In other ballgame news, last night was the final game of our church softball team. They played against a very good team, so Michael was pessimistic about the chances of winning. But much to everyone’s surprise, our church team won the game quite handily! It was especially nice that our team won, since there was a large group from our church there in the stands.

I guess all these chances to watch ball games could count as some sort of homeschooling, right?

The oddest part about our whole adventure is that we were putting on our swimsuits and collecting our towels as a thunderstorm was rolling in. We decided to continue with our plan, and we told the children to just have an adventurous attitude and we’d see what happened, rather than being grumpy if things didn’t turn out like we hoped.

Just as we arrived at the pool house, the first big raindrops were falling. So we tumbled out of the van like a bunch of clowns and hurried in, clutching bags, towels, and Baby Lilly bouncing along on Laura’s hip.

The pool was closed, but the snack shop was open, so we set up camp there, under the covered porch in their outdoor eating area. We bought corn dogs for all the kiddos, and we enjoyed watching the pouring rain as we munched. Finally, the storm blew over, and we learned that the pool would re-open in about fifteen minutes.
We waited eagerly by the door to the pool area, and sure enough, before long it was opened and we went in. It was somewhat comforting that we weren’t the only crazy folks who were at the pool during the rain, but it was also delightful to be at the pool when very few other people were there. The weather was perfect. It wasn’t too hot and wasn’t too cold. There was no wind to make us chilly, and the pool water was the perfect temperature. We played in the water for about an hour, and then we rounded up the children and headed in for showers. After everyone was cleaned up, we reassembled in the snack area and enjoyed ice cream cones before heading home. What a great way to end the week!

Thursday afternoon we had a friend of Luke’s over. The boys had a wonderful time playing both outside in the rain and inside on the game system. For supper I let them assemble their own pizzas (much to the envy of the rest of the children!) and we had brownies for dessert. No one complained about supper that night!

Today the children are finishing up bits and pieces of their school work, but they seem to be ok with that.

I hope we are able to keep up the good work next week.

This weekend is the corn festival in Normal, so we’ll probably eat a lot of corn this weekend. It’s always a treat!

The day went well. Isaac had a good attitude, but for some reason he could not seem to make very good progress on his school work. He slogged along all day, finally ending the day in tears wondering what he could do to make Math go faster. I think he was just tired. I’m guessing he has learned a thing or two about staying diligently on task and not getting distracted.

Today is pool day, so I took a crew of kiddos to the pool this evening. It was so much fun. We did have a little scare at the end of our time there though. Miguel tipped off his tube as he was trying to get out of the lazy river. He was bobbing up and down, quite upset and panicky, and I hurried to him as fast as I could, but not before he was thoroughly frightened. As fast as I responded, there were already two lifeguards right there ready to help, so I accepted their help lifting Miguel and Judah (who was on the same tube as me) out of the pool so I could then get out. Once Miguel got over his fright, he seemed to enjoy telling everyone about his misadventure. He also asked me if he could have a dime since he had fallen off his tube. Silly boy!

Now that we have all of two days of school under our belts, I’m feeling good about this school year so far. Luke is in charge of serving breakfast, and Amelia is in charge of making lunch. So far I am still working with them to make sure they know what to do and what I expect. But I think they’ll quickly become independent, which will free me from those responsibilities.

Next week we start piano lessons for Laura, Amelia and Luke. Hopefully soon we’ll get Isaac started with guitar lessons.  I’m eager to see what musical progress we make this year.

Most of the children were excited about their new PACEs and our new routines, but Isaac was most definitely not pleased about much of anything.  After the whole morning of resisting me, he finally crossed the line at lunch by downright refusing to take even one bite of his lunch.  That landed him in his bed until Michael got home several hours later.  Michael spent a long time dealing with Isaac, and trying to reach his heart rather than just lashing out at him.  I don’t know if any long-lasting changes have been made, but Isaac seems to be on the right track again.

I’m exhausted and wishing for chocolate.  But when I stepped on the scale before climbing into my bath this evening, I saw that my weight was down a little, so I am newly encouraged to try to keep up the good work and not pig out on a bag of Snickers bars. I haven’t yet decided if that’s good news or bad news. 
I’m hoping that we’ll have a good school year.  It’s easy to be optimistic on the first day of school.

Here is what happened just a short time ago:

Miguel hurried to the basement where I was fiddling with laundry.
“Have I had supper?”, he asked?
I was distracted and couldn’t understand the strange question. He restated his question, this time helping me understand that he meant to ask if he had already eaten lunch. I told him that no, well, yes, he had eaten some of that chocolate cheesecake. I asked why he needed to know.
“Aaliyah wants to come over, but she can’t come over until after I’ve eaten lunch.”
I told Miguel to tell Aaliyah she could come over. But again he needed to know if he had eaten a healthy lunch.
Finally I went out to talk to Aaliyah myself.
“Do you want to come over?”, I asked over the fence.
She smiled and nodded.
“Then come on over! That’s fine with me. Tell your grandma I said it’s fine.” Then I added, “Have you eaten lunch already?”
She said that yes, she had just eaten.
“Ok. But I would have been happy to give you a sandwich or something”, I said.
She smiled again, “That’s fine. But I sometimes have something like that for a snack.”
In another moment she and Miguel were coming in the back door and they stood there as I finished making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“Would you like some of this sandwich?”, I asked our guest.
Big smile!
“Sure!”
“Crunchy or creamy?”, I inquired.
Miguel jumped in at that point. “Creamy doesn’t have any peanuts in it, but crunchy does!”
I decided not to correct him, even though I wanted to interject that all peanut butter has peanuts in it.
“Creamy”, she decided.
“Ok,” I replied, “Then someone will need to go down to the pantry to get the creamy peanut butter, because all I have here is crunchy.
Miguel and Aaliyah both spun around to hurry on the errand. Judah followed on their heels, eager to help as well, since he had already been begging for the creamy peanut butter but had been unsuccessful in his goal of persuading me to fetch it for him.
They were back in a flash, handing over the creamy peanut butter.
I made another sandwich, cut it into squares, and handed out the pieces on napkins.
Off they went, to eat in their hut in the back yard.
I had to smile. So much for eating lunch already, eh?

P.S. Laura took both of these photos. I’m getting some competition as family photographer!

Isn’t she a little darling?

Laura had my camera yesterday and captured this photo.  She is getting pretty good with her camera skills!

I’m thinking that tomorrow is going to be a wonderful day, because there is nothing on the schedule. Nothing. Makes me smile to type that word. I think I’ll bake some cheesecakes.

Another thing that makes me smile is the weather around here lately. It is mid-August here in Central Illinois, and it barely got to 80 degrees here today. What’s up with that??? The weather forecast (which is completely unreliable, by the way) indicates mild weather for the rest of the week. Where are the hot, sweltering, “dog days” of summer? Wherever they are, they can stay there. I love these cool days!

And do you want to know the best part of it all? Sweet corn is in season. It is incredibly delicious, and yesterday I learned that it can be cooked in the microwave. Oh, and the other thing I learned yesterday is that sweet corn is crisp, delicious and even sweeter if you eat it without cooking it first.

Drop me a note in the comments and let me know what makes you smile.

Most of the photos were of water fun, but one of my favorites is a shot Michael took of Judah while they were waiting for us girls to finish up in the locker room.

Today is the last day of VBS.  It’s been a lot of fun.

You can see some of the photos in my gallery.

Isaac is doing good, although he injured himself Sunday evening by stabbing himself in the knee with his knife.  It’s a long story that I don’t feel like rehashing.  Fortunately his injury seems to be healing ok.  What a crazy boy!