First Day of School

Since starting to home-educate, we've changed a lot of things about the rhythm of our lives.  One thing that remains, though, is my obsessive need to have first day of school pictures.  My mom always took them, and I even had my roommates take them in college so that I could mail them to her.  We use the first day of Classical Conversations for our "First Day of School" pictures.  The kids get to pick out a new outfit, which they love, and then once they're all schnazzed up, I make us spend seven extra minutes we don't have because we're running later than I'd hoped to get pictures. 

Riley has grown so much in a year.  He really looks like a "guy" now, and he really wants to be, too.  He's struggling with the balance of "big tough guy" and "decent human being" occasionally as he navigates his way to "big person", but his true nature is very compassionate and loving, and he's eager to please.  We're so proud of him and how hard he's working each day at whatever he does.  Smart as all get out, this kid is fantastic at remembering anything he wants to, including the entire Story of the World.  He turns 9 this year (Third Grade) and I can't believe he's half-way to technical adulthood.

Logan is so gentle and interesting.  He's got a vivid imagination, but we work really hard on helping him mitigate his feelings since he's easily wounded by anyone/anything.  He is snuggly and fun, and he's a fantastic reader.  It's so weird for me that he's a First Grader this year and he's never been to school.  Sometimes I worry I'm robbing him of that experience, but he's thrived under our home program and performs well above grade level in most of his subjects.  He's such a sweet boy and we adore him.

Oh my little Savannah Lynn.  I jokingly say that she's got a Napoleon Complex.  Tiny and petite, she will hurt you if you get in her way and fail to yield to her sweet cute side!  She's very much a tough cookie and wants to be the boss, and enjoys the control she has over the men in our family :) She's sassy and smart and wants to do everything her brothers do.  I'm tutoring her class this year and am enjoying already how eager and excited she is to learn.  I'm so excited to see the person she ends up becoming!

I can never get a good picture of all three of these kids!! However, one of the things I love most about homeschooling is that they really do love each other in a way that we were losing when Riley went away to school.  They love their friends and definitely whine if they don't get enough social exposure (and believe me, they get A TON), but they also play so well together and have fantastic imaginary worlds, stories, and games that are constantly happening around me.  It's above my pay grade to be in on all the stories, but they always sound fantastic!!

Here's to a great 2012-2013 year!!

Swim Team 2012

This year was our first year of Swim Team and we had so much fun.  I was really unsure that I wanted to spend 2 hours a day at the pool, but the kids enjoyed the structure that swim team added to our day, and they had a great time with all the social events.  I was able to enjoy my mornings having coffee and chatting with other moms, as well as reading (can you believe that!) while the kids swam.  Savannah didn't get a space on the developmental program until 3 weeks from the end of our season, but she was such a trooper about going everyday, which was made easier by the fact that "her friend" Anna was there.  I remember being little and thinking that older kids were just the coolest people ever, so I'm actually so thankful for Anna and her entire family who were such great sports about my children attaching themselves to them and are really great role models for my kids, too!

Savannah and her BFF from this summer's activities, hanging out at a meet and after the end of the season awards ceremony with their medals. 

For Logan, swim team was more of a stretch.  Early Saturday morning meets and daily practice just didn't have the draw that hockey has for him, but he didn't' want to sit on the side and watch, either.  Logan's also never been a "racer" and so it was hard for him to come in (nearly) dead last every meet.  His strokes improved, though, and if he wants to, I bed next year he can kick some butt.  or, keep dogging it, but enjoy the water every day, whatever.  We're not raising 10 year old olympians over here.  

Logan's lane coach was awesome.  She kept him happy during meets and encourages him every step of the way.  We were way thankful for her happy demeanor and constant patience.

So then we had Captain Competitive.  Riley really likes competing with people and he likes to win.  He wasn't the fastest out there, he finished 10th in our division in freestyle and 11th in backstroke, but he's not a year round competitive swimmer, which most of the faster kids allegedly were, and they give out heat winner ribbons, so I think he really came out feeling like he was way cooler than he actually is ;) We're still very proud of him (as well as his siblings) because they all did great in different ways.  Savannah was patient waiting while her brothers swam and she couldn't touch the water, Logan really learned a lot about positive attitude, and Riley really did try hard to win every heat.

