Amidst all of the joys of homeschooling, there are tears at times also. This happened last week with both of my kids. I was really flabbergasted at how they were struggling with simple, simple things. I made sure we took breaks, I made sure I wasn't speaking a different language and they couldn't understand what I was saying; I just didn't have a clue as to why they were struggling with some things. Just a bad week, I guess.
I decided to do something fun--haikus. I don't understand it, but I've had enough people tell me that writing for the majority of boys is torture. I take their word for this, as it's proven true for my son. However, he has to do it once in a while. I thought haikus would be fun, he likes nature and he likes poetry. Not so much.....we thought of several together, he understood the rules as far as the number of lines and syllables and that it had to be about nature, but he couldn't grasp that it needed to be beautiful language depicting a moment in time. I even gave him descriptive language words to use, and I thought the many examples we did and read would help. He came up with one and it was quite humorous and gave us all a laugh and I accepted it, but then made him do another one more along the lines of the beauty of nature, and he was successful. Here are his haikus:
The black and grey geese
They are very annoying
As they land on ponds.
*We all thought this was hysterical, partly in the way he read it--guess you had to be there.
Fish swim very fast
As they glide through the water
With their scales shining
*I was very proud of him for this!
Despite the "torture" it was for him, I think in the end he was proud of himself--and that's the most important thing. He did something he really, really, really didn't want to do, did a great job, but I'm sure now he's thinking, "I can check that off and never have to do it again!" LOL!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
Dance
Yea! A new year is upon us. I know that this is going to be a year full of change for our family. As I think back on the holidays, events, and activities and all of the pics I took but didn't post, I'm kind of sorry for that. I'm not sure that this year of blog writing will be any better than last year. In fact, I kind of enjoyed the break. Here we are already on the 7th day of January, and I'm just now posting. Oh well....
I was going through my camera today uploading pics onto the computer as well as a couple of videos. I thought I'd go ahead and post the ones regarding Lauren's dance team. In June she went through a month of training at the NorthWest YMCA and in July tried out for the competitive dance team. She made it! This year was the first year for teams under the age of 10. She was one of 4 girls on her team for the ages of 8-10. There is also another team ages 5-7, and then of course the older girls team that has been around for a few years. However, after a month of team practices, the other 3 girls on Lauren's team were blatantly ignoring her and not being friendly. I couldn't believe that I was witnessing these mean girls treating my daughter like this. I brought the subject up to the head coach and she wrote me back saying one of her pet peeves was mean girl behavior and she would change it. However, by this time it was too late for Lauren and she was ready to leave. Besides the mean girls, the head coach was also the head coach for cheer and you could tell that is where her heart was. She rarely came and worked with our girls, or got to know their names. Also, she was very pregnant, so I think between pregnancy, two new dance teams, and the responsibility of cheer and dance, she was overwhelmed herself. We pulled Lauren off the team in September, and thought about putting her in the Y advanced dance academy classes. This would support her love of dancing, hopefully she would be around nicer girls; she just wouldn't compete and Lauren was good with that. The next thing I knew, a friend of mine whose daughter is the same age as Lauren and had been dancing on the competitive team for the South Y contacted their head coach without my knowledge and told me her coach wanted to talk with me about the possibility of Lauren having a private audition and joining their team. I called the coach and we chatted about Lauren's experience and set up an audition. The coach kept telling me this group of 5 girls had been together for a few years and were advanced. I wasn't sure what that meant for Lauren, but she had a great audition. About halfway through the audition, the coach came out to talk to me and I was holding my breath as to what she thought of Lauren's abilities. I told her Lauren was a more outgoing then what she was showing, and the coach said she could tell and she could also tell Lauren was a little nervous, but was still doing well. I also told her Lauren's weakness was ballet because she hadn't had a lot of practice, and the coach said all of her girls on the team were the same way. She said she was impressed with Lauren and could see the potential she had and said invited Lauren to join the team! I was so happy for my daughter!
