Jump Back to June

We opened the pool in June and enjoyed some jumping and diving. I worked on teaching Tboy how to swim and float.

Then, while he was at camp, we bought a City Pass and visited . . .

 

                                            CNN Center

 

                              Georgia Aquarium

                               World of Coke

                                   Zoo Atlanta

                                   and

                                      Fernbank Science Museum.

Whew! Theron had taken the week off so we could spend some time together as a family. I did get sick with a bad cold before we made it to Fernbank. We ended up going the following week and taking a family friend.

Also in June, we had our FCFE End of Year Celebration.
It was also our last month with Tboy. After his return from camp, he moved back to his previous foster family who wish to adopt him.



Boy Fun

This is what's fun for a boy. Racing your remote control mud-slinger. . .

and swimming with snakes.

What?! Did you say SNAKES? Well, one snake did get in the pool with us today. It was a little one. I think it was more afraid of us, than we were of it. He was focused on getting out of the water.

After rescuing him from the pool, we identified him as a brown snake, which is very common and nonvenomous.

Isn't he cute? Yes, I think the boy is cute. The boy thinks the snake is cute. Eventually, the snake will have to go back to his natural habitat and the boy will have to go back to his math and reading. Enough science for one day.

What would you do?

zinnias in the garden

If it were a Friday morning,
 you might go help a friend who is having a Reading Club for neighborhood kids.

If your boy asked,
you would probably let him ride his bike in the culdesac while his sister rode her scooter.

If you want to add culture to your child's education,
you might teach an art lesson and listen to classical music.

If your husband gets off work early and you are adventurous (even in 90 degree weather),
you could go looking for some geocaches.

Do you see where this one might be?

If you have time,
you will find two!

Hannah with our second find of the day.

If you need a treat,
you might find yourself at Baskin Robbins.

Josiah and his favorite (vanilla).

If you are smart,
you will spend some time underwater to escape the heat.

Josiah diving under the noodle.

If you just can't keep your hands out of the dirt,
you will pull some weeds just for fun.

If you want to get an ice cream cake for your birthday,
you will probably go to three different stores before you find one that you think is a good price.

If you want to go out to eat and your favorite place is an hour long wait,
you most likely will go to your second favorite place.

bean burrito and guacamole salad

If you want to come home and relax with a family friendly movie from Netflix,
you're gonna have to settle for a documentary about the ocean, but that's okay because you really do like documentaries about the ocean.

Whew! It was a busy day. Would you choose to do all of those things? Well, we did all of these things on Friday. It's easier to celebrate your last day being 49 that it is to celebrate your first day being 50.

Pool Toy Solution

When you have a pool, you need lots of "accessories". These come in the form of floats and foam noodles, and inflatables shaped like alligators, porpoises, and sharks.


These can be quite large and take up alot of room, especially when they have no "cage" to call their home. They tend to lay wherever they can, often on the very chairs that you want to sit on yourself.



Well, this week a brilliant idea came to my mind and one that would make our porch more clutter-free. The other great thing is that we did not have to spend any money. We used something we already had, something that had been disassembed and kept in storage for probably 6 years or more. We pulled it out and reassembled it and it worked perfectly! See.

Isn't that cool! Now, does anyone want to guess what this structure was used for before it became a home for our pool toys? I'll give you a hint. It was used with material draped over parts of it.

South Pole Extravaganza

Not really. It wasn't anything that big and dramatic. We just made our Northern Lights punch and Penguin Cookies and invited some friends over. We needed to see them before they left to go out of town for a good chunk of the summer.


Hannah made the cookies pretty much by herself. I helped make the frosting and they turned out quite yummy!



After our guest arrived and had some cookies and punch, we got in the pool. We regularly get in at 3:00. The pool is in the shade at that time of day, therefore no need to worry about sunscreen. And the water is so warm that it feels nice. If we were in the bright sun, it might not feel so refreshing.

Josiah enjoys going for diving sticks.

Danielle is a strong swimmer.

Elizabeth was fond of the dolphin.

Josiah showed me a most excellent float.

The littlest showed that he was not afraid of the water anymore.

And Stephanie and Hannah were found hiding under the boat.

The children all played together so well that after supper, the adults were able to sit around and chat for quite a while. Friends are such a blessing.

Exploring Antarctica

Well, we've spent a good bit of time in Antarctica, but it has been fun. We read alot about penguins. Maybe we read too much. Hannah started having vivid dreams about clay penguins that came to life and she was taking care of them. She had to feed them krill and she had to have Skua birds around to eat the chicks that died, so they would not stink.

