Salads, School and Scary Stuff...

Oh, me!  I've been so busy lately!  I am rarely on the computer anymore.  I have come to the conclusion that this is one of those times in life when I just have to hold my breath, go under water, and swim patiently until the next opportunity arises for me to come up and take another deep breath.  And, in saying that I don't want it to come across negative.  I wouldn't trade a second of all the craziness that is going on around me for a full day of peace and quiet.  I want the craziness, but it is just that, well, it is kind of CRAZY!  There is a crazy level of activity running around me like little blurs of color whizzing by at the speed of light, and all the blurs are talking at the same time which creates a lot of background noise that is hard to differentiate and distinctly hear.  There is a crazy lot of stress in the form of questions from our contractor, hammering that I hear, and decisions I must make, you know, like tomorrow or yesterday or asap.  And, there is craziness in the form of school will begin in a month, and I have lots of fun planning to do!!!  And, there is the craziness that comes with having two babies less than a year apart, both needing me most of the day!  CRAZY!  But, like I said, I would not trade any of these things.  So it is all good, just a little crazy, but still good!

Jack is experiencing lots of things for the first time this summer, and that is so fun!  He loves the pool, and this weekend I introduced him to the sprinkler, the slip and slide and the baby pool.  All of which he was very fond!  So fun to see his sweet smile as he tries all these new things for the very first time!

This has nothing to do with anything, but I made this simple yummy fruit salad for the Fourth.  I should have added bananas for white, but I didn't think of that yesterday!

I have begun school planning for the upcoming year!  I have made some decisions that I think will make next year a little easier.  I am bumping James up into the 3rd & 4th grade classes at our co-op. This is a grade ahead of where he should be, but I think he will do fine.  I am doing this so that he and Joshua will have all the same classes ~ with the exception of grammar and math.  They will have all the same recitations and assignments, so it will be easier for me to keep up with everything.  And, I am hoping that they will be able to work together on some things ~ like quizzing each other on Latin vocabulary or history fact sheets, etc.

I am, also, planning to give Joshua and James a lot of personal responsibility for their work.  Our co-op (really homeschooling in general) is a safe place to test and train them to take responsibility for their own schoolwork.  They will be responsible to read, complete, and keep up with their history, science, Latin, and literature assignments themselves.  They will be tested weekly or biweekly in these classes, so I will be able to monitor how well they are able to handle this responsibility.  The tests are given for the sole purpose of letting the parent know if the child is learning and retaining information as he/she should.  Our co-op does not keep record of grades ~ at least not at the elementary level.  So, they can make a mistake, learn from it, and not have to worry about the grade coming back to haunt them. It is a safe place to learn and grow!

This summer the boys have really enjoyed listening to me read them this book...

It is a funny light-hearted little book!  I have enjoyed reading it, too!

And, in other news, I have a new fear.  This should come as no surprise to those who know me ~ for I have many fears.  But, this one is warranted, I assure you!  My new fear is....

BIRDS!!!

Well, one particular bird, anyway!!

Oh, my goodness!  We have always had birds to nest in the corners of our front and back porches, but this year a different bird (Erik says they are Martins) has built a very tall nest in the southwest corner of our front porch. Yikes!  The mama bird is sooooo aggressive!  She dive bombs me every time I take Rain out!  I'm totally afraid to go outside.  I refuse to use my front door, and I always take the long way around the house in order to stay as far from her silly nest as possible.

I get being an overprotective mom.  I'm with her.  I understand that, but, lay off, silly bird!  I would never hurt your babies! NEVER!  I totally know her call.  When you walk out of my house at any given time of day, you can hear any number of birds chirping, but I know her call.  It stands out among the rest. It goes "tweet tweet" just like that, two tweets, and it sends chills down my spine every. single. time. I. hear. it.  She has gotten so close to my head that I have felt the wind of her wings across my face. SCARY!  She is relentless, and I cannot wait until her babies take flight, and she goes AWAY!  I read on the internet (google comes in such handy at times like these) that they are afraid of light reflecting off tin foil.  So, if you see me wearing a tin foil hat while walking my dog, you will now understand why!

And, I think that is all I have to say presently, but I will be back soon!  I have three posts that must be written before I forget them ~ including one about my oldest son's recent trip to basketball camp at DUKE University.  Yes, you read that correctly. My tarheel loving husband sent his beloved to the enemy camp! :-)