First Day of School

Today was our first day of school. Except for the camera giving me fits and the batteries running out and then refusing to recharge, and except for getting up half-an-hour late and having to hustle through our chores like chickens with their heads chopped off, and except for realizing off and on all day long that there were little things I had forgotten to do: like cutting out the paper dolls that I was so proud of having printed, and looking all over the room for the control sheet to the landmark cards and finally finding it in my binder, right where it was supposed to be... except for all of these things, school went very, very well. Our first days are always our best days, because everyone is eager and excited and discipline is entirely unnecessary. (ok, so the part about discipline is stretching a bit, but they are extraordinarily well-behaved on the first day)
We started the day off on the right foot, with donuts for breakfast. We got right on our chores, and found the first crimp in my plan, because I have their "morning routine" cards done, but I haven't quite finished their chore cards. And I meant to start them on those this morning.
After that, things got rocky for awhile. We rushed outside to take our Official First Day of School Pictures, and my batteries died. I improvised for a while, having the kids run to the front yard to count to 25, jump to the bedroom to sing the ABC's, do jumping-jacks in the living room... while I struggled with the batteries. I finally had to give up, call my niece to bring her camera so I could borrow her batteries (which I just realized I forgot to return) and started school. The kids marched into the schoolroom to find welcoming posters at the table. They were pleased with these, but were just really ready to get on with it already.
So we jumped into Circle Time. It went smoothly and took up just the amount of time I was hoping it would. And I only had to remind the big kids twice not to answer questions because it is the little kids' turn in the morning.
The rest of the morning also went well, with only a few minor bumps. The little kids remembered their Shelf Procedures and needed only a few reminders about making sure everything got put back on the shelf and to take stuff to their mats before examining it. The big kids took turns nicely and churned out their work in record time. We worked only an hour and half (including occasional mini-breaks) before lunch overtook us and that was plenty of time for the big kids to work through all of my morning plans. So on the days that we actually start on time, they will have plenty of time for fun stuff like playing on our Squidoo lens (you can find it on the sidebar).
Due to time constraints, we skipped a formal PE and they just ran around the yard while I hurriedly fixed lunch.
While the little kids napped, the big kids returned to the schoolroom for Afternoon School. It also went well. They had fun with the art project, listened well to the History and Science read-alouds and were sad when I made them stop so that I could go fix supper. Afternoon School went long, mostly due to the fact that the little kids appeared about an hour before I was ready for them, so we had to slip juggling the little boys around and bathroom assistance for the little girl in between reading and coloring and chatting. It can get kind of hectic around our house sometimes.
At any rate, school was declared an unqualified hit! (Kaytie even enjoyed math, she said.) And we are eager for tomorrow. Well, as long as that "we" doesn't include an exhausted mommy. Eagerness takes too much energy right now.
So I am off to bed, leaving you with these few pictures we managed to get. (The few good pictures I took of them doing actual work I am saving for my wrap-up posts at the end of the week.)



Alex didn't have a sign as I didn't really expect to have him today. But it is just as well, because, as you can see from his expression, he truly believes us all to be one step away from an invitation to an extended stay at the mental institution and usually rejects things like holding a sign to get your picture taken.

I don't know exactly what Lizzie and the Dad were doing behind my back, but it obviously amused some and inspired others.

A Day in the Life Bloghop (more than a day late)

Once more, I am late for My3Boybarians blog-hop. And I STILL can't get the cool button thingie onto my post, but there are tons of good posts over there by bloggers who are much more together than I will ever hope to be. So hop over there and check them out!

