Weekly Preview and Review

Well, I didn't do any running this past week. My normal running days are Tue/Fri/Sun. I can't run on consecutive days - too hard on my hips and knees. So, Tuesday was too hectic and I didn't get time. And Wednesday, my foot hurt reminiscent of the way it hurt a couple years ago when I thought I had a hairline fracture. And so I didn't run Wednesday. Thursday was karate. I thought about running, but I didn't want to make my foot worse. And Friday and Saturday my knee hurt and I wanted to make sure I was at my best for karate testing on Sunday. So, this was an unplanned week off from running. :-(  I am sure some of that reluctance to run was a holdover from the horrible run last Sunday. Should have got right back on that horse, kwim? Oh well. I'm bringing my running clothes camping so maybe I'll do a couple short runs there and then do a long run on Saturday or Sunday.

Lake Huron was so fun! There were some biting flies and we started to worry that we would be swarmed! But they soon dispersed. The weather was not too hot nor too cold and the kids had a great time! There weren't any waves, which was disappointing, but the weather made up for it!

Co-op rosters are sent out. The room assignments are made. The Lit class I am co-teaching is mostly ready. Whew!

Sunday - Karate Testing with 2000 people!, Seeds of Faith Camp week begins
Monday - SOF Camp Week, Soccer Practice (D)
Tuesday - SOF Camp Week & Beach Day
Wednesday - SOF Camp Week
Thursday - WORK 5, Karate, Soccer Practice (J)
Friday - WORK 5, Soccer GAME (D)
Saturday - Soccer Practice (D)?,
Sunday -  Run 6 miles, Halo Party

Last year during Camp Week, I tried to maintain my regular work schedule. It was DIFFICULT to say the least. So, this year, I am actually taking a vacation. No work Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. I will work 10 hours between Thursday and Friday. Bob is also taking a couple days off, but he will be working over Labor Day weekend, so his hours even out.

I am also doing NO co-op stuff and NO soccer stuff during the 4 days of camp. (David is going to one soccer practice, but not the other kids.) Also we are not doing karate on Monday. It's just going to be relaxing!

Our karate testing is tomorrow. TWO THOUSAND people are supposed to be testing together! That is going to be something! I am easily overwhelmed with large groups of people, so pray for me to be able to handle it. But this is something the kids will never forget! Not sure how many photos I'll get since I am supposed to be testing. Bob isn't going along as he is going to the campground to get our site set up. We'll go right to the campground after the testing.


David has his first soccer game this coming Friday. And so it begins.....


I had a few errands to run today. Most of them were because of someone's oversight.
1 - sporting goods store (David's new shinguards were missing a part.)
2 - auto parts store (they forgot to refund Bob the core charge for the alternator)
3 - Walmart (they didn't give me all my groceries the other day)
4 - thrift store (Emily and I both needed jeans for camping)
5 - Office store (joined teacher program and got a goodie bag and breakfast with a friend!)
Have a good week y'all!

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Spent the morning working on at the soccer fields, the afternoon with the kids, and the late evening working on soccer registration
Sunday - Home
Monday - WORK (4 hrs daily)
Tuesday - WORK, Soccer conditioning (E,J,S)
Wednesday - WORK
Thursday - WORK, Beach Day
Friday - WORK, Soccer (D)
Saturday - Spend with friends?

Well, this last week seemed to get sucked into the vortex. July has come and gone now. I spent a LOT of time working on soccer teams and they are created now. I am processing a few late registrations and have the uniform order just about ready to go - just need to figure the quantities. (That sounds easier than it is. lol)

David went to a friend's house this afternoon and will spend the night. The others are supremely jealous. Well, kids - call a friend and make some plans!

I have the soccer teams all created & doublechecked for things like "fall only" players and siblings who need to be on the same teams. I am waiting for several important emails/callbacks. Don't people know I am on a schedule?? lol I have the uniform colors all chosen (one of the fun things) and just need to input the quantities of each size - for about 400 people. The teams obviously have to be set before that can happen, so I have waited until the last possible moment. I registered 3 late players today and am waiting on 2 more.

We skipped church today - slept in way too long. We didn't go last week either due to our spontaneous trip to Port Huron.

Thursday night, a friend hosted a Moms Night Out. She has a lovely backyard pool and hot tub, and a tiki bar. She made drinks for us and we chatted around the pool, in the pool, in the hot tub, and around the fire. It was lovely. Came home at about 1am! Wonderful night.

