Tea for Seven

Seven years ago, we began homeschooling.

Carrie was just five years old.

On that first day of school, I wanted to do something special. I decided to have a First Day of School Tea Party and invite Grandma to come over to join us. I remember certain parts of that day well. That summer, I had planted a flower garden. I had zinnias and cosmos--flowers that my mom always planted from seed. I remember dressing Carrie and then taking her to the garden to pick some flowers for the centerpiece of our tea table. Then I took her first day of school picture.

Kindergarten.



That year, 2001, there were four of us in attendance: Grandma, Carrie, William and me. We all drank tea from our favorite tea cups.



This year, we had our Eighth Annual First Day of School Tea Party. Paul's grandma now lives close by and has attended for several years. And now we have Joshua and Matthew--O.K., Matthew didn't really attend. He napped. But this was Joshua's first year to actually sit at the tea table instead of nap. Our drink of choice has also changed from tea to coffee and chocolate milk.

We also don't dress up as nicely as we did that first year.



Grandma and GG bring the kids bags of school supplies to begin our year. It's so much fun! I LOVE school supplies! And I am so thankful for all they do to support our school year and make it exciting for the kids. It means a lot to me.




And to the kids.





See that cookie loaded down with icing? Grandma brings them--they've become a much-anticipated tradition.




Like I said, Josh didn't nap this year.
But he wanted to!

Happy Third Birthday, Sweet Joshy-Boy

"I'm 3, and my clothes still fit me!"

That's what Joshua told his brother William on his birthday morning. Don't you just wonder what runs through a little one's head sometimes? How are they making sense of the world around them?

So sweet.

After many references to pirates in the past few months--we finally saw the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Josh has watched some Dora the Explorer and Backyardigans with a pirate theme--we decided on a pirate birthday party. It was lots of fun to plan!



Josh went over to Grandma's house to spend a few days this summer. He and Grandma made a pirate flag to hang at the birthday party. "Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh!"



Here are some of the party people getting ready for the Treasure Hunt. We usually have a Fourth of July treasure hunt at our house, but this year it was too wet. We decided to save it for Joshua's birthday--which worked out just right after deciding to do the pirate theme.
Party People from right to left: Uncle Brian (Paul's brother), Papa B and Grandma Gilda (my dad and his wife), and Grandpa Atkinson (Paul's dad).



Now the search begins...
Grandma (Judy) and I looked on as the kids followed the picture clues to the treasure.



Aaahhh! Treasure! GG (Paul's grandma) and Marilyn (Judy's cousin) look on as the kids divide out their booty! If you ask me, the chocolate coins and the little Hershey gold bars were the most valuable. I think Josh liked the paper money and the bubbles.



Then it's time for the presents!



And some money to spend all on his own...



And last, but not least, cake time. Josh was so tired by this time that he ate just a little ice cream but no cake.




Joshua got his first "big boy bike" this year. It's a Tonka construction bike that we found at Wal-Mart. He was so excited! He had a tough time learning to pedal--he's always ridden everything by walking his feet along.



Here he is sitting at the new school desk that Grandma and Grandpa gave him. He loves this desk--he sits at it all the time. He keeps all of his school supplies in it and does his "schoolwork" there.



I love birthdays! Not just because of all the excitement in planning and then the festivities the day of, but because it reminds me what a blessing that person is. Joshua wanted to hear stories of the day he was born. He was an emergency C-section because of a prolapsed cord. We talked about how quickly he was born and how many people helped to see that he was born safely. Paul and I gave Joshua the Bible verse Joshua 1:9 as he was being examined and cleaned up a little.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Wordless Wednesday....Aaaarrrrrggggghhh!

Dinosaurs, Unicorns and Blogging

Where has the time gone?
Where did July go?
I can hardly believe that we are already a week into August!

And, I'm wondering if my blogging hobby has become as extinct as the dinosaurs...or as nonexistent as the unicorn.

This month finds us preparing for Josh's third birthday on the 14th and for our first day of school on the 18th.

As you might guess, every time that I get on the computer lately, it hasn't been to blog or to read blogs. I've been researching and ordering curriculum and looking for good ideas for preschool themes to use with Josh. I think that I have only one more "have-to" curriculum that I need to buy, and "Dinosaurs" is going to be our first preschool theme.

Joshua asked me just the other day if we would see dinosaurs at the zoo. I guess I never really thought much about what a little guy might be thinking when he sees pictures of dinosaurs. Of course he might assume that they are as real as any other animal he might see at the zoo.

