time off

My thoughts the last few days have really been centered around schooling. I have so many conflicting thoughts that I don't know what to do with them and how to process them. My goal for the summer was to maintain what we've been doing through the year. Some days have been better than others! However, it seems like most days I'm feeling guilty for not doing enough. I see our summer time slowly slipping away and I want to thoroughly enjoy what we have left. This week is filled with VBS and a trip to Charlotte and next week will be swimming lessons in the morning and another VBS in the evening. The following week will be a week of being home alone and maybe soccer lessons for Peter.
I have decided that we are officially taking summer vacation for the next 4 weeks. I need the time and space away from school (mostly the guilty thoughts of not doing enough). We need to spend some time focusing our attention on other things like behavior, chores, swimming at the pool and hanging out with friends. So my goal for the next 4 weeks(maybe more!) is to have Peter read aloud for 20-30 minutes/ per day and to do some math each week. That is it!
The goals I have for myself have yet to be figured out but I am going to pray through those! So far I know that I want to :

• go through the objectives for Kindergarten and first grade and see where we are
• figure out some type of chore/responsibility system for the kids and myself!
  
• revise my schedule for the day for when we start back with school.

We have decided that Peter's official first day of 1st grade will be August 26th. That is the day after Philip goes back to school so it just seems to be the right time. Peter is already working in the "first grade" level with math and reading so this is really just for pomp and circumstance!
Wow- I'm feeling better already! Thanks for listening.

VBS night 1

VBS started last night at our church. We had a great turnout and I had a blast.This is my crew eatting dinner. I volunteered to be a teacher for the 3rd - 5th grade class. We had the largest class with 13 kids. I think the second biggest class may have been the 2-3 yr olds. Technically, that should have been the nursery kids and we didn't publicize for that age!
This is all of us at the end of the evening singing one of the songs. Ryan loves the music. His teacher told me that after their music session was over he went to the computer and said, "More Beach party".

Playdate

A very brave friend of mine from the homeschool group invited us and two others over for a craft and lunch. Ironically, this morning Peter asked me (at 7am) if he could paint. I answered, "are you kidding? It's 7 am." So what craft does she have for the kids? Painting! Peter and Emma were seriously at the tables about 30 minutes longer than all the other children. The other kids painted one sheet and a couple came back later for another. They painted for like 45 minutes straight!

This is Emma's catepillar.

I'm not into comparing children because everyone knows it's bad and usually you either get let down or your pride gets built up. However, this experience was really eye opening for me. Peter and Emma really enjoy painting pictures of objects, landscapes not just doodling. I wonder if this is because they were willing to spend more time at the table or is it their father's artistic genes coming out in them. I also learned that I need to let go of some of my "issues" and let the kids paint! I also need to let them stingy-ness (is that a word) and let them have a lot of colors.
This is what Ryan and some of the other kids were doing while Peter and Emma kept painting. Ryan was in heaven with all of the cars and trains this little boy had. He was also amazed as you can see by the TV in his room!

Not only were Peter and Emma the last to leave the painting table they (and Ryan) were also last to leave the lunch table...what do you think that means and whose side of the family does that come from?

Reading

Peter picked out this Berenstain Bears book at the library yesterday and I read it to him and Emma as we were waiting for the story time program to start. As I was reading it I noticed that there were lots of sight words that I knew he could read. I wondered if he would be able to read it on his own. I didn't say anything at the time and just read it. After I put Ryan to bed last night, I find Peter on the couch reading this book to Emma. I was amazed. He did so well! Sure there were a few words that he needed help with but the endurance he had was great. It's a long book and it was late at night. What was the first thing he did when he woke up this morning (at 6:30 mind you)? Pick the book back up and read it again! It truly is a blessing to be apart of this
process.Philip just finished reading The lion, the witch and the wardrobe to Peter and Emma. This is totally a Philip thing. He has actually made me promise not to read it to the kids. I readily agreed. It has been so great to hear Peter's retellings of what happened. This book has captivated his brain and has caused it to spin! He loves it. I love hearing him use words like "betrayal" and "temptation" correctly. I love hearing him beg his father to please read another chapter. I love hearing Peter make predictions about what will happen next. I love hearing Peter ask Philip and Emma, "Who is your favorite character?". It is times like this that I know without a shadow of a doubt that homeschooling has been an amazing thing in Peter's life.

