This Week at Our House #30 and #31

We finished off our final two weeks of summer vacation with some big bangs! We had two very fun trips to the beach,  Joseph had birthday, I published my creative writing curriculum, and Arwen had a birthday! It's been very, very hot. We cannot go outside during the daytime for the most part. It's hard to do anything outside. The chickens don't lay many eggs and the ducks and chickens sit in the shade all day. We start school tomorrow. We had a long vacation. The little ones are ready to get to work. It's a good time for it too, because it's hard to be outside.

Joseph turned 11. He played games with John and group family games all day. He got a small lego set that he happily built right away. He's getting ready for the 7th grade. I bumped him up with Anya when he was supposed to be heading into the 2nd grade and he has continually stayed one to 6 years ahead of grade level. I am excited for him to do my language arts curriculum. There's a lot of writing in it and he will come up with some very imaginative things.

Arwen had a spectacular eighth birthday. She played minecraft with John and herself. She got a light yellow parakeet, yes, that's right, a living bird. We had a steak lunch, then went to the beach and got ice cream cones on the way home. Then we had crepes with homemade chocolate pudding, strawberries, blueberries, and spray whipped cream. Then she hung out with John and I and then John watched a movie with her until like 3 am. She was tired the next day, but her birthday was special. Arwen will be in the 3rd grade.

 Susan has all of her stuff and has been practicing reading. She's asked each day when school starts. 

Sam has all of his stuff and he has been working on it for a while. He has animal flashcards to learn his animals. He called the toucan, canned tuna. I would have never put those two together, but I see where he did. It's so funny. Sam now swims at the beach. his terror of the ocean has ceased. He loves the big tubes and the waves lifting him slightly up. 

Anya's now much taller than Joseph and a little taller than Rachel. She's long and lanky and very thin like I was. She has the longest hair that goes down past her bottom now. She looks quite grown up. Anya starts the 7th grade.

I made sure that Rachel has paper workbooks to work from this year, and books that she can write in. We will see how she does. I have not let her complain about school because it's not good for her or the little kids who look up to their cool sister. She's made a few complainy remarks. I hope she finds herself this year. Rachel will be in the 9th grade. 

Adam will be in the 10th grade. He's big and fairly mature. He'll do his work and learn his stuff. He can finally read fast and spends a lot of time reading on his own, though he tends to read things other than novels. 

Ruth has finished pictures for my next children's book, but I was so busy with the curriculum that I

have not gotten to that yet. 

Kate and Johnny would still like to go on a mission in the future. I wonder if it will ever happen for them. Kate will help a bit with school this year. Those two are our next two birthdays. I hope this next 12 months brings some good things for them. 

Gideon will be shocked when school starts. I'm not sure what to do with him. He'll probably sneak out to get into things or try and sit on me. He's now 18 months. He is big and needed a bigger car seat. He says "no," "yes," and "uh-oh," most frequently. He'll also say mom and dad and cat and don't.