We haven't totally started back to school yet this year. The highschoolers started on Monday, but the rest of us won't start until next Monday. So I guess I'll just share with you how I hope our day will look.
8am: everybody up. (sounds good, but in reality, this means the kids will descend upon me about 7:45 in a body. Daniel will start jumping on the bed. Nate will snuggle on one side, cold feet and all, and Abbie will snuggle on the other side, while Kaytie perches as close as she can and talks a million miles a minute until I finally give up and get out of bed.)
8:30 by this time, everybody, including the dog, should be fed, dressed (well, not the dog), have their bed made, and their hygiene taken care of. At this point, we start the chores. Except for making her bed and putting her own clean clothes away, Abbie doesn't really have much to do, but all the others are very helpful and can usually be trusted to do their jobs with minimal supervision. They play in between jobs and after their part of the work is done.
10:00 By this time, all the morning chores should be done and we should be ready to begin school. The teens show up at this time and can mostly fall to work with only a question or two.
From 2nd grade down, we will start with Circle Time. I expect this to last less than 15 minutes, and we will pack a lot of stuff into it, so the kids will stay pretty busy singing, chanting, and dancing.
Then, the little kids will have free access to their shelves and will work as long as they desire. When they are done, they will play in the playroom or go out in the backyard as they choose.
The big kids will do:
their reading, both reading aloud to me and their own "for fun but only during school-time" reading. (This is my answer to them wanting to read chapter books, but me not wanting them to ruin their eyesight with small printing. They have access to bigger print books whenever they want.)
math
Bible
piano practice
First Language Lessons
and any handwriting assignments for the day
These are all things they can do "on their own" with only a little guidance or input from me. Or things that I can do with them while keeping an eye on the little ones. And, most importantly, things that will not irresistibly appeal to the preK set, so that they feel they must be involved at all costs, thereby neglecting their own otherwise enjoyable activities.
Hopefully, this will all be done by
Noon so we can have a PE time. Only, I will NOT EVER AGAIN call it that in their presence. EVER. (remind me to tell you that story sometime...)
At 12:15 or 12:30, depending on how well our structured outside time goes, I will fix lunch while they 'run around for no good reason' as Nate would say.
Lunch will be over by 1:00 (and yes, I do have to put a time limit on it or my incredibly slow eaters would stay at the table until suppertime) when everyone goes and rests or pretends to rest. The two big ones are allowed books, the little ones are not. I call it nap-time even though no one actually naps because Quiet Time it is not.
By 2pm, Kaytie and Nate will be up again, doing the rest of their school. This will consist of:
their Circle Time, which is the things I want to go over daily or weekly or regularly but with which I don't want to bore the pre-K set. We will also do: science, history, Latin, art and all of our Geography fun, including cooking on Fridays. Once they are finished, they will be able to have at their shelves until four thirty. (This is also the case in the morning. Hopefully, this will be an incentive to working fast and staying focused). Shelf work includes computer time. When the little kids "wake up", they will play on their own either outside or in the playroom.
At 4:30, we stop for snack and they will be on their own as far as entertainment goes while I finish up the housework and start on supper. It's usually about this time that the teenagers disappear. (but don't worry, they will be back tomorrow)
Evenings are not scheduled at our house as we never quite know what Dad will have in mind for us.
Bedtime routine starts at 9pm.

This is the plan for our days... except for Wednesdays when Nate has piano lesson at 12:30 and Kaytie at 1:00. Lizzie will babysit and feed the kids while we are gone. And afternoon school will commence after we return and they have eaten lunch. So there will be no structured PE on Wednesdays.

Back to School... take one!

Today was the first day of school for the high-schoolers. I started them a week before the little kids for two reasons...
One, so that they would finish a week earlier than the littles will. I plan on working through Thanksgiving week, but their family tends to travel that week, so I wanted them "free" to do that.
Two, it was nice to be able to focus on them, answer their questions, and get them started in the direction I wanted them to go. Since they are older, and one of our goals of education is independent learning, I tend to give them the big picture and let them figure out the details as much as they can on their own. I have spent the last few days going over their textbooks and figuring out what their weekly assignments should be. I have a spreadsheet (of sorts) with their first 13 weeks of school all mapped out. Every Sunday, I transfer that week's assignments to a blog I set up for them. They are responsible for getting that work done by Friday so I can look over their work on the weekend. This is a system that we started last year but needed some tweaking for this year.
Today went very well. They will each be coming over three days a week, but not necessarily on the same days. Thursdays are our "teen free" days. I predict those will be our craziest days because the little kids LOVE their cousins!

One more Last Time

We are teetering on the verge of the abyss.



Abbie has gone a day and half in underwear without an accident.



We are using ONLY 2 diapers a day!



It's been six and half years of diaper changing. Five and half years of two kids in diapers.



I hardly know what to think or how to act. On the one hand, I am leaping for joy. On the other, I shall miss it terribly.



Who told these people they are allowed to grow up?

He's such a sweetheart

Daniel approached his dad with an unusual request, "Will you pull out my teeth?"

It did not take Dad long to figure out that what Daniel really wanted was tooth fairy money.

