Our Crazed Little World

Our Summer thus far and future plans

2011-08-13T10:22:00.005-04:00

I know I haven't posted in a while. Honestly, I don't think anyone reads this! So far this summer we were crazy busy with swim team(we are now on break). We recently finished our school year about 2 weeks ago. We are off until October! I have been trying to squeeze every bit of fun out of summer before our vacation. We have been bowling, to the lake beach, swimming in our pool most days, braving the heat to go to playgrounds, Six Flags and today we are headed to Cave Springs to visit the cave and spring fed swimming pool. September 1 starts our month long vacation to the beach!!

We have decided to take an RV trip around the country in 1-2 years. We have some planning to do before then! The whole family will get a lot out of this trip and it will be an amazing experience! We have already decided on which RV we want. We aren't buying it yet, but it helps us all to visualize where we will live during this time.This RV has a sleeping areas for everyone. A bedroom for mom and dad, a huge bed for Grady over the driving area and bunkbeds for Madison and Andrew! There are also 2 more beds for company. A huge adventure awaits us!

Our Weekend, March 18-20, 2011

2011-03-21T16:04:00.005-04:00

This weekend was crazy busy for us and we survived! It started Friday night at our homeschool group's talent show. It was a lot of fun. Grady showed a Lego creation and Madison displayed some of her art work.

Grady getting ready to dive.

Madison's race is next!

We had to get up at 6 Saturday morning to make it to a swim meet that was an hour and a half drive from our home. It was our first meet of the season and we all enjoyed ourselves. Both Grady and Madison did a fantastic job :) After we got home, the kids ran across the street to a birthday party. They played all afternoon.

Waiting to cheer Daddy on. Andrew is not sleeping, just being silly.

There he is!

All done and very tired!

Sunday morning we all got up at 4:45am!! My husband was running a half-marathon and we were all going to support him. The race started at 7, but it was in downtown Atlanta and had an expected 18, 000 runners so we wanted to get there in plenty of time. We did. Jason did a fantastic job and the kids were very well behaved. We came home and Jason and I sat on the sofa and watched 3 movies in a row. I don't think we could have done anything else. The kids didn't do much either :)

Feb7-Feb11, 2011

2011-02-11T14:18:00.002-05:00

Monday and Tuesday, Madison played online multiplication games while we waited for her new math books to get here. They really helped to reinforce her facts. On Thursday and Friday, she worked on mental math in Singapore 3B. She has done a pretty terrific job. It terrified me as she usually takes a while to "get it". The rest of the math book looks pretty easy and i think she will move through it quickly. In LLATL, she read about George Washington and today (Friday) she did an oral presentation on our first president. She did a great job!

Grady took a quiz over decimals in TT7. He scored an A! Then he moved on to the percentage chapter for the rest of the week. In LLATL, Grady learned about tall tales. he started writing his own tall tale today and will finish it next week. He also had a presentation to do today. He read a Dr. Suess book to his brother and sister. He is a shy child so this is a great thing for him to practice. He did a fantastic job!

Andrew flew through division and telling time. Today, he worked on numbers to 100. He had zero problem with this. He will finish Singapore 1B within the next 2 weeks I am guessing. I will purchase the intensive practice and word problems books soon. I am hoping this gives him something challenging to work on. He continues to do well in his LLATL. He can sound out pretty much anything they give him. He does have some trouble remembering the sight words.

All together the kids learned about radioactivity in Chemistry. We worked on word roots on Tuesday. Wednesday we took the day off since we had to be at co-op at 1 for a Valentine Party! We all had a lot of fun making Valentines and boxes and then exchanging them at the party:) After the party the kids went to their separate classes and I helped in Grady's first class and in Madison's second class. Andrew went to his classes by himself!! I think at,6 years old, this was a first. Everyone loves their time spent at co-op! Thursday we studied the vikings in SOTW 2. Today, we made viking bread and watched a documentary about the Vikings on Hulu.

It has been a good week! Next week swim team starts! It will be crazy for a while around here until we can establish the new routine :)

Week of Jan 31 to Feb 6, 2011

2011-02-07T12:32:00.004-05:00

I keep meaning to blog and then I get sidetracked and now I have so much to write about. I'm going to stick with last week and leave the rest for another time.

Monday, we stayed home. It was fabulous! We did our school work and then I don't remember what we did :) Tuesday, Madison had Brownies and daddy took her so I could stay home and exercise. Wednesday, we went to a local jumpy place with our homeschool group for social day. That night, all 3 kiddos had karate class and I got a whole hour to myself, at home alone. What did I do? Exercise! Are you sensing a theme here? I'm trying to defeat this hypothyroidism weight gain. It seems to be working :) Thursday night, I took Andrew and Madison to their tumbling class and Jason took Grady to Tellus where they listened to a lecture from an archeologist. Grady has expressed an interest in archeology and I was thrilled that Jason was off that day and could take him. The weather was iffy and they did have to deal with some ice on the drive. I was glad when they returned home and that Grady had a good time! Friday, we stayed home and daddy went to work. We did our school work and played all afternoon. the weekend was full of me painting our living room ceiling and making new curtains while the kids played happily outside. I was crazy tired last night and my neck and arms hurt like crazy, but our ceiling looks fantastic. I'll share pics later!

On the education front, mostly we are just continuing on through our curriculum. Madison finished her Singapore 3A math book and so I ordered her the next one. While we wait for it she is playing multiplication games online to help her memorize it all. Andrew is almost finished with his first grade math book. This has led to me to think a lot about what to do next. He's already advanced a grade level and the work is easy for him. I didn't know if I should move him into 2nd grade math or what. I have decided to get the Singapore word problems and extensive practice for him before moving on to second grade math. I have no clue why, but I have a hang up on moving him to second grade right now. He's super smart, but I don't want to move him too fast. Grady is plugging along as well, he just hasn't finished anything recently, so there's not much to report!

Grady's Bday and Lots of Snow!

2011-01-17T14:09:00.003-05:00

So, it snowed last week, with ice. We were stuck inside our house for a solid week. Thankfully, I had prepared and we didn't lose power. Also, Jason was home until Thursday. There is still snow/ice on the ground at my house, 8 days after it snowed. This is crazy for Georgia, but I fear it will become commonplace. The kids had a lot of fun and played outside most of the days we were stuck at home. We also continued with our schoolwork while the public school kids had the entire week off.

When we finally went out of the house and drove on the roads on Saturday I was amazed at how much ice/snow/slush was still on the ground. It really is time that the DOT invest in some snow removal equipment.

our front yard

Our front porch/side yard

Grady turned 11 on Jan 3. We had a family party that day and we all had a great time! Here's Grady blowing out the candles!

His cake, made by me. It was vanilla and mint and it was pretty good :)

Opening gifts with his bday glasses his Grandma gave him!

Andrew Turns 6!!

2010-12-21T09:09:00.004-05:00

On December 6, Andrew turned 6! We had a small family gathering at our home. We had cake and ice cream and opened his gifts. It was great, quick and no stress for mommy!! Andrew and Grady will have a big friend party complete with bonfire later in January. I'm sure there will be ample stress then :)

Now, a few words about how awesome Andrew is! Andrew is the sweetest little boy. He loves his family and loves to help around the house. He is our baby and always will be. We are very glad to have him in our family.

Week of Nov 15-20, 2010

2010-11-14T08:26:00.003-05:00

This week was kind of a let down. We are so used to having something to do every afternoon/night and those things are coming to an end. We find ourselves with nothing to do and it takes some adjustment to get into a new routine.

As far as school goes, the kids are doing great. We realized this week, after Grady's 5th quiz in teaching Textbooks 7, that he has scored an A on all 5 quizzes. He has an A in math. We are super proud, especially since he's 10 and in the 5th grade doing level 7 math. Madison is doing fantastic with multiplying and dividing. That was a hard on to teach Grady since he's dyslexic and he finds memorizing nearly impossible. It's a relief for me that Madison is doing well with it. Andrew continues to amaze me. Evey time I turn the page in his Singapore 1A math book I think it might be hard for him. I explain it and he does it and gets it right. He is nearing the end of 1A and he's 5. My kids aren't geniuses, just allowed to move ahead or stay behind when needed. Grady really didn't read until 4th grade. Now he's reading at or above his grade level. Another reason we love homeschooling! The kids get the education they need on an individual level.

