Not the First Day, But a Great Day!

Hopers, 8                         Noodle, 12

It's the first day of....something!  Well, it's not really the first day of school this year.  It's not these kiddo's first day of their respective "grades".  It's not the first day of fall (boy isn't that a long way off for us Florida girls!).  I suppose I could say it's the first day of sitting down in front of books and papers and learning things from them for the month of August.

But that just sounds silly.

So here's the story.  As of the end of March this year, we decided to exit the public school system.  These two lovelies were begging for it.  Our family was needing it.  The timing was right for it.  Hey, when it's time to go, why wait, right?

I immediately started them on the next grade levels.  Hopers went from 2nd grade material to 3rd grade work.  Noodle went from 6th grade to 7th.  I wasn't about to buy curriculum for just a couple of months of school.  We thoroughly enjoyed soaking in these learning materials straight through the summer, punctuated by long periods of learning directly from life (our favorite kind of school) by trying new things, traveling, exploring nature, gardening, sewing, cooking, visiting friends and well...you know....doing.

So here we are in August, still...doing, learning and living.  But it's August, and I always take a "first day" photo of my girls on the front steps because I'm a creature of habit!

I just don't have a name for it.

Cheers to not having a name for it! (and bare feet too!)

Snow Day: Surviving the Winter Storm of 2014

Yes, we live in Florida, and yes, today is a Snow Day. As in, it's Wednesday and schools are closed and mass panic is setting in. Agghhhhhh!!!!


We had fun playing with the bit of snow that did fall this morning.
 

The azaleas are rather confused right now.  It was 72 on Monday.

 

 
 

My garden seems to be suffering through being frozen alright.

 

 

 

The girls enjoyed throwing snow balls at anyone walking by.

 

Now for some hot chocolate and a movie (Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2).

  Hopefully we'll survive this Winter Storm of 2014!

Back to School 2013!!

Though I've been neglecting my blog this summer, I have been doing the opposite with my family. We've had a whirlwind of a time that included having visits from friends, going to multiple VBS's, learning to slack line, playing in the rain (a lot), being in a wedding, tending the garden, playing with chickens, swimming in Monticello and next door, going bowling, riding the go-kart, picking blackberries, making jam, building a chicken coop in South Florida, going to Music Camp, having tea parties, doing a bake sale/auction to raise money for Timothy's adoption, and slip-n-sliding in the backyard with soap and trash bags. Whew!

And now, it is time for school.

Amen.

I always take a photo of my kiddos on the first day of school.

Noodle. Starting middle school!



Hopers. 2nd Grade sweetie.

Love these two cuties with all my heart!

Mother's Day

I have to bring up Mother's Day for the sake of my own memory.  It's fading, fast.  I'm gettin' old here people.  But I desperately want to remember how much I love being a mama, and how sweet my girls are. (Especially tomorrow or the next day when someone is fighting over the bathroom or I have to pick up dirty socks off the dining table.)

So for that, I need to blog.

My girls awakened me early Sunday morning with great excitement.  I mumbled something about needing more sleep, but they wouldn't have it.  Noodle had prepared a beautiful breakfast of a fresh egg and cheese burrito with a side of neatly arranged tangerine sections.  I would have taken a picture of it had I had my wits about me, but it has been repeatedly shown that I don't have any wits at seven a.m.  It was an expertly prepared breakfast--since my sweet eleven-year-old Noodle has been preparing her own eggs since she was about six.  Poor thing had to learn.  Getting up at the crack 'o dawn to cook is not my forte.

As I was eating, Hopers gave me the gifts she made for me at school.  I can honestly say, I love some things about sending my kids to public school.  These little treasures they bring me are definitely one of them.  I'd never be able to coax something so funny out of them myself.

A refrigerator photo magnet.  Technically, I went to the school and took this photo (and one of each kid in the class).  There goes my hands-off theory.  But I wasn't in on what was being made with the photo, so it's all good.


But here's the funny part.  Parents out there, you know you love these...

 It's a purse.

 But a purse with a True Story.

Oh those goats...always slipping my memory.  It's 'cause I'm old, you know.

I love it when I'm nice, too.  Makes things so much more pleasant.

Mrs. Carroll is Hopers' teacher. Excellent comparison, Hopers, excellent.