And it did not take Daniel's sad-but-hopeful expression long to brighten at the sight of his very own nickle.

Then he wanted to play "Heads or Tails" with me. He was having a great time flipping his nickle and checking to see if Mommy won or not. Unfortunately, every single time, it was "not". I started making exaggerated sighs and fake crying when I lost to make him giggle. It amused Kaytie, but not him. At last, he flipped it and picked it up without announcing which side was up. "Did I win?" I asked him.

He hesitated, then said, very sweetly, "Almost."

Quiz time!

While roaming the Internet for geography ideas for big and little, I came across my new addiction. There are 195 (194 if you are political and care what China thinks of you and refuse to acknowledge Taiwan. None of which exactly describes me.) countries in the world. How many can you name?
After an inordinate amount of time playing here, I can successfully name all 23 countries of North America, and usually all 12 in South America. However, Africa, Asia and the teensy little wildly-spelled countries of Europe kick my, ummm, you know. And all those islands around Australia? Didn't even know they existed before tonight.
I can name 90ish countries now, though. And gaining all the time.

The Toothfairy is just too cheap

The kids saw a commercial for our local amusement park and decided that they needed to go this summer. Their first step was to try to talk me into taking them. I explained that it is ludicrously expensive and they would have to wait for the fair.

Kaytie and Nate put their little heads together and decided that they would save up all their money and take the family to Wonderland. I explained that they did not have anywhere near enough money in their jars to pay for us all. Nor even for themselves.

Kaytie started offering to do extra jobs to make money...

Then, Friday night, she lost her second tooth. And on Saturday morning, she woke to find four quarters under her pillow. (It was still dark outside when I was awakened by the excited jingling of money in my ear.)

So she tells me that she is going to save up ALL of her tooth-fairy money to pay for Wonderland. I was in a hurry, getting ready to go a homeschool conference, so I just quickly said, "Honey, you don't have enough teeth in your head to get that much money!"

So she goes to her daddy and asks him to count her teeth. "I need to figure how many teeth I have so I can figure how much money I can earn."

After he got the story out of her, he explained that even if all of her teeth came out, which they won't, "At a dollar a tooth, you don't have enough teeth."

She thought long and hard, then decided, "I need to start getting more for my teeth!"

Not Back to School Pictures

We take our "official" school pictures on the first day of school. I would say "we always" but since last year was the only year we have taken "official" school pictures, it seems kind of silly to claim it as a bonafide tradition. It is more of a tradition in the making.
However, we didn't want to miss the Not Back to School Bloghop so we went out this morning to take some unofficial pictures.

Kaytie is six and a half. She will be starting second grade this fall. She is smart and creative and funny. She is always coming up with a plan and ways to implement her plans. She is my big helper. She begs to dust and sweep and cook and is always willing to lend me a hand when I need her.

She loves gymnastics, ballet, princesses, craft projects and reading. Her current fascination is extreme weather, especially tornadoes (we live in Tornado Alley) and often comes to me of an afternoon, asking, "Mom, was the air hot and still this morning? Because my tornado book says that a hot and still morning is a sign of a tornado in the afternoon."

Nate is five and a half. He will be starting first grade this fall. He is a genius. Which means he is incredibly smart and excessively quirky. He can, and will, make up stories at the drop of a hat about things he has done and animals he has seen. He was convinced for awhile that he is allergic to bats. Because he more than half believes the tales he comes up with. He is decisive and determined. He has quite a sense of humor. Currently, he needs a haircut.

He loves dinosaurs, balls, making noise, getting dirty, reading, and playing with his brother and sisters. He laughs a lot. His current interest is reading everything he can about animals and bugs. He is starting to ask a lot of questions about caves and what lives in them, so that will probably be his next craze.




Daniel is three and a half. He will be starting preschool in the fall. He is excited about starting school and learning how to read and write. He is our serious, practical little guy. Except that his pet peeve is being called "little". He is always quick to remind us that he is a "BIG BOY!" Of all the kids, he gets in the least amount of trouble. He is the sweetest and most sensitive of the kids... the first to give in to a sibling or to share a special treat.



Daniel loves trains. Specifically Thomas the tank engine. Especially his train set. He spends his time setting up his tracks and running his trains. Secondarily, he loves digging in the dirt and building with blocks or rocks. He has a "pet" snail in the yard that he looks for every time it rains. He carries his snails around everywhere and likes to listen to books about snails and snail care.



