End of the Summer

In a few days, we will take our younger son up to Michigan State University for his freshman year of college.  Due to the distance,he won't be coming home as often as our daughters and older son. 

Katie was married a little over a week ago.  She and George returned from their honeymoon yesterday and dropped by to tell us about their trip.  It was lovely to see the so soon.  This week, she is planning on getting her former bedroom packed up.  We are forcing her to remove all her belongings from the house.  Not because we want every memory of her removed, but because other children want her bedroom and we are trying to have no storage in the basement. 

Well, almost no storage.  There will be one shelving unit for Christmas and camping items.  The house is so large that it would be easy for us to become hoarders without the house getting full of clutter.  We will only be here for another 3-5 years and we don't want to have ton of junk to sort through.

Madelyn is going to the public high school this upcoming school year.  She won't be graduating from the high school, because they won't accept homeschool classes without testing for every subject.  I'll issue her a diploma in the spring.  Our homeschool will be down to two students.  It should be an easier year because the younger two girls are only 20 months apart,  I'm planning on spending the first week or two taking the girls to various parks and getting our work done in the picnic pavilions, then having a picnic lunch and spending the afternoon hiking and playing on the various playgrounds. 

Mike is changing positions at work.  He will still be in sales, but will be a bedding specialist.  Due to changes within the company's pay structure, he should make more money with the change.  I hope it's a good move for him.  He dislikes many of the games that other sales associates play to steal commissions from other sale people.

My etsy shops are doing well.  I'm getting a steady income from them and enjoy the flexibility they provide. I'm planning ahead to create a couple of non-etsy shops after the holidays to increase my exposure on the internet and open other income avenues.  Mike has been really supportive throughout all this and is excited to see my hard work pay off.

Depression has been creeping back again.  It seems to be an on-going struggle for me.  Part of it may be hormones, but the "winter blahs" are now returning as early as August.  I'm working on eating highly nutritious foods and getting exercise each day.  I know that anti-depressants are available, but I really want them to be a last resort. 

I'll be adding a ton of photos and updates over the next few weeks and even have a few craft and cooking posts planned. 

A Tale of Two Dances

Joseph and Marley Prom 2014

Joe and his girlfriend are spur of the moment type of people.  They make most of their plans at the last minute and are quick to change their minds about what to do.  Last year, we discovered one week before prom that they wanted to attend.  This year went a little smoother.  They decided more than one month in advance that they wanted to go to prom.  I envisioned a mellow afternoon of Joe getting ready followed by a relaxed photo session with me before they took off.

 

 Plans for me changed quickly when I learned that the homeschool group would be holding their first dance called the Spring Fling on the same date.  I had volunteered to throw some parties for the homeschool group with another homeschool mom.  (She calls us the Party Moms.)  I also realized that Paige had two dance classes in the morning.  My leisurely day quickly changed.

Madelyn and Cody Spring Fling 2014

The shoes didn't stay on Madelyn's feet long.  She's not a high heel girl.

There was some squabbling for bathroom time, but overall it went pretty smoothly.  Joe and Marley left fairly early, so I had an hour to curl Madelyn's hair after taking photos of the prom attendees.

Madelyn and Cody stood around for photos and then left for the dance.  I realized that Madelyn had forgotten her snack to share and canned good for the canned-good donation, so I loaded that into the SUV and drove to the dance to chaperone.

I'm not going to comment to much about the dance, because it was Madelyn's night and her mom shouldn't share her observations.  I did think it went well and 95 percent of the kids looked like that had a good time.  The few who were bored, refused to participate, so there was nothing anyone could have done to make it a better experience.

After the Spring Fling, most of the teens went laser bowling.  It was a good ending to the night and let them mix together a little bit more.

Field Trip Time

April was busy and I didn't get time to blog about anything.  During the next few days, there should be several new entries as I try to play catch-up. 

Our homeschool group recently went to the zoo in Battle Creek.  We hadn't been to Binder Park since we moved to our current city, so everyone looked forward to the visit.  The sun decided to shine, but the temperatures were on the cool side.  Many of the animal exhibits were empty because it was too cold for the animals outside.  We all had a nice break from our daily routine and got to spend the day in the sunshine.

