Progress

School has started. So that's it. It's all done. It's all she wrote. Summer is over.


Except for those last few 80 degree days that we may still have, and Aaron might be talked into putting up the inflatable waterslide one more time, or at least to hook up the slip & slide. Folks, we may not ever have a pool, but we DO like our water!


Leah has returned to school, with no immediate plans for homeschooling. I still think she's a little disappointed though, especially when she heard about how the boys and I all took naps the other day. It was the first hint I've had from her that school is tiring -she said, "I wish *I* could take a nap!" The girl hasn't had a nap (except during extended travel or sickness) since she was about 3 years old!


I informed her that although this week I've been hauling the boys into the school to walk her to class in the morning, next week I would like to just drop her off. "Disgruntled" would be the best way to describe her reaction. Not that I can blame her too much - there are WAAAY more kids here than at her school last year (same school, different campus), and last year the oldest kids were 3rd graders. Here, it's up to seniors.


What makes me so much more comfortable about this is that I personally know quite a few of those big kids, and Leah even knows several from VBS and other church functions. I also know that a handful of those students have a particular gift for working with kids, and are kind enough to help her if needed.

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Ben has started his "schoolwork", also. He did his first lesson wearing only a t-shirt and undies. Aaron asked why, and I explained that he had asked earlier if he could wear only undies, and since I was waiting for him to poop, I let him. And what is the point of homeschooling if you can't do your lessons in your underwear? I ask you.

It was either the comfort of not wearing pants, the cuddling and one-on-one with mom, or the confidence that comes from knowing all the material, but he enjoyed it so much that he got upset when I said we were finished. The next day we took naps instead, and I got earfull for that, too! Yesterday we had a lively discussion on markers vs. crayons, read a Bible story, learned a memory verse, and read a few storybooks. Today Ben talked Daddy into doing schoolwork while I was out for a bit, and got to randomly pick what pages to do. He chose the review pages at the end of the book, and seemed to get it just fine.

Oops.

This year may be a big self-esteem boost for him, but is that so bad, really? He has started to write his own name, which stuns me, since a few months ago he refused to even TRY to write any letters. I have also learned, via the evaluation section, that although Ben can identify the alphabet in capital letters, but not in lower case, and neither can he recite the alphabet. Something to work on!

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Adam is walking, people! Have I neglected to mention that lately! The child waited until after his 1st birthday to start crawling. But in the last couple of weeks he has rapidly improved his upright motion. The best part is the huge grin on his face the whole time. You just know he's bursting with pride at his mad walking skills.

He rarely crawls anymore. He may not get from point A to point B without falling a few times, but he gets right back up and continues on. When he walks towards you, however, be ready to catch him...he walks just far enough, and then falls the rest of the way.

Because no matter how cool independence is, a hug from mom or dad is worth a tumble!