These kids of ours are amazing

Check out this huge pumpkin crop we've had this year.  Whew!  Picking these guys was exhausting, ha!

So I was going to write "hope you had a good weekend"  but then I realized that when I post this it will be Wednesday already and that thereby reminded me of my lameness dealing with time this week. 

I mean, how is it not still Monday? 

We had a fabulous weekend.  It was a whirlwind of activity but it was lots of fun. 

We have some promising things on the horizon and we are praying and trusting God to see those through.  I'll let you know of course as things develop. 

Let's see, what else can I record as an update?  I love to write things down on here to keep track of what the kids are doing. 

Emma is in the Nutcracker again this year.  She is in the party scene in the beginning when Clara is given the Nutcracker as a gift.  It's about a 30 minute role she has and we are thrilled for her.  This weekend she was also asked to be a Polichinelle girl (she was this part last year) and she was so tickled that they asked her.  So she will be in both acts of the ballet. 

On a side note, I have no idea how this girl does everything that she does.  She's just amazing.  This summer she developed a cold (I thought!) during her ballet summer intensive classes.  Summer intensive was ballet every day for 8 hours a day for two weeks straight.  She missed one day with her illness and then I made her go back to ballet.  Turns out the girl had pneumonia.  Pneumonia!  And she made it through.  I felt really bad when I found out how sick she was but also really proud of her that she struggled through and was successful. 

Calvin is in pottery classes at the local art museum.  He was invited to submit one of his pieces into the art museum to be on display.  I am so proud of him.  He LOVES pottery which is adorable and he is so proud of himself. 

Well I think that's it for now. 

Hope you all are doing well! 

What I'm Loving on this Monday

Hey y'all!  Hope you had a great weekend!  Ours was a weird combo of being super duper busy but still managing to get a ton done and home and starting the week feeling relaxed and refreshed.  Believe me, that miracle doesn't happen often around here!

I thought I would share with you a few things I'm digging this morning as we are getting our day off the ground....

Um, coffee!  Nick bought me some Door County coffee for me and had it sent to me while he was out of town with business last week.  So thoughtful.  Of course it is Pumpkin Spice...my fave! Also, I am doing the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan which I LOVE!  but the one thing I miss so much is Pumpkin Spice Creamer.  I use real cream and stevia in my coffee these days so the flavored coffee allows me to still have the taste.  It's the best Jerry, the best!

Adorbs outfits as Emma would call them!  This weekend I went up to the attic and got down the seasonal clothing bin (I buy so many of them I have a bin dedicated to holiday outfits. So handy and then they aren't taking up room in their closets when it's not time for them!).  I brought down all of the Halloween outfits and I was so excited to see this one because I bought it in the spring and had completely forgotten about it.  So much fun!  There's also a matching outfit for her American Girl doll.  I am having a blast dressing her like this and she is still not complaining about how I dress her (Thank you, thank you Jesus!)

Isn't she just the cutest?

This sweet boy was a champ with his spelling this morning!  This year we switched to Spelling Workout curriculum.  Cal is a level C and Emma is a level E.  Isn't that cute how that worked out?  Anyway, they both had tests this morning so he was having a quick review before we dove into it. 

It's been an amazing curriculum and they both seem to really enjoy it. Anyone else using this?

This visual timer.  Wow am I loving this thing today. 

I bought this for Cal about 3 years ago.  He hated it.  We tried it for time frames such as when he needed to get dressed but he would take the batteries out and hide them and then hide the timer and then it didn't work.  Funny how that works, right?

But this year we've been using it a lot with school.  Emma loves to use it for her work.  15 minutes of spelling?  She just sets the timer and it dings at her when her time is up. Easy-peasy.  If you have kiddos who struggle with transitioning from activity to activity or need a little help keeping track of their time, this thing is great!

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Well that's it...a quick list of things I'm loving today as we are quickly diving into the week!  Can't wait to see all that is in store for us this week.  I think it's going to be an amazing week here and I hope it is for you as well! 

Comment below with any fun plans you have :) 

Careful what you wish for...

Hey guys! 

I hope you had a great weekend! 

Things here are starting to slip with school so we were up and at 'em this morning!  Thankfully Nick was around for a bit before hopping on a jet plane to go to his next corporate meeting. 

