My little gymnast

My heart strings were pulled in many directions as the day finally arrived. August 30th - Emma's first day of gymnastics. Philip and I decided to give Emma the choice to take gymnastics or participate in the Parks and Rec soccer team. I was flooded with memories as we arrived at the gym. Gymnastics was a huge part of my growing up years. My parents sacrificed tons for me and gymnastics. Am I ready for this?It appears that she is in a joint class of Level 1 and 2. I think she can rise to the challenge the other girls have unintentionally set for her. Perhaps, we need to do some of our own practicing in the back yard!

Day 2 of 180

It's 2:45pm. Not including our evening read-aloud and a 30 minute quiet reading time, we are finished with school for the day. Although NC homeschoolers aren't required to log a certain number of days, traditionally we aim for 180! If the first two days are any indication of the remainder of our year, we are going to have a great year. I think Nathan will even come to learn to love the gate! He actually only cries for the first 30 seconds and then does enjoy the rest of the time.

Back in action

After a wonderful week of vacation, we are heading to school. It's been a long time since our family was away for the week. As we finished up our "vacation, vacation" last night at our kitchen table eating pizza. We talked about the things we enjoyed. The list goes something like this: fishing, hermit crab island, Meredith and Colin's wedding, seeing the ponies, eating at Max's Pizza, swimming in the ocean,

going to the Ocracoke, canoeing, getting a Jr. Ranger badge,

the ferry ride, spending time with everyone, and swimming in the sound.

We are back and back in action! The school bell rings at our house this morning. I can't believe that we now have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader, a Pre-schooler and a toddler. It's very daunting to think about what this school has in store for us.

on the move

Nathan is full speed ahead these days. I think he really is enjoying his abilty to walk. His knees are definitely appreciating the break!

Passionate

As an 8 year old,it only makes sense that you would find something new to invest your time and money and energy into....

He's 8

I keep telling Peter that I'm not old enough to have an 8 year old.....I can't believe it! The Star Wars marathon sleep over was a success! They had such a good time and were so well behaved that I think Philip might do it again....sometime!

Let the party begin

Two years ago, Peter's Aunt Tasha and Uncle Pete gave him a light saber for his birthday. It was a brand new toy for him. He knew very little about Star Wars. It wasn't too long before a few of his friends caught onto to the Star Wars phenomenon and it seemed as if everything going on here was related to Star Wars. However, Philip decided that Peter needed to be 8 before he watched the actual movies.
Today is the big day. Peter along with 5 of his good friends are headed to the Lake to have a Star Wars marathon slumber party along with some swimming and hanging out. I can't believe that Peter will be 8 tomorrow.
Emma is having her first slumber party as well. She is spending the day and night with her dear friend Aubrey.
I know they are both going to have lots of fun but I have a feeling their time with their friends will be very different!

He's up

We caught Nathan taking his first few steps about 8 days ago.
It wasn't too long before he figured out how it works. He's up to about 12 steps. I know because there's always a sibling counting and shouting his success. He still spends the majority of his time crawling and on his bottom!

I caught these two sweeties reading in Nathan's room the other day!

the little guy

The older kids aren't the only one's enjoying the pool this summer.

There are some who claim to have never heard Nathan fuss. Although, I would say that he is certainly a happy guy, you can certainly hear him loudly complain when he is taken from the pool.

Swimming lessons

The long awaited time of the summer....swimming lessons. This year it was Ryan and Emma's turn. Again, the lifeguards amaze me with what they can get the kids to do!
Ms. Kelly has taught our kids swimming lessons for 5 years. This year she's with Emma's class. Emma is improving her diving and getting the hang of freestyle!
Mr. Craig has the little guys. I always question myself, "Are the lessons really worth the money? I can teach the kids to swim." Then Philip reminds me they are. It's moments like this that remind me....that they are worth every dime.



There was no need to convince Ryan to go off the board. Mr. Craig just had to be sure to be ready to catch him quickly. Ryan went barreling down off the board at full speed.

Beach excursion

We headed to my parents last week for a few days in the sun! We had a great time and packed a lot into two days. We started off at the Sea Turtle hospital and swam in the sound the first day. The second day we started at the beach and ended the day with a canoe and kayak trip. This was Peter's first solo kayak excursion. He loved it and did a great job.

Bye Bye Blonde

We've kept Ryan's hair long for the summer. We did it to protect the scar on his forehead from extra sun exposure! It couldn't get much longer than it had. It was time to say good bye to the long blonde hair...
I have to admit I was sad to see it go. He has really nice hair!