A Summer Fun Update {2012}

Back in June I introduced our Summer Fun list for 2012. This is what it looked like back then …

 

 

And this is what it looks like NOW!!! =)

I realize some of the things listed will mean absolutely nothing to most of you but this just shows me what an INCREDIBLE summer we’ve had!!

* We went to 2 different amusement parks {free both times!} and 2 different water parks.

* We went to either a beach or out on the boat to the beach about 17 times!

* We went out for ice cream or similar treats about 10 times!

* We went to New Hampshire for a few days as a family and my daughter attended camp in NH for a week, we spent 3 days in New Jersey for a Hot Air Balloon fest, we went to Rhode Island 4 times {3 for the beach and 1 for Newport}.

* The girls had about 9-10 sleepovers with friends! {{This was where our motto ‘A Bad attitude is like a flat tire, you can’t go anywhere until you change it’  REALLY came into play … because overall we all had GREAT attitudes this summer but when they were on lack of sleep mode from havign sleepoevers the grumpies would sometimes sneak in!}}

* We saw fireworks at least 6 times and had campfires at least 7 …

* We tubed down rivers and swam in the pool at night with glow sticks and had too many BBQ’s with friends to even count!

 

There were a few things we didn’t get a chance to do … but overall we had the best summer of our lives and couldn’t have asked for anything more! 

Back to School!

As I mentioned in my last post my daughters went back to school this week. This is their first time in public school so it was kind of a big deal for our family! {and first time riding the school bus too!}

Last week we got to go visit Hope’s middle school {I still can’t believe she’s in MIDDLE school!} and she was able to meet her teachers, find her classrooms, get her schedule and test out opening her locker. It was great to see her excitement! I took a bunch of pictures that day because I didn’t want to follow the school bus to school come Monday and risk possibly embarrassing her. ;)

She is such a kind and caring person and is turning into a BEAUTIFUL young lady – both inside and out. She’s a hard worker and I just KNOW she is going to do SO well in school.

Their first day was Monday so on Sunday we made sure we had everything prepared – backpacks, lunchboxes, clothes pick out, etc … Then we got prepared to go to bed early so they could start with a good night of sleep. My girls and I haven’t done much reading together this summer, they’ve read on their own a lot but mostly in the car or on the go. We decided we needed to begin this important habit again and we began on Sunday night.

So, we snuggled up to read together. When we finished a couple chapters I said something {I can’t even remember what} and we ALL cracked up laughing SO hard. I literally got tears in my eyes from laughing. Then it hit me all at once how much I was going to miss the girls when they went to school. I had to get up quickly and leave the room so they wouldn’t see my tears coming on! We got them all tucked in and I did spend a little time crying and telling my hubby about my feelings. I didn’t feel ANY nerves about their schools, I just felt sad knowing they wouldn’t be home with me every day anymore. :(

Anyway, the next day dawned bright and early! I made them a special breakfast of pancakes and we started our day with devotions and prayer. {At the end I’ll share what we use for devos right now.}

The girls did great getting ready on time and we took a bunch of Back to School photos …

Watching for the bus!

They go to 2 different schools – one in Elementary and one in Middle school. So their buses come about an hour different from each other. I get up with Hope, spend time getting her all ready in the morning, and just before she needs to leave I wake up Joy. Then I get Hope on the bus and focus on helping Joy get ready. I really LOVE that I get separate time with each girl in the morning! It’s been such a blessing already!

Once Joy’s bus came and picked her up I snapped this last quick picture of her waving to me as it drove away …

Then I walked back into my house and bawled. I let myself cry for about 10 minutes, knowing that we had chosen what was best for the girls, but also just needing that time to grieve over these big changes in our lives. Then I knew it was time to move on and suck it up and not wallow in tears all day. =)

