Generic Post Update

I just realized it's been a week since I posted! It's been a busy week, first we were out of town for my sister's graduation, then we had some out of town company for a day. It was all a lot of fun. Of course we don't have pictures to share otherwise this might actually be an interesting post. Can't have that.

Other than that, things are good. The lilacs are blooming and I managed to get John Grisham's latest at the library. And I can hear Jeremiah practicing his George Bush impression upstairs. Yup, life is good.

Homeschool Recap

I haven't been online too much lately. Our laptop is out of commission until the new power cord arrives in the mail, and I just don't feel like going downstairs very often to the desktop. Especially since the homepage down here is set to CNBC market news, and lately that's just plain depressing to see.

I thought I would do a little recap of our school year. This will be our last full week of school. Starting next week, and through the summer, we will be doing school two days a week.

All in all our school year has been very productive.

While it is still not his favorite thing, Isaac's reading has improved so much this year. Especially his comprehension. Also, last year he would resist any attempt we made to get him to read outside of school work but now he will read anything. Due to our chaotic Spring last year, Isaac started this year finishing up his first grade math. He is now half way through third grade math. He is also currently working on cursive writing.

Elijah started this year in kindergarten. He spent about two months doing kindergarten work and then moved on to first grade work. He started the year learning his alphabet and now he is reading! He spent a few months doing kindergarten math but I decided it would be a waste of time to make him finish that. He is now finishing up the first grade math.

Sam started kindergarten with Elijah. However, as Elijah moved ahead I stopped kindergarten with Sam. He did learn his alphabet and numbers though.

I feel good since I already know what needs to be ordered for the Fall so I won't have that hanging over me this summer.

Can I just add how much more I enjoyed this year not being pregnant! :)

Birthday Pictures

When I was shopping for birthday supplies I was a little dismayed that the only theme for little girls seems to be "princess". Not that I have a problem with that, but I was looking for something just a little different. So I found some cute paisley plates and napkins in the regular party section and decided to decorate the cake to match. It wasn't until after I decorated the cake that I remembered that her birthday dress was paisley too, so it even matched her dress.



The birthday girl was SO serious when we sang to her, but at least she didn't cry.


What would be a first birthday without that first piece of cake.

One

My baby is one today! The boys crowded around her this morning to wish her "Happy Birthday" and Elijah asked if she could walk now. I wish she could, it would make her birthday dress so much easier for her to wear. Even though it's been a whole year, having a girl still feels novel to me. I still can't believe I get to browse in the girl's side while shopping, and I still go in her room just to look at her dresses sometimes. I couldn't help smiling as I picked out pink frosting for her birthday cake. A pink birthday cake...here! As for the birthday girl, some of the things she enjoys are her brothers that she adores, the steps that she now loves to go up and down, the buttons on the t.v are so fun, the pop bottles under the sink, going outside, and new foods to try every day. I am totally copying Andria, but here is a slide show of Sadie's first year. I tried to use pictures that haven't been posted on my blog (not easy!).

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

31 Years Ago...

I was born!

Last year I kind of slipped my 30th by you in the excitement of Sadie's impending birth (although my friends and family did remember.)

This year my birthday started out great! Last night I got together with Jill and Kelli, and 3 hours flew by like five minutes. I spent the first 6 minutes of my birthday with them. Kelli has been my blog friend for a couple years now, and Jill has been my IRL friend for many years. They have been friends with each other since college and so Jill arranged for us to get together. It so was SO much fun.

The boys are very excited about my birthday because I told them we would take the day off from school today.

Memoirs

I've been on a memoir reading kick lately. Any good recommendations you can pass along?

Strawberry Faces

The other day Sadie enjoyed her first strawberry. I guess there were a few bitter spots in it though.

Home

We're home. Actually we got home yesterday. Now I'm ready for my vacation after my vacation. I do get one right? Actually, no. We already started back up with school and I'm already back on my exercise schedule.

I have to say that Sadie was a wonderful traveler. We we're really nervous about that because sometimes she can make a simple 5 minute trip into town stressful.

The other thing that made our trip smooth was our Garmin. I don't know how we ever traveled without one! In a strange city and want to know where the nearest Chinese restaurant is? Just type it in and the Garmin will direct you there. If you miss a turn it will simply say "recalculating" and get you back on course. No arguments, no getting lost.

Homeward Bound

Well we have started heading north today. Our trip so far has been great. We were supposed to be camping now but decided to nix those plans due to severe storms.

Our cabin in the Smoky Mountains was wonderful. We spent Wednesday hiking in the mountains and the boys did great. We chose a pretty tough trail and they hiked farther than I ever imagined they would. They also crossed narrow little log bridges without hesitating.





Here is a -not very good- picture we took in front of our cabin this morning (Sam is in there behind Isaac and Elijah).


And here is Sadie in her little southern belle dress from Lidl Dolly's in Gatlinburg. I loved that store! The factory is actually right there in the store.



Of course those are just a few highlights.