Terribly Busy = Blog Neglect

Sorry about the neglect! It is that time of year again... I have been preserving food like crazy! That means that if we DO do something else, it isn't documented well at all. But a bit on what we are doing:

My kids have been taking this truly amazing history class all summer, taught by my friend Heather. She is wonderful and the kids are really enjoying it! Each week they do two crafts and work their way through the Story of the World curriculum that we only got 1/4 way through last school year (due to the moves). The crafts are set up so they relate (and so reinforce) the things that the kids are learning and I am AMAZED at how much they retain. Alex especially, has a wonderful mind for history and comes home with these facts he can't wait to pass on. Heather is an amazing teacher and I am thrilled to have her working with the kiddos for this wonderful class.

They just started an Orchestra class taught by my best friend, Sarah. They loved this class! They came back talking about like music was the best thing they had ever heard.... there they were, on the way to the ferry, singing Peter and the Wolf with accurate sound effects and chatting about conducting music. Sarah has a different guest speaker each week and a different musical instrument area for focus. Tuesday it was Conducting... today I believe is Percussion Instruments, and then they will move on to string, woodwind, etc. I am excited to be able to build on this class for the rest of the school year with music lessons. What an AWESOME introduction to the year!

We have been doing an art class on Fridays, taught by yours truly! :) I love it and I think the kids are getting a lot out of it. We 'meet' a new master of art each week and we talk about their techniques and their lives and then try out some of their mediums on paper. It has been WONDERFUL and I am excited to keep going.

We have been taking FULL advantage of the tail end of summer and taking every field trip we can. I posted about our beach tour, we have also been to the zoo about 30 times (not kidding) and watched new animals there, and now we have taken a ferry ride to the island and drive around that area and visit friends.

On top of all this, we have been doing tons of crafts.

We have been working on improving Cyan's handsewing skills, and Alex is getting ready to build his first battery powered car! Alex is really enjoying painting, and Cyan drawing (as always)... and even Logan has gotten in on the action with some drawings that he has started putting titles to. It is so cute to see his little circles and then have him say "Lookit mama! It a ladybug!" :) The kids have blossomed over the summer and everyone has enjoyed the new house. I feel so blessed to start the school year off in this space.

It has been a VERY full August, but I am looking forward to slowing down, and getting our workboxes back in gear for the 'official' school year. Rainy days and bookwork... here we come!