With that said I had a thought today...

There were times when I begged and argued and pleaded with God for my husband to make more money.  It had seemed to unfair.  He was in a job that was not using my husband's talent to their greatest potential.  He was in a supervisor position in a manufacturing facility.  He had been laid off from a corporate high faluten kind of job and I just felt miserable. 

Fast-forward today and God has been so faithful!  He gave my husband a corporate job but now he travels.  The lesson I had to learn was that the people who are making the big bucks are the ones who are traveling to do the wheeling and dealing.

Anyway, the lesson I think is to be careful what you wish for.  Don't get me wrong.  God has blessed us and I couldn't be more pleased but when he leaves and I'm sad I feel like l've brought this upon myself a bit with always wanting more and more and more.  There are always sacrifices.  Just be happy with what you have!  Lesson over ;)

Anywho...

We had a great weekend! We didn't really do anything spectacular.  I ran the kids around from ballet, back from ballet, to pottery, home from pottery, back to ballet, home from ballet.  Emma and I got manis and pedis with my sweet sisters Saturday which was lots of fun and very relaxing. 

It's fun to just treat yourself to something fun every once in a while, isn't it?

Sunday Emma's American Heritage Girls troop had a spaghetti supper as a fundraiser.  I got dish pan hands in the kitchen helping out and we all had a lovely time! I'll take an afternoon of dishpan hands over selling Girl Scout cookies month after month after month anytime thank you!  We said good bye to Girl Scouts and we have loved AHG ever since!  It's been such an amazing fit for our family!

Notre Dame football season is in full swing which means driving around here is interesting. Interesting is probably the least exciting word to describe it but it's the one I'm sticking to.  We need ninja like driving skills to navigate our way around the city without getting caught in the throngs of people driving around for the game.

Well I think that is it for now.  I used to write updates every now and then and by golly I miss going back through them and trying to figure out what we were up to back on a certain date.  So long live the updates! Long live the updates!

How to Change Your Life with One Word

Last year was a disaster. 

In terms of our schooling that is.

Not like there was some type of nuclear apocalypse but school did not go so well for us. 

Imagine heads exploding and that is somewhat of a fair representation of what we had going on over here.  Nothing getting done, ever.  No one able to find anything, ever.  Momma being frustrated always.  The kids fighting, always.  It was horrid. 

Over the summer God really spoke to my heart that I need to take this schooling thing seriously.  For real serious, yo.

So I started bailing things out of my life. 

Usborne parties?  Out!

Resale responsibilities?  Out!

Extra committees?  Out!

And on and on it went. 

It was rough.  It felt like I was taking off all of these things that I used to identify myself and had to leave them in the dressing room. 

I came out of the summer/dressing room as the real me.  It was brutal but we made it. 

And I have to admit that it has felt pretty darn good. 

Yes it was hard but as I have done it saying "no" has become easier.

A few weeks ago I was asked to pick up another commitment. 

I think the old me would have loved it but I just couldn't see myself continuing with it and feeling fulfilled or that I was doing my family any favors and so I politely declined. 

I said no! 

It was freeing really! 

I finally am starting to feel that I am putting myself and my family first and that feels amazing. 

I dare you to start saying no.  I just dare ya! 

But please don't get me wrong, there are some causes and things I would take up in a heartbeat and do. I know that I would love doing them and that those things would be a good fit for our family. 

Just say no! 

It has felt so, sooo good!

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What have you said no to recently or wanted to? 

Back to School Time

Today is our first day back to school. 

And while I did not have the house quite so "set everything on fire to sanitize then drag all new back in" clean, I am feeling pretty darn good.  The lessons are planned.  The laundry is done.  The house is pretty organized. 

And so we are starting back! 

This year our theme is Peanuts in the classroom and I am so thrilled at how cute it all turned out!  I love having themes simply because it gets the kids so excited to see the new decorations and gets us all loving the theme.  We've had owls and Suzy's Zoo as our theme in the past.  Calvin absolutely adores Snoopy and the rest of us love Peanuts so this was a great theme for our family.

Every year I take the kids school supply shopping.  I make them a list of what they need just like kids in school get to shop from.  So fun!