The South Y team has been so welcoming to her. The girls are not mean and Lauren has especially bonded with 3 of the girls. I really like the coach. She is only 21 years old, and has been the coach since she was 17. She is young, but talks very nice to the girls, but yet disciplines when she has to. All that being said, I'm not sure what next year with this group holds. I don't like the 25 minute drive one way to the practices, especially since the NW Y is only 7 minutes away. Also, some of the dance moves in the routines seem a little too mature. I'm not the only one who feels that way either. Roger has noticed it and so have some of the other moms. Also, Lauren thinks she might want to take acting lessons and a break from dance, so next year remains to be seen. I'm kind of hoping that things might work out at the NW Y some how, or she might be able to dance for the place she is thinking about taking acting lessons from, Christian Youth Theater. In the meantime practices continue in preparation for 6 competitions between the end of February and April. Two will be out of town and the rest in town.
The pics are from the Haysville parade the girls walked in October representing the South Y. She looks so cute and had a great time with her new friends. The two videos are from December when they danced two of their routines at Breakfast With Santa. The girls weren't at their best, but they've gotten better in the little bit of time since then. I wish I was computer savvy and could pop up an arrow on the screen above Lauren's head that would follow her around the screen as she dances, but since I can't, enjoy the girls dancing, and if you can spot Lauren then enjoy her performance.
I was going through my camera today uploading pics onto the computer as well as a couple of videos. I thought I'd go ahead and post the ones regarding Lauren's dance team. In June she went through a month of training at the NorthWest YMCA and in July tried out for the competitive dance team. She made it! This year was the first year for teams under the age of 10. She was one of 4 girls on her team for the ages of 8-10. There is also another team ages 5-7, and then of course the older girls team that has been around for a few years. However, after a month of team practices, the other 3 girls on Lauren's team were blatantly ignoring her and not being friendly. I couldn't believe that I was witnessing these mean girls treating my daughter like this. I brought the subject up to the head coach and she wrote me back saying one of her pet peeves was mean girl behavior and she would change it. However, by this time it was too late for Lauren and she was ready to leave. Besides the mean girls, the head coach was also the head coach for cheer and you could tell that is where her heart was. She rarely came and worked with our girls, or got to know their names. Also, she was very pregnant, so I think between pregnancy, two new dance teams, and the responsibility of cheer and dance, she was overwhelmed herself. We pulled Lauren off the team in September, and thought about putting her in the Y advanced dance academy classes. This would support her love of dancing, hopefully she would be around nicer girls; she just wouldn't compete and Lauren was good with that. The next thing I knew, a friend of mine whose daughter is the same age as Lauren and had been dancing on the competitive team for the South Y contacted their head coach without my knowledge and told me her coach wanted to talk with me about the possibility of Lauren having a private audition and joining their team. I called the coach and we chatted about Lauren's experience and set up an audition. The coach kept telling me this group of 5 girls had been together for a few years and were advanced. I wasn't sure what that meant for Lauren, but she had a great audition. About halfway through the audition, the coach came out to talk to me and I was holding my breath as to what she thought of Lauren's abilities. I told her Lauren was a more outgoing then what she was showing, and the coach said she could tell and she could also tell Lauren was a little nervous, but was still doing well. I also told her Lauren's weakness was ballet because she hadn't had a lot of practice, and the coach said all of her girls on the team were the same way. She said she was impressed with Lauren and could see the potential she had and said invited Lauren to join the team! I was so happy for my daughter!
The South Y team has been so welcoming to her. The girls are not mean and Lauren has especially bonded with 3 of the girls. I really like the coach. She is only 21 years old, and has been the coach since she was 17. She is young, but talks very nice to the girls, but yet disciplines when she has to. All that being said, I'm not sure what next year with this group holds. I don't like the 25 minute drive one way to the practices, especially since the NW Y is only 7 minutes away. Also, some of the dance moves in the routines seem a little too mature. I'm not the only one who feels that way either. Roger has noticed it and so have some of the other moms. Also, Lauren thinks she might want to take acting lessons and a break from dance, so next year remains to be seen. I'm kind of hoping that things might work out at the NW Y some how, or she might be able to dance for the place she is thinking about taking acting lessons from, Christian Youth Theater. In the meantime practices continue in preparation for 6 competitions between the end of February and April. Two will be out of town and the rest in town.
The pics are from the Haysville parade the girls walked in October representing the South Y. She looks so cute and had a great time with her new friends. The two videos are from December when they danced two of their routines at Breakfast With Santa. The girls weren't at their best, but they've gotten better in the little bit of time since then. I wish I was computer savvy and could pop up an arrow on the screen above Lauren's head that would follow her around the screen as she dances, but since I can't, enjoy the girls dancing, and if you can spot Lauren then enjoy her performance.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Maple Oatmeal Bread
Wow! Almost 5 months since my last post. I think that's just how things are going to be from now on. But, let's get on with my post.....
