Life is BUSY

All right, this post is WAY, WAY overdue! I meant to post before we went on vacation, thought about posting while we were on vacation and then resolved to post as soon as we got unpacked (Labor Day).Obviously, that didn't happen! We went camping in Ohio, and it was wonderful. The weather was great, the kids had a blast, and the time with Todd's family (Aunt Ellen and crew) was most enjoyable. The above picture is of Gabriel and Cadence playing on the swing set at Aunt Ellen's house. Todd spent our last night chasing raccoons out of our garbage - they came back 3 or 4 times. Aunt Ellen and S'mores were the favorite parts of all 3 kids!

But then, on Monday - Tasha came to live with us. She is my new jogging partner and she is like a little shadow. This is Tasha...

Tasha is a really good dog, but she was having a skin problem and of course I think she was a little depressed and getting used to her new home. The kids love her, and she is super gentle with them.

Then, on Tuesday, we jumped head first into homeschooling. Jacob is in third grade and doing world history with Sonlight. The curriculum is heavily based in literature, and we (Jacob and I) really enjoy all the reading. Gabriel (3 years old) is reading just about on a 1st grade level, but is at a point where I don't think he has the maturity to sit and read the 1st grade reading book - so we are experimenting with other things. And Gabe joins Jacob for poems, calender time and things like that. We haven't quite found our groove yet - so school is taking all day right now - and I'm usually correcting papers at dinner and setting out tomorrows work after the kids get to bed. But I think in another week or two we should have it down to the point where we are almost done by lunch.

On Thursday, I started coaching Jacob's Under 8 soccer team. Yes, I am nuts... The first practice went really well and we won our first game by a couple of goals. Last night's practice didn't go so well - I don't have an assistant and I felt like I had lost all control by the end of the practice.

Sunday was the start of football season, and that is all I have to say about that- except curse the Cowboys for hurting half my team. (See Jessica's blog for more on that)

And lastly, the boys started AWANA tonight. This is Jacob's 3rd year, and Gabriel has been waiting a very long time to be old enough to go with Jake. So Gabe started tonight as a Cubby - he seemed so big! And Jacob moved up into Clubbers, he's one of the big kids now. AWANA has been great for him, and some of his goals are to finish every book (it goes all the way through high school) and be an AWANA leader when he is a teenager.