Soccer Season

The kids started their practices the beginning of August and have already had two weekends of games. The are all very excited to play this year and are doing really well. It's so much fun to watch them, but the schedule is a bit exhausting. Their soccer practices are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Then three games on Saturdays and an occasional Sunday game. Ethan was the last one to get his jersey and we told him he should get  number 4 too. Although, he said he wanted 11, but he ended up with number 10 instead. But, he's happy with 10 since it's close to 11.

Another Year of Homeschooling

We ended our first three weeks of homeschooling last week. Things went really well and I am enjoying my week off. I have decided to do three weeks on, one week off this year. I think it will be a good balance; however, I'm already seeing that some months might need to be sporadic days off that make-up a week depending on our schedule. 

The kids loved learning about Columbus and mapping America. We also read about Amerigo Vespucci and Ferdinand Magellan. I had some tracing paper that they got a little crazy with. Jacob traced each state and  the US many times over. Him and Ethan are also learning how to make a map of the continents. We're starting with blobs of the continents, but the goal is that as they get older and older they can make the blobs more detailed.

All in all I think year four of homeschooling is going to be a good year. Things are starting to fall into place with some of the curriculums I've used for the last year or more. The only thing we are doing new this year is Spanish. The kids and I have wanted to learn for quite some time, but just haven't found a way to squeeze it in.

Our Weekend in Chicago

July 30th - August 1st

This was our family's first trip to Chicago!

It was a great weekend to get away and relax since life has been a little crazy since Doug took command.

 If you look closely at the pictures you'll notice how goofy the kids love to be.

They definitely get that trait from their father which I love it!

 Our first stop was at the Alder Planetarium which was a huge disappointment. I had already prepared the kids that there would be things in there about evolution, but little did I know how much. We spent the last year learning about our planets and the universe using Apologia's book, Exploring Creation with Astronomy. We learned so much. It was truly an amazing year of discovery for all of us. Although, surprisingly, we found none of the information we learned at the planetarium.  Instead we were force feed the theory of evolution. As we left in disgust I started asking the kids questions like, "What is the hottest planet in our solar system? Venus. Why is it the hottest planet? Because of it's thick atmosphere and it has lots of volcanos. Which planet has the largest volcano? Mars. When did they decide Pluto was no longer a planet? 2006. Did they talk about any of that stuff? No." The only words that can describe our experience was that it was a joke and a huge waste of money!

 Our next stop was to Lego Land! 

The kids had a great time and it was neat to see everything made out of legos.

We were glad we had a chance to experience it, but Doug and I both felt it wasn't something 

we needed to do again.

 Yankee's Game!!

For Jacob's birthday he said he wanted to see the Yankee's play and it just so happen that they were playing the White Sox's two days after his birthday in Chicago. So, the main reason we took the trip up to Chicago was to take him to the game. It was a lot of fun and the Yankee's won. The only disappointment was that Jeter wasn't playing due to an injury. 

 Willis Tower 

(Previously known as the Sears Tower)

 I went to the Willis Tower last year with my friend Jennifer from Washington. However, this was the first time Doug and the kids had a chance to go. We bought binoculars while we were on the top floor for the kids. They had a lot of fun taking turns looking through them and seeing all the buildings and cars down below.

 Hanging out on the glass ledge was definitely the best part of going up there. 

I think the boys could have stayed there all day.

 It's very rare for Doug and I to get a picture together! 

Although Jacob did a fairly good job with this one.

Jacob's 8

 Wow! Can you believe he's 8 years old? 

The thing about Jacob is that no matter how old he gets, when he's happy, he giggles, laughs and has huge smile across his face. He loves to enjoy life and that's what I love about him. I hope his excitement never dims, it's been so precious to watch all these years.

For his 8th birthday we did things a little different. We had a family day today. We took the kids to see Cars 2, out to lunch, to the skating rink, and then came home for cake and presents. 

It was a great day!

Boys Golf Outing

Doug took the boys golfing last Sunday. 

Surprisingly, it ended up being cooler than normal that afternoon, which made their time on the course very enjoyable.

Did you notice that they are all wearing Yankee hats?

Next Sunday we are driving up to Chicago to see the Yankees play the White Sox for Jacob's birthday. 

He can't wait...or should I say, we can't wait!!

Having fun in Mom's closet!

I had just reorganized my closet and so Audrey had a newfound interest in my stuff. She is actually wearing one of my shirts and the bags are packed with shoes and a dress!

Blast Summer Camp - June 20th-23rd

The Simmons' were in town visiting for a day that week, so Drew and Shelby got to go to camp with the Edwards' and Jones'!

 Boys (left to right): Luke, Alex, Ethan, Drew, Jacob

Girls (left to right): Shelby and Audrey

This was that last time our kids got spend time with Luke, Drew and Shelby. They are now on their way back to McChord.

On Sunday the 26th, the kids performed during the Sunday service. Ethan got his finger stepped on before the picture was taken, so he didn't feel like smiling.

Signing Alex's cast!

Audrey's Dance Recital

Audrey's dance recital was on June 26th. She loved having her hair done, make-up done and putting her costume on, but she did not like getting attention for looking absolutely adorable. 

Does that sound familiar Doug?

The theme for their performance was "Under The Sea" and her costume was a clown fish.

 Check out that pose! 

Their performance was the most difficult of all the 4-5 Combo classes.

I was very impressed with her teacher throughout the year. She did such a great job teaching the girls. 

I'm not sure how much Audrey enjoyed performing, but I know that she loves to dance! 

June Soccer Camps

June was a crazy month for soccer camps. Bell Clair Soccer League is an outstanding league ran by Dave Fernandez and he held three soccer camps in the evenings broken up by age groups. So, Audrey was in the first camp, Ethan was in the second camp and Jacob was in the third camp. It was a huge commitment on our part to spend every evening, three week in a row at their soccer camps, but we felt it was worth it and the kids had a great time!

 

Let's Go Out to the Ballpark

The kids played on the Scott Air Force Base league this year. The coaches were great and they had a lot of fun playing. We saw a huge improvement with Jacob and Ethan. It was their second year playing. Jacob has also caught the baseball itch. He asked if he could go to a baseball camp now that the season is over. This year was Audrey's first year and she did quite well. She also really enjoyed using her pink hat and bat.