Olympic Hopefuls

Okay, so the title may be a bit misleading.

If you were Googling "Olympic Hopefuls" our faces were likely not the ones you were anticipating.

And while we're no Michael Phelps, Jordyn Weiber, or the newest fast girl on the track (surprisingly Mommy does not know who that is) we are the newest fans of the Olympics and we're hopeful.

And, after watching some Olympic trials, I have decided it's time I start practicing. Gymnastics appears the best fit for me. I'm not so sure about Kate, but she has no choice in the matter. If her leotard tells you anything, I think this will be a short lived dream for her. There's no sheer sleeves in REAL gymnastics. But we won't break that news to her just yet.  

As for me, I've got eight years to train. Eight years to bulk up my string bean like legs and noodley arms while establishing a firm six pack.

As for Kate, well, if she chooses to pursue an Olympic future I believe her best option is in ice skating thanks to the leotard. If that's the case, she's got a solid 14 years to get the triple sow cow and other weird sounding jumps to perfect. I just hope she doesn't slice open her sheer sleeves. That'd be a shame.

In the meantime, we'll be cheering on the current Olympians to some gold medals and world records while at the same time creating a plan to win some of our own and smash those records.

Or we can just pretend while we make some fierce forward rolls and jumps off of the couch.

Jump! Jump!

It's been awhile since we've updated you on our puddle jumping.

As expected, I'm doing great.

Big splashes.

Lots of air.

Perfect poise.

(a bit of a small raincoat though)

As for Grant, well, last we talked he was in puddle jumping training.

He's coming along quite well.

He's got real boots, laden with bugs.

And a real raincoat.

Camoflouge of course.

As for air, well, he's catching some.

I'm measuring in inches.

A good two more inches and he'll be up to par.

As for Kate, well, she's a novice.

Quite confused if we're completely honest.

Let's be real.

She can't get both feet off of the ground  yet.

But she's working the boots.

And the snot.

But it won't be long til she's rocking it

like this.

Dirty South Third Child Style

You're a third child if...

 you look like you've run the streets alone for the past week while surviving solely on red popsicles.

you're allowed to eat chocolate pudding in your church dress BY YOURSELF.

you were allowed enough time alone to grab a purple marker and color all over yourself AFTER you also managed to create a beautiful purple masterpiece on paper while also downing a glass of water? juice? that was mostly enjoyed by your shirt.

You've fallen asleep mid biscuit bite at the dinner table because you missed your afternoon nap trying to keep up with your older siblings.

your best friend is a boy because he doesn't seem too bothered by stinky, messy clothes and hair.

This goes out to all you mothers out there who feel like you're doing a bad job. When you're feeling down, remember me.

An Update

Check out my signature Harman "thumbs up" toe, compliments of Daddy

It's me.

Kate.

What's been going on with me, you ask?

Lots.

I'm still swinging. Bravely. I yell, "ush!" if I see that the speed of the swing has decreased to such a level where my hair no longer flaps in the air. And, I'll urgently let you know if I'm not flying high enough. It seems Mommy does not yet understand that I have HIGH expectations.

Hannah, on the other hand, gets it very well.

In other swingset news, I have now mastered going down the slide head first.

It's awesome.

My next endeavor, head first on my back.

While we're on the topic of slides, I'm also enjoying training for the bobsled competition with my siblings. You see, Strong Woman Hannah takes the slide off of the set, turns it over, and we all ride on it down the hill.

I like to call us, The Locust Grovian Bobsled Team. We've got real potential. Hannah has the speed and agility, Grant will, one day, have the brut strength that often accompanies the stocky build, and I, well, I have the good looks to distract the other competitors. However, that may be hard to do when helmets come into play. I'll be working on that. Once I've got it figured out we'll make a post solely dedicated to our bobsled progress. It's sure to be a hit.

Moving from the swingset to the pool, I've got more news.

I love it!

I've plunged under water three times. I didn't shed a tear. In fact, I smiled. If Mommy wouldn't cramp my style I'd be out in the water with Hannah and Grant...you know...in the deep end...where all the fun happens. It's a little embarassing to watch from the shallow end with your mom insisting to hold your hand. I want to say, "I've got this, Mom," if only my vocabulary was more developed verbally. Maybe she'll read the blog.

In non-active news, I'm also drinking from a non-sippy cup. I've got mad skills. I've only made a few messes. I pleasantly surprised Mommy and Hannah when I showed them that I could handle the task..AT HAND.

Where are all the pictures to document these amazing accomplishments? Waiting to be takien with the camera that sits in the kitchen. It seems that while I can handle all of these awesome new discoveries, Mommy cannot, at least not while also managing to capture them on the camera.

So, be patient, she'll get there, and in the meantime, I'll be getting elsewhere, whether by slide, pool, or swing.

Homeschool Diaries: Random Thoughts

Homeschool continues to move along.

Our main focus this summer is reading. Hannah is doing a terrific job. I am really a big fan of The Writing Road to Reading (ask me that again when I start with Grant).

Along with growing in her reading and recognizing the phonograms, Hannah is also developing good penmanship. She's learning how to space accurately, begin at the proper place on wide ruled paper and stop at the appropriate place. She is self correcting so much more these days. That makes me happy.

What I love about The Writing Road to Reading is its simplicity. It's cheap but it gets the job done. All it requires is a pencil and paper along with the book (that I got used for maybe $7).

I'm realizing with three little ones, I need simple. I need curriculum that is cheap but will get the job done without having to buy a million other things to go along with it. I don't have a lot of time to make cute things and hang a lot of things on the wall. It just isn't going to happen. And I'm finally okay with that. Is Hannah reading, yes. Is she writing, yes. And beginning in the fall  we'll start her on Saxon math.

Seeing the benefit of copy work, I am also going to start her on copying sentences. To most, this seems ridiculous, I know. But as I've read about copy work I've become a strong believer. It works on penmanship, tracking skills as they move their eyes from the board to the paper, spelling, sentence structure, spacing, punctuation and grammar. AND, why not have her copy Scripture? So, add in Scripture memory as well. I'm really excited about it. We've begun a bit as we work one on one during her reading time and she really enjoys it. She loves to see that she wrote a sentence.

As we're coming up on a year of homeschooling I think the biggest lesson I've learned is to calm down. Educating at home looks a lot differently than educating in a school. It takes A LOT less time to tackle learning. It's actually great. I can accomplish with Hannah in an hour and a half what it took me several hours to accomplish in my classroom of 23 when I taught.

And, she's reading. Hooray! It's exciting to see her progress over the year. I'm looking forward to seeing her grow more over the summer as we continue with The Writing Road to Reading. Then, we'll delve into the wonderful world of math come August. Thankfully, Saxon is scripted. I need scripted when it comes to math!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our homeschool time.

Grant's main goal this summer is to get the pencil grip down. I was proud of him here. He gets easily discouraged on ANYTHING so the fact he did his whole coloring sheet holding it this way was a huge success. He was also pumped to have his own workbook. Later in the day he came upstairs to me and said, "Thank you Mommy." And I said, "for what?" He said, "for my workbook." He was proud all around.
And, by the way, he is wearing a Speedo swimsuit fully equipped with a flotation device in the stomach. If I let him leave the house in this, he would. Too bad he isn't wearing the over protective hat as well. Then you'd really be laughing.

Math over the past several months has been focused on the one hundred chart and skip counting. Thanks to Pinterest, I found these awesome one hundred chart activities. For the top activity I just cut up a hundred chart and glued magnet pieces to the back of them. Now they can build their own one hundred chart.

And, what says fun like finger painting? I have to include Kate in some of our activities. This was right down her alley.

Five Minute Friday: See

I'm delving back into Five Minute Friday over at The Gypsy Mama. Today's prompt: See

Go:


Lately I see a great need for less of myself.

I need to see more of Him.

His greatness, His worthiness, His strength, His majesty, His crowned head.

His brokeness, His sacrifice, His compassion, His mercy, His grace, His scarred hands.

As I see more of Him, I see less of me. And this is good.

Because as I see me, I get lost. I become forgetful. I am selfish. Consumed with trivial things that produce no fruit.

Lord, let me see You. Let me behold you. Give me courage to see You. Give me boldness to share what I see. For I know to truly see You is to be ruined. Seeing you comes with a cost.

By your grace, let me see You so I may become like You.

Praise be to You, my Creator, my Redeemer, My King.