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!

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.

Naptime

Can you find the boy among all the animals?

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.

Ollie & Jet

Our puppy Oliver and his brother Jet (who belongs to Mamar and Doc).



Griffin with Jet.



Poor, tortured Ollie in the bathtub.

Summertime

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!

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!

Summertime blues

Every year at about this time, as summer days drag on and on, I start to get a bit restless and, dare I say, grouchy? It's funny how I begin the summer giddy with anticipation of all the swimming we'll do, popsicles we'll eat, and just how much free time we'll have to relax at home. But, now I'm over it. I'm tired of sunscreen, burning hot seat belts, mosquitoes, dying grass, and sweating on the two house walk to the mailbox. I'm ready to resume our normal schedule and I'm ready for the weather to cool down enough to allow me to send my kids outside to play without them returning in 30 seconds because "it's too ho-ot to play outside!" Unfortunately, we're still a long way from respite from the triple digit temperatures and crisp fall days seem almost unreachable.

Being stuck inside has never agreed with me, and I'll admit I've fallen into a bit of a funk. I realized today after a "discussion" with Avery about the need for gratitude, that I need to try to focus on the good of today, rather than dwelling on the negative and wishing our lives away. So, I'm going to work on remembering the good things about summer and life right now, and hopefully my posts over the next few weeks will reflect that.

In that spirit, I'd like to list five things I'm grateful for today:

1. The armful of puppies that I have in my lap right now. We're dogsitting Jet, mom's Labradoodle puppy, in addition to our own little Oliver. Really, who could be in a funk with an armload of squirmy, furry babies like these?

2. I'm grateful that I got to go today to a job that makes me feel like I'm making a difference.

3. I'm grateful for the silly nonsensical stage that Griffin is in right now and the crazy things he tells me. For example, today he said, "I had my half birthday on platform nine and three quarters, but I turned three on March twenty thirty."

4. I'm very much enjoying the philosophical phase that Rhys is in. Although his questions sometimes make me squirm, it's amazing to see how he's developing and just so curious. He seems to be a neverending fountain of curiousity about God, the universe, and, of course, Santa Claus.

5. I'm grateful that my daughter and I were able to have the "discussion" that reminded me that I, too, need to remember to be thankful. I'm also grateful that she's generally very gracious and appreciative, which is why today's Incident garnered such a reaction from me.

6. I'm grateful that I actually remembered to return our latest Netflix movie, so that we have a new disk of The Closer to watch. Seriously, who could be grouchy with plans to snuggle up with their wonderful husband, a couple of cuddly puppies, and a cat or two, and watch commercial-free television? It doesn't get better than that!

Pupdate (Ha!)

Things are going great on the puppy front! He has now been officially named Oliver, and he is such a calm, easy-going puppy. (Yes, I know he's still essentially a newborn. Shhh!) He seems to be a housetraining genius, and is easily redirected from chewing things he's not supposed to. Mostly, he's just a sweet, cuddly ball of fluff!

Future track star?

Today we took Jasper for a we-still-love-you-even-if-the-puppy-is-the-cutest-thing-ever outing to the new dog park today. He thoroughly enjoyed himself for about twenty minutes, running, playing, and chasing the other dogs. After that, he abandoned all his new friends and found a tiny sliver of shade behind a chair, flopped himself down on his side, and tried to recover from all of the excitement.

While Griffin and I kept Jasper company (and watched to make sure that he didn't suffer from a doggie coronary), Avery and Rhys wandered the park and introduced themselves to lots of dogs. After Jasper had recovered enough to get back on four legs, we went to check up on the kiddos. It turns out that Avery was busy challenging herself by hurdling the dog agility jumps. Another dog owner came up to me and told me that she thought Avery might have a future in track. I think she might be right! Avery was hurdling over jumps that were chest high. Wow. Now I guess I need to see if I can locate a homeschool-friendly track program!

Diving

Avery has been taking diving through UT once a week for the past month. She has really enjoyed it and seems to have a knack for it. I'm sure those years of gymnastics didn't hurt!



After diving this week we continued our annual tour of local snow cone sellers. This time, we tried Molly's, which shares a parking lot with P. Terry's. Yum!

