My Baby is now a school-girl!

This has been a life changing week for us. We had prayed all summer about whether to continue homschooling or to send her to school. Walter and I neither felt that we had a clear answer. So, on Thursday I asked Avery what she preferred and she said she wanted to be in a classroom. On Friday we spent the day buying school supplies and uniforms. On Monday Avery started first grade at Thompsom Elementary. Her teacher is Mrs. Shackleford and she is loving school. Patrick, Cedric, Katie, and J.D. are her new friends and she loves lunch and recess because that's when they get to talk. She gets out at 12:45 on Fridays, which I think is pretty cool!

Josiah has handled her being gone very well. We have done lots of building with legos! AND He has watched The Incredibles every day this week (which is much better than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that Avery insisted on watching everyday at this age)! Around 2:00 Josiah usually says, "I wanna see Avery." When I tell him we have to wait until she's done with school, he goes and gets his shoes and tells me, "Let's go pick her up." Since he has shoes on, I send him out to play with Oreo for a while and he seems happy with that.

Today Josiah has been afraid of a bird. What kind of bird? I have no idea. It's about to drive me crazy. A sample of how our morning has proceded...
Me: "Get out of the car."
Him: "No, the bird will get me."
Me: "Come sit at the table and eat."
Him: "No, the bird will get me."
Me: "Can you go find your shoes?"
Him: "No, I scared. The bird will get me."
Me: "Do you want to eat lunch at Sonic?"
Him: "I no go outside. The bird will get me."

Where do kids get these strange fears? When Avery was afraid of her closet, we would spray her room with Strawberry airspray--ALL Monsters are afraid of strawberries you know! So, maybe I need some Bird spray...or maybe he can use an umbrella for protection. Any ideas???
(Recently Avery saw the can oF Strawberry airspray. "Mom. There aren't really any monsters in my closet are there? And monsters aren't really afraid of strawberries are they?" I told her that there were no such things as monsters so they CAN'T be in her closet. I asked if the using the spray used to make her feel less scared. She said, "Yeah." I said that was all that mattered. I just didn't want her to be afraid.)

Wow! Where does the time go? How is is already July? We had a week of VBS. Then we did Sea World Camp. Avery was such a big girl, going off to camp without Mom. She had lots of fun there and really enjoyed Sting Ray day. She also had a mini-crush on her camp leader--Patrick. Her group was the Otters, but they joined rank with the Flamingos and became the Flamotters. We had the Gober family reunion in Lampasas and had fun dancing and getting to know everyone better. We went down to Memorial park and watched two different fireworks shows on July 4th. Avery loved it and Josiah kept saying, "They broke. Uh, oh." Then, Avery had theatre camp and made an adorable Sea Horse in the Rainbow Fish play. We have had a busy and fun summer.

Yesterday I met Mom in Luling and dropped off my kiddos. They are going to stay with Mom while Walter and I travel to Connecticutt. Walter has a five day externship at U. Conn and we're celebrating our 10 year anniversary. My only sadness is that I'll miss my Babygirl's birthday. I sent gifts with Mom for her to open on her special day.

Mom and the kids are in San Angelo right now. They met up with some of her ex-coworkers at the Airport Cafe. (Yum...I love thier lemon chicken!!) Then, they are heading to Roscoe for the Ladies Weekend. Avery and Josiah are both excited that they get to see all of their cousins. I hope they have lots of fun and don't have time to miss us!

VBS

Our Churches' VBS theme is Boomerang Express. They are "in" the Australian Outback. When I told Avery they were going to be having an Australian theme she was quite worried. "Mom, I don't think I can go." I asked why not. She said, "I only know English. What language to they say in Australia?" I reminded her that Dawn's friend that went to the Blue Bell Factory with us is Australian and she speaks English. After that, she thought she might could go. When we got to church this morning and she saw her friends she forgot to be worried and had a great time!!
After VBS I made sure to run a lot of errands. Next week at Sea World camp she will be there from 9-3 and I'm trying to build up some stamina.