Well I hope you all have a happy back to school if you haven't started yet.  And even if you've already started, happy back to school to you anyway since you are coming back from a long weekend of loveliness! 

If you need a chuckle I'll leave you with my Twas the Eve Before School Starts!  Enjoy!

School Planning

When summer sets off is when I like to get started with planning for the next phase...

School Starting!

I have to say, planning for the upcoming school year is one of my favorite things to do. 

Organizing, purchasing new school supplies, spending hours pouring over books...those are all of my favorite things combined into one totally awesome experience! 

Not to mention that it's the chance for me to start with a clean slate.  Forget that I bombed teaching language arts properly or we never finished with all of the math lessons. 

Forget about it. 

Because at the beginning of a new school I get to school school at being school.  I get to look awesome smart and not at all like a slacker mom who once forgot to put a bra on when she left the house.

Some of this stuff you just can't make up folks...

Or that I've bribed a friend with alcohol to teach my kid latin.  Again, these are true stories.

But anyway, at the beginning of the school year I can put on real clothes and forget that in two months I'll be wearing my glue covered yoga pants and trying to figure out who thought paper mache was again a good idea.

Here are some of the things to help you start planning for this upcoming homeschool year:

1. Planner!

One of the biggest components for me to be successful in planning is my Homeschool Planner.  It's loaded with everything I need to be successful.  I have it all in the planner so I can grab and go whether I'm surfing Pinterest for ideas or going to the library to get books for a certain week of school.  Whatever it is, it's all in there and I am ready to go.  

2. School Supplies

Another thing that helps me to be successful in planning is to start stocking up on school supplies.  It's never too early to keep an eye out for a great deal. 

This past week I was buying Ziploc bags at Costco (I am probably the ONE person that runs into that store with ONE thing on my list, teehee).  And as I was browsing I saw these great deals on pens and pencils:

The Ticonderoga Pencils.  96 of them for $12.96!  Holy Moly that's a good deal.  Now these do go on sale at back to school time but I don't remember them being this cheap.  And even if they are I don't have to push people out of the way to get to the pencil display.  They're mine I tell ya, all mine!

These pens though!  So I heart colored pens.  Have ever since I was a wee bit.  But my kids...my kids REALLY like colored pens.  Now that they are getting older I am starting to let them use pens.  I think learning to correctly write with a pencil is super important.  Mind you, I say that as a mom who has dragged her son to a children's hospital week after week after week to work with someone who could help him understand how to hold a pencil.  Let's just say form is important in our house.  And we still use pencils (hence the 96 mondo box of pencils above) but sometimes you just need to shake things up and use 8000 different pen colors. 

And now we can. 

3. Organizing or Perhaps Reorganizing

When the last worksheet is done and everything is completed I know that the last thing you want to do this summer is trudge back through all of your school stuff to try to prepare for the next year. 

But do it anyway. 

Give yourself some time to chill from the situation and then you can charge back in with fresh eyes and a new perspective.  Look at the books, manipulatives, supplies, everything from the perspective of your children and what their ages as well as developmental stages will be when coming back in the fall. 

It always seems you blink and your kids are grown.  I just went through our books and found I had pre reader workbooks for the kids, my kids, who are writing research papers and are gearing up to read Shakespeare next year.  Clearly we no longer need the practice on how to trace a triangle.

So out those go. And out go the little bears to help us add.  Those type of things.  Some of these things don't even take up much room at all but by getting rid of them we can a) find someone to give them to that really needs them and b) it helps to clear the mental clutter. 

It's so great to know your classroom is ready for the grades and ages that you will be teaching in the fall, not a mishmash of just a bunch of stuff you've collected along the way, and who in the heck knows what's even in there.

Anyway, I highly recommend going through your things, donating what you are no longer going to use, pitching what's broken or ruined, and reorganize what is going to stay.

That being said let me remind you to only get rid of things that only your youngest is done with. Even if you have quite the age gap or kiddos who learn in completely different ways, the youngest can still benefit from things that your older children have used in school when they get to that stage. 