In the past 4 days I have been SO proud of my girls! They have come home each day and told us all about their days and they are doing fantastic in school! My youngest is doing awesome, and I am so proud of her … she is the one I was most worried about and she is just blowing me out of the water every day when she comes home. Her confidence is soaring and she’s already bonded with a few friends. She even told us the other day ‘I answer lots of questions in class!’ … I totally thought she’d be SUPER shy and was so surprised {and proud} when she said that! My oldest is realizing that middle school IS tougher and she’s already had homework almost every night, but she’s tackling it all head on and doing so great with it all. She’s also made a bunch of new friends already – yay! She even came home yesterday with a ‘High 5’ card which are special cards given out to kids who do a good deed or always listen or things like that in school. {PROUD MAMA MOMENT!!}

Below is a verse we talked about today … the devotional we use is FANTASTIC for girls this age, it has all kinds of applicable truths for dealing with school friends and situations. We talked this morning about what we want our reputation to be with our friends, teachers, etc.

And this is a book I would HIGHLY recommend to all public school parents. My friend Sarah told me about it and I love it. I’ve been reading it every chance I get lately and as you can see by the second picture I’ve been highlighting tons of stuff and writing lots of notes. You see even though my kids are now in public school, I still have LOTS of opportunities to teach and train them in God’s ways while they’re at home. I’m very thankful for the years we homeschooled, for the firm foundation it gave my girls. And I’m thankful that NOW they get to shine their lights in public school!

In the coming weeks you’ll probably see lots of bragging about my kids from me … this blog is basically my journal since I rarely remember to write things down. So consider yourselves warned that this proud Mama will be sharing lots of things about my awesome girls! =)

The Public School Thing

So my girls started public school this week for the first time. Well sort of, my oldest attended 2 yrs of preschool, then a public school for kindergarten, and then we have homeschooled her for 1st-5th. My youngest attended 2 yrs of preschool, but has been homeschooled ever since {K-3rd}. So basically all they can remember is being homeschooled.

I have a lot to tell about their first few days of school including lots of fun pictures. But first I just want to get something off my chest that has been bothering me a lot lately.

Making the decision to homeschool was one of the most difficult decisions we ever made as parents ... making the decision to send them 'back to school' was even harder. Neither decision was made quickly or naively. We went through months of prayer and research and thought before making BOTH choices.

When it comes right down to it we feel that we followed where the Lord led us in BOTH decisions. Way back when we chose to homeschool we clearly felt the Lord leading us to do that. This year we clearly felt the Lord asking us to make the next step and send them back into regular school. We asked many of our closest family and friends to pray with us that we would clearly see the Lord's direction in each of these choices.

What bothers me is feeling judged for our decisions. I have a lot of friends who homeschool and a lot of friends who send their kids to public school or even a few who send their kids to private school. I KNOW that I know that each of these parents has done what they think is the best thing for each child of theirs. I even know some parents who have one in school and one homeschooling.

As Moms we make hundreds of choices on our child's behalf, we decide if we will nurse them or bottle feed, we choose cloth or disposable diapers, we say no to TV or we allow it ... the point is - each Mom {or parent} makes choices they feel are right for THEIR CHILD or children. So who are we to judge one another??

When I homeschooled one thing that drove me batty was the general 'holier than thou' attitude that many homeschooling parents have. I LOVED homeschooling, I LOVED having my girls home with me, I LOVED making our own schedule, I LOVED so many great things that are HUGE benefits to homeschooling ... but I NEVER judged my friends who chose public school. Every child is different, every parent is different, every family situation is different.

I am SO thankful for the years we had to homeschool. Who knows, maybe someday we'll do it again?! But for now I am thankful for the girl's schools and teachers who so far have been incredible. We are choosing to take their education one year at a time and let the Lord lead our decision making each year.

I've been really hurt lately over a few people who seem to disagree with our decision. Sometimes it's a person's silence that shows they don't agree with you, sometimes it's a rude comment {meant to be funny, but honestly just rude} that lets me know they don't agree with it, sometimes it's just the constant questioning of 'what if?' .... Some times I think people don't realize how hurtful it can be.

Honestly I know I shouldn't care what others think. And I really don't mind if people do not share our choices or our opinions on public school OR homeschool. I'm not saying everyone has to believe the same as us or do what we do. But I'm just saying it's hurtful. I do care.

