We Survived!

This week couldn't have gone any smoother if I had planned it myself...wait...I did plan it myself. 

Prior to our "official" first day, I really did envision chaos as we all tried to get back into the groove of school. But, I have some awesome kids and we all got back into our schedule without missing a beat. I have been more productive this week than I have been all summer. 

It feels good to have a purpose again!

The hardest part for Kristen this week was waking up at 8:00. Oh the woes of being a homeschooled child! If only I could sleep in until 8:00 everyday. She has worked hard this week, done awesome in her spelling (a subject she really struggled with last year) and didn't complain at all. Her favorite subject so far is writing, which is pretty fun...even I enjoy it. 

The hardest part for Lauren this week has been paying attention. I could tell when I was loosing her and that was about every five minutes (no joke). At least she was honest and told me she wasn't listening. I would be mid-sentence reading or talking about something and she would interrupt me and ask if I was done yet. This was always followed by a big giant sigh. Everything, except what I was talking about, became interesting to her...the bottom of the table...the ceiling fan...her toenails...her hair. 

Despite her wandering mind, Lauren has worked hard this week and done better than I envisioned. She is doing great with her reading, we are working hard on her handwriting, and while she is complaining, at least it's not as much as I expected. Progress! I am not sure what her favorite subject is, but I do know her favorite time of the day is when school is finished. 

I asked the kids what their favorite part of the week was and it was unanimous...our nature walk and planting our flowers. 

Kristen loved planting her flower and has taken care of it, checking everyday to see if it has grown. Lauren wanted to eat the seeds because they looked like fruity pebbles...and they kinda did. Dallas started by crumpling up his cup and throwing it on the ground announcing that it was "broke". Once I fixed it I filled it with dirt and then he proceeded to dump it out announcing that it was "too dirty".

I really should have dumped the bag of potting soil out and let Lauren and the little ones play in it, because that is all they really wanted to do. Maybe next week they can haul some dirt in some dump trucks.

A boy and his trucks! I love this picture.

Kristen and Lauren had their first science "experiment". This year we learning about the animals God created on the fifth day...more specifically the animals that fly. They had to make gliders. One with long narrow wings (Kristen made this one) and one with short wide wings (Lauren made this one). They had to come up with a hypothesis on which one they thought would fly the furthest. Kristen put a lot of thought in her hypothesis. Lauren just copied what Kristen said.

Kristen's went further because her wings were more narrow so there wasn't as much drag (one of their vocabulary words for the unit) on her wings as Lauren's wings had. Of course someone always gets upset when they loose (the reason why Lauren isn't smiling), so we had to end up making two with narrow wings. 

They also made a field notebook that they will be using to record their findings of birds and insects in our area.

We also made some fun snacks and had lots of fun learning this week. 

Fun Filled Weekend

This past weekend we did some geocaching. We hadn't been as a family in a while and it was fun to get out and do some exploring. Even though it was a dreary day, we still decided to go. We weren't going to let an occasional rain shower stop us. 

We ventured out to Powhatan State Park with the intention of finding some caches and then letting the kids play on the playground. The girls were a little more eager to get started than Dallas. He had just woken up from a short nap and he was a little grumpy. 

As we walked the trail, wouldn't you know it, Paul got a call to go into work. We were "only" a mile from our car...no big deal. The kids were disappointed that they didn't get to find the other caches or play on the playground. We are definitely going to have to go back. 

We ended our weekend with our annual trip to the Chesterfield County Fair.  

This year made me realize just how old my kids are getting. Kristen didn't want to ride on the "little" kiddie rides like the train and little cars. She wanted to go in the fun house and ride on the spinning dogs. She also liked playing the games that you can never win.  

Kristen and Lauren did ride the dragon Rollercoaster. Kristen loved it!

Lauren...not so much...

Kristen and Lauren also rode the slides by themselves. Well, Paul went down with them...but they were on their own potato sacks. 

I don't think Lauren knew she would be going down by herself. I think she had fun, but didn't want to slide down it again. Kristen did though.

Dallas enjoyed the rides, especially the cars. 

