The First Day of School 2016

I started our new homeschool year a little bit later than I have in the past.  I waited until after I had taken Olivia and Julie to college before beginning school here at home. Our first day was August 26.

I set the table for breakfast.....

And we began our day with clues for our annual treasure hunt. I always try to stump the kids with my clues. This one proved to be difficult for them.

(It was two picnic table benches stacked on top of each other beside a tree they like to climb. I always see it when I am running, but they haven't used it in a while, so it took them several minutes to figure out this clue. I made two clues for each child.

Back to school photos....

 Leah

Clay

Sam

Here they are with their treasure bags--they contained some fun school supplies and MSU shirts for the boys.

We are having a great school year so far. Leah, Sam, and I go to Crossfit on Mondays and Fridays at 1:00 PM, so I am doing less subjects on those days in order to finish school by 11:45. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, we do a full load of school. We begin each day at 8:00 AM with a Bible lesson and Scripture memory at our kitchen table.  Clay is taking college algebra at a local community college on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he completes all his other schoolwork independently. Jimmy is offering assistance as needed in physics.

Leah and Sam still do all their schoolwork in the schoolroom with me sitting at the table with them. We are doing history, science, and geography together, and their other subjects they work on independently. I am there to help as needed, and I check their work as soon as they complete it and have them make any corrections. 

I will share the specifics of our curriculum in a future post.

The College Girls' Dorm Rooms

Disclaimer:  I am not an interior decorator!  Olivia and Julie's rooms are cute and functional.

The dorm that both Olivia and Julie live in underwent a major renovation over the summer.  The carpet was all ripped out, the concrete floors polished and stained, the bathrooms gutted and redone, the built-ins completely removed and replaced, and even the closets were improved!

Here are some before pictures of Julie's suite. (She shares a suite with 4 girls--2 girls in each room with a closet area and bathroom between the two rooms which they share.)

 the shower

(Those are cool towel bars on either side...they swing out to hang the towels.)

 the bedroom

The beds, desks, and chest of drawers can be moved anywhere in the room. Previously, all the furniture was permanently installed. While Julie was running with Big Sam I spent about an hour moving the furniture in various ways and walking up and down the hallway to look at how other girls were arranging their rooms.  I finally decided on the above arrangement.

the kitchen area.

Here are some after pictures.  

the shower 

I raised the beds so that each girl has a two drawer chest (like the one pictured above--two are stacked) underneath their bed. They also have crates and plastic boxes holding various objects underneath their beds.  There is a lot of storage under there!

Olivia moved into her dorm a week early because she had to go to campus early for the last week of a summer school (online) class she had taken all summer. She moved all of her stuff out of storage, unpacked, and decorated her room all by herself!  She and her roommate had it all done by the time I finished helping Julie and Elle with their room. All I had to do was buy and hang some curtains over their closet. (Last year it had these groovy wooden-like sliding doors on it.)

Olivia and Morgan have an oversized room with their own bathroom.

 their desk area

 their living area

 a view from when you walk in

the closets (each girl has her own)

another view of their beds....(before I hung the closet curtains)

This room also has a little kitchen area and a huge bathroom that I failed to take a picture of.

Both girls' rooms are homey and perfect for them!

Fun Days and an Update

I began blogging over eight years ago, and up until about 2 years ago, I was a fairly regular blogger.  I want to try to get back into the habit of blogging again. I really do. My internet (or lack of high speed internet) still frustrates me, but I am going to do the best I can.

Yesterday we attended the Mississippi State football game. It was hot, we got sunburned, and State lost, but it was still a fun day with friends and family!

 The Three Amigos 

(Lynn, Leanna, and Me)

AKA The Wedding Planners

(more on that later....)

 Me and Jimmy

Sweet Sam and Jimmy

(Uncle Kelly in the background)

After the game we enjoyed an early supper at Oby's, which was one of our favorite restaurants in Starkville when we were all in college. It's still delicious!

The fun for today involved getting up at 3:30 to run the Tupelo 13.1 Miler.  Leanna, Jimmy, Clay and I joined about 800 other runners for the 5:00 AM race start.  Leanna and I had the goal of finishing by 7:30 so we would have enough time to go home and get ready for Bible Class which started at 9:00. We did it!  In fact, we ran the race in 2 hours, 12 minutes. Of course Jimmy and Clay finished well before that. 

I am resting now. 

But first, about the wedding planners.....

Julie got engaged on August 20!  She and Sam Peters will be marrying on June 3. So, Leanna, Lynn, and I are in full planning mode. Our first wedding! 

 Sam and Julie

Sam and Julie again