Update

Well summer is long gone, or so it seems.
We are home from the road and have been greeted by a week of rain.
The kids are home from Grandma's & Grandpa's house and I am officially getting a grip on being a mother of three.
We have softly started school, with next week being the week of getting into the swing of things with a more rigid structure.  I'm a little nervous because we've only done two days worth of "school" and the kids have informed me that they don't like it. Not the Lord's Prayer, not the Phonics practice, not the coloring, not the letter magnets, not anything I've introduced.  Yikes. I hope they get over that or it could make for a frustrating fall for all of us! Maybe the paper mache globe project next week will be more up their alley, though I'm doubtful as to the calming effects paste, paper and paint in a small confined area in the hands of  two small children will have on me!!! Whatever it takes right? I've really been enjoying using the tools from this blog

for my planning and for interesting and engaging activities. I think the kids will like school more once I have all the printing and laminating of activities from this site completed for them to enjoy. I purchased the Letter of the Week Curriculum but am using it more as a letter of the Day since Dade already seems comfortable with recognizing and the sound of most of the letters.  I think it is good reinforcement and it is a good way to introduce the letters to Matia who is still preschool age.  I also bought the Expedition Earth Geography curriculum, it has tonnes of good ideas and references, well worth the money spent in my opinion. I'm excitied to get going on it (even if it does include a paper mache project or two).  So, in spite of the fact that my kids aren't jumping up and down excited about "doing school" like I have been for the last few weeks as I've planned their education, I think it will be fun and interesting once we get started for real. Pray for us! This could be a wild ride this year. Any of you lurkers who have any advice for me in the homeschool department, please be sure to comment! I can use all the help I can get. Actually any advice on any subject is always welcome! I have so much to learn about being a mom, a wife, a friend, a teacher, and about life in general.

Speaking of being a mom...
Kayla is being a dream baby still.  I love how small and needy she is, and how content she is, so that it seems easy to meet her needs. She is getting up usually once at night, but goes right back to sleep after she gets some food in her belly.  She makes me feel capable and confident as a mom...so far.  The other two keep me humble don't worry!

Matia is my wild card. I never really know what she is thinking, but she is thinking all the time.  She has given up her stuffed elephant "Elphie" to Kayla, but I can see that it is difficult for her.  She tries not to let on, but when I see her with "Elphie" and ask her what she is doing with it, she quickly whips her thumb out of her mouth and says "I'm just giving him to Kayla". Uh huh, sure you were. She is very sure she knows just what everyone else should be doing and is not shy about giving out instructions, and I need to remind her on occasions that I'm the mom, and that she needs to listen to me.  She has grown a foot this summer, or so it seems, and is wearing size 5 shirts!!!! She is three and a half years old!  She is so beautiful that I want to stare at her all day long.  She is graceful and self assured, something I've never been, and she takes my breath away.  She still loves all things girly, and I look forward to taking her shopping and to get a manicure and going for coffee and doing all kinds of girly stuff with her. I just hope her sneaky streak disappears before she is 14, or at least that she does not hone her skills any further before then.  If she's anything like her Dad or even me for that matter, we could be in for it! Lord preserve her....and us!

If Matia is everything girly, then Dade is everything a little boy should be.  He's into cars and guns and bugs and animals and explosions and anything fast or loud or both!  He's got an independent streak and he's been most annoyed with me lately because I keep on telling him what to do (of all the nerve)! If left to his own devices he would spend the day playing with his cars, watching Myth Busters or Top Gear, playing with the kittens, or shooting the walls and furniture with his arsenal of suction cup guns. He's a thinker and likes to ponder how things are made and how they work.  He will be good at building things when he is older; just like his dad.

I'm hoping the weather gets a little nicer before it winter comes.  I'm trying to get outside and get some exercise to get rid of some of my baby jiggle. So far I've gone for a walk two days in a row! Yay me! LOL, baby steps, baby steps...  some other remodeling projects we have on the go include our bathroom, and our yard.  We have completely gutted our bathroom, so we are continuing to live in our camper until that project if completed (hopefully in the next week or two), we also have a yard full of weeds.  We had hoped to seed grass this fall, but it seems that the cold weather is setting in sooner than we had hoped, and we will likely not have seed in before the hard frost shows up.  At least we can kill off some of the weeds/saplings that have taken over our yard, and we will be able to seed in the spring.  Unfortunately that means another winter and spring of muddy boots and dirty floors.

Mike has a hundred and one projects swirling around in his head this fall.  His work at the water stores is just beginning and he hopes that he and his partner will be able to build up a delivery route and increase sales this fall, winter and spring.  He is also thinking about making our concession prettier for next season, and maybe even building up our concession business to something we can run year round (doing trade shows and other indoor events, selling ice cream and other novelty foods). In addition to that he has some nearly completed projects he'd like to get out of the way; he has rebuilt a picker and would like to assemble it and sell it this fall, and the outdoor wood boiler still needs to be completed or revamped.

This fall and winter are sure to fly by with all the projects and ideas swirling around us. We look forward to a busy year full of accomplishments and experiences.  For now I'm planning to brew my 3rd cup of coffee and figure out what to make for supper.