We're Back!!!

Teenage attitude in full swing!

Well, Hello again!! Sorry for such a long silence. I had not planned on taking a leave from writing, but home life needed my full attention. I was not prepared for the changes that would take place with a teenager. Most days all it takes to send my boys into a tailspin is for one of them to be "off" and the others usually follow suit. Now that we have a better handle (well, for now anyways) on what to expect with the bouncing hormones I can return my passion of writing.


There have been a few things that have been happening around here I wish I could have had a chance to share with everybody. It may take me a couple posts to catch up. We started our home/summer school the week after school let out. We also started working on our Summer Bucket List again. (You can find our bucket list here if you missed it.) We have continued with our 1000 hours outside and our year long goals.

Before I get to all the "new things", a quick update on our year long goals. I lift the rigid guidelines on electronics during the summer and they are allowed a couple hours a day, especially when the weather is too humid to enjoy outside play. Jordan has been allowed more electronic time, although I have not giving him free range of all electronics. He has been doing a lot better with limiting himself to a couple hours a day. Jacob has met his goal of sharing more freely. While he felt this was an area he needed to work on, I thought his sharing skills were already age appropriate. Joey continues to make new friends. He was very excited the last couple days of school when his classmates signed his year book. This was huge for Joey because a number of children signed his book and a few included their phone numbers so they could stay in contact during the summer. Joey has continued to make Jordan has also taken a liking to our new neighbor.  *I am always cautious when adult males friend my children. None of my boys are ever left unsupervised with our new friend.
new friends this summer, his new best buddy is one of our new neighbors. While I prefer that Joey find friends his own age (as he is prone to seek out adult friends), I understand his wanting more male role models.

My personal goals are still hit or miss. As far as my weigh lose goals, I have been maintaining my weigh. Right now I'm okay with that, and has not hindered me from walking around the beach in my swimsuit :) I have been taking more time to myself, but I'm back in the habit of staying up later that I should. Every summer the neighbor girls and myself sit outside after we put the kiddos go to bed and enjoy some kid free conversation. I have also been crafting away. Not so much as catching up on projects as starting new ones. A friend was asking about a sling purse she could wear to concerts and such. I was inspired my my friend over at Homeschool Camper to make a purse after seeing the lovely one she made for her eldest daughter (although my was not nearly as complex). After making the one for my friend, I made another for my mom and struggled to fashion a Autism Awareness puzzle piece for it. I'm still making slow progress (very slow) on the cross stitch Christmas stocking. I am finally working on Joey's blanket that had a "little hole". Instead of "fixing" the hole, I'm reworking the whole blanket with a stitch I just learned (corner-to-corner stitch).

Family goals are still progressing nicely. We have slowed down some on reaching our 400 books in a year, but have stepped up our outside hours. Our year-to-date total towards our 1000 hours outside is 434 hours. We were off to a slow start but clocked about 100 hours in June, so I think we maybe able to catch up and be able to reach the goal of all 1000 hours by October 6th. 566 hours isn't really that much, right? It's just about 188 hours a month :)

The boys out-read me for June. Our new books read total is 101 books. We're still behind on where we would like to be at the halfway mark. Still have faith that will reach our goal though. June books read are...

Jacob- 6 books
Pirates Past Noon by Mary Pope Osborne, Knights at Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne, Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Trembles of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Dav Pilkey, TMNT Mutant Origin: Ralphael adapted by Michael Teitelbaum, TMNT Mutant adapted by Michael Teitelbaum, and The Thanksgiving Day from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler.

Joey- 0 Books

Jordan- 4 books
The Secret of Lying by Todd Mitchell, How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller, Origin by Jessica Khoury, and Legend bu Marie Lu

Me- 2 books
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson and Eve & Adam by Michael Grant

Thank you for sticking with us after the radio silence.