The week in pictures - June 3rd - June 10th

Daddy taught the boys how to play table football. They loved it. 

All the pets in this house love the hubs. I went and got a kitten to hold one night, and she went right over, snuggled down next to him and promptly went to sleep. 

Stinker. 

The girl kid continued to be far away. Neither of us were really okay with that. 

This is the end of the school year disaster area. My soon to be done project is tackle this mess. I did make some nice, neat stacks at least. 

The girl kid came home. I'm not sure which of us was more happy about this. 

I really really love my new shoes. 

We went shopping for hub's birthday. He feels about hats the what I feel about... shoes. Yep. 

For hub's birthday, we went to see a Led Zeppelin tribute show that friends of his were in. He said that my going was a gift to him. That's what a good wife does, right?

I actually had more fun than I thought I was going to...

I got to hang out with this sweet girl. She's one of six homeschooled kids, and we talked for the longest time all about what it was like to be homeschooled all the way through school, go to college and then emerge into real life all as a post-homeschooled kid. She's really amazing, and it was so good to hear what she had to say about it all from a student's perspective.

I also would love to hug her mom. She's actually still a little busy schooling the last kid, since her mom was 44 when he was born. He's just now 15 years old. 

Her mom might be my new hero. 

We spent a lazy day Saturday doing things like playing Summer Dance Party. I may or may not have made fun of the hub's (lack of) dance skills.

No worries. I can't play the guitar. 

The baby kid and I amused ourselves by playing airplane and taking pictures at the same time. 

I asked the middle kid if he wanted to hang out on the couch and watch a movie, and he went and brought me a kitten. 

I guess that was a "no."

Stinker. 

The give away the kittens countdown clock is still ticking. I'm more than ready to have my garage back kitten-free. 

The weekend ended with us at a baseball game. I think someone misunderstood me. I wanted to go to a Braves game. 

This was one giant green bug. He was cool. 

See my kids way over there?

See them now? They really wanted to catch a foul ball. 

He was a little excited. He even slept with it. 

Retelling the ball story. 

This is how I watched most of the game. 

I did enjoy sitting behind home plate. 

I'm so glad she was comfortable. That's exactly what those pillows are for-her comfort. 

School's out for summer!

School is over!

Yay!

It ended with a wimper more than a bang, but that's immaterial.

It's still over.

I love the before and after pictures:

Several months ago I got a summer dance party Wii game on sale. I waited until the last day of school to give it to them.





They had a blast.

This is how we celebrated quickly the afternoon we finished school before we ran off to do other things.

We even celebrated the end of school in a hurry.

I found these snakes on Amazon after reading a homeschool blog about them. 

The ninja/nascar guy and his brother and sister watched this video about them, and spent nearly the whole day playing with them. 

I'm thinking that can still be "school." 

I'm calling it summer school. 

Summer school will include some work in the mornings and fun field trips too. 

(I love how kitten pictures are everywhere. My phone, my computer, and now even popping up in my blog posts. I must have added it by mistake. I'm leaving it because she's cute.)

I'm deeply reflective this time of year. I'm thinking over what went right this year, and what went  wrong. I ponder our strengths and weaknesses. I cringe at the ways I failed. I think of what I should have done better, been stronger at and how things could have been better. 

I wonder if the kids really learned anything at all. 

It can be exhausting. 

I look at my house, which looks like multiple tornadoes hit it all at once. 

This sort of feels like post traumatic stress disorder. 

All I want to do right now is get my house clean. 

Then we'll have some fun. 

I have learned from my past mistakes, though. Last summer we didn't do anything during the two months off, and I didn't prepare well for this year. And we suffered this year because of that. 

So starting Monday morning, we have a tiny amount of things we will do each morning. 

And I have homework to do.

But it's okay. I don't want to have the same problems this year that we had last year do to my lack of preparation. 

I allow myself a couple of days of fretting about the past year, and then I say,

Oh well. 

The year is over and we will do more/better next year in some areas and hopefully maintain the good we did this year. 

Because there was some good. 

And I'm praying God will cover with grace the areas that I failed these kids.

I know that we are walking in obedience on this path. And I'm asking Him to show me where to do better. I'm also asking Him to help me be a better steward of my time this summer than I was last summer. 

I do want to have fun this summer with the kids and our friends we don't get to see enough during the school year. I want to eat grilled out food and sit on the patio. I want to swim and play and laugh and read and sleep late some days. 

I want to rest and play and pray over next year. 

I am thankful that I get to school my kids at home. I'm thankful another year is done. I know that one day I'll be sad that they are all over. I resolve to treasure these days and appreciate them more...

The week in pictures - May 28th - June 3rd

This happens at my house a lot. 

My mom sent me this picture this week. It proves two things:

1. I have always had a book in my hand.

2. I have always had crazy hair. 

We are about to switch the kids' rooms. The girl kid has the big room and the boys share a small room. In order to swap them, we have to paint them. 

These were the middle kid's choices for his room color.

Um. No. 

These are my choices for the girl's room and for the boy's room. 

It's my house, so I win. 

The middle kid and I had a date. He chose Waffle House. 

I was so proud.

And why do they now have calorie information on their menu? 

No one needs to know how many calories they are eating when they are at Waffle House. 

This was too fun to pass up. 

(The baby kid was terrified and scurried across as quick as lightning. Wouldn't even stop for the picture.)

This is the best stuff ever. You should go get your own.

Found this picture of the baby kid on an old phone. 

I may or may not miss these days.

I still haven't forgotten that he tried to kill me during these years.

But, gosh. He was cute. 

The girl kid went to the beach with her grandmother.

I probably wasn't okay with that. 

See?

She, on the other hand, appears to be fine with it. 

(She did call me homesick. That made me feel better.)

A kitten's favorite game. 

Most of my summer reading list. 

(non-school related, that is)

The boys played basketball after we ate outside on our first sisterless night. 

Muzzy and I hung out and watched. 

I must have been pretty boring. She fell right to sleep. 

The "give the kittens away" clock is still ticking. (two and a half more weeks)