Class At The Lake

 I was sure that the last time we packed up and went home from the lake it was going to be a final goodbye to summer swimming and late nights in front of the campfire but the warm weather beckoned us to come out and play again and who were we to say no *grin*.

 The forecast was for non stop sun so we quickly packed all our clothing and as much food as we could find in the fridge and raced out to the lake in hopes of finding a spot right on the beach. I think a few of the older campers were a little confused though to see our three children tumble out of the backseat when we hit the campsite. 

Public school had already started a week before but the freedom of homeschooling blesses us with the opportunities to travel whenever and wherever the wind may blow us :) That's not to say that we weren't doing any learning while we were away though! Our oldest son is in grade 8 this fall so we packed along his core subjects and the two of us worked on his lessons as the water lapped towards our toes and the wind ruffled our hair.

 Being surrounded by nature gave us ample opportunity to study science through observation and discussion as we explored the parts of dragonflies found floating in the lake....

studied the quirky habits of the squirrels all around us as we watched them chatter, play, and gather seeds they stuffed into the hollow holes they had made in the cedar trees.

 We made a little art in the form of posters notifying the squirrels just where to find the tasty pinecones we had collected for them...

 and collected specimens that the children begged to bring home. I'm not sure that a crayfish would make a very good pet though and had to gracefully decline the invitation to add him to our family LOL.

 Since I wouldn't allow Mr. Crayfish to come home with us he was turned into a scary sea monster that needed guarding by the hoards of playmobil men that seem to travel with us everywhere. That was until he escaped :)

 The days were so warm that the children spent most of their days in the lake swimming and playing and even Hubby braved the water and joined in with the splashing and jumping off of the swim dock.

 We discovered a trail to the most amazing hidden lagoon while exploring to. A perfect spot for swimming and jumping in off the rocks.

 And the water was the most amazing color of green as it sparkled in the warm sunlight :)

 A perfect week of both school work and play.

 Hugs,

Rosina

right now, I AM

....inhaling that new book smell :)

Is it ever to early to think about new school books?? Apparently my 12 year old thinks it is LOL. I've been saving my money since last September and early last week I put in my yearly curriculum order with Sonlight. This fall we'll be starting grade 7 and normally when the new catalogue comes out there's always a handful of items that have increased in price so I'm beating them to the punch and buying them now :)

So many good books this year! January and February always seem to be the months when I sort of feel tired with what we're doing and having all these new novels is really going to spur me on to finish up this year by the end of May. Plus I really want to read some Charles Dickens with him. Maybe I'll have to pack some of them along when we go camping this summer *grin*. I just won't tell him they are school related *wink*.

Hugs,
Rosina

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Finding Normal

I brought my dad home Sunday afternoon after 6 days in the hospital and I think we're all still struggling to find some sort of normalcy. The traveling back and forth to the hospital an hour away each day has taken its toll on me and left me feeling drained and we're trying to get back into a normal routine again.

Dad seems to be doing well. He has no pain at his incision site and his bodily functions are starting to return so that is wonderful. We had a bit of a scare tonight when I helped him change his dressing though. He had some weeping from part of the incision and I ended up calling the nursing hotline for advice but she let me know that it wasn't out of the ordinary if there was no sign of infection and if the weeping stopped and didn't get any worse than it would be alright. So far it seems to have stopped so we'll just keep a close eye on it for now. Thursday is the big day when we finally find out if any of the cancer has spread into his lymph nodes and I think that once we have that final okay that he is in the clear we will all feel so much better.

For now I'm busying myself with party preparations for L's 7th birthday :) Her actual birthday was last week while dad was in the hospital but we postponed it and on Friday we will finally have a big party for her. I can't wait. I'm working on a special bunting for her and some pinwheel party favors, special cupcakes and more. I always love to put on a big spread for her and treat her like a real little princess. I know she won't be disappointed with this years surprises *grin*.

I can't believe summer is finally winding down to. Only a handful of days left before we get back to our homeschooling routine. I've been pulling out books and making plans but I never set anything in stone as I like to have the freedom to mix it up :)

How about you, are you ready for these care free summer days to end?
~ Rosina

Rain Rain Go Away

We've had some pretty wet weather these last few days and today was no exception. Actually as I'm writing this the rain is hammering against the windows as the bird feeders swing wildly and the house groans uncomfortably.

Needless to say we're going a little stir crazy not being able to spend as much time outdoors as we would have liked. So as a fun little outing I packed everyone into the car along with a few school books that we are reading right now and headed down to the wharf.

There we could watch the birds and sea otters play, boats coming and going and get pounded by the rain and wind while still staying dry *grin*. It was a nice change. I read aloud for about an hour while the 3 of them colored and drew pictures to go along with the story in the backseat :)

I hear we're supposed to get the sunshine back by the weekend... boy do I hope so!

~ Rosina