Whew!

There has been a whirlwind of activity around our place lately. We start our school year tomorrow and have been trying to cram a lot of fun things into the last two weeks of summer vacation. We have had numerous play dates, picnics, outings to Science City and other get-togethers with family and friends. I am feeling a little worn-out, but am still looking forward to the beginning of a new school year. The boys are excited to start school as well. Last Monday Isaac begged me, "Can we please start today?" Today Luke asked him, "Isaac, what do you think about starting school tomorrow?" Isaac said, "Thrilling!" (I thought that was a pretty funny response for a six-year old.) I hope his enthusiam lasts!

So...before we dig into the new school year, I thought I'd post a few pictures from our last few weeks.

Our friend Robin snapped this picture of Luke and Andrew while we were at the petting zoo a couple weeks ago. It's one of my new favorites.

A common question people ask us is,"How do Isaac and Caleb like Andrew?" I think I'll let the following pictures answer that question.

Andrew turned eight months old on Friday. We finally found the right attachment for our clippers to give him the nice, clean-cut haircut I have been wanting to give him. He looks so handsome!

We worked hard at the Summer Reading Program this year, and the boys both completed five lists. They both were pretty excited about the art sets they got for a prize. Isaac went on to finish a sixth list, which means he read over 120 books this summer! Luke and I are both excited about his love for reading.

A question I often get asked in regards to home-schooling is, "How do you do it all?" My answer is, "I don't." I do a lot, but we are firm believers in children needing to learn how to work and help out around the house. Isaac and Caleb had a few chores last year, and this year we are adding folding and putting away the laundry. Luke has been teaching them how to do this, and I snapped a picture of the "laundry lesson" last week. In the midst of the laundry lesson Isaac said, "Folding laundry is fun!"

We had a really fun "Back-to-School" party on Friday with one of our homeschool groups. I had planned on taking pictures, but when I went to take the first picture my battery was dead. (That tends to happen to me a lot.) One of the moms is supposed to e-mail me the ones she took, but I haven't got those yet. (That's a friendly reminder, Patty. :) When I get those maybe I'll post some.

So now it's officially "Back to School!"