Shift

As the summer winds down and the weather shifts, so do we. The kids (and I) are in a funny place between wanting to soak up the last of summer yet being ready for the fun things fall brings. Declan is ready to celebrate his fourth birthday and has very extravagant plans involving bugs, dirt piles, sand piles, and other things that he will not see on the scale he is imagining. Isabella has confidently wrapped her head around the idea that she will be homschooled this year. We saw one of her friends in the library last week and she asked Isabella about going to school. She paused and then said, "no, I'm going to be...I'm doing...I'm...I'm doing home...I'm doing home kindergarten." She's excited about her new materials, learning to read, and we've entertained the idea of joining a local group to give her an 'out of the home' learning experience as well. As far as parenting decisions go, this has been the hardest. We tried different avenues, schools we felt comfortable with and things just didn't pan out. I feel confident that we ended up here for a reason even if it's just the simple fact that Isabella spent the better part of the day in the bathroom (details spared, but it wasn't good...) and halfway through the day I thought "Oh my gosh, this would have been her first day of school!" I experienced the whole knot in the stomach thing and that was with me knowing that she was home. I feel good about the year ahead and the change and growth she's about to experience.
Time doesn't register yet for Quinn. She's happy if I accidentally leave a tube of diaper cream on the bed.

The kids were playing while Ryan and I were cleaning up from dinner. Declan came in and said "Dad! You are not going to believe this. Quinn made a huge mess. You better come quick. You are going to be soooo mad."
Not quite the reaction he expected when I (grabbed my camera...because, come on, I knew it was gonna be good) walked in the room and couldn't stop laughing. Trust me, it's the thing to do when oily, thick, white diaper cream is covering your child (and bedspread). Twenty minutes later and Ryan's smart idea of washing her with dish soap, and she came out smelling powder fresh!

August at our house can be summed up with one word: Buggy. The bugs are always pretty bad here, but in August when it's hot, humid, and this year-pretty rainy, the bugs are out in full force. This means there have been more trips to the park than usual. Which only reminds me why I avoid them in the first place. Quinn knows no bounds and if Isabella is going to climb a twenty foot ladder, so should she. That place gives me an anxiety attack.

Declan loves to play. He really does. I'm not so sure that eating doesn't trump playing though. Even at the park...

Stopping to feed the ducks on the scariest bridge ever. I'm so glad Kelly brought so much bread. ;)

On the top of my priority list for the next couple of weeks is to figure out a method for teaching kindergarten material to a five year old, preschool material to two four year olds (Abbey is coming back to our house for preschool twice a week this year!) and two year old stuff...to a two year old. Isabella gets in the zone, so I'm not too concerned about her, or Abbey for that matter. She'll have probably mastered kindergarten by the end of the year too. I've already begun creating some material to keep Quinn busy, and it seems to keep Declan just as busy...which isn't a bad thing, just interesting. Quinn loves to scoop, dump, and sort. It's her thing. Well, we all know this is Declan's thing as well. Beans are cheap. Thank goodness, since a bucket full ended up on the floor by the time these two were finished.

Also ranking high on Quinn's activity board are cutting paper, gluing any and every thing to paper, writing on and erasing white boards, sorting anything colored, doing board puzzles, and asking "why" along the way.

Declan's activity of choice: chase the chickens.

Ryan was supposed to play in a softball game for work last week. It got cancelled at the last minute and the kids were really dissapointed. So, Ryan came home that evening with our own little "softball game."  Isabella has always loved playing catch and hitting a ball, but the other two really loved the idea of having a gauranteed hit with a tee. They loved their gloves so much that they named them, slept with them, and drew pictures of them to hang in their room.

These three keep things busy, changing, and interesting.

We are ready and excited for the fall. New routines, new lessons, new ages, and more fun. Always more fun. And maybe, hopefully, more sleep.

Declan's been hiding fall decorations in his closet for the past two months (my little hoarder). Soon they will emerge...Fall is in the air.