Hello, 8th grade, 3rd grade & 1st grade..!

With August promising to bring us lots of lazy & relaxing days, I decided to test the "school" waters a little yesterday by having Kyle, Bella & Savannah start their 2016-2017 curriculum.  

I was really happy to see how well they all did!  I'm not sure if A Beka Math is the right fit for Bella, but my plan is to see how she does with it this month before trying a new curriculum. 

Kyle will need to buckle down & work extra hard this year, as his workload is quite large.  I'm going to try something new with him - instead of giving him specific pages & tasks to complete I'm going to give him a time frame & see how much he can accomplish within that window of time.  For example, I'll tell him that he has 30 minutes to read as much History as he can etc.  

I love the fact that I'm able to customize their curriculum - they're all unique individuals; they learn differently & at their own pace.  I never group them together - we don't all sit at a big table & work at the same time.  They all have their own style, their own strengths, weaknesses, likes & dislikes.  It's a lot of work for me to keep their passion for learning strong but it's incredibly rewarding, too.

Homeschooling continues to be the best decision we ever made for our kids!

The Past Few Weeks...

Today is the 1st day of having to do very little for the month of August!! I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time at home - just hanging out with the kids & moving at a slower pace.

Elijah's week with us went very well! The kids really enjoyed having their cousin here to play with.  From board games to card games, video games to spending tons of time outside playing, they kept quite busy every day!

Our trip to my sister Sandy's in Fairfax, VT was a lot of fun!  Both Sandy & her husband Ed went above & beyond to accomodate our not-so-small family - they had plenty of room for everyone to sleep comfortably! They were very kind to prepare all of the meals (my favorite was Sandy's twice baked potatoes!) & really made us all feel very welcomed in their home!
The weather was PICTURE PERFECT!! Sunny & warm!!
Bella is a true nature girl & loved taking walks around Sandy's property - collecting various bird feathers & searching for frogs!  Sandy took her & Jim on a 2 1/2 mile hike one morning, which was great fun for them!  While they were gone Ed & I took the others to a new park at the local school where there was tons of stuff for all the kids to do.
We spent Bella's birthday at Ed's family camp on Shadow Lake.  The kids loved playing in the water & going for rides on the paddle boat! The girls caught a little fish & put it in a sand bucket to observe for the day - of course Bella rarely left its side!! Sandy packed a picnic lunch, complete with a birthday cake!  We showered Bella with gifts & just enjoyed being out by the water for the rest of the afternoon.
The next day we headed to Lake Champlain with a cooler full of food to grille by the lake for dinner!  The lake was very warm & right on the beach area was a playground & grills - perfectly located so that the kids could swim & play while being supervised at all times.  We ate grilled chicken, potatoes, fruit & more before heading home for ice cream cones, showers & bed!  A wonderful day!
In between our fun at the lakes the kids had a blast jumping on Elijah's trampoline & raiding his toy closet!
All in all it was a lovely visit & we were sad to see our mini vacation come to an end!!

Yesterday we celebrated Isabella & Savannah's birthday with a very small party.  Only a few people were in attendance - my Mom & Frank, Carole & David and David, Melanie & their kids - but it was still a great day! Unfortunately the weather wasn't so great- with on & off rain all day - but the kids had fun hanging out anyways!

I am now 20 weeks pregnant - at the half way mark already!! - & things continue to go well.  I saw my Dr last week & had a normal check-up.  I spent a little time in Sebastian's room - organizing the changing table drawers & his dresser to make room for the baby's things. I'll have Jim put together the crib in Sept so that Sebastian will have time to get used to the new changes in his room.

I've been getting things organized in the den, too - framing pictures & hanging them on the walls, etc.  It looks much more cozy in there now & way less cluttered!  I also have about a dozen frames to fill & hang in the living room but if there's one thing I'm learning about living in a big house it's that I need to pace myself & tackle projects a little at a time.  It's too easy to feel overwhelmed if I try to do too much at one time...and there's just SO much that needs to be done!

Introducing....

...Vargas Baby #5!

The pregnancy test came back positive on Easter Sunday '17...

The kids helped me make the big announcement!

