Wild Neighbor

First we had deer, rabbits, raccoons, snakes, assorted birds and crazy bugs.

Then Clyde made friends with this wild neighbor.  He's a pretty hefty guy!

Check out those tympanum!!!

Nana's Room Updated

Friends and relatives of Nana (aka Bobbi), she would like you to see how she has set up her room since moving in :)

We went to an antique store and got some awesome deals on pieces she loved.  And the rocking chair was given by a friend. 

Bathroom...

Here's her "kitchenette" :)

Her reading corner...

Desk/TV area...

Bed area....

It's the neatest, most inviting room in the house!!

Finally Bought Bikes!

Once the kids learned to ride (was it 2 years ago?) we promised them bikes.

We got Clyde's promptly, because it was on clearance and an insanely good deal.

Well, we FINALLY got around to getting the girls' bikes!!

Took some serious adjustments since they were used to hand breaks and now they're learning to use pedal breaks!

We've been on a night ride and an extended neighborhood ride and have just been enjoying the hound out of them.  Now we need to just get Mom and Dad's bikes fixed up!

"Does This Count As School?"

It's kind of funny (and probably not very nice) how some of us homeschool moms are SO relieved when everybody else goes back to school, because then we get "OUR" pools, jumpy houses, fountains, cardboarding hills, etc... back.  Like they're actually ours or something. 

And though we recognize that it is a sort of unkind thought, it's universally agreed among us that it sure is less stressful.  No crazy counting of your kids.  No making sure a big kid hasn't stepped on your little one, or your big one hasn't stepped on someone's little one.  Cause there's only about 10 kids in a huge warehouse of space.  Moms (and dads) just sit back and chillax!  Unless you're crazy like me and have to run around and take pictures of everything. :D 

Nena, Sherry, and I took the kids to a local indoor trampoline/obstacle place to play during school hours and you could hear lots of giggles from the sparse number of moms when a random child would inevitably say, "Mom, does this count as school?"

Homeschool kids ask this question a LOT about all kinds of things.  When they are little, we mostly answer, "yes!"  But as they get older, they more often hear, "no."  But this.... this definitely counts as P.E!!!

Daddy's Hobby = Kid's Hobby

The kids are SUPER intrigued by their Daddy's profession as well as his somewhat related hobbies.  One of those is lockpicking.  It helps that they are kind of obsessed with the show Leverage (or at least the episodes they've been allowed to watch).

Lu researching...

Clyde's first picked lock along with his tool of choice...

Walking Little Sis through the process....

Iris's first picked lock and her tool of choice...

I guess if they become criminals, we will be to blame :/

Nana's Birthday

Nana had her first birthday, while living with us, shortly after she got here.

The kids decorated....

Part of the decor included covering her doorway with streamers and shining a spotlight on her as she entered the party zone :)

We ate sesame chicken.

Nana with her cake

The kids made her cards!!

And Nana with Stephen and me

Fun times!  Happy Birthday, Nana!!!!  We love you!!

School!! 4th, 6th, and 8th Grades!!

Being a homeschooler, I'm kind of lax on the whole 'first day of school picture' thing.  This was NOT our first day.  It WAS however, the first day for Lucy and Clyde to go to their not-at-home classes.  I packed Iris up too and we did school at Barnes and Noble.  If this were a picture of our actual first day you would see messy hair, pajamas, and kids spread out in different rooms.

But here it is...our sort of first day of 4th, 6th, and 8th grade!!  (Note the book bags they each picked out...they're so unpredictable, I would have totally guessed that Iris would pick Lucy's and Lucy would pick Iris's.)

Here's Iris's first day EVER of going to classes without her mom!!  She was VERY nervous!!

But when I picked her up, she was SO pumped!  She knew one kid in creative writing and four kids in choir including these two beauties!!

This is what she looks like when the others are in class or cognitive training.  Pretty cute, huh?

Lucy and Clyde LOVE getting to revisit some of their old experiments when their baby sister does them for her science.  Melting chocolate with solar energy...it just never gets old!

Clyde in his literature and composition class... he's at the second table with a black shirt.

Lucy waiting for math to start...my camera kept not working and all I could get was this one of her chugging down water.

Iris in choir.... second table, far side of the room, second child.

Sorry, took more pics of Iris than Lu and Clyde...but she's with me more and this was her year of firsts. :)