End of Summer

It's sad to see summer winding to a close, but we had a lot of fun over the summer and we're looking forward to fall. I'm hoping to spend a lot of time swimming this weekend while it's still hot and the pools are still open.

Lydia is now back in her big girl bed at night, but still in the crib for nap. She's doing a great job.

Clae rode is bike half way to town yesterday. He was determined to ride all the way to Grandpa Bob's but got too hot and tired to make it all the way. I was very impressed considering the fact that a couple of weeks ago he couldn't pedal more that 3 or 4 pedals at a time.

I watched to 1st graders for the last several weeks. They went back to school on Monday and it has seemed very quiet around here with only 3 or 4 kids here during the day. But it's very much a welcome quiet!

They are playing in our little hand-me-down playhouse we were given in the pictures below. Kirby hopes to make them a real playhouse one day, but for now they are just as happy with this one.

You can see all of Lydia's "home" accessories, her pack and play, stroller, car seat, and ironing board. They had fun playing house most days. Lydia was always the mom, Payton was the "sister", her age ranged anywhere from an infant to a teenager, depending on what she felt like being that day. And the girls pretty much just told the boys what they were going to be on any given day. One day I heard Clae say, "Get in the truck, we're goin' ta church!"

Clae getting his hair cut. Kirby has always cut Clae's hair since his very first haircut. He does a great job.

One of their favorite things to do lately, go fishin' at Nanny and Papa's pond.

Lydia is totally fearless when to comes to touching animals, no matter how slimy.

Papa caught a bullfrog for them.

Lydia with her pink Barbie fishin' pole. Most of the fish she caught were almost as long as the pole! Love it!

We are starting preschool next month! I am so excited. A friend from church and I ordered curriculum from FunShine Express. The materials came last week and I've been having a blast getting everything organized.

My friend, Evanica, has a daycare in her home has well, and two of her kids are three year olds. I have Clae, who is three and Keagan, who is also three. We are going to try to get together once a week and let the kids do preschool together. I'm so thankful that God has put these other kids Clae's age in our life so he can have some interaction with his peers. I've had my doubts about homeschooling, but God keeps showing me that if I am obedient He will provide, and He has, every step of the way.

We've had this antique wardrobe ever since we got married, I bought this shelf, a long time ago, to go in it so I could use it as storage. When I started collecting homeschool materials I converted it into my homeschool cabinet.

Themes for September:

Back to School

Apples

Dinosaurs

Letters: A,B,C

Numbers: 1,2,3

Color: Red

Shape: Circle

Bible Verse: "Obey God with all your heart" Deuteronomy 30:2

(This is the verse that they recommended, but when I looked up in the Bible this is really just a paraphrase of the verse, so I might look for a different one. If they are going to memorize scripture I would like for it to be word for word, not a paraphrase.)

We will observe the weather every day and do a weather chart.

I'm hoping to go on a field trip to my in-laws apple orchard since one of the themes is apples.

I love the FunShine Express materials. They provide a very detailed daily lesson plan and they provide most of the material for the crafts and special projects. I'm really looking forward to getting started and I hope the kids enjoy it.