Sunday, August 24, 2008
11 years!
Yesterday, Bill and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. Well, I'm loosely using the word "celebrated" because we both had to work! But we did have a lovely, quiet Chuy's take out dinner while the kids were closed in our room watching a movie. We'll have to have a more proper celebration later in the week. Happy anniversary to us!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Happy 6th birthday, Rhys!
My little man turned 6 today. I can hardly believe it. I know it's trite to talk about how quickly kids grow, but it's just plain true. It seems like just yesterday that he was that cuddly but crabby baby with giant brown eyes. And now he's a big ol' cuddly and crabby six year old!
Rhys had been anticipating his birthday for a long time. Like, months. Like, when he started counting down, it was still 90-something days away. Thankfully, I think today lived up to his expectations. We met Daddy for lunch, then the kids and I went to see Clone Wars, the new Star Wars movie. Then Rhys got to come home and play hours upon hours of his new Indiana Jones Lego Wii game (screen time limits don't apply on birthdays). He had countless calls from family members wishing him a happy birthday, which made him feel quite special. I made Rhys's request for dinner (veggie corn dogs, refried beans, and macaroni and cheese), then we had Peach Cloud pie for dessert. He went to bed telling me that it was his best birthday ever, so I consider it a success!
You know it's time...
...to take a little media break when in a one hour span, your three year old says:
"That's Jamaica!" when he saw the Jamaican flag on the Olympics. I believe that's evidence that we may have watched about 30 hours too many of the Olympic coverage.
and
"Hey, that's Slash!" when he heard "Welcome to the Jungle" on the radio. Yes, I admit, it's probably me that's exposed him to entirely too much Guitar Hero.
"That's Jamaica!" when he saw the Jamaican flag on the Olympics. I believe that's evidence that we may have watched about 30 hours too many of the Olympic coverage.
and
"Hey, that's Slash!" when he heard "Welcome to the Jungle" on the radio. Yes, I admit, it's probably me that's exposed him to entirely too much Guitar Hero.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Fun at the Mayborn
A few weeks ago, we went to Waco for the day to go to the Mayborn Museum. We had never been before, but, wow, we were impressed! It's a hands-on museum with all sorts of neat history and science related things to do and see.
Bill and Griffin had fun in the music room.
We could have spent hours having fun in the bubble room.
Avery and Griffin loved dressing up.
The guys had a blast playing basketball in the toddler room.
Before heading home, we explored the pioneer village.
Bill and Griffin had fun in the music room.
We could have spent hours having fun in the bubble room.
Avery and Griffin loved dressing up.
The guys had a blast playing basketball in the toddler room.
Before heading home, we explored the pioneer village.
Ollie & Jet
Our puppy Oliver and his brother Jet (who belongs to Mamar and Doc).
Griffin with Jet.
Poor, tortured Ollie in the bathtub.
Griffin with Jet.
Poor, tortured Ollie in the bathtub.
Back to "school"
After taking a long summer vacation, the kids and I are finally regrouped and ready for fall. As homeschoolers, we're hard to define, because our style and method seems to change all the time. We've run the gamut from unschooling to strictly following a classical curriculum, and I think we've finally settled into nice place in the middle. We try to have some structure (a few hours four times a week set aside for "school"), but we like to change subjects and materials often. Generally the kids decide what they're interested in studying, and I help them get organized and find the materials. The basics (math, English, etc) tend to stay the same, but the kids like to vary the rest.
This year, Avery chose to study ancient history, and Rhys will join her. Avery will be using History Odyssey Level II and Rhys will do the first Story of the World. Some friends of ours are also studying ancient history this year, so we will plan some field trips together to correspond with what they are studying. Both kids will also do Latin (Avery continuing with Latin for Children, and Rhys will start Song School Latin). Avery has also requested to do some marine biology/oceanography, so she's starting with a quick overview of biology, then she'll study ocean life more in depth. And, as always, she wants to do more writing, so we're working on getting a writing class for her again this year in addition to the book reviews she does for Readerviews and the creative writing she does for fun.
And, as always, our extracurriculars will keep us very busy. Avery, Rhys, and I are taking weekly tennis lessons, which we love. Avery also has been taking violin for a few months, and she'll continue in the fall. Rhys will play t-ball. We will continue with our science co-op (this year the focus is human anatomy), and we'll keep going to book club. And, recently, Griffin started a playgroup with kids his age. He absolutely loves it, and it's so good for him to have some kids his age to hang out with. So we'll definitely keep up with that group!
Life will be busy, I'm sure, but after the quiet summer we've had, I think we're ready!
This year, Avery chose to study ancient history, and Rhys will join her. Avery will be using History Odyssey Level II and Rhys will do the first Story of the World. Some friends of ours are also studying ancient history this year, so we will plan some field trips together to correspond with what they are studying. Both kids will also do Latin (Avery continuing with Latin for Children, and Rhys will start Song School Latin). Avery has also requested to do some marine biology/oceanography, so she's starting with a quick overview of biology, then she'll study ocean life more in depth. And, as always, she wants to do more writing, so we're working on getting a writing class for her again this year in addition to the book reviews she does for Readerviews and the creative writing she does for fun.