Motivation

Homeschooling has been an interesting process. We have tried several types of techniques. I know she has learned a lot this year, but I keep thinking "there has to be a better way". It is sometimes very hard for me to get Avery motivated to do anything. I have tried positive reinforcement with stickers, candy, and Polly Pockets. I have tried taking away privileges like computer time, t.v., stuffed animals, etc... It has been a challenge to find a currency in which I can deal with her. Then one day she saw my charm bracelet. She LOVES all the charms on it. She wants a charm bracelet of her own. I had finally found the motivator I've been looking for.
So, I ordered the PACE program that I used in Private school in First, Second, and Third grades. I cracked up when I got the curriculum, the pictures have not changed in 24 years!! Now, for every five PACEs Avery finishes, she will get a charm for her very own bracelet. She has had fun browsing the Internet looking for charms and making a wishbook.
I had planned on this being the last week of school because this is the last week for H.I.S.D., but Avery keeps asking when we can do more school. As long as she is interested, I'll keep reading to her and helping her with her work. Next week she will have Vacation Bible School in the mornings, so we can do school in the afternoons.
The week after that we will be in San Antonio so she can attend Sea World Camp. I think that will be enough of a learning adventure that I won't bring the PACEs with us. I have a bit of trepidation (okay a lot) about Sea World Camp. It will be the first time in her life that she will be with complete strangers for more than a couple of hours. She will be at Camp from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.--I'm sure she will be fine, but I may need some Prozac!! She has already informed me that she will try not to talk too much! I guess she knows her strengths and weaknesses!!!!! The counselor will be posting what her group is doing on Twitter, so I guess I need to figure out what that is and how to use it!

Babies are Gone

Mom came to Houston on Sunday and took my babies home with her yesterday. The house is so quiet with them gone!! Last night Walter and I started talking about the kids and he said, "You do realize they've been gone less than 24 hours and we already miss them!" It was nice to sleep all night without a little one climbing in bed with us...if only we didn't have to get up early.

Walter had a Dr. appt in Clear Lake this morning, so we spent the day there. We went the doctor, Goodwill to donate some goods, Scrapbook Junkie, Mamacitas for Lunch, the movie theatre to watch Mall Cop then came back into Houston and picked up Walter's prescription at Target. Now I need to fold laundry so I can pack a suitcase cuz we are going to San Antonio sometime tomorrow. Brittney's birthday is today and she and Brady are having a party on Friday night. Brady needs Walter's help in constructing an outdoor drink stand for the party.

My Funny Kids

"Mom, will you play in a band with me? I need more people to have a band."

"Why don't you ask Josiah? Can't he make music with you."

"He's too busy."

"Doing what?"

"Putting on lipstick."

"Oh my gosh. Grab it!"

We were in the car driving to Boerne when an energizing song came on the radio. Avery pulls out her air guitar and starts playing. "Mom," she yells. "What instrument are you going to play? You can play the glockenspiel." "The glockenspiel," I say increduously. "Yes Mom. You know it's like a wooden xlyphone." "Yes," I replied, "I know what it is. How do you know it?"

"Sesame Street"

The other day we went out to have Chinese food. I ordered orange chicken. When I got my plate, Josiah leaned over on my shoulder. He got a look of total disgust on his face. He poked the brocolli (covered in oranges sauce causing it to be brownish in areas). He looked at me and said, "Ribbit?" "Oh no, Baby. That's not a frog. It's just brocolli." (I don't think he was ever convinced that it was a plant instead of an amphibian!)

No more brothers...No more weddings

Brandon got married March 28th to Tammy.

Throughout the ceremony Josiah kept saying, "Tammy, pretty!"

Brady got married April 24th to Brittney. We had a lot of fun dancing at the reception. Mom and Brady chose the Chicken dance for their Mother/Son dance. It was soooo Brady!

You can check out more photos on my Facebook page!!