I Feel Like I Have a Newborn!!

Never having been responsible for a puppy before, I was surprised how very similar it is to having a new baby! :) He sleeps a LOT during the day......

And is awake a lot during the night!! The first week was crazy! It didn't help that Michael was out of town that whole week, we were hosting a Fiesta to celebrate the end of our 'travels' through Mexico, and I had a bone marrow biopsy (nothing serious, but good grief...I was SORE!). We did take an extra week to get through Mexico and to recover....that made a world of difference. I feel like we're ready to start Canada on the right foot tomorrow. And as an added bonus....he slept through the night last night. Woohoo!!

Mexico has been very fun. We started the two weeks by setting up a "bus" in our kitchen. Caleb was to be our bus driver for our trip to Mexico, but once we all boarded, he got shy and Abby took over for him! He keeps asking when we're driving to Canada, so maybe he'll be willing to drive tomorrow!

Our fiesta was SO fun. We had 6 families, for a total of 15 kids. We never did get to our pinatas, but my friend, Wendy's kids did, and they were kind enough to bring one to display and one to break (AND due to my "soreness" she came early to help me set up and decorate! Many thanks to her!!!) The kids had a great time!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our study of deserts. There has been some talk on the Yahoo groups about the Science being dry or light in ECC. To be honest, there are some pages that we skip, but my girls have really enjoyed notebooking after the daily readings. I feel like between that, a couple of extra things that we've done from Janice VanCleave's Science Around the World, and a couple of DVD's...they've learned a lot. We are fortunate enough to have access to BBC's Planet Earth DVD's. I have been SO pleased with how well they have coordinated with what we're learning. I would not recommend allowing especially young children to watch these without parent supervision....especially if your kids are squeamish. We have fast-forwarded through a few things, but overall....well worth it!

We are settling into a new routine...puppy and all, and we're looking forward to travelling to Canada!

Oh Yeah, So THIS Is Blogging.....

So....it's been a few weeks since I've done this. People are starting to notice. My neighbor stopped me on the street two nights ago and said her girls keep asking when I'm going to update my blog! :) (Hi Jaime and Linz!) Really.....I've sat down to do it a few times. Twice I had SO much to blog about, that I was just completely overwhelmed and I got up and walked away. The last time I finally decided to do it, and my blog wouldn't load! GRRRRR! I've also been spending a bit more time on Facebook. Kudos to those of you who can maintain your Facebook AND your blog, and do them both well. I've decided I'm a one or the other kind of gal. So, here I am three weeks later, finally getting back to blogging.

I know a few of you are still waiting for the last half of the cousin's pictures. That's my next project. It will be here soon. I hope. :)

The day after my dad took the Seattle cousins home, I went to one of our local homeschool conferences with 7 other moms. We got 2 hotel rooms, spent the weekend at the conference, and had dinner all together at the Cheesecake Factory (YUM!). It was such a great weekend. Susan Wise Bauer was one of the speakers, along with her mom, Jessie Wise. I had the opportunity to hear Susan at the very first conference I had ever been to and was very impressed with her. When I found out she was coming to this one, I told all of the other moms how fabulous I thought she was. Once we all got there, and were seated in her first workshop, I had a moment of panic.....I thought, "what if she wasn't really all that great, and it was just because it was my first conference and I didn't know any better?!?" I was terrified that I drug all of these poor ladies along with me, and that she would be awful! I was not to be disappointed. She was THAT fabulous. I know, I know, we could have all kinds of debates over classical vs. Charlotte Mason vs. whatever.....but that wasn't the point. She had so many things to say that I can apply to my family, with the curriculum we already use, in our every day lives, without being totally overwhelmed. Some of the things, I was already doing, but didn't really understand WHY I was doing them, and therefore, I feel like now I will do them more effectively. Some of the things, I knew I should have been doing, but was overwhelmed with the HOW, and so I just wasn't at all. I did pick up her new book, Writing With Ease, and I am super excited about that because it will be so easy to use along with the History and Science that we're already doing. She was able to sum up ALL of our writing/spelling issues in one hour, and sent me out the door feeling much better prepared to face this year. Long story short....it was AMAZING, and I'm so glad I went. (And as an added bonus, we had a blast staying the night and going to the Cheesecake Factory. Thank you to everyone who went, I had a great time!)

After the conference was over, I spent the next week wrapping up co-op registration, ironing out small :) kinks in the schedule, and putting together the class schedule and descriptions. Thank you to Wendy and my husband for all of your help during the last 2 weeks with that. Poor Wendy, I called her with a major scheduling issue while she was in bed with a stomach bug. I'm lucky she didn't hang up on me!! If you're interested, here is how the schedule turned out. Now that is done, and class sign-ups are almost over.....now I can focus on getting ready for school to start! Did I mention that was in five days?!?

Last on my "to-do" list for this week and next is TAGGING. If you live anywhere near the metro-Atlanta area, you have probably heard of Kidsignments. It is a HUGE kids consignment sale that takes place twice a year. I sell and shop there for a good bit of my kids' clothes every year. If you are a seller, you get to go to the presale and shop before it opens to the general public. This is a big deal. I am literally gone for at least 8 or 9 hours. It's exhausting and crowded, and we stand in line for hours.....BUT I get some great deals and that makes it all worth it. However, before you can even get to the crowded, exhausting, standing in line part, you have to TAG. Every article of clothing, every toy, every book, has to have a preprinted price tag on it. I'm hoping to sell at least 150 items.....I better get going!!

So.....now you're all caught up and I'm not near as overwhelmed with the thought of blogging. I'll get pictures up soon!

Summer Fun

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Caleb with his friend, Layna:

Fun in the Pool:

Time at the Movies:

Caleb saw Kung Fu Panda with Michael on their "date".

We saw Kit: An American Girl Movie, with friends.

VBS:

Free Ice Cream from Chik-fil-a......Kelsey said we should call Caleb "Chik-fil-MESS".

Playing outside and Catching Bugs (that is Michael's finger....it was a BIG bug).

So far, it's been a fun summer!