What a truly crazy summer. Our summer has consisted of:
Driving kids to work. Picking kids up. Over and over again. Foster babies for respite (TWINS! Who were only 2 weeks of age on their first visit :-) ...). Working with the lambs for the show which was yesterday. A massive decluttering effort on my part, that is every so slowly emptying our house of things not needed. (Thankfully I did keep a bin of newborn things, heh, heh ... came in useful!). We weren't able to go on vacation, per se ... Kev is taking the two youngest kids to the zoo and to Nan's birthday party this Friday and Saturday, however Alison wasn't able to get the time off work, so as her driver I get to miss the trip too. I'm actually a little bummed ... I haven't been to the Toronto zoo since I was pregnant with Iain (therefore he has NEVER been!). I'd love to go, BUT it will give me a great chance to get ready for Iain's school year.
This school year for Iain has fallen into place well. I will be using some Christian Light materials for Reading and English, and I think they will be a good fit for him. Donna Ward's "Courage and Conquest" as a history outline. MEP mathematics from England for Grade 7 Math. Singapore Science, which will be a lot of work for me to outline the text, and I'm not sure how this will go, but we have the material already. And barring something coming up, he will be doing the Homeschool option at Sonrise Christian Academy in Picton Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, where he will take one period each of Art and Music, and two periods of Phys Ed and French weekly. He'll be in the same class as the kids he was with in 2004-2005 for these subjects. I am BEYOND excited because I often get scattered when juggling so many different things, and these last few subjects are the ones that either 1) I can't do a very good job with only one student (phys ed), or 2) I tend to let slide when things get busy. (Interestingly, after observing their elementary school classes at SCS I no longer worry about the "let it slide" bit ... I couldn't believe how much of the curriculum DIDN'T get done at public school.)
Claire is thrilled to be starting in the Grade 9 Venture Program this September, and can hardly wait for the 25th when she goes in to pick up her schedule and get her lock, etc. There are a fabulous bunch of eighth graders in this county ... she will have a rock solid class and I expect it to be a very fun year for her. She has really loved working at West Lake Willows, and three days a week was perfect for her.
Alison will be in Grade 10 Ventures this year, and discovered last week that one of her good friends was invited into the program for Grade 10 (a whole bunch of kids dropped out after being frustrated by the fact that the teachers had expectations of them). Her little summer job has ended up being full-time ... great for the bank account, but not a particularly restful summer. Her boss wants her to continue to work a couple of days a week, but Kev and I are leaning to having her quit, or only helping them in a pinch. They did a party of 50 last week, and at the end Andreas brought out the kitchen staff and introduced them to the guests. They received a standing ovation (by the way, this is a VERY cool restaurant! The chef will spend quite a bit of time out visiting with the guests, in particular if there are visitors from Europe since he speaks German, and likely a couple of other languages).
Kevin has been enjoying his new position as Promotions Manager with UCB. This past weekend they ran a family event at Wesley Acres ... a concert with Joel Auge that was WONDERFUL, barbeque, swimming for the kids ... nice relaxed day. Kev is very good at event planning and I was proud of him :-). He also enjoyed two weeks off, in a ROW, in July. We didn't go anywhere, but it was great for him to just hang around.
All three children had a week at Wesley Acres Camp this year, and all three had a great time. Claire's camp was a Worship Camp ... the kids formed bands and the finale was a concert. Claire went in as a vocalist, and next year hopes to go back and play guitar as well. Since they've been home, Alison has joined the girls that went and they have been doing some music for our church (Alison is paying the djembi!). Iain went to camp, and his high point was kayaking. He just loves it! He had a good counsellor, and an AWESOME LIT. Alison went to the teen camp, and didn't know anyone so she had the most difficult transition to camp, but it ended up a great experience. The girls in her cabin were each given the book "Captivating" and she loved it.
Having the twins has been a complete privilege and a total challenge. They only come for two days at a time, and the first day is almost impossible each time. The next day is lovely. The first overnight they didn't sleep .. I crawled into bed at 3 a.m. and managed to sleep until5 lol. Woo hoo. So far, the second night they sleep, and alternate wake times, which is hard on sleep as well, but MUCH better. I was always more of an attachment parent with my babies, so listening to a little one cry just about kills me. Feeling very, very thankful that we had our babies one at a time :-).
The girls are assessing their options for community hours this year. Alison was hoping to volunteer at the hospital, but when we went last week she found out she would only be able to help in the cafeteria. Since she is more interested in the medical end of things, she is now looking at different options, and hopes to get in to a large nursing home in Picton. They have a substantial recreation department, plus their own physiotherapy staff. Claire was hoping to volunteer with our local MP Daryl Kramp, but the Picton office is tiny and they are not set up for volunteers. She is also considering Ten Thousand Villages (her favourite store) and Sonrise Christian Academy (which is right beside the high school so would be very convenient).
Must get going for now ... I hope your summers are all going very well!!!
