Fawcett's Blog Spot: July 2012

I am currently typing on our new iMac computer that Thomas purchased for our family about 2 weeks ago. We were trying to manage with a laptop with a broken screen hooked up to a monitor that didn't necessarily belong to us along with not having near enough space for all of our pictures. We had filled up all of our external hard drives and there was no more room for taking pictures on our phones so we decided we could no longer put this purchase off. We needed a new computer otherwise we were going to miss out on taking all the pictures/movies that we wanted this summer! That wasn't an option, so I am feeling very blessed right now with a lovely computer that will hold all the pictures we want to take and more! I haven't been able to blog so I am taking the next week or two to try and get caught up. This brings us to spring 2012.

It was a very mild spring, beautlifuyl weather and early planting. Thomas was pretty busy through March, April and May. He did have the help from Andy and Logan which was awesome! He worked so hard and we are so proud of him. When Dad was gone, we hung out outside quite a bit in the evenings. There were a few nights that we would walk down to the river by our house and skip rocks or find cool things to look at. I would strap Samuel in the carrier and off we'd go. THe boys love going down to the river and we have even taken their sling shots (from grandma and grandpa) and Thomas has showed them how to safely shoot a rock in the river. They think it's pretty cool!

The boys and I at the river by our house

Yes, those are slingshots!

Ethan has a good aim!

Samuel loves the carrier! I love being hands free!

This spring Thomas and I have been talking quite a bit about homeschooling as Ethan is approaching his Kindergarten year this fall. We have decided to take it on a year by year basis and give it try this year. I attended the Iowa Homeschool Conference in June and learned so much and we're pretty excited about getting started. I have purchased a curriculum that I think the boys are going to love. The curriculum is designed to work with multiple skill levels and I think Simon will probably enjoy sitting in on some of the learning. He already loves being apart of what we're doing. The books that are included in the literature collection are some of my favorite classic children's books! I don't really know how all the scheduling is going to work out, but I'm kind of in the "go with the flow" category when it comes to my homeschooling style. We're really looking forward to creating some special bonds between all the boys and doing some special things as a family this year. I have checked out almost every homeschooling book from the library and committed this summer to reading all that I can on the topic. I'm learning a lot and ready to begin.

Working on handwriting! Not sure what Ethan's thinking :)

This was our first year in a long time celebrating Easter at home. We hid some Easter eggs for the boys and they had a blast hunting for their easter baskets from Grandma. We spent some time with my family and all the cousins in Ames were able to get together and hang out.