My case in point here is our abacus. I bought it a WAY long time ago because I thought it would be cute.  Cute!  Emma never even touched the thing.  Cal would play with it all of the time but never to do math with. I could have gotten rid of the darn thing years ago.  But then this past year Cal was having a really, really hard time conquering multiplication.  I pulled that out and discovered he loves learning with it.  So keeping things until you are completely through that developmental phase just to be sure, really pays off.

4. Planning "Workshops"

I'm just gonna say it:

Sometimes homeschool planning ain't easy. 

I remember last year being holed up in a hotel room trying to combine the sequence and scope of two different homeschool methods or plans. 

It was grueling.

I wanted to cry.

I think I grew an ulcer. 

But in the end I finished it and it felt great.  Through all of the mental hurdles that I posed for myself by doing this, in the end I felt greatly prepared for the upcoming year.

I felt like I owned this school year because I was prepared.  I put it together. 

I have to mention that I did say I went away and did this in a hotel room.  I couldn't imagine all of the crap spread out over the dining room table trying to figure it all out between snipping popsicles open and untangling kite string.

Whether your curriculum is boxed and ready to go or you are starting from the ground up, I would urge you to get away.  You certainly don't have to get out of town and I should mention that I was with my husband on a business trip, not on some spa retreat for "homeschool planning". You could go to Panera for a few hours.  Or a library.  Or somewhere you really love to go just to get out of the house so you can think.  Or do it when the kids are in bed and have time to just sit and mull over everything. If you're an early riser during the summer mornings is a really great time to do it.  There have been years I've found myself pouring over everything for a couple of hours before our kiddos got up on their summer schedules.

And working on it could mean any number of things: maybe you're pinning things on Pinterest to use for this year.  Or writing out a week by week plan of what you're going to do and what supplies you need. Or just reading through teacher manuals to make sure you know what you'll be getting yourself into, ha! Last year I started an all inclusive list of every art supply, thing to buy at goodwill and food item I would need for art projects, history dioramas, science experiments or food exploration.  When I went to the store I kept the list with me and could pull it out to see what I needed and how much of it to get.  So super helpful!

Whatever it is, carving out some time to plan for the upcoming school year is so important and will really give you a feeling of accomplishment and being ready for the upcoming school year. As I've mentioned before I have to look at this as a full time job rather than just something I do here and there.  So preparing for a new project (next school year) is something that goes with treating teaching as a full time job.

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Well I hope these help you to feel prepared to prepare for school!  Have any more to add?  Share them in the comments below, I'd love to know what helps you feel prepared and ready to go for the upcoming school year!

Happy planning!

A Homeschool Momma's Back to School Supply List

With school days coming closer it seems we all have our kiddos supply lists in mind.  And I do too.

However, I think it's important that us Momma's have some supplies of our own. 

Afterall, we're the ones who have the keep this ship running smoothly.

One of the biggest things I'm thankful for is that my husband gets this too.  He always gets me the best "supplies".  When I have my heart set on something he gives me a little smile and says something like "well you might need this for your school year."  And just like that, here I am at the threshold of the newest schooling adventure and I have amassed the coolest supplies. 

I thought you would like to know what's been on my supply list that I got.  And I don't think I got any of them at Walmart.  ;)

Paula Deen Coffee Mug

I love a good cup of coffee.  One with stevia and a splash of heavy cream.  I am a Trim Healhy Mama and I love savoring that cup of coffee in the morning.  Nick bought me this cup from the Paula Deen store in Pigeon Forge and I am so smitten with it. 

I love the two little chicks with their Momma.  It's just like me with my kiddos.  And who on earth could ever resist a mug that says "rise n' shine y'all".  It is reminiscent of my sweet grandma Wannie wakin' up with biscuits and grits in the morning.

That being said I can't find this cup to save my life online to give you a link.  But do yourself a favor and get yourself a cute coffee mug.  One that you don't mind looking at every day and makes you feel a little bit happy to be awake ;)

Starfish Pants

Okay so these are from Lands' End and they've been around for a while.  I've been hesistant to jump on the starfish pants wagon so here I am a starfish virgin.  One night about dark o'thirty, Nick was away on business and I was bored and shopping.  I found an amazing deal on these pants (I think they were running a 40% off sale???) and I was intrigued.  Upon googling reviews of them I found blog after blog from fellow SAHM's just swearing up and down about how awesome these pants are.  How they are life changing.  How life will never be right if you don't have these pants. 

