Week One Down

We survived our first week of homeschool!  Each girl had at least one freak out during the week, but no one had more than 3.  I think that's pretty ok for a whole week of something very new.  I can also say that I kept my head for the most part too.  I only raised my voice a few times (usually in conjunction with the before-mentioned freak outs)  and even then I don't think I lost it.  I had many wonderful friends who, whether they knew it or not, lent me an encouraging word or ear at just the right times over the week!  (Thanks especially to Robin and Kelly!!)  For the most part I'd say the girls did well.  They seemed in good spirits most of the time and I feel like they are already learning so much and shedding some of the bad habits they formed in school previously.  (Of course I am completely aware that we're probably forming some new bad habits but that is a hurdle for another day)

It's so neat to see them each engaged with some activity at their desks.  It's also been fun to work out details in a round-table-like setting - such as what to do when Lyla and Gwyn want to listen to music while they work, but Celee does not.  That was solved with headphones, but of course Lyla loves to mess with the plug to hers which turns headphones off and blasts the music on and off to everyone else.  Ah,well.  We're workin' on it.
I think the saving grace for Gwyn is that she has a large desk area that she can decorate and organize in between her work.  Often her "organization" drives me nuts, but I'm trying to let that go and let her have her own space. 

We also have enjoyed doing some science experiments.  This week in anatomy Gwyn and Celee learned about cells and we got to make a jello cell and lable what each part was on paper.  It looks gross, and surprisingly no one wanted to eat it even though it was all jello and candy and fruit inside, but it was fun to make.  We've also started an egg experiment to illustrate what a selectively-permeable membrane means as in the cell wall, so that should be fun to see. 


I finally finished painting the deck furniture!  It's really nice to have that done.  And just in time.  The paint was dry but still sticky feeling when people came over on Saturday and sat on it.  No one left with green pants though, so it worked out. 

 Jason's birthday was Sunday so Saturday we had a few people over to celebrate.  Jason and I are the same age for about 6 months again!  And we are rapidly approaching an age where we will have to check the box of the next age bracket on forms!  Aaahhh! 

 Anyway, it was really nice to hang out with some friends.  Jason got to play washers, which made him happy.  And the kids had friends to play with too so it was win-win. 

The weather has cooled down considerably here so that evening we were even able to light up the fire pit to roast some marshmallows and the kiddos got to play with sparklers that we've been hoarding since last year.  Lyla is the only one that got hurt.  As Jason said - at least when there were other kids at our house playing with fire, it was one of ours that got hurt.  She learned that the blazing end of the sparkler does indeed burn you just like Mommy and Daddy said.  She has a minor-but-yucky burn on her neck to prove this.  At least we do have some monkey-shaped bandaids that she got to wear to church on Sunday.

Sunday was the actual birthday so Jason got to open his presents that morning.  Lyla had picked out clown glasses, red nose, and fake teeth that she insisted we get for him just from her.  I think the girls thought that was the best present and I'm pretty sure Lyla just wanted the teeth for herself.  Luckily she got her own pair out of the prize box at church for doing her weekly Bible homework. 

Happy Birthday Jason!

The hot weather is going, going..... We decided we better go to Sholem again before it closes.  Public school starts here Wednesday so the pool will go to late-afternoon hours after that until it closes on Labor Day.  Yesterday however it was awesome!  There was no one there!  Well a few, but compared to what Sholem is usually like, it was awesome!  I was very pooped so thankfully I got to just sit in a lounger and watch all three girls no matter what area of the big pool they went in.  This usually is not the case as it's usually so full of people that it's easy to loose sight of them if we don't stick pretty close together.  The lifeguards were a bit more chilled than usual, so the girls got to play in the zero entry of the lazy river (usually a no-no) and flip the floats (also usually a no-no) and have a little more horse-play in the big pool than they normally get to have as well.

So we begin week two of homeschool.  And week one of me regularly working four mornings a week.  I think it ironic that we began to homeschool about the same time that I began to work 16 hours a week.  I must say that the girls have been really good about letting me rest a bit in the afternoons when they know I've been at work that morning.  I'm anticipating this week to be a bit exhausting - again my to-do list gets longer and the day stays the same length.  I will have to be diligent this week to guard my heart and my relationaships in the midst of busyness.  But I have a lot of good things to look forward to and celebrate this week.  Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you - guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.  2 Tim.1:14