BLOGGING--UGH!

I have a love/hate relationship with Blogging.  I love to look at the pictures that capture what we've been up to--especially since I have a total hate relationship with scrap booking.  Blogging is my way of compensating for not scrap booking all those cute pages which take up way too much time (for me because I'm not naturally creative--not knocking anyone else's hobby)
Hate--because I seem to not find the time to blog either.  One more thing to feel guilty about.  But recently I unplugged myself from facebook.  Now I have some added free time to my day, not to mention a more positive out look on life.  This really should equal more blogging hours for me.  So...this is my experiment.  Does no face book=more blogging time?  Time will tell I guess.
Possibly.. if I can quit playing with HOW my  blog looks and just start typing.

Books read February-April

Books Logan and Jonah have read: 

My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen

White Fang (Logan) by Jack London

Pompeii: City of Ashes

The Mystery of the Roman Ransom

The Ides of April
Terra-Cotta Soldiers by Arlan Dean
Hannibal Rome's Worst Nightmare by Brooks

Books I have Read to Logan and Jonah:

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place (book 2)

Treasures in the Snow by Patricia St. John

Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff

Luke:

Lately I've started reading chapter books to Luke (actually all the boys) at bedtime.  Our first couple were Junie B. Jones books.  Now we've graduated to Charlotte's Web--which I love.

Books I have read to Logan and Jonah for school from Aug.-Feb.

Maura Daughter of the Nile
The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt
Black Ships Before Troy
The Wanderings of Odysseus
The God King
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
A Single Shard
The Samurai's Tale
Victory on the Walls

Books Logan and Jonah have read for school from Aug.-Feb.

The Golden Goblet
The Cay
The Phantom Toll Booth
The Hittite Warrior
How To Train Your Dragon
D'Aulaires Greek Myths
Theras and His Town
The Well of Sacrifice
Archimedes and the Door of Science
Alexandar The Great by Robert Green
The Giver

Platteville Historic Reenactment 2010

This has to be one of my very favorite field trips each year.  Even though we've talked with some of the same people each year, we still learn a ton and all of the kids look forward to it.

A Teenager in the House

Camping with Debbie and Troy Labor Day Weekend

Friday morning we packed up the van with our camping gear and headed to Balsam Lake to Deb and Troys.  We had all talked about heading to the camp ground Friday night, but it was a little rainy and chilly so we stayed the night at their house and we all set out the next morning.  Deb had found out about this great little camp ground  this summer called the Skonewood Christian Retreat.  It's address is Cushing and it is only about 25 minutes from their place.  Totally family friendly.  First of all they do not have a fee--they take only donations which I think is amazing.  To top it off, they provide paddle boats, canoes, and life vest at the beach.  There is a nice little pier for both fishing and swimming.  They even have a huge pile of fire wood available---again totally free for the campers.  The kids had a blast since the campground was fairly small, they had a lot of independence which they thought was great.  Jonah and Nick were able to take out a paddle boat all by themselves and fish a couple of times.  Logan and the other guys preferred to fish from shore.

Even though the temperature was a little cool, they still managed to go swimming both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday evening we all sat around and watched The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe thanks to Grandpa and Grandma's projector. 

I think it got down to the mid forties Sat. night.  We stayed pretty warm in the tent though thanks to MULTIPLE layers.  Poor Bandit woke me up shivering.  I put him close to my sleeping bag and he proceeded to crawl down inside and make himself comfortable.  Problem solved though, he was toasty the rest of the night. 

Saturday we  had a bean bag toss tournament.  Debbie was the unlucky person to draw my name as partner.  But because of her outstanding skills, we managed not to be eliminated the first round.  I bet Nick was sooo please to realized that he didn't have Aunt Paula as a partner.  He and Debbie's friend Peggy won the tournament.

Well Labor Day is over(almost it's still 5:00 on Monday) and I just am not quite ready for summer to be over.  Usually I love the thought of cooler days, leaves changing color, and getting back to more of a scheduled school day.  But for some reason I'm not at that point yet.  Thankfully we'll still see some warm weather so I can pretend that summer vacation is not over just yet.  I think the bike trail is calling our name.