mid-september photo dump

  It may be mid-September but it is still HOT. We don’t have A/C. We’ve been doing what we can. Kids, man. They grow up so fast. Kembe and India had their first school project: to make a puzzle piece of pictures and words that describe them. I think it’s cute how completely different they are. Kembe’s is all about sports. India’s is all about the arts. Appaman sent us some new back-to-school threads. I am digging the beanies and may steal one of them for myself. Thanks, Appaman! Last weekend we stopped at a random garage sale and every single book on the table was an author I love. Most of the books were ones I already owned, but I scored with some new ones. Apparently, my literary soul-mate is a 60-year-old man who lives around the corner. At the garage sale I also scored two sets of Handwriting Without Tears. We already had one kit, and now all the kids can do it while Jafta leads. And I can remember why I will never, ever homeschool. We had back-to-school night at two different schools this week. Next week we have a third. Having the kids at three different schools is kicking my butt this year, but check out the policy at the charter school’s open house that is bringing me great joy: “No homework”. The charter school has the best test scores in the district and they do it without sending home worksheets. And with that, they have won my undying support. Unfortunately Jafta’s school has the opposite philosophy.  There may have been some tears about how his homework took over our lives this week. And they may not have been Jafta’s. We traveled a lot this summer, and so we never had a full month home for the kids to take swim lessons. The upshot is that no one else signed up in September, so they are basically getting private lessons at the group rate. The donwnside is that lessons are twice a week after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And basketball/cheerleading started on Mondays. And scouting started on Wednesdays. We are all very, very tired. The kids are swimming (yay!) but I am ready for these classes to be OVER. Karis and I are still getting used to our two days a week with just the two of us. I’ve been trying to find outings for us. This week we went to the food trucks. She dressed herself in a leotard and band-aids. We are loving our weekends more than ever. Saturdays we spend most of the days in our PJ’s, pretending to be rock stars. India has been begging to get her ears pierced, and since I refuse she has taken matters into her own hands. Last night we went to an art show and she came out wearing hair clips on her ears. She wore them all night. “They only hurt a little bit.” My five-year-old slave to fashion. Have a great weekend!