So Nick got me some.  I now have a black pair and a navy pair.  I've tried them on but they are heavy so in this heat and humidity I am not wearing them regularly but on the plus side of that I can tell they are going to keep me warm in the freezing winter months. 

The things I have not tried out yet are the facts that you can wear them with a nicer top and have them look like dress pants while still feeling like you're in sweats (score!) and you can wear them around without them getting all stretched out and baggy (yahoo!).  So we will see but so far I am loving them. 

Also in case you don't buy a lot from Lands End, let me tell you, I LOVE their clothes.  They are guaranteed for life so if something goes horribly wrong they make it right.  I love and stand by companies who do the same with their products.

Jelly the Pug Dresses

Zulily had these amazing dresses on sale.  I picked up three or four of them.  They are cotton and so cute and unique.  Dresses are perfect for mornings when I just need to throw something on and go.  Pair them with a cute pair of flats and I am ready to go! 

I love dresses and I've loved Jelly the Pug for Emma so women's Jelly the Pug dresses are perfect for me.

Tervis Cup

So I know I mentioned that I have a new coffee mug but I also have to give props to my tervis cup.  It is super great for hot and cold drinks.  It doesn't sweat all over my desk and it keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold. 

Plus Nick bought this one for me after the kids picked out and I just adore things that they get for me.  Who wouldn't want to be called the best mom?

Tervis also has a lifetime warranty which I love.  And there are a bajilllion different designs to chose from. LOVE!

Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Therapy

Here in Indiana it can get really hot and then in the winter it can get bitterly cold with lots and lots of snow.  During those cold months my hands always tend to rebel by cracking and drying out. 

I like to sit at my desk and relish the time that I have to rub a luxurious lotion onto my hands. 

I don't like a lot of florally or overpowering smells so I really love the Avocado scent of this Crabtree & Evelyn hand lotion. 

I also feel very fancy having something decadent for myself sitting on my desk.  It makes me feel special.

I like feeling special, ya know?

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So that's my list of my school supplies.  I think they will make me feel more special this upcoming school year. 

Let's be honest: us homeschooling Momma's (or any Momma for that matter!) have a huge amount of work to do.  It's nice to treat ourselves (or have someone else treat us...even better!) with some basic items that will make life easier and make our daily lives feel a bit more special. 

Of course these are only some suggestions of Momma back to school supplies.  I'm sure y'all have your own lists and I'd love to know what's on yours! 

Comment below with your own Momma' school supply list!

I am Tweaking the Direction of this Website

Alright I'm just going to get right to the point:

I've been kind of hating this blog. 

At first I set out to blog to chronical my kiddos. 

Loved it. 

This blog then provided me with basically a resume that a major newspaper picked me up and I wrote for them. 

Still loved it. 

I even went on to several magazines who saw my tone and insight as something unique and special. 

Loved that.

Then Cal was diagnosed with Autism and while my first purpose remained I got so much feedback when I blogged about my feelings and emotions about everything that I felt really inspired.  I wanted to share with other moms and to be help along the way in their journeys with autism. 

Loved that.

Along the way though I got the idea to blog for money. So I got off of blogger.  I had this pafe designed.  I started to look cool. 

And that's when I started to love it all a bit less.  I convinced myself that it was just because it was a different platform and because it was all so new. 

I researched everything and started blogging what I thought y'all would want to read rather than what I wanted to write about.

And so that made me like it less.

I got into some business agreements.  I had a commitment.  And with commitment comes a promise to write even when I can't find the words. 

And that's when I started to like all of this a lot less. 

And so I've kind of stepped away from it all.  I've been thinking if I wanted to write at all or if I just wanted to scrap it. 

But what I come back to time and time again is that I love writing about our life here for family and friends to read who live a ways away. 

And I like to write about homeschooling.  It seems like when I do that and I am showing you what we are doing that it helps to keep me accountable and to keep homeschooling cool for the kids so I can help all of you with your homeschool journeys.  I like to share. I'm a sharer. 

