Reading, warm weather, new friends and swim suits...

Mac and grandma played Mexican train and they each won a game. Mac loves playing games and is always really good at them and remembers all the rules really well. 

I came home from picking up Mac from the homeschool center and I found Grandma and Oak like this. Mac quickly joined in of course. 

I didn't want the kids watching any tv this week so we did a lot of extra reading. I picked up The Adventures of Pinocchio that I had started reading with the kids awhile back. We were half way through. We ended up cuddled on the couch for an hour and a half reading it and we ended up finishing it. My throat hurt after reading that long. But I loved every second of it.  

Oak ended up testing for her camo belt on Monday. For the littler kids the testing is a bit less formal but she did great and was so excited to earn a belt. 

We just got home from the library and I was making lunch and it was really quiet in the house. And I look over at them reading. LOVE!

Oak wore her boxtroll box several days this week.. She also loves to make her own sandwiches. 

Oak spends most of her time in her own little world of make believe. In one day she will pretend to numerous different things. This day she was a mama to her baby doll Rose and made her this little bed. She had us burp her and rock her and sing her primary songs. She was also a choir director and had us practice singing for a concert. A personal stylist where she did my hair and I had to try on shoes to see what looked the best. She has quite the wild imagination. 

I am just in shock by how much her hair has grown over the last year. 

I was watching the kids play outside and it was so bright that I had to get my sun hat out. Just sunglasses wouldn't do. And I rolled up my pant legs. It was amazing. 

Almost everyday Oak wanted her hair in pig tail braids. She looks so adorable in them I could hardly stand it. 

So we were out playing one afternoon and the kids started playing with new neighbor kids. Turns out they are homeschooled too. So they played outside with them almost everyday. The kids are a little bit older then my kids but they got along really well. And they were just really kind, polite kids. 

One of the things I love about homeschooling is we aren't rushed in the morning. Instead we can lay in bed and read library together. 

Mac read us a couple of books too so that he could finish off his reading log. 

Oak finished her reading log where we read books to her. We mostly did it because she had to be like brother. 

It took about a month and a half for him to read 25 books to us. But it has helped him a lot and now they have earned a trip to Jump N Jax. 

A math game. Math lately has mostly been consisting of math games. Mac doesn't like repetition so this is how I get the repetition in for him. 

Another math game. 

Oak did Hooked on Phonics. 

The weather was so nice this week that Grandma wanted to plant flowers with the kids. 

Friday we went to our Young Hearts day where we visit senior centers. The last two we went to their weren't many residents who came so the kids mostly played with each other. But there were a few. 

Kids playing a game together at the senior center. 

We went to Elmer's for lunch one day and Mac and I worked on these Sudoku. Mac caught on pretty quickly. And it was actually fun to do with him. It totally counts as school :)

Mac had such a rough week with his behavior. None of our normal tactics in helping him have worked.  It just felt hopeless and I am wiped out! I wasn't always a patient loving mom with him but tried to find moments to repair and connect with him. I loved coloring with him and we ended up coloring this entire thing. 

Friday the kids had art class again and they did color mixing. 

Saturday morning daddy decided he didn't need to go into work so he stayed home the kids were so excited. I guess excited enough to give him a back scratch and a foot rub. 

We ended up going out to breakfast and it was dad's choice. We ended up going to this place on the lake but way out of town in the middle of no where. It was a beautiful place. Loved it! We will be going back for date night soon. 

He does night like when I have him take a selfie with me but he humors me. 

Loves these two!

Mac got pancakes the size of a plate. He inhaled them. 

They had this cool bench out side. Oak loves bears! 

Then when we got home the kids put on their swim suits and "helped" dad wash his car. 

Then they got to play in the water for a bit. Yes, it was warm enough for them to be able to do this.