Week Long Procrastination

I am possibly the laziest blogger. I have a problem. I have to work really, really hard to blog consistently. I have started blogs then let them dwindle away. Actually, in that light, I've been doing pretty well with this one! Well, as summer has begun, my motivation to keep up with posting has flagged. To add to that, I haven't been getting many pictures with my phone. Rather I have been using my camera (crazy, huh?), and I am way too lazy to connect the cables to my computer, download, then upload here. With my phone, I just upload it directly to this site, and I'm pretty much done. Even uploading pics today has taken a L-O-N-G time. :(

Well, on to the updates. We had a great Memorial Weekend at the ranch. Kirk and the boy did a fair amount of fishing on the "pier" behind the guest house that we stayed in (the "white house"). There was another guest house on the property (the "yellow house") as well as the main house. The ranch is huge!

We rode on an amazing zipline (about 1/4 mile?) and slid on a slip-n-slide that was about 1/2 the length of the zipline. We actually had a jeep come and pick us up from the bottom of each to get us back to the top. Crazy. You can see the Transformer getting hooked up just above on the right. That's me on the left side on the platform. Just in front is the 9-ft tall slip and slide. The zipline was directly over it.

We also went swimming in the pool at the yellow house. It was pretty cold. The weather was weird all weekend. Pouring down, misting, then hot, hot, hot sunshine. Then rainy again. Back and forth. We did alright despite it though.

I, unfortunately, have few pics because my cellphone died, and I didn't take a charger. The camera ended up staying at the white house and never got used. My husband got a lot of video but hasn't sent any to me so I can't share them with you.

I do have pics from before and after that I haven't posted yet though. They are primarily from the Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet during which all ranks were promoted. You can see the Transformer getting his gold Wolf neckerchief and slide.

To the right is the Kitty Cat (in the middle) with her two best friends from Cub Scouts on either side.

Also are pics and videos of the soccer season wrap-up. Each of the kids received their participation trophies. This is the Kitty Cat's first, so she was particularly excited about it for awhile.



This video is just a short clip of the Kitty Cat getting her first trophy.

To the left is the Kitty Cat's KinderSoccer team (Go, Dragons!). To the right is the proud achiever.






On the left side here is the Transformer's 1st-2nd grade soccer team (Go, Dragon Warriors!). There he is, spent, on the right. His game was at 1pm on a 95+ degree day.




The children's team names were not only similar, the teams had exactly the same number for their respective league, #4!

So they have a break from all activities for one and a half weeks. Then the Kitty Cat begins Rookie Leaguers, a 3-week intro class to soccer, basketball, and t-ball. In two weeks from now, the Transformer will begin learning how to play basketball! Should be fun. The week after that, they both begin VBS. I will write intermittently over the summer, as we have interesting or fun things to report. Stay cool!

Fishin' on the pier in Athens TX

Boy's catch on Saturday morning! Kirk's still working on his. The girl has already retired for the morning.

Last Day of School!

School is over! We are so ready for summer and Memorial Weekend. We have been invited to a ranch this weekend for some fun! Will post about it next week.

End of School Coming Up!

We've been working hard all week to make summer come faster. How are we doing that, you ask? Well, we're homeschoolers, we've got flexibility and authority! Whoo hoo!

So we are compressing the last several weeks of our scheduled curriculum into this week and next week so that we will be all done with this school year before Memorial weekend. My reason for this is partly because both I and the kids are getting antsy with school but also because we have been invited to a Memorial weekend ranch party, and I KNOW it will be hard to get back into the "last few weeks of school" mindset again. I'd rather get back to a "let's play now and clean up and let Mom get her schoolwork done" kind of mindset instead when we return from several days of fun and frolic.

We've done well this week so far. In fact, we have added in many resources since we started using the CM Organizer so we are doing more than several weeks worth of work in two weeks! I know it stretches the kids' patience and is not very CM . . . but it's necessary for our sanity to get some boredom time in too.