A few days ago I went and looked at our town's Goodwill store. They sell everything but clothes, and are only opened limited hours, but it's really nice. I was just looking around killing time while Lauren was at piano lessons when I came across a bread machine and the tag was marked "new" and the price was $9.99. What a bargain!
Now, I've had a bread machine for a few years, and at some point something happened so that the pan wouldn't lock into place so it makes a really rattly noise when it's kneading because the pan is shaking back and forth. One time when I was making bread I was in another room and heard a crash onto the kitchen floor. The bread pan and all of it's shaking had literally moved the entire bread machine to the edge of the counter and vibrated it onto the floor! I picked it up, plugged it back in to see if it would still work and to my amazement it did, so I've still used it.
But, when I saw this bread machine at Goodwill I decided to keep looking around and think about it, but then decided this was just too good of a price to pass up. It looked like everything was there and it really did look brand new just like the tag was marked. When I went to pay for it, it actually rang up cheaper, so it was marked down a little bit more than the tag price. All I could keep thinking was, "I sure hope this isn't too good to be true." Yesterday I finally decided I better try it out. I got out one of my cookbooks and decided to try a new recipe. The machine worked like a dream--no rattling, no machine shaking so violently it will walk itself off the counter, no problems at all. When the bread was done the only thing I noticed missing was the hook to use to pull out the kneading blade once it gets baked into the bread, but I still have that from my other machine. So, now I am very lucky and have two bread machines if I want to do some double baking on the same day.
The recipe I tried is from my Taste of Home 1999 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes cookbook. It's called Maple Oatmeal Bread and it's a winner for the entire family! You can't even taste any oatmeal, or maple flavor in it. It is the softest, white bread I have ever tasted. We just couldn't get enough of it. So, because it's that good, I wanted to share the recipe here for you. Try it and enjoy!
Maple Oatmeal Bread
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water (70-80 degrees)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
2-1/2 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Place all ingredients in bread machine according to suggested manufacturer's instructions. Select basic bread setting. Choose what crust color you want, and the 1-1/2 pound size.
A few days ago I went and looked at our town's Goodwill store. They sell everything but clothes, and are only opened limited hours, but it's really nice. I was just looking around killing time while Lauren was at piano lessons when I came across a bread machine and the tag was marked "new" and the price was $9.99. What a bargain!
Now, I've had a bread machine for a few years, and at some point something happened so that the pan wouldn't lock into place so it makes a really rattly noise when it's kneading because the pan is shaking back and forth. One time when I was making bread I was in another room and heard a crash onto the kitchen floor. The bread pan and all of it's shaking had literally moved the entire bread machine to the edge of the counter and vibrated it onto the floor! I picked it up, plugged it back in to see if it would still work and to my amazement it did, so I've still used it.
But, when I saw this bread machine at Goodwill I decided to keep looking around and think about it, but then decided this was just too good of a price to pass up. It looked like everything was there and it really did look brand new just like the tag was marked. When I went to pay for it, it actually rang up cheaper, so it was marked down a little bit more than the tag price. All I could keep thinking was, "I sure hope this isn't too good to be true." Yesterday I finally decided I better try it out. I got out one of my cookbooks and decided to try a new recipe. The machine worked like a dream--no rattling, no machine shaking so violently it will walk itself off the counter, no problems at all. When the bread was done the only thing I noticed missing was the hook to use to pull out the kneading blade once it gets baked into the bread, but I still have that from my other machine. So, now I am very lucky and have two bread machines if I want to do some double baking on the same day.
The recipe I tried is from my Taste of Home 1999 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes cookbook. It's called Maple Oatmeal Bread and it's a winner for the entire family! You can't even taste any oatmeal, or maple flavor in it. It is the softest, white bread I have ever tasted. We just couldn't get enough of it. So, because it's that good, I wanted to share the recipe here for you. Try it and enjoy!
Maple Oatmeal Bread
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water (70-80 degrees)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
2-1/2 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Place all ingredients in bread machine according to suggested manufacturer's instructions. Select basic bread setting. Choose what crust color you want, and the 1-1/2 pound size.
