September and October

Madison made my cake from scratch in September for my birthday, and it was honestly the best chocolate cake I have ever had. John wasn't home but it was still a good day got my car detailed and my hair done and ate good food.

I have lost 10 lbs so far

Madison and I did our 2nd 5k, The Boo Run. It was fun, but I walked almost the whole thing. I am training to run one by myself in the spring. I can't wait!

Halloween was good, simple and fun

She was Merida from Brave

We also had a big halloween party with to many pictures to post but most of you know they are on facebook and phanfare if you care to see them. 

August Recap: Back to Work

We had  lot of much needed fun in August! 

I hosted a No Back to School Party for us at the quarry splashpad on the first day of public school here. It made Madison feel special. 

Ethan still loves wearing things...anything, anything at all. Hats, sunglasses, backpacks, purses, capes, masks, shoes (his or anyone elses). He is so funny. He just loves to wear stuff. He much prefers to have clothes on lately. He brings me this shirt, black and white striped one with a car on it, almost every day to put on him.

Working on improving the homeschool room/garage. What would you do in this space? Should we put down laminate flooring? That whole back wall full of shelves? Maybe with built in desks all along the bottom?

I started Tyler an alphabet tree, we decorate it for the season, and add whatever letter he learns that week to it. It's a good visual reminder.

We made playdoh. Tyler thought it tasted terrible. It didn't turn out very well either but they had so much fun making it, I think they thought that's all there was to it. I don't think they realized we didn't do anything with what we just made.

Blogger doesn't upload the pics in order, ticks me off!
Madison and my work space in the garage. I am fantasizing about my dream homeschool room and pinterest is giving me lots of good ideas.

Yes, Tyler is always in his underwear. Yes, I always let them sit on the counter to help out. No, Ethan's rain boots do not match, he wears them everywhere lately. He gets lots of compliments.

LOOK!!! They are all looking and happy! And all it took was some crappy failure of a bowl of playdoh!

I swear he dressed himself. Socks, hat and all.  He is a fashionable pirate.

End of summer party with friends at Champion Park. The boys could stay at this dino dig area all day.

Look how cool this place is. When it rains, they have a river through the middle and build sand castles, SO fun!

Grandma Elaine sent them this bathtub set, they still love it and play with it every bath, over a month later.

Went to the water park on the lake for Cj's birthday party. I love that place.

Super fun!

Look at him go, nowhere! He was having fun though!

Tyler has officially started playing video games. Oh jeeze.

He loves his hats, if he could only wear ONE thing, it would be a hat.

Grandma Carol and Tyler.

They have this great toddler area at the lake waterpark.

I love this shot of her.

How sweet is this? Looking up to her daddy!

Papa John and Grandma Carol came over for dinner

Our church had "mini camp" and the kids had a blast!

John manned the snow cone machine

 Love him :)

And after all that fun stuff, John went back to work, and we got busy with homeschooling. It's going REALLY well! I planned ahead and tried to target some issues that were hard for me last year, like how to keep the boys entertained and not totally neglected while I am working with Madison and not always in front of the tv. We have a closet full of stuff for them to do, with a list of all the things that I can refer to when I need something to get the happy and busy quick. Also working on not letting the house get destroyed while working with her. I forgot how busy it was, we took too long of a break. We still did some stuff over summer break, and did math most days. But I forgot how busy our days are when we do everything, and I cook and clean and take care of the boys at the same time. The first two days I didn't sit down from the time I got up, till 11  that night. Not even to eat. I ate standing up while doing their dishes. The third day I remembered....oh yeah! When homeschooling, you have to let housework go sometimes, it's exhausting and sometimes downright impossible to stay on top of everything every day. I cook 3 meals a day, teach for 4, clean up after every meal, have 2 toddlers destroying everything I do, do my own work out, clean house and  that is only the basics. If we have to leave the house, that leaves even less time for cleaning it up. It doesn't leave a lot of sit down or free computer time for me until late at night. I sneak moments online when Madison is doing independent work. So then I play catch up at midnight and am sleep deprived. Add to that, this year I started working on pre-k work with Tyler. I am attempting 3 days a week. We got 2 last week. I consider one a success. No pressure there. Madison is doing really great on her school work and her attitude has been positive and cooperative about work. She feels a little jealous with all the back to school hoopla going on right now, but that will die out soon. She is starting to forget how much she hated school and has a romanticized idea of how fun it is because on tv it looks so cool. I know the grass is always greener...and that it won't always be easy but I know this is the best decision for us. She also remembers the reasons she loves homeschooling sometimes, like not having to wake up at 6, much shorter work time and getting to go to on play dates or fun trips when school is in. We started multiplication. It's a piece of cake to her, just don't ask her what time it is. Teaching her to read a clock is like pulling teeth, we have been at it for months and months. She is catching up wonderfully in math and will be starting 3rd grade math in a few months. We should start 4th grade other subjects after Christmas.  I love knowing exactly where she is in subjects, we never move on until she truly understands something, that is one of the many benefits of homeschooling her. I guess that is more than enough for now!