Another reason for my blogging absence has been because our computer has had a little time off this summer. Two weeks ago, it went to Cousin Kyle's for a spa weekend. Kyle cleaned it all out and checked for viruses, etc. It's so nice to have it back in good running order for the start of our school year.

THANK YOU, KYLE!

I have to get back to school stuff now, but I will leave you with one of Carrie's favorite past-times...

messing with Joshua's hair. She usually goes for the faux-hawk, but this time he allowed her to give him a twisty unicorn horn.

Hello Muddah...

Paul and the big kids went to church camp last week.

They had a really good time. This is the second year that Paul and Carrie have gone. William went for the first time this year. Only kids from our church's 5th, 6th and 7th grade go with parents from our church as counselors. It's a fun time for them to all get to know each other better.



I stayed home with the little boys. Josh had a pretty hard time. He kept asking when his best friends were going to be home. Carrie anticipated this and took a picture of herself and Josh before she left. She then put it through the printer on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. Josh carried it around all weekend.



I tried to keep things exciting so Josh wouldn't think about how much he missed Paul, Carrie and William. Thankfully GG (Great Grandma) came and spent the night with us the first night. She has a special way of giving all her attention to the kids. She plays with them and tells them stories. Josh didn't feel quite so sad while she was here--except for a little while right before bed when it got dark outside. It was so much fun to have her here. I enjoyed being able to just sit and visit with her.



My brother, Rob, came the next day. He stayed with us the rest of the weekend. We went to Dunkin' Donuts (Josh's request--I was happy to oblige), and we went Pirate Party shopping for Josh's upcoming third birthday. We also ordered pizza and watched a video of Josh's choice. I think that Rob was happy to just sit with Josh on his lap and watch "Oswald," one of Josh's favorite TV shows.

He surprised us by riding his new motorcycle down to see us!

Oooooh! Aaaaaaaah!



Paul, Carrie and William came back home with lots of stories, sore muscles and sunburns...




William with a particularly bad sunburn...



I've never seen a sunburn blister in person before! I hope to never see one again!

Once the pain is gone, I'm sure the memories will be sweet.

Wordless Wednesday...Happy Birthday, Uncle Brian!

The Corn is Always Sweeter...

Isn't my neighbor's corn just beautful?!




I know, for anything to be better on the other side of the fence, you have to have something to compare with the "what is better."

I admit, I ain't got nothin' when it comes to corn on my side of the fence. Anyway, not of my own labor.

But I do have corn from our local orchard--and boy was it good!



Isn't it fun when you reintroduce something to a 2-year old? He was only one last summer, so he didn't remember the joy of corn-on-the-cob! He sure loved it and was telling everyone he met up with the next day about his sweet corn-on-the-cob.



My dad grows a pretty big sweet corn patch up north. When William was very young, he would tell people that Papa B was coming down and bringing sweet corn. There's just nothing like home-grown sweet corn!



And here's Carrie. She gets to cut hers off the cob this summer. Braces! It goes so slowly that way! Maybe next summer she will be able to eat it off the cob again.



And then there's Matthew. He's been joining us at the table lately. He just can't figure out what all the slurping, crunching, and mmmmmmming is all about.



Sorry, no pictures of Paul and me eating our corn.


But we'll leave you with this.



Watch out, Tonya! This bunny looks like he's hungry! I don't know how high he can hop, but he might be in for something closer to the ground.



And my dog isn't going to be much help.

Fruit Bobs

One morning as Josh and I were watching TV together, and we saw one of those little shows between shows featuring a young boy making Fruit Kabobs. Josh said, "I wanna do that Fruit Bobs."

Since I am not the model mom when it comes to feeding my kids all the fruits and vegetables that they need everyday, I thought that it would be a fun way to serve some extra fruit. I even had some skewers in one of the drawers in the kitchen.

So, off we went to the new Wal-Mart to check out their produce department. We were pleasantly surprised at the variety and quality of the fruit we found!

And I was pleasantly surprised to see what a popular idea this was!

What was especially fun was to see the combinations that the kids put together on a skewer. Some skewers had more variety than others...




And Josh just kind of ate as he went...




Everyone enjoyed Fruit Kabobs! We also served them for the family on the Fourth of July instead of a pan of brownies. Can you believe it?! I've even had the kids asking for Fruit Kabobs.



Do you think that asparagus, lima beans and brussel sprouts would be as popular?