Happy Over 1 Month Late Birthday Post.....because I'm that mom!

Well, I started out wanting to cram several events into one post just so I could say, "I'm all caught up!" I even spent a good 15 minutes choosing those photos and uploading them.   Once I titled this post, I felt bad and decided my child who turned 12 over a month ago deserved her own post! 

So Laney......I love you so much I gave you your own post! 

She is now 12. She is old enough to.....

-sit in the front seat of the car

-be in the youth group at church

-experiment with babysitting

-wear a little make up

-shave her legs

She is all about fashion! 

She went from asking for toys on her birthday to wanting accessories.

Since she had a big going away birthday party last year, we kept it simple. She came back from a mission trip on her birthday. We took her to dinner and had dessert at home. I am glad we did not plan a whole lot because she was tired! She stayed up late every night on her trip and that day they stopped in Atlanta at Sky Zone(several indoor trampolines). 

Ella and I did decorate to make it feel more like her birthday.

The hubs and I managed to sneak in a picture of us on our anniversary. 

Family Mystery Trip

What is a family mystery trip?

Well........for us, we planned a surprise trip for the kids. We did not tell them where we were going. 

They were only given 2 clues:

1. It was in North Carolina.

2. Pack a swimsuit!

We heard guesses like........the beach, a hotel with a swimming pool, and a water park.

With our kids being 18, 12, and 8, we had to think of somewhere they would all enjoy! I have had my eye on a specific place for a while but the timing never worked in our favor.  When I knew we were going to have to pick up Laney  in NC from my sister's,  I knew this place was perfect. Since Griffin would be heading to college soon, one last family get away was a must. 

Our mystery trip was to............

The Wolf Lodge in North Carolina

The Wolf Lodge is a hotel with an indoor water park. It was definitely a place every age can enjoy! The rooms were fun! The girls had their own little room with bunk beds.

The best part about the hotel is definitely the indoor water park. We spent most of our time there! Our families favorite water ride was The Tornado. One night we stayed until the park closed at 9. The Tornado is very dark at night which made it even more thrilling! I didn't get any pictures of the big water rides because I was too busy having a good time on them!

We had a great time together on our mystery trip! 

The kids said they loved that we kept it a secret and we should go on more mystery trips.

We couldn't go to NC without visiting with my sister and her family. We had to love on this little guy!

Weed Academy is back in session!

 We started school this week and the girl's couldn't be more excited!

Despite the picture, they really were ready to get started. Their adult entertainer had spent the last couple of weeks preparing for 2  and working at one consignment sale, moving big brother into his dorm, preparing for a 2 part Praxis test, researching and ordering mostly all new homeschool curriculum(more on that in a minute), trip to Ga, 4 meetings and taxi driver to one girl who decided to play ball. I am glad school started so I can slow down for a bit. Laney sent me a text the day I was taking my test that said, "Mom come home!!!!!! I'm BORED!!!!!"

The girls had a treat waiting on their desk for the first day. An energy bar and a coffee drink along with a note that said, "Looking forward to a "latte" great learning this year!"

I normally don't share these drinks......can you tell?

I told them to try to dress up a little more this year for pictures. Last year's pictures had both girls in pajamas and one with hair/teeth not brushed. They exceeded my expectations this year.......by color coordinating their outfits!

Here is Laney's first day of 7th Grade.

Ella's first day of 3rd Grade.

 A lot of the material we used last year did not work for us so I decided to change things up a bit. Here is what we are doing this year.

Laney-7th

BJU Press Literature

Spelling Power

The Winston Grammar

Institute Excellence in Writing

Worldly Wise

Teaching Textbook Pre-Algebra

Webucator.com for technology

Apologia General Science

Story of the World(finishing The Modern Age) 

Uncle Sam & You for Civic/Government

For co op classes

sign language

science class

Ella-3rd

Sonlight Readers

Spelling Power

The Winston Grammar

Handwriting with Tears Cursive

Worldly Wise

Institute Excellence in Writing

CTC Math

Story of the World/Uncle Sam & You

Apologia(trying the same as Laney but may change)

For co op classes

Chinese

Keepers of the Home

So far they are loving the changes we made!

Of course...... since I am the type of mom that is always on top of things, we are still waiting for their reading to come in.

I would add my son's first day of school photo but I didn't have one.......sniff sniff! This is his first year of college. I will have to share "Move In" day in another post!

When the Suv is filled from top to bottom with clothes.....

it can only mean 1 thing!!!

It's consignment sale time!!!!!!!