There is a particular dark green dress I own that Hoper's always asks me to wear to church.  I never do, of course, because it's covered in sequins! (I bought for a cruise, once upon a time...)

Happy Mother's Day!

First Day of School 2012

In the dim light of a cloudy morning, two little girls went off to their first day of school.  One was starting fifth grade.

The other was starting first grade.

They were very nervous, excited, grumpy, happy, and sleepy. And no, they had not been replaced in the middle of the night by dwarves. All of these feelings accelerated as they waited in the van for the bus to come (it was late, as expected).

Their mommy was mostly happy. Summer was fun, but now it's time to get some productiveness going on around this house.

Happy first day of school!!

Fun Dads Make Fun Field Trips

My kids have a cool dad.

With a cool job.  Today, Hopers' class just happened to be taking a field trip to the fire station.  It also just so happened that Hopers daddy was scheduled to work today at that very fire station. Providentially.  He gets moved around a lot these days now that he is a Driver/Engineer.

I purposefully didn't tell Hopers so that she could be surprised to see her daddy.

AND...

He's the best fire station tour guide in town!  Of course.

The kids loved him. They really had a great time.

I think everyone's favorite part is getting to spray the hose.

Even Noodle got to come along because she had a doc appointment right before. (Shh, don't tell Hopers we stayed and ate lunch at the fire station after she left!)

Good Times.

Kindergarten at Wakulla Springs

Last week, Hopers' class went on a field trip to the ever popular Wakulla Springs.  I came along as a chaperone. Hopers had her first public school field trip, I had my first public school parent chaperone experience.

And can I just say, Kindergarteners are so stinkin' cute?

My girl was so excited, she could hardly stand the twenty minutes of class time before getting on the bus.

Hopers' favorite classmate, A.  They posed like this every time I pointed my camera at them.  On the bus...

At lunch...

On the boat tour...


We saw lots of animals on the tour down the river.  Manatees, birds, turtles, fish, aligators.

The kids ran from one side of the boat to the other each time an animal was spotted.  Imagine twenty 5 and 6 year-olds running back and forth across a boat shouting, "Look!! Manatee!!" every few minutes.  The five old people in the front of the boat, who weren't part of the field trip, grimaced and held on for dear life.


It was cool.

Why I Don't Get Bored

Even if I knew what boredom was, there never seems to be a place for it in my life.  When I decided not to home school my kids this year, two people asked me, "Won't you get bored?"  My response bordered somewhere between a "HA!" and a "Ptthhhbbb!" (That's me laughing while trying not to laugh.)

If Boredom and I ever happen to meet, I let you know.  I'll shake it's hand and say, "Let's be friends," and invite it over to stay for a while.  Then, some of the stuff like what happened in my life during the past few weeks will stomp on its head and squish it out of existence.

Conclusion?  It is never boring around here.



Wednesday the 14th:
My 3-year-old brother, Teegan, throws up large amounts of blood and ends up at the local hospital.  He loses so much blood that he has to have a transfusion, IV fluids, and as he puts it, "Too many doctors!"  Our city is so po-dunk that we don't have a single pediatric gastroenterologist.  This means, in order to find out what's wrong with him, they have to put an endoscope down his throat, but there's no one qualified to do it. ("Huh?? Just get a smaller scope!" I think quietly many times over.)

I pack up my kids and spend the evening at my parent's house taking care of Tobi and Tabi while Mom and Dad are at the hospital.  Noodle spills her noodles all over the kitchen floor, Hopers spills her noodles on top of Noodle while Noodle is cleaning them up, and Tabi refuses to do her homework.  Tobi exclaims, "This is the best birthday ever!" while eating her noodles because, a., it actually is her birthday that day, and b., she is excited to have her "nieces" sleep over.

Thursday the 15th:
I get a call from Seth in the morning.  He forgot to bring his dress boots to work and there's a "thing" today so could I please please drive across town and bring them to him?  Sure, I say.  Oh, and can you bring me breakfast too?  Sure.

From the firestation, I head to the hospital to bring Mom some food, shampoo, and reinforcements (me) so that she can take a shower while I watch Teegan lay in the hospital bed watching Bob the Builder.

The hospital finally gets it together and decides to transport Teegan by ambulance to Jacksonville (where there is, apparently, a smaller scope and a doctor).

I gather my siblings again, this time to bring them to my house to stay.



Friday the 16th:
Today is Mom's birthday.  I was going to take her to lunch.  Instead she gets to spend it draped in over various pieces of furniture in Teegan's hospital room in Jacksonville while worrying about him.  Docs find two very unpleasant uclers in Teegan's stomach, cauterize them, and test them for bacteria.

I juggle getting four kids back and forth between two different elementary schools and also help out with Noodle's class (sorting papers) as I usually do on Fridays.

We spend the weekend going to approximately 36 birthday parties (because September is birthday crazy).  Mom, Dad, and Teegan come home from the hospital by Sunday afternoon.



Monday the 19th:
I realize I haven't run in forever and hit the Miccosukee Greenway trail with Poppy.  I attach my car key to the leash.  I discover, somewhere in between mile one and three that my key is no longer attached and I have to scour the trail for it.

I find it and decide that my sports bra is a much safer place to put it.



Tues the 20th:
I awake in bed this morning with a stinging, yet sore sensation on my pinkie toe.  There is a large bump.  A call to my sister and a few pictures from my cell confirm it:  I have a spider bite.

It hurts.

I limp.

I'd show you a picture of it, but I don't want to traumatize you.



Wednesday the 21st:
We finally, FINALLY put the rest of the painted doors back on the kitchen cabinets. Ahhh... it's so nice to have an almost finished kitchen.  At least there are no more doors laying around the house.

Seth's mother arrives from driving across the country from Idaho.  (Ah, now you see why the doors finally got finished!)

Thursday the 22nd:

My mother-in-law brings out the gifts.  Mine?  A Shark.  Sweet.  I will steam my floors into submission.

Noodle receives a snake.  It belonged to Seth's mom, but she decided to give it to Noodle to replace dear Sophie who (accidentally) left us to explore new lands when we moved.

Friday the 23rd:

Hopers falls asleep on the bus coming home from school.  Noodle gets off at the stop.  Hopers doesn't.  Seth has to chase the bus down to the next stop with the van and have the bus driver wake her up.  Hopers is a little traumatized, but otherwise survives.

Today:
I sit for a moment at my computer with my foot up on a pillow (horrible spider bite, remember?) and type this all out.  I take a deep breath. I will dive back into the chaos momentarily.

I think I'll type "momentarily" again, just to draw out the moment of peace.

Mo.....mennnnn...........tarrrrrrrr.....ily.



Oh.  There it goes.  Sorry, boredom, you can't come over to play at my house.

Bus Ride or Bust

We began day two of our new school adventure with fresh excitement. The girls woke bright and early for a chance to ride the bus to school. We had promises of no tears today, and were prayed up, over, and beyond for a better day than yesterday.

Hopers was only a little excited.

Noodle dressed up for the occasion.


We drove them down to the bus stop where our neighborhood meets the main road.  All of the parents were sitting in their cars. One boy waited at the corner.  His name is... um, something.  He's in fourth grade, like Noodle.  The girls trotted over to join him.  (Note Hopers' all-important Zhu-Zhu Pets backpack that she just had to have.) 

Time passed.

Thirty minutes passed.

Confusion set in.  Another mom called the bus authorities and discovered that the whole fleet was off to a late start because of the highschool.  Teenagers.

We decided to just drive the girls to school.

The world ended.

Noodle stomped her way to the car, as Hopers followed with teary questions. "But why does the bus have to be late? Where is it?"

"Why is school so hard??" Noodle pouted.

We promised they would have plenty more chances for bus rides, including coming home on it today.   It took a while, but their fears calmed as they hopped out of the van and waved goodbye to us.

That afternoon, the bus arrived back at the stop right on time.  I saw my darlings in their blue and brown outfits appear...

...and come barrelling toward us.

Today was, apparently, a good day.

Noodle didn't cry.  She had fun. She got special permission to go to the media center during recess to read books with a few other kids because of the heat.  She thought it was funny that during lunch, the girls in her class sat at one table, and the boys sat at another. Her favorite part of the day was riding the bus.

Hopers loved her day, too.  She raised her hand during P.E. and the coach gave her a high-five instead of talking--she thought that was so silly.  Her favorite part of the day was going to the media center and checking out a book about spiders.  (She got the book read to her three times this evening by both parents and her uncle Mark.  Sneaky girl!)