Where do I start.....

Okay, I always do this. I get too busy and neglect my blog. I am sorry. I will try to cram a lot in a little bit. =)

We had a great holiday weekend and spent Sunday at Meemaw and Pawpaw's. We had a great time. Here are a few shots of what all we did. The pictures are in no particular order in which they occurred. We rode the Sea Doos and the boys innertubed. We brought Blake, our neighbor's son (great kid). We went on an evening boat ride and the weather was just perfect. We would stop and let the boys jump off the boat. Tanner also rode with us (neighbor of mom and dad's). Uncle Jerry, GG (my grandmother), Matt, and Candy were also in attendance with Meemaw and Pawpaw as our cruise director. Clara loves the boat and the shot of her upside down is on her daddy's lap enjoying herself. We bought a massive watermelon on the way and everyone enjoyed themselves, especially Clara. She loves watermelon so do my guys.

Clara got some practice in on the Waverunner for next summer!! =) She loves hearing the boats and waverrunners and I swear she tries to mock the noises they make.

I also tested some recipes for cupcakes on everyone out at the lake. I made Key Lime cupcakes with key lime filling and coconut/key lime buttercream and Red Velvet with cream cheese buttercream. The Key Lime were a success!! Red velvets alright, but really red velvet cake (in my opinion) is like chocolate that quite cannot make up its mind (not my favorite). Yes, I do set up my cupcakes and take pics of them. If you know me at all you know I love photography when I have a chance too. To combine baking and photography is just a PERFECT combination!!

Last night we had a family dinner at IHOP (the boys' favorite) to celebrate starting back to school today. I tried to get a shot of everyone in front of the IHOP sign and they would not go for it. They laughed at me. Can you believe that??

School went smoothly today. I am still waiting on a few books to come in for Cullen and Christian does not have his first "official" class of General Science and English I with The Potter's School until next week. He does have Science reading and experiments to have ready for the first day of class though. I am excited about the opportunity ahead of him. The Potter's School is set up like a university-based school. He will have an hour and a half of class once a week on the computer in which he meets with his classmates and his teacher. All of them can have a class discussion together and answer questions, have lectures, etc. He has assignments, labs, book reports, lab reports, etc. that will be due throughout the year that he has to keep up with them and turn them in. His tests will be taken online and sent directly to the instructor. As the parent/teacher I also have to make sure he is on task outside of class and be sure he is keeping up and taking care of his responsibilities. I have open house this week for his English class to talk to his teacher and see how things will work. I have had a good look at his Science so far and it is more organized and looks as tough as some of the college courses I had. I think this will be great for him for more organizational skills (which his mom struggles with) and growing in responsibility.

Here is a brief run down of some of the curriculums we are using. Mystery of History which will be done together as a group. The same materials are covered but different assignments for each level difference of the boys and more in depth as you age. We are studying Creation to the Resurrection. It is a great curriculum that puts the Bible and history together instead of pulling it out separately. Cullen will be using Bob Jones Science again but without the DVD's and with mom's help. Christian will be doing General Science with The Potter's School but using Apologia curriculum. Cullen is using Learning Language Arts Through Literature and I am excited about doing this with him this year. My main goal this year is to stay consistent and to add more fun on my part with the boys instead of being the task master all the time. Clara's job is to make her presence known and to soak up all that she can. =) She listens to everything and she has started waving bye on a consistent basis. She is just the most precious thing!!!EVER!! Long day. After school we still had speech and a grocery store trip, back home to make Pad Thai for dinner (first time and turned out quite nice with my new wok if I say so myself). ;) Then tonight was Bible study here too. Shhhhhooooohhhh.....long day but a great one. Tomorrow will be a bit calmer. School and the only thing to do is gymnastics from 4-5. The boys are looking forward to it. I will try to post more frequently...I think I am starting to sound like a broken record!!

Here is a snapshot of the boys' working on Creation booklets for History today. Clara was napping or watching her Baby Einstein, cannot remember. Have a great tomorrow everyone!!