My Buddies

I spent the past weekend with my buddies - Donna and Anita - from college. We all met at Anita's place in Mathews, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay. We normally try to get together once a year, and this was one of the most relaxing trips we have ever taken. I love these ladies. We have known each other for a very long time. There is something so wonderful about knowing where we were and seeing how far we have come. They will always be a part of my family - whether they like it or not.

The Chef

This afternoon, The Chef was sworn in to the U.S. Army. He is going to train to be a cook - I think they call it Food Specialist. So, now I guess I will have to refer to him as The Soldier. He doesn't leave for Basic Training until the beginning of November. I guess that gives us all plenty of time to get used to the idea.

Blue Toes

Ten years ago today, Wonderful Husband and I were in Hawaii getting married. Our wedding was on the beach, and I got married in my barefeet. For whatever reason, I had blue nail polish on, so every year at this time since, I always paint my toes blue. It's dorky, and I do get some strange looks, but it doesn't matter. All I have to do is look at them, and it takes me back to the sand and the sunset and the wonderful time we had.

I can't wait to see what kind of looks I get when I am 80 and have blue toes. Someone might rush me to the ER thinking something is wrong. And, of course, I'll be back in Hawaii - and they'll blame it on dementia.

Father's Day

Wonderful Husband decided he would like to spend Father's Day at Busch Gardens. He couldn't have picked a better day. The weather was surprisingly nice - not too hot - and the crowd was light. He and The Chef hit many roller coasters, while The Gals rode as many rides as they could. I am like an old lady - standing by the stroller watching everyone ride. I can't help it. I don't do roller coasters. And, I don't do anything that drops - which rules out most of the water rides there. And, yes, I know that I have a bunch of pictures on my blog from BG, but I can't help it. Fun is Fun. :)

We are all beat. The kids fell asleep in the car on the way home. I have a feeling WH is going to be taking a nap. And that's OK - it's his day!

Go 'Canes!

Well, tonight was The Gals' first swim meet. They had a blast. And, considering it was their first competition, I think they did very well. It was just so great to see them get ready to go, and to cheer them on. I am sure next week will be even better - now that we know what we are doing.

This Is It!

I sent off my Notice of Intent To Homeschool this morning. There's no turning back now! (Well, there is, actually, but I was going for dramatic effect.) I am actually pretty surprised I was able to get all my paperwork together, and put together a curriculum description (thanks, Jenn). If I could do that, I can do anything.

I attended my first homeschooling convention Saturday. It was nice. They had a huge room of exhibitors where you could buy textbooks, etc., and as I looked around I thought - wow! This is awesome. It is amazing how much help and support is out there. How many different types of curriculum - it is great.

This morning begins our adventure. We are doing Math and Language Arts over the summer - kind of a trial run. Plus, I don't want to have to spend all that time reviewing in the fall.

I have had a lot of people ask me about homeschooling. They normally always say at some point - "I couldn't do it." And, they're right. Because you have to have the desire. I by no means think this is going to be easy. I by no means think that I won't have days where I go screaming from the house as soon as Wonderful Husband gets home. And, I by no means think I know everything there is to know. That's the difference between a mom who thinks she can homeschool, and the one who thinks she can't. The desire overrides the doubts.

Now, I may be writing on here in a year that I am done with it - it didn't work out. I'll be OK with that. But, if I don't try how will I ever know?

School's Out!

Today was the last day of school for The Gals. I wanted to mark the occasion of their last day of public school, so I got with a couple of the bus stop moms, and we had silly string and balloons and popsicles. As soon as they got off the bus, all us moms let the silly string rip. Course, then we shared some cans with them. There was also a bucket of water and some balls. They could dip them in so they could get each other - and us - wet. Some of you might think I am so clever for thinking of this, but for those of you who live in my area you know that this is a pretty common occurrence in our neck of the woods on the last day. Our "party" was pretty tame compared to most.

Afterwards, we headed to the pool for a few hours. We are all exhausted from this busy day!

