School time...

Okay, so it's been school time all summer - we never really stopped school.  But my kids are doing so well this year, it's always good to report how they are doing.  Asher is doing a 6th grade math book now.  4th grade reading and grammar.  We are doing a unit on elections and the electoral college system for social studies, but will begin NC history after the elections in November.   Josh is doing some science with him in the little science lab they have set up in the basement.  

Evie is reading fairly fluently now and even reads on her own before bed time.  She's in a second grade math book.  I need to incorporate some more science and social studies in for her.  But I will probably have her do NC history with Asher.  We are going to make an NC Notebook like the one I made in PS.  I loved that project even if my final grade was severely marked down due to my poor handwriting and coloring skills...  

Isaac is learning to count and knows the letter 'O' very well.  He is also a pro-drummer on Rock Band.

Asher and Evie are also taking theatre again this year.  Evie is also taking dance.  Asher is taking Tae Kwon Do.  

This year is so busy that I barely have time to think.  Oz now has two teeth!  He and Isaac both kind of hinder our school time on some days, but we manage to get in the stuff we need to do.  I plan on really taking my time with Asher's math because his next book we will begin pre-algebra and I really want him fully understand everything before we move on.

Isaac's Clues

Isaac is a man possessed.  He has come to discover the "Clue".  Everywhere he goes he identifies clues.  If it has a paw, he checks it for clues - be it the cats, the dog, stuffed animals...  He goes around the house saying, "A shloo!  A shloo!"  I swear sometimes he is the cutest kid on the planet.

Too many bodily fluids.

Snotty noses, poopy butts, getting peed on, slobbered on...  Overproducing mommy milk.  None of this is fun.  Seriously.  I mean it.  Really.

Even More Creepy Crawlers...

It's a 50 year old house, what can I say?  The space between the storm windows and the actual windows makes for a great habitat for spiders, wasps, birds, and whatever else can make its way between the panes.

We have a beautiful (but gigantic and scary) wasp nest and a very fat black widow spider inhabiting the same space.  The spider lives about 3 or 4 inches directly below the wasp nest.  Being able to watch their... interactions...  from the safety of the window has been interesting. The black widow has been munching on the wasps.  I suppose it is a veritable buffet for lady widow...

I'm not going to let them stay for much longer as the wasp nest is just in a very scary spot and I do not want the black widow reproducing in my window.  I don't know how small her babies will be and whether or not they would be able to make it into the house.  

My Knight In Shining Armor

Isaac *loves* to pose for the camera.  Oz goes along for the ride sometimes.  

I just thought these were too cute for words:

Busy, Busy Month

This month has been extra busy!  In July, shortly after the demolition stopped, mom and I got to work making a whole lot of tasty salsa.  It's probably the best we've ever made.  
My kids, my sister's kids, my friend and her kids and I all went to Discovery Place to visit the Pompeii exhibit.  It was an incredibly striking exhibit.  We spent a long time exploring the daily life of the Ancient Romans.  Then we entered a dark room that had nothing except the body casts of the victims of Mt. Vesuvius.  I was so moved.
It has been raining since Monday.  A good portion of the county had major flooding.  Public schools were cancelled and all the parks were closed too.  On the way to mom's house today, I had to choose an alternate route after my usual route was completely flooded out.  On the way home, I went to the other end of the block to take a picture.  Notice the car on what *was* the road?

While at mom's Isaac decided to go visit all the spiders in the yard.  Excitedly squealing, "Spiderman!  Spiderman!" every time he found a web.  The funnel spider was really neat!

Bathroom Update

Measurements taken, rough draft of plan drawn up: