Vacation

As soon as Caden played his last little league game, I loaded the kids and the animals (1 dog, 1 cat, and 2 hamsters) up and headed for a month "home." Dan had to work for three more weeks before he could join us for the last two. We had a ton of fun!!!

Here's a run down of what we did:

Beach
Beach
Beach
Did I mention we went to the beach a lot?
Roller skating with friends
Yard work and a new flower bed for Baba
Glamping at Gulf State Park for 5 nights
Watching a Blue Angel's practice session
Fishing and pool (the billiards kind) at grandmother and granddaddy's house
Individual and group sleep overs with Grandmother
Watched Inside Out
Jaelyn went to carving club with gramps to finish her horse and I made a cool Celtic knot cat
Date night and geocaching
Took an overnight trip to New Orleans for the Aquarium and Zoo
Breakfast for me with childhood friends
A late late night out for Dan and his friends.
Kayaking at NAS
Cut throat games of Rook
And of course lots and lots of quality time with the people we love the most!

We really did have a wonderful time. My parents make it so easy to just move in like we own the place. I miss being close. But as we drive home today, I'm looking forward to planning our next school year and finding fun activities to fill the rest of the summer. It's time to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Sent from my iPhone

NOLA

A Day Out

We live in the prettiest place, but we haven't spent too much time hiking here.  Life feels very busy especially now that we've added baseball to the mix.  It took up half of our fall and all of our spring.  Caden didn't have a baseball game on Saturday and the weather begging us to get outside.  Dan planned us a couple mile hike to a waterfall.  Unfortunately, it was Memorial Day weekend and the weather begged everyone else to get out too.  The parking lot we wanted to park in was full, as was the next parking lot.  Once we finally found parking, our hike was about 5 miles round trip.  The downhill all the way to the waterfall was fun.  The uphill back was not!

Last Day of School

May 22nd was our official last day of school.  We technically had a few more days to hit 180, but we started reading and math before our first official day of school.  We also haven't taken a single sick day and didn't have a single snow day.  I think we are good.  We celebrated with a little art project and a silly string fight.  Let summer begin!

Now, if only our neighborhood friends were out of school too.  I've heard the "b" word a lot lately (bored, not that other b word).

Field Day the Home School Way

The last week in April and first week in May was all about test preparation for the kids' standardized tests.  Once that was over, I decided we needed a little fun reward.  Regular schools do field day with games and playing in the hot sun.  I decided we needed some playing and water in a climate controlled building :).  Massasnutten Resort water park is about 40 minutes from our house.  It's been on my list of things to do.  Dan took the day off and we had a wonderful family time sliding, swimming, and just being together.  Now that I know how convenient it is, we will definitely take advantage next school year when we need a break.

I just found out testing didn't go as well as I had hoped.  It's very discouraging to compare how the kids did all year and the progress I feel like we made to the test results.  A couple of kids will be retesting next week to see if the scores were a fluke :(.

My Bug Jar Quilt

I thought I had until the 21st, but last Friday, I learned I ha to have this quilt finished by the 14th. Yikes. I worked all weekend and many hours yesterday to get it finished. I love it. I had some tension/thread issues, but washing it hid all of those. There's all sorts of different quilting patterns on the jars and I tried to add special touches like the dragon flies quilted on the wall, the frayed edges of the plant, the spider in his web, and the little mouse hanging out on the floor. I can't wait to give it to Mrs. P on Thursday.

Baseball

Baseball season is here. Caden loved fall ball, but when it came time for his first spring practice, he literally hid under the Ping pong table. I have no idea what got into him. He's had a handful of games now and is totally hooked again. His team is undefeated so far.

Sewing

My mom had so much fun sewing with us that she purchased a new machine. My selvage quit blocks were as addicting to her as they are to me. My mom also helped me make curtains for our breakfast area. LOVE! And the last picture is a bug jar quilt I'm making for the kids' science co-op teacher. I absolutely love how it is turning out.

Priorities

Most people go to Washington DC for the museums and history ... We go for Ikea and the food :). We made not one, but two trips to ikea and got to indulge in our beloved Moe's, Cupcakery, and Rita's. I miss those places!!!

The Glass Palette

Yea for my Dad for discovering The Glass Palette. Think of a pottery or canvas painting place only it's glass instead. We had so much fun the first time that we went back to make more projects. Next time my parents come, they will be scheduled a stained glass class.

Randomness

Caden has been taking a mixed martial arts class since December. He was sad to start over with a white belt (he was a blue belt in Tae Kwon do). They tested the class last week and he got his first two stripes. He loves this class. There's a heavy emphasis on jujitsu. He's always asking the girls to let him take them down so can he demonstrate for me :).

My parents are here for a nice, long visit. Last week was my birthday and they brought me a cupcake. It's not edible though. My dad carved it and my mom painted it. A true treasure!

My selvage quilt is moving along. I probably have enough to make one more row and then I'll have to put it away until I save up more selvages. I absolutely love it so far.

We finished our 3rd quarter in school. I'm still debating what to do next year. I know I'll homeschool, but there need to be changes for it to be successful. Next week will be our spring break and then we'll go full force into test prep for a couple of weeks and sail through the rest of the year. I'm ready for summer!!!

Trash Makes a Beautiful Quilt

I've been saving selvages (the finished edges on fabrics) for about fifteen months in a big jug. It was finally full and I'm in between projects; so I started a selvage string quilt. Instead of paper piecing, I used dryer sheets as my foundation piecing. I've been saving them for six months. That's a lot of loads of laundry. Not only is this quilt going to be made with what would normally go in the trash, but it's going to smell good too.