Another Week, More Sunshine

The house we live in is pretty small and fitting all of us around the kitchen table is impossible, so most afternoons I send the kids outside to eat. The backyard is mostly sand and weeds, but the kids don't care. If it was my house I would hate it, but temporarily it doesn't bother me. I'm just happy to have a fenced yard again so I can let Laila go out without me.

 

On one perfect afternoon when the sun was out and Josh was around, we went and explored a new park that Josh passes on his way to work every day. It really was the coolest park we have ever been too. The homeless people think so too, because it's where they all sleep at night. My kids ALL love these big plastic swings meant for babies.

The park has two parts. This is the older section with the more traditional baby swings. Macy still wants to be a baby.

Apparently, James does too! I actually took a picture of him sitting all the way in the swing, but he made me swear not to post it or text it to anyone.

Josh did what he does best!

The kids and I also went to the beach a few times after school. It was a little chilly when we first got there, so we played at the park until it was warm enough for the water. For the kids that is. It's still not warm enough for me to get in.

 

On Saturday we drove an hour and a half south and met Beau and his family at a cool beach where you can find fossilized shark teeth. The sand was not as white and smooth as some of the other beaches because there were so many shells everywhere, but the water was beautiful!

 

 

James found this interesting little guy who was not happy about being held. He would come out and look around and then go back in and swipe his one claw at us.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what happened to make this picture so blurry, but it's one of my favorites. Even though our kids have not, until recently, been able to see much of their cousins, they play together like they are best friends. It's going to be hard on them when we leave. The mermaid tails were Samm's creation. I decided to help out with Laila to speed things up, but Macy made it very clear that she wanted Samm to do her tail, not me.

So, almost a month in and we are still loving it. This week we had a few hairy school days, but I think it's because I was forcing too much busy work on them. When I decided to homeschool James, I knew that I had to make it different than public school or he would still hate it. After all these months though it's still hard to let go of everything I know about school based on my own and my kids' experiences and make something different that works for us. This week is going to need a little revamping again, but I'm still glad we chose to come and that the girls are getting a chance to experience homeschool. I would love it if the girls wanted to stay home with James next year, but I'm not going to force them. At least now they will be able to make an informed decision. The funny thing is, I used to think that I would be a complete crazy person if I homeschooled all my kids, and let's be honest, some days I am, but the benefits far outweigh the negative. The kids are learning more than in a shorter amount of time, which allows them more time to do what kids should be doing. Play! And, they are playing together which makes my mommy heart so, so happy!