All the kids hanging out.

Help the elephant is after us!

Paige and Allie with the extinct bird.

No zoo trip is complete without riding the giant ant.

Binder Park Zoo recently added a black bears exhibit.  The bears were outside and we spent a long time watching their antics.  The bears climbed up the tree limb and then broke off the smaller branches that wouldn't support their weight.  At one point all three bears were trying to climb the same branch.  The bear at the top kept swatting the middle bear trying to get him to find another limb.  Allie kept saying, "This is not going to end well."

 

Allie, Paige and Madelyn and a rare giraffe siting.

The giraffes were not out the day we visited, but Paige and Allie enjoyed the Lego giraffe anyway.

Physical Activities in Winter

This winter has been particularly cold and snowy.  We did manage to do some tubing/sledding and take a few walks.  The three homeschooled girls all take dance classes and Madelyn is heavily involved in cheerleading,  but overall the kids have been cooped up too much..  Mike and I purchased the girls a gymnastic mat as part of their Christmas gifts.  It's been a huge blessing.  The girls have been stretching several times each week to work on their flexibility.  Madelyn has even added neighborhood children into the stretching class.

I also allowed the girls to bring the gymnastic mat upstairs into the family room.  It's warmer upstairs and their is enough room without running into furniture.

Our poor puppy who has reached his full adult stature still has tons of energy.  When we run laps through the house up one staircase and down the other, the dog chases after the girls.  Allie particularly likes running with Dudley. 

In the afternoon and evening, Allie and Paige have been playing hide and seek with Dudley, our puppy.  One of the girls throws the ball into a different room.  Dudley chases the ball and the girls hide.  When he returns to the room carrying the ball, Dudley can't find the girls.  He is definitely not a scent dog.  It's so funny to watch him search the rooms, looking for the girls.  Frequently, he walks right past them and doesn't notice them unless someone moves or makes a sound. 

Now that the spring is slowly making its arrival, we're all hoping to spend lots of time outdoors soaking up the sunshine and fresh air.

Gilmore Car Museum

Last fall, the homeschool group went on a tour of the Gilmore Car Museum in Delton, MI.  When I was a child we frequently passed the museum on our way to Yankee Springs State Park for camping and swimming days.  The museum was expensive for a large family and we were never able to go there.  After Mike and I were married, we rented a cottage on Wall Lake for several summers and passed the museum when we headed to the cottage. We always wanted to see the museum, but there was never enough time to make the short trip in during our weeks at the cottage.  I was thrilled when I discovered that the homeschool group would be going there for one of the monthly field trips. 

The museum has had many additions since I was a child.  It used to occupy two large barns.  Since my childhood, a large building has been added that is used for conferences or meetings, another new building holds a Ford dealership from the early part of the 20th century, 

 
 


 There is a smallish building that contains riding toys from the 1920-1960's and the set of the gnome mobile. 

 

 

 

 

 
A working diner from the 1950's serves lunches each day. 
 

 

There is also a gas station complete with the glass-topped gasoline pumps.



 
The guides did an excellent job explaining about the various types of vehicles and areas of the museum. 

 We had a wonderful time visiting the Gilmore Museum.  I'm sorry that Mike and the boys couldn't have gone with us.  Maybe we can go again next summer with everyone.

National Novel Writing Month

November 28 was the monumental day that I finished 50,000 words on my novel.  I had had a terrible migraine for several days and began to doubt that I would meet the goal.  There are still a number of chapters to write, but I'm very proud of what was accomplished. 

Amy needed to write 30,000 words in the last week to make goal.  She finished early in the morning on November 29.  Amy joined the local group of NaNoWriMo writers who met each week to talk and write.  Today was the celebration gathering at a local restaurant.  The entire experience has been inspiring for her.

The two of us will be editing and rewriting during January and February.  I'm hoping that she can keep me on track.  It's so easy for projects that are strictly for me to get pushed aside and I'd really like to get this novel completed.