We are studying Chemistry this year. Right now, we are learning about the elements and the periodic table. In history, we read about India during the middle ages. We learned about the Ajanta Caves where Buddhist Monks used to live. It's a beautiful place and amazing that all of the work was done by hand.

Tuesday, Madison had both Brownies and cheer practice. Jason was home so the boys didn't have to come. Wednesday, we went swimming after school and after swimming, we stopped by the homeschool co-op to pick up the food drive donations and that night both boys had karate and Jason took them. Madison and I stayed home. Thursday we went on a field trip to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History to see their new exhibit, Water. It was well done and informative. Too bad the school kids on field trips made the trip quite annoying. They were loud, rude and ran thru the place like it was an amusement park. I doubt they learned one thing that day. After Fernbank, we ate lunch at The Flying Biscuit Cafe where Andrew said they were the best biscuits he had had in his life!! The food was good and we had a nice lunch :) Thursday night we were expecting to go to cheer practice, but it was canceled at the last minute. I went bday shopping for Andrew by myself that night. On Friday, we usually have Grady's outdoor adventure class, but his last class was last week.

The kids ask everyday, "Where we are going today?". We are used to going and after our last cheer competition today our schedule will change and be more relaxed. We will only have karate and tumbling class every week. I'm sure that with bdays and Christmas we will be busy.

Cheer Fest 2010

2010-11-08T09:13:00.002-05:00

Madison's Cheer Video
Madison's team won 1st place yesterday and here's a video I made for those who were not there!

A little of what we've been up to

2010-10-25T08:36:00.002-04:00

Cheerleading continues to take up a lot of our time here. Last week, we had 16 hours of practice. I am not kidding. Yes, I think it's too much. I am way too stressed out about the whole thing. No, we will not be doing this again next year. The problem is is that Madison loves cheering. I love watching her work so hard and the competitions are fun. We will have to come up with a solution.

We had our first competition yesterday. Madison did great. The other girls did great. They placed 4th out of 4 teams. Our routine has it's issues and that is all on the coaches. The girls did the best they could do with what they were given. Another reason why we won't do this team next year.

Madison all ready for competition!

We all went on a field trip to Carrollton Agriculture Days last Thursday. We got to see a huge Ox, a old schoolhouse, Native Americans and a bunch of other old things. I have decided that we have been to way too many of these things as we didn't really see anything new. We walked a lot and left early so we could go swim laps. We bought a pass to our local indoor pool to get the kids ready for swim season. The kids and Jason are doing great. I'm doing great for me. I have actually put my head under the water and am swimming the freestyle! I'm pretty good at the backstroke. I don't have to put my head under the water! It's been fun and it's great exercise.

The boys continue on with karate. This week they both are testing. It's Grady first test and Andrew's second. They both have gotten a bit bored waiting to test. Hopefully, they will get a little more excited after they get their new belts!

They are all doing fantastic with their school work. Moving along quite nicely. Today, we are working on a Halloween History project for our patch club meeting tomorrow!

As for me, I will be crazy busy making Halloween costumes. One is almost done, two more to go!

2010-10-02T15:57:00.002-04:00

Before this week, we had 2 weeks off from school. My husband had vacation from work and technically it was our end of the school year. We took many trips and just relaxed. The kids all have sports and activities that still had to be done, but we managed to enjoy our time off. We rented a boat and enjoyed a day on the lake. We took a trip to Amicalola Falls and climbed 604 stairs to the top of the falls. We went to an apple orchard while we were in Northern Ga. We bought lots of yummy apples, some ice cream and apple pies! We hiked at our favorite local place, Sweetwater Creek State Park. It was a lovely "staycation" :)

This week it was back to work! Madison finished up her LLATL 2 and worked and the last bit of her Singapore math book. Grady continued to work on his TT7. Andrew is progressing nicely through his Singapore 1A and he his reading some first grade readers while we await a huge curriculum order. Both Grady and Madison worked through some spelling lessons. All 3 kids worked on Spanish and Chemistry. In chemistry, we made rubber eggs, super fun!

Tuesday, we went hiking at Red Top Mountain with our new homeschool badge club! We meet with at least 20 other homeschool kids and their families. We took a small hike, observed living things in the lake, did a scavenger hunt and had a lovely picnic lunch. We have known most of these families for 2 years at least and enjoy spending time with them! Now, my boys have the opportunity to earn badges/patches without having to join Boy Scouts. Madison has been in Girl Scouts for 4 years now and I am elated that my boys can have similar experiences without prejudice.

On Fridays, Grady has an Outdoor Adventure Class that he loves. It's with our homeschool group and it's just for him. He gets time away from his siblings and a lot of great knowledge! He also gets to spend time with Sam, a new good friend of his :)

As usual, there was lots of cheerleading and a little karate this week. Next week, Grady tests for his yellow belt!

August 9-13, 2010

2010-08-13T17:30:00.002-04:00

We've had a good week here. Since we school year around we are finishing up with some stuff and starting some new stuff.

Grady started reading, The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare. It's his last book of LLATL 4th. He has come such a long way in a year. He has gone from almost not reading at all to reading at or above grade level! Children really do read on their own time. Grady started Teaching Textbooks 7 this week. He completed lessons 1-5. So far, we are all liking it. It's our first time with TT. We have been using Singapore. Singapore's great and we will continuw using it through 4th grade with Andrew and Madison. Math is not my strong suit, so I decided to use TT since it involves little help from me.

Madison is finishing up 2nd grade. She's doing great with LLATL 2nd. She started fractions today in Singapore. Thankfully, she seems to get it. The rest of 2B should go by quickly. I checked out the rest of the lessons and they look pretty easy.

Andrew finished Kindergarten sometime last month. He is waiting on his first grade math to get here. I ordered it, but it hasn't arrived. I need to get his LLATL student workbook ordered. He is enjoying some time off right now.

Both Andrew and Grady started karate classes on Wednesday. I was really impressed with what they were taught. They enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next class. Madison is cheering and we are all looking forward to the first game.

I have been reading out loud the last Harry Potter book in anticipation of the movie coming out in November. We are almost done! Also, we have all been enjoying the last days of summer. We are usually in the pool as we hear the school bus go by. Life is good:)

Our First Alone Vacation

2010-08-05T18:51:00.005-04:00

Last weekend Jason and I went on our first vacation without kids, ever. We went to a small town, close to St. Simmons called Darien. Here's a pic of the cottage we stayed at.We visited downtown Darien, which took about 2 minutes :) It's a small fishing village on the intercoastal waterway.That evening, we went to St. Simmons Island. We went to the beach and ate dinner there before heading back to the cottage. We were amazed at the amount of sand. It was low tide and the beach was huge.The next day was spent on Jekyll Island. We first visited Driftwood Beach. I read about it online and it sounded nice. We were surprised to find rocks instead of sand! We did see a lot of dolphins following a shrimp boat. That was nice and the view was certainly beautiful!
We then moved further down the beach and set up for the day. We spent about 4 hours there enjoying the warm, calm water. It was nice to not have to watch 3 kids in the ocean for a change. Who knows when or if we will take a trip without the kids again. We missed them a lot and kept saying. "The kids would love this" and, "We should bring the kids here".

Future Plans

2010-07-25T09:40:00.000-04:00

We are still plugging along. Grady and Andrew finished up their math books last week. That makes Andrew officially a 1st grader. He's a full year ahead of where he would be in public school. He picks up everything I show him. Grady finished Singapore 4 and since we are switching curriculum to Teaching Textbooks, I had him take the placement test for it. He placed into TT 7. That's exciting because he can finish all the TT by the end of 10th grade and be ready for college math at 11th grade. Since our plan is to send the kids to college for joint enrollment in 11th, that works out. Madison is working hard and is on schedule to finish by September.

We have vacation next week. We have a lot of local things planned to do like Six Flags and Stone Mountain. Jason and I are going to a cute little cottage in Savannah for 3 days at the end of the week, by OURSELVES! It'll be our first trip without kids. I think we are all ready for it. Jason's bday is July 31 and our anniversary is Aug 8, so it's a nice gift to ourselves :)

At this point, I am planning on taking all of September off from school. We have another week of vacation where we are planning to rent an RV and do some road-tripping. The rest of the time we be full of house projects, maybe a yard sale and just down time. We all could use some. In October, we will be full swing into 1st, 3rd and 5th grades!!

