Comic Book School

So, we didn't get school started this week.  I actually did get the school room finished and lesson plans done before the 1st, but the rest of the house seemed to need a lot of attention, so we focused on getting everything cleaned up and we are now ready to go.  Even though the kids acted like they were happy to delay the start of school, they couldn't stay away from starting it.  Josiah occupied our time with Comic Book School.  Day 1 was Garfield.  He read about cats in general, read about Garfield specifically, and then taught us all to draw Garfield.  He did a very good job, giving step-by-step, line-by-line instructions.  Henry's finished Garfield looked quite good.

Day 2 was Peanuts School

Day 3 was Odie School

Josiah loves being in charge and teaching.  It used to be that every Sunday at church he would fill out the Connect Card and check the box that said, "I want to be a teacher."  He is very blessed to have teachers this year who enjoy his constant assistance in class.  Last week he left this sign on his classroom door:

Henry had a dream fulfilled this weekend.  He got to look at Todd's old football/baseball/hockey/basketball/any-other-sport cards.  He was in heaven, although Todd warned him ahead of time that Henry wouldn't know anyone in the cards.  Aside from a Nolan Ryan card, that proved correct.  Henry still looked at every card and thoroughly enjoyed it.  We also took Henry to Academy Sports.  He's been asking to go for a looooooong time now.  He walked up and down the aisles touching everything, trying on everything, asking to buy everything, and all with a huge smile.  His smile turned once he realized it wasn't a shopping spree and we weren't there to buy, but look.  He wanted a lot, but his most coveted item was football gloves.  It would be good for him to earn the money for them.  They're $25 which an amount he can totally reach (if he's motivated enough).

Josiah said, "Look at the referee's uniform."  

Caroline was able to turn in her Half Priced Books reading log and happily cashed in her book bucks on a Paint Your Own Princess kit.  She had her eye on it since the boys spent their June book bucks, so she was incredibly excited to get it.  You would think the Paint a Princess kit would come with paints that included pink and purple, but alas they did not.  The book instructed the kids in how to make the pink and purple colors, so they weren't exactly the shades she had anticipated, but she still likes them.

The boys spent their week doing one last swim class, the Orange Clownfish. This class was a bit tougher for a couple of reasons.  For one, there were four boys in it.  One boy looked to be more Caroline's age and did the same immature things that Caroline often did in class.  The other boy was just one of those mean kids.  He would pull on Henry's leg if Henry swam faster, he would push his kick board into any of the boys if they were getting ahead, he was constantly saying he won after each swim.  Josiah got bold with him and wouldn't put up with his antics.  Henry tried, too, but there were quite a few times that I wanted to yell through the fence for this kid to leave my kid (and all the kids) alone.  His mom was nowhere to be seen, so it was a bit frustrating.  There are no more classes until next summer so we'll try to ensure we do not share another class with him.  At least the boys got a lesson on "how to deal with difficult people."

All the kids enjoyed swinging on the swings before swim class.  They would twist each other up a lot so they would take a long time to unwind.  Even the pictures give me a queasy stomach.


Caroline took care of a last minute item on her summer bucket list.  She slept on the boys' floor one night.  It couldn't have been comfortable, but it hasn't deterred her from asking to do it again.  Tonight I told her she had to get a good night's sleep because she was starting Kindergarten in the morning.  She is really excited to begin.

Besides beginning school we have our CC orientation this coming week.  We are meeting at a new church this year so the kids are looking forward to seeing the new campus.  We are praying the new year starts with good attitudes, open minds, and willing students!