Friday, July 31, 2015

Around Here on the Last Day of July

Girls have all been dropped off at camp for the week with no tears on anyone's part. So excited for the fun week they are going to have. ⛺️

Around here it has been quiet with all three girls at overnight camp for the week.

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Around here that means the only thing we have heard from them are these two letters that came yesterday!

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Around here that means that this guy has pretty much had a fantastic all boy week around here.

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Around here he has been in charge of the pets and has done a fantastic job. (Don't mind the panic on the guinea pig's face. She's overreacting).

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Around here we went to a local used book store and my animal loving boy discovered a bargain beanie baby bin and now has three new buddies. He was thrilled.

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Around here, for the modest price of $3, I now have a new Anne of Green Gables and Rilla of Ingleside as well as a beautiful hardback illustrated AoGG. I was thrilled!

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Around here I've got a handle on the next six weeks of school so we can (hopefully) hit the ground running on Monday.

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Around here I've also decided my summer plan of pulling meals together haphazardly is at an end. Real meal plan, real grocery list, etc. Is it soup weather yet?

A little Friday update before the boy and I pick up a few groceries before picking up a few girls at camp. Happy Friday!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Reading Report :: July 2015

Pausing before a day of window cleaning and grilled cheese making and music lessoning. #itssimplytuesday
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Dear July, you were a fun reading month. Everything I read was golden. I spent time with a great book that made me think as well as some of my dearest and best old friends.

This month has been "crazytown" as the boy says. We traveled to visit family in Ohio. We have had people working on the outside of our house catching up on some maintenance. I have all THREE girls at camp this week and am trying to get several projects crossed off my lists with the help of a 4 year old assistant! : )

I managed to read:
  • Anne of Green Gables
  • Anne of Avonlea
  • Anne of the Island
  • Anne of Windy Poplars and
  • Anne's House of Dreams
I'm currently residing at Ingleside. : ) Of note, this is the first time I've read through the series not using my beloved paperbacks above. As you can see, they are exceptionally well worn (Rilla of Ingleside is now actually a two volume work because it split in half!) For the bargain price of $1.99 I have all eight books loaded on my Kindle and the pages don't fall out and the font is nice and big. Yes, please.

I also read:

And, the kids and I FINALLY finished our read-aloud of All of a Kind Family Downtown by Sidney Taylor. Our reading aloud fell by the wayside at the end of June and July and I am missing it!

I don't know that I have any big reading plans in August. I'm going to finish up with Anne - I don't know the last time that I've read the series straight through so I'm going to indulge myself. I also know that we will be back to school next week and free reading time will be a little harder to come by. We do have a new read-aloud in the works - The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander, 3rd in the Chronicles of Prydian series. I was hoping to finish this series this summer, but time got away from us and I have some fun (I hope!) read-alouds planned for our upcoming Ancient Civilizations year that we are embarking on.

Our summer read-aloud routine has been terrible and next week is another week of tipsy turvy schedules. However, we did manage to start a new book today: The Castle of Llyr, 3rd book in the Chronicles of Prydian series, by Lloyd Alexander. #shepherdsloveb

Happy Tuesday and happy reading. : )

Friday, July 10, 2015

Currently :: July 2015

Fearless girls. #shepherdsupersummer2015The boy's first roller coaster. Safe to say he loved it! #shepherdsupersummer2015#shepherdsupersummer2015Thoroughly enjoying a few extra days off for T before he goes back to work. It's been a while since he's been able to go to the @nashvillezoo with us so it was fun showing him all our favorite animals. #itssimplytuesdayIMG_4273IMG_4257IMG_4275
It's been re-entry week here after a week and a half of vacation and time off work. Catching up laundry, planning meals and actually cooking them, and even sneaking a little math in. It's been a good week. #gettoworkbook #shepherdhomeschoolrocks

vacationing with family in Ohio. We spent time with cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. and it was delightful.

visiting Cedar Point. The roller coaster capital of the world, apparently. Such a fun day riding rides and hanging out as a family. Some people rode the tallest roller coaster in the world and survived. I wasn't one of them though I did ride the second highest. Won major fun mom awards that day.

eating all the unhealthy stuff as you do on vacation. Fun, but also so nice to be back in the kitchen this week cooking and eating lots of salads and veggies.

enjoying fresh watermelon and peaches this week in abandon!

reading Simply Tuesday by Emily Freeman (a pre-release copy that I'm slowly savoring) and Anne of Green Gables. I don't know the last time that I have read Anne, but it has been a long time! Right now, I'm revisiting Green Gables and anticipating slowly reading through the series again this summer.

watching movies in the evenings with our crew. We love watching movies together and it's one of our favorite ways to wind down in the evening.

cheering kids on in summer sports as well. We have two girls playing indoor soccer this summer (so fun! and air conditioned!) and one boy playing t-ball (so fun! and not air conditioned!) Both of these activities have summertime practice schedules, which means they don't practice much at all, so a game here or there has been fun and not a hassle to fit into our schedule.

starting a little school this week for a small summer session. A couple of girls didn't quite get all their math finished this spring and we have a goal of knocking out those last 10-ish lessons before summer camp at the end of the month.

savoring a slower schedule the last few weeks and enjoying the down time after the last year which was hard and busy. I'm looking to continue this attitude / pace / environment for as long as I can!

One of my goals this year has been to diversify my reading. As I've spent the last 17 years homeschooling anywhere from 1-4 kids, I woul...