I'm looking forward to it :)

Life is precious

2010-05-27T08:59:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, May 25, 2010, my stepmother, Denise Gunter died. She was 43 years old, mom to my 8 year old brother, Ian. Less than one year ago she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. We will miss you, Denise. We will all take care of your beautiful son.

Vacation! May 17- 23, 2010

2010-05-27T08:38:00.000-04:00

Last week, we drove to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It's a 10 hour drive from Atlanta. We spent the first night in a hotel in Raleigh since we knew it was going to be raining that night. The drive was horrible. It was raining pretty hard and there were lots of accidents. When we arrived at the campground and started to set up our tent we were unsure our tent could withstand the winds. Thankfully, Jason was able to stabilize it enough to survive the 20 MPH winds.

We got to visit the NC Aquarium, The Roanoke Island Festival Park,The Wright Brothers Memorial, the beach, and 2 lighthouses. We learned a lot about the Native Americans and some of the first English people to come over to America. The Memorial was awesome! We learned a lot about aviation and about Orville and Wilbur. This was great given that Grady had read a biography about them and this was the inspiration for the whole trip :) We spent 2 days playing in the Atlantic Ocean. The kids are crazy fish and spent a lot of time in the cold water!!

This was the first time we camped without power or water at our campsite. The showers were also cold water only. Thankfully, we planned ahead. We brought solar showers, an electric converter and a big water container. It wasn't bad at all. We were camping on the beach so I was willing to give up some "luxuries".

We had a good time and would consider going back sometime in the future. On the drive home we drove the whole 10 hours home. The kids were fantastic and it was a relatively pleasant drive, thankfully!

Here's a link to some photos of our trip: Outer Bank Photos

May 3-7, 2010

2010-05-08T09:29:00.001-04:00

This week, we spent a lot of time at the pool. 4 out of 5 nights. The other night was spent at the gym. One of the 5 nights we were at both the gym and the pool! Daddy's been gone since Tuesday. I hate 5 day trips. 4 days are doable. 5 day trips are insane. I need a break!! Thankfully, it's Saturday and he'll be home later this evening. I plan on relaxing today and finishing up Mother's Day Gifts for the Grandmothers. I hope to cook a nice dinner that isn't rushed. We'll see.

Wednesday was our last co-op day for this year. It was a little sad as I won't be seeing my students every week. I have really enjoyed our time together. My kids loved their classes. Grady will forever love computers. I don't know if he will work with computers. He loves being outside too much to be stuck inside, I think. Who knows? The teacher did say that he tries new things that she wouldn't have thought to try. She did say that he would never be unemployed! That's a good thing. Madison and Andrew both finished up clay class. I have more cute little clay pieces than I know what to do with!

Some of our friends are close to finishing up their school year or are done already. I have been very jealous of them this week. We school year round. We are far from through with math and reading. We are done with everything else. My husband likes to remind me that we took a month long beach vacation when everyone else was in school. Yes, I know that and it was great, but now I want to be done teaching and play! Thankfully, we have another beach vacation in a week and we will all get a much deserved break and hopefully come back renewed.

The kids are doing great work and are learning, as usual. Progress is being made. Grady is learning how to write a research paper. His topic is the state of Georgia. We are learning some interesting things about GA as we do our research. He picked out a book to read on his own and he finished it in 2 hours! That's probably the best thing that happened this week. Grady just didn't read before this year, his 4th grade year. He's dyslexic and it took a while to figure out what works for him. I'm so thankful that he's reading on grade level. He's so intelligent I didn't want reading to hold him back.

I know I haven't said much about Madison and Andrew yet. They are both doing well. Andrew's halfway through Singapore KB. He's reading well. He continues to amaze me daily with what he can handle. Madison's learning mental math in Singapore 2B and is getting it. It's something I wasn't taught, so it's cool seeing Madison do it.

Next week holds packing for vacation and getting ready for a Saturday swim meet. Grady's 3rd and Madison's 1st!!

Weekly Update April 4-11, 2010

2010-04-11T08:34:00.000-04:00

Sunday, was Madison's 8th birthday. Yes, it was also Easter this year. Since she had her bday sleepover last week, we had a family dinner on Sunday. Madison decided to embrace the Easter theme. We had ham for dinner and a Easter egg hunt! She's such a sweet girl!

waiting to open the gifts!

This week was Spring Break for most of the kids in the area. Not us. We had a whole month of beach vacation from mid-August to mid-September. We really needed to continue our lessons, so we did. We are planning a trip the end of May, so don't feel sorry for us:)

Madison finished up her Singapore 2A and will move into 2B on Monday. She's about half way through LLATL 2. She'd doing great and reading well. She also had 2 cheer practices, a tumble class and a horse riding lesson this week. Next weekend, she has her first individual cheer competition!!!

Grady is almost done with his autobiography on the Wright Brothers. He has one chapter left!! That's amazing for him. He's dyslexic and has made huge strides this year. He is reading on grade level!! We are so excited :) I started looking for his next reading book and soon found out that it is not in print anymore and it was only printed in a small printing. This book is hard to find and about $20 for a soft copy! CRAZY! He is progressing well in math. Decimals are easy for him. He'll be done with Singapore 4B in a flash!

This week, both Grady and Madison started Sequential Spelling. We are all loving it. They are exicited to learn how to spell big words! Next week, we will begin our Egypt studies and finish it up with a trip to a local museum with Egyptian artifacts.

Andrew's doing great in his Singapore KB math book. He's adding problems like 2+5, etc. Not bad for a child who would be in pre-k this year, if in public school. He's also reading simple books,
like those on starfall.com. It's amazing! So far, he's been the easiest to teach. He just seems to get it. I'm sure that's because he has 2 older siblings whom he has grown up watching learn.

I have been busy with yard work, planning our vacation to the Outer Banks, cleaning, sewing, cooking, you know, the usual :) Daddy was gone most of the week, flying. We had a good week and a beautiful Saturday with most of it spent outside in our backyard as a family:)

Update

2010-04-02T19:13:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in a while because I have been busy.

Grady was sick all last week. He had some virus that caused the lymph nodes in his neck to swell pretty badly. He didn't get to swim at all last week. He also didn't do too much school as he couldn't talk. He's much better this week:)

Madison had her birthday sleepover last Friday. She turns 8 on Sunday, Easter Sunday. I thought that sharing her bday with Easter would be a downer, but she has risen to the occasion. We are having a traditional Easter dinner with family and egg hunt, per her request :) She really is the sweetest girl ever!

Madison and Jason went to their first Father/Daughter Dance with the Brownies last weekend. Jason has always had to work, but this year they were able to go. They had fun and finished the evening with dinner at a Sushi restaurant.

As far as school goes, we finished up our Life Science book today! Grady and Madison decided to study Chemistry next year. I'll order this soon as the curriculum is 25% off in April. Madison is nearing the end of her math book. She's working on division right now. Grady is almost done reading his book about the Wright Brothers. He's working on decimals right now in Math and finding them very easy, too easy. I would like to skip it, but he needs to go over to make sure he can handle it later in life.

Next week, we will start a spelling curriculum and a study on ancient Egypt that we will conclude with a trip to the Carlos Museum.

Andrew is doing great. He's flying through his math book and is learning short vowel sounds. He has only one more to learn on Monday.

Both Madison and Andrew painted the clay pieces they made in clay class on Wed. they got to bring them home! We are now the proud owners of 2 clay bird feeders, 2 clay frogs, 2 clay maracas and various other pieces:) I will try to take a pic for you all soon. They are too cute.

I'm sure there's more, but that's all for now.

March 7-12, 2010

2010-03-12T21:09:00.000-05:00

Grady had his first swim meet on Saturday. He did a fantastic job and we are all proud of him. It was a learning experience for us all! A long day with a lot of fun :)

In math this week, Grady started on Singapore 4B. Madison is finishing up 2A and Andrew started Singapore Kindergarten B. Everyone's making good progress and mastering thier lessons.

