Playing Hookie

We played hookie today....well, sort of.

Jeremy has not felt well this week, and it's been questionable if the kids were battling what he has, or if we all just have allergy issues (pollen levels are high).  I would prefer to chalk it up to allergies, but this morning when we woke up to go to CC....the kids all said their throats hurt (this may have been their excuse for a cough drop), and all still had the sniffles and sneezes pretty bad.

So....for the sake of the other kids in the nursery, we skipped CC this morning.

However, my poor husband would have come home to a crazy lady tonight if I had to stay in this house one more day with the kids.  It's been a rough week (lots of boo boos...lots of potty training, and some bad attitudes and fighting).  We needed out....NOW!

We packed the van up with our bicycles, lunch and snacks and took off to Lettuce Lake Park.  I had no idea what to expect because I had never been to this park, nor do I know anyone who has been the park.

Riding down a bike path

It was the perfect day for us!  I love this park!!!

We rode our bikes around a 1.25 mile loop (twice), walked on their beautiful boardwalk through the woods and to Hillsborough River, played on the play ground and even saw a (homeschooling) teenager riding a unicycle!

It was just what I needed with the kids.  A new adventure, outside, with few rules and lots of fun. 

We saw alligators and turtles

Alligator (there were two here, but I just took a picture of 1)

click on this picture to make it full screen.  You can see two alligators and several turtles on the same log

I'm so happy this came out...this turtle was really far away, perched on a log sticking out of the water

And...a few more turtles

Some familiar birds....

A white ibis I think

A White Egret.  This one was hunting.  It was motionless...and then it would see it's fish and snatch it out of the water.  It was cool to see.  We saw him get a couple fish.

and some strange birds.

I have no idea what kind of bird this is.  I've never seen one.  It was huge and very fluffy

If you click on this and make it full screen...you can see it's beak open as it's catching a fish

We climbed an observation tower

Nate is saying "Shhh" as we climb the tower

And this was our view

A view of the river from the tower

This is the same picture above, except zoomed in as far as my camera would let me.  I saw a bird...and my camera got it!

We saw an Eagle's nest (if you click on the picture it will go full screen and you can see the bird getting ready to take off.)

I don't know if this was an Eagle or an Osprey.  We saw it fly into the nest...stay a moment, and then fly away.  I think we saw it later with a fish in it's talons.  Click to zoom this one in and you can see the bird's wing....he was getting ready to fly away again.

Nate ended up falling asleep on our last bike ride. 

We took one last bike ride...and it knocked Nate out :)

Nicole had a journal and would draw pictures of animals and insects she saw...and we talked a lot about ecosystems and math....that counts as a school day, right?  I love homeschooling ;)

The Family Bike Ride

Our sweet Hannah has been asking...several times a week...since she learned to ride a bike to go on a family bike ride.  Much of the time we had to say No because Jeremy's bike tired needed a new tube.  It finally got fixed a few weekends ago, but it took until last weekend to actually hit the sidewalk with our dear one and take her on a family bike ride.

Nate - enjoying his ride in the toddler seat

Nicole LOVES to ride her bike!

That little cutie's smile went from ear to ear.  She just LOVED riding with every member of the family.  And, Nathan enjoyed riding on the back of daddy's bike (usually he's in the trailer behind my bike).  And, I enjoyed NOT pulling the trailer:-)

Hannah likes to stand up and ride her back...especially when she knows someone is watching.  She's such a show off!

We got to explore our neighborhood a bit, which was fun...but Hannah's joy made the time perfect. 

Jeremy decided we should ride around the cul-de-sac before heading home....just in time for the tube to pop again, hahaha.  I think it was overfilled...needless to say, we had to walk home (good thing we were close)

Then, we had a little family silly-ness a few nights later.

U-Pick....We-Pick

Today....after almost 5 years of waiting, I finally took my children to a U-Pick farm (we went when Nicole was about 11 months...which, she obviously doesn't remember :)

We had fun.  There are lots of U-Pick places fairly close by, so this will hopefully be something I do with them more often (blueberries are in a couple of months...can't wait for that!)

We picked oranges and strawberries.

Hannah's first pick :)

Nathan enjoyed getting in there and picking out the best orange

Pull Nate!  Pull!!

We are VERY serious strawberry pickers!

This was a really small strawberry patch...and they were planter, not in the ground like we've seen before.

Hannah would say, "Strawberry" every time she saw one

Hannah was a very good picker ;)

Nicole carried our box for a while.  It looks like she yelling commands in this photo :)

Nate would say "Red" each time he picked a berry.  This tied in nicely with our "R" letter this week.  By the way...Nate knows most of his colors...it's amazing.

My little pickers with their loot.

Best Friends Forever...these two are.

Hancock Groves is really easy to get to.  I believe it's exit 257 (ish).  Take a right off the exit and it's about a mile down the road, just around the curve.  If you are ever driving in western Florida, you should stop by.  It's mostly an orange and grapefruit grove.  Their strawberries weren't terrible impressive...but the oranges were good:)

Soccer

Nicole and Hannah both get to participate on their first ever sports team...Soccer!  Although this is not the sport of choice for Jeremy or I, it is convenient and rather inexpensive, so we gave in and signed them up. 

