Wednesday, August 14, 2013

August is upon us...

Marc and Katelyn had a great time on the bike trip.  I am still amazed that they pedalled over 150 miles in the Catskill Mountains. 

Katelyn had a wipe-out on Wednesday, but is healing well.  We're all very thankful that it was surface wounds and nothing major.  Her bike's gear shift was duct taped back together so she could complete the week, but it will need an overhaul before she goes on any other trek. 

I'm preparing for a yard sale this Saturday.  It's time to weed out all the home school material for preschool through 2nd grade.  It seems strange that there are no more 'littles' coming along to use the younger level material.  I'm also trying to weed out the attic collection.  We used to 'lose weight' with each move when we were in the military, but it's been 15 years without a move and we have the 'weight' to prove it!

Today I cleared out and re-organized the home school shelves since it'll soon be time to hit the books again.  The IHIPs (individual home instruction plans) have been submitted to the superintendent of schools, and now I await word on whether I am 'compliant' with NY state law.  (They just review our plans and make sure that we are covering all the required courses.)  Actually, the children have already been doing activities that 'count' as school.  Ian has been having a wonderful time writing stories on an old Underwood typewriter that was loaned to us.  Jonathan has been learning about amphibians since Rachael brought home a baby newt (named Geico).  Geico has disappeared, but not before Jonathan learned all about what newts eat, where they live, and how to care for them.  (Thankfully, Geico was being kept on the back porch so I don't have a newt wandering through the house...that I know of!) 

It looks like Nathanial and I will be heading to Cary, NC September 8th-11th for him to visit Shepherds' Theological Seminary, which he plans to attend for the spring 2014 semester.  (He wants to check the school out before committing to a move to NC.)  I'm going along to help with the driving, check out where he'll be moving to,  and have the treat of meeting up with some friends who live in NC.

We're all looking forward to my sister Kathy and brother-in-law James coming for a visit next weekend.  It isn't often that we have family from Maine visit, so it's a special gift to all of us that they are making the long trip in this direction as part of their vacation.

As I type this, there are flocks of Canadian geese flying over...I don't want to think about what that means!

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