Favorite Friday~

Oh my. I cannot believe a week has gone by since I last posted.  My intent is to put more on this blog than Favorite Friday posts. Really.  Maybe next week will be better.  Let's just say that on the first day we started homeschooling, Bill came home at 7:00 PM to a frazzled wife near tears~ "Honey, I'm about to have a nervous breakdown!  There is no way I'm going to be able to school these children well. With Ellie underfoot.  And by way, could you figure out what to have for dinner?  Because I haven't even thought about it."  

We had takeout.  

And now we've just finished our 2nd week of homeschooling. Things have gotten better and we're pretty close to finding our groove. We've had some trial and error.  Things that are working well.  And things that haven't.  

For my Favorite Friday post, I will say that so far, my 2 kindergarteners and my 1st grader are LOVING their math.

Here's Charlie with his Book 1, which right now seems to be a perfect fit for both of my kindergarteners.  The books can be purchased HERE.

AnnaClaire has started Book 2 for her 1st grade year.  Last year she plowed through completed Math U See, Primer.  It was a struggle.  Not because she struggled with the concepts, because she didn't. She just found the blocks to be SO tedious.  I know everyone raves about Math U See.  I had purchased everything knowing that that's what I wanted to use at least through the elementary years and that I was going to LOVE it.  But it just didn't happen. I wanted to LOVE Math U See, but besides AC not enjoying it, frankly, I didn't either. So, I'll be packing up the blocks, DVD, and teacher book for Primer and reselling them at our local homeschooling re-sale shop. (a FAVORITE spot of mine~ and maybe that will be another Favorite Friday post) 

And since I am a bit "Charlotte Mason-y" in my homeschooling heart, these math books are right up my alley.  Hopefully the children will continue to do well with them and enjoy them, and more books will be added, and I'll be able to stick with this through the elementary years.  We'll see.  But for now, they're definitely 

a FAVORITE!

And I'll post about what's working for Grace in math next week!

  

Favorite Friday~

  Little girls in English Sandals!

Perfect with a Lily shift or a sweet smocked dress.  Such a classic.

These little feet belong to my 6 1/2 year old.  So far, there have been no complaints on her end, though I do think my days with her little feet in English sandals are numbered.   Sigh.....

6 Months~

  6 months with Ellie!

And I can hardly believe it.  The time has gone so very quickly.  Her adjustment has been AMAZING.  I cannot believe she's the same, shut down baby girl that we received on February 6, 2012!  She is sweet and spunky.  And STRONG WILLED.  Oh my is she strong willed. And she's EVERY BIT of 2!  She is going to keep us young! 

Elisabeth LiMeng  we love you and are so glad that God chose US to be your family!

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Lake Fun~

Before Will and Emily left for school, Bill and I wanted to plan a family day for EVERYONE.   Given the large span of ages in our family, it's tough to find an activity that everyone equally enjoys.  We came up with the perfect plan, and WE ALL such a fun day!  The weather was perfect, the lake was not too crowded, and some sweet family memories were made! 

On the boat...

 

 

And I can't believe I didn't get a shot of Kate by herself on the boat~ sorry Cake Cake!

All my girls!

And in the water.....

And yes, that's a peek of me IN the water.  My hair is slicked back, as I had just dived in off the boat, showing Grace and AnnaClaire that I had not forgotten how to dive!

This is how Kate went into the water!  She'd take a running start and then in she went, spread eagle and landing right on her tummy!  She did this over, and over, and over again.  It was hilarious to watch. Here she is in mid air!

According to the kids, the BEST part of the day was tubing!

 

I think out of everyone, Grace loved tubing the most, although our boat did not go nearly fast enough for her liking!

Ooops~ Man overboard!

 Tired babies at the end of the day!

Will and Emily, what a great way to send you both off!  We are missing you already!  

And she's back~

Anonymous that is.  Still commenting about bedroom arrangements, room sizes, and clothing. Really?  After all these years, you haven't moved on? What a pathetic woman you are. Nothing better to do on a Friday night????  Sad.  Really sad.

And now she's off~

  

Emily and I left Wednesday after lunch and it was quite the send off.  AC and Kate were sobbing uncontrollably,  and then Ellie joined in.  So we pulled out of the driveway watching Bill trying his best to console his 3 littlest girls.  :)  We drove to Atlanta for the night (in 2 cars) and stayed with my SIL and BIL. I am telling you, they are the BEST when it comes to hospitality.  Truly, it is my SIL's gift! We had dinner together at CFA~ naturally we wanted to support them on their "Appreciation Day!"  We got to dinner about 7:30 and not surprisingly, there was a long line for the drive through and it was bustling inside.  Several from corporate, knowing there would be crowds, were there lending a hand and it was fun to hear their views regarding the "situation."  Linda had wanted a salad for dinner, but they were sold out of salads.  Thankfully, they were not sold out of chicken!

We then headed to the house and had a yummy dessert of angel food cake, fresh strawberries, and home whipped cream.  YUM!  We watched the American girl gymnasts win GOLD, and we chatted late into the night~ it was 1:30 by the time we hit our pillows, and our alarm was set for 6:30 the next morning.

We arrived at Auburn at 8:00 AM, which was Emily's scheduled move in time. (it was quite helpufl that we gained an hour)  The move in went smoothly and efficiently, and many of the maintenance crew were on hand with carts to aid the families.  We took full advantage of that, and were moved in in no time.  We also appreciated the golf carts that periodically came through offering iced water bottles, as it was HOT!

Just the sorority girls were moving in that day, and at Auburn, the sororities do not have actual houses, but a dorm is set aside where the different sororities are given different halls and floors for their sophomore girls to live with their "sisters."  The setup is a large living room/ kitchen area, with 2 bedrooms and a bath to the right, and then the same configuration to the left.  4 girls share this area. The girls Emily is living with are all as sweet as can be, and all are from AL. I think Emily is happy to have her own room this year and just to be sharing a bathroom with one other.  We very quickly got Emily's room set up~ clothes hanging, bed made up and wall decor hung and then we headed off for a nice lunch together.  My girl was SO happy to be back, I could just tell. She saw lots of familiar faces, and did  lot of hugging~ she was right back at home. I love that Emily LOVES where she's at.  It makes it easier,though still not easy, when it comes time to leave, knowing that she is happy and thriving where God has placed her.

At 3:00 (Auburn time) we had finished with everything we needed to do, and it was time for hugs and kisses and goodbyes and maybe a few tears from mama, and then I hopped in the car and headed back to Atlanta for a little Hanna shopping for the 4 littlest. (a little retail therapy is good for a hurting heart) I was there about 1 1/2 hours~ the ladies there are SO nice and helpful and friendly.  They even managed to find me a 20% off coupon to use for my items that were not on sale. (it was still a costly little visit, though) I was back in my car by about 8:00 and not home until midnight.  The last hour of the drive, I was really fighting the fatigue.   The long day, the heat, and the little sleep the night before really hit me hard there end! 

Ahhhh, it is so bittersweet sending off this daughter of mine.  But I know that God has BIG plans for her! I know he's going to continue to use her in a mighty way!