First Day of School!

Ah, there is nothing like that first day of school photo to show the growth of one’s sweet babes.

2006  This was little Miss Firecracker on her first day of preschool.

A Year in Review

My dear patient friends, I had to do one more homeschool post, . . . for myself.  It’s mostly just a collection of pictures.

Bear with me,. . .I’m hormonal.

No, not pregnant and hormonal!  GASP!  Baby is still doing his middle of the night parties!  I can’t think about another sweet adorable ball of love and physical exhaustion right now!

Nope, I’m just hormonal.

And sleep deprived.

And chocolate filled.

Which means I have burst into tears in front of the doctor, (yes–twice in one week actually), have nice dark blue circles under my eyes, and well, just still carry a generally happy smile and feeling of well being despite it all.

Chocolate can do that for ya.

Yep.  Serious.

Well, chocolate and this little face to look at each morning.

Someday he’s going to kill me for posting pics like that of him.

What a Public Schooler Learned From a Year of Homeschooling

It seems like just yesterday that it was August 1st, and I was up until 3:00AM putting number grids, alphabet posters and geographical maps in the room that would serve as classroom by day and dining room by night.  I remember the house was completely quiet and I had it all to myself- – I love those times.  And I remember feeling as if I were standing on the edge of a pool, about to do what I had thought and talked and debated about for years, about to jump in and finally see for myself what this homeschooling thing was all about.

Homeschool Graduation!!!

Finally, the day arrived! The day these poor overworked and amazing children have been aiming for all year.

Graduation!!!

OK, so it actually arrived about two months ago.  Why did we finish so long ago?  Because the children begged and pleaded, “Please, dear sweet Momma, please.  You are the best, most wonderful teacher and we can not fathom missing another moment of math facts.  So let us begin school early!  Early!”

And then I woke up.

No, the reason was much less glamorous than that.  It was because we started our school year a month early, to make sure we could actually do it for the whole year, and then we went on hyper-speed to be on a much lighter schedule for Baby’s grand entrance in the middle of the school year.   But here is the grand finale, the celebration, the fiesta, the pinch-me-now-children-for-momma-did-not-always-know-if-we’d-arrive-here moment.

Memorial Day

My family will find any excuse to get together and celebrate.  And when we get together, it looks like this.

Behold, the one thing my entire family agrees upon.  Well, that and soccer and how crazy my mom’s cats are.

Syllabication

Syllabication:

The process of dividing a word into its individual parts.  Preferably done at the gym. . . for the full experience.

1.  Bas-

ket-

Art Anyone?

If things went as planned around here, life would be a lot more efficient and a lot less interesting. That’s my mantra, my motto, my alibi–see below. And for now, I’m sticking to it
 

Sick Days

A few weeks back Miss Firecracker woke up feeling weak and shaky. I took her temperature, definitely above normal, and declared, “Yep, you’re staying home today.”

She looked at me, her big brown eyes confused for a moment and then narrowing. “Oh, Mom.”

I snickered to myself and walked out of the room.

Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the kids were in their pj’s, I was cleaning up breakfast, and it was about noon.

Judge me not.  It was Spring Break.

Anyhow,  I finished cleaning and then walked into the living room to find this on my couch.

Socialization Anyone?

We had a monster playdate at our home the other day.  First the little cutie from up the street came.  And then the other friend from a few more blocks over.  Next came the sibling duo.   Oh, and then the little munchkin from down the road.  And finally, the twins from just around the corner.

With my four and all our friends, we had eleven total.  Wowsers!  But it was a blast!  And everyone survived.  Well maybe not the kitchen,