Although, when you asked him what he wanted to ride, he always said "I want to ride in Papaw's truck." That kid loves his Papaw and Papaw's truck. 

We enjoyed all the perks of the fair: funnel cakes, candy apples, italian sausage with green peppers and onions, and cotton candy. We saw a show with bears, got to see someone carve neat stuff out of wood...but most importantly we got to enjoy being with family. Thank you Papaw, Meme and Aunt Do for loving my family so much and making memories that will last. 

Our first day back

It is hard to believe that summer is gone and school has started back...but I am very happy to be back in the school routine. I was surprised this morning when I had two eager girls wanting to get the school day started.

Kristen

Grade: 2nd

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Television Show: Wild Kratts

Favorite toy: Barbies

What I want to be when I grow up: Librarian

Lauren

Grade: Kindergarten

Favorite color: Pink

Favorite television show: Doc McStuffin

Favorite toy: Doc McStuffin's house

What I want to be when I grow up: Work at Walmart

So Lauren's future employment makes me chuckle. I don't think she really understood the question, but Walmart was the first thing to come to mind. 

Our school day started out a little later than I would have liked, but we were still finished by lunchtime. We started with bible and a craft. My kids love doing crafts.

Our bible story was on the beginning of creation. Day one God created light and separated it from darkness. You can't get too creative with that, but here are the finished crafts.

Most of Kristen's subjects were a review from last year. 

She told me that second grade was so easy. I told her it was just the beginning and she would be learning new things eventually. We did start a new spelling program, so hopefully this one will be better than the one we did last year. Or, more accurately speaking, the one we didn't complete last year. 

Lauren has all subjects, like Kristen, except spelling. This is a big difference from just doing reading, math and bible. She did really well today. We are starting math over from the beginning. She can use the extra practice.

She did really well in her reading review, and I decided to start that over as well. She can use extra practice in this too. 

I was very happy when I pulled out our book for today and Kristen said she could read it to us and she did!

She has come so far with her reading. I am so proud of her and very happy that she enjoys reading...just like her Momma.

Kristen wanted school to be fun, so I am really trying to make it fun...although it is school. I did incorporate a goody basket that they will get to choose from if we have good weeks...and occasionally exceptional days. This is a good motivator....for now. 

School day #1=Success

Happy 6th Birthday Lauren

I can't believe my little Lauren is six! I swear the days are long, but the years go by so fast. We had her birthday party on Saturday, so today we just spent the day together doing some fun things that she wanted to do. 

We started the day off with breakfast at McDonald's, then headed to Toys-R-Us and spent an hour and a half going up and down the isles. After saying she didn't want anything, she finally decide to buy a barbie swimming pool, that everyone got to enjoy.

Lauren never asks for anything and really never wants anything. She would be happy with buying a pack of M&M's, and then she would give half of them away because Dallas would inhale his and want the rest of hers. She is so selfless and teaches me lessons daily. If I only had half the heart that she does. Just today when my mom gave her money to go to the store, she got $15 (three $5 bills) and gave Kristen one and Dallas one and said, "It's so you can buy something too." I love that girl. I love her heart. 

We ended up eating lunch at Chick-fil-A so they could play and going to the park afterward. I made her favorite, spaghetti, for dinner and then we went to Chuck E. Cheese.

Chuck E. Cheese is her favorite place and a special place we always go on birthdays. She talks about It all year long and this trip is definitely the highlight of her birthday. Then our night ended at Friendly's for some birthday ice cream.

Lauren has blessed our life so much. She likes chocolate, Doc McStuffins, going places (anywhere), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cutting paper, ice pickles (Popsicles), peanut butter, Frozen, jumping (on the bed/couch), and her little brother and big sister. She hates vegetables (except cauliflower), flying bugs, crawling bugs, dead bugs, anything that might possibly be a bug or look like a bug, sleeping alone, anything in her hair (hair bows/headbands), and large crowds.

I cannot even begin to list the things I have learned over the last six years. 

I am truely blessed that God gave me this sweet, caring, loving, adorable, kindhearted girl to love. Her smile and hugs brighten my day. I love you Lauren. Thank you for being so awesome! 

