The downstairs is clean!

We have the downstairs cleaned! The kids are so excited! Jay is going to set up a computer down there for the kids to play their games on. We have a bunch of educational games the kids can play to enhance lessons, plus it gives one child something to do while I'm working with the other one!
We are very excited to get officially started on Monday!

And it's a GO!

I was so excited for my co-op meeting this morning, only to wake up to two sick children and a sick husband! Oh well! I'll get the information later.
So today we continue to get ready for the school year! I *think* Jay has agreed to homeschool Alyssa for the first semester and we'll discuss where we are at during winter break. She is excited about homeschooling this year.
We are planning on putting both girls in gymnastics this year. Maizie will start with a mom and tot class this fall and then be able to go into her own class in the spring! The older two kids will begin piano lessons. Casten has expressed interest in wrestling. It was strange looking at the Schaumburg wrestling club's website and to see my brother's name all over it! It's going to be the same coach John had too! That will start in November. He's too young for tournaments but can begin training and can compete next year (because he'll be SIX!) We may try to get Casten into hockey and Lyssi into dance this year too!
Things are falling into place nicely. We are having fun planning things and really looking forward to making new friends!

VBS IS OVER!!!!

Thank goodness :) It's a fun few days, and the kids have a BLAST, but it's very tiring for Mommy!
Today is laundry and clean up day! I have SO much laundry and house work to catch up on! Jay is going to set up a computer downstairs for the kids so that they can do their lessons and games down there! They are very excited! Everyone has a job to do, so I think it should go smoothly!
We bought some school supplies yesterday. I love back to school prices! It's the only time of year you can get crayons for $.25! Hopefully we'll get the downstairs organized enough today that I can get our supplies and books organized down there also!
YAY for back to school!

Here we go!!!!

So today we are starting our workbooks! YAY! (Alyssa is reading what I type out loud)
We don't have time to do much more than that since we are in the middle of VBS! The kids had a blast last night at the first night of VBS. They are so excited to go back!
Today we'll just be reviewing what the kids already know. Just refreshing their brains and getting back in the swing of things!
We are still discussing what this year will bring. We are debating between putting Lyssi back in St. Peter, going to public school, or homeschooling. I have found science classes for homeschooling, a co-op that will also teach science, art and P.E. Also a weekly Bible study for the kids and I with other homeschool families. There is also a homeschool gymnastics group too. Lots of options out there!
So now I'm off, workbooks, lunch, and a trip down to church :)

It's that time of year again!

We are now getting back into a new school year. We have yet to decide what we are doing for Alyssa for school, but we are praying about it and hopefully will come to a decision soon! She really wants to go back to St. Peter, but I think it might not be financially possible. We are hesitant to put her in the school right by the house, we worry that Alyssa would get lost in the mix. She's a good student, which is great, but it doesn't require much attention. We worry that the fact that this school is an ESL school (english as a second language) the focus will be on struggling students and the ESL students. She's also excited about the idea of homeschooling this year though! Being in 1st grade now opens up a WORLD of opportunity in classes and groups.

Casten and Maizie will be homeschooled this year though! I'm really excited about it! We'll be doing Kindergarten with Casten this year! I'm so excited about that! He is begining to read (with some encouragement) and can do simple math problems! He's so smart! He knows way more than I think he does! LOL!

Maizie we'll be doing the preparatory curriculum from letter of the week (LOTW) http://letteroftheweek.com/ We'll be starting next week with week one. We'll include a trip to the cosely zoo http://www.cosleyzoo.org/index.html  to see actual cows!

We are really excited about our new school year and are working hard to get everything ready for next week. In addition to our new school year starting next week, we also have VBS! (vacation Bible school) It should be a lot of fun! Anyone in the area that would like to see the closing program on Wednesday please let me know!!!

So that's it for now! We are going to re-organize the downstairs and the kids room today! So much fun!