It's hot!

Here in sunny central Florida on August 27, it is hot and our air conditioner is not working! I'm not sure how long we're going to stick this out before running away. On top of it all, this is the week we're supposed to be at our timeshare but couldn't go because Greg has a new job and no vacation. Sigh!

Civil Air Patrol

About 2 months ago, Landon joined our local Civil Air Patrol Squadron. He has been interested in all things military for a long time and wanted to keep open the option of attending West Point when he graduates from high school. It's tough to get into any of the military academies, especially for a homeschooler, so we began to consider our options. I'm not worried about his academics. Before he even started high school this fall, he earned 6 college credits for Western Civilization I and II by taking the CLEP tests and earning a score of 74 out of 80 on both (a 50 is all that's required to receive credit).

However, the military academies are interested in more than academics. They're also interested in leadership activities and sports. On the recommendation of a mom in my homeschool group whose daughter just graduated and was accepted to FOUR military academies, Landon and Dad checked out CAP. Landon loved it right away. In fact, his interest has changed from West Point to the Air Force Academy now.

This has been an expensive undertaking because we had to get lots of uniform stuff and gear for the many training and encampment activities.



Just one month after he joined, Landon was promoted to Cadet Airman. To be promoted, you have to pass written tests, physical training tests, and uniform inspections.



Here he is on promotion day!



Good job, Landon!

Baseball: The All-American Pasttime?

Whew! I do NOT have time to be blogging, but I have been wanting to post this for the past week. Last Sunday (as in 8/5), we went to a Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball game. Now, one of the advantages of having a pretty awful team close by is that you can get cheap tickets (as long as they're playing a non-demand team). I'm talking $8. Now that's cheaper than going to the movies. They also have free parking. Well, we had never taken the kids to a major league baseball game. We used to go to spring training games when the Cardinals played in St. Pete, but they moved and we haven't gone. The Braves (hubby's favorite team) play spring training in Orlando, but it's at Disney and expensive! We had a great time! The kids really thought it was a blast. I was so relieved!


Here are Landon, Chase and Gerren before the game.


Carys slept for an hour and did remarkably well otherwise for an
18 month old!


Oh, yeah! It was lunch box day and the first 7500 kids in the park
got free lunch boxes. I'm not sure there were 7500 PEOPLE in the park!


Dad was there, too! For once he was taking most of the pictures.

Fruit of the Spirit

Trish, from my SHS homeschool e-mail loop, informed me that I'd been nominated to display the Fruit of the Spirit graphic/blogroll in my sidebar. I'm amazed as I am not the wordy, philosophical type. I've read so many of these ladies' blogs, and they always challenge me and convict me. I don't try to do any of that in my blog because I'm not good at that kind of thing. I just use this blog to tell what's going on in our family and post a few pictures. Here's what Trish, the creator of this concept, says about it:

"In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote about the fruit of the Spirit ~ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The Fruit of the Spirit graphic was developed in an effort to recognize bloggers whose writings and postings in the blogosphere give us a glimpse of this fruit in their lives.***

This project is not simply my own. There are many blogger and non-bloggers alike who have agreed to partner with me in recognizing and honoring those whose writings, postings and lives exemplify how God works in and through His people. When we recognize Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit resides within us. It is the Holy Spirit who produces fruit in our lives ~ but He has also given us the honor and the duty of recognizing the fruit in other believers."

Hopefully, my simple posts and pictures do exemplify how God works in and through His people!

The Second Week of School

Well, the first week of school was rough, to say the least. Note to Self: Next year, start a couple of subjects at a time, week by week, to ease into the full schedule and to give time to learn those subjects that are new to us. As the kids have gotten older, I've been able to teach them together less. It makes me feel like a ping pong ball bouncing around all over the place, especially with Carys added to the mix.

Landon, who has the most to do academically, felt like he was distracted by her too often--especially when she wanted whatever he was eating!




We tried to let her color while we did Spell to Write and Read but she kept interrupting, hollering at Gerren to hand her another marker!




Carys likes to get involved with piano practice, especially when Landon is playing along to worship songs. Her favorite is Because of Your Love.




She also thought push-ups looked fun when Landon was doing them to prepare for PT at Civil Air Patrol.



We adjusted the schedule slightly today so that our mornings will be less rushed. Hopefully, that will help. I'll keep you posted!