This week is a low-key week for us. I do plan to have the kids do some math and reading and probably some of their other subjects as well. Next week too, most likely. Then we'll take off the rest of the month - a week to get ready for camping, a week of camping, a week to recover from camping and get ready for lessons to begin. They'll begin the week after Labor Day probably.

Camping week is the last full week of August and that is our homeschool camping week. Our favorite week of the year, I think!

Soccer practices will start in there as well. David starts his this Friday and I imagine the other three will begin soon. Emily is playing again this year - with AYSO, on a travel team. James and Suzy are also playing AYSO - U12 and U10 respectively. David is playing for the same team he played for last year - FAITH Falcons, also a travel team, comprised solely of homeschooled boys. This year he will have several friends on his team - which also means *I* will have someone to watch games & practices with! LOL Or carpool with, which is even more important.

The little Easy Set pool in the yard has been great this summer. I think it's the one Mike and Michelle gave us a couple years ago. If we continue to enjoy it, I think we might consider upgrading to a larger pool next year. This one is not very deep. But it's so nice for them to be able to just go get wet for a while without it being a huge deal to drive somewhere and/or pay money. We have yet to go to the waterpark this summer. We should go, as it almost closed this year due to lack of patrons last year. The other county waterpark DID close.

Next week is the County Fair. We tend to go to that every other year, and this is our "on" year. So, need to budget for that - both time and money.

No summer reading program for us this year, though there has been plenty of reading. I just couldn't face the thought of keeping up with a program. The kids went to one of the very first library programs but we haven't made any of the others. And the one we really wanted to attend is this week and I forgot to call and make reservations, so all the spots have been taken and there is a long waiting list. Ah well. There's always next year.

I am blowing my way through Eat Pray Love. The writing is delicious! The woman has a beautiful way with a phrase and I can almost find myself in her life through her descriptions. However it's also deeply disturbing in some ways. Can't wait to discuss it with my book club, but also afraid of discussing it as I think the book may offend some people. It will be interesting, no doubt!

Inception is top of my "to see" movie list. I want to go see it this week! There are others I want to see as well, plus a slew of films that slipped away before I could. Added them to my Netflix Q.

Going to cut everyone's hair tonight. Except David, of course, since he is gone. I think he planned that rather sneakily! LOL

The hot dogs are ready, so I'm going to go eat!

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Sunday - Relaxing Day (party being rescheduled)
Monday - WORK (4 hrs daily), Homeschool Support Meeting
Tuesday - Lessons, WORK
Wednesday - Lessons, WORK
Thursday - Beach Day, WORK
Friday - Lessons, WORK
Saturday - Nothing on the agenda! Lots to do!

Whew, the week went by in a blur. Memorial Day was really nice. Bob did have to work, though, which was kind of a bummer. We went uptown to see the little parade and watch the ceremonies - one at the four corners in which our pastor gave a short message, and another at the cemetery with a 21 gun salute, some spontaneous patriotic singing, and a (slightly delayed) flyover. The rest of the day was just relaxing. I could have worked, but I just didn't want to.

I was able to pick up 4 extra hours throughout the week though, which made up for Monday off. So Tues-Fri, I worked 5 hours each day. That extra hour really does max me out.

Twice this week, I helped the new Seeds of Faith coordinator work out the fall class schedule. Since this is her first year in the saddle (solo, anyway), she wanted some help from me. We have some exciting classes coming up! And I am very pleased to leave SOF in such good hands!

On Thursday, we were signed up to attend a field trip about 90 minutes away, but another more local opportunity arose on Friday and I took the time to organize a group to attend that instead. So, we passed on the far-away Thursday trip, though James was able to attend with a friend.

The opportunity I organized was the chance to attend a Civil War Encampment in Lapeer - a great experience. I will post more about that on Cornerstone, along with some photos.

What else? Bought a new shower curtain. Got it out of the package and part of it is transparent, which one could not tell from the photo. Can't have that. We have only one bathroom, so bathroom-sharing is a regular thing here. So, back to the store for a white liner to go behind the see-through curtain. Going to put that up in just a few minutes.

Bob and James (and a little of David) got the sidewalk mostly finished in the backyard. Looks nice!

David is mowing right now. He and Emily take turns every other week. Next year, James will learn how.

Bought some new socks, since mine seem to have mostly vanished.

