Excuses, excuses!

My phone stopped talking to my Google Account!  I suppose that is what I get for being part Apple and part Google.  The result is that I don't always get photos uploaded automatically, and since I am a rather pathetic blogger at the moment, I use that as an excuse not to blog.  :)

But recently, these photos somehow made the great divide and so I was inspired to blog.

These are from last Sunday, taken in between church and small group.  It was such a lovely day.  Yes, the food was amazing, too!  We really need to stop eating out, but it is hard to pack a lunch when you have to leave at 7.  I know, another excuse!  We did have a gift card to cover half.

In other news, we will finish lessons next week, maybe by Wednesday.  This has been a fun year.  We loved our Sonlight Core 100.  I ordered Classic Literature and 20th Century History for this coming year, which will be here before we know it!

Wherein April Ends Happily

I picked a great title for this blog, because we sure are Busy at Home!  Since tax season ended, we have been really enjoying our family time again.  We got to take a recent Monday off, and took a day trip to a favorite park.  Here are some familiar scenes.

Then we had a nice visit with precious family later in the week.

Oh yes, Easter was fun, too.

 Grace made us a fun cake.  She saw it online and wanted to give it a try.

More Easter photos...

Jeff practicing his disc golf putting.  (You can't see the basket in this picture.) He and Ryan played in a disc golf tournament last week, 36 holes!  

A coffee drink for him, smoothie for her.

And, we have kept our lessons on track, too.  I am pleased to report we only need 14 more school days. The kids are currently in Florida with their grandparents, so we will finish lessons the end of May.

All in all, this has been a really good school year.  We have enjoyed United States History via Sonlight.  I am still thinking of what to study next year.  The next Sonlight core, church history, may not be right for us, but the literature is excellent, so I may just order that part.  I really need to make up my mind soon.

This week without kids just feels odd, but I know they are having the best ever time, something I could not give them right now, so hooray for them!!!  Until next time...
~Jenn

Enjoying Spring!

Spring has really began to stick around, making life a lot more enjoyable!  We actually went to church yesterday without coats, and we mowed the grass for the first time yesterday as well.  We have grilled twice and plan to do so again this week.

Another entertaining thing has been to take our Giles out on a leash for a "walk".  He does the leading, so it it not like walking a dog, but it is amusing to watch him explore.  He likes to walk around the perimeter of the house.  He has a favorite mulch spot that he likes to roll around in.  He's quite the cat.

Best of all, tomorrow is the last day of tax season!  No more 65 hour work weeks until next year.

Making Plans

It's that time again!  It's time to make plans for next year's schoolwork.  

I am working on putting finishing touches on Grace's 9th grade curriculum choices. Many of you know my dear Grace, her strengths and challenges. I am thinking of using Abeka for Health and grammar, as she is used to using their program. For math, we will continue in MUS Algebra 1. History and Literature/Writing will be covered with Songlight. She will most likely take an art class at the local high school, which is open to homeschoolers taking classes. I am still trying to find a program for her foreign language choice, American Sign Language! I was thinking we would continue French.  Oh, and for science, Apologia biology. I think that is it. 

For Trevor, my soon to be 7th grader, I will be using  Abeka for grammar, Sonlight for history, literature, and writing.  For math he will be ready for MUS geometry!  Yes, I said geometry.  He is sailing through algebra this year.  He will be doing science with Grace, too.  


Now that leaves Ryan, my 11th grader.  He has requested to enroll at the local high school.  It is something he has given a lot of thought to , and I won't go into all the details here.  He wants to be in their jazz band. He has met with the band director, and was given sheet music to practice.  Ryan will have to prove himself with the school.  He has to test out of all his 9th and 10th grade classes.  So, it is really now up to him to do the work.  

This coming school year is going to be quite different, but as usual, change is something you just have to learn to deal with around here!  

Wordless Wednesday: Guitar Crazy

A Big Birthday

Someone had a BIG birthday!!!

He pretty much had 3 days of celebrating.  The day of his birthday, we took him to get his fancy running shoes and had a lunch party with Nana before going to church.  The next day, I took him to pick out his gift from birthday money received, another guitar!

And I took him to McDonald's, his favorite fast food place (I know, I know.) before an evening at karate.  Then on the following Sunday, postponed due to snow, we had another lunch celebration after church.

Every mother says this, but truly, where has the time gone???

A Runner is Born

For Ryan's recent 16th birthday, he wanted some running shoes.  I was happy to oblige him, as I think practical gifts are wonderful, especially since he planned to use birthday money from generous grandparents to buy another guitar.  Finally the weather cooperated as well.  Last Friday, two days after his birthday, I took him to a local park that has a mile loop track.  I walked and he ran, passing me twice.  Ha, ha. Anyway, it signaled to me the end of my hibernation, and the beginning of his running career.  Today we walked to a small park five minutes from our house, shot some hoops, and then came back home.  I am loving this spring like weather, although, they say it is going to snow Wednesday and be cold for a few days. That's OK.  We will make the most of the warm days and wait until they become the norm!

Happy spring to you all.
~Jenn