Oops!

Things have been a bit crazy around our house lately. With graduation and birthdays and the last days of school - it has just been nuts. Don't get me wrong. It has been great, but there has been no time to stop and breathe for even a second.

Well, in the midst of the commotion, I absolutely forgot to send in the 24 juice boxes I had sitting here for The Dancer to take in to her class Monday for her class's Chick-Fil-A party. I saw them yesterday about 1:30 - too late to run them to the school.

When she got home, she was telling me about the party and said that they didn't have drinks because - as the room mother said - "some girl forgot to send in the drinks". Oops. Then, she looks over and sees the bag of juice boxes and says "Mommy, you forgot to send them in." Oops.

It is another in the long list of mistakes I have made as a mother when it comes to school. I'll add it to the time I showed up a day late to The Chef's Christmas program. Or, the time I forgot to sign a permission slip for one of the kids to go on a field trip.

I come from a long line of women who have forgotten things. My own mother forgot to send my Halloween costume in for our annual parade around the classes when I was in elementary school. I still remember it - and it is over 30 years later. And, my sister once forgot to pick up The Chef at daycare. Yikes! I am sure one day The Dancer will be writing stories about everything I forgot. Hopefully, she will have children of her own and will understand it wasn't personal - it's just hereditary.

Crazy Day Part II

So, we dash home from Graduation, change clothes, hang out for about an hour, and then head out to dinner where we celebrated with our Dear Onofry Family not only the graduation, but also The Gals' 8th birthday. They love this particular place because they serve both of their favorite meals. We had a huge cookie cake for dessert. It may seem a wierd way to celebrate a kid's birthday, but we just had so much going on, and it made them happy. The only thing we were not able to do was play in the park beforehand because of the rainy weather. But, they got over that pretty quickly. Time to go to bed after this crazy WONDERFUL day!

Crazy Day Part I

Well, it happened! The Chef finally graduated!! We are so happy for him - and us. Wish I had better pictures of the ceremony, but my camera isn't that great. Not to mention the fact that we were so far away. They will be showing it on a local TV station, so we will Tivo it to watch later. Now, we are off to dinner to celebrate!

Busy Day

Today is going to be crazy! Not only is it The Gals' 8th Birthday, it is also The Chef's Graduation Day. I am overwhelmed! But in a good way.

I hope to have pictures to post later - if I can remember to pull out my camera in all this chaos.

Diorama Update #2

Well, sad news to report. The Dancer said by the time she got into class this morning, her whole thing had pretty much fallen apart. She feels bad. So do I.

It reminds me of when The Chef was in Boy Scouts, and he was supposed to decorate a pumpkin for a competition. We actually made him design and do his entire pumpkin by himself. We all felt pretty good about it. We show up to the meeting, and it turns out we are the only ones who made their kid do it by himself. I mean, you should have seen these things. It was ridiculous. That was our last Boy Scout meeting, I believe.

Then, there was the time The Chef had to make a puppet of a person in American History. He chose George Washington. He decorated a sock. It was cute. He shows up to school, and . . . .

I don't think a school project should make you feel bad about yourself. I don't think kids should be penalized because their parents are not seamstresses or artists. And, quite frankly, I have already been through school and did my projects.

I am so happy this was the last time we have to go through this. I can tell you at The Riddle School, this will never be an issue.

Diorama Update

Well, today was the day the dioramas had to go to school. We didn't even make it into the car this morning before they started to fall apart. Hopefully, the teachers will have mercy on us. And, hopefully, other kids had the same problem. Mean? No. I just don't want The Gals to feel bad. At least not all by themselves.

As if we don't have enough going on right now, The Gals both had to do these diorama projects for school. They had to pick an animal, write down some short facts, and then do these habitat things. But, the thing was - there were really no instructions. I have no clue if we have even done this right. I have never even heard of a diorama. Oh well. I ask you - what is wrong with just drawing a picture?

Amanda's Jaguar

Madeline's Toucan