They won't be bored for too long, however, since they are signed up for three weeks of VBS and/or Cub Scout Day Camp during our break. Additionally, the Kitty Cat is signed up for three weeks of introductory sports with the Transformer signed up for basketball training. I'm waiting on signing him for the basketball season because it doesn't look like there are many people signed up yet. In fact, only one person is registered for his league right now. Those are the only things they have going for sure over the summer. Otherwise, we will go to free summer movies, storytimes at the museum and library, swimming, and whatever else may turn up. In the meantime, I am hoping to get a lot accomplished for my own studies so that I can be up and running for a profit soon!

At the Speed of Training Wheels

Riding bikes on the bike path at the park on a hot, quiet Thursday afternoon.

Yesterday we went to 1st Tuesday at the Austin Stone for the first time. It was wonderful! The Kitty Cat went into childcare and said she enjoyed it and would go again. The Transformer went into the Perspectives class, which is for elementary-aged children, and said he really enjoyed it and would go again. Kirk didn't go because he had a bad toothache, which he is recovering from after treatment this morning.

I ended up running into someone I know from Community Group! We sat together and were grateful to have found each other because each of us was attending for the first time. We prayed, sang, prayed, had communion, sang some more, then had a corporate prayer before being dismissed. It lasted 1.5 hours. We got there late so I'm not sure how it started out.

Well, from there we got a list of needed items for many people in the St. John neighborhood in north Austin who had lost their homes and possessions in an apartment fire Monday. So today, instead of having school, I had the kids help me pull together some items that we could donate to the victims. We are planning to drive them up to the receiving center tomorrow.

Quiet Monday (or Not Crazy Monday)

A rare picture taken of the Transformer's soccer practice. He's improved quite a bit since the beginning of the season.

noodle2
Jeanette

More noodle
Jeanette

Noodle Art

Unfortunately, the audio quality on this is really poor. Such as shame as it is really, really cool.

Noodle Art

Transformer wrapped in noodles.

We had gone to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum to watch Monsters vs. Aliens on IMAX 3D. Afterwards, we took a little walk across the street onto the UT Austin campus to check out the Blanton museum there. Around the corner, we spied this crazy interactive sculpture made of yellow tubing hanging down. The kids had a blast! We really enjoyed it as well.

Big Ol' Glasses

At the IMAX 3D Monsters vs. Aliens!

Slow Days

Yesterday and today were pretty uneventful days. Other than school, and volleyball tonight, the kids have had free rein to play. Yesterday was an impromptu super soaker/water hose battle between my son and his friend. The little girl got caught in the crossfire and was pretty upset about it. Until it became funny.

Volleyball was fun. Kirk's brother joined us. It was so muggy tonight though. I'm worried about the actuality of our playing come June-August. I guess we'll play as long as we can.

Today began my formal training period for leadership in Cub Scouts. I thought I would volunteer to lead the Wolf Cubs next school year but wanted to get an idea of what was expected first. Fortunately, I can do the training modules before offering to volunteer for anything specific. I'm almost regretting not volunteering at Day Camp in June. Almost. It would certainly give me some real-world experience in working with the boys in a formal capacity and, most importantly, would be limited to that one week. But the little Kitty Cat is already registered for VBS that week, so I can't be driving back and forth to get each kid where he or she is supposed to be.

I had also been planning to volunteer to lead the Pathfinders at the local AHG. I may still do that. The reason I hesitate is because another troop may be chartered soon at the church where we go for Cub Scouts. Even if it were to be approved and followed through, however, my little Kitty Cat would very probably be the only Pathfinder. All the other girls would begin at Tenderfoot or higher, and the AHG ranks generally span 3 years/grades. Pathfinder is the only one that lasts for one year (K). From our experience a few months ago, I know that the local troop meets as a troop for all of ten minutes, then breaks into ranks for an hour and forty minutes or so, then recongregates for the last ten minutes. If the structure of the meetings are determined by HQ, then the Kitty Cat will be in a class all by herself or possibly one other girl for most of the meeting. All of her friends at Cub Scouts are at least two years older than she is.

So. I am considering going ahead and registering her with the local troop so that she can be in the company of other girls and I can gain experience leading her rank but also participate as much as we are allowed to in the new troop in order to support its fledgling year. I just don't think we can contribute to it financially, which could possibly affect its approval if not enough girls are listed for the proposed charter. ???

Tomorrow holds soccer games in store for the morning. Then church on Sunday as well as working with the preschoolers during the second service for me.