a little bit of me

Dawson.

Just something that happened yesterday that made me laugh.....I called Dawson over for his second application of sunscreen for the day and as he sighed he said, "this is the worst part of summer vacation".  I was teasing him and saying how awful it must be to have a mom that cares so much about him she doesn't want him to sunburn.  And also how it takes approximately 30 seconds out of his day.  I think it's pretty funny that the worst thing he can come up with for summer vacation is his suncreen applications.  Then he said, "The other worst thing is reading every day."  Awwww, such a rough life an eight year old leads.  :)

Summer is f.u.n.

We've just been having way too much fun this summer.  Sophie doesn't take a nap every day so we've been able to do a lot more things.  We've gone swimming, had play dates, park days, did arts & crafts with the ArtsVan, eaten lots of ice cream & popsicles and had lots of BBQ's.  And now, their cousins (Kiki, Jake & Brady) are here to visit so we're playing even more.  The kids are in swim lessons every day and Dawson starts tennis lessons next week.  Then, Abby will have art camp and I'm still trying to decide on Sophie doing dance camp.  Busy, busy kids but we're having so much fun! 

Other than keeping busy with lots of summer activities, I have been pouring over all the curriculum options for the kids for school next year.  Seriously, I have spent HOURS AND HOURS researching and looking online as well as picking everyone's brain to get all the information I can.  I've mostly got it decided but need to figure out a couple of things.  I get excited about the huge opportunity and the fun we're going to have and also a little overwhelmed at the same time.  Once I get everything ordered, I will feel so much better.  It's been such an encouragement to me to have my sisters as well as so many friends starting this adventure next year with me.  We have another get together tonight with all the homeschool mom's and I'm excited to chat with them all.  I went and bought crates last week for the kids to start storing the stuff I've already bought and they're getting so excited.  I am too. 

One other exciting thing about homeschooling is I was able to get into an online school so to speak.  Basically, it's a program that gives us an allowance to spend per child for their curriculum.  It's a generous amount and I'm so excited for this blessing the Lord has provided.  In return, I will have a teacher I check in with once a week and according to another friend in the program it takes about 10 minutes max and it's over email.  It's also reassuring to know that I'll have a teacher to guide me a little.  That's not the best description of the program but I'm pretty happy about it.  Ok, the kids are requesting fruit bars now...off to play some more!  :)

Sophie's new bike.

With all the bike riding around here, we quickly realized that Sophie needed a bike since she couldn't keep up on her little trike.  We told her we would go pick one out for her after lunch and she was so excited she could hardly contain herself.  She immediately said, "I want a princess one!".  It was so cute!  She picked out an adorable Barbie bike (with a little nudging from her mom) that has all the cute bells and whistles including a bike that snaps onto her bike for her barbie to ride in.  Genius!   So, here she is, after daddy put it together, riding it for the first time.

 

And she's off...

 

Then she gave her mom a heart attack by riding straight toward the road without braking as a car was coming but was saved by the tree she hit.  :)  Daddy stepped in and talked to her so she rode with some tears...

 

but it didn't last long and she was off again...

 

The end.

Abby's new trick.

After some prompting, Dana took off Abby's training wheels on her bike and she just took off!  She was definitely ready.  I feel a little bad we didn't do it sooner because I'm sure she could've done it awhile ago.  But, in our defense, we don't really have a place for the kids to ride bikes where we live.  It's not very often we pack up the bikes and go somewhere but I guess we'll have to now because she loves it!  She is so determined and persistent and when she wants to do something she just doesn't give up.  She was so proud of herself and we're quite proud too!  Isn't she cute?

 

 

I love the concentration in this next one

 

Way to go, Abby!

***Also, can anyone tell me why these pictures are blurry when I put them here on the blog but not blurry in Photoshop?  Help!  ***

June highlights.

The month of June just flew by!  It's amazing to me that we're in the second week of July already.  I've been wanting to blog but feel overwhelmed with "catching up" on everything.  So here's a highlight of June activities:

The kids' last day of school.  Wow, the school year went by so fast.  I can hardly believe that I now have a 2nd grader and 3rd grader.  It was a bittersweet end for me because I knew that my kids won't be back at Riverside next year.  I am going to miss it.  I really love the school, the people and all that my kids have learned.  But, I am also excited at our new adventure together as a family!

Lots of Celebrating.  There are many holidays/celebrations in our family for the month of June which includes Father's Day, Dana's birthday, Kathie's birthday (my MIL), my grandma's birthday, my SIL & BIL's anniversary, my parents anniversary, Dana's parents anniversary and usually some kind of celebration for Abby's birthday before we leave for vacation.  June is a busy month!

Dawson's activities.  This boy keeps us busy!  Just as soon as his baseball tournament ended the end of May, he was off to soccer practice twice a week for the Midsummer Classic Tournament.  His coach decided to move them up to U10 for the tourney since they needed a challenge.  I was worried for my boy because he does not like to lose but it turned out to be really good for them.  They played three games - lost two, won one.  The first game was a disaster but by the 2nd one, they really found their groove and played really hard (and won!).  I was very proud!  Dawson even talked us into a mohawk for the tourney.  Another cool thing Dawson got to do in June was a baseball clinic put on by the Bears with Edgar Martinez there!  I wish I could've gone and taken pictures but he wanted to go with his coach.  :)

Abby's activities.  This girl is now up to six lost teeth!  She's been pleased by her tooth fairy visits and looks sooo cute with her top two teeth missing.  She also got four inches cut off of her hair as well as new glasses.  They're dark purple and look so cute on her!  She is looking so much older and it makes me happy and sad at the same time.  We also got to have a birthday party for her before we left for vacation.  She really wanted to have it at a paint your own pottery place but after checking into it I realized how expensive it was.  We talked to her and told her that if that's what she really wanted we would do it but that would be her main gift from us.  After much thought, she went for it!  She wanted only girls there and it turned out really well with her girl cousins and some friends from school.  She got SPOILED with gifts and was sooo excited to play with everything. 

Miss Sophie.  Although she doesn't keep us busy with activities or sports, she definitely keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing!  This girl is so full of attitude but also so sweet and loving at the same time.  She has multiple personalities I think!  :)  She is such a trooper as we drag her to all of the sporting events and errands we need to do.  She is obsessed with dress up and headbands of all things!  It's not unusual for her to have at least 5 different hair accessories in her hair at once.  It cracks me up!  She loves having her brother and sister home for the summer and just plays, plays, plays.

That's pretty much the highlight of June.  I'll be back soon with a vacation post, Abby's 7th birthday and hopefully some photos!!