So in taking a break I've decided that this blog will be more homeschool oriented.  That may be a bleh or a yeah for you depending on who you are.  I'm still planning on sharing cool stuff to do with your kids and about our lives. 

But I wanted to be open about this all.  I am changing the game, I am going back to my roots and I am blogging about what is keeping ME Super Busy at Home. 

I hope you'll stick around for the journey.  It's all so much fun. 

Love to you all!

Christian Book Sale

Hey guys! 

I hope you all are doing well.  I am sure you are like me and are super busy trying to get ready for the upcoming school year. 

I am over here ordering our books and teacher manuals like crazy to try to be prepared for school. 

I wanted to let you know that Christian Book is having a sale that is going on through Tuesday, July 26th!

Be sure you check out the details.  Items are up to 40% off and you can get free shipping on purchases of $35 or more. 

Happy shopping friends! 

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What are you ordering this year?  Comment below! 

I bought the Oxi-Clean

Yesterday Calvin and I went out shopping. 

There was this mondo tub of Tide Oxi Clean for $8.99.  It was enough for 8 million loads.  Or 108.  Either way, it was a lot. 

So I decided to buy it.  When I got to a place that actually had cell reception I googled it and found it is selling for $25 at several stores. 

Holy Yoinks I got a deal, y'all!

I was so super excited. 

I got home and it had all of these things you could do with it.  See, it's not just for clothes it explains.  You can use it on soft surfaces, hard surfaces, and laundry. 

May I just say that trying to look at your house through the eyes of hard surfaces and soft surfaces is just weird to me.  It takes me some thought.

Anyway...

My house was going to be super clean.  This was the missing piece to our household.  People will rave about how spotless all surfaces hard and soft are.  I'll be in the newspaper...

So I took the mondo tub of Oxi up to the bathroom and decided I would clean the tub. 

That's a hard surface for those of you trying to keep up ;)

I made the solution as the package said and got to scrubbing.  That's when my eyes started watering and my head started pounding.  When I was done my nose holes (nostrils to the common man) felt like they were raw.

Now I haven't tried it in the laundry and maybe I was just too close to the mondo tubs solution that I whipped up but something in it didn't like me.  Or vice versa. 

I went out of the bathroom and back in.  It smelled so laundry fresh clean.  All I could think is that I was breathing in harmful phlebates or phosphates or whatever the heck those harmful chemicals are.  But it smelled nice and my shower was clean so I decided to breathe it in, dying contentedly.

And as I cleaned the sink I scrubbed along thinking how Oxi Clean kind of represents the rest of my life. 

Did I mention there were fumes?

What I mean is, I am always trying to find that elusive missing puzzle of my messed up life.  The one that will change everything.  That will make me stand out.  The one that will help me to finally not feel like such a screw up at this mothering and homemaking thing.  The one where I will finally get it right. 

But here is what I know and as I am getting older I know this to be true...

There's a perfect piece and God already nailed it on a cross so I don't have to get it right. 

It's already right.

And when I try to take life back and say, it's not perfect enough, let me try some more, well that's just sin talking. 

God lives in me.  I need to rely on Him and His Holy Spirit to fuel me, to empower me, to enable me, to remind me that this isn't about me.

It's not about how clean my house is or how well I can be a mom. 

I no longer need to look for a missing piece.  I am made whole and complete through asking Jesus into my heart all those years ago.

With all of my fume induced life thoughts coming at you please allow me to leave this verse with you:

“5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

— Romans 8:5-6

I pray that you will be filled with God's spirit today and that you set your mind on what God wants for your life: a life of peace.  And if you don't know God it is never too late to ask Him into your heart.  You can read all about how here.  He's the missing piece that has made my life whole! 

Now I just need to remember that and stop chasing lofty goals.

Now, back to the fumes... ;)

Guest Blog: Emma's Perspective on Homeschooling

Emma came to me last night and requested to be a guest blogger on the site.  How can you say no to someone so cute?   So without further ado, I bring you Emma writing about all things homeschool:

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Home schooling- one of the marvelous things in this world.  When you home school you get to learn about anything you want. 

That's right you can learn about sheep, whales, space, you can even learn about toaster ovens!  If you want to learn yep, this is how you do it.   I am home schooled and I have to say it is really cool. 