                          An internal ultrasound revealed this tiny peanut - about the size of a grain of rice!!  At barely 2 months old the heartbeat was strong.

At 18 weeks & 3 days the ultrasound tech did a full body scan of the baby - 100% healthy with no obvious birth defects!!

This photo is quite amazing.  The baby was resting comfortably on its side - showing us all of the bones in its spine & rib cage!!

Thank you, God - for this perfect little BOY!

Darius James Vargas 

Our Bitter-Sweet Trip To Vermont

We spent last week in Vermont, visiting with family & friends.  The weather was fantastic - warm & mostly sunny - so the kids spent most of their time playing & swimming.

I tried to spend at least a few minutes - several times a day - with my Uncle Dan.  I struggled emotionally, but I'm glad I could be there.  It was very difficult for me to see him laying in bed, unable to speak clearly or move freely.  A prisoner of his own body, Uncle Dan still managed to smile & laugh over random things.  True to his usual nature, his glass was half-full - even with one foot placed firmly at the gates of heaven.

During my final visit with him I had so many things that I wanted to say to him - so much more than the simple "i love you" I left him with - but the words escaped my mind & my emotions took over.

The pain I felt - as I walked out of his room knowing that I'd never see him again - was raw.  It still is.

We arrived back home with an extra kid (my nephew Elijah) on Sunday morning.  Elijah is spending the week with us & then we're going to spend a few days in Cambridge, VT (at my sisters) next week.

The kids are enjoying having their cousin here to play with.  They spend hours playing games & swimming!  It's especially nice to see
Kyle out of his room & away from his phone & music!

Speaking of his phone...
Kyle doesn't have actual phone service.  We gave him one of our old phones which enables him to use the internet & text messaging.  In the beginning he was only using the phone to listen to music via Pandora & YouTube but it didn't take long for him to discover that he could watch videos & play games on the phone, too.  When he wanted to use the phone for those things he knew he needed to ask permission first - & for a long while he did - but then he became a teenager...
Before his week at Boy Scout camp he was playing around on his phone way too much.  I was constantly having to tell him to get off of his phone & go outside & play.  He had zero motivation to do anything more than just sit in his room, listen to music & play on his phone.
After camp (no phones allowed there, yay!) he fell right back into his usual routine - spending 95% of his day up in his room.
Since our trip to Vermont he hasn't been able to use his phone or spend multiple hours per day up in his room - which is awesome - especially because just recently I've been noticing him using poor language - which I feel is a direct result of him being on the internet.  He doesn't even realize what he's saying until I point it out & tell him not to say specific words/phrases.  Last night he was joking around with his cousin when I heard him say "This sucks balls, dog!".  Say WHAT?!  And so that was the moment in which I realized that a significant change needs to take place..because CLEARLY Kyle heard that phrase from the internet!!
When we return from our next trip I'm going to take away the phone - very cut & dry.  He will be allowed to listen to music in his room via the radio but if he wants to use the internet his time will be limited AND monitored.  I'm no longer going to allow him to sit in his room, by himself, playing with the phone for hours on end.  Electronics - of all kinds - are influential & addictive.

Isabella Takes On Camp Cookie

Just as I had anticipated, Isabella is having a fabulous time at Girl Scout camp this week!
She loves swimming in the lake and was quite pleased to have passed the swimming test - which allows her to swim in the "deep" part of the lake. Yesterday she got to go out on a paddle boat!
I definitely think she's making the most out of her day at camp - participating in all of the activities, catching frogs, singing songs etc!
It's quite a bit of work for me to get her ready for camp every day.  We need to leave the house at 7:40A, which means I have to get her up, dressed, sunscreened and fed around 6:30A.  I make dinner in the afternoon so that it's ready before I pick her up at 4:30P.  As soon as we get home she hops in the shower while I unpack and repack her backpack.  Then we have dinner and about an hour to relax before bedtime!
Savannah misses her a lot, as she's used to playing with her all day!! - but I've been doing a little arts & crafts project with her every day during Sebastian's nap - which she really loves!
Tomorrow is "late night" at camp - where Bella gets to stay for an extra activity and dinner.  I pick her up from the bus around 8p - I bet she'll be exhausted!!

I'm On A Roll..!

3 new posts in 1 week!  It's a record!

