Adam's haircut

Adam had quite the haircut this week:-) When I was in the bathroom he took scissors and just chopped chunks out of his hair all over, it was really bad. Anyhow we ended up going to The Hair Cuttery and he got shaved, yep he is a baldy:-) But the good side is he is a boy and its summer and it will grow back:-)

they are home

Yay the girls are home safe and sound from the trip to New York City, they are very excited and have lots of pictures, and goodies to show us. Madeline took some great photos of the Statue of Liberty, I never realized how big Ellis Island was.

Ahh it is good to have my little adventures home .

the girls are in NYC

the girls just called me - they are in New York for a couple of days with mom and Bill-, they just back from dinner . They spent today at The Statue of Liberty, Madeline was telling me how big she is and how beautiful, and she took tons of pics for me to see:-)

Tomorrow they will see The Little Mermaid on Broadway, and then go see the Empire State Building ,Thursday it is lunch at American Girl and then they head home. Should be a couple of fun days for them.

Adam is sorta missing them though and I think he is still worn out from the stomach virus he had this weekend he says he is tired and wants to lie down. But he and Shawn had fun in the sprinkler today and playing with TJ and Victoria. Tomorrow we are going to taking the boys to Chuck E Cheese's for some fun of their own.

sprinkler fun

whew! it is still muggy outside,but we made the most of it. We had a huge water gun fight with the kids next door-Kristen and Jessie, my neighbors grand kids-,Adam had four water guns going and they had several as well, it was fun. Then we had fu in our sprinkler, mom and pop got Adam and Shawn a Sponge bob sprinkler, and two new balls- spider man and little Einsteins- to play with. They had a great night. We also had T.J. and Victoria join in the fun for awhile, it is so fun to get outside and run and play with the kids.
Needless to say it didin;t take the boys long to get to sleep tonight .Come to think of it daddy went to bed pretty quickly as well.
Quess I am the night owl around here. Of course its the time of day I can sit and think and enjoy the quiet , knowing all my chicks are tucked in to there comfy beds and resting well. It brings a peace to now all is well, and good tonight.

bike wash

another hot day in muggy Baltimore, its that time of year, and its what a Baltimore summer is known for:-) We spent the morning outside having a bike wash the kids had a blast, Madeline didin;t want to - acting too big for a while- but even she got lured intot he hose and soapy water. Needless to say they all came in wet ,cooled off and hungry for lunch. It was a great way to spend a sultry summer morning.

a couple of great park/beach days

We have spent the last two days at the beach, at Gunpowder Hammerman, which is 5 minutes from the house. Yesterday we went with the preschool group and did lessons on the beach it was fun.
Today we went for a birthday for a good friends daughter, and we had so much fun, most of the homeschool tween group was there, so that made it fun for the girls. Adam and Shawn loved playing on the beach and in the water, and it is just shallow enough Shawn and Adam can splash about and not be scared. Today there was a lot of seaweed floating around the kids had piles of it on there heads and all over it was pretty funny, and Grace founf buckets of clams to look at, I think a cup of them came home I believe they are on the kitchen counter in a cup.Quess I had better chekc that out so the poor guys don;t die there.
I know I am very red from these last two days of sun and fun and am sorta looking forward to a quiet day tommorow. I know the kids are all tired and their appetites have been huge these last two nights. Fresh air and swimming will do that to you.Well off to put tea bags on my back.

picnic today

today is our homeschool groups yearly summer picnic, it should be a fun day. We ae taking juice and ice. I am also gatheringup our soccer balls and chalk . The park we use Eastern Regional has a phnomenal playground and is huge lots of fields and a great nature trail. We go there often on our own, but to have a fun day with friends is even better. Off for our hotdogs:-)

a very tight budget

well with things going as they are and nothing getting cheaper, we are at the tightest budget we have ever had. I mean I am feeding all of us next week on $50, but I know it can be done.I just am feeling a bit unsettled, I hate having to budget every penny. But with fule going up and up and up and elctric, and home heating I often wonder how we will make it.But some how we always seem to do.I am in th eprocess of learning how to make our own bread- can;t be thaat difficult- .

We have so much to be greatful for, plenty of clothes, and toys, we have the pool, and good neighbors to hang out with in the evenings, and theres always lightning bugs to chase, and ducklings to feed scrapes to and frogs and butterflies to chase. They all have bikes and skates,- and scabs and bruises to prove it:-)- and Madeline has a skateboard .And the girls are going to New York City in two weeks with my mom so they will have some fun and excitement this summer.

The effort is to find things that are cheap or free to do this year, many of our homeschool friends are also in this situation, since most are on one income, they are stretching that budget as tight as it can go as well.But on the upside that means we are all looking for fun things for the kdis to do and we have found some great deasl- the dollar bowling at Perry Hall, movie days at homes, swimming at our pool, free/openhouses at area museums, etc..Vacation Bible School at the churches and theres always parks and playgrounds.Not many of us are going on vacations this year , it seems most folks are sticking close to home and discovering all our great state has to offer.