You can name your school anything.  My schools name is the Acadamy of Excellence. 

Our everyday subjects are, Math, Grammar, World history, Science, And Foreign languages.  We also do way more than that. 

In the morning, after breakfast I love to go to the classroom and clean out my desk, Sharpen my pencils, and to top it off get a good long book, snuggle down in the book nook and just read my heart out. 

My brother and I love world history. We think that Rome is the most interesting.  We love coloring sheets of Gladiator fights, Roman homes, and of course market places.  We have the exact same rules as normal schools though. the raise your hand and the stay at your desk are the most important.

I am so bummed out that we have to do school in the summer. The good side is that we do get longer holiday breaks. But I guess school is really fun if you think about it. 

I hope that westudy Zebras this year. I find that Zebras are interesting.

Well I hope that everyone has a good summer vacation.

Fernwood in May

If you are looking for something to do with your littles, make sure you check out the events at the Fernwood Botanical Gardens.  Their Nature Saplings and Knee-High Naturalist programs have some super fun programs starting.  May 27th the Knee-High Naturalists are learning about snakes!  These are really good programs to get your kiddos into nature to begin developing that love of nature so many kids aren't enjoying these days.

May 1st is the start of their Summer hours too so you can meander your days away through the gardens and nature trails.  You can find their hours on their website here. 

And the thing that we are so super, duper excited about is the reopening of the railway gardens.  After a fire tore our beloved trains apart, it is so amazing and exciting to see that they are back for their seventh season at Fernwood! 

I am excited to see if it will be the same or a newish design.  If you all get there before me you have to let me know, okay? 

And for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve is located in Niles, Michigan and it is an amazing place.  If you live close it is definitely worth visiting and even if you don't live close it is something that should definitely go on your "must visit" list for vacationing.

A Letter To My 10-Year Old Daughter

Dear Kazoo,

I cannot believe that you are ten. 

Ten. 

Wow. 

I know that parents say that so often that to be honest, when I see it on social media, I just kind of roll my eyes and blur over it all because we all keep saying it. 

Grandma Peg told me that my time with you would be over before I know it and she sure was right.  Like sand, I feel like I am watching time slip through my fingers faster than I can do anything about it.

In only 8 years you will be leaving the nest.  For bigger and brighter things.  To live out your hopes and dreams, to spread your wings and fly. 

8 years probably seems like a lifetime to you and a microwave warm up to me.  We've got all kinds of development between then and now to go through.  Things to love and things to hate.

With that in mind I thought I would send you this letter and let you know all of the many, many things going on in my head. 

-I first and foremost want to say thank you.  On behalf of your autistic brother and your Daddy and I, we thank you for being the kind of sibling and daughter that anyone would be proud to have.  You take on the role of sibling to a special-needs child with such grace and dignity.  I have no idea how we would have gotten through everything without you.  You always seem to know when to cut your brother some slack and when he needs to be reeled back in.  You always tolerate, always teach, always protect, and always, always love in ways that blow us away.  We know it stinks sometimes when your things get broken, your feelings get hurt, your turn isn't realized.  We want you to know that we are trying to be fair.  In reality, it isn't always going to be. But we love you even more for understanding that and being okay with it.  That's where we need God's grace and you get that too. 

-In the coming years we are going to have to expose you to some hard topics. You think weed means a dandelion. You have no idea what sex is.  You think "butt" is a cuss word. You think the signs "don't drink and drive" mean not to drink Pepsi while driving home from Taco Bell.  Your naivety is what we have craved for you to have in this world.  But Daddy and I figure it's probably best to expose you to these things eventually rather that drop you off at the doorstep of William and Mary to just let you figure it all out. So we're going to have to have some worldly talks.  Some exposure.  It makes me want to throw up thinking of explaining sex, drugs, and rock and roll to you, but we will. Because we love you and we want what's best for you.

-We want you to know that to the ends of the earth we will love you.  No matter what weird experimentation you go through.  No matter who you find out you are.  We will love you to the ends of the earth and back.  You will always be our favorite and our best.

