Summer 09 so far....

August 1st....it is August 1st!!! Where did this summer go?? There are only 25 days left until the school drum starts beating again. Yes, some days I'm ready to hit that drum myself...but most days I'm not ready at all for the summer to end.

The Ringleader and Sha Sha are at a sleepover at their friend's house tonight...so it's just Yao Yao and Lil' Rocker. It is such a different dynamic without the oldest 2 here. It will feel so wierd to have them gone for 40 hours a week again!

I'm digressing from the point of the post....what in the world we have done this summer.

School. Yes, we have done school. A micro-version of homeschooling. I know I've loved it...not sure about my students:) I love to learn and I love to read so I hope my kiddos will do the same. So, I've loved trying to find ways to get my oldest son to enjoy reading...he loves to be read to, but struggles with reading himself.

Sha Sha is learning abled, but has a lot of challenges. I've actually thrived on finding ways that she will learn easier. Appaloosa. Sha Sha is wants to learn how to spell the world Appaloosa...so that is what we are working towards:)

So, there is a point in my kids doing school with me this summer..it was not to fulfil me, but to avoid physically going to summer school which I'm not a fan of:)

One thing that I found that are pretty good are Summer Bridge Activity books. They have workbooks for each grade....it reviews what they did the previous year and introduces new stuff for the next year.

However, I love, love Time4learning. Goodness, I promote it to everyone! The computer program was completely above my expectations..it is excellent! My non reading son, is reading withou complaint and Sha Sha loves it too! My kids sometimes beg me to do computer school. The great thing with this program is that it has a full teaching curriculum with it and tracks and monitors their progress. So, if you are still looking for ways to maintain your kids learning this summer...try it out.

OK...did I just write 3 paragraphs on summer time learning? Sorry...I tend to get excited about this stuff.

But I'm really not the learning nazi...we've had more fun than not:)

We enjoyed a vacation in the mountains with family.

We went tubing down the river.

There was fishing....

And more fishing.

Aaah. Serenity.

Goofy times.

Water times.

We visited a local amusement park for the day. Everyone had a blast. Even Lil' Rocker was an angel.

And Yao Yao was not overwhelmed in the least. She LOVED it! Go figure. So much for sensory overload.

The Ringleader gets a little bored on the kiddie rides now.

Sha Sha loves our annual day at the park.

Of course, we celebrated Sha Sha' 6th birthday. Of course it was a horse theme.

Pool time! Finally, finally The Ringleader swims! And underwater! Him and Sha Sha have somewhat of a water fear. The Ringleader even hated water in his face. But one day it clicked and the fear was gone and now I have a waterbug:)

Of course there is NO fear of water with this lil' guy...does that suprise you?

And Yao Yao loved the water too! She also has no fears and doesn't want to stop swimming.

Sha loves the pool, but still enjoys the snacks mom packs the most:)

And lil' Sha Sha started horse riding lessons! She loves it so much.

It is incredible therapy and what a confidence builder. If only it wasn't so darn expensive:)

Of course there was some hanging out with friends.... Yao Yao was excited to show SuSu her new home!

And we've had fun times as a family. Our newest family night event....Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero and Singstar. I think The Rockstar Nurse and I had too much fun with Dance Revolution.

The Rockstar Nurse was muttering to me under his breath that I better not blog this picture...so of course I will. There are even better videos. But I will admit...he's good. And yes, he beat my score. (what in the world? He hates to dance...i love to dance!)

Yao Yao sang her heart out with unknown words:)

And of course, lil' Rocker rocked out.

I have no other photos of our summer time excursions. We visited the lake and creeks. All 4 kiddos attended Vacation Bible School with enthusiasm! And guess what...I had 12 hours to myself in one week!! That was quite the highlight:) I have no desire to dwell on negative things like potty training or lack there of. So, that will be a different post. And trust me, that will be a long one. sigh

So I hope you are enjoying your summer. We still are. And we look forward to celebrating next week with my brother, sis in law and nephew! They are visiting from Oklahoma and we are all so excited! So I will once again be gone from bloggerville.

just wanted to post this photo because it's so darn cute:)