Roasting Marshmallows

The temperatures are dropping. Summer is quickly coming to an end. But there was time for one last marshmallow roast. Brittany came to spend the weekend with us while Levi was off hunting.

As the sun slowly sank on the horizon, we huddled close to the fire and enjoyed one last, golden, gooey marshmallow.

Random Days of Summer

Summer went by way too fast! There was just too much to do!

 We found parks to play at . . . 

Learned to roller blade, went swimming with friends . . .

 And sometimes, we just took silly pictures at Walmart.

 And for the grand finale . . . we went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair.

"Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have 

it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night."
~Hal Borland~

Back-to-School

Morgan and Zane were so excited to wait until September to start school this year. It still feels like summer though so it's hard to think about school.

Zane is excited to be in 1st grade and is looking forward to a full day of school. Morgan is glad to be in 5th grade but would prefer to stay home. (School is not her favorite thing.)

Today, they got to ride the bus home.

Celebrate!

August is birthday month at our house. 

We start celebrating early and party all month long!

Brittany & Levi and Rick & Sharon came early in the month. We had a fun party weekend with them which included a day of shopping and two yummy cakes.

Zane wanted cupcakes, Spiderman cupcakes, on his birthday. The neighbor kids joined us for cake and presents. He was in heaven!

Morgan was thankful to celebrate her birthday this year before school started. She wanted watermelon for her birthday so I tried to turn it into a cake. She loved it! And since she is now double digits she got one candle. She thought that was pretty silly. (I actually couldn't find any more candles in the house. Too many parties!)

We also celebrated another weekend with Brit & Levi. (I told you it was a month long celebration.) The kids had so much fun at the farm in Arbon!

And it just wouldn't be a celebration with out some shooting practice. The kids had to show off their skills for Rick & Sharon.

Happy Birthday!

Gold Medal Gymnast

Morgan has wanted to do gymnastics since she was about 5 years old. Finally, we live close to an awesome gym with great coaches! So, we decided to try it out this summer.

She had some friends in Nebraska who had shown her a few things on recess so she was able to jump right in and do a cartwheel. A month later she is learning how to do a round-off back handspring. She's landed on her head a few times but absolutely loves her class.

We also discovered that her lower leg muscles are extremely tight. She struggles to point her toes and has to do lots of extra stretches to loosen up the muscles. 

And what does Zane do during gymnastics?

  He hangs out with me in the loft.

Morgan has a new goal - gold medal gymnast.

Joy of Learning

My approach to Summer School is different this year. Instead of “let’s see how much learning we can do while having fun” I’m trying “let’s see how much fun we can have while learning.” Instead of announcing it’s time to do school activities I simply pull out a game and they don’t even know they are learning to count money. 

Our first project was an autobiography. We learned the difference between a biography and an autobiography by looking at two books about Helen Keller. (Morgan loved Helen's example of determination and perseverance.) Then the kids worked on writing their own. It amazes me how different my two learners are.

 Morgan worked carefully. She thought about what to write and wrote slow and cautious. She drew her pictures with great detail. Zane quickly wrote a few sentences and wanted to draw his hand for every picture. He had two pages done and Morgan was still working on her first.

We've done a few "boring" worksheets as well but tried to focus more on reading. Fortunately, both of my kids LOVE to read. We've had some great conversations about the books we've read!

I saw this cute idea for an "I am" poster. I can't find the website now but it's somewhere out there.

Morgan helped me create a list of words that describe her and then I printed them in different fonts. Then we created a face that looks like her, with a flower in her hair.
 

 
We cut everything out and glued it all on pink cardstock to create her own "I am" poster so she can remember how amazingly wonderful she is.

The best part about Summer School... learning in your swimsuit. Yes!

How do you stay cool?

It's been hot! Not quite Nebraska hot, but still HOT. We're thankful that it does at least cool down in the evening but during the day...

 

We find ways to stay cool!

The kids have had so much fun on the Slippin' Slide!

One day we made sponge balls and had a great water fight!

Morgan discovered that if she sprayed blocks of wood with water and then drew on them with wet chalk, it's kind of like paint. And it looks so pretty! Zane helped out by spraying water.

 

This summer, we have eaten our weight in popsicles and spent a few hours laying under the ceiling fan. Sometimes, we turn on Christmas movies and pretend it's cold.

How do you stay cool?