Time flies when you're having fun!

I'm looking at my calendar in disbelief...where did summer go?  It seems like just a few weeks ago we were finishing up our school year.  Now its almost time to start a new one.  Admittedly, summer won't feel over until we start getting some of the cool, crisp, fall weather.  But, in part of the world, school is less than a month away.  We will most likely be starting back on August 1st.  That's just slightly more than two weeks away.  Am I ready, you ask?  NO!!!  Not only am I not mentally ready, I'm not physically ready either.  Our school room is an absolute mess, we don't have all our curriculum, and we haven't even though about school supplies.  Not that we need that much, but it never fails that somehow, over the summer break, pencils, crayons, scissors and glue sticks mysteriously disappear. 

I guess the reason I'm so nervous about this year is that I have a lot on my proverbial plate.  Aside from our schoolwork, we will have Haley's choir class on Monday's, PE on Thursdays, Freaky Friday get togethers on Fridays, possibly a co-op in between somewhere, my business to run, a Sunday school class to teach, volunteer duties with my homeschool group, and so much more.  I'm really not sure how it's all going to work, but hopefully it will. 

Curriculum Planning for 2011-2012

This upcoming school year is fast approaching and I've been spending quite a bit of time pouring over catalogs and websites trying to decide what we'll be using this school year. I have to say, this is probably my favorite time of the homeschool year. It reminds me of when I was a child in public school. Do you remember the feeling you'd get when your mother would take you shopping for new clothes and school supplies?

I would always pick out my folder (called a Trapper Keeper) for the new year. I would spend weeks organizing it just so. I would carefully pick out my outfit for the new school year. It was always such an exciting time. I still feel that way. Every year I get so excited when we pick out our new curriculum for the upcoming year. Its like Christmas for me. Oddly, the kids never seem nearly as excited.

I'm just about finished for this year as far and curriculum.  The curriculum fair is coming up in a few weeks and I'll get the rest of the needed supplies there.  I can hardly wait!!

To be completely honest, I'm a little apprehensive about this upcoming school year.  I have a lot on my plate.  I have a full year of challenging curriculum picked out, and with our recent ADHD diagnosis, I need to revamp my teaching style.  Structure needs to become a big part of our life.  Have I mentioned how much I hate structure?  Yep, I'm 99% sure I have ADHD too.  Regardless, I've made the major decisions regarding curriculum and I've posted them.  Now I'm off to do some serious praying for the strength and wisdom to become the person I need to be to best serve my children.  Do me a favor...pray for me too?

Cats

If you've looked at my "about us" tab, you're probably aware that we have way too many pets. We seriously do. Here's a picture that I took Monday. This is morning at the food bowl on our deck railing.

These are 4 of the 5 cats that are allowed outside. Boo, Casey, Charlie and Bella from the food bowl to the left. Then we have two more that are mostly house cats. One is Sebastian, my persian, who is allowed outside, but not much.

He reminds me of a gremlin. The only one I don't have a picture of is Annabelle. She's the baby of house at only a year old. Spoiled rotten! I call her E.B. affectionately. It stands for Evil Brat.

So, since we're not doing any structured learning at the moment, I thought I'd share some of the funny pictures I've taken lately. Enjoy!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

From our family to your's, happy Independence Day! I hope you have a relaxing, fun family day planned. We have plans to relax, grill out steaks, corn on the cob and baked potatoes, and swim in the pool. The kids are having a blast with their new pirate ship float that grandma bought them to use for their upcoming pirate themed birthday party next weekend.

Have a wonderful day!

Thankful Thursdays

Today I have lots to be thankful for. This morning started with me getting a phone call from my somewhat frantic husband at 9:30 am informing me that I needed to hop in the car and head out to his 86 year old grandmother's house immediately. She had fallen this morning and apparently nobody could get into the house to get to her. I was the only other person with an original key. I should win awards for getting myself and my kids ready and out the door within a few minutes. Upon arrival, the ambulance was there and they had gotten inside. Apparently she managed to crawl to the door and let them in.

We then spent the entire day in the ER waiting to find out how serious this fall was. Thank the Lord it wasn't very serious. She did no damage, but they did find that she had a urinary track infection which needed to be treated. She is now resting comfortably in the hospital.

It was a long stressful day of miserable children, freezing cold hospital rooms, and worry. It could have been so much worse though, so I'm so, so thankful she's okay. Keep her and our family in your prayers over the next few days as we figure out what comes next for her.

Not so Wordless Wednesday

Okay, I just had to post another somewhat freaky looking bug picture for you guys. What is it with me and bugs you ask? No idea! One would think that I actually like bugs or something! I really don't. I'm actually a bit bug phobic. But, I do love to take pictures and bugs are always in abundance and make great photographic subjects.

Back to my original thought which is....drum roll please...

Last week I posted a picture of this very strange bug on my hydrangea bush. After submitting the picture to a bug identification site, we later found out that it was a juvenile wheel bug. Well...this bug is apparently his daddy...or mommy, as the case may be. He was hanging out on the side of our pool.

Speaking of yuck, here's another one I found that very day on the side of our pool no less. It was very small, but due to its resemblance to a black widow I wasn't willing to take any chances. I squished it. He was right there out in plain sight where any of my kids could have brushed him, or her.

When I showed the picture to my husband he said he didn't think it was a black widow at all. Well, me being the know it all that I am, I did some research. It was a juvenile. There are actually several varieties and not all of them have the hourglass we expect. So, if you see a shiny black spider with red on it at all, squish it. There are even some varieties that are brown. Yeah, I'm not a fan of black widows.

Ominous Skies!

Ever since the F4 tornado ripped through my town in April, I'm a bit leary of storms. There have just been so many bad tornadoes all over the country this year. We have had some nasty weather over the past few weeks here, but no tornadoes thank goodness. Here are a couple of pictures I took from my front porch this afternoon. Ominous skies!!

I was just waiting and watching to see a tornado drop out of the sky. It didn't, but the pictures really don't do it justice.