Paige and Allie have been watching me write each evening.  They have asked questions and asked to hear parts of my story.  Last night, Allie asked if I would like to hear her book.  She has been writing up in her bedroom.  Allie had completed 5 notebook pages in a spiral notebook.  This is HUGE!  Allie was struggling to write three sentences for me for school in September.  It took her 40 minutes to write three sentences.  I am so happy that she is excited to be writing a book.  Her writing was much better than I expected.  She used descriptive words, conversation between characters, and variety in her sentence structure. 

Paige has been writing a novel as well.  She hasn't shared it with me yet, because she wants to have her first chapter done first.  She has also been illustrating each page.  I'm waiting impatiently for her to let me have a first look at her work.

A Family Outing

My children were harassing me about how homeschool mom's are always looking for the educational merits of any activity.  In response to their thoughts, this was one of our recent education family outings.  Mike rented a trailer so we could haul away some of the trash from the project house in preparation for Steve's graduation open house. 

We took two loads to the dump and several trips to the yard waste collection site.

The first full trailer.  Notice all the old horse hair pew cushions on top.

Before we decided to dump the cushions we researched their filling.  Horse hair is black and pig hair is white.  Our cushions were filled with a small amount of pig hair which was wrapped in horse hair.  They stink.  Yuck! 

Paige, Mike, Steve and Joe grabbing more cushions to put into the dumpsters.

Paige and Allie were surprised that it didn't smell more at the dump.

Mike throwing cushions into the dumpster.

Paige was a trooper about unloading stuff.

Joe, Madelyn, and Paige hard at work.

We were also able to get rid of some tires that the former owners had left on the property in a tire disposal dumpster.

Paige closing the gate after the trailer was empty.

Citizens of our town are allowed one dump pass each year to dump non-normal trash.  The town also has free yard waste disposal.  The yard waste is composted and/or turned into wood chips which town residents may take for free.

Butterfly Garden

Our homeschool group went on a field trip to the Meijer Garden in Grand Rapids yesterday.  Each year, the garden brings in butterflies from around the world for 8 weeks.  The butterflies live about 2 weeks, so new butterflies arrive four times throughout the exhibit.  It has been several years since we went to see the butterfly exhibit. 

                                             Madelyn, Paige and Allie and our good friends

The tropical garden which contained the butterflies is filled with gorgeous plants.  I love all the bright colors.

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The indoor and outdoor gardens are filled with sculpture. 

Paige and Allie had a lot of fun in the children's outside garden.  It contained a maze to explore, a pioneer cabin, a giant tree fort, sand pit, dress-up area, and interactive sculptural map of the Great Lakes.

Paige and Allie at the entrance to the Children's Garden.

Paige and Allie played a mean game of old fashioned checkers.

Listening to a guide explaining the difference between moths and butterflies and the life cycle of the butterfly.

It was a lovely day away from our normal homeschool day.  I also enjoyed getting away from the chaos of moving and renovations.

Losing Important Items

Due to the chaos of our homes right now, items are occasionally going missing.  Usually, it's just a matter of inconvenience, but recently an important notebook went missing.  The notebook contains the list of assignments that my homeschooled children have completed for an on-line class that is required by our co-op.  We need to complete a certain number each semester and can't do the same assignment more than once. 

While I was in bed with my migraine, I asked Madelyn to do several assignments and list them in the spiral notebook.  She asked Paige to bring her the notebook, which is keep inside my three ring binder that contains our school records.  After the assignments were listed, the spiral binder was left on the dining room table.

Once I felt better, I went to check our progress and discovered the binder missing.  The girls and I have torn up this house several times....probably spending over three hours searching for this notebook.  Yesterday, Joe came home from school and asked if I was missing a binder.  He had grabbed it in the morning with his homework assignments and taken it to the public high school!  Arrg!

At least I know where it's at.  If only he would remember to bring it home.

Ballet Classes

Paige and Allie began to take ballet at a studio in Kalamazoo.  The studio was highly recommended by a friend and it has certainly lived up to her recommendation.  Their teacher is knowledgeable and provides lots in individual attention.  She has different skills that she is focusing on with each student.  My two girls love her and look forward to seeing her each week. The girls take the homeschool class, which is small in size and very thorough.

The studio allows class viewing once each semester.  This week was viewing and I was able to capture some photos.