New puppy!

We just got a new puppy yesterday! He's a Labradoodle -- his mom was a standard poodle and his dad was a black lab. He's only six weeks old and is so sweet and cuddly and has THE BEST puppy breath. We're all in love already. :-)

A boy named Pookie

Even when Griffin was a tiny baby, he had quite a strong personality. We started calling him Pookie (being ironic, since he is the opposite of everything the nickname conjures). Well, it stuck. And now he thinks of himself as Pookie. Just today, I heard him saying to Bill, "Let's play a game. It will be two people. You and a boy named Pookie. Okay?"

I can see it now. Pookie L., Attorney at Law. It has a certain ring to it, don't ya think?

Library volunteer

Reposted from Avery's blog:

On Friday, I went to volunteer at a church library not far away. After picking up a friend, we set off on our bikes to the library. There, I found out exactly how they bind books for safety, number them, sort their titles, etc. I had a lot of fun, actually. And the person who helped me and my friend let us bring home one of the books each they were going to get rid of*, and also supplied us with chocolate chip cookies and lemonade halfway through. (Mmm... chocolate... my favorite!) After a little while, (what seemed like 30 minutes) I checked the clock and was appalled to find we had been going for two hours! After about another 30 minutes of work, the library was about done. Thanking the helping person a million times, me and my friend left the library and rode home. Fun!

*The book I took home from the library was called "Roman Art and Architecture" by Mortimer Wheeler. It's really interesting already, and I've barely read two pages.

British Soccer

Rhys spent last week learning soccer from the pros at British soccer camp. The coaches were young men from England and Ireland, and my anglophilic children were in high heaven. I think Avery had just as much fun as Rhys did, even though she was just sitting on the sidelines. Griffin thought he was every bit as much a participant as Rhys, and he wore Rhys's old cleats and dribbled the ball back and forth on the sidelines the whole time.

Rhys got some good instruction, but mostly had a fabulous time. The coaches came up with all sorts of ways to keep the kids entertained. Friday was "Friday Fun Day" and the kids came with painted hair and/or faces. Rhys had green hair for the occasion. But every day, they got to play lots of games. (That's him in orange.)


We all got to hear hilarious, but borderline-inappropriate, stories.


Meanwhile, Bill and Griffin had time to practice their "punching".


Rhys bonded with Coach Ed.


And all the parents got involved with the games on Friday. Bill was chosen to be the Big Fat Scottish guy ("get in my bellll-ay") during the Austin Powers game.

Fiesta Texas

Yesterday, my sister and I took Avery and Rhys to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. The kids had earned free tickets through a reading program several months ago, and have been dying to use them. It was a nice, overcast day that seemed to keep the masses at bay. We were very surprised at how empty the park was; we didn't have to wait more than ten minutes on any ride! Rhys wasn't such a fan of the bigger rides, but Avery was quite the daredevil. It took a while to work up the courage, but by the end, she was riding the big, looping roller coasters with Linah. She even dragged me on a couple, but I think with age comes sanity....

Tennis Camp

Whew! Tennis camp is officially over. The kids had a fabulous week, but mama is glad to not make the daily drive over to Great Hills. It really was a great experience, and the kids are excited to keep playing. Even Griffin has been getting in on the action, and very much enjoys "tennising".

Summer fun!

No, we didn't fall off the face of the earth, we've just been busy enjoying SUMMER! In the past three days alone, we've logged over 8 hours of pool time. We've been enjoying Mamar and Doc's pool as much as we can, as well as taking a tour of the public pools in the greater Austin area. Rhys is such a fish this year and would be thrilled if he never had to leave the water. He's made amazing progress, and it's so nice to be down to just one non-swimmer again!

I have lots to update, but this week we're very busy with Avery and Rhys's tennis camp. They're loving it, despite the heat. They come off the court every day beat red and dripping with sweat, but still pronounce it "AWESOME!" Tennis seems to come quite easily to Rhys, and Avery is a hard worker like always. In fact, after the first day, the coach said to me, "Wow. Avery is...ummm...intense. And Rhys is a natural and as cool as a cucumber!" Yep, that pretty much sums them up!