I arrived

I have spent majority of my afternoon and the last hour playing on my new Facebook page. Why didn't I do this earlier??? Well, because I'm just a little slow about these things. It has been super cool to see faces and read a bit about friends I have lost touch with. I have to admit that I was inspired to join when I discovered my Aunt was on there.

Check it out. It's fun and a bit addicting! Oh and invite me to be your "friend" if we're not already!

"hold it"

Ryan is in what I call the noncommittal (on my part) experimental phase of potty training. We have been doing a lot of sitting on the potty but it has usually been after he has wet his diaper. This morning he said to me, "Poopy diaper". I thought he hadn't "done the deed" yet. So I said, "hold it, run to the potty". Well, Ryan followed behind me and when I turned around he was "holding it" exactly like I said. We skipped the potty and went for a new diaper.
Maybe next time!

Fun with Friends

We had a fellow Dukie family over for an evening at the pool and dinner. Philip and Reggie are "buds" at school and I have gotten to meet his wife and their children once before.











Ryan took a break from swimming to check on Winston to make sure he was having fun. Emma and Ryan were responsible for making sure that Savannah got to her car with out getting lost! They took their jobs very seriously.
After dinner we had homemade blackberry cobbler. We had all picked some blackberries on our walk last night so it was fitting to use them for dessert. They weren't the sweetest berries but the cobbler turned out just about as good as it looked!

That's two nights in a row of homemade cooking...I'm on a roll!

What's for dinner?

We didn't have any firm plans for the evening of the 4th. I was trying to figure out something a little different, unique, low cost, traditional and fun for dinner. Guess what I tried after thinking about doing it for years but never getting around to it?

You got it. Homemade corndogs!!

Although the kids appear to be enjoying the corndogs, they surprisingly didn't really like them. I think Peter had 1 and Ryan and Emma didn't finish their first. However, Philip really enjoyed them. It was a fun treat.

Happy July 4th

We found out that there was a parade this morning so we headed uptown with high hopes!We arrived just as the parade was starting so the shady side of the street was lined with people. We found a little shade in this spot. The parade was 75% old cars! Peter enjoyed taking a few pictures of them.


They haven't quite figured out what the deal is with old cars. However, they did like to see all the different colors and they especially liked the ones that threw candy.






There were about 5 different fire trucks that participated. They all had to use their full sirens and horns (at the same time) which made for a very loud 5 minutes!

And for the real reason to go to a parade...

CANDY.

Work.....

So Philip had a hard day at the office on Tuesday! Here are some photos so you can empathize with him...

He played a good game and lunch was even better. However, it appears that he may have gotten into some poison ivy. Maybe next game he can stay out of the woods!

two milestones

Peter has accomplished two big things this week!

Last night he crossed the monkey bars at church all by himself. There wasn't anyone around to even catch him!

Tonight, he jumped off the diving board and swam to the other side of the pool. It's a 25 yard distance!!! He did great. He also figured out how to float on his back. He could stay that way for a good few minutes.

I took all 3 kids to the pool myself today. Maybe not a milestone but definitely a hurdle I needed to cross to realize that it wasn't so hard!

recovery

I have officially gotten over my bout with fame and the children got over (rather quickly) there bout with the stomach flu. We are back in business. We headed to see my parents right after church was over. We opted not to attend services because I was nervous someone might randomly throw up! Philip was a bit disappointed because if we had been there (all 4 of us) the numbers would have been in the 90s. Such is life as the family of a pastor!

We are back to whatever normal means for us!