1st First Grade Project

The first graders have been studying animals this month, so their teachers decided to send home a project focusing on animals: create a hat that resembles your favorite animal. I am quite pleased with how it turned out! I had the idea to use a brown baseball hat, felt, and a glue gun, but the rest was up to Jackson. He decided what parts to add, he cut out all of the parts himself, and he stuck all of them on himself (after I had applied the glue, of course!). Most importantly, it looks like a first grader made it, not his mom, and I am so proud of him... it is perfect!

T-Rex Soccer

Harris and his T-Rex soccer friends

This kid has a smile on his face the entire time he is on the field!!

Adventure

We have recently started "Family Adventure Day" on Saturdays. Jason and I take turns deciding where we will go and what we will do in an attempt to avoid days spent inside and being lazy or wasting time with the "Whadya wanna do today?" game. Our rules are that it has to be away from home, it should be something active and preferably outside, and it needs to be within two hours driving time. Our options include boat rides, beaches, interpretive centers, bike rides, hikes, festivals, etc. Anything that gets us away from home and from doing the same old things.
Our first one took us bicycle riding at Edisto Island State Park. It was a great ride through the maritime forest. We decided, though, that we need to get Harris riding without training wheels before we go back, as training wheels and dirt paths are difficult. The pictures above were taken next to Native American oyster mounds that were thousands of years old.
Another of our adventure days took us to Palmetto Islands Country Park to ride... another awesome place to explore. There were tons of trails, boardwalks, a great playground, and an amazing observation tower. Along with an incredible view, the tower was a huge structure with slides, ladders, and lots of nooks to explore. We ate a picnic lunch at the very top and enjoyed the beautiful marsh all around us.

These days have really been some of my favorite days. Unfortunately with the start of soccer games and college football, our days have been limited. Hopefully we will be back to our adventures again soon...

Late Summer Fun

Life

Phew! Things have been crazy in our household, life is speeding by at lightening speed, and I have failed at being a consistent blogger. I am, however, going to try to give you a little glimpse of what we have been up to:

* We have been in full swing at school. Jackson is loving first grade, has made some new friends, and loves all things First Grade: spanish, library, computers, science, math, reading, and PE uniforms. Some of the interesting things we have learned from first grade? Sketchers are cool, being King of the Day is oneof the best things in the world, homework every day can be tough, and the definintion of 'wedgie'.

* Harris is doing great at school as well. He is quite excitable and sometimes has to take a breather to calm down, but what is important is that he is excited about everything. What an awesome attitude to have!! He is also taking spanish, karate, science, and art at school... he loves being so big.

* Both boys are playing soccer and loving it (Mom's not so sure...). Right now, we have practice two days a week and at least one game a week. Jackson has been playing for two years now, but it is all new for Harris... he is in love with soccer. He asks me daily if it is a soccer day. He runs and runs on the field, but sometimes it is the opposite way of the ball. We have decided that we should call him "Wide Turns", as he runs in a large arc to change directions rather than just turning around.

* I am struggling to keep up with everything. I feel like there are so many pieces to the puzzle that is my life right now, and I can't seem to get them to all fit together... I am just not able to see the big picture. The daily schedule is never the same, meetings and appointments interrupt the day, karate and cub scouts are thrown in on random days just to confuse me, work has me turned upside down, I need to find time to get to the gym, the house is a disaster, and some days I am lucky to find my way home after it all. The days are a blur, and I am wondering what I am doing. I know we are overscheduled, and I am trying to reduce some of it, but that is hard. I'd really like to put on the breaks for a bit.

*Breathe* Phew. Kids. At the end of the day I know why I am doing all of this... for them. And, until I am committed to the looney bin, I will continue on, trying my hardest to get the puzzle put together.