In language arts, Grady started reading a book about the Wright Brothers. We are hoping to plan a trip to the Wright Muesuem in Kitty Hawk, NC. I did some research and it's 10 hours from here. I'm not sure if we'll drive or fly, but we are hoping to visit soon. Madison and Andrew are plugging along in thier work as well.

We started learning about cells this week. G&M are fascinated and are begging to learn more. We studied organelles and colored animal cells today. I love biology, so Mama's happy :)

Spanish continues. We are working on plurals on Live Mocha. We are all enjoying it. It's getting harder, but still manageable. I'm wondering how far we will get before it's too hard. I guess will see!

Wednesday, our session 4 started at our homeschool enrichment program. I'm contuining to teach pre-k. Madison and Andrew are taking a clay class together and Grady is in his second session of computer game design class. I was so proud of Andrew. The clay class is his first class without me. He did so well and listened to his teacher!! Proud mommy moment:)

That's all for now!

March1-5, 2010

2010-03-05T18:48:00.000-05:00

This week we had more snow. No one was excited. I think we are all ready for Spring. We watched the snow fall, but we didn't go outside to play in it. The snow was really wet and it had been raining before the snow started, so it was really not good snow to play in. Jason took this picture of a bird sitting in a tree outside of the window while the snow fell. It was the only picture we took of that snowfall. I guess we are over the snow this year!

We had the week off from Robert's school and it was nice to not have to get out in the cold and snow on Wednesday morning :) On Thursday, we took a field trip to a rock quarry. It was pretty entertaining. We even got to be there while they blasted some rock. This only happens 3 times a week so we got really lucky. This quarry mines granite mainly for landscaping. Here are some pics of that:

Just the tires on this truck were taller that any of the dads!

A huge pile of rocks!

All the children got to collect rocks!

A look into the quarry.

Friday, we had a productive school day. Grady and Madison are finishing up their math books. Thankfully, I ordered the next books for them already! We finished up a unit study on the human body today as well. G&M know a lot about this subject! They really enjoyed it and are looking forward to our study of cells :) We press on in Spanish. They are doing awesome. I didn't know how it would go, but so far so good! Andrew is working on finishing up his Kindergarten work. He is waiting on his next math book to arrive and we are going over the letters he still doesn't know. At this point he's not missing many, so that's good. He's even starting to read 3 and 4 letter words! Grady and Madison also did a lesson in their LLATL 2 and 4 language arts books. Grady's new reading book, "Wilbur and Orville Wright," made it here today, so we will get started on it soon.

After our schooltime, Madison had her horse riding lesson. This was her thrid lesson and she is improving. She did a lot of trotting today and learned how to clean the horse's hooves. She was looking forward to the nail part, so we were both glad she got to do that!

Tomorrow is Grady's first swim meet!! We are all excited, despite having to get up very early :)

Feb 20- Feb 27, 2010

2010-03-02T13:14:00.000-05:00

On Monday we went to Fernbank. They have a new exhibit about natural disasters. It was the perfect day to go. There was hardly anyone there and the exhibit was great. We all enjoyed it and learned a lot!

On Tuesday, Jason was TDY'd to DC. That means he had to fly to DC and sit in a hotel until they needed him. He was gone for 5 days. Thankfully, he had a trip assigned so that he could get out of the hotel. Our life went on as normal, but we all missed Daddy.

Wednesday was our last class of session 3 at the Roberts school. Grady's class will continue into session 4. Madison and Andrew will take a clay class together after our Pre-K/K class.

Saturday, Madison had a cookie booth sale. It was an adventure getting her there. After a week on my own, I guess my brain was a little tired. I drove to the wrong place and then couldn't find the right one for a while. We finally got there about 10 minutes late. I really dislike being late! After the cookie sale we went home and Daddy called and said he was on his way home :) Madison had a sleepover at the zoo that night, so we left the boys at home and I drove Madison to the zoo. On Sunday, we picked Madison up and walked around the zoo for about 2 hours. Madison told us what she learned and we saw lots of animals.

We have been doing well in our school lessons. I ordered some curriculum to finish out the year. Now, we just wait on it and finish up what we are working on. Everything's going well and the kids are learning lots :)

Feb 13 - Feb 19, 2010

2010-02-23T13:14:00.000-05:00

Last week, Grady started on a swim team. He loves it. He went to practice 4 times this week! It's amazing to Jason and me how much he enjoys the water :) His first meet is on March 6 in Anniston, AL. We are all excited!!

On the 14th, I woke up to a heart shaped breakfast made by my wonderful husband. He also made the same breakfast for Madison when she woke up. Madison and I woke up early to attend my sister, Savannah's cheer competition. After the competition we came home and we made a Valentine's dinner together. We tried to make it special for everyone with candle and China plates. The kids love when we eat on our wedding China!

Most of last week was dedicated to Grady and Madison's first science fair projects. Grady tested whether or not the number of folds affect a paper airplane's flight. Madison tested the best shipping material for crackers. They both did awesome and we are super proud of them:)

Grady's display
Grady presenting his project.

Madison's displayMadison presenting her project.

On Saturday, Madison and I went to International Thinking Day with her Brownie Troop. Each troop in the service unit presents a different country. The Girl Scouts get to travel the world in 2 hours. Each country has food to try, facts to learn and swaps to collect. We had a lot of fun! Madison's troop had China. All the girl's wore chopsticks in the hair and had Chinese fans to use during the day. I have pictures, but need to upload them. I'll do that soon, but for now, it's time for life science!

Feb 6- Feb 12

2010-02-23T12:47:00.000-05:00

This week we went to the Smyrna Recycling Center.The kids learned how important recycling is. They watched a demonstration on how paper is recycled. We also got to see a big truck big up a dumpster and then return it. Each child got to peek into the recycling bins. Then, we had Mexican for lunch with some of our friends.

In school, we dissected a cow eyeball. We learned about the human eye last week in life science and we watched a dissection online. Grady wasn't all that interested in doing the dissection when I ordered the eyeball, but he ended up enjoying it. Andrew even got into it. Madison loved it. It was very educational for us!

On Friday, Atlanta was lucky enough to get about 4 inches of snow. It was really nice, snowman making snow. We all enjoyed how beautiful it was. The kids were able to play in the snow both Friday and Saturday!

Jan 30 thru Feb 5, 2010

2010-02-06T09:13:00.000-05:00

On Monday we did our school work and Madison went to tumbling practice in the evening. She had not been to practice in 3 weeks due to the evil stomach virus that ripped thru our family. She had fun and did a great job. While we were there another girl was practicing her individual routine. Madison saw this and asked if she could compete in individual too. So, now she is going to work on an individual routine. I'm really proud that she wants to get up in front of thousands of people and compete!

On Tuesday, Madison went to Brownies. Her troop is collecting pennies for Haiti. She has been very good about collecting the pennies. She loves to help others :)

Wednesday is our Robert's school day. Grady LOVES his computer game design class. He gets so excited about it!! Madison is enjoying her fashion illustration class. We all love the social time.

The kids have been doing really well with their school work. Grady has been writing!! I can't believe how well he is doing. I really thought, that given his dyslexia, he would hate writing. He does it without complaint and enjoys learning the rules.

This week, I found a swim team for Grady. I have to schedule an evaluation for him and then hopefully, he will be on the team! He is a good swimmer so, I don't think it'll be a problem. We are excited about it as he isn't really into sports, but we feel it's important to be active. Swim team will definitely be active!

Andrew continues his gymnastics class on Thursdays. He is doing Kindergarten work and I realized it isn't challenging enough for him. This lead to me looking for more curriculum for him. I believe that I will use Moving Beyond the Page ages 5-7 for him next year. He seems to be very intelligent and ready for most anything! We will continue to work on letter sounds this year and maybe some adding.

Grady and Madison studied eyes and seeing on Friday. We watched a cow eye dissection online and Madison really wanted to do it herself, so I ordered one! I dissected one in high school, along with a few other things :) I'm so excited to share this with them. I LOVE science!

They continue to do well learning Spanish. I've been really impressed with the program and how useful it it. We are using MochaLive, completely free and online, prefect!

