It's not really farewell to summer, but we're back to (home)school next week. Our schedule will be flexible. It has to be to fit in all the celebrations. (Our little family of seven celebrates 4 birthdays and an anniversary between July 28 and September 1! Plus we're hosting three birthday parties in one day. More on that in another post.)
Still, hanging a new map on the wall, shopping for new pencils, and beginning our new history book signals a semi-end to the freedom of the summer months. So how did we fill the past eleven weeks?
but THREE times!
The next day, Alaine decided that if she was old enough to be left at home without Mama, she was old enough to learn to climb out of her crib. Rather than train her to stay in, we decided it was time for the big girl bed.
but THREE times!
- We took a day trip with the four older kids and left a very generous Aunt Kati home with Alaine, Finn (the dog), and Kitt (the cat).
The next day, Alaine decided that if she was old enough to be left at home without Mama, she was old enough to learn to climb out of her crib. Rather than train her to stay in, we decided it was time for the big girl bed.
- We spent a morning at the $1 movies and an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese.
- And while we may have done our own Summer Reading Program at home, we still enjoyed our local libraries, attending a performance of Alice in Wonderland, a show by The Bubble Lady, an inflatable planetarium presentation, a meet-and-greet of nocturnal animals from the zoo, and a Lego Robotics class.
- We took advantage of some at-home days to get started on a few Christmas presents.
- We spent countless hours building Legos and cleaning up Legos and stepping on Legos and sorting Legos and sending in photos to the Lego magazine.
- We hosted a morning craft at our house. With thirteen children under the age of ten, I didn't have a chance to take photos until after everyone went home.
- Twice, we went swimming at a friend's house.
- We also did a little wading in our own backyard (well, on our back deck).
- The four oldest went to Bible school with Grandma. Regrettably, I have no pictures, but they are already talking about next year, plus they had a thrill riding in her car and being treated to snow cones, too!
- The kids hosted a sleepover for their Aunt Bekah (who is 11). Then Bekah hosted a sleepover for them.
- As a last hoorah, Maddie was invited to spend a Girl Day at her Gammy's house. They ate grilled cheese and drank root beer floats, watched a cooking show and played Tiddly Winks.
 |
| She's the youngest looking great-grandmother I know! |
Oh, summer, we're going to miss you (though we'll gladly welcome fall's temperatures!).
How is the transition going from crib to big girl bed for Alaine? We recently moved our 2 year old, Nathaniel, to a bed from the crib (we had to, we're going to need the crib for the next one in a few months!) and bedtime's been a nightmare ever since! He's in and out of bed multiple times despite my consistency in disciplining him and putting him back. His latest trick is to come out in the living room at about 10pm with a big grin on his face and announce that he took a "big nap!" and thinks he's up for the night.
ReplyDeleteYou guys look like you've really enjoyed your summer! We don't plan on starting until September and even then we're leaning heavily towards natural, everyday learning (and lots of reading). Emahry is excited about learning to read. She picked up the 1st set of Bob books yesterday and read 1-4 with hardly any help, so that's motivating her (and me).
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great summer!!! We're back to books after an unplanned couple months "off". :)
ReplyDeleteAs we started being more regular at sitting down to math and handwriting this week, I noticed I'd only circled 4 days in the last couple months. I should say though that I only circle days we do math and handwriting. We do other "school" things all the time. :)
Sounds like you guys have had a fantastic summer!!!
ReplyDeletewhat a great summer, Kristin!
ReplyDeleteHappy Back-to-School today! I'll say a little prayer for you all!
Love, kathi