Last week I was very sick.  I thought I had caught a stomach bug but since no one else got it (thank you, Lord!) I'm assuming it was something triggered by pregnancy.  For 3 days I survived on sips of water and dry toast.  I lost 6 lbs.  Fortunately I'm feeling a lot better now!

We picked Kyle up from Camp yesterday morning.  He had a fun-filled week: he earned a bunch of merit badges, stayed up late every night, made some new friends and ate a lot of candy!

Bella started Girl Scout camp today. She was feeling nervous when I dropped her off at the bus, but I am betting she has a blast!  Here in Smithfield she's still the little fish in the big sea - which is something she's not used to - but hopefully soon she'll make some friends and will feel more comfortable participating in activities.

Next week we head to Vermont to visit with my Dad, Aunt and Uncle. My Uncle's health is deteriorating pretty rapidly - he's been fighting cancer for over 10 years now and sadly it looks as if his battle may be coming to an end.  Recently he suffered from a couple of strokes which caused him to come off of the chemo treatments that have been keeping his cancer manageable for all these years.  He's going through a difficult time now, which has us all feeling helpless and heartbroken.  He's a young, great guy who got dealt a crappy hand health-wise.  All we can do now is pray that he is comfortable during the time he has left.

Today is a big day for Sebastian - it's day 1 without his pacifier at nap/bedtime.  It's time.  I've been procrastinating taking it away for months now, but an excuse always gets in the way (i.e. he's sick, I'm sick etc!).  With the new baby arriving in the winter I don't want him to have to deal with any more change than necessary!

I'm attaching a few random photos-I'm hoping to start printing some albums soon!  It's a project I keep saying I'm going to tackle, but I never seem to have the time!

Mom, There's A Bird In The Window!

...and so there was!

Around 7p I was outside taking the laundry off of the line when Savannah came to the door yelling "Mom!  Mom!  There's a BIRD in the window!".  I finished up what I was doing before heading back inside.  I wasn't in any rush.  We're surrounded by a variety of birds.  In the early morning hours our yard sounds like a rainforest!

You can imagine my surprise when I came in and found a PIGEON perched on our living room window.  At first I was skeptical as to whether or not it was a pigeon.  I mean, seriously, why would there be a pigeon in our yard - much less in our window?!  My curiosity intensified as I approached the bird and it barely took notice of me.  It could've cared less about the kids chattering or the constant movement coming from within the living room!  When I got upclose to it, I noticed a bracelet around it's leg. That's when I had my doubts about it being a pigeon...because why would anyone tag a pigeon??  I figured it must be some kind of an endangered species, maybe tagged by the local Audubon Society.  I took a photo and a video and posted it online.  Some people thought it was a blackbird while others insisted it was a pigeon. 

I was informed that it was a "homing pigeon".  After a little research I discovered that there are multiple "pigeon clubs" here in RI - one of them right over in N. Smithfield!  Imagine that?  Apparently people breed them and train them as pets.  They're trained to fly back to their home. Bizarre.  I left a few messages at these so called "clubs".  By this time it was 9p.  The pigeon decided it was quite comfortable sitting in the window and so it WENT TO SLEEP!  Apparently it didn't want to go home and all I could think of was what if it's lost or injured or - even worse - thinks that THIS is its home??

Fast forward to 4:00A.  The pigeon was wide awake, making all kinds of (loud) noises and banging its beak against the glass part of the window!! By 4:15A it was making so much noise that both Bella and Sebastian woke up.  I should mention here that Jim was away on business..sleeping peacefully in a hotel...

For almost 3 hours that damn pigeon banged at the window.  I finally climbed up on the couch and sternly told it that it was *not* welcome here for breakfast and it needed to go home.  I cranked the window (slowly) closed until the stubborn bird flew off, leaving behind a disgusting mess..

And people wonder why it is that I don't care much for birds?!

Just when I think I've seen it all - some new creature arrives in our yard!  A couple of weeks ago it was a snapping turtle.  A HUGE snapping turtle that was the size of a CAT!  It just showed up in the backyard, looking like a mimi dinosaur with its huge claws and spikey tail...

We're only in Smithfield but I swear we might as well be living in the wild :)