Beyond that I want to say that for the small handful of 'naysayers' there have been HUGE amounts of wonderfully supportive friends and family. I am SO SO SO thankful for all the people who prayed for us and who have encouraged us this week with emails, notes, texts, prayers, and encouragements. We ARE blessed to have so many people who care about us.

We have clearly seen the Lord work out so many neat details for our girls over and over again as we've made this BIG transition back into school and for that I am SO thankful! {And I promise the next post will be much more fun and upbeat.}  Thanks for letting me vent! =)

August

What a month it’s been! We have been on the go almost constantly this month … and we didn’t even go anywhere! Just thought I’d highlight a few of the really fun moments we’ve had this month ….

Beach Night – we went to one of our fave beaches in Rhode Island one night, it’s nice because they have BIG waves there and that night was no exception. The surf report said 1-2 ft waves but I swear we saw some as big as 6-7 feet! We went with another couple and their kids and got there just after 4pm so we wouldn’t have to pay the $20 admission. We brought grinders for dinner and had a BLAST! The kids pretty much surfed the waves for 4 hours straight, the Moms and Dads did a little wave riding but after getting a bunch of salt water up our noses we called it quits and just enjoyed the beach. We saw THE MOST glorious sunset on the beach that night and went home tired, sandy, salty and super happy. It will be remembered as one of my fave nights of the whole summer!

VBS - We had a week of VBS at our church. I helped with crafts and both girls had a wonderful week. I think there were about 24 kids who came to know Christ which is awesome!

The Olympics – one of my fave memories this summer will also be coming home each evening and watching the Olympics with my family. We stayed up WAY too late pretty much every single night but had a great time watching the events and cheering for the athletes we loved. We also ended up doing LOTS of races against each other in the pool! Nothing like the Olympics to inspire a little friendly competition!

Friend time – we have spent lots of days playing with friends. We’ve been to the beach together, spent lots of days swimming, had BBQ’s and campfires and lots of laughs!

Meteor Shower – the night of the closing ceremonies of the Olympics I read on FB that there was supposed to be a Meteor shower … we headed out back to our deck to see if we could see anything and were SUPER surprised. We ended up bringing out a blanket and laying together on the pool deck and watched the sky for HOURS. We stayed up till around 1am and saw SO many Meteors! It was such a neat experience and will be another one of my fave summer memories from this year.

Hope’s Birthday Party – Her bday isn’t until September, but she wanted to have a party before school started and while it was still summer time. So we had NINE girls here for an overnight party! They started the night with swimming and Sno Cones {we borrowed a friend’s sno cone machine} … then we played some games, had pizza and soda and swam some more. They did Cannonball contests and chicken fights in the pool. We did presents and cake with ice cream. She wanted a ‘One Direction’ theme so we made a British flag cake. She helped me with the decorating of it and it came out great!

Later in the evening they did a night swim with lights on the deck and glow sticks in the pool. Around 10pm they all came in and dried off and settled in for a movie. We set them up downstairs in our finished basement and they watched ‘Mirror Mirror’. They had popcorn and waters and when the movie was over around midnight THEY GOT THEIR SECOND WIND! I think they stayed up till around 3am!

The next morning I had to wake them up! I made pancakes and served fresh strawberries for breakfast before they all started getting picked up. All in all it was a GREAT night and they had SO much fun. What a great group of girls … they all got along so well and are such sweet girls!

Rita’s – one of our fave ‘treats’ this summer was Rita’s … they have delicious Italian Ice in the neatest flavors like Swedish Fish and Mango … and their Custard is SO rich and creamy. My fave thing to get there is called ‘Gelati’ and it’s a combo of both custard and Italian ice …. sooooooo good! I will miss going here when summer is over!

Soccer – it’s soccer season again! Hope started with her first practice this past week and we are excited, we LOVE soccer season!

Hair cuts – all 3 of us girls got hair cuts in the past couple weeks. Not sure why I didn’t get pics of the girls though! Hope just got a little taken off, Joy got it cut to about chin length and I got mine CHOPPED and highlighted a little. I haven’t done anything to my hair since January and it was QUITE nasty so it feels SO good to have some style again!

