Our Summer in Pictures...

...because I fell off the blogging wagon. 
again.

We visited the Trees of Mystery at the end of May. 

 

The favorite part for most of us was the Sky Trail. 

Of course there were trips to beaches and hikes on trails.

And we got a dog!  
Meet Sydney Courageous. 








We gained a new family member at the beginning of July,

and enjoyed the 4th with friends.

 Our boy kept us entertained and on our toes!

My vegetable garden was plagued by deer, puppy, and blight.  

(Do you see what those deer did to my strawberries?)

We played dress up.  

Lots of it.
 

And some days we just chilled.

We were ragamuffins,

gardeners,

and daredevils.   

My girl got her ears pierced,
 

and turned 7!

We took swim lessons and spent many a' day practicing our skills in the river,

 

 

 

 Daddy taught us to shoot guns,

and made his little boy's dream come true...

 

We got a king sized bed (woo-hoo!) and the kids spent the next week making a fort out of the box.

 

The grandparents took us on an adventure,

and then we took them on one!



(she was such a good sport!  ha ha.)

Battles were won and lost,

and quiet was enjoyed.

I needed the break, and I'm not afraid to admit it.  But now...

back to work!

5 Years Old!

Yesterday Jackson turned 5.  We aren't celebrating until this weekend, but I took him to the beach for some alone time.  It was a sweet trip.

When we go out as a family, Jackson is usually so bursting with excitement that he'll run on ahead and I just do my best to keep up.  Yesterday I noticed that he walked alongside me and held my hand.  If he did go on ahead it was only a little and then would turn and hold out his hand for me and say, "C'mon, Mama."  Or he would realize that he had left me and come racing back.

He kept saying things that sounded so grown-up.
Things he never said when he was four.
He blew on an old dandelion and said,  "I think this is a wishing flower."  

I asked him if he should pray instead (as that would do a lot more good) and he said, 

"Yeah, that's what I mean.  I was praying that you would tell me about the glory of God."  

Ha!  Jeff has been talking to him about God's glory lately, so I knew he was just saying the first thing that came to mind that sounded important.  It was funny to hear his little voice say it, though!  Reminded me that he's not so little anymore.  And then I had to blink back tears.

But before I could think on it too much, he was jumping and calling to the birds,

acting little again!

I didn't want to leave!  It was one of those times that you think, "We need to do this more often!"

 

Week in Review: A Photobiography

 

This was the second week of being back to school and it went great!  In addition to our core subjects, we've added Typing, Spanish, and Artist Study this year. For Typing, we're using Typing Instructor Platinum, for Spanish we're using Rosetta Stone, and for Artist Study you'll just have to wait and see because I'm picking things up from the library as we go!

 

Jackson is loving being a big kinderkid!  He made several crafts this week and read the first THREE books in the Abeka K5 reading program!  It'll be an interesting year for sure because I have to go lesson-by-lesson to teach him how to write each letter properly, but he's ready to move on with his reading to the two-vowel rule and special sounds.  I've never had to manipulate a curriculum this much before and I'm praying that I can keep it all straight!

He's also starting to show some serious signs of being his Mama's boy!  For the past few weeks he has been "decorating" everything and is always trying to "clean up the place!"  The other night he decorated the school room.  He came and got us and asked us to take a peek and when we walked in he spread his arms wide and said, 

"It's not much, but I cleaned the place up!"

We laughed so hard!  He had placed his toys all over the room.  In every little empty space was a Lego, a stuffed animal, or an action figure!  Here are a few pictures of his handiwork. What a great little guy!

 The girls began their Spanish lessons using Rosetta Stone.  I was so nervous about them being able to understand what the program wanted them to click and say.  I asked Jeff to sit with them for their first lessons and they did great!  After a few minutes, Megan turned to her Dad and said, 

"Um, Dad?  I think I can do this by myself." 

Poor Daddy.  His girl is growing up too, too fast.

 This year we added Logic Links to Megan's curriculum and she is really enjoying it!  I'm so glad that we went with this book.  There are easy puzzles that keep her feeling confident, but also some very challenging ones that she has to sit and think about for a minute.

We also spent the week learning about Honest Abe in history and marvelous mammals in science.  I really think they would sit and read through their science books all day if I would let them!

Yesterday we went to the river with the Powers fam after we were done with school.  The kids had fun, minus one meltdown after Jackson hurt himself going down the "rapids." 

We're all clinging to the last days of summer, already seeing little signs that fall is on it's way.  I must confess that I am yearning for the cool mornings with my coffee on the front porch and later, the pouring and thunderous rains of winter.  I say "yearning" because that is the newest word in our house.  Apparently the kids learned it from the PBS show "Martha Speaks."  Yesterday Jordan told me that she had been "yearning" for the chocolate milkshake that I bought her!  Then she informed me (as if I didn't know) that yearning means to want something really, really badly.  Who says that t.v. is worthless?  ;)

Next week we continue with Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.  Until then!