While looking for curriculum for Andrew I found a terrific math program called Teaching Textbooks. It starts with 4th grade and continues thru high school. I am not terrific at Math and this curriculum has cds that teach the student. It's interactive, funny and educational. It's also great for dyslexics as the teacher speaks all the written words. Although Grady has improved his reading by leaps and bounds this year, it's nice to focus on the math for math and not to have to read so much. We are going to use this for Grady next year and maybe Madison. It's such a relief to me to have found this!!

This weekend, we will make our Valentine's and get ready for our class on Wed. And of course, Jason will be smoking some yummy food for the Super Bowl!

Jan 22-29, 2010

2010-01-30T10:08:00.000-05:00

The last couple of weeks, one of us has been sick with a stomach flu. This week was been no different. I have been spared so far, but I have a horrible allergic reaction to clothes detergent. I have been an itchy mess for the past 2 weeks. It seems to be getting better, but I"m going insane! However, we did manage to get a lot done this week :)

Last Friday, Madison had her first horse riding lesson. She loved it! Not much happened during the weekend. School went good. I started teaching each child individually instead of all 3 together. They seem to like the individual attention better. I thought it would take longer, but so far it hasn't. Madison and Grady do thier math and language arts with me. Andrew works on his Kindergarten workbook, one subject at a time, with me. Together we do biology and spanish.

Wednesday we went to our homeschool classes. Madison is loving her fashion illustration class. Grady can't wait for Wednesday to come. He's taking a computer game design class. I teach Andrew's pre-k class. This week we studied the polar regions and learned about polar bears.

On Thursday, Andrew went to his gymnastics class. He loves his Coach Haley!! I love watching him have so much fun!

I decided on Friday that after we finish up biology, we will study spelling. Neither Grady nor Madison has had a formal spelling curriculum yet. They have spelling lists that they memorize for the week, but I want them to know how to spell words. We will be using AVKO Sequential Spelling. I think the multi-sensory lessons will work well for us.

Today is lots of laundry and tomorrow we ar going to a cousin's 2nd bday party. Have a good weekend!

It's been awhile.....

2010-01-25T17:10:00.000-05:00

Sometimes life gets in the way, you know? I'm going to do weekly updates from now on, mostly for myself, but you are welcome to read :)

First, we have to catch up. My last post was just before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving this year was it's usual crazy self. We had 2 dinners. One at Jason's parents and one at my parents. Then, Andrew has his 5th bday on December 6th. We had his party at home and it was a car/plane/trains theme. He had a blast, of course! Then on Dec 18th, I celebrated my 33rd birthday. I had a lovely day with lots of thoughtful gifts and yummy food. The kids spent the night at Granny and Papa's and Jason and I spent the night at a lovely hotel :) Christmas came and went. Right after Christmas, the kids and I took a trip to Gainesville, Fl to see Dad, Denise, Ian, Aunt Susan and Nanny. It was a short trip, but we are all glad we went. Then it was on to Grady's 10th birthday! I really can't believe he's 10! We held his party at home as well. It was a science party and the kids had great fun making messy experiments!All the while, we have been homeschooling and attending classes at the Robert's school. I have been teaching a pre-k class that Andrew attends. Grady and Madison have enjoyed Lego class, Fashion Design, game design and acting. The kids are doing fantastic and Grady's reading is coming along by leaps and bounds!!

That's it, all caught up. I'll see you soon. Look out for my weekly update!!

Etowah Indian Mounds Field Trip!

2009-11-13T16:19:00.000-05:00

Etowah River
Grady, Madison and Andrew at the top of a mound.
I took this on top of the biggest mound, looking at a smaller mound.
Jason and Andrew on the big mound.
Madison enjoying the view.
Grady

After a not so good Wednesday, I was really glad that we had some fun planned :) We have been studying Native Americans in the preschool class I teach, so I thought it would be nice to visit the Indian Mounds. We lived in Cartersville for 5 years and we didn't go once. Our kids were still too small to get anything out of it.

Yesterday was perfect. The weather was beautiful. The kids got to see some of the things we had talked about. Jason was off and got to go too! It was really a lovely day. Afterwards, we ate lunch at Pizza Hut. The kids are participating in the "Book It" program and all 3 had earned a free personal pan pizza. Jason and I enjoyed a yummy spicy pizza. Perfect!

Our first week back.......

2009-09-20T20:18:00.000-04:00

We've been home one week now and I would love to be back at the beach. It's been raining pretty much all week. There's so much to do at home. At the beach, we played and relaxed. It was a wonderful time and I'm thankful we were able to enjoy it. I guess it's time to move on.

This week we got back to school. Monday was a very hard day. No one wanted to read or work math problems, including me. Madison had cheer practice Monday night. While we were on vacation, the team learned the second half of the routine and Madison did a fantastic job picking it up! I'm so proud and relived that she was able to get it quickly.

Schoolwork on Tuesday was a bit better and Wednesday, Andrew went to his first homeschool enrichment class. His class is a one hour class with other preschoolers, that I'm teaching. We all had a lot of fun. After class, the kids got to play with friends and I got to chat with some mommy friends. Thursday was more school and Andrew's gymnastics class. He did a great job after being gone a while.

On Friday, the kids had some friends over to play in the afternoon. Then, we had company for dinner. We had a great time catching up with our friends. Saturday morning, Madison had cheer practice at 9am. I really didn't want to wake up for that!! After practice, Madison was invited to play at a friend's house. So, I took her over there and then picked her up on the way to take all the kids to Granny and Papa's house to spend the night. Jason had to work, so I was home all by myself. I don't really enjoy being home by myself, but I did my best to enjoy my time.

I got some sewing in this week as well, Andrew has a new outfit for Fall!! Until next time........

Eco Kayak Tour on the Bay

2009-09-09T16:57:00.000-04:00

Jason convinced me to go on a 4 hour kayak tour on the bay. Cape San Blas is a peninsula. On one side is the Gulf of Mexico. On the other side is the same water, but it's protected by land on 3 sides, so it's called a bay. There's no fresh water running into it. It's calm and pretty shallow, but it has all the same animals in it that the ocean does. We had 2 kayaks for us and the tour guide had one for himself. Grady and I had a tandem kayak and Jason and Madison had a tandem with a middle seat added for Andrew. It was fun and didn't seem like 4 hours to me. I am glad I went.

We got up at 7, to be at the kayak place by 8. The kids all have their own beds, but prefer to sleep together most nights on the sofa bed. So cute :)

Hey, look what I found!!

One island we stopped at to look for some specimens.

lots of grass

following the tour guide

tube worm egg sac
There were a lot of these all around. Kind of like a ball of mucus, pretty gross, but the kids liked to pick them up.

hermit crab in Grady's hand

conch in Andrew's hand

pelican

fiddler crab in Madison's hand

all done!

Madison

beach time at sunset

2009-09-09T16:46:00.000-04:00

Pretty Sunset

Best time to play at the beach, not too hot and no sunscreen needed!!

My wish for everyone that I randomly drew in the sand while watching my children play.

Having fun with his new net

Florida Caverns State Park

2009-09-09T16:24:00.001-04:00

Last week, we took a 2 hour trip to Marianna, FL. They have a state park there with a cave tour. We have always wanted to go, but we never felt like driving the 4 hours. We are so glad we had the opportunity this time. The cave is awesome. Grady was fascinated and now wants to tour other caves. This cave was discovered by a CCC worker, during the Great Depression. The CCC workers hand dug out the ground of the cave so that the public could tour it. It took about 5 years to do this. Each room of the cave has a different name according to the formations in the room. There's a wedding room, a fracture room a circle room and many more. It's pretty cool and I'd recommend it to anyone in the area.

After the tour, I snapped this pic of the happy and hot foursome.

all white and smooth calcite

The drapery formation, my favorite.

Stalactites and stalagmites

Column where the stalactites and stalagmites joined.

Walking down the stairs into the cave.

Geocaching in St. George Island

2009-09-02T20:35:00.001-04:00

Today, we decided to eat lunch out and then do some geocaching. We ate in Applachicola and then headed to St. George Island. The pictures are in reverse order, but I'll explain them :)

We tried our hand at using the timer on the camera. We didn't realize the pic was taken after the light went off. This was the better one! We'll try again.

View of the bay at St. George State Park.

We are looking at a cache under a boardwalk here.

