Where Has Summer Gone?

I can't believe it has been four months since I last posted to this blog. I guess it's been a combination of being busy and being lazy. It has been summer, after all, and there's been no major events like softball world series, or new kids added to the family, or anything like that. Just a kind of normal, non-eventful, summer.

Some things have happened, though.

I did spend some time updating AndyandVickisPlace.com, adding a bunch of new pictures (after three years of neglect) to all the kids' photo albums. I also got a little hooked on Facebook, and their Fish Wrangler game. I'm not much into Facebook as a social network, though.

Alex got a job, and lost a job. He was working at Subway for a few months. They cut his hours near the end of the summer; they say because school was starting soon, but that doesn't make sense to me. They were cutting other employees too, I think because the economy in general just stinks everywhere. I also think it might be because we used his employee discount a good bit. I doubt this is why he lost the job, but a family of ten with an employee discount can break the bank of any fast food joint. He goes for an interview tomorrow at Quiznos. If he gets the job there, we won't be over-using the employee discount, just in case. He also got his license (and hasn't lost it, yet). I am happy with how well he has been driving. Surprised a bit, too, but something seemed to click some time in the spring, and he has shown enough maturity to earn the right to drive. Now he needs that job to help pay for insurance. Although public schools start tomorrow, Alex's school starts, gradually just before Labor Day. I won't start home school in full force until we reach an "R" month.

Connor hasn't done too much, either, He finished out baseball and travel soccer in the spring, and has been enhancing his soccer skills all summer. Practice has begun for fall travel soccer team, and also for his rec team. I normally don't like him playing on two teams, but I lost the battle of "one team per season" a long time ago. As long as we can dig up the money to pay for it. Connor also finished about a quarter of his Algebra 2 book over the summer. He starts eighth grade this year, and I want him to start Geometry (and maybe finish it( before high school next year. He wants to go to public school, for the sports and friends thing, and I can't think of any reason to deny him. He is so self-motivated that if the school doesn't challenge him, he will challenge himself. I made a deal with him: if he takes as many AP classes as the schedule allows, I'll agree to public school. He might actually do a little better at public school if he receives some academic competition, than he can do here, with just me challenging him.

McKenzie played rec softball this spring. She played up, on a 12U team. She was the most skilled player on her team. She even pitched when necessary because we only had one other girl who was fairly consistent at pitching. I was, however, very disappointed in how the league was run, the small number of games we played, and the lack of tournament play. Her skills did not get challenged, but Kenzie had a lot of fun, playing with local girls, and making local friends. So, it was worth it. Now, we're trying to put together a local girls travel team. They won't compete at the level Kenzie has played in the past, but there's more to it than just winning every game. Kenzie tried to find work this summer, too, but was not very successful. She's eleven, and there's not many people hiring eleven years old. She did get a volunteer job, helping at Chesapeake Cats and Dogs. She wants to be a VET some day, so I think this is a good start. Kenzie will start sixth grade this year. She spent the summer trying to finish up her elementary math so she can start Algebra 1 soon. She's almost there.

After baseball ended, Taylor focused mainly on riding his bike this summer. We haven't done too much fishing, but what we have done, has been because of Taylor. He loves to fish. He just recently started soccer practice for his rec team. He looks fantastic this year. He's always liked playing soccer, but it's just been something to do in the fall and he has not really been that aggressive or excited about it. This year, he's a different kid. He's playing like he really wants to be there, and is showing skills he's not displayed in the past. He might be ready to try out for the travel team soon, at this rate (although this is not required as the cost is prohibitive). Tay will start fourth grade soon, and is the only kid of mine who actually says he WANTS to be home schooled (they don't get a choice until high school, and where they go is determined on an individual basis).

Tyler is a hoot. The other night, at Kenzie's soccer practice, Tyler discovered that he can climb foul poles in the baseball outfield. He looks like a monkey, using his feet to shimmy right to the top. I've got to find a use for all his odd abilities, like that one. He can also take things apart real well (can't get them back together, though). So let's see; what job requires climbing poles and disassembling stuff? And definitely, NO MATH. Ugh, that's his Kryptonite. He did really well at travel soccer last spring, but just isn't interested in it enough to keep paying for it. Right now, he's into flag football. I haven't seen him practice yet, and I'm going to miss today's practice too. Alex has been taking him to football since Sunday afternoons seem to fill up with so many other things. I do like having Alex as a driver, for things like this. I will see him play some games this year, even it means missing a occasional Ravens game.

Bekah is still a cutie, but now has competition from Keary, her little sister. Bekah is still doing her speech therapy to work out some kinks in some her sounds. I think she's doing much better in her talking, and hopefully one more year will be enough. Her summer therapist said Bekah mastered everything she was supposed to work on over the summer, and moved on to other skills. She has really taken to bike riding this summer; finally getting big and strong enough for longer bike rides. She's also turning into a fisherman with Taylor. One memorable moment from this summer was her busted chin. She woke up one morning, covered in blood, from a gash she had under her chin. It took four stitches, and will leave a nasty little scar. We still don't how she did it and she can't remember. And, there's no blood (or chunks of skin) anywhere to be found, except the blood in her bed and on her sheets. Very bizarre. Bekah is only four, but has picked up so much from being in our classroom, that I'm going to start her is a kindergarten program this year. I hope I have time, because the twins are still kind of high maintenance in school I'm hoping I can get them to be a little more independent.

Keary is still our peanut, in her red glasses. She's walking and talking better than any of our previous two year olds. Her summer consisted of babbling and coloring and cutting paper to make shapes and making messes of scraps all over the classroom floor. She's probably ready for a pre-K program, but I'm not. We'll just let her absorb stuff in school for another year before we think about formalizing anything.

Adam is finally crawling. I think he's a little behind everyone else. He's almost one year old, and doesn't seem inclined to walk any time soon. No biggie; once he starts walking, he'll be harder to keep track of. Keary's wondered off twice since she learned to walk, so I can wait for the time I'll have to keep track of two wondering toddlers.

Me, I've just been trying to keep my head above water. Still trying to keep the kids doing a little school each day. Bugging Alex to go look for work. Laundry never ends, especially when you new HE washer breaks after only a year. It took two weeks to get it fixed. What a pain. And right after the warranty expired. My dad convinced me to write a letter to Sears to c=ask for my repair costs back (the washer was 16 months old). I was shocked when they agreed to refund the money for repairs. Sometimes it pays to be the squeaky wheel.

I've been typing for about an hour and we have to go to the in-laws' soon for a birthday party, so I gotta wrap this up. Hopefully, I'll find time to start posting here properly. There's so much I missed putting here over the past few months. Didn't I start by saying this was an uneventful summer?