Got a notice from the library - return Echo in the Bone MP3 or pay $65.00. Sigh. I am Not Done Yet. I need to finish it - just about 17 chapters to go! I listened to it all the way through the grocery store on Thursday night. LOL Got some odd looks, but I don't care. Better than Muzak and store announcements.

Rescheduling my Tomboy Tools party - apparently everyone in the world has something to do this Sunday. (except me and Christy - LOL)

Made reservations for homeschool camping week. We have two camping weeks on the schedule again - family camp with the church and homeschool camping. Yes, we sold our camper. No, we haven't bought a new one. However, a friend said we could borrow her pop-up if we haven't found something suitable. We may need to spend the camper $$ on a vehicle for Bob, or maybe we should save a little more before buying one.

My fitness blog - go visit!

Washed Out? Washed Up?

This space needs something written in it. So, here goes.

Monday was kind of a wash, at least as far as my own attitude goes. I did push the kids through their lessons but I accomplished nothing at all except laundry. And it rained.

Tuesday was better. The rain went away, but the ground was saturated. Soccer was cancelled. I went with Dar and Pam over to the campground to look over the possibilities for homeschool camping. We changed the area we plan to camp in, although it's different than we had originally planned to change it to. Confused yet? So, those plans are underway.

Our neighbors invited us over for a cookout for their youngest daughter's birthday, so we hung out there most of the evening. That was fun. James and I tossed a football back and forth for a long time. Then I went to two libraries.

Started a fluffy book because I need something light and quick to finish out the month. All the usual suspects were unappealing.

Today should be sunny and nice. But all I want to do is write. I have a new idea. Not sure if I should start writing that or continue editing MVR. Well, I haven't edited in a while. (And if you are one of my FMN Beta Readers.... will you update me on where you are? There are a lot of you I haven't heard from!)

Oh yeah, and I got two of the High School Musical soundtracks at the library. Yeah, go ahead and laugh at me now.

Time for a shower. The kids are going to watch a Bible video to start their day today. I'm off!

Btw, David took the photos. FROM OUR ROOF.

Pleasant Days, Filled with Fun & Friends

Camping week is always a great pleasure! Four times now we have gathered all the willing local homeschooling families for several days of camping and activities. Some families come out for the day. If my count is correct, twelve families camped for part or all of the week and several more came for one or more of the daytime activities. Some dads camped all week, coming and going as necessary, but several also dropped off their families and then came at the end to help them pack up.

We arrived Sunday night and several families were already there although the week did not officially begin until Monday afternoon. We got settled in by dark.

The days passed quickly and pleasantly, filled with bike riding, crafts, hiking, swimming, ladder ball, badminton, card games, board games, movie night, potluck, and lots more excitement. All the excitement did not preclude plenty of time for relaxing, though. I hung about in the hammock and at various shady campsites.

The kids all enjoyed playing with their good friends and strengthened newer friendships as well. I did the same - most of my good friends were there. One crazy card game night ended the week for me! Friday morning was occupied with packing up and we headed out around 1pm.

We enjoyed our new camper and it was easy to set up. Our site was very buggy; next year we'll want some tiki torches or something else for the skeeters. We will likely set up the tent next year just to be able to keep some stuff in it - six people in a popup is really bursting at the seams, especially when you factor in a week's worth of clothes (and laundry too!).

The weather was perfect - hot the first day and the last, but in between lovely weather - not too cold or too hot. No rain, either!

Camping Week next year can't come soon enough!

Friend Photos from Camping Week

I did snap photos of some of my friends at camping, although some of them were hard to capture. So, now it's time to embarass them on the internet.

Darlene (tolerating my husband and his green socks!)

Vicki and Pam
(and Vicki's daughter Autumn off to the left, as well as Job on Pam's lap)

Maryann and her new "vacation home"
(That's what it said on the box!)

Ann and Carrie

Jennifer, Rosie, and Debbie

Camping Photos

Suzy and her friend Kylie.

David

Suzy and Baby Job.

Emily with her bike decorated for the bike contest.

David and James with David's friend Brandon - they were building a raft.

Pam painting Suzy's face. The face painting was a huge hit - most kids got full face paint!

Suzy "playing" ladder ball with Preston.

James and Declan enjoying the ice cream social (but not the photo taking! lol).

John (my boss, and also Vicki's husband) and Bob.

Our camper all set up - with the freaky owl lights....

James on his bike

James

Emily doing one of the crafts - silly putty

Emily with her friend Gabrielle.