It's a HOT day!

Wow! What a day! It is HOT!

Today started with me introducing a contest to the kids. I told them that they had to read 20 books this week. We would put a sticker on the chart after each book that was read. When everyone has read the 20 books we would have a party. And I said whoever reads all of them firsts gets to pick what kind of cake we have. I actually expected moans and groans about reading. But the one who usually groans the loudest, piddles and fiddles his thumbs the most is the one who was MOST determined to win. SO what I thought would take a week...Austin finished in 1 day!!! He was so excited he was bouncing off the walls!AND they were actually fighting over who would read next.

We went to the park today. This is one of their favorite things to play on. Aussie zipped across it quickly! Apparantly, he was timed last time he was there, so he was telling me he could get across in 9 seconds. He is so competitive and really needs affirmation.

Ashley sports her new "style". You know she used to be really good about picking out her clothes. She is VERY confident in what she puts together and she won't let anyone tell her differently!

They found a rock to climb on and called it castle rock.

Aussie liked the zip line!

On our way out a special guest showed up at the park (for a birthday party). So we were very excited to see Spiderman before we left.

After the park we went to a friend's graduation party. The kids just LOVE her! So Aussie drew a special picture and message for her.

It says, "Can you come to my birthday?" and then it is decorated with the flags he made up for each country in Catland, a world that he made up. But what everyone is impressed with, including myself, is that he writes in block letters.

So today he was impressing everyone with his letters, speaking Chinese, and his conversations he had with adults. (sometimes he is so grown up)

And after Aussie climbed up in the window the other two had to climb up there too. And of course what a perfect picture opportunity!

Now we are home with the air conditioner NOT working. I'm sweating! The guy will come and fix it on Monday. I'm not looking forward to the next 2 nights.

I've got to remember....I must I must re-charge the batteries in my camera. I better go do that now.

Math videos below

Check out these Math tricks in the videos below. I've gotten so excited about them that I went ahead and bought the program for all 30 tips. It's only $25 and you get it here.

I found out about them from my friend SHEZ. She is a pretty amazing homeschool Mom. You can check out some of the other amazing things she does here.

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Anyway on another note- Today I had my skin tags and moles removed. Thank goodness it wasn't as bad as I expected. And now it is all taken care of! I had 2 moles removed last week and they are still hurting a bit. I asked today when the pain would go away and she said it usually took around 2 weeks. At least it is not terrible, just annoying.

My kids want lunch and I have been obssessed with this Math thing. So I better get off the computer and go feed them.

Talk to you soon!

Fast Math Trick

Fast Maths Trick of Calculation

Guess what today is?

Guess what today is? (Well OK, yes it is Memorial Day-but guess what else.)

Today was Ashley and Mason's last day of homework. They both wanted to do tomorrow's work so they could be finished today. Aussie was very jealous, but he would not do the work. Mason and Ashley ran around the house saying, "We are in First Grade NOW". They were so excited!!! But technically we have 2 more days we legally have to do for school. So the next 2 days will be field trip days.

Kiki found herself a new bed.

On Sunday the kids wanted to race Greg at church.

When Ashley got behind she just stopped and cried and sulked all the way back. She was so sad that she couldn't keep up.

Mason finds a new seat?

And so does Ashley!

Parents visited

My parents came to visit on Thursday night, Friday and Sunday morning. They came here for a

wedding on Sunday afternoon. So of course they came to see us. We went to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro. I tell you I just LOVE this place! This time we took a walk around the grounds. It was such a beautiful day!!! And it is such a pretty place to walk.

We got to see a chinchilla. Did you know it has the softest fur than any animal in the world? It is SO soft. I just wanted to cuddle up with it.

Dad and I made this train in the construction area.

And then on Sunday, Ashley wore a dress that use to be mine. My Mom says she has pictures of me in this dress. I can't wait to see them and see how close we look. I'll post them here when I get them.

Saturday was a BIG day for me. I went to the curriculum fair. Today as I finished ordering all the different things I'll need for next year, I got a little nervous. Oh I sure hope I picked the right curriculum(s) for my kids. It is so nerve wracking and expensive.

I'm trying out some new things. For reading I got Rocket Phonics. It has a lot of games with it. For Math I'm staying with A Beka. For History and Geography I'm using Sonlight.

They will get Science and Gym in Co-op. Austin will continue to take Chinese. Mason will start Spanish. They all will have art. Ashley and Austin will continue taking Ballet/Modern dance. Mason and Aussie will contine to take Drama, but Ashley will be in Dasies.

All of this is exciting and scary at the same time! Please pray that they like school next year and that I do a good job teaching them.

Ahoy!

LOL! She is so stinkin' cute!

cookies

Today- Austin begged for the chocolate chip cookies that he gave me for Mother's Day. So he helped me bake them and then said, "You can have 3 since they are your Mother's Day gift."

Oh Thanks Aussie!

Today's tidbit

The other day I took dinner to a friend who just had a baby. When I came home I was telling Greg how pretty the baby is. We were saying how she looked like Wes (her dad). And Ashley was asked what she thought of the baby. Ashley said she looked like Greg. Greg said, "WHAT! Why do you think she looks like me?"
Her answer.....



Because she doesn't have any hair.

(out of the mouth of BABES) We just laughed and laughed!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!!
It has been a wonderful day!



I love when the kids pick out what they think I would like. I get the sweetest presents and their eyes just fill up with joy.
Aussie got me a purple lei and a box of chocolate chip cookie mix.

Mason got me a purple bear and sugar wafer cookies.

And Ashley got me flip

flops and a cloth napkin (She thought I could put it on my floor?).

Can you tell by this picture where we went to lunch today?

And they all got me a pitch pipe- which I really wanted! YAY!

To honor my children I wore all my gifts to church this morning.

In church they each made big tissue paper flowers and bracelets for me.

After church, we went to Logans Steakhouse. Did you guess by the picture with all the peanuts on the floor? They overcooked my steak. It was still good, but they gave it to me for 1/2 price. So that's a good deal.

Then Greg and I went to see 12 Angry Men. We really enjoyed it! It kept me engaged the entire time.

So now after a day of luxery...I think it's time for me to go to bed and get prepared to get back to school tomorrow.

(Unfortuantely my C-PAP machine broke last night. So I have a feeling I won't be sleeping well tonight. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up another mask tomorrow.)

Chinese School Performance Saturday

Then on Saturday, Ashley and Aussie had their Chinese performance.

These are all the students in their CSL (Chinese as Second Language) class.

They said their names, how old they were and what they like to eat in Chinese.

Then they sang 3 songs.

They got graduation certificates for completing this school year.

Ashley doesn't want to continue in Chinese next year. She has fabulous pronunciation, but she just doesn't care about it. But Aussie on the other hand says he wants to take Chinese for the rest of his life.

Well I attempted to share a little video with you, of a song you might recognize that they sang in Chinese. But for some unknown reason I am not able to upload it.

Friday night performances

Well let's start with Friday. What a busy day!
We had registration for co-op next year, rehearsal for their performances and then their shows that evening.

The play was SO cute! It was called Brian the Keep on Tryin' Lion. And it was written by one of the parents. The story is about the perserverance of a little lion cub on the Serengeti Plain in Africa. I made all the hats and the peacock. Hey isn't that gazelle hat pretty impressive?

Then Aussie and Ashley had their ballet performance. It was so cute too! I really love how their teacher had Aussie do something completely different than the girls. He marched in and swirled the girls around. It was really sweet!