Birthday Wishes

Some families celebrate birthdays with huge parties full of action packed chaos and children running wildly. We prefer small family only parties. Then one year one of our daughters said for her wish she wanted two dates, one with her mom and one with her dad. And from that a new tradition was born.

I get the birthday girl for the day. We do lunch, go shopping, hang out and giggle until it hurts. Then as sad as I am to end my part in their big day we head home. Now it is daddy's turn.

I help get our princess dolled up for her date with dad. And off they go for an evening out. This way we both get to show and tell them, one on one, just how much we love them and what they mean to us.

I hope this tradition continues forever as I cherish these memories. I don't want to ever forget the fun of seeing them getting haircuts at salons, nails done, and picking out the most beautiful dress they have ever seen. The sweet conversations over lunch and giggles while eating ice cream. And I especially don't want to forget the excitement and anticipation they have for their date with their dad, just as he equally anticipates being their Prince Charming for the evening. Nothing can compare to the love a girl has for her dad...he really can hang the moon in their eyes.

"Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." - Joe Henderson

Last month our homeschooling group had their annual track meet. It is open to anyone, of any age. We had my son, 3, (shown above) through age 80 participate.

That is one of the great things about homeschooling; we don't segregate according to age. Children, parents, and even grandparents all had a wonderful time. And to see everyone cheering each other on was incredible!

Pictured above is Quinn finishing his 400 meter run with the sports "coach" running behind him encouraging him the entire way. He ran with all of his might and aside from a quick detour to the sand in the long jump box (what three year old wouldn't want to dig in that?) he persevered. I am so proud of him.

Just goes to show us if we set our minds to something we CAN do it. Or maybe it simply says we need the energy of a three year old?

Seriously though, I was more captivated by the enthusiasm and support from his "coach". It was contagious. The more she ran and encouraged him, the more the rest of us got excited. As he approached the finish line everyone was cheering him on, telling him he could do this. And he did. He finished the 400 meter in 4:05 minutes.

Love...Stolen

Okay, so maybe it isn't love stolen. Truth is, it is given freely. These two love each other like best friends, like siblings inseparable. Three years ago we thought how this love, rather suffocating at the time, wouldn't last. Surely it was a new love, similar to when anything we've really wanted becomes a part of our lives. We smother it with love, attention, and affection. We can't get enough.

How surprised were we to discover he shared that same love for her. Now it wouldn't be honest to create the impression there are not moments they bicker. They are siblings. But far more often they are that sweet inseparable pair. They just "get" each other. And I love that.

Moving in a New Direction

We are on the move again...literally. After moving to the country for a year we decided we liked it. And although we weren't able to buy the house we were in we are in the process of purchasing a new-to-us home in the country. We are currently staying in a 12x16 one room guest house at my parent's house. In one word: Interesting. So stay tuned for details on moving and all the many projects that go with it.

On a separate note, school is going good. We are approaching the holidays when it is harder to stay on schedule but overall we are doing good. Think of all the many subjects you can cover while doing holiday cooking, Christmas crafts, and gift shopping. If you tweak your definition of *school* then you will see that it is happening even more during the holidays. =)

2010 Summer In Review

As we wind down our summer I thought it would be fun to review the summer highlights so here we go.

We kicked off summer with a trip to the ocean. We don't live too far from the coast so in order to make it a little more exciting we took a round about way of getting there to see some sights along the way. We stopped at a museum that had a yard full of peacocks proudly displaying their tail feathers for us. We continued on to the waterfalls and took a trail part way up. It doesn't matter how many times I see these waterfalls I am always drawn to them and can't resist the urge to stop and walk up to the bridge just to feel the mist and be that much closer to it.

Here is us at the ocean. It isn't a coast trip if you can't have a picture of your head in the shark mouth. ;)

Favorite part of the ocean trip: combing beaches trying to find "treasures".

Least favorite part: Getting a $300 ticket for running a red light while trying to keep up with our family we were following in the car ahead of us. The picture the camera took and mailed to us was funny though. My husband had his teeth-gritting racing face on. Ha ha!!!

It wouldn't be a story without pictures of our precious son doing some artistic creations of his own. We had several of these "highlights" this summer- as we always do. Here he decided to get into baby powder. On the plus side he smelled good. =)

One HUGE plus for us is that we moved into a place in the country. It needed a lot of work but we have enjoyed doing it. The kids have plenty of room to run now.

And another boy story...sigh. He found his sister's make-up. He loves lipstick and body glitter. The picture shows him but really the best of the mess was all over my kitchen. Dad was so happy (said with sarcasm).

We visited two farms this summer. One had sheep, cows, a pig, and this adorable goat. He was the kids' favorite.

At the second farm we not only seen their pigs but got to feed them marshmallows. We learned how smart they are by watching them open and close their own pens and turn their own water faucet on to get a drink. I like that they have a sweet tooth like we do. ;)

Another fun highlight was that the homeschool group held a milk jug boat competition. The children had to design a boat out of milk jugs, two wooden dowels, and either tape or twine. Here are the participants.

Olivia is racing her way to the finish line on the boat her, her sister, and grandpa designed. She made the front page of the local newspaper for being in the race finals. We had a spectacular time trying to create one that would float. The hardest part though was saving all the milk jugs.

We took many nature hikes throughout spring and summer. We found this walk bridge on one of our walks and deemed it a new favorite trail.

Although traveling on hikes and trails provide much nature interest we also discovered that in our new house we have plenty of nature to enjoy. We have seen many snakes, deer, and birds. But the pond full of frogs and salamanders (or newts, I've heard it both ways) captures our attention the most.

When not hiking or exploring the backyard we went on atv rides. We have a side by side that seats all six of us. Here is Grace with the wild flowers she picked during our stop for a picnic. I liked this picture because although she is rough and tumble she still loves her "pretties".

On top of the mountain on one of our adventures this summer. We go with friends and family for mountain rides and geocaching. When the sun beats down and makes it unbearable at home we retreat to cooler weather up top.

So there are some of the things we spent our summer doing. I was amazed that after only three weeks of summer break two of the three kids already wanted to start school back up. What a wonderful thing for a mom to hear! I look forward to this coming school year and all it holds for us. I am hoping to have many more outings and adventures to post on.

Here's to a New School Year

This blog has sat idle for a little over a year. It was a great way to share, and later remember, our homeschooling adventure but it also took more of my time. Time is something I was trying to better manage and felt I needed to quit blogging and focus on other things, family in particular.

So here is to the starting of the blog again and a new homeschool year. We plan to start August 2, 2010 so stay tuned for updates on our adventure.

A Double Digit Birthday

The big One Zero

Olivia turned 10 this week. She informed us that becoming a double digit was HUGE. After being informed of that we thought we should try to make it extra special for her. So we equipped her with a gift card and made reservations at a salon for her. She got her hair cut and styled along with a manicure. Then she headed to the mall to spend the gift card. She is at that picky clothing stage so this was the easiest way to ensure she liked what she got. She was rather thrifty with the card and did quite well.

It is hard to imagine my oldest is 10! She is an amazing girl and we are blessed to have her.