Summer is Here

Summer is officially here! Hooray! As of Saturday, all four kids have completed their testing and are jumping for joy. I overheard Ethan telling Grammy how he could breathe much easier now that it is done. Oh, the pressure on that sweet boy. It makes me cringe.

I'll receive results for the boys via email in a couple weeks and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the results. I have no reason to be. They all did their best and I know they have learned a lot. They are smart kiddos! However, as a homeschool mama I put SO MUCH PRESSURE ON MYSELF. Any other homeschool moms out there relate??? If the kids don't do excellently, then I feel completely and utterly responsible.  I see it as failure. :( I can't just blame the teacher and chalk it up to a bad year. I AM the teacher. yikes! I know it is crazy to put so much pressure on myself, but I take their education VERY seriously. So much so that I sometimes forget how to be relaxed. That is something I am praying about and working on for this summer. (Do you ever make perfectionism an idol? oh my! Lord, help me!) I need to loosen up and just ENJOY life! Sometimes it is hard to believe my nickname growing up was "Silly Jilly."

Back in 1997 when I still remembered how to be silly. ;) 

Enough about me... back to the kids. Irina completed her testing one-on-one with an independent evaluator. She achieved the score she needed to be considered a 5th grader next year. This is great news and I am so proud of her. She is absorbing everything we throw at her. She is able to read 4th grade words... although we obviously need to work on comprehension and vocabulary. I'm amazed she did so well considering we're still working through 2nd grade math and beginning phonics curriculum. What a different boat I'd be in if she was not so eager to learn. I need to stop and appreciate that huge, unexpected blessing. I have never met a more determined young lady. This has it's challenges, but of course many, many advantages.

To start off our summer, we took the week off from all school work. I had a little ceremony with the kids where I officially declared them as two 5th graders, one 3rd grader and one 1st grader. WOW!

 Then I busted out a few new toys to share, one of which was a punching bag. They are loving this, but it is only a matter of time before it breaks. Thankfully it only cost $4. So far, so good. It's definitely a good way for ALL my physical kids to burn some steam.

We've had a relaxed week of playing at home, staying in pajamas for extended periods of time, going to the pool and using lots of creativity. I've started my annual "clean out the school room" task. It's time to pass on all of our preschool learning toys and activities. Everyone has graduated from learning letters and beginning number activities. Another sign of much growth for Irina is that she LOVED these young toys when she first arrived. They were at her developmental level, but she has skyrocketed past them and it's time for them to go to a new home. 

 No more students in "Tot School!" 

 And, after much thought, discussion and prayer, we're going to give homeschooling another try this coming school year. That's an explanation for another time, but we're going to press on and pray for God's strength and endurance. I've taken everything off the shelves in the school room to reorganize and add our new curriculum (seen below). Luke and Ethan will take 3 classes each at a local homeschool academy on Monday's.

Also this week, the two older boys participated in our church Vacation Bible School. They had a great time! Aaron and Irina stayed with me. Darin did the 8:00pm pick up. The theme this year was "Kingdom Come." They had fun posing as royalty (seen below). 

 I even jumped in the photo on our way out of drop off. 

As of today, Friday, we're all feeling the effects of not having any structure this week. The angry outbursts and conflict have been absurd!!! Yikes!  It's time to start up our "Summer Fun School" on Monday and see if some routine gets us back on track. So glad it's Friday and I have fun plans with two girl friends Saturday night. I can't wait!!!