When Savannah finally got on the developmental team, the season was almost over, but they did a really cute competition for them with just the kids on our team, and they even did an Olympic Torch walk as they entered the pool.  Swim team was a really positive experience for us, and we're looking forward to next year, more head-sized donuts on Wednesdays, and even more time sitting at the pool as we'll have kids in either 2 or 3 time slots.  (I'm taking book recommendations now!)

In Which We Sum Up July.

I'm being a bad writer.  Keeping up with vacation and camps and VBS and school and my writing I do here and here is really getting the best of me.  For the first time in my entire life EVER I would really like to get back to a regular schedule.
I know.  Crazy.

In the meantime, here's what we've been up to:

First it was the 4th of July.  Riley's cub scout pack made a float and Logan came and helped.  Savannah and Logan made red, white, and blue strawberries for the barbeque at grammy's house and thoroughly enjoyed the parade.  After, we went to our local baseball team's game and got to watch the fireworks.  I watched Logan- he was adorable staring up in awe.  Savannah still hates them.

Check out our cub scouts! Their float turned out great and Riley enjoyed riding.  I walked in the parade with him and some other moms and had fun chucking candy at people :)

After the 4th, we left on a trip to Hershey Park and Amish Country.  My parents joined us and I picked possibly the WORST HOTEL EVER! It was such a good deal (because it was in the middle of being renovated) but it did have a pool, so the kiddos were happy! We did a horse and buggy tour of Amish Country and the kids got to make "Amish" toys.  Hershey Park was a big hit, especially the roller coasters for Riley! He's definitely as much of a thrill-seeker as he ever was!

On our way home, it was essential that we go to Tony Luke's and get cheesesteaks in Philly.  We drove to the city and toured the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall in the rain.  Everyone else donned rain apparel, but Logan walked the entire way getting poured on and was the happiest I have seen him in his entire life.  He was soaked and smiling ear to ear.

A park near our home has a reptile show every year with (I'm pretty sure) the same guy who has been doing it since I was a kid.  At the end of the show he lets the kids come up and touch an albino python.  I took pictures.  I felt very proud of myself.  Yes, that is my daughter in her pajamas.  They match her Bitty Baby.  No, she's not wearing shoes.  Don't judge.

The boys also touched the snake.  You'll notice they are both dressed and have shoes.  Well, maybe you won't "notice" the shoes from the picture, but they did.  If their sister would sleep at night so that she wasn't getting dragged out of bed in the morning, maybe she'd be cute, too.  The cutest part of this experience was the herptologist showing a python shedding and saying "If you ever found one of these in your backyard, you should call me." Savannah, with a totally serious look, turned to me and said in the most concerned voice "We need his phone number!"

We've done a lot of swimming.  Sometimes Uncle Kevin comes.  The kids also got to spend the night at his house with Ms. Lauren and Uncle Kevin while I went to Ohio (more on that later).  They think he's super cool.  They're young.  They'll learn he's just an annoying younger brother.....

Maybe not.

We've of course ventured into DC.  (Yes, this is all one month) We went in to check out the annual folklife festival on the mall.  On our way from parking we stumbled upon the DC Farmers' Market and the USDA Children's Garden.  They let the kids plant and make crafts and had some great tents for us to picnic under.  It was really awesome.  Your tax dollars make for my kids' fun, people.  Keep paying up!

Let's see.....this is getting long.  Okay, so Riley went to an awesome art camp, Savannah and I got lucky enough to join Kyla for her birthday at American Girl Place (which she loved!), we've hiked and caught butterflies and made ice cream.  I got to have a mommy-day celebrating Jamie's birthday at Quattro Goomba's winery, we enjoyed some bounce time on a particularly hot day, the boys got to go and pick up Grammy and Uncle's new lab puppies in Pennsylvania, aaaaaaaaaaaand, the kids made me breakfast when I got back from my trip.  Not in this post, because it just happened today, we competed in our first cardboard regatta, which will get its own post as soon as I have pictures :)

In Which We Play Twister for Fun and Fotos

I've been writing for a little news service for the past few months which has been really really fun for me because I've always wanted to take my writing out for a spin and see where it took me.  One of the perks of this job was that I got to meet Mary, who is the senior photographer.  She had my kids and me over for some pictures for the business she's starting up and I wasn't so sure how they'd turn out- but they were really fun!  Totally different than the sterile studio portraits we normally get from school, Mary had them play twister with me.

