Monday pics-

Love my sweet Grace.

We are going to start having my friend Rachel's son over to play educational games once a week. Today they played Math Wars (multipication) and the Scrambled States of America. Ella and Elliot were having so much fun--Kate even decided to join in.

Getting ready for my first run after my half marathon, I've only been walking the past few days. I've been hearing about how recovery runs are very helpful---so I'm getting back into the swing of it today. I'm actually almost feeling 100%, my quads were still sore yesterday--this morning I feel very good. I went to a fun wine and chocolate night/fancy dinner with the air force wives last night, and have lots of extra calories to burn. :)

hot dog

more weekend pics-

family walk-

half marathon

My time was 2:03---so pleased w/this time. My past half marathons have been around 2:20, so a 17 min. improvement!

This race was unlike any others I had done before. Before we started, they announced that there are uncovered man-holes, and to be cautious because they are not marked!!?? The race started around 5am, and was very poorly lit---thankfully I didn't fall in any man-holes! The mile markers were few and far between--just spray-painted on the sidewalk, maybe I just couldn't see them all. At one point along the way, there were wild pigs grunting in the bushes right next to us. It did rain for a bit at the start, which actually felt great because it was so humid. I'm sore now, but I'm so glad that I did it. I will not sign up for this particular run again, but there is another half marathon in Guam that I hear is much better. :)

everyday things...

Love the story cubes I got Ella-

She rolls 9 cubes, and creates a story. :) Her stories are hilarious. I'll post one soon, if she'll let me.

Also, we got the game, The Scrambled States of America---and it's been a lot of fun too!

The swim team is having a bake sale this weekend, so we've been making and bagging up rice crispy treats...yum!

swim meet on Sat.

My girls rocked it. I'm so proud of them. Kate chose to swim a 200 IM for the first time. Her time was 4:16, she was tired, but it was so neat to see her set a goal and accomplish it. Ella was feeling much better, & had a personal best time on her 50 Breast. Speaking of goals, my friend Rachel signed me up for a half marathon next weekend. I have 2 goals- 1. To complete the run in 2:15 or less, and 2. Not to die of heat exhaustion! ;) This will be my first half marathon in Guam. High humidity is difficult.

Okay--back to the swim meet pics:

Ella 50M Breaststroke-

Hooked on the Boxcar Children books-

Kate is diving off block #6-

Kate Breaststroke (I think this was part of her 200 IM) She is a fun swimmer to watch--very graceful in the water-

Grace and Lizzie Beth-

finding shade! The sun zapped our energy on Saturday.

bananas!

We've got a bunch!

feeling blah...

Not much to write about....Ella and I are fighting colds. Ella has been dealing with a super runny nose, and just overall feeling icky. This child RARELY gets sick, so when she does...of course she wants the full sick child treatment, which in our house means a lot of soups and smoothies. I told her yesterday and today that she only needed to do math and writing (which would take less than 1 hour) since she wasn't feeling 100%, but she insisted on doing full school days...which naturally makes me very happy. :) She thrives on routine.

One funny little tidbit--
Ella is learning the state capitals starting with the 13 colonies, and we are adding one a day---quizzing her throughout the day; believe it or not, this is fun for her. So when Scott got home from work yesterday, he said, "What is the capital of Pennsylvania?" and my sweet Gracie shouted out "HARRISBURG!" It was pretty cute. She's starting to read books to us now. I just videotaped her reading "Go Dog, Go!" to Scott tonight. I just love this learning stage she is at. She's working layered puzzles, and loves dancing to classical music with her tutu on. :) I wish I could keep her like this forever.

We LOVE Tangrams. I actually have 2 sets of them, so we will have to have races with these soon.

This is what happens if you fall asleep before Gracie does...

good blog post

Thanks for emailing this to me, Shelley! I could totally relate to this blog post because after graduating HS, I was NOT prepared. My parents had done everything for me--I had never put gas in my car, cooked a meal, or had done my own laundry; gradually I learned how to do these things through friends, and my dear husband. My children, homeschooled or not, will be learning how to do these things as they grow up. Here is the link:

http://www.hsclassroom.net/2011/12/15-life-skills-essential-for-my-children/

Sat.

Gracie's friend Lizzy had her 2nd birthday recently; today we celebrated-

A very 'Ella' pic--love this girl

Kate and Ella were awarded with best time ribbons for their last swim meet-

Gracie LOVES art, and Ella's homeschool

So, I've discovered that Gracie LOVES LOVES LOVES to paint with watercolors. She loves it so much, that she will sit down for an entire hour, and paint....very slow & purposeful. So here she is keeping herself occupied while I taught my homeschool art class:

Even her writing is very unique for a 2 yr. old-- (in my opinion) :)

Maybe she holds the secrets of the universe. ;)

This was one of my projects yesterday--making the swim team bead incentive poster, it will be laminated and hung up at the pool. It's a great idea our team manager came up with. Each swim team member will have a neat keychain with their earned beads.

Homeschooling Ella is going great. Really great. I guess I thought it would be more difficult to find a rhythm, but I think we've already got the hang of it. Her work/effort is improving, her love for learning is returning, her attitude is better, she is MUCH less stressed, & much happier in general. I wish I would have had the confidence to do this much sooner.

For friends that like to know what curriculum we are using, it's a combination:
History, Science and Bible -Switched on Schoolhouse (still figuring out all the ins and outs with this computer-based curriculum, but Ella especially loves to get on the computer in the afternoons to do SOS)
LA-Spelling power, Grammar w/b & Exploring writing w/b is by Mcgraw Hill, Wordly Wise (3)
+ daily journal writings
Japanese-Rosetta Stone homeschool edition
Math- Teaching Textbooks-4th grade, and Horizons Grade 3--I switch back and forth because I like both programs so much.
I've got so many Sonlight books (most of the readers up to Core 4), so those are our readers and read-out louds. We are also listing to the audio version of Chronicles of Narnia--both Ella and Gracie are loving that.
+ I teach 3 different art classes during the week, so Ella participates in each of those.
This week we added piano lessons to our schedule. Swimming is at least 4 times a week. We are BUSY!

*also, I just ordered a Writing program called- Jump In, because the McGraw Hill workbooks I have for her are a little dry. I also ordered Story Cubes today. Ella is a very creative thinker, and I'm very anxious to work with her on writing. :)

Fridays are a special treat day if Ella has mastered her times tables QUICKLY. She knows them all---but we are really focusing on speed now, one table at a time. Icecream at Baskin Robins is usually her treat of choice.

swim meet pics:

So proud of my girls. :)

I got the meet results:

Ella: 50yd Breaststroke-1st pl., 25yd Breaststroke-4th pl., 25yd Freestyle-4th pl.

Kate: 100yd IM-6th pl., 25yd Fly-1st pl., 50yd Free-5th pl.

Way to go, girls!! :)

sleep

Those that let babies or toddlers sleep in their bed can relate to this:

Gracie prefers the H and the Stalker when she does sneak into bed with us.

Thurs. pics...awesome day

Another beautiful morning in Guam. I had a really good run this morning--and this was my view--AMAZING! I had goosebumps the whole time, it was so beautiful.

art class pic yesterday-

Today at the youth center we got to meet NFL cheerleaders and mascots. Very cool---I had no clue how neat this was going to be.

Oh, and one more pic from yesterday--I thought this was so cute, Kate was teaching art to Kensleigh, Ella and Gracie: