September 2012

It appears we didn’t really do much in September, other than take a few random pictures.  Enjoy!

Go Vols!!

 

Just being silly in a room which has no discernible furniture.  We must not have gotten the new beds yet!

Around the campfire with Carter, Kennedy, and Eli!  They were camping, but we just visited for dinner and some nice hanging-out time.  We should do it again!

We discovered several cocoons on the side of the house, right after the butterflies came out!  I thought they were monarchs, but the markings aren’t right.  I’m not sure what they are, other than beautiful!

 

My first attempt at a French braid!

 

Our three brand-new Cub Scouts!

2013 Books for Me and the Kids

Since going back to work in November 2010, I haven't done much reading, except as it applied to the classes I was teaching!  So up until this summer my reading has been limited to reading and/or re-reading the following, in order to teach them:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Lightning Thief
The Blind Side
Inherit the Wind
The Island of Dr. Moreau 
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
1984 by George Orwell
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
13 Reasons Why
The Litigators by John Grisham
Maximum Ride
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

Wow, laid out like that it isn't too shabby a list!  Several of those books were summer reads.  Every student at my school is responsible for at least two summer reading books.  The others were for class.  Sorry I don't remember all the authors.  I'll try to look them up later.

This summer, I have read the following:

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
An Assembly Such as This by Pamela Aiden
Duty and Desire by Pamela Aiden

I also started reading longer books out loud to the kids a while back.  I have read them:

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Wow! It's really different from the movie!)

Happy reading to all of you!

August 2012

Okay, it’s summer vacation!  Let’s get this catchup started!

Last August, just minutes before the new school year started (so it seemed to me!), we moved into our new house!

Strangely, I can’t seem to find any pictures of the front of it.  I should probably take care of that at some point!

If you asked the kids what their favorite thing was about the new house, they unanimously answered, “The stairs!!”

 

The view from the back deck

 

Don’t worry!  Jim is right behind them, and he put the screens in the windows right after I snapped this picture!

 

In case you’re curious, four first graders need so many school supplies that they don’t all fit in the giant tub!  Thank goodness the elementary school has a pre-first day Open house so parents can cart all the loot to school!

 

Of course, MY school days started a week before the kids’ did.  This year, the super-fun and awesome Miss Mandy kept the kids while I went to work. 

 

We love Miss Mandy!

 

First day of First Grade!

 

Dropping the kids off for their first day of first grade was a COMPLETELY different experience from their first day of kindergarten!  (First day of kindergarten)  I drove to the school, got in the drop-off line, AND THEY JUST GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND WALKED AWAY!!!!!

 

Love you, Mom!  And off they went! 

 

It must be so much easier for them because they have siblings, plus they were two-and-two this year, so no one was going alone to a classroom.  They were SO BIG!  No tears at all! 

 

At least not from them…I might have gotten a little misty-eyed…but only for a couple minutes!

 

Also in August:

Reagan lost some teeth.

 

We had a visit from Mr. Scott, Mrs. Laura, and Baby Grant!  What a cutie!

6

We took this picture.  I don’t know why.

 

And we discovered what happens when you throw laundry in the air near an intake vent.

 

All in all, a pretty full month!

 

Next time? September!