Monday, July 29, 2013
A Great Summer To Remember
Wow! Almost 2 months since I've written a blog post. And, I have to say, I've kind of enjoyed the break. In fact, I've been trying really hard to be off of the computer more often in general. I kind of decided that there are times when you just have to revel in the moment instead of worrying about remembering it with pics or journal entries, so that's what I focused on doing this summer. I always hoped to some day use one of those websites that turns your blogs into a scrapbook/journal type book, but I don't know if I'll ever get to that. At the same time, I've realized that there are times I wished I had blogged about things just because when I'm 80 years old I can look back at my journals and it may be the only way I remember anything. I really, truly do have one of the worst memories ever. So many times people will talk about things or ask if I remember an event, and honestly I don't. If it wasn't for pictures, I probably wouldn't even realize I had actually been to this or that event. It's terrible!
This summer has been one of the best that I remember in a long time. In part due to the weather. The past two summers were record breaking heat summers and we were miserable. This year has been quite the opposite. In fact yesterday was July 28th and the temps only got into the 60s for the high and it rained all day. There have been some days perfect for going to the pool to cool off and other days when the windows could be opened to let the nice cool breeze blow through the house. Love it, love it, love it.
Another reason I'm thankful for the cooler temps is our air conditioner went out on us. We were gone on vacation for a week at the beginning of the month and when we got home it wasn't working. It seemed to run nonstop and was not cooling the house down. We finally had to start using the fan part of the a/c, the attic fan, ceiling fans, and standing fans to cool us off, but it wasn't too bad. Six days after vacation the kids left for church camp in Oklahoma. While they were gone the temps in the house got to about 83-86 degrees so I'm glad the kids didn't have to be home to endure that. We had some people come look at the unit and our pressure was really low. They could put freon in it that they said could last about two weeks or another year. They suspected there was a valve leak somewhere. We opted for no freon yet until we decided what exactly we were going to do. Last year during our house buying inspection they told us the a/c was a dinosaur but was still working, so we new this would be a not too distant thing we would have to replace. We decided to go ahead and replace the whole unit along with the furnace and there might have to be some new duct work done too. After we made that decision they gave us freon the day before the kids arrived back from camp. The new unit was scheduled to be put in last Thursday but we had a funeral to go to so rescheduled and it will all be done two days from now. I think we are spoiled people when it comes to a/c. It wasn't that many generations ago when they didn't have a/c, and there are plenty more people around the world who live without a/c.
The funeral we had to go to was for our beloved children's pastor's husband. She was in OK at church camp when she was told her husband was found dead. I believe what happened was he did not show up for work, so I think our pastor was called. She then called her son who went to their house and discovered his dad. Their other son who we are good friends with called Roger Saturday morning from Brazil where he had to go for work and told us what happened. His dad had a heart attack. He had a heart attack 7 years ago and I guess the doctor's had lost him during surgery, but revived him. Our pastor had always commented on how grateful she was that she's had her husband around as long as she had. He was only 58 years old. They were an awesome couple with awesome marriage and coming to know Christ testimonies. He was just as much a huge part of the pastoral staff and church body as his wife who is a paid staff member. He will be sorely missed, but he really does leave behind a wonderful legacy for and in his sons and his grandchildren. Roger was a pall bearer and I hope there are other things in the future that we will be able to help the surviving family with when they are in need.
Our vacation was wonderful! On a Tuesday night after Roger was done working and Lauren was done with her dance class, we drove to OK City and spent the night in a hotel so we could get up really early the next day and catch a plane to Houston, and then on to Orlando. We stayed one night at a Disney Resort, and then the next day were on a 3 night Disney cruise. This was the third cruise for Roger and I, and the second Disney cruise for our family--the first one being 5 years ago. We were on Disney's largest ship the Dream. We had a stateroom with a veranda which was fun to go sit on. We had one stop in Nassau, but didn't go into the city because last time we found it boring unless you take some kind of excursion, but we didn't. We also stopped at Disney's private island Castaway Cay which is one of our favorite stops. However, it was actually kind of chilly this day. We got into the ocean for a while, but I couldn't stay in as long as the rest of the family, so I enjoyed the sunshine on the beach. The broadway shows were fantastic, the food and restaurants were fantastic, the on board activities were fantastic--you just cannot go wrong with a Disney cruise. It is hands down our family's favorite type of vacation. When we got done with the cruise, we spent a couple of nights at another Disney resort and spent one day at Magic Kingdom, and one day at Epcot. The only way we were able to do any of this is because we had points in our Disney Vacation Club to "pay" for the resort stays and cruise. And, driving to OK City, staying in a hotel, parking our car for a week, flying out of OK City, the price for filling up the car saved a couple hundred dollars than flying out of Wichita.
