We'll Just Pretend Those 6 Months Didn't Happen

I was going to try to do a recap of the past 6 months, but that's too overwhelming to think about so I'mma start fresh.  Brief update: the kids are good, we got a puppy, we've had 6 foster kids come and go (read about that at my other neglected blog, which I hope to update soon, hisplanmyhope.com).

It's spring!  Well, sortof.  It was nice enough a few times over the past couple weeks that we got outside for a bit.  Otis (puppy) is much better behaved when he's had lots and lots and LOTS of exercise chasing the kids outside.  We have taken him to 2 different puppy classes and boarded him a few times, and all of the trainers have commented on how "excited" or "energetic" he is.  Maybe some day he'll be calm enough to snuggle, cause a snuggly puppy he is not!  But he's cute, and he's fun, and he's learning his manners ~ can't ask for much more than that!

Pictures :)

It took me 10 days to convince Charlotte that this picture needed to be shared :)

Milo, on the other hand, loves cheesing it up for the camera

Sisters, secrets.

The kids at our coop singing "Thrive" at our end of year celebration

Charlotte with one of her friends, Katherine

Backyard shenanigans, unstaged

Milo performing a spell, probably "expelliarmos"

I love Milo's ingenuity ~ he needed both hands, so he came up with a water-cup-holder\

NaBloPoMo! Homeschooling!

Well this year has just flown by, hasn't it?!  I barely blink, it seems, and it's been over 3 months since my last post.  But, have no fear!  NaBloPoMo is here!  I have a lot of catching up to do, so let's get started, shall we?

First off, my hard drive up and quit last week.  Like, one day my computer would turn on, and the next day it would not.  Fortunately Michael is a compulsive hoarder smart and resourceful husband, and had kept my old hard drive just in case this exact scenario happened.  Unfortunately, somehow in the transition Aperture (my photo editor) decided it did not want to open anymore.  Michael assures me that the photos (all 50,000+ of them) are still on my computer, I just can't access them right now.  So for tonight, you get pics from my phone :)

At the beginning of September, the journey of homeschooling two (plus a toddler for fun!) began, and I am loving so much about it!

Excited to start learning!

First day of Classical Conversations.  That's Milo and Isaac holding hands on their way to the childcare :)

Christopher Columbus craft time

Handwriting (yes, they do cursive)

Maya copies her history sentence to practice handwriting *and* memory work.

Charlotte is still working on her letters, and doing a pretty fantastic job for being barely 5 when we started!

Math with Mr. Demme

School field trip to the Akron Art Museum

School field trip to the pumpkin patch

Reading Comprehension (in case you can't tell, this is a rag doll, exactly like the ones they made in Little House in the Big Woods)

Freedom to take road trips!

Homeschool Halloween Party

Home Economics 

Milo, our free entertainment :)

The Prize Box

Every Thursday at Charlotte's preschool is "prize day".  I have not confirmed this with her teachers, but word on the street is that they identify two kids who were the "best singer smiler" to choose something from the prize box.  This was one of the few things that would make Charlotte excited to go to school ~ she would ask me in the morning if it was prize day, and each week that passed that she did not "win" was sadder and sadder (for me, at least!).  We even started practicing her smiling at home so that she would be ready.  The first week that we practiced, she didn't win.  The next week that we practiced, she didn't win (and let me tell you, it took nearly all of my will-power to not go out and buy her that clip-on-hand-sanitizer she had her eye on in the prize box!).  The third week we practiced?  She won!!!  And two weeks after that?  AGAIN!  Yay Charlotte! :)

I realize that to anyone that is not a parent (and specifically, to anyone that is not a parent of an extremely sensitive and shy child, and more specifically, to anyone that is not a parent of Charlotte) this may not seem like a big deal.  But in our house?  It was a huge victory!  Charlotte was so proud of herself and I *might* have shed a tear or two.  By the time she won, the hand sanitizer was long gone, but she happily accepted a cherry Lip Smackers (first time) and a stuffed frog, named "Waya" who has now joined the ranks of animals covering Charlotte's bed.