-We know you want to be a vet but here's the thing.  Nothing in this world comes easily.  Nothing.  Please be prepared to work your tail off for what you want.  Don't let anyone get in your way or try to discourage you.  You will fall.  You will fail.  You will want to quit.  Don't.  Don't ever quit.  Pull that competitiveness out of you and use it to get what you want.  We promise it will all be worth it.

-Please don't try to grow up to quickly.  Stop it.  Knock it off.  It's all a lie.  All of it.  We know you want your own cell phone and you think it's cool to have an ipad and headphones and dance around.  But please don't put the American Girls away just yet. Don't forget how fun it is to spin in a pretty dress.  Don't let the world make you someone you aren't.  Remember, you can be as young as you feel, not as old as you are real.

-Above all please remember to just follow God's will.  Like I've always told you, my life is so much better than I ever could have imagined it to be.  All because I did what God wanted me to do.  I followed Him.  I promise, do what He wants;  Seek him.  Be in love with Him.  And life will beat your best dreams on a good night.  Cross my heart, kiss my elbow.

-Remember how you love our home?  How you call it a peaceful mansion?  How you say it's your favorite place in the world?  Well, it's not going anywhere.  It will always be here with open arms.  So you can drag your drunk, goth-clad self home from college if you need and we'll be here with a strong cup of coffee and open arms.  Because we are family.  And family sticks together.

I hope you have the best tenth birthday ever. I hope you dance and twirl and giggle and whirl.  We're going to party, as you always misquote and say, like it's 1799.  Sure, we'll get our petticoats swinging around.

We love you Kazoo!  Happy Birthday to you!

April Adventures

As I mentioned in this earlier post, we've had some rough times homeschooling lately. 

So we've been getting out and about town to shake things up.

I have a hard time with finding the right balance in terms of school work and going out and doing fun activities.  Does anyone struggle with this?

When I start to pay attention to all of the cool things going on in the area it seems like we are always on the go, go, go.  Forget math, we've got butter to churn.

On the other hand I often times get so bogged down with focus strategies and lesson plans that we are often cooped up in the classroom for so long that there isn't time for anything outside of it to go on. 

Well this month I've tried to strike a good balance.  I think I have!

We went to the University of Notre Dame during Robotics week to check out all of the cool things their students were doing.  They had a ton of interactive booths set up and the kids had a blast checking things out. Above is Calvin telling the robot to do the sprinkler.

This robot was ginormous!  I think it kind of scared Calvin at first!  But it was amazing to watch it in action and to see all of the things the students could have it do.

We also went to ag-days at the local fair grounds.  It's something we've done every year.  Sad to say I think the kids are getting a bit too old for it, but it was something fun to do anyway. The event works that the kids get a basket at the beginning.  They then make their way around to different stations to learn about crops and animals.  They put something from each station in their basket that relates to what they learned. At the end they turn their basket in and they earn a cookie and milk.  It's a good old fashioned family time.

In pictures I wonder if Calvin will ever stop making this murdery face.  I mean, what in the world is this silly face???

If you had witnessed this in action you would know that we are clearly city slickers.  We have no idea what we are doing.  But it was fun and the kids enjoyed trying to lasso a bucket with a sheep head on it :)

As you read here in this previous post we had a complete revitalization of our homeschooling last week.  Out with the old and in with the old or whatever I've been trying to say. 

So we pounded out a great week of school and so I decided it was high time we throw a little fun into the mix.  So Friday as a treat we went to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  It is one of our favorite museums.  And it's free so it has that going for it.

Above is a picture of Calvin racing a car he built. They have a really fun motion area.  We've been studying force in Science so this was a great area for us to spend some time and reading about what we were doing.

Emma loved working on refracting light.  And isn't she a fashion plate?  As she is getting ready to ten I can see that she's definitely starting to get in that Tween stage.  She only wants to wear skinny jeans however I am occasionally able to get her to wear some cute Mustard Pie pieces with them as I did in this case.  Thank goodness :)

They also have a fun health area.  The kids love exploring everything that there was. Emma puts the x-ray skeleton together every time.  So much fun to watch her learn and grow with each passing year she does it. 

So those were some of our April Adventures.  This weekend Emma is having her first slumber party and the boys are going camping with Cal's Boy Scout troop. 

What adventures have you been on this month?