Another Busy Semester

It seems I am always marveling at how busy we are.  Each season I imagine we could not possibly pack more into our schedules, and yet, each season we manage to do just that.

Lennon and Mia have both started back to school by now and everything seems to be going well.  Lennon's teacher, Mrs. Kiely, seems very sweet.  I am going to meet the teacher night tomorrow night.  The information that has come home about their curriculum this year leads me to think that it won't be much of a challenge for Lennon, but as long as he is enjoying himself we're happy.  The math he is expected to learn by the end of the year is stuff he could do three years ago in his head.  I am going to be the room parent for Lennon's class this year and he is beyond excited about that.  While I am happy to have made him so proud, it is definitely going to be stretching me.  I'm just not very organized by nature.  I hope I can do a good job for his class and his teacher.

This semester is definitely going to be a juggling act for me with Lennon in school and Mia being homeschooled and participating in all the various activities she is involved in.  Mia and I are part of a home school cooperative this year.  It seems like it is going to be really fun.  Mia is taking Latin, Algebra/Geometry, a physics class called, Chain Reaction Contraptions and a writing class called, Druidawn.  I am teaching a theatre class which is turing out to be a lot more fun than I had expected and the work involved is not as much as I had anticipated.

At home, we are working on a new grammar text and a new math program.  Both are going well so far.  We're finishing up our study of the Medieval period of history and plan to begin Early Modern history in the spring.  For poetry, we are studying Christina Rosetti and Mia seems to really be enjoying that part of our day.  Mia is also continuing with the science class she's been doing with some other home schoolers on Fridays.  This year they will be focusing on engineering in the fall and chemistry in the spring.

Lennon has given up gymnastics this semester in liu of karate.  He can go as many as four times a week for about the same cost as his gymnastics class last year and several of his friends are in the same class, so he is really enjoying it.  He wants to start taking private music lessons, but I want him to wait out this first semester of full time school before adding anything more to his schedule.  He's been pretty exhausted so far with the long days.

Rehearsals for Les Miserables are in full swing and going well.  Mia has to be there most Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 until 9:30 and Saturdays from 12 until 6.  It is a lot of driving and waiting for me, but I am hoping to get a lot of reading and lesson planning done while I wait for her.  The town where her rehearsals are in is a pretty cute little town, as it turns out, with a  relatively vibrant downtown area.  She is also continuing on with the music program at The Real School of Music followed by her private voice/piano lesson which we have upped to 45 minutes this semester.

Shelby has been working a 6 day week for about the last year.  He usually leaves before we are up and gets home in time for dinner.  Mia and I get to have lunch with him most days, but Lennon is at school and is missing the extra time with his Daddy.  On Mia's rehearsal nights though, Shelby and Lennon get to spend some time together.  With Sunday being our only day together as a family, we seem to always have something scheduled on Sundays.   A home school picnic last sunday, a fairy festival in NH this coming Sunday.

Busy, busy, busy.  We are having lots of fun though.  I may not always have a clean floor.  I may often have folded laundry sitting around in the living room, but I always have time to curl up and read a book all by myself or with the kids, or play a game together or cook some new creation Lennon has determined must be made "the hot tub way."

I've not been very good about keeping up with this blog lately.  As Shelby would point out to me when I lament having forgotten the camera;  I'll just have to enjoy being here and store the memories in my mind.  I guess that's what I've been doing.

Cheers to a great fall semester!

More June, 2013 - Mia's Birthday Day

Gaga and Jackson were here for Mia's actual birthday and we had free tickets to Six Flags, so we all drove down there the morning of her birthday and stayed the night at a hotel.  It was Jackson's first time at Six Flags and I think he had an awesome time.

 Last year Mia got a book called Ten, so this year she had the second book, Eleven high up on her wish list.  I'm pretty sure she finished it within 24 hours of getting it and that time includes the time we were at Six Flags.

 We went out to brunch at a yummy place called, Masa before hitting the road to our hotel.

 Our hotel was just over the border in Connecticut and we ate at a delicious Italian restaurant that we had a groupon for.  Here, Mia is savoring her creme brûlée.  It was super yummy!

Outside the restaurant the kids ran and played along this little brook.  

 Squeezing in some reading time at the hotel.

 On the tram heading to the gate from the parking lot.

 Watching the Sky Coaster

My little eleven year old

 The computer won't let me delete that double shot of Mia and myself.  Oh well.  Up above here, we have Jackson on The Great Chase in Looney Tune Land.

 Enjoying some Dippin' Dots at the water park

These guys had a blast, but they will have a lot more fun in a few years when they are tall enough for more rides.  The only times they were upset all day long were when they were too small for something that Mia was tall enough for.  At this point at the water park, when Shelby had taken Mia off to do some "big kid" rides, at least they had the ice cream to console them.

June 2013

To say that this summer was a whirlwind would be a gross understatement.  I feel like the spring semester just ended and yet, we've done so much that it must have been several months more than it actually has been.  Here are a few of the highlights, starting in June.

Granmommy came for an awesome visit.  Somehow I didn't take very many pictures, but I know we had a lot of fun.  I seem to remember that the ten days she was here were possibly the busiest ten days of the summer.  Maybe that is why I found so little time to pull out my camera and snap some shots.

We were still finishing up school at the time and here, Mia and I are blowing out the raw insides of eggs to hang up as decorations.  We were studying Medieval Russia and this was an art project we did.

 I had never done such a task and was not expecting it to be quite as difficult as it turned out to be.  We had to take regular breaks and I got a little bit of a headache.  Imagine blowing up those teeny tiny balloons that almost won't allow air inside of them.  That is what it was like.

 Mia helped me out.

 Mia and Granmommy then painted the eggs and glossed them 

before we hung them up in the entry way.  

 Granmommy bought Lennon a bike as an early birthday gift.  He had never had a bike before and was very excited to find a bike that was his favorite color, orange!  After just a few trips out to ride his bike, we took the training wheels off and he rode like a champ.  He's a little shaky at first, but he can do it.

 After I took some "look over here and smile" shots, the kids asked that I take some candid photos.  So, I obliged.

 This is Lennon's not so candid, candid shot.

 Mia trying to look like she doesn't know I'm taking her picture.

The day after Granmommy left, the kids had their end of year concert at their music school, The Real School of Music.  They love it there!  Sadly, with Lennon in full day school this year, he won't be able to participate in the home school program anymore.  He's still saying he'll stay home next year, but that is  a long way off.  

 Holly came out to show her support for the kiddos!

 Mia and Bianca with her new glasses that she wore for a couple of days and then swore off forever.  

 This was Lennon on stage with the only other kid in his class in the spring semester.  He loved his teacher so much!

Later that week, Gaga and Jackson flew in just in time to see Mia perform in How I Became A Pirate.

 Mia with the cast of the show.

 Lots of friends were able to come out and see Mia on stage.

Lennon was especially thrilled to get to sit with his buddy, Anderson for the show.