Update on Life and Some Pictures

We have almost made it through our first week of school for the year. It's been a long, busy week but I am satisfied with how things have gone. I have had the normal bumps along the way (mostly with Joe--of course) but we are making our way and working through it. Grace and Joe are doing a mixed bag of science this year that will hopefully include most of the lessons in the 4th grade Science on Lesson Pathways. The lessons are kind of random but I like that we will be studying a whole bunch of different topics. This week's lesson was on Beavers. Yep, beavers. I told you that the lessons are kind of random. So, as we studied beavers this week we watched a few Youtube videos of beavers building dams and lodges. We also read a very informative book from the library, did some fun worksheets, wrote a short report on beavers, made edible beaver dams out of pretzels, chocolate, and peanut butter, and tried to build a dam in a container that was a complete failure. I'm not sure how FL beavers manage to build dams with no mud, just sand. Maybe there aren't many beavers in FL although we did learn that there are beavers in every state so I assume there are beavers somewhere in FL. Next week's science lesson is Renewable vs. Non-Renewable Resources.


The rest of school went well also although it has been an adjustment. Hannah is working very well independently even though her work is pretty intense. I am proud of the way she has tackled the more challenging work and doesn't complain. She is doing Sonlight Core 100 this year with a co-op. We are enjoying the 3 books Grace and Joe are reading as well. I'm reading 2 of them aloud to them and then one they are reading on their own. Well, Grace is reading it on her own, I'm reading it aloud to Joe. We usually read it right after his fit of the day. It's a nice bonding time once he has calmed down. :0) I love to read and really want my kids to love to read so I'm really happy with this literature based curriculum.
In other news--I'll go with a 7 Quick Takes approach just for fun.
1. I took Grace to a different orthodontist for a second opinion. I had been told a year ago that she was going to need major work on her mouth--probably oral surgery and braces for a long time. That ortho told me that her canine teeth were facing inward up under her nose kind of and would never come down on their own and would have to be surgically removed. So, I went for a 2nd opinion last week and guess what? She needs braces but nothing major. I saw the x-ray and her canine teeth are right where they are supposed to be. They are wedged in by her other teeth and may or may not push through before she gets braces to make room for them BUT they are not up in her head facing the wrong direction. I was so relieved to hear this. We see one more ortho next week for a third opinion and then we'll make a decision. We will likely need to wait a while--maybe a year or so while we save the money. We try to live debt free and we'd like to be able to just pay for the braces up front. We just need to make sure that it won't be a big deal to wait a little while. I don't think it will matter though.
2. Theatre has started back up again. They are doing "Cinderella." This was the 2nd show Hannah was in when she was just 7. We watched part of the video of it this morning and she was so cute, and so little! I love the music in this show and I'm excited that they are doing it again. Auditions are Monday so the kids are practicing a lot.
3. I read the book, The Duggars: 20 Kids and Counting, this week. I enjoyed hearing about their life, we don't have cable so I haven't seen their show very often but like most of America I am very curious about their life. It was fascinating hearing their story. They also believe in living debt free and they have all sorts of stories of God providing for their needs as they came up. I was impressed to hear that after they built their HUGE house they lived for a full summer without air conditioning in Arkansas because they didn't have the money to put in an air conditioner and were waiting to save the money to do so. They also had not landscaped the yard and she tells how there was a fine layer of red dust on everything all summer because they had the windows open all the time. How did that not make her crazy?!? I spent a little bit of time comparing myself to her and bringing myself down before I told my inner thoughts to shut the he*& up. Comparing is NEVER good. Michelle Duggar is not perfect, her kids are not perfect, and her parenting is not perfect. No one's is. If I were to write a book about my life it might sound like I have it all together too. Of course, anyone who knows me at all knows how NOT TRUE that is!!
4. Speaking of reading, the last two books I've read have been non-fiction and about kids and parenting. I can't wait to dive into a good mindless fiction read hopefully tonight. I haven't had much time to read this week and I NEED to read. That escape is what keeps me sane. I'm planning to log a few hours on the couch with a book this weekend.
5. I'm managing to get a meal on the table every night but I am still so uninspired in the kitchen. I got a Weight Watchers cookbook from the library and I'm hoping to find some good recipes. I've decided that I am going to quit trying to eat vegetarian. It's just too hard to come up with meals and right now I need easy and low-carb.
6. We went out to the beach when Ollie got home from work last night. We wanted to see the big waves and experience a bit of Hurricane Irene. I was so disappointed that it wasn't a little closer to us, I love all the rain but we got almost none. There were crazy huge waves though and Ollie and the kids had a ball boogie-boarding in the waves. They stayed close to shore though. We packed a picnic and ate at the beach after they played in the waves. We had meat, cheese, avocadoes, flatbread, figs, and some other fruit. It was a fun evening, here are some pictures...




The boogie boards were hard to control in the wind--above Grace's is flying all over the place.





Above--all of the birds were hanging out together having a little pow wow. And below--look at the sky--there was this weird cone of light amidst all the dark clouds.


7. Here is our little buddy, Landon. He absolutely loves Joe and hugs him all the time when he's here. He also says Hannah now--well, not Hannah but "Na" for Hannah. It's so cute! He's almost 19 months old now.