We have not had any special dishes, but we did read a book called MY PENGUIN OSBERT and in the back it has recipes for Southern Lights Punch and Penguin cookies so you can have a penguin party. We've thought about doing that. Maybe we will do that when we finish our school for the year, which will be in one week.

I really enjoyed learning about the land surrounding the South Pole. We also have begun our Right Start Math early and we recently got Rosetta Stone and Hannah and I using that program to learn Spanish.

Josiah was tested a while back for his speech and found that we had made no progress in the year that I've been working with him. Now I am taking him to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for therapy. He is doing great and I am pleased so far with the therapists. Josiah seems to be more motivated, too, because he has someone outside of family that he's accountable to. I'm also learning by watching the therapist work with him how I can better help him at home.

The following is a slide show of how we spent our Friday evening after I weeded the garden.

Yes, I'm real excited about the bats, too. I've been hearing them in the box and Theron set up the video camera and actually got pictures of them using the night light feature. There were 3 or 4 at the time. Don't know how to post that on here or I would. I did finally see three fly out of the box tonight, but it was too fast for me to snap it. I'll keep watching.

May is for Strawberries and Swimming!

Our strawberry plants have been bearing for a week or so now. We try to beat the chipmunks and squirrels to them, if the slugs don't get them first. I guess we just have to share with the wildlife. I'm getting a good bit to freeze for our smoothies, though.

The kids started getting in the pool during the first week in May also. The water was chilly, but the weather was SO HOT it felt good.

We took a break from regular schoolwork this week to enjoy a trip to Grandmother and Grandfather's. We got in a little Test Prep as Hannah will be taking the ITBS next week. When we got back home the kids immediately wanted to hit the water. After a day of taking care of business, including more Test Prep, I let them get in again.

See ya later, Alligator!

A Boy, a boat, and a dog . . .

goin' for a ride

in the good ole summertime!

Fun Friday Answer

Meggan got it right!

Josiah's was an alligator,

big enough for two to ride on or maybe even three.

-

And not to mention comfy enough to sleep on.

-

Hannah's is a dolphin,
which she loves to pretend is real.



Before I forget, here's more to be thankful for.

21. The Bible, accessable and in our language

22. Pastors who preach the Truth

23. Sabbath rest

24. the peace of God

25. His patience

A Perfect Day for . . .

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We were blessed to have our chuch family come over today. Hey, I can add that to the things I'm thankful for.
15. my church family
16. my biological family
17. Summer
18. swimming pools
19. The Lord's watchful eye
20. birthdays, or other excuses to get together

Family Celebration for . . .

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Since my birthday is in the summer, it's fun to have the family over and enjoy the pool (let the kids enjoy the pool). My mom made a delicious red velvet cake, which has always been my favorite. She makes the best!
My actual birhday is July 23rd. From now until then, I am going to try to post 48 things I'm thankful for. . . starting now!
1. My wonderful Savior
2. My caring husband
3. My delightful daughter
4, My super son
5. that God is in control
6. that He loves me
7. a home
8. food to eat
9. clean water
10. Jesus, my Shelter from the storms
11. Jesus, the Bread of Life
12. Jesus, the Living Water
13. Music
14. Little voices singing
Just listen to this. . . . my neice's daughters, Mai and Allie, and my two

The candles on the cake were lit and I think it's so cute at the end when Allie says, "Blow it out, blow it out!."

Fun Friday Game

Every year, the kids get a prize for learning a new swimming skill.
Tonight after dinner at Bambinelli's Italian Restaraunt, we stepped into Kroger to pick up a few things. We noticed they had a 50 percent off sale on all their summer stuff, so we let the kids select something as their promised award.




We only ended up spending $5 each on them, which I was very excited about and Hannah was able to get what she had mentioned she wanted.
So here is where the game comes in. Can you guess what they got?

Post a comment. The pictures might help you.

Water

Water from the clouds

makes the plants come up.

Water in our pool is just plain

refreshing,

or maybe

. . .

relaxing.

I'm thankful for all the rain we've gotten the past week.

It really helped with my late plantings.

We weren't able to swim as much, though.

So we were thankful to go for a swim on Saturday

with a visiting friend.

When Hannah gets out of the water, she lays in the sun to dry.

She could not resist dangling her arm back into

the cool.