The School Year, So Far

Well, it finally happened.  It only took me seven years, but I finally unlocked the secret to having a successful and stress-free school day.  

The answer?

Getting up early.

I'm not a morning person, so just typing out those words make me sleepy.  Let me repeat, I'm NOT a morning person.  I didn't think my kids were, either.  We are all really grouchy first thing, so for years, I've let us sleep in.  This year, it seems like we are so much busier than before.  Our afternoons are filling up and we're not able to still be doing school on into the evening.  Which, ironically, is the part about homeschooling that appealed to me the most. 

Anyway, we've been getting up early, having breakfast, and getting started by 8 most mornings, whether we have something to do that afternoon or not.  

And the difference is phenomenal.  

It does take a little while to get the boys out of bed, but they perk up over breakfast and then they'll work straight through until lunch.  And we're done.  The funny thing is, if we have an early morning appointment and have to put off schoolwork until we get home, the day is horrible.  All  I hear all day is, "What?  It's after 12:00.  We're supposed to be done!".  Whine, whine, whine.  Even if we don't get started until 11:00.  I guess we really are morning people, after all.  

Who knew?

First Day of School, 2016

So, I didn't blog all summer, and now school has started back for us.  

The boys, grades 10 and 5, were not thrilled but they pushed through anyway and yesterday was actually the best first day back we've ever had.  Maybe we finally know what we're doing.  Ha!

They didn't let me take any pictures.  I'm proud of them, anyway.  

Violet started school on Friday.  She would have started back in May, when her curriculum was delivered.  She's not 4 yet, but seems to be ready, so we're going on with Pre-K.

Here's a picture of her first day.  She loved it.  Girls are SO different from boys.  

Here's a picture from her first day.  It's not a Pinterest-worthy chalk board shot, but we started on a whim and I wasn't prepared.  Story of my life!

I really have been slacking with keeping up with this blog.  I need to do better.  I'm forgetting things, and I don't want that to happen.  This will probably be Jordan's last year at home, so I'm savoring these days and I want to soak up every minute. 

Ballet Recital, Butterfly Release, and Another Field Trip

Life is full and busy these days.  Here's some of what we've been doing.

Ballet Recital

Violet had her first ballet recital a few weeks ago.  She loves to dance, when she's in the mood.  Unfortunately, she's 3, so her moods change from minute to minute some days.  For this reason, I'm extremely glad that I didn't sign her up for formal dance lessons like we'd planned.  A beginning ballet class was offered at our co-op, and it was the perfect amount of commitment for us.  She took her class during co-op and they performed "Teddy Bear Picnic" for us at the end of the semester. 

Weren't they the cutest?

This is a "real life" picture, and the reason I'm glad the formal lessons didn't work out. Violet before the performance, on the verge of a mini-meltdown.  She pulled it together before her group took the stage. 

And this one is after the show with a flower from Daddy.

Butterfly Release

I decided to take Violet to our city's annual Butterfly Release.  I hadn't been in years, several years before Violet came along.  We met up with a group of friends and had a wonderful time.

We had the most fun when Scott offered to "haul us back to our cars".  Ha!

Field Trip- Thompson Mill State Arboretum

I'd never heard tale of this place before, but now that we know about it, I imagine we will be back.  A recent newspaper article referred to Thompson Mill as "Braselton's best-kept secret".  We took a little hike and enjoyed learning about nature.  The scenery was nice, but it was so hot and I was sweating...I was ready for the hike to be over with WAY before it ended, but the kids had a really good time.  That's all that  matters!

Spring Field Trip: Bear Hollow Zoo and Rook and Pawn

The kids and I joined some of our homeschooling friends on a field trip to Athens last week.  

The first stop was Bear Hollow Zoo.  

I thought the boys would be bored silly during this part of the trip, but they actually had a good time.  I don't now how I'd never heard of this place before, but we will definitely visit again.  It's free, and there were several animal exhibits that the kids (and adults) enjoyed.

Next, it was time for lunch at The Rook and Pawn.  Once again, a place I'd never heard of, and want to visit again.  This is a board game cafe, and just look what one of the moms found:

Girl Talk!  I spent many hours during pre-teen years playing this game and we were thrilled to play it again as adults.  As it turns out, Girl Talk isn't as fun with kids of our own running around a restaurant, and I kept spinning the wheel only to land on, "Name something that your parents won't allow you to do".  It still brought back memories, though, even when we had to cut the game short because our kids were getting too rowdy. 

Some more pictures from lunch:

It was a good day. 

Just a Part of Growing Up...

So, last week I had my annual "exam".  You know what I mean.  After it was over, my doctor, who has been my doctor since I was 18 years old, said, "Well, it's time for your first 'grab and smash'.  Oh, he's so hilarious.  I didn't even know what he was referring to, which prompted him to say, "You know.  A mammogram".  

My mouth fell open and all I could say was, "What?  I'm old enough to have to DO that?"

To which my doctor replied, "Yup.  35.  I can't believe it,  either".

Well, wow.  What an eye opener to the fact that I'm getting OLD!  My first instinct was to run out of there without scheduling the appointment and to put it off until  next year.  I mean, obviously, I'd never had one before, but I could just imagine all of the violating of my personal space that would go on.  

