Ferrara's in Florida

Note: Since this blog serves as the mandatory documentation of our home education program for the Superintendent of Alachua County, this post and a few forthcoming posts will focus strictly on educational aspects.  [It may not be of interest to our family followers.] Well, our summer doesn't appear to look the way I envisioned it.  I pictured lazy mornings or weekday mid-morning exercise classes for Mommy followed by a picnic lunch and hours at the country club pool.  My mom made our summers so much fun, year after year.  My memories serve me well and I often share stories with my children of how much fun Mimi made life!  She played with us alot and would remind us regularly how she enjoyed having us home with her in the summers. Instead of the summer I imagined, I'm gently yanking my late sleeper out of bed at 8:15am for breakfast before 9am swim team practice. Sable and Ruby, early risers, have completed 50% of their school work by 8:45am including math, g...

In between life's bigger moments are little sweet moments that easily flee the mind. They are the essence of life and deserve to be memorialized in little bits here and there. Like early this morning--the "parents" were in bed and the baby's cries were waxing louder for release from his crib. Suddenly the sound of laughter overtook the hallway. Then comes, "Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham." Eventually I mosey out of bed and down the hall to find the nursery curtains flung wide open with the Florida morning rays streaming throughout the room and spilling onto the brown wood floor. Not one but two little boys commune in the crib with Joel administering a fresh size 4 diaper to James' bottom. The floor is another story, as it resembled the house at the end of a normal day--baby blankets, toys, an empty bottle and one overfilled diaper strewn from one end to the other.  But to wake up in harmony AND see James' face overjoyed with live crib e...

School evaluations took place the last full week of May.  All three children passed to the next grade, and in what is common for home schoolers, all three surpassed their grade levels in all subjects.  I hope to spend some time writing a blog post about their success.  Their "teacher" worked very hard and sometimes very frustrated, to achieve our academic goals.  The children are well behaved and pleasant to instruct, yet throwing a 1-year-old into the mix changes the schoolhouse dynamic.  At any given moment, there seems to be a distraction after another such as a brand new mess on the floor, suspicious activity on the staircase or in the laundry room, and on and on...For most of last year, I played janitor, lunch lady, traffic director during outdoor P.E., life guard, and tutor--many times simultaneously.  For anyone else besides my husband who wonders why I can fall asleep anytime, anywhere, before 8:00pm, full-time Momming is the reason.  Mom's th...

Ruby's newest hair creation Bonus: Her gentle touch feels reminiscent of a head massage What a huge blessing!  Dinner with TWO sets of the world's best grandparents! and another bonus: all after a fantastic day on the boat James "helping" Ruby Simone make his bottle Kids in bed, grandparents relaxing This one just finds a spot and plops down to read a book