Oyster boat at state park. We found another cache here.

Wonderful park by the lighthouse on St. George Island.

Another cache found near the lighthouse.

St. George Island Lighthouse

Cache behind St. George welcome sign.

Our first stop was in Applach. These are several oyster boats out in the bay fishing. We found our first cache here. Actually, Jason found it and we watched. It was hidden pretty well in the woods.

State Park, Beach and Jr. Museum

2009-08-31T20:57:00.000-04:00

St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

We went for visit to the state park at the end of the peninsula sometime last week. We took a picnic lunch, enjoyed some time at the playground and went for a hike along the bay. On the hike, the kids were looking for a geocache and they found it!

They found the geocache!!

swinging :)

BEACH TIME!!

Today, we drove to Panama City to the Jr. Museum. We had been there once before when Grady and Madison were a lot younger and Andrew wasn't here yet. They have made some improvements and we all enjoyed ourselves. Here are some pics:

Stars and Sharks!

2009-08-26T10:18:00.000-04:00

The nights have been so clear here lately that we can see the Milky Way and a ton of stars. The other night the moon was reflecting on the ocean and it was so beautiful I had to take a photo. Jason even managed to find a satellite to show me. I never realized how many stars I miss back at home.

Yesterday, Jason spotted a shark in the water from our deck. He managed to get it on our camera's movie mode. It's not the best video ever and I had to isolate, zoom and slow down the clip so you can see it. Hopefully, I'll be able to upload it here for you. Let's see......

2009-08-24T12:18:00.000-04:00

I missed a few days blogging. Mainly, due to the fact that I have been to tired to think about it after playing on the beach all day long. The kids are having a blast and the dogs love running on the beach. I have finished one book and am almost done with another one. We had a lovely seafood dinner the other night consisting of shrimp and crab legs that Jason cooked for us. We also had some great pizza at a local pizza shop in Port St. Joe. Its called Joe Mama's Pizza, yummy!! Currently, I'm waiting to eat lunch and then it's out to the beach for the afternoon :)

Here's a wonderful sunset photo for you. I took it last night.

Day 5: Applachicola

2009-08-19T21:16:00.000-04:00

Today, we went to Applachicola after we ate lunch at home. We started at the estuary. They have some educational displays and lots of animal bones the kids can touch and learn about. They also have some aquariums of fish and turtles you can see around the area. It's small and not fancy, but it's free and a great way for the kids to learn about the environment around the ocean.

We then visited some of the stores in downtown Applachicola. They have the cutest stores. We got some ice cream at the soda shop and we went inside The Grady Market. We walked around a little more and took some photos and bought a few things.

We came home and rested for a bit, waiting for the sun to go away so the kids could swim. As we are getting ready, I notice a teen boy wrestling with a fishing pole. He has something big on the other end. He eventually reels in a shark. I took some photos from our deck. It wasn't huge by any means, but the kids got to see it up close. It was a unique experience.

The kids are all showered and ready for bed now. I have no clue what tomorrow holds, probably more beach time.

Shark!

Fountain in Applachicola

Fountain on Old Sponge Trading building.

This is a real boat. I know it looks painted on the building,
but it's not :)

The Grady Market. This building was opened in 1900 and now holds a boutique.

Andrew in the aquarium room.

Horseshoe crab

Day 4: Sunburns and Seafood

2009-08-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

Dinner at Dockside Bay Cafe in Port St. Joe

Madison waiting on her shrimp!

We spent all day on the beach. It was much fun after spending so much time indoors, due to the tropical storm. We were lucky enough to have tidal pools right in front of our house this morning. The kids built dams on either side of one big tidal pool. They had the water to play in most of the day. We also spent a lot of time body surfing. There were some decent waves out
today.

Grady and Andrew got sunburned on thier faces where the scuba mask goes. I guess the sunscreen was removed by putting on and taking off the masks. My legs got burned pretty badly, no clue how that happened. Jason got burned all over his upper body. We used a spray sunscreen of 60 SPF. I think it didn't cover very well. I bought some of our old standby lotion, No Ad. Hopefully, we avoid any more burns.

We went into town to eat at a seafood cafe on the marina. Madison had steamed shrimp. Grady had popcorn shrimp. Andrew had a corndog! I had a grouper sandwich and Jason had 4 dozen raw oysters!! They were buy one get one dozen free. He started off with 2 dozen. Madison tried one and liked it. Jason ordered more to share with Madison and she tried 2 more, but decided she didn't like them. So, Jason finished them himself. He was very full :)

I think we will do something inside tomorrow. Our skin needs a break.

Day 3

2009-08-17T21:45:00.000-04:00

Today the weather was better. It was cloudy with some rain, but at least we could go outside. We took the dogs for a walk and Madison and Andrew picked up shells brought in by the storm. We ate lunch and then made a trip to Panama City to Sam's Club to stock up on groceries. We stopped at Taco Bell for dinner. Tomorrow the weather is forcasted to be sunny and beautiful. We are hoping for day of fun in the water.

Day 2: Tropical Storm Claudette

2009-08-16T16:56:00.000-04:00

Waves being blown by the wind.

Radar of the storm

Me, reading my book on the loveseat.

Andrew enjoying his treat.

Well, we woke up this morning and started planning our day. Trying to decide if we should go grocery shopping or play on the beach first. Jason checked the radar and we found a not so nice picture. We scrapped our plans and Jason went to the store to get a couple days food. We have been stuck inside all day. I made some brownies and ice cream for a treat and I've been reading my new book while the kids play upstairs. The wind is getting pretty strong now. I just hope the roads don't flood.

That shelter no longer exists..........

Cape San Blas 2009

2009-08-15T20:33:00.000-04:00

Inside the house, downstairs

view from one of the decks

Today is our first day at the beach. We are spending an entire month in Cape San Blas, Fl. We arrived today. We have been to this beach several times before, but this is our first time to spend more than one week. I decided to blog about this vacation for my family, but you are welcome to follow along!

We got here today at 3 and were happy that we were allowed an early check in! We were playing on the beach by 4:20. We came in at 7, took showers and got dinner going. We just got back from our evening walk and will be settling down for the night.

More tomorrow.........

Deer and July 4th fun

2009-07-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

Last night, we had some friends and neighbors over to celebrate the 4th. We had a great time and lots of good food. Jason made a trip to Alabama to get the good fireworks and everyone enjoyed them:)

Today, we were so tired we barely moved! We managed to clean up the house and spot a baby deer in Holly and Charles's yard. The momma deer was in our front yard. The fawn came over to momma and they went through our backyard into the woods behind our house. Aren't they cute?

We decided to take the kids into downtown Powder Springs and see what was going on. The city had a lot of inflatable slides and bouncys. There was a ton of food and a band playing. It was fun for an hour. The kids got to go on some inflatables, eat an ice cream and listen to some music. I snapped a few pics to share.
The Titanic Slide. It's 24 feet long!!

Madison going down the Titanic!

Andrew's Turn!

Can you see Grady? He's in there!!

Andrew on another inflatable.

Ice Cream and Music!

Fort Discovery

2008-11-20T11:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Augusta. We went to Fort Discovery Science Center there on the riverwalk (savannah river). It was beautiful but cold! We didn't stay outside too long! The science center is a partner with the Army, so it was communications/physical science stuff. I prefer the life sciences, but this was good too. Grady really had a blast and could have stayed there forever! As soon as we got there we were pulled into a demo. The Army guys were there training for this mobile bus they have. They drive around telling kids about science. So we had a private demo, just us. We learned about sound and electricity. That was the best part of our visit. The kids got to do the experiments and the men were really great!

Madison's First Big Cheer Performance

2008-11-16T10:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Madison and her Pixie squad had their first performance at a cheer competition. The girls did awesome and had fun!! They didn't compete, just did an exhibition, since they are so little. the squad has 3,4,5,6 and one just turned 7 year old on it. It's every one's first year, so we are all learning.

Madison seems to be the leader and helps everyone along. To me, she seems bossy, but the coaches and other parents think she's being helpful. So, I let her continue on. She loves cheering and seem to be good at it. Hopefully, next year I'll get to see exactly how much she can do. This squad is a little limiting for her, so it'll be nice to she how she grows next year.