And, as always, our extracurriculars will keep us very busy. Avery, Rhys, and I are taking weekly tennis lessons, which we love. Avery also has been taking violin for a few months, and she'll continue in the fall. Rhys will play t-ball. We will continue with our science co-op (this year the focus is human anatomy), and we'll keep going to book club. And, recently, Griffin started a playgroup with kids his age. He absolutely loves it, and it's so good for him to have some kids his age to hang out with. So we'll definitely keep up with that group!
Life will be busy, I'm sure, but after the quiet summer we've had, I think we're ready!
Friday, August 08, 2008
Where I last left off...
...we were struggling for perspective and gratitude. Without going into too much detail about The Incident which precipitated my last post (in respect for my little Reader Girl who closely monitors this blog), I will say that things are much improved. We had a week long "experiment" following The Incident, in which Avery was required to keep her life afloat without all the normal help from her loving parents. She did her own laundry, prepared her own food, and even earned the driving time we spent shuttling her to and fro by doing chores. At the end of the week, I asked if she'd learned anything. Her response? "Yes. I learned not to complain."
Ok, then. I was going for something more like, "Wow, Mom, you sure do a lot to help me! I know now that I could never get by without such loving and generous parents!" But if she learned not to complain, I'll take it.
So that was last week. This week was camp week. Avery spent the week at the Williamson County Historical Museum. Keeping with our current family theme, I'll share the things our family is grateful for this week.
1. We are all grateful that Avery had such a great opportunity for such a fun camp. She learned all sorts of new crafts, like spinning yarn, felting, weaving, etc. She also got to explore new places, like the county courthouse, where they even had a mock trial.
2. I am grateful for good friends to do childcare swaps with, so that Bill and I could have one glorious morning exploring Georgetown alone. We perused the book sale at the library, wandered through countless arts and antique stores, enjoyed the quaint and lovely architecture on the Square, and had a wonderful lunch at Romeo's. Oh, and I'm grateful to have a husband that enjoys these things as much as I do!
3. I'm grateful that we don't have to get up every morning all year round and get children out the door. It was fine for a week, but I'm already weary of operating on someone else's schedule!
4. I'm grateful that my daughter and her friends are so accustomed to polite and respectful adults that they were absolutely horrified when the camp director got frustrated and yelled at a few of the kids in the courthouse. We all got quite an earful from our enraged offspring. I think the director was just having a bad day, as teachers sometimes have!
5. I'm grateful that my children missed each other so much this week! It was a good reminder to them both that they really enjoy each other's company. After camp one day, Avery had her violin lesson, then I took her to a movie. The kids were so sad to not see each other all day, so they arranged to talk on the phone. It was really a heartwarming (and hilarious) conversation.
And, unrelated to camp, I'm also grateful this week for...
6. My wonderful grandmother, who celebrated a birthday yesterday. And I'm so thankful for such a fun and loving family.
7. I'm thankful that I got to see a screening of the movie Man on Wire. Truly amazing!
8. And, last, I'm sooooo excited that the Olympics are starting that I can hardly stand it! I'm guessing we'll be parked in front of our TV more in the next 17 days than we have been all summer. I can't wait!
Ok, then. I was going for something more like, "Wow, Mom, you sure do a lot to help me! I know now that I could never get by without such loving and generous parents!" But if she learned not to complain, I'll take it.
So that was last week. This week was camp week. Avery spent the week at the Williamson County Historical Museum. Keeping with our current family theme, I'll share the things our family is grateful for this week.
1. We are all grateful that Avery had such a great opportunity for such a fun camp. She learned all sorts of new crafts, like spinning yarn, felting, weaving, etc. She also got to explore new places, like the county courthouse, where they even had a mock trial.
2. I am grateful for good friends to do childcare swaps with, so that Bill and I could have one glorious morning exploring Georgetown alone. We perused the book sale at the library, wandered through countless arts and antique stores, enjoyed the quaint and lovely architecture on the Square, and had a wonderful lunch at Romeo's. Oh, and I'm grateful to have a husband that enjoys these things as much as I do!
3. I'm grateful that we don't have to get up every morning all year round and get children out the door. It was fine for a week, but I'm already weary of operating on someone else's schedule!
4. I'm grateful that my daughter and her friends are so accustomed to polite and respectful adults that they were absolutely horrified when the camp director got frustrated and yelled at a few of the kids in the courthouse. We all got quite an earful from our enraged offspring. I think the director was just having a bad day, as teachers sometimes have!
5. I'm grateful that my children missed each other so much this week! It was a good reminder to them both that they really enjoy each other's company. After camp one day, Avery had her violin lesson, then I took her to a movie. The kids were so sad to not see each other all day, so they arranged to talk on the phone. It was really a heartwarming (and hilarious) conversation.
And, unrelated to camp, I'm also grateful this week for...
6. My wonderful grandmother, who celebrated a birthday yesterday. And I'm so thankful for such a fun and loving family.
7. I'm thankful that I got to see a screening of the movie Man on Wire. Truly amazing!
8. And, last, I'm sooooo excited that the Olympics are starting that I can hardly stand it! I'm guessing we'll be parked in front of our TV more in the next 17 days than we have been all summer. I can't wait!
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