MD.com and Baltimorecounty.com have great ideas and offers to see . things I have neverheard of and I have lived here my whole life- 40 years-.

theater, and swimming and cooking

we had a very very busy day today. We are in a homeschool theater group and are putting on a production of A Million Cats in the fall and are meeting weekly for rehersals and scenery making and all that stuff. Today went very well. Madeline is the narrator and Grace and Adam are cats, they are all doing pretty well. It is a great group of moms who really want to be involved with this group and we have been discussing a production for the winter/spring already- a Dr.Seussical:-)

After theater Khyron and Jiro came and went swimming with us for awhile. it is always fun to have them over. they are our extended family.

Then Madeline helped cook dinner she is getting into cooking alot latley and enjoys helping out in the kitchen, we are going to get into some home ec stuff this year with her.She has baked several cakes and decorated them for her dad and really likes that. Earlier this year her girlscout troop went on a visit to another moms home who gave a decorating session the cakes the girls didi in just that one session where really amzing.Madeline's favorite show ,btw, is Ace Of Cakes on Food Network.

planning for the next school year

is going on now. I am planning to start full lessons in two weeks- we are still doing math and spelling these we do year round-. We are going to start with a unit on our governmetn systrem, go into elelctions- since it is relevant to whats happening now-, and then go into the presidents. we should finish this by Novemeber. At which time , we break for the holiday briefly, and do the Christmas season. Then we are planning to do the Prairie Primer- a unit study on Little House on The Prarie, which will take us into the westward expansion, the pony express, gold rush, and transcontinential railroad. From there we will begin the Civil War in the spring.

We will also be doing Biology,the seasons-with Grace and Adam-, and Botany.

This year we will be focusing on copywork, writting skills, spelling, grammer etc..

We are also planning to do a course in Logic and Latin. So should be a fun and meaningful year.

Busy,Busy ,Busy

working late/ movienight

So Doug is working late tonight he was in Delaware and then his boss asked him to go to Hagerstown to check a job at 4pm-Hagerstown is 3 hours away, and it is a rainny wet night-. So we will be here holding down the fort. It is a rainy evening, so might be a good movie and popcorn night in our room the kids love that, and they love putting up there tents in our room and camping on the floor, I think thats the perfect way to spend the evening:-) I think we will be watching Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc- Adams favorties and the two he got for his birthday-.Off to snuggle in for a cozy kind of night with four snuggly- most of the time - kids:-)

a grown-up conversation

last night at dinner we had a very interesting discussion with Madeline, about the oppression of other countries, and how we take for granted the freedoms we have here in our naton. She was talking about how in China,Korea and many middle eastern countries, you go to jail or worse if you have a bible or pray to Jesus.

It was really interesting to hear her thougths on some tough subjects. And it was really nice to have such a grown-up well thought out discusson with her, she always amazes me as she grows into a young women. And it made me smile inside because as a homeschooler we get asked alot if they are missing out on stuff, and whenever we get questioned. One of them does or says something that just blows the public school kids out of the water- thanks Jesus:-)-.

I have tried sometimes to have a discussion with some of the other kids in the neighborhood and its impossible most times they are so into the way the look, having the latest gadget, or flirting with some boy/girl, they can;t focus on other things. And I think beign able to hold a conversation is one of the most improtant life skills to have, it will carry you far to beable to speak, and discuss and defend what you think. In an intellegent way with sound logic behind it.

What a blessing it is to be able to give that to the kids, and see them blossom into beautiful, interesting people. Ones true intellgence comes across when you speak and how you act and presetn yourself not on a bunch of worksheets.

yes I think homeschooling proves itself often:-)

Vacation bible School

at our church will be in August11-15, we had a meeting tonight to start planning it, it should be fun. Theres alot of new faces eager to help and with fresh ideas to lead the way.
I am going to help AnnaMarie with the little ones Madeline is going to help Marsalal with games through the week, it should be a fun time for all.Out theme is a theme park-Sun Adventure Park- the last inght we are having a 'carival' on the lot, with food, water games and a moonbounce, this should be a lot of fun.

happy birhtday USA

happy anniversary to us

tommorow is the 13th anniversay of Doug and I getting Married very exciting. And because its always the fourth of july we get a ready made clelbration with it.
Its amazing in this time the wonderufl ife we have four beautiful kids, a nice home , and the privlege of being able to homeschool them . it is a great thing to truly get to know your children and see the amazing people they are becoming. We have been truly blessed:-)

bounce and play

we went to the Bounce Party and Play today with the homeschoolers. It is near us on Days Cove Rd, its an indoor inflatable playground, theres 6 huge inflatables - an airplane, a huge slide, two obstacle courses and a few other things- the kids enjoy it,it is a lot of fun and a good way to burn off some energy.