Abbie is two and half. She will be our Totschool kid this year. She is the typical baby of the family... cute and charming with a million and one tricks to get her way. She chatters non-stop and she expresses herself with intense emotion. Everything is a big deal and requires a LOT of drama. She is also our shy child: in public, all the drama and emotion is shut down. She won't even look at or walk by people she doesn't know.

Abbie loves anything girly. Pink, clothes, princesses, talking on the phone, babies, the doll house, dressing up. She prefers to be addressed as "Daddy's Beautiful Princess" but will settle for just "Princess" if you are in a hurry.

Our Learning Room

I am very late for the Not Back To School Blog Hop but I FINALLY finished my schoolroom, and I finally gave up on getting great pictures and decided to just go ahead and blog about it anyway.


If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that one of the things we were praying for in a house was a place for school. We used to stash our stuff in the corner of our tiny dining room and under beds. We would drag it out every morning and stuff it back every afternoon. So this little half of a room is an awesome gift to us. We squeezed all four kids in one bedroom to achieve this space.
Our schoolroom is actually an addition on the back of the original house. This first picture is what you see when you come into the room. You can see that half of the room is playroom and the other half is serious business. What you can't see is the other half of the playroom, the door to the back yard, the drier, and the door to the kids' bathroom. I can see all of those from my chair in front of the computer, which means I have my eye on the kids pretty much all of the time I am at the computer. Unless they are sleeping, in which case, they don't really need me to watch them. :)





So anyway, back to the school room. This is a view of the entire space. You can tell that it isn't really very big, but it is actually just about the perfect size for us.







I was having some issues with the light from the windows, so these pictures were taken at different times of day, which explains why the lighting is so weird.


These are the big kids' "shelves". The top holds our scale, our fraction manipulatives, a pocket chart that holds nothing in particular right now, our spelling tiles, a bowl of paper apples, our nature box, a tic-tac-toe set, strawberry shortcake magnets, our counting bars and a small bowling game. The black trays hold their finished worksheets and art projects for me to file, and all of our handwriting books and tablets. The white box that you can barely see on the end holds stickers, my "works in process" and scrap paper.

Except for what is in the white box, everything on the top of these cabinets and everything inside of them are for the big kids' "free choice" times.

Here is our flannelgraph board and pieces, our US puzzle, wipe-off crayons, chalk, water-paints, palate, floam, and their school-boxes, which holds their crayons, pencils, and erasers. The bottom shelf holds their art box (which is packed with things to thrill their artsy souls) markers, stamps, coloring books and puzzle books, and all our random crayons.

This cabinet is more specific and will be refreshed and restocked as the year goes by. On the top shelf are some fun, Draw-with-Chalk and Magnetic books, our geoboards and the bands and cards that go with them, dinosaur puzzles, some sign language cards that we got YEARS ago in kid-meals from Sonic, Nate's Kid K'nex set, a bowl of sugar for writing, our coin sorting game, and random cards that I have made. The bottom shelf holds a bowl full of magnets, and our magnetic wand, cuisinaire rods,some math games, our version of metal insets, lacing cards, and our collection of random puzzles.

Tucked behind the cabinets are various maps and learning mats. Then, on the floor are the tubs that hold the mats for the little kids' floor work, our CDs, our CD/cassette player and some magnets.








Next, is our easel. It is a magnetic white board, so we use it A LOT. On the other side is a chalkboard, and the two yellow clips on the top work wonderfully for holding pocket charts when needed. My awesome husband mounted hooks for me to hang more pocket charts, and I found the window clings at the Dollar Tree.


The white cabinet in the corner holds all of our supplies and things that are currently "unavailable" to the kids.








The very top shelf is art supplies. All of my beads, glues, wires, stickers, craft sticks that I will use to create more works for them to do. Also, our bubble stuff and shaving cream live on this shelf. The next shelf is math and stuff. Shells, manipulatives, cubes, foam and plastic animals, magnetic numbers, thermometers, all are stored here.







The next shelf holds language materials. Which basically means letters of all sorts: magnetic, chipboard, foam, cookie cutter... And all of our "learning" puzzles. And whatever supplies would not fit on the top shelf.

Then comes a random collection of books and folders, my long-standing collection of stencils, noodles, our small broom and dustpan, and our playdough and playdough toys.








