Its Fall!

I love this cartoon!!! Happy Fall everyone. Yesterday, we took out the leaf blower and rakes, and the kids jumped in a huge pile of leaves. I had my husband home to help, which is very unusual. He is usually out of town in the Fall. I told him that it was just a sprinkle of leaves. The trees have a ton of lovely leaves on them, it is so pretty!

I did not do school on Saturday. And, I didn't do school on Sunday either. We were just having so much fun! On Friday, the Air Station had a morale event at Pebble Creek Mini-Golf. We played 5 rounds of mini-golf with the kids! It was a blast. And, both kids got to ride the go-carts with Daddy. We had the afternoon, just to ourselves- just Coast Guard families. It was so relaxing and fun. Then, we went to a neighborhood park, and joined friends for a birthday party. It was another homeschooling family. The mom homeschools 8 kids! And, two other homeschooling families joined us, so we had a big crowd. We even brought Scotty, and he got lots of attention from everyone. He doesn't usually come with us, and was a good dog.

On Sunday, we went to church as a family. That is always a treat, because so much of the time, my husband is away or standing duty. Our friend that we bring was sick, so she could not join us, but hopefully she can come back next week. After church, and lunch, we went to Hoxie's Orchard. They have a corn maze, hay barn, wagon ride, pumpkin picking and apple picking. We did it all! Including donuts and cider. I didn't have a donut or cider, but I ate a delicious Honeysweet apple. Yummy! Then, we went into Traverse City and bought a Mac Mini at the Apple Store!! Hooray! We have a new computer :) My father-in-law gave us a computer monitor, so we just needed a keyboard and Mac Mini. It works great, and I will have so many more options for homeschool.

This morning, I am sitting here drinking my coffee (decaf) and thinking about changing my workout to the morning. Currently, I exercise about every other evening, doing between 1-3 miles of walking using a Leslie Sansone DVD. Actually, I have a collection of DVDs, so I alternate. But, my daughter wanted to walk with me this morning, and so we walked at 9 AM. I did the one mile, and she lost interest, but my whole body feels great! I seriously feel awesome! So, I am thinking, what if I could feel like this EVERY morning? I am going to set my alarm for 6:15 AM tomorrow. I will walk for 2 miles, shower and start the day. I have to finish before Arthur at 7 AM, because its my daughter's favorite show. But, this could be a very good thing! My days generally begin very sluggish. I have wanted to change that forever! So, I'll keep you posted!

I am going to check out Explode the Code online for Gideon today. It is a 12 month subscription, and costs around $70 for the year. It looks like a fun program, and I think it will solve the writing issues. He will type in answers, rather than print them, and it will move at his pace. McRuffy Reading is just too hard for him right now. If the program doesn't suit him, then I'm out $70, but I think my daughter can use it, and she could move through it quickly to her level.

Mmmm. this coffee is good! I think I've pushed past my cravings for "sweet" coffee, and I don't miss the sugar or splenda too much. I have given up artificial sweetners for a few weeks now.

Soon, my kids will have another cousin! I can't wait! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are expecting any day now. Her due date is Sunday, I believe. We live too far away for a visit, but hooray! We will have a new little one in the family soon. They will make great parents. And, they are close enough to both sets of grandparents, that this baby will see lots of family. I am so happy about that! I am waiting for you Babykins!!!