The day we flew home from vacation was a Tuesday. We jumped in the car, drove home, got home at 5:30, then rushed Lauren to the YMCA to be there from 6:00-8:00 for her first night of competitive dance team try outs. Her second night of tryouts was Thursday and we found out the next night that she made the team. Thus begins a new adventure in her dance career--competitions. That is all still yet to be determined, but in the mean time they are meeting Tuesday and Thursday nights to work on dance skills through August and then in September more details will have been worked out as to what her year of dancing will look like. We know this is an exciting opportunity for Lauren, but the cost is crazy. I think I've already struck a nerve with the head coach because I am asking a lot of questions, but for two weeks now they have not had a parent meeting yet but want us to spend certain money already and I want answers as to why things can't be cheaper or why they are necessary at all. I have two other moms who agree with me and we are all trying to get answers. I am not a stage mom, but I'm also not going to sit quietly and just put up all of this money without asking questions first. Surely there has got to be some things that can change. Their response is to participate in fundraising and I counter that with if we could do away with some things or find cheaper alternatives then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about fundraising. We'll see how things move along.
Roger and I had a fun week of date nights while the kids were away at camp. Monday we went out to eat and then to a Boy Scout parents meeting. The Wichita homeschool troop that is sponsored by the Wichita homeschool organization is disbanding because the new rules and regulations they voted on do not align with our Christian beliefs. The homeschool organization will sponsor us through December so those older boys earning their Eagle Scout have a chance to finish, but they will not support anything that requires giving more money to BSA like popcorn sales that happen in the fall. Roger and I are in support of this. There is a brand new organization that is trying to form called On My Honor and that looks like the direction our troop will be taking. We'll find out more as the months move on. Tuesday we went and saw Man of Steel and we both liked that movie. Wednesday I think we ate out for dinner, went to church, then went for yogurt afterwards. Thursday we went to Pacific Rim. I did not want to go to this at all but went and am sorry we spent the money to see this movie in Imax 3D. Roger liked it, but robot/machine movies are not my thing. I told Roger he owed me with a chic flick. We tried to find some chic flicks to rent for Friday night, but weren't successful, so we stayed home and I chose to watch a couple of movies we owned--Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Princess Bride. This week of date nights was so much fun for us because honestly we go about twice a year and that is not an exaggeration. It also got us out of the hot house due to the a/c problem, and I enjoyed my uneventful days to myself while Roger was at work. I planned on doing prep work for my homeschool co-op class I'm teaching in the fall, but ended up just reading and doing chores.
We put our old house up on the market at the end of June and have only had two showings so far. My prayer was that our house would sell quickly, but now I'm just praying for God to bring the right buyers along. We had an professional inspection done which has given us a list of things for Roger to work on while we wait for a buyer. We also had a professional cleaning crew come in and clean the house before we put it on the market and that was a huge mess. If you ever want to know who NOT to use to clean your house, ask us and we'll be glad to tell you. It's a long story that I'm not going to get into, but let's just say we were duped hundreds of dollars than what we were told, this is sad because this is a Christian woman who used to go to our church, and she will be reported to the Better Business Bureau. After all of this happened to us with the cleaning company and word got at about our ordeal, we were told by several people at our church about their own problems in dealing with this woman and her company.
Other things we've done this summer was go to Botanica twice, the zoo and Exploration Place. We've been to the Y waterpark a couple of times, and the kids have enjoyed playing with the neighbor kids.
Last week the kids' curriculums arrived in the mail. The plan was to start school today, but they both ended up sleeping in until 11 a.m.! So, we will try for tomorrow. We always start slow and ease into a full blown routine. Plus, their friends and neighbor kids all have about two more weeks before their schools start, so I want them to be able to enjoy as much play time with them as possible. In the meantime, the kids did start reading their literature books that are part of their curriculums, so they are getting a jump start on that. I am hoping we can finish by the first of May!