Doc McWho

Lauren has liked Doc Mcstuffins since she was the new doc on Disney Junior's block. That was back when we had cable. I was happy because it meant we were saying adios to our Dora days. Seven years of Dora just gets to you. 

Lauren decided she wanted a Doc McStuffins party this year, so that's what she got! I was glad she didn't say Dora, which is what she has said every year for the last four years. I made her a Doc McStuffins cake and we got all of the party decor to go along with it. 

It was hard getting Doc to stay up on the cake. Her head is very unporportioned to her body, so she kept wanting to topple over. I had to stick her down in the cake. She stands great on solid ground, not so much on spongy cake. 

Lauren got lots of great presents from a great family that loves her so much. 

Here she is letting her brother ride with her. If you asked Dallas whose birthday it was, he would say, "It's Doc McStuffins birthday."

Her actual birthday is Tuesday and we are planning a special day for her. 

Planning away

The time has come, much to Paul's dismay, for school planning. When school planning comes, laundry and housework go...right out the window.  Last year I went through each subject and came up with daily lesson plans, not sure if I was wasting my time and would actually end up following them. I did, follow them that is. To a T! It was good to know what we needed to accomplish for that day and even though we may have taken an extra day off here and there, I knew exactly what we needed to do when we started back up. I didn't plan our kindergarten year and that year just drug on and on and on. I think we had a two week break before 1st grade started. 

This year is going to prove to be more challenging. I will have two kids with full loads, plus I am planning on starting some preschool stuff with the little ones as well. It will be a learning experience, juggling it all and getting into a routine, but I'm excited to get started. Our official start day is August 25th, and I still have reading to plan for Lauren and bible to work on. 

Our school supplies have been bought and everything organized. I have our school area decorated for our first couple of weeks of lessons and I am counting down the days!

Look Mom!

This phrase has the potential to be really good...or really bad. I have found when it is said with much enthusiasm it means...I have just done something you will be so proud of. And usually it's about 70/20/10. Seventy percent of the time it is something I am extremely happy about (I just drew the BEST picture ever, or I just made a bracelet and attached it to a headband or I just cleaned my room without being asked...wait...I got a little carried away. The last only happens in my dreams). Twenty percent of the time something "good" is actually something very bad. This usually happens with Dallas...like look mom I just climbed onto my changing table or look mom I just emptied the salt shaker all over your kitchen table. This list could go on, but I will stop. And then ten percent of the time I don't know whether the "look mom" is good or bad. Like, look mom I just took my sheets off the bed for you (on a day I wasn't going to change sheets)...or look mom I collected 529 rocks and leaves from outside and want to keep them all.

So, when Kristen comes out of her bedroom and announces (with much enthusiasm), "Look what Lauren did!" I thought for sure she had written her name all by herself. I didn't imagine this.  

I had that look on my face...you know...the confused I am trying to figure out when and how this happened look. Because I know she didn't have painted fingers when she woke up. I would have remembered her nails and fingers looking like they had been dipped in ketchup and mustard, which made more since at this point than fingernail polish. Kristen must have decided I needed some clarification and announced, "She painted her nails". To which Lauren added, very proudly, "All by myself!" My reply, "Did you paint anything else?" 

Yep, you guessed it. In the process of painting her nails she also painted the floor, which I am happy is NOT carpet. I guess they are now hoarding illegal contraband and their room and it will need to be searched at bedtime.

Are we there yet?

I am not an outdoorsy person. I hate the heat when it's hot and the cold when it's cold. I hate flying bugs, mostly Mosquitos, which I swear only came out at night when I was younger. Now they just hang around outside my door 24/7 waiting for me to step outside. I hate spider webs, not so much the spiders...and ticks...I despise ticks. Oh, and dirt. I hate dirt. Walking from my front door to the car is about as outdoorsy as I like get. But, I occasionally will become a woman of the outdoors for the sake of the love I have for my kids. 

