Fade to Black

Summer school did not go as planned, but that is alright and a part of this path. We were doing pretty well until I got very sick and you know... when mama gets sick, not much gets done. (at least that's how it is for me as a single parent) So we kinda faded out to our end of summer break.

It turns out I did not really like the Summer Skills books that I picked as bridge books for the summer. They did not flow very well and jumped from review stuff to not yet learned stuff and then back to review. I usually use Summer Bridge books but wanted to try something new this year. Next summer I guess we will go back to what we know.

Dates are set for school:

Orientation - August 8th

Early Start for 4th grade -  August 15th.  (He needs the extra time as he struggles to keep up during the year)

First Day - September 7th

Splash Pad & Amber Alerts

This morning I was watching the news and thought I saw an amber alert for a child that was a foster child in my home last year. ~Sigh~

We finally made it to the splash pad at a local county park. Fun! Of course I did not have my camera. We went pretty early in the morning and there were 2 large daycare type groups with younger children (about 30  3 - 5 yrs old).  One of the teachers stood at the edge and started looking around the play area with a very worried look on her face. Another teacher came up to her and they tried to figure out the last time they had seen "him". Rut-Roh! I was having an internal dialog hoping they would contact security to shut the park down. Every minute that they spent looking around, counting and re-counting kids made me wish they would say something out loud because if the little guy was missing, the more time that passed the farther away he could get. After about 12 minutes they found him. Whew! The look of relief on their faces... and of course he did not know he was lost.

Cold Showers

It is HOT! I'm not complaining because I prefer this to snow and ice. We have been staying in for the last 2 days but have to go out tomorrow for library events and Entertaining Angels. Last night, the kids got to take a cold shower outside with the hose, body wash and all. I am sure the neighbors greatly appreciated our chants of, "Do you duty and wash your booty*!" LOL!  5 kids showered and ready for bed in record time. There is nothing like a cold shower to make you hurry to get into pajamas without dilly dallying around.

Staying cool!


*Booty in our home usually refers to the the whole body, not necessarily just the derriere parts.

Bowling and Drawings

We used more of our Kids Bowl Free coupons this week and had so much fun. The girl finally beat her brothers score's. They are both fierce bowlers. She actually got the score printed at the end of the game so she could have proof. LOL!

Here are the 1st 4 animals that we learned:

Can you name them all?

Rained Out & Slurpee Overload!!

We were scheduled to go to the outdoor splash pad at one of the local county parks today, but we got a big 'ole thunderstorm that changed our plans. So instead, we drove around to all the 7 dash e.le.ven.s and got free sl. ur. pees! So Fun!  Wednesday we well go see a juggling show at the library. 

3 kids did about  15 minutes of school (woo hoo) and I am evaluating a new client tonight (woo hoo)

Summer School

The troop is outside for class today. Notice the dog upside down scratching his back in the grass behind the teeter totter.

Summer school is going well. We do 2 classes together and then they break for their skills. For devotions we are reading Hind's Feet on High Places  (thank Christie for the recommendations) and they really like the story and groan when I come to a stopping place. We are also doing Draw Write Now, Book 1 (thanks Christine for the idea)  which is so funny  because we have had some very interesting farm animals drawn so far.

For individual skills the 1st graders and the 4th grader are doing Summer Skills Daily Activity Workbook and 8th grade is doing Life of Fred - Fractions . She loves it and I think it might be closer to her learning style than what we ususally learn.

Gobble Gobble

I wish I could show you the baby 'cause he looked so cute trying to bite that big ole leg. The boys could not even wait to get their sides on their trays.

Turkey Legs and Full Names

Every year for the Fourth of July, I get the smoked, giant turkey legs to take with us to watch the county fireworks. Last year, I missed the chance to get them because the owner of the best smoked Turkey legs in town closed his store early due to a lack of business. We were so bummed. This year I called at what I thought would be "early" enough time and the store was already closed for the day. AAARRRGGGG! One of the owners was there in the store and agreed to give me legs that were cooked, but not hot. They would need to be warmed up. She told me to meet her at the back of the store in 20 minutes. It sounded very clandestined, but those legs are so worth it for this once a year treat. I was able to get our turkey legs and she gave me some extra sauce on the side. Yum!

While in the car I was quizzing the kids on their vital information: full names, address, phone number, birth date. When I asked my 6 yr old foster daughter her info, she stated her full name as, "first name, our last name, and our homeschool name".  It was very funny... I guess we should work on that this summer.