The bottom shelf holds all of our games, flashcards, and paper games that I have created. Tucked in the middle there, is our brand-new balance scale that we can hardly wait to use.




On top of the white cabinet is: a mailbox, a Jenga game, a tractor, a LiteBrite, an empty vase and a basketful of flowers. I taped large coins to the front of the cabinet, and a weather chart and our chore chart to the side.

Above the window is the line that my husband hung for us to display our current works of art. The flags are from July 4th. I shamefully admit that is the last art project we have done.

The white shelf under the window is also a gift from my husband. :) Our Circle-Time charts sit on it, and underneath are boxes of storage for the little kids' Montessori works. Weeks 2, 3, and 4 are in the top box and everything else is in the bottom box. Hopefully, this will help as I rotate the themed stuff every week. Beside the storage boxes is our tub of "reference" books: atlases, dictionary, guide books, a collection of "geography books" for them to peruse. Beside that is the new school supplies that I haven't yet put in their school boxes. And beside THAT (and under that, as well) is a roll of butcher paper that my husband procured from somewhere for free. He is good at that.

Here is a better picture of the Circle Time boards and the other stuff. There are posters in Spanish (shapes , colors, numbers) on the backs. The board on the right, and the Spanish are for the big kids' afternoon Circle Time. The board on the left we will all do in the mornings, but it is really for the little kids.

Here is the other half of the room.

On the very top of this built-in bookshelf is scrapbooks, boxes of embroidery thread and Children's Ministry supplies. The second shelf is more ministry resources, boxes of stamps and scrapbooking tools, and books that I will pull from throughout the year.

The next shelf is all the textbooks the kids will use this year (some of them are for the teenagers) and books that they will read throughout the year.

Then comes the tins of pens, pencils, sharpies, dry erase markers, and regular markers. The caddy on the left end holds flags, chalkboard erasers, and pencil sharpeners. The basket on the other end holds all the cords for keyboards, cameras, and computers.

The next shelf, which I did NOT wind up with a good picture of, has a box of small drawers that currently holds a bunch of odds and ends of cards and games and works. Next to that is a stack of empty pencil boxes. Then is a basket of scissors, glue, and tape. Then is my "junk basket". There is a little of everything in there: from wipes to pictures, to church papers to library book cards.

The bottom three shelves are the little kids' shelves. A basketful of "educational" board books, their Bibles (and a copy of the Mouse and the Motorcycle that really doesn't belong there) and their works for the first week of school... A, apples, and Creation. Some of these are not theme related and will only be removed at the end of the week if the kids don't touch them. The wooden tray holds their art supplies: paper, crayons, stamps and ink pads, stickers, clipboards, and their weekly color sheets.

Next is Kaytie's (soon to be Kaytie and Nate's) keyboard, the trashcan, and the computer. Beside and under the computer are more of my supplies, and paper.

This table was supposed to be my work-table, but it is rarely this clean. Above it hangs Kaytie's piano music. Our school binders are in the clear box. Mine holds ALL of our school sheets, our calender, and our schedules. Theirs is for completed work that we are keeping/ that they want to show off/ that they need to review. The red box holds paperwork I need to file. The puppet is for Children's Ministry and is only visiting. The front tray and pile is just stuff I need to put away elsewhere/ finish working on.

A pocket chart hangs off the front of the table, available for the kids to work with.

The purple bag is our Nature Walk bag. It holds drawing supplies and sketchbooks. There is still room in there for binoculars once I find them in the garage.

The blue bag is my niece's schoolwork that I am currently working on sorting and readying for this year.

This sits on the back of the table, ready to be pulled out when we need it. It is our geography board (with the personal info blurred out). We sing a song to go along with the cards. I believe I found the song here. On the back of this board (which is also cork) I will put a blank, white map of the world and our currently being studied continent, and the kids will color in the countries as we learn them.

And finally, if you will ignore the clutter in the foreground and the desecrated table in the background, this our "library". The white crate holds library books and the black crate holds our books. I found crates to be much easier for the kids to "put books away" than struggling with putting them back on the shelf. The rocking chair is for solitary readers. When we read as a group, we will either sojourn to the couch in the living room, or gather 'round the table.