I loved what Mary had to say, too: "Savannah, Riley and Logan are a party all by themselves. I was quite taken with how they genuinely enjoyed playing together."  


We really are lucky to have such great munchkins that love each other deeply.  And, twister pictures- super cute! I think I need a new stacked frame to display these!! 

In Which We Howl at the Moon

Riley has absolutely adored cub scouts this year.  It's right up his alley- a dash of everything and lots of crafts and field trips thrown in.  When our original baseball coach moved practice so that it would overlap with scouts, I was amazed that Riley had the dedication to say that he'd rather switch teams than skip scouts- especially since he committed to scouting first.  Love that kid.  This week he got to move up from Tiger Scouts to Wolf Scouts.  (Hence the howling).  This momentous occasion was marked with a new handkerchief.  Yellow, this time, instead of orange.  It's my favorite one because it matches :)

 Riley has a lot of fantastic kids in his den.  It's a really fun (and HIGH ENERGY!!!) group of boys and I think they've had a really great introduction to scouting thanks to their leaders!!

Against my better judgement, here's me and my boy.  This year I have not been good to myself and I've gained 15 pounds from stress eating that I really didn't need to gain since I was already quite fat enough, thank you very much.  Hopefully this summer I can take better care of myself and my family since PTA will be done and I won't be shoving wine and brownies down my face every time I have to open another nasty email....hopefully.

In Which We Race Cars.....Fast :)

Riley is in Cub Scouts (!!!) this year.  He's been waiting to do Cub Scouts (!!!!) since last year when his girl friends were able to begin Daisies for Girl Scouts.

Life, it seems, is just terribly unfair. :)

We're so blessed this year because Riley has an awesome group of leaders for his Den/Pack/Other Boy Scouting Terms Mommy Has Yet to Master. He's also super lucky to have Papa going with him to meetings (because Mommy is a girl and therefore uncool to bring to Scouts, and Daddy hates Boy Scouting, don't ask me why)  Riley and Papa worked for quite a few days designing and building Riley's Pinewood Derby Car, and the results were quite impressive!!

Riley at Papa at the Pinewood Derby.  Riley was super cute telling Papa "I couldn't have done it without you!!"

Riley came in 3rd for Tigers and 10th overall out of all the Scouts competing!! He also got a "Most Awesome" award (I have no clue what that is!) and a Bronze Medal.  As we all know, pieces of flare are awesome.  :) My grandfather passed away when I was 2- and I'm so glad that my kids get to spend time with their grandpa!!

Riley's 6th Birthday (of Doom!)

Riley is such a fun kid- and he is wicked popular, which I never was. I was only popular when the popular kids needed help with their homework. I actually think that's still true, but Riley, on the other hand, is a people person. So, in order to fit EVERYONE!! into one place, we had his party at Kids in Motion, which we've done a few times now. Riley also wanted to have a Volcano Cake Of Doom- so that was an adventure in dry ice and fantasticness.

The cake was a huge hit- I baked it in the mold for a princess (top) and an angel food cake pan (bottom) and then carved an opening for a tall plastic cup which I filled with red jello and hot water. When we added the dry ice, it totally erupted, which was awesome and all the kids loved it. It's so hard to believe that Riley is SIX!!! He's so big and independent, and a great helper and big brother. And, we're really proud of him.

Starting with Today

These things always have to start somewhere!! So, here is today.


Today was actually a rather sad day. We came over to Grandma and Papa's house early to have scrambled eggs and bacon with their dog, Cassie, who was going to get put down because her hips had gotten so bad she could barely walk. All of our kids love dogs, but Daddy hates them, so sadly, they're out of luck.

All the kids gave Cassie lots of kisses and hugs, and then while the younger two went down for a nap, Riley went with Gram and Papa and Daddy (who came home early since I didn't think I could do it!!) to the vet. After being around when my grandmother was sick and dying, it seemed so normal to him that he'd go when Cassie was put down. His faith is so amazing- he just embraces that Cassie is better off and trusts that God has a plan for all of his creation.




After that we all swam and enjoyed some dinner with the Grandparents and Uncle Kevin. Riley and Logan did their workbooks before bed- Logan is so happy to be a "big boy" and do his work, but Riley still has a bit of an attitude. Hopefully that will change before September!!