After a harsh, drastically cold and snowy winter we were (finally) able to enjoy some Spring-like weather on Saturday! The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the temps climbed up into the mid 50's..all ingredients for a picture perfect day to be spent outdoors!
Jim was scheduled to do a job in Fall River but it was postponed, which meant he got to spend the entire day with me and the kids - a rare and special treat! As per our usual "cease the day" style, we were out of the house by 9:30a and remained outdoors until late afternoon (with the exception of Savannah who came inside to nap for a few hours).
We took the kids over to Sabin Point Park. The girls spent much of their time walking up and down the beach, filling their little purses with sand and seashells. Kyle used his metal detector for a while before his friend Andrew joined us for the rest of the day. The two boys had a great time burning off energy at the park and in the backyard! Jim got to "play" with his electronics - at the park he flew his remote controlled helicopter and then later he gathered up the remote controlled hobby cars and took the boys down the street to race them in the church parking lot for a few hours. Bella spent her afternoon digging for worms and "snails" (slugs, ick!) in the yard and using the sidewalk chalk in the driveway. Everyone was content, happy, tired and very dirty come dinner time!!
Also this weekend Jim was able to tackle the last of the "sprucing up" projects in the house; he painted the back hallway and the stairs leading down to the basement and then yesterday him and Kyle put down the new bathroom floor which was an enormous project, despite the postage stamp size of the area they were working in! They spent many hours ripping up the old floor, putting down a new sub floor and then laying the tile down. It was a lot of work but it looks beautiful! Jim just needs to grout it this morning before it's finished. That room will be completed within the next couple of days - he just needs to paint the vanity and the tub needs to be bleached down.
With so many projects going on at the same time I've been struggling to stay one step ahead with keeping the house clean. Yesterday's bathroom project brought with it LOTS of mess, though - so I have my work cut out for me this week. Everything needs to be dusted down, vacuumed and straightened up again but it's all stuff that won't take me long to do. By the end of the week the house should be back in good shape!
Kyle and Bella seem to be enjoying bowling on Tuesday's, although I didn't realize they would be bowling for 2 hours (2 games) when I signed them up. I think 1 hour would be perfect for their ages; 2 hours is a long time for *anything* for the girls. We made it through both games last week, but barely. After the 1st game the girls kept asking if it was time to go home. It was well past Savannah's nap (which she ended up skipping because by the time we got home it was too late to put her down) and Bella seemed to get bored after a while. I'm a little disappointed that the "teams" weren't grouped better. When we participated in the "free" bowling day I figured they would create the teams based on the kids ages and scores but instead they just grouped them as they had set them up for that day..so while there are some little girls who seem to be around Bella's age on the league, they are not on her team. Instead she is with Kyle and two other boys, all of whom are older and therefore better bowlers (not that she cares, of course!). All of the siblings are grouped together, so they really aren't getting a chance to interact with the other homeschoolers. If the owner asks for feedback at the end of the tournament I will suggest that he split the kids up next time to make it more appealing for them (and for the parents, too). In the meantime I am going to ask Mike if he would mind taking separate cars so that if the girls want to leave after the first game Kyle will be able to stay to finish out the 2nd game. I make it a point to never sign the kids up for something that I can't handle on my own (because I know just how crazy Jim's schedule can be) but I honestly didn't realize the kids would be playing 2 games. That being said, I am really happy with how organized everything is for the kids! The people working there are always one step ahead of everyone - with pizza and drinks ready by lunch time. They put the kids names on their cups so that they don't get confused with others and they just seem to have everything under great control, a big plus in my book!! Every week Mike and I give Kyle little "pointers" to help him learn how to bowl better. Initially he started off by bowling with both hands because he thought he had better control of the ball that way but he's since learned how to use only one hand and with each turn he seems to get stronger and gets a little more power behind his swing! I love that this is something new and fun for the kids.
In between everything we are trying to get to the end of the 4th Grade Curriculum. With only Language, Spelling and Math left, we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In an effort to help Kyle get through things in a more timely manner I've rearranged his school schedule so that he's now doing some "extra" work in the morning, in addition to his regular work load in the afternoon. It won't be long before the nicer weather is upon us on a more regular basis and I know he'd much prefer to be playing outside than sitting at the kitchen table doing school work!
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