. It will be interesting to see if Lauren want to go again next month.
Our family does not have a normal family schedule. Lee is at work most evening so there are very few family dinners. He works really LONG hours on Fridays and Saturdays so we don't have a typical weekend. For the first time in a long time my little people and I have something to look forward to Saturdays! Since the pools opened in May we have been spending all day Saturday at my parents pool. They have a nice pool with a beach entrance (great for Jonah), everyone brings food, and drinks are served at the Tiki Bar that my dad built. All the neighbors are so friendly and welcoming. Lauren has learned how to swim and is getting quite the tan. Jonah has new arm floats that are amazing. He is enjoying lots of time in the pool swimming around by himself. I have been able to spend some time sitting along side the pool relaxing. Saturdays have turned into a day to be excited about! Here are a few pics that I have taken so far this season.
Our first day at the pool this season. Jonah was loving his "ga goos"
Sissy liked her goggles too.
This pic was taken at our pool. Lauren was explaining to Jonah "how to swim".
Lauren was amazed at how much lighter Jonah was in the water.
Lounging around
Jonah and PawPaw manning the Tiki Bar. Jonah was enjoying his first taste of ice.
Well, I had all intentions of at least blogging weekly. As you can see from my last post, I may need to change that goal to yearly :) We started our first "official" week of kindergarden this week and it was crazy! Two unexpected trips to the doctors office, 6 hours of tech work on our computer, a dgl meeting, a starting the homeschool year party, and a sweet little baby that spent the week sick, crying and only wanting to be held by momma. Needless to say, the week has not gone as planned. In fact, not one day went as planned. I know that our schedule has be flexible. This week was definately a test in how flexible we can be. All and all it went okay. Here are a couple of pics from the first day.
J enjoying his morning class...Eating 101
On the first day of school my mom always took a picture of me and the boys in front of the door.
Lulu thought we needed a pic of her "thinking" on the first day of school
"Thinking" about math
Lulu taking her first spelling pretest. This girl has got great handwriting.
This morning I woke up at about 7am after an extra crappy night of sleep. I stumbled out into the family room and was greeted, like always, by my sweet little daughter excited about whatever wonderful or not so wonderful thing we had in store for the day. I asked her to open all the blinds in the house and then take Sadie out to use the bathroom. I was trying to get 5 minutes of peace and quiet in so that I could wake up a bit. When she came in from letting the dog out she said in the happiest, sweetest little voice that she HAD to sweep the back porch because it was covered in leaves. I thought this was a great idea as this would give me another 5 minutes of peace and quiet :) After about 2 minutes of sweeping, I started to watch her. She had the biggest smile on her face and was so happy outside sweeping her little heart out in her totally mismatched outfit and hair assessories, not missing one leaf. At that moment I got tears in my eyes. I was overwhelmed with love for my sweet little girl. Thank you Lord for waking me up and not letting me miss this dee dah moment.
