Is it just me, or didn’t summer used to last forever? From the time the dampness of spring rains settled into a blazing heat, we played all day, running in and out of doors, sneaking popsicles from the freezer, carrying errant kittens helter-skelter, tracing words in the dirt… for hours and hours until it was time to eat dinner. There was never anything on TV but we were never bored. Then back out we’d run, checking on the horses, stopping for minutes at a time to watch a butterfly poised on a flower, and seeing justhowclosewecouldsneakuponitbeforeitflewaway…. never, never close enough! Now it’s mid-July and normally I would think of fall not starting until late September when it starts to cool off, but we’re having our long extended summer cut short by–duh duh duhhhhh!
- .
Back to school! *sob*
This will be our first time with a child in the school system. Our voracious reader taught herself how to tie her shoes after I explained it twice maybe–several months apart. She can easily tell time, run an ipad (although gets to do very little of that)… and stuck with mom through lessons about adding and subtracting so that I have no doubt she’ll be completely bored to tears in Kindergarten. Sorry teachers?!? We won’t know anything at all until the first weekend of August which might give us 2 weeks to track down all the supplies, clothes, etc. needed for the year. Can I just.. hire a babysitter? Life happens and it’s not always easy to get things done like create awesome breakfasts when you have 3 kids to get ready to drive or walk, but likely drive… appx 1/2 mile to the bus stop:
.
So anyway, back to our update, during the first half of summer, we went to bible school and learned more about Jesus. We also learned about not pinching our fingers in the hinge of the heavy bathroom door at church. We were sent home with some pretty awesome music CD’s the kids love. The only CD player is in the truck. He he. They are quiet when I play it except for requesting their favorite tracks. Woohoo! The adults and baby attended a church conference.
.
Casey was the conference mascot (just kidding, but everyone adored her!) while the big kids stayed with my folks for a while. My niece visited after the baby’s baptism. We saw fireworks, Keeley was in her pageant, waved to hundreds of people from a convertible and soaked up her 3rd runner up win. I think she learned some great lessons about dealing with other adults, which is important. Brennan has been along for the ride, and Casey handles everything with a ‘just feed me mom’ attitude. Easy peasy. We’ve started 2 reading programs and concluded one today. 2 stuffed Clifford the big red dogs, a watergun, tickets for 3 different events, and a couple dozen free books came home with us. We reads lots of stories, ate cupcakes in the shape of paw prints, saw working dogs of various types (therapy and K-9) and did many other random things. We watched Disney Junior, and tried to keep up with Casey trying to crawl, and of course have sent the kids outside to play as much as possible. We started a garden and have had a few cherry tomatoes to munch. Now that I think about it, it’s really been a whirlwind!
.
As summer carries on, we’ll finish up the other library program (as much as I love it, unless we have more cooperation next year, we’ll only do one), do more harvesting, mow more grass, plant more trees, have more surprise popsicles and start the dreaded countdown. The more I think about it, the more I worry, so I’m trying not to think about it. I know homeschooling is easily an option we could undertake if necessary, but I’m kind of looking forward to having some time dedicated to the non-brunettes in the family. As independent as Keeley is, she’s still bossy, still picks on the 2 year old, and thus garners way more than her fair share of attention. I have a blonde who needs to learn how to read her letter sounds for pre-reading, to get BACK on a good nap schedule after being derailed with tantrums at naptime for months, and baby who needs a break from the LOUDNESS! Hopefully we can also do all the things that have been on the bucket list for 3 summers: hit the zoo, some museums, etc. etc. before K goes to school. Wait, that’s the imaginary bucket list. Right? Because who has time to make an actual list?
.
My son is starting preschool in a few weeks or months and they haven’t sent us any information at all! It’s so frustrating they don’t give more warning so I can plan and shop sales and stuff. I suppose he probably won’t need much, but I know he will need clothes but don’t know if there’s a dress code!