This is where we will keep our stuff, and where a lot of our learning will take place. As for the rest of our learning, that we will do outside, on field trips, or in the kitchen. But I'm not going to post pictures of those places because this post is already way to long, and I absolutely despise my kitchen, so you will probably never see a picture of it! :)

Living math... I think

When you run in homeschool circles you often hear about kids learning from life and picking up information as they need it. As a sequential, orderly thinker, this is hard for me to wrap my mind around and accept. So my kids often blow my mind...
Daniel and I were chatting this morning because he was wanting to start school. I asked him if he could count to five. He did, but then he started to struggle on his way to ten. He kept saying "C" instead of numbers. I was busy trying not to think about how Nate could count to ten in his sleep at this age.
Well, then at lunch, I made a whole sandwich for each of the kids, cut them in half, and served each kid half a sandwich. I left the remainder on the counter. Daniel asked if he could have more and I told him he could get one off the counter. He turned to Kaytie and said, "I'm getting more. There is only going to be three left. Now there's four, but I'm taking one, and there will only be three left."
:) He can't count to ten without help, and he has trouble remembering the difference between numbers and letters, but he completely understands the concept of subtraction and can even plug the numbers into the equation!
This right here is one of the main reasons why I homeschool. I want my kids to know what they know when they are ready to learn it. At the end, they will know the whole picture without any fear or shame because at some point they didn't know what they were "supposed" to know.

Daybook: Aug 10

Out my window: It is dark and rainy. We all enjoy a storm around here. But our favorite part is the rainbow when it's over. This is a good house for rainbows.

I am listening to: the kids and Oreo playing outside in the puddles.

I am thankful for: a husband who is letting me crowd his garage with my extra "junk". I really need to get out there and clean up before winter.

From the kitchen: pork chops, peas, and potatoes.

I am creating: well, attempting to, anyway... a functional but cute schoolroom

I am reading: The Mysterious Benedict Society

I am praying for: some little Somali girls who accepted Jesus this last week. It is a tremendous task to be a light in a very dark world.

Around the house: I have almost finished the schoolroom, and I have purged the toys and re-organized the playroom! I'll take pictures when I'm done.

One of my favorite things: a little boy who climbs into my lap, gives me a BIG hug, and says, "You are my BEST mom!"

A few plans for the rest of the week: school, school, and more school! I have three weeks left until we start!!! And stepping up the ante on the potty-training. She has gotten bored with the game and is having lots of "accidents".

I am thinking: that my kids are growing up way too fast and I need to spend more time and energy being "mommy" while I can.

I am going: nowhere this week.

From the learning rooms: gathering the last of my supplies and stirring up the excitement among the troops. I told Kaytie and Nate that we would be "cooking our way around the world" this year and Kaytie said, with alarm, "I hope we won't be studying France!!!"

"Why not?"

"Because they eat SNAILS!!!"

A picture thought I am sharing:

You can read more Daybooks at the Simple Woman Blog

Daybook: August 3

Out my window: a very warm summer day... and a sleeping puppy



I am listening to: the kids playing some very loud game in their bedroom. I guess nap time is over?



I am thankful for: no more tooth pain! An almost clean house. Our fun vacation (that I will finish blogging about soon!) and that we are home again. :)



From the kitchen: spaghetti



I am creating: book lists for school and trying to finish my animal cards for geography. I have the first of them done, but I still have several continents to work through.



I am reading: The Outlaws of Sherwood



I am praying for: Nana



Around the house: I got the bulk of the house under control today in hopes that I can focus on the school room and play room in the next few days. I am finally fed-up enough with the toy situation that I am willing to purge. A LOT. I've been eyeing it for awhile now, and I think we can reduce and simplify with no pain for anybody but me.



One of my favorite things: a summer evening twilight in Texas



A few plans for the rest of the week: Purging the toys. Organizing the schoolroom. Our library is having a book sale this weekend, and there is a curriculum sale that I am going to on Friday. Exciting! :) Also, Abbie is potty-training this week. We started this morning, and so far, it is going GREAT!!!





I am thinking: about how fast the summer flew by!





I am going: hopefully not much of anywhere this week. Abbie needs to stay close to the bathroom, so the rest of us will, too. Maybe we will go to the splash park tomorrow, since it will be the last day... maybe not. Really, where DID the summer go?!?!?





From the learning rooms: If I can get everything in order this week, we might start some fun stuff next week. But I'm not holding my breath!





For more Daybooks, check out the Summer Daybook List

A picture thought I am sharing: Sisters