So, when Paul said he thought it would be fun to float the James River with the kids I was all like...YEAH! Actually, I was not like...YEAH!  I was more like...how much stuff can I cram into our weekends in order to not have to float down the James River...in a john boat...with three kids. But, I ended up penciling it in on our calendar and knew God was looking out for me when there was a 60% chance of rain for the day we had planned going. Devine intervention! Except...it didn't rain. Not one.single.drop. 

Paul had floated the river with my cousin once, and enjoyed it. It's different, two grown men floating a river than...let's say...one grown man, three kids and a pretty much useless woman when it comes to all things water. Bath time...I've got it! River floating...not so much. Paul said my "motherly survival instincts" would kick in. Wait...what? Why would my motherly survival instincts need to kick in! 

We originally planned to get up, pack a picnic lunch, and just enjoy a day on the river. It became a day of...how fast can we get on the river and float down it before the rain comes. Paul said it would only take a couple hours, so since we had eaten breakfast, we decided to forgo the picnic. Due to the impending rain, we decided we would just eat when we got back home. I packed some drinks and snacks, for the kids not us...and off we went. 

The kids were excited, especially Kristen. She wanted to paddle, Lauren saw a big bird and wanted to go see it. If I were outdoorsy I would be able to tell you exactly what type of bird it was, but I'm not. We did very little floating and a lot of paddling...actually Paul did a lot of paddling. I am very directionally challenged and I apparently have a talent for paddling our boat around in circles. I would occasionally paddle here and there so it would seem as if I was contributing. 

We stopped a couple times on the way to explore, which the girls loved. Dallas didn't want to leave the boat, and I don't blame him. River water...yuck!  Another thing on my list of nasty outdoor things. Well, as we are floating along I hear...wait...IS THAT A WATERFALL? Ya'll...it sounded just like a waterfall and my worst nightmare. I thought we would get a little rain, but never thought I would be entering the great white rapids. I mean...this is the James River! Paul informed me it was JUST the class 1 riffles. Riffles? What is that? I have never heard of such. And riffles sound nice...like something on my grandmother's bed, NOT the horrorific sound I was hearing. This was rapids and the only way past it was to go through it. I put the life jackets on thie kids as fast as I could and threw one over my head, just in case. You can never be too safe when navigating through...literally...uncharted waters. In hindsight, if I did happen to get pulled under all I would have had to do was stand up, but I wasn't taking any chances. Paul decided it was better for me to wait on a rock while he navigated the kids through the rough waters. He anchored them off and then came back for me. I felt like I was being rescued from a flood. The kids did great, and it added a little excitement to our river paddling. 

We ended up hitting another class 1 riffle. We had all remained calm until we were headed directly into a fallen down tree. Paul jumped out of the boat and that is when Dallas got upset. I guess for him, Paul being in the water meant chaos. He kept pointing inside the boat like, "Dad, get in"! Every time the boat would rock he would say, "whoa". Which was exactly what I was saying in my head. Lauren then ended up getting upset, mostly because Dallas had entered the hysterical crying zone. But, Paul being the awesome captain that he is, got us all thru it and I had somehow managed to get in the back of the boat in "the seat".  You know, "the seat" that one would sit in if they had to adjust their paddling based on what the person in front of them were doing so they could steer the boat. Based on my awesome paddling/steering/navigating skills this had the potential to turn into a disaster. 

We were, or so we thought, coming up on our destination and that'll put some pep in your paddling. And then we hit the last riffle of our journey. We were all able to stay in the boat, but our boat kept turning around...not because of my awesome paddling either, just because of the current. Paul kept telling me that we had to get the boat turned back around. Umm...wouldn't it just be easier to turn our seats around and paddle then us trying to turn the whole boat around. And does it really matter if the pointed end of the boat is at the front? Obviously it doesn't because it was and we still got turned around. But, I remained quiet and started paddling like I knew what I was doing...until Paul informed me I was paddling on the wrong side...in the wrong direction. This is exactly why we need a steering wheel!

Our two hour boat float ended up taking five hours, and Paul paddled the whole way. I can't imagine how long it would have taken if we had actually floated...or if something had happened to Paul's arms and I was forced to paddle us. Kristen said at one point, "I wish there was a motor on this thing." And I couldn't agree more...oh...and a steering wheel.