Well, now I have to end and go bake some cookies for Evan's Boy Scouts Court of Honor dinner tonight. They receive any badges they've earned, or people get recognized for things. I've never been to one since I look at it as a special father/son time, and Lauren went once and was bored, so us girls may just stay home tonight. However, it would be a free meal for all of us and I don't have to cook except for the cookies that need to be brought.......
Anyways, that's been our summer so far. I've probably forgotten some things, but those can always be written about at another time. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
This summer has been one of the best that I remember in a long time. In part due to the weather. The past two summers were record breaking heat summers and we were miserable. This year has been quite the opposite. In fact yesterday was July 28th and the temps only got into the 60s for the high and it rained all day. There have been some days perfect for going to the pool to cool off and other days when the windows could be opened to let the nice cool breeze blow through the house. Love it, love it, love it.
Another reason I'm thankful for the cooler temps is our air conditioner went out on us. We were gone on vacation for a week at the beginning of the month and when we got home it wasn't working. It seemed to run nonstop and was not cooling the house down. We finally had to start using the fan part of the a/c, the attic fan, ceiling fans, and standing fans to cool us off, but it wasn't too bad. Six days after vacation the kids left for church camp in Oklahoma. While they were gone the temps in the house got to about 83-86 degrees so I'm glad the kids didn't have to be home to endure that. We had some people come look at the unit and our pressure was really low. They could put freon in it that they said could last about two weeks or another year. They suspected there was a valve leak somewhere. We opted for no freon yet until we decided what exactly we were going to do. Last year during our house buying inspection they told us the a/c was a dinosaur but was still working, so we new this would be a not too distant thing we would have to replace. We decided to go ahead and replace the whole unit along with the furnace and there might have to be some new duct work done too. After we made that decision they gave us freon the day before the kids arrived back from camp. The new unit was scheduled to be put in last Thursday but we had a funeral to go to so rescheduled and it will all be done two days from now. I think we are spoiled people when it comes to a/c. It wasn't that many generations ago when they didn't have a/c, and there are plenty more people around the world who live without a/c.
The funeral we had to go to was for our beloved children's pastor's husband. She was in OK at church camp when she was told her husband was found dead. I believe what happened was he did not show up for work, so I think our pastor was called. She then called her son who went to their house and discovered his dad. Their other son who we are good friends with called Roger Saturday morning from Brazil where he had to go for work and told us what happened. His dad had a heart attack. He had a heart attack 7 years ago and I guess the doctor's had lost him during surgery, but revived him. Our pastor had always commented on how grateful she was that she's had her husband around as long as she had. He was only 58 years old. They were an awesome couple with awesome marriage and coming to know Christ testimonies. He was just as much a huge part of the pastoral staff and church body as his wife who is a paid staff member. He will be sorely missed, but he really does leave behind a wonderful legacy for and in his sons and his grandchildren. Roger was a pall bearer and I hope there are other things in the future that we will be able to help the surviving family with when they are in need.
Our vacation was wonderful! On a Tuesday night after Roger was done working and Lauren was done with her dance class, we drove to OK City and spent the night in a hotel so we could get up really early the next day and catch a plane to Houston, and then on to Orlando. We stayed one night at a Disney Resort, and then the next day were on a 3 night Disney cruise. This was the third cruise for Roger and I, and the second Disney cruise for our family--the first one being 5 years ago. We were on Disney's largest ship the Dream. We had a stateroom with a veranda which was fun to go sit on. We had one stop in Nassau, but didn't go into the city because last time we found it boring unless you take some kind of excursion, but we didn't. We also stopped at Disney's private island Castaway Cay which is one of our favorite stops. However, it was actually kind of chilly this day. We got into the ocean for a while, but I couldn't stay in as long as the rest of the family, so I enjoyed the sunshine on the beach. The broadway shows were fantastic, the food and restaurants were fantastic, the on board activities were fantastic--you just cannot go wrong with a Disney cruise. It is hands down our family's favorite type of vacation. When we got done with the cruise, we spent a couple of nights at another Disney resort and spent one day at Magic Kingdom, and one day at Epcot. The only way we were able to do any of this is because we had points in our Disney Vacation Club to "pay" for the resort stays and cruise. And, driving to OK City, staying in a hotel, parking our car for a week, flying out of OK City, the price for filling up the car saved a couple hundred dollars than flying out of Wichita.
