Camp Mimi

This past week, my dad went to Nebraska for the College World Series for Father's Day with my brothers.  The girls decided they would go stay with Mimi so she wouldn't be all alone.
The week started off with a trip to their favorite treasure store, lots of books and some new clothes, followed by lots of yummy eats, no school work or chores.  The girls went to my friend's church for her VBS and were able to meet with cousins, Adom and Cameron.  The girls had an absolute blast.  They visited countries all over the world, ate great snacks, did science experiments, had pizza and a splash party.
After VBS one day, they had a sleepover with Adom and Gigi and went to see Epic.
But the big news of the week was LE learned to sew.  She made two pairs of pajama pants for R2 and Boo and a pillowcase.

 

Summer school

I'm sure I am going to flack or at least some eyerolls, but we will continue with some school work over the summer.  It is a very modified schedule with lots more projects, cooking, field trips and crafts, toss in a little math, a lot of reading and some history.  After my runaway weekend with Ben, I was feeling a little more clear-headed and motivated to finish the school year.  Having a toddler and a newborn can really throw a kink in your lesson plans, especially when they do not nap at the same time.

We have fallen behind in our schooling checklist, and I am OCD when it comes to my making my lists and checking them twice.
We recently switched math curricula, yes again.  LE started multiplication and all was well, except that she was still using her fingers to add and subtract her 6,7,8 and 9 families. So, we spent the past 4 months on speed drills for both girls and did our research.  We landed on Math U See.  With much apprehension from LE, she has finally decided she loves the new curriculum.  And she is successful with it.  Boo hasn't started the math pages yet b/c we are just using manipulatives.  Yes, math is one of the subjects where workbooks cannot be avoided.  So, I am excited what the future holds, I'll let you know in 9 months.
We have gotten behind on our history and science.  It seemed to be the two subjects that were marked off the list at the end of the day when I was scrambling to get dinner on the table at 5, my gym clothes on for my 6:00 class, a baby on my hip and a movie being inserted into the blu-ray disc to save my sanity.  The girls really love our history curriculum as long as we make sure to do the projects and not just listen to the stories.  This month we are working on the Greek Gods and LE is enthralled with them, who knew?  She is such a history buff.
For our fun reading, we are participating in the RR library reading program.  The girls read for 20 minutes each day.  I am reading Farmer Boy out loud to them and Daddy still reads Hank the Cow Dog each night.  They are on book #16.
We are only journaling on days after we have a field trip, or have something fun that we want to make sure we remember.
The girls are still taking piano lessons with Miss Ashley once a week, and each day we rotate a project between art, history, science, and responsibility (which is usually cooking).

end of school year gift

My husband gets me, sometimes it takes a breakdown, but most of the time he figures it out and nails it on the head.  A few weeks ago we were in Fredericksburg for a family reunion when he surprised me by taking me to our favorite restaurant, The Nest. During dessert, he surprised me again and told me the kids were taken care of for the evening and we would be staying in a bed and breakfast outside of town.  I cannot tell you how much a night away helped to unwind from the craziest year of  home school, and parenthood that we have had.  I don't mean in a bad way, just busy with six different lives all intertwined.  We spent the evening on the back porch in a hot tub, slept in till 9 am. and spent the rest of the morning on the front porch in over-sized rocking chairs.  Thank you, honey.  I needed that.

batssssss

I am a strong believer that education happens all of the time when you homeschool.  I don't consider workbooks to be required for learning to happen.  I have actually been working my hardest this past school year to eliminate as many workbooks as I can from our daily schedule.
A few weeks back we told the kids to load up in the car as they were going upstairs to get ready for bed.  They were totally bum-founded and even more confused when we drove into Sonic for half-priced milkshakes.  We drove to downtown Round Rock to see the Mexico Free Tailed bats come out of the I35.  The kids loved the experience.  There is now a volunteer to answer questions onsite.  And, let me tell you my little sponges had some questions.  We got home about 9 pm, but the girls asked if they could journal about what they learned!!!  How could I possibly deny that moment?  The next day we made a trip to the local library for as many books on bats as we could check out.  

Happy 40th!

My parents' celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary yesterday, but we planned a celebration for them at the same time as my dad's 60th birthday.  We were able to pull off the surprise b/c I told Mom it was Dad's 60th birthday and she participated in the planning.  After she left to get dressed for Dad's party, my brothers and sister-in-law set up the anniversary part of the party.  Notice the cake, yeah that was my first attempt at making a from-scratch cake.  One of my members from the gym used to bake wedding cakes and she helped me with the icing.
I also gathered letters from many of my dad's friends and family members. I had hoped to collect sixty memories, he had over thirty letters that  he opened with Mom after the party.
Our six were unable to attend the party b/c we got a nasty stomach bug the night before the party and we did not want to pass our germs to anymore party goers.  I was so thankful for facetime b/c Mom called us as Dad was pulling into the parking lot and she carried us into the party where she discovered the anniversary cake and we were able to see both surprises. It was a difficult day to the say the least on our end, but was so grateful so many people came together to celebrate my Dad's birthday and my parents' anniversary.

oh, it's a rough life

HaPPy BIrthDay PaWPaW!

Happy Happy 60th Birthday PawPaw!
Wish we there to celebrate with you.
Landry - My favorite thing about PawPaw is that he taught me how to fish and throw.  He made me my Indian dress.
Bella-My favorite thing about PawPaw is he taught me how to throw and fish.
Read-I'm PawPaw's boy.
Have a great ride tonight.  XOXO