I'm curious...

For those who don't scrapbook, just ignore this post. :) For those who do, I'm curious...what size layouts do you do? (specifically...one page or two pagers? 12x12 or 8.5x11 or something else?) Is that the same size you prefer to see in publications? Please comment. :)

Recap of today...

8:30 am: Noah's soccer game started. Against a pretty tough team. We don't officially keep score at this age level anyhow, but after the first quarter, I didn't bother in any case. :) Needless to say, Noah wasn't thrilled. But, honestly, Noah's team worked better as a team, so that's something.

10:00 am: We stopped by a local bike store. Yesterday the boys and I rode bikes to the gym...well, Noah and Asher rode and I speed-walked pulling Micah in the wagon. It's about three-quarters of a mile each way...not bad at all, but not the most fun when speed-walking and pulling a wagon and chasing after the other two. So. We got to thinking that if we're going to encourage the boys to ride and all, it might be good if I had a bike also. I haven't had my own bike in, um, decades. I don't think I've ever picked out my own or even had one with hand brakes. We haven't decided to actually make the purchase yet, but it was great fun to try them out at the store. We think we know which one we want...now just convincing ourselves and looking for a good deal. Also want to find a trailer to pull Micah in...

1:30 pm: Asher's soccer game started. I love watching Asher's games. Not that I don't like watching Noah's games, of course, but the boys on Asher's team are just so happy...always smiling and laughing, really not that concerned about competition at all. It's hard to imagine that next year Asher will be playing in the division Noah currently is. (The divisions are by age so Noah ends up being one of the older kids in his division while Asher is one of the youngest (and smallest) in his.) Here's a picture of Asher:

3:00 pm: We let the boys play at the playground a bit after Asher's game. The fun ended when I was rudely stung by a wasp. It was totally unprovoked. I'm pretty sure that the entire insect kingdom is out to get me. Really. ;) I'm fine now, but that was just unnecessary.

3:30 pm: The boys wanted to play outside for a bit when we got home. Micah, when he leaves the house, is almost always accosted by the neighborhood girls. I came outside to find him "pinky promising" our neighbor something...not sure what but it earned him a hug. ;)

Meanwhile, Noah decided he was ready to try riding his bike without training wheels, though he was careful not to commit to anything and made sure we were aware that he fully intended to put the training wheels back on if need be. Which was totally fine with us...personally, I was pretty impressed that he was wanting to try in the first place. Obviously I had to be outside to take pictures on the off chance that he started riding on his own. I ended up with plenty of pictures like this:

In the end, we did put the training wheels back on, but we're so happy that he was willing to try. While the training wheels were off, I couldn't help myself and took a little ride on his bike:

5:00 pm: Very uncharacteristically, we took a family nap. Well, Micah, Nathan and I fell asleep and about an hour later the other two crashed downstairs in the middle of the family room. (Nathan knows this because Noah had continually been waking him up during that hour.)

7:30 pm: Nathan woke me up to tell me dinner was ready. I love him. :)

10:00 pm: After debating for an hour or so, we finally gave up and put everyone to bed. For us, this was earlier than normal by at least an hour. But we were all just exhausted... Yes. I'm still awake. The rest are all in bed now, but I'm going to try to get a bit of work done and still make it to bed before midnight, which will be like crazy early for me. ;)  Whew. Long day.

Sorry.

Yes, I'm still alive. Sorry I went missing there for a bit...got busy trying to get our homeschool year off to a good start and sorting out a balance between that and my scrapbooking. :) On the homeschooling front, things are going really well and I'm happy. Continually finding new resources (and wishing for more money for books, lol) and overall things are grand, though still totally a work in progress. On the scrapbooking front, sorting out details with Creating Keepsakes for various stuff and have a number of assignments in the works. Sigh...what I wouldn't give for more hours in the day (and more office space while I'm at it!)...

Added to that mix are our many out of the house activities...

- soccer is still going well (I'm working on scheduling the team photos (that I take) and ordering trophies...in charge of those things for both boys' teams)...
- music class continues to be a happy part of our week (realized yesterday that we've been attending Philomusica for five years now...wow)...
- religious ed classes should start for Noah and Asher in a couple weeks (called today to check again on scheduling...hoping the boys get the time slot I asked for, or else our schedule simply won't work)...
- I've managed to continue going to the gym three times a week (yay, me!!)...
- we've got a couple more field trips planned with our homeschool group this month...
- and our Options program continues to be a huge hit.

In other miscellany, we're starting to think about Halloween costumes (totally no consensus here yet), whether we want to try to give out something creative (we did glow necklaces a couple years ago that were a huge hit) or just settle for candy, if we should have Noah's birthday party at the house or find a different location (I'm leaning toward finding a different location), and plenty of other stuff. :) Please share if you have any opinions on any of those things.

So. Busy here. Will try to do better about posting, though. Working on getting into a scrapping groove enough that I have extra things to post here beyond assignments that I don't get to share right away. ;)

Oh. And last weekend the boys were having such a fabulous time with the neighborhood kids (can I just mention here again how much I love our neighborhood?!)...they were all out in our culdesaq making a "Chalk World" that covers, literally, the entire culdesaq. Impressive. Noah contributed ideas and drawings (like amusement parks and miniature golf courses), Asher got personalized tours, and Micah was the "color holder" (he had a little bucket of sidewalk chalk hanging from his trike handlebar and would deliver the appropriate color when asked). The girls even named a place after Micah...Cafe Del Micah. They also had places like Sports Authority, the ocean, and Bear Lake. Such a beautiful street we have...