 I can't stand for my personal space to be violated, but having undetected breast cancer would be worse, so I made the appointment and went yesterday to have it done.  

I'd heard horror stories about mammograms.  Truly, horrific encounters of boobs being stretched and smashed and flattened out for days.  In reality, they aren't that terrible.  Of course, my personal space was violated, but the most awkward part of the whole day was running into a guy from church in the waiting room of The Breast Center.  Yes, it's actually called that.  The Breast Center.  I signed in and sat down and heard someone say, "Hey!  What's going on?".  It was a friend from church, making an oxygen tank delivery.  So awkward, he thought I was there for a problem, because HELLO, I couldn't be old enough for a routine mammogram.... ha!  So we had a conversation in the waiting room of The Breast Center and talked about life and church, and our families while I waited for my mammogram.  

Finally, I was called back to the waiting room. I didn't have anything else to do while I waited, so I took a selfie...

Truthfully, this selfie was for a friend of mine, since we've been sending each other "paper gown" selfies lately.  Don't judge the quirkiness of our friendship.  Just don't.  

Finally, it was time for the main event.  It was over in about 5 minutes.  No pain, and the violation of my personal space wasn't even that bad.  Just one of those things, a part of growing up.  I got dressed, and, since I was without any of my kids for a change, I went to the library and hung out there for an hour.  

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. 

Babyland, Take 2!

About a year ago, while running errands in Cleveland, I made the quick decision to take Violet for her first trip to Babyland General Hospital.  She was less than impressed and even looked at  me at one point and said, "Mom, this is pretty cweepy".  I thought she'd never be interested again, and I was so sad because, as a little girl, I loved Babyland, even though my parents never let me adopt a baby.  

So, I was thrilled when Violet, out of the blue, told me that she wanted to go back to Babyland, and that she wanted to invite her friend Natalee to go along.  A few days later, we met up with Nat and her Nana and drove to Babyland.  

This visit was so much better than the last one!  The girls loved it, and I really enjoyed watching Violet take everything in.  Babyland is a pretty magical  place, even if the new facility isn't as whimsical as the old one.  

Here are some pictures from our visit, all unedited and straight from my iPhone.  

And, for the really big news, the girls each adopted a baby.  We let them  choose a baby from the $14.99 shelf.  Ha!  Those babies can get expensive and I'm glad we were able to keep it cheap.

Here are the girls with Faith Saige and Kimber Kay.  Those names! 

And here they are, promising to love and care for Faith Saige and Kimber Kay for as long as they lived. 

Funny thing, Violet couldn't remember the name "Faith" and kept calling her baby "Feef".  Ha ha!

And here's the obligatory cabbage picture.  

It was a fun day, and Violet already wants to go back again next year.  I suppose she'll want to adopt another baby, too.  Maybe I'll let her choose a $25 dollar baby next time.  

Two Months Later...

How has it been two months since I've been here?  Not just HERE, on my blog, but I haven't  been keeping up with everyone else's, either.  We've just been so busy, so much has happened, and  now I'll probably forget about it all since I didn't write it down.  :(

The main things I wanted to get down are the boys' birthdays.  We've celebrated big ones... 10 and 16.  

Jordan turned 10 way back on January 28th.  He wanted Little Debbie snack cakes for breakfast, so that's what he had.  

I gave him the day off of school, so he spent the morning playing his new Madden game and then we met Chris for lunch at Wild Wing, the birthday boy's choice. 

Of course, there was wrestling practice that night and Jordan didn't want to miss.  Practice ended with a birthday dog pile.

Then, finally, we had cake and presents with the family.  My mom made a strawberry chocolate ice cream cake and it was delicious.

About a month later, Shaun turned 16.  Oh, my goodness, I still can't really believe it.  I did all of my crying and reminiscing the night before, so I was ready to celebrate with him on THE DAY.  

Chris was off, and I gave the boys another day off from school.  We slept late and then went out for breakfast at Longstreet.  

We came back home to relax and we let Shaun open his present from us, which was an Apple watch.  He really wanted one, and I loved watching the look on his face when he opened it.  A little bit later, we dropped Violet off with my Granny and then we (Shaun, Jordan, Chris, and myself) went to the movies.  We saw The Boy.  

It was creepy and the girl who plays Maggie in The Walking Dead was in it, which is why Shaun wanted to see it so  badly, I think.  :)  Whatever the reason, we all liked it and then we met my parents for dinner at Outback. 

Here's a picture of Shaun with  my mom during dinner. 

Ahhh, he looks so grownup!

Later on that night, we met up for cake and presents with the rest of the family.

That was on Tuesday, Shaun's actual birthday.  The following Sunday we celebrated big time with a surprise party.  I was a nervous wreck, or course.  I always forget how stressful planning an event can be, but it was worth it.  The party was a huge success and Shaun had such a good time.  So many people came, current friends and also folks who we don't see as much as we'd like anymore  but who are still an important part in our lives.  

It was a great day and I'm so happy with how it turned out.

Most of the pictures are on Chris' computer, and I'll try to post them later.  I have this one, though, of my handsome 16 year old.  I'm so proud of him and love him so!