Dinner with our neighbors – we are the world’s WORST neighbors. We had new neighbors move in about a year and a half ago and we just now had them over for dinner. They came over Friday night and we had such a nice time getting to know them! They are quite a bit younger than us and have a little baby girl who’s 8 mos old. But we actually had several things in common with them and had a great time seeing how cute their little baby was! I hope to develop a good friendship with them over the years.

Date Night – the girls went to a bday party last night so hubby and I went on a date. It’s been a long time since we did anything without kids so it was nice. We got the chance to talk over some of our plans for the fall and had a really yummy dinner at the Outback Steakhouse.

And that’s about all for now … we have ONE last full week until school starts so we are planning to RELAX and keep things simple this week. The girls already have everything they need for school so we don't have to do any running around. I hope to use the pool and soak up some sun and just wind down. We will also be getting back on a better bedtime/ morning time schedule starting this week. So, I’m off for now … I’m sure I’ll be checking in with ‘first day of school’ stuff soon!

Oh July!

How I have loved thee …

How I will miss thee …

How I wish you’d last forever and ever

And never end.

We have been SO busy having SO much fun that I’ve neglected my little ‘ol blog once again. I really can’t put into words all the fun and amazing experiences we’ve been having, there are too many memories and moments I truly want to cherish … hmmmmm, I really should get back into Scrapbooking more often – so much to document and never enough time to do it all!

Would it be terribly wrong if I just unload on you a HUMONGOUS load of photos and offer little to no explanation of them?

OK, I’ll say a few words … I’ve been in AWE lately of many things …

:: awe over God’s creation as we visited the Sunflower fields

:: awe over how on earth a hot air balloon actually flies!

:: awe and gratitude over friendships that last across the miles and over the years and yet when you’re together it’s like you were never apart

:: awe and thankfulness to my extended family, who I may hardly get to see, but when I do we all just come together and enjoy each other’s company so much

:: awe over my hubby’s loving and patient demeanor and how he loves me so much ~ he’s had to work many of the times when us girls are off having fun yet he never complains or gripes about it. And I realize after looking through these pics that I need to get him into more pictures! =)

:: awe over my sweet, silly, crazy girls who may drive me crazy at times, but I am enjoying every moment with them this summer

:: awe about the fact that my own bed is still the most comfortable place to be and I can’t wait to sink into it every night

OK … enough chat … here come the pictures!!

Enjoying relaxing days by our pool …

Our friends came to visit and stay for a couple days!!

Ready for church …

My brother and niece also came to visit …

Lotsa happy girls!

SO thankful for my dear friend Julie!

Visiting the Sunflower farm!

My brother and my niece…

Mmmmmmm …. ice cream!

SPARKLERS! A summer tradition!

Going to the drive in movies … another summer tradition!

Enjoying my coffee and quite time on the deck each day … I’m really gonna miss this when the weather turns cold!

Seeing my Grandpa … my last living Grandparent who is 93 years old. This picture shows 4 generations and I worry that we won’t have too many more photos like this as I see my Grandpa’s health fade more and more each year. :(

Helping work at the Hot Air Balloon Fest … AMAZING!!!

Hangin’ out with LOTS of family!

Joy, myself and my cousin …

The sunset sky was GORGEOUS the first night we were there!

My Mom, my girls, me and my cousin …

My family!!

The cousins … just missing a couple who couldn’t be there.

My Mom, in the purple shirt, helping set up one of the largest balloons, the T Rex!

The girls, my Mom and I helped hold Dino Toes on the T Rex balloon …

And when it’s all over, you have to get all that air out of the balloon so the kids roll and roll and roll all over it and push the air out!

It’s been an AMAZING month … and sadly we are down to less than a month until the girls start school … makes me kinda sad to think about this awesome summer ending so soon …. therefore I plan to soak it up as much as I can and if you don’t hear much from me it’s because I’ll be too busy swimming and playing with my kids …. see ya later!