Ah. Life is good. :)

Random musings...

One. Mosquitoes still, and will always, SUCK! I'm seriously thinking about finding some mosquito netting to take to Noah's soccer practices. I was hoping (stupidly) that it was chilly enough tonight that the mosquitoes wouldn't be such a big problem. I was wrong. Ugh.

Two. Though the Options thing kind of overshadowed it here, the boys had their first games of the fall soccer season last Saturday. All evidence points to many more days of soccer... ;) I'm so happy with how much progress I truly can see in both boys. Just a year ago they were total newcomers to soccer and it showed. During their first games on Saturday, even the other parents commented on how far they've both come...how much more they were really getting in there and going after the ball.

Ash is still so tiny out there...a good bit shorter than most all the other kids on his team (he's one of the youngest, too) but he was such a little scrapper and I LOVE how he practically skips about the field because he's having so much fun. Noah's age division now officially plays positions (including having a goalie for the first time) and is on a much bigger field (gonna need a better lens, LOL). Noah's not as carefree as Asher (and is much more competitive) but I know he loves being out there. The soccer camp over the summer really paid off, and we could all see it in his footwork. For the moment, both boys still feel most comfortable with defensive positions. We're just happy to see them enjoying themselves and their teams.

Three. Micah freakin' cracks me up. Today he was carrying around a calculator of Noah's and proclaiming it to be his GPS. Where does he hear things like that? Oh, and on Monday at the Options program, here's a little conversation we had:

Micah: What's his name? (pointing at the 4 year old younger sister of one of Noah's classmates...we (and her mom) hung out together all day following the boys around...Micah still calls everyone "he")

Me: *Her* name is Lucy.

Micah: Me can't say that. Me can say "Mega Bombs," but me can't say that. (Asher's soccer team chose the name "Mega Bombs" and Micah was quite the cheerleader at both boys' games on Saturday...which was good because none of us parents could say it with a straight face, LOL)

Me: I think you *can* say it. Her name is Lucy.

Micah: (pausing to contemplate) Like on Speed Racer? (for those unacquainted with the new generation Speed Racer, Lucy is one of Speed's best friends)

Me: Yes! Exactly like that. (Why didn't I think of that?)

Micah: Oh, her name is Lucy. (said perfectly, of course)

Man, life is good.

Options!

Today was a big day. Noah and Asher's first (ever) day of school. Okay, so it wasn't "really" school...as in we didn't change our minds and decide to send them to public school. But, we happened upon this program, called Options, run through a public school district where homeschoolers basically go to school one day a week (8:30 to 3:30). We get the benefit of enrichment classes and some structured learning opportunities with a bunch of other homeschool kids. The program gets the partial funding from the state based on the hours attended by the students.

Some highlights of the program:

- It's all homeschoolers. Many of our local homeschool group colleagues are also attending, so the boys already know some of the kids. (And I appreciate knowing that if I'm not there, chances are good that one of the other moms that I know will be to look out for my boys.)
- Parents are welcome and encouraged to attend any time. (Micah and I did hang out there all day today as Noah was particularly concerned about making sure he get to the right classes and all...and I was curious.) I'll likely have lunch with the boys often.
- The building where the classes are held is a private school, but we're the only program there on Mondays.
- The staff and teachers are all excited to be teaching homeschoolers, and many (if not most) of them homeschooled their own children.
- The program understands homeschoolers enough to have listed in their FAQs that one of the "costs" of the program is the loss of one of your own days of instruction each week. (Incidentally, the only financial cost is a small annual activity fee that goes toward things like tee shirts and a yearbook.)
- The kids get to experience classroom life with smaller numbers and still got the joy of some back to school shopping for supplies. :) Okay, I probably enjoyed that part more than the boys, lol!

I could go on. :)

So, Asher's in the kindergarten class. The kindergarten is unique in that it stays in the same classroom with the same teacher all day. Asher's class has 12 kids. At the Open House/Potluck a couple weeks ago, Asher...when asked what he thought of his new teacher whom he'd just met...said that "she's a bit too happy." Today, though, he seems okay with that and was pretty much delighted with his day...a nice morning with some coloring and math and reading...to the gym for lunch with everyone (well, particularly with Noah, Micah and I along with some friends)...a bit of unstructured play time (aka recess)...then back to his class for some science and art and other stuff. The kindergartners also get to have snacks and short recesses (at their own playground on a different side of the building than the big kids). All in all, he seems very happy with the program thus far.

Noah is in the second grade class. He also has 12 kids in his class. Like the other grades (except kindergarten), he switches rooms and teachers every hour. But, he stays with the same kids. This year he has PE, math, reading, lunch, art, music/drama and science. By all accounts right now, he's having a grand time. Today was a good bit of first day stuff and feeling out where kids were starting from, but he was content and prefers the slower start to figure out how things work in any case. Yup, he's having a great time, too. :)

Micah, btw, tagged along with me in the backs of classrooms today. In the future, they'll have on-site child care available which I may take advantage of on occasion. Today, though, Micah did an impressive job of cooperating. Once we have the routine down, Micah and I will find ways to spend some time just the two of us. 

So. Though I do have a few minor concerns, I am confident that things will sort themselves out. Overall, I'm darn excited about this opportunity for the boys to experience "school." Yay! Let the school year begin...