Their first practice was last week.  Hannah is on a team for 3 & 4 year olds, and Nicole is on a team for 5&6 year olds.  It's amazing the difference between the two teams.

Hannah's team had at least one (but usually two or three) children crying at any given time (it was never Hannah though!).  The kids looks like a swarm of birds all following whoever was in front at any given moment.  However - Hannah scored a goal! YAY!!!!  She ran with her tongue hanging out the entire time and a huge smile on her face.  She was very excited and had a lot of fun!

Hannah getting ready to kick the ball (all of Hannah's pictures are on Jeremy's phone)

Nicole's team (no one cried), was more competitive.  She got the best coach for her (besides her daddy)...a father who had been preparing for this day since his oldest child was born (this was quite obvious).  Nicole's coach came out and did running and dribbling drills and really practiced the kids hard (I didn't see any other teams do that).  They played a scrimmage game where the kids still looked like a flock of birds headed no where, except for this one boy.  There is a super star on Nicole's team - we'll have to get his name.  This kid would explode from inside the "flock" with the ball at his feet and score a goal almost every time.  Nicole tried to stay out of the "flock" and wait for a ball to get kicked near here, when she would then study the ball and prepare a big windup of a kick, just for the superstar to come steal her glory....well, sort of.  I think she got a few good kicks in there, but aggression is certainly something we need to work on.  She is such a sweet young girl, that I think she was more concerned about others getting a turn than scoring a goal herself.

Nicole learning to dribble

Oh, by the way...Nicole has the BEST Assistant Coach Ever! Daddy of course!  Jeremy was asked to lead the stretching routine, which he quickly answered "sign me up".We may not know much about soccer, but we know how to stretch :)

Nicole dribbling the ball

Below are a few videos taken from my phone - these videos are usually less than 30 seconds each. (again...Hannah's videos are on Jeremy's phone). 

In this video, Nicole got a nice little kick in (then the ball go between her legs)

This video starts with Nicole pulling her pant legs up.  She had just got hit in the shins and was excited that it didn't hurt because of her shin guards, so she wanted everyone to see them...then, she changed her mind :)

OK, this time, Nicole got to kick the ball into play....then watch what happens:)

This is Jeremy's favorite.  It's the end of the game and they are clapping each other's hands...then, at the end, the coach has them huddle up and yell "Blue Bombers!"

The Howell Wedding

Last weekend, we had the honor of being involved in the marriage celebrations of one of Jeremy's good friends - Aaron and his new wife, Samantha.  Aaron has been a part of our lives for many years, and through that time, we have gotten to know Samantha as well.

The Howell wedding party

Well, they finally got hitched! :)  Jeremy was a groomsman, and Hannah was a flower girl. 

Jeremy is pretty much a pro at being a groomsman.  I believe he has been in at least 6 weddings.  He is pretty good at escorting mother of the brides and grandmas and bridesmaids down the aisle. 

After the ceremony, Jeremy came back down the aisle to get the bride's mother and the grooms grandmother.  Hannah was upset he didn't also come and get her and walk her down the aisle.  Oh boy....I'm not ready for him to walk Hanney down the aisle!

But, this was Hannah's very first time being a flower girl.  She has been so excited.  Since Nicole had prior experience at Justin and Erica's wedding, she has been helping Hannah practice for a week (complete with a basket and fake flowers).

I SOOOOO wish this wasn't blury!  Precious, precious, precious!

Let me just say that Hannah did amazing!  She was a precious, adorable, you just "want to eat her up" kind of flower girl.  She was slow enough to drop her petals, and fast enough to not bore everyone.  She did a perfect job!  Hopefully, this video works of Hannah's walk down the wedding aisle

Getting ready for her big walk!

She smiled (or at least had a sweet face) through numerous pictures and danced the night away.  She lived in the moment at this wedding and had a total blast doing so.

She was SO excited after the ceremony.  You would have thought She was the bride (but she wasn't!)

I only have a few pictures from my phone, but I should be getting some really good photos from Samantha's camera in a few weeks (I guess I'll let them honeymoon first...although I really want to see the pictures! haha)




Jeremy and Hannah and the groom, Aaron with his sweet daughter Alex

 Both girls got to ride with us in the limousine (although Nicole calls it the "museum")  They had a blast!

Oh, we are BIG time...in the limo! (Actually, we did see someone in another car take a picture of our limo, haha)

Nicole stood up most of the time she didn't have a car seat, haha

Hannah got to participate in rehearsal the night before.  We got some sweet pictures with her.

Aaron and Hannah at rehearsal

I LOVE these picture!

Love, Love, Love!

I don't often get a picture with my little sweetie all by herself.



My Favorite Words

From Hannah (who can not say the "sss" sound at the beginning of words)

Farkely (instead of sparkely)
Sebeegebee (instead of spaghetti)

From Nathan
Doe-doe (instead of donut)

So - How am I? Really??

A few people have asked me that question over the past week or so...."So Michele....How are you?  Really???"

Really???  I'm doing great. 