The day was full of stress for me. I had planned on enjoying the day in the stands like any other parent. Truth is, I'm not any other parent. I'm the gym owner's daughter and everyone looks to me for answers. Not that I mind, but sometimes I want to just be like everyone else. Today, our pixie coach decided to not come to the competition and the music cd broke. Mom called me at 1 and we were leaving at 1:30 to tell me that the coach wouldn't be there and that I needed to find the music as well or the pixie's wouldn't have music. I found the music, but didn't have any cds to burn it on. So, we took the laptop with us and stopped at the store to buy some cds. Well, the song wouldn't play on the cd player, only my computer. After many kind people trying to figure it out for me, we ended up putting the microphone on the computer's speaker. It worked, thankfully, but could have been better. I have since found another copy of the song, downloaded it and it plays just fine!!! The music was stressful, but even more stressful was the coach issue. The team are all very young and they have bonded with their coach. They do not like to perform when she's not there. No one else knows the routine well enough to be of any help to the girls. They usually follow along with their coach while they perform. They couldn't do that yesterday because she wasn't there. We did have 2 other coaches stand in for her, but it was hard on the girls, especially Madison. She ended up throwing herself on the floor in warm-ups crying. Thankfully she composed herself and managed to perform the routine while smiling!!

So you can see that the squad did an awesome job yesterday and I'm truly glad it's over!! I look forward to their next performance and hope that it won't be so stressful :)

Our Trip to Fort Mountain State Park

2008-11-09T09:57:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we wanted to go on a family hike. We decided to go to Fort Mountain http://www.gastateparks.org/info/fortmt/to see the 855 foot rock wall and hopefully some nice fall color. It was a lovely park with lots to see and do. We will probably go back to camp sometime next year. Here are some pics from our trip.

Fall Family Hike

2008-10-04T19:01:00.000-04:00

Today we went to Pickett's Mill for a hike. It is a state historic park where a civil war battle was fought. We learned a lot about the history of the area and enjoyed a nice hike. It's early fall here and the leaves are just beginning to change. I was able to get a few nice shots of the fall colors. We had a great time!

2008-09-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

This is a video of Madison's cheerleading team working on their routine :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJbJYhgUbC4

Our Beach Vacation 2008

2008-08-18T14:34:00.000-04:00

The day after our anniversary, we left for Cape San Blas, FL. 7 days at the beach!! We had a great time despite lots of rain and construction noise. We are already planning next year's trip and we are even making plans to move there in the future. The kids love the ocean. I love the sun and watching my kids have so much fun. Jason is in love with the beach and a very relaxed lifestyle of fishing and kayaking with the occassional flight thrown in for money, lol!

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

2008-08-18T14:02:00.000-04:00

August 8 was our 10th wedding anniversary. Jason planned a huge surprise for me :) We had a very private vowel renewal ceremony at 3:30 in the afternoon (the same time our wedding ceremony was is '98). Madison was the flower girl. Andrew was the ring bearer. Grady carried the unity candle and was the photographer. Jason had a replica made of the first tier of our wedding cake, complete with our glass cake topper. I was very surprised and happy. When it came time to renew our vows, Jason gave me a beautiful anniversary band that matches my wedding band. It was a very nice gift and the kids made it really special. I'm so lucky to have such a great husband and children.

Our beloved Jack is gone.

2008-08-04T11:12:00.000-04:00

Jack, our Lhasa Apso, died today. We adopted Jack 13 years ago. He was 2 years old. He was our first child. He got sick last week and I took him to the vet on Friday after we returned from Newnan. He was having trouble breathing. We were the last patients for the day. The vet was very nice and explained everything to me. Jason and I decided to let Jack live out the rest of his life at home with us. He was a well-loved dog and we will miss him.

Happy Birthday Mema Rosa!

2008-08-04T10:52:00.000-04:00

August 2 was Jason's grandmother's birthday. She died last year. We made a visit to her gravesite in Newnan, GA, on Friday. We all miss her a lot. She was a great woman. Here are some pics from the cemetary. We brought her some flowers for her birthday. Happy Birthday Mema!!!

My mom's bday bag and a new one for me!!

2008-07-21T09:10:00.000-04:00

For my mom's bday, I made her a new bag! It's in the gym's colors and it's appliqued with the gym letters and stars. It was a lot of work and I think it turned out well.

Yesterday, I made myself a new bag. I have been wanting new one for a while. I 'm glad that it's finally done! It's a little big for me, but it will work!

Doctor Visit Today

2008-07-08T14:42:00.000-04:00

Almost 3 weeks ago, I made myself a Dr's appointment. It was long overdue. What they say about moms taking care of themselves last is true. I had been having some symptoms and I needed to see what was going on. The Dr. ordered some blood tests and then I was to come in today for an ultra-sound. The ultra-sound was clean (YEAH!!), but I have hypothyroidism. My thyroid isn't producing enough of it's hormone. I need to take synthetic hormone for the rest of my life, but it's very treatable!! Trust me, this is great news. I'm a little bummed about taking medicine forever, but to be back to myself will be fantastic!!!

July 4th, 2008

2008-07-05T18:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we did the Fourth of July celebration thing. We had hotdogs and watermelon for lunch. I even made homemade ice cream for dessert. We bought some fireworks at Kroger and the kids really enjoyed watching them in the backyard. After the excitement, we came inside and watched the fireworks on tv. Madison kept telling everyone "Happy Independence Day". It was a very nice, relaxed day :)

Grady lands his front tuck!!

2008-07-05T18:08:00.000-04:00

Grady has been working on landing this for a few months now. He got it just last week and is very exicited about it :) It's pretty cool, don't you think?

Madison lost her first tooth!!!!

2008-06-19T12:34:00.001-04:00

Today, right before lunch, I was able to get the tooth out. It had been lose for a while and the permanent tooth was right behind it. Grady's teeth did this as well and our dentist said not to worry about it. I was starting to get worried since it had been so long and her teeth were moving. So I worked on it 2 nights ago and then again this morning. She's so excited to have it gone. I'm sure you can tell from these pics!!! Andrew was upset that his teeth weren't loose!!

In this pic, you can see the permanent tooth.

Our Garden Pics

2008-06-14T17:13:00.000-04:00

This year, Jason went all out. He rented a tiller and made a big garden. Of course,this garden is already too small and he needs a bigger one. I can't argue as he grows yummy food for us. We have already harvested numerous radishes, 3 squash and enough purple bush beans for a dinner. All of it was yummy! We can't wait for more!

Here are some pics:

It's hard to see, but this is the garden.

Here's a pic of our first purple pole beans. Some of our yellow squash plants.
Tomato plants: We have a few different varities planted. Butternut squash plant that came up from our compost :) Corn!!

Our week in review

2008-06-14T16:55:00.000-04:00

We had a great week!! We had park day with our friends on Wednesday. Thursday we went to Six Flags. The weather was great and it was not too crowded. I can truthfully say that we all had a blast! Friday, Grady and Jason went kayaking at Sweetwater Creek. They both had a fantastic time and are planning to go again next week. Today, we all went to Sweetwater Creek Park's Arts & Craft Festival. We watched a fantastic reptile show. Madison rode a horse. Andrew bounced in a bouncy house. Grady watched the fish and ducks in the lake. Mom and Dad watched the kids enjoying themselves. We also bought some kettle korn to share while we took a break. All in all it was an enjoyable week.

Of course, tomorrow is Father's Day and we have brunch at Bill & Gail's home and presents for Jason. I can't wait to see what he thinks of his gift from us this year :)

Grady looking at the lake while Madison and I waited in the horse riding line.

Madison riding "the big horse" she waited for!! She's so happy!!

Madison's Daisy Re-Dedication Ceremony

2008-05-27T14:09:00.001-04:00

Last week, Madison and her fellow Daisy Scouts re-dedicated themselves to being good Daisys. Madison has really enjoyed her first year of Girl Scouts and can't wait for the next year. Her troop had a nice ceremony and dinner for the girls and families.

Our trip to the zoo!

2008-05-27T13:41:00.001-04:00

We made a trip to Zoo Atlanta with our new season passes. It was a beautiful Spring day and we got to see lots of animals. The children had fun and we even got to see naked mole rats!

