Our First Week of School

We did it!  We made it through the first week of school, the first week of homeschool, the first football game, and more.

These two headed back to their private, Christian high school.  Evenings with them have been full of signing papers, covering books, hearing about new teachers and new students, and a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

The rest of us get to stay at home.  Katie is showing me the drive thru she built for her bus.

We got to review a very cool playset all about China!  Since we love China, this was a big hit at our house.

We're going to be learning California history this year, so we started off coloring the California bear flag.

Our first art project this year comes from the 4th grade Home Art Studio DVD.  I've talked before about how much I love these DVDs.  They really are great.

Paul realized after I took this picture that the kids had neglected to paint the tree shadows, so we added those later.

This week was Eli's birthday!

He (finally!) got a cell phone!  He was one of less than a handful of freshmen who didn't have a phone at school last year.

In case you missed our review of Can Do Cubes, you may want to check that out.  In addition to Katie working through the printable workbooks with them, this week I had Jack do his spelling words with the cubes.

Hannah used the phonogram game tiles from our Logic of English package.  Next time we'll switch who gets what.

Years ago, I discovered A Beka's Art Projects line.  When Zach and Annaliese were little, we worked though a few of these books.  I ended up with a leftover first grade book in the school room and decided that Katie should work through that this year, since she's probably my last first grader.

Last year, I carried Eli piggyback across a parking lot after his birthday, just to prove that I can still pick up my 14 year old.  Now he's 15, so I had to give it another shot.  He's about 130# now, so I'm feeling pretty accomplished.  For an old mom.

Cake, ice cream, singing, candles.

Hannah is wicked good at Connect 4!  I like this game because it goes fast.

I made a "stack & whack" batch of leggings this week!

While I had red thread in the serger and coverstich machines, I did a red hoodie, too.  I'm starting to get into autumn mode.

Thursday was our library day this week.  The kids got 25 books, and Friday I heard, "I only have one book left to read."  Yikes.

Our library has a park next door, so we played for a while to burn off some energy and soak up some sunshine.  Call it P.E.

Our little visitors are fearless climbers now.  It's such fun to see how much they've changed since last year, and watch them explore their world.

Jack has hit that adolescent "no camera" phase, so I have to catch what I can of him, photo wise.

This is an after workout shot.  Both boys have PT/drill on Thursdays.  My Army boy and my Marine boy.  I know it's still a few months away, but the house just won't be the same without these two.

Friday was the first football game.  The players dress up for school on game days.  Brianna is having fun being a water girl.  It's like having a whole team full of brothers.  (JV lost and Varsity won.)

The mornings are getting chilly enough for a sweater or hoodie.  We have a date for our trip to the pumpkin patch.  Next week will be September.  It's starting to feel like autumn.


This post may be linked up at these linky parties.

Thanks for clicking for us!