I really love it up here.
I really love the amount of reduced stress our family is under.
I really love spending so much time with my children.
I really love our free schedules.
I really love our new home.
I really love our new neighborhood.

(OK, right now, I don't really like that it's 5:30am and Nathan is up for the day)

I really love having a homeschool room and using it every day.
I really love our backyard and our beautiful view.
I really love that my husbands likes his job.

(OK, I really don't love his long commute...but this will change, hopefully sooner than later, for his sake!)

Really...I'm doing well...really :)

I think people are expecting me to have a nervous break down after moving from everything I've ever known.  I'm not denying that this may happen...but right now, there are no signs of it.

I think I am still coming down off the stress and chaos of last year.  I am so content to wake up and spend time with my children all day (until about 3:30 when I run out of ideas for things to do :)  I thought I would be going crazy at this point because I am used to having sweet grandma's around to give me breaks, let me  run to the store alone, play with my kids while I clean...you know, things like that.  I will be honest...I miss them (the grandmas) and there are days that I am waiting for Jeremy to get home because I'm about to loose it...but then, he gets home and everything seems ok again.  I do miss my mom and Valerie...but not for the reasons I thought I would miss them.  I miss just seeing them and spending time with them as we run errands.  I don't miss them because of the work they did for me...I miss them because of what they mean to me.  Examples of moms who gave their all to their children (and made it through this early childhood stage :)  I miss their conversations (but we still have the phone and email and facebook).  I know my kids miss them like crazy!

Nicole told me last night that I need to make some friends.  Maybe SHE is the one who will have a nervous breakdown, with a mommy who is always around her, hahaha.  Although it's true...I haven't made one real friend yet, I know that will come.  And, it doesn't bother me to much (yet anyway).  I have a few friends who have kept in really good contact with me, and for them, I am grateful! 

We just went to church last week for the first time, so I am hoping as the weeks go by that I will make friends there.  I don't know...it's weird.  I'm just not that worried about it. 

I honestly feel so content to just hang out at home and spend time playing and learning with my kids.  Really.

I love living up here.  So, how am I?  Really...I'm doing very well :) 

 Really.

Hannah - The Amazing three year old biker

This was a big weekend for little Miss Hannah.  She learned how to ride a bike all by herself!  Yay!!!  The excitement and pride in her eyes was unmistakable.  She is so psyched up that she can ride her bike.  She rode around...and around...and around...and around...and around...and around our cul-de-sac this weekend.  She rode through the grass and over the bumps, in the water and around and around and around and around.  She loved every minute of it!

Yesterday, I even took the girls on a two mile bike ride!  TWO MILES (or thereabouts) She did not complain or whine or anything.  She was wiped out when she got home...but very excited over her accomplishment. 

She can not start on her own (yet), but I don't mind giving her a little push.  I think being able to stop without falling is much more important than being able to start.  That will happen really soon.

I can't figure out how to get my videos from my phone onto my computer ....Jeremy???  Help please :)

It's Classical Conversations Time Again!

I feel like we have been here longer than 3 1/2 weeks...but that's all it's been.  We are fully unpacked and trying to settle into our new normal.  Finally, for the first time in months, I am able to fall into a better routine with our schooling.

We now have a "school room" to store everything in and hang out in all day, which makes it fun for me. We have two small white boards up, a cool rug mag of the USA and a perfect size table for the girls (now I need to build some perfect size chairs.  Maybe this weekend...)

Reading with bear.

We have joined a CC community here - so we are ready to go!

Our first week we talked about the 14th amendment, which coincided perfectly with Marin Luther King Jr. Day.  We talked a lot about slavery and the civil rights movement that followed.

Our science for this semester is chemistry, which is fun.  We get to do some fun experiments, and so far we have made molecules from colored marshmallows and toothpicks (anytime we can eat our demonstrations, the better!)

We also made an atom out of fuzzy balls and fuzzy sticks

Yesterday, Nicole free drew a map of the USA...we are going to label it later.

We have started an official math curriculum with Saxon Math 1 and Saxon Math K (for Hannah).  It's a little weird to follow a book closely.  Nicole's is way to easy for her right now. I skipped ahead a few weeks, and although it's still to easy, I can see that the curriculum is building a foundation for the more difficult ideas, so we are starting here.  Hannah is having fun using the little teddy bear manipulatives.

Oh...this is the BEST math game.  It's called Math Dice JR.  You roll the dice and have to add and subtract the colored dice to make it match the answer on the white dice.  Nicole came up with this all on her own.

The girls also get A LOT of play time in.  I would guess they get far more than their public or private school friends.  They always go outside and play in the evenings when the kids get home from school.  One of their favorite things to do is draw with chalk.

They also play pretend with their stuffed animals and toys.  This is our reading bear, having a bad day.  Apparently, he is throwing up in the garbage can ;)

Nate is having fun playing with trucks and balls and trains...and his basketball hoop in his bedroom that he got for Christmas from Uncle Justin and Aunt Erica :)

The other night, he hurt his cheek and eye.  The girls were wonderful big sisters and quickly got him some ice.  Isn't he sweet?

We are having fun and grateful that our family is together.