Strawberry Picking

2008-05-27T13:41:00.000-04:00

Recently, we made a trip to a local farm that has u-pick strawberries. We had a lot of fun and came home with some yummy berries. We even went back for some more!! Silly mommy took pictures with everyone looking into the sun, but they are cute anyway :)

Happy 6th Birthday to Madison!!

2008-04-04T19:19:00.001-04:00

Six years ago, our daughter, Madison was born. Her birth was the scariest event in our lives. We both came close to dying that night. Jason and I are so lucky to have this sweet little girl in our lives. She is compassionate, caring, smart, beautiful and funny, just to name a few great things about her. I truly believe that she will do great things with her life.

Happy Birthday Madison!!!! We love you!!!

Here are some pics from her life:

Grady meeting Madison for the first time.

Madison playing at the beach at 1.5 years old.

Madison at Papa and Granny's house.

At the zoo, having fun!

Playing at the park. 4 years old.

Madison with short hair age 4.5.

Summer 2007, camping and hiking at Tybee Island

2008, Madison at 5 years old.

Easter 2008

2008-03-24T09:30:00.000-04:00

Well, we had quite a busy March and I haven't had the time to post here. We have all been sick and FIL was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. Grady's cheerleading season is over for now. Both Grady and Madison want to cheer next season, so that should be fun.

We did celebrate Easter yesterday in between remodeling our dinning room. I decided to remove some wallpaper and that lead to removing ceiling tiles. The tiles lead to the reason someone put them up there in the first place. The ceiling had a huge hole in it. We have repaired the ceiling and the wallpaper is gone. Now I have to remove the popcorn from the ceiling and paint the ceiling and the walls of the dining room and clean everything up. I'll be sure to post pics when we are done. I'm sure it will be lovely.

Anyway, on the Easter. The kids woke us up at 7:30 and we discovered what the bunny had left. After lunch we went over to Jason's parents and the kids hunted Easter eggs. For dinner, we went to my parents house. The played and enjoyed some more treats. I think they got into bed about 10:30 last night :)

Here are some pics:

2008-02-27T10:39:00.000-05:00

Well, we won't be going to class afterall today. The boys are sick with a stomach virus :( Last night was no fun for me. I called Jason and begged him to rent a car and come home and help me clean it all up. They seem to be better today. I hope Madison and I don't get sick as well.

On a lighter note, we woke up to snow!! It was light, but any snow in Georgia causes much excitement. The kids are dying to get outside. Of course 2 of the 3 are sick and it's really cold out there, so it probably won't happen.

We are going to relax and get better today. I did get some pics uploaded to Shutterfly before the choas. I hope to get some more today and order prints. I'm trying to work on scrapbooks for us. Hopefully, I'll make beautiful family keepsakes.

2008-02-26T18:07:00.000-05:00

This morning I was awakened by some crazy weather. I tried to go back to sleep, but I kept thinking that we could be under a tornado warning, so I got up to check. On my way out of the bedroom I looked at the clock, 6:22. I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Yeah me. After checking the weather and realizing we would be OK, I made coffee and settled on the sofa to watch the news. One by one the kids joined me and we got on with our day. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's frigid temps, but we will survive. I just wish we didn't have to leave the house for our enrichment classes tomorrow. I don't like the cold!!

We had a busy weekend, but it was fun! Madison's Daisy Troop went to Thinking Day on Saturday. All the local Girl Scouts get together and learn about other countries. Each troop has a booth with information on the country they chose. Most booths include flags and a food sample from each country. All the girls have necklaces and they get swaps at each country's table. The swaps represent something about each country. Madison and I had a lot of fun. Sunday, Grady's Cheer Team had competition. They did so well. They really hit their routine. They won second place!! After the competition we raced over to a birthday party and then we crashed when we got home. Much on Monday was spent cleaning the house and resting :)

We are pretty busy this week as well with something planned out of the house each day. This weekend holds another cheer competition in store for us. Will be gone all day Saturday. Hopefully, we'll get to rest on Sunday!

I'm off to upload some pics on Shutterfly so I can print them. Have a great evening!!!

Cheerleading Competition

2008-02-02T16:44:00.000-05:00

We are in the middle of Grady's first cheerleading season. We have competitions pretty much every weekend for 2 months. Today was our first day of a 2-day competition. The team did well and are steadily improving. Grady loves it. He really enjoys performing and learning how to tumble. It's a learning experience for us all :) Here are a few pics from today (can you find Grady's red hair?):

Update on Madison's ankle~~She seems to be doing much better!! She went without her ankle brace today :)

Madison's Ankle

2008-01-28T17:15:00.000-05:00

Last Monday, I took Madison to the doctor. She fell outside playing the Friday before and on Monday morning her ankle was still hurting and swollen. So, off to the Dr we went. Several x-rays later it was determined she had a badly sprained ankle. She was put in a soft cast with a brace and we made an appt for today for a re-check. Well, today we were told she needed 3 weeks of physical therapy to strengthen the ligament. It's been quite a ride and it's not over yet.

Madison's doing fine. Her ankle does still hurt a little. She's still in the brace, but she's a trooper. All I have to say is thank goodness for health insurance!!!

Snow twice in one week!!

2008-01-20T13:04:00.001-05:00

Living in Georgia, we don't see snow that often. The last time it snowed, Madison was 2 and Grady was 5. Madison didn't remember the snow and Andrew had never seen snow. It was quite the treat. When Saturday came and it snowed all day, they were so exicited. It snowed pretty heavy all day and was so beautiful. They made snowmen and snow angels and had a blast. Today, the snow is all ice and woudn't be any fun to play with , but it's still pretty :) This picture above is some of our backyard yesterday. It's now my computer background, I love it so much!!

Our life this week

2008-01-13T10:19:00.000-05:00

Here's Grady's new kayak!! He's very happy and can't wait to take it out :) After a fairly boring trip to the airport to pick it up, he's happy to finally have it home. His siblings thought it was very cool as well. Now, Daddy's lobbying for a new hardshell as well! I see lots of kayaking in our future.

Andrew loves having his picture taken and frequently asks me to take his picture. This time I was checking email and he handed me the camera, put on these glasses and said"take my picture!". Isn't he cute?

This week Grandma, my sister Savannah and I took the kids to a local park. This is a pretty nice park with 3 playgrounds, a lake and a walking trail. It's in Hiram for the locals, right downtown. The kids enjoyed the merry-go-round. You don't see them much these days and the kids had never played on one. We spent quite a while playing on this and I took about 20 pics of them going round and round.

We ended our holiday vacation this Monday. Grady and Madison started a new online curriculum and they seem to love it (time4learning.com). We alos checked out a homeschool group on Monday. Grady took a human body class. Madison enjoyed her hand-sweing class and Andrew experienced pre-k for the first time. Everyone had fun and will probably join the group as they are very close to our home and have lots to do.

Wednesday, we resumed our classes at the Robert's School. Grady is in Elem. Chemistry and Madison is taking piano this session. They both really enjoy thier classes thru GA-EPH. They have made great friends and always learn a lot. Andrew stayed home with Daddy (his choice). They enjoyed some one-on-one time. They both love having time together :)

We had a pretty nice week. The weather was great. The kids did thier school work without much complaint. Daddy was home all week. I even found some time to sew!

See you next time :)

Cleaning and more cleaning

2008-01-04T17:48:00.001-05:00

Today we cleaned the entire house. It was a mess after 3 birthdays, Christmas and New Year's. We start school again on Monday and we had to get organized!!

Yesterday was Grady's 8th birthday. He was very happy with his sister's gift :)

Jason replaced 2 stairs on our inside staircase. I removed the carpet from them and painted the wood a while ago, so it's nice to almost have this home project done. I still need to cover the nail holes and touch up the paint, but we are almost done. Our master bedroom is next on the list. I can't wait to start on it!!

We just finished dinner. It was a yummy taco soup. We are trying to eat less meat and I used veggie crumbles for the first time tonight. The kids had no clue and I think it will make a great meat replacement in soups, spaghetti and the like. Here's to a healthy New Year for us all!!

And so it begins.....

2008-01-04T17:48:00.000-05:00

I've never had a need for a blog, but I do love to read others I thought I'd give it a shot. Maybe someone will find it useful:)