The day we flew home from vacation was a Tuesday. We jumped in the car, drove home, got home at 5:30, then rushed Lauren to the YMCA to be there from 6:00-8:00 for her first night of competitive dance team try outs. Her second night of tryouts was Thursday and we found out the next night that she made the team. Thus begins a new adventure in her dance career--competitions. That is all still yet to be determined, but in the mean time they are meeting Tuesday and Thursday nights to work on dance skills through August and then in September more details will have been worked out as to what her year of dancing will look like. We know this is an exciting opportunity for Lauren, but the cost is crazy. I think I've already struck a nerve with the head coach because I am asking a lot of questions, but for two weeks now they have not had a parent meeting yet but want us to spend certain money already and I want answers as to why things can't be cheaper or why they are necessary at all. I have two other moms who agree with me and we are all trying to get answers. I am not a stage mom, but I'm also not going to sit quietly and just put up all of this money without asking questions first. Surely there has got to be some things that can change. Their response is to participate in fundraising and I counter that with if we could do away with some things or find cheaper alternatives then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about fundraising. We'll see how things move along.
Roger and I had a fun week of date nights while the kids were away at camp. Monday we went out to eat and then to a Boy Scout parents meeting. The Wichita homeschool troop that is sponsored by the Wichita homeschool organization is disbanding because the new rules and regulations they voted on do not align with our Christian beliefs. The homeschool organization will sponsor us through December so those older boys earning their Eagle Scout have a chance to finish, but they will not support anything that requires giving more money to BSA like popcorn sales that happen in the fall. Roger and I are in support of this. There is a brand new organization that is trying to form called On My Honor and that looks like the direction our troop will be taking. We'll find out more as the months move on. Tuesday we went and saw Man of Steel and we both liked that movie. Wednesday I think we ate out for dinner, went to church, then went for yogurt afterwards. Thursday we went to Pacific Rim. I did not want to go to this at all but went and am sorry we spent the money to see this movie in Imax 3D. Roger liked it, but robot/machine movies are not my thing. I told Roger he owed me with a chic flick. We tried to find some chic flicks to rent for Friday night, but weren't successful, so we stayed home and I chose to watch a couple of movies we owned--Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Princess Bride. This week of date nights was so much fun for us because honestly we go about twice a year and that is not an exaggeration. It also got us out of the hot house due to the a/c problem, and I enjoyed my uneventful days to myself while Roger was at work. I planned on doing prep work for my homeschool co-op class I'm teaching in the fall, but ended up just reading and doing chores.
We put our old house up on the market at the end of June and have only had two showings so far. My prayer was that our house would sell quickly, but now I'm just praying for God to bring the right buyers along. We had an professional inspection done which has given us a list of things for Roger to work on while we wait for a buyer. We also had a professional cleaning crew come in and clean the house before we put it on the market and that was a huge mess. If you ever want to know who NOT to use to clean your house, ask us and we'll be glad to tell you. It's a long story that I'm not going to get into, but let's just say we were duped hundreds of dollars than what we were told, this is sad because this is a Christian woman who used to go to our church, and she will be reported to the Better Business Bureau. After all of this happened to us with the cleaning company and word got at about our ordeal, we were told by several people at our church about their own problems in dealing with this woman and her company.
Other things we've done this summer was go to Botanica twice, the zoo and Exploration Place. We've been to the Y waterpark a couple of times, and the kids have enjoyed playing with the neighbor kids.
Last week the kids' curriculums arrived in the mail. The plan was to start school today, but they both ended up sleeping in until 11 a.m.! So, we will try for tomorrow. We always start slow and ease into a full blown routine. Plus, their friends and neighbor kids all have about two more weeks before their schools start, so I want them to be able to enjoy as much play time with them as possible. In the meantime, the kids did start reading their literature books that are part of their curriculums, so they are getting a jump start on that. I am hoping we can finish by the first of May!
Well, now I have to end and go bake some cookies for Evan's Boy Scouts Court of Honor dinner tonight. They receive any badges they've earned, or people get recognized for things. I've never been to one since I look at it as a special father/son time, and Lauren went once and was bored, so us girls may just stay home tonight. However, it would be a free meal for all of us and I don't have to cook except for the cookies that need to be brought.......
Anyways, that's been our summer so far. I've probably forgotten some things, but those can always be written about at another time. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
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