Sad, Sad, Sad Week

We are so saddened by the closing of Athens Gymnastics Training Center. We got word of this closing this past Thursday and were told it would close this week. Sydney has been attending gymnastics classes since she was 17 months. When we first started, Sydney and I were in a Parent-Pal class together. She is almost 6 years old now and has progressed to a level 2 and was preparing to compete this fall. She is most sad!! The owner/head coach, Jennifer Powell Vedder, is closing the gym. She is pregnant and due in November and wants to stay at home with the baby ( I totally understand that!!) and her husband recently was offered a job in South Carolina which is where her family lives. She has been a wonderful christian role model for the girls and very supportive of homeschooling (she was homeschooled !!). Jessi began her parent-pal class when she was 19 months old which was only 11 months ago--so, she is not nearly as attached to Jennifer as Sydney. But, she loves doing what her big sissy is doing. We are in the process of feeling out our options in gymnastics gyms, but with the knowledge that it may not happen (Sydney does not know that yet!). The closest gyms are in Greenback and Ooltewah and with gas prices being out of control---I don't know because, it would require class 2 or 3 days a week. We will just have to see what the Lord directs. We will be paying a visit to the gym in Ooltewah this next Tues for them to see what Sydney is able to do to determine what class would be good for her there and to show us around. We will be scheduling a date with the gym in Greenback soon.

These are pictures of the Annual Mini-Olympics that Jennifer had for parents, grandparents, friends, etc to come and see what they have learned. This was Jessi's first and Sydney's fourth year to attend. They all did such a great job!

Jennifer will be missed greatly ! We wish her the best!!

Florida Roadtrip...

A quick trip to Pensacola, Florida for a baseball tournament for our son. We left out Thursday evening and arrived at 3:00am Friday. We have Friday free before games begin on Sat am. So..... off to the beach.... (we stayed about 20 min away with the rest of the ballteam) we go !! This is the best public beach access I have ever seen. We had a great time playing in the ocean, digging in the sand and walking on the pier to see what was being caught. While we were on the pier, we were able to look down and see clearly into the water ( I love the gulf --the water is so clear!) and see many jellyfish and a baracuda.

Sat am we played baseball at 10am, had a storm delay, and ended up getting beat by a team from Louisiana. Our next game we won by forfeit, the other team did not show. So, we went to swim and eat CRAB LEGS!! It would just NOT be a trip to the beach without crab legs.

Sun am we played at 10am and won! What a good game! Our team has not been getting very "into" the games lately, but the moms and sisters got behind the dugout and got them to really cheering for their teammates and getting excited. They came back from being behind and WON!! (It pays to care if your are gonna play!). Then we had to play the same team again right after that for the championship. There was another storm delay--little longer this time. We came back from this break READY TO PLAY (I was so proud of their attitudes!) They won the championship and were so excited. It has been a long time since they have won a game let alone a tournament! This was good for them!!!!

We had packed bags to head to the beach when the games were over so, off we went. We we arrived so did the lightning (and we found out later a tornado). We thought it would pass while we ate supper (CRAB LEGS--ALL YOU CAN EAT!!). It was still a mess when we came out so we went on back to the hotel to swim, since it was the opposite direction of the storm.

What a great trip.... baseball, beach, pool, and CRAB LEGS all with my family! Can't beat that!!!!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.......

Planning for another year of homeschooling!! Exciting, stressful, and somewhat sad (realizing my son (#1) is going to be 10!! Oh my! I was just convinced I would stick with our curriculum choices from last year until..... momtocherubs opened my eyes. I am going to change our history/geography/literature curriculum to Tapestry of Grace and begin at year 1 (just worked out that way!) It is going to be such a relief to have my 10 y.o. and 6 y.o. on the same history. I had been using Sonlight (loved it!!) and was really feeling the need to have everybody on the same period of history so we could have these lessons together---kaboom--TOG! It is soooo much information and a bit overwhelming for a "box checker" like myself. But, after an afternoon with momtocherubs I realized it is just not that bad after all. I have been able to sit down and realize, I really only want the History/Geography/Literature pieces of this anyway. Now, when my books come I can work on my schedule. Things left to decide....Grammar and Math.... Science will be Apologia Zoology 2 as requested by both children after having completed Zoology 1 and everyone loving it!! Hopefully, getting more entries in nature journals with the assistance of Kamana.