Sunday, June 29, 2008














We rarely have the opportunity to go to the movies, and we were so glad we went to see "The Fall" this past Sunday. We hadn't heard much about it until we read what was playing at Amherst Cinema, but we watched the trailer and decided to give it a try. This was one of the most visually beautiful movies I have ever seen. The scenery and the costumes were unbelievable! I don't know why she isn't pictured on the poster, but the true lead in this movie was a little girl around 5 years old. Ethan and I were so impressed with her acting abilities. The movie has two stories intertwined, one about the little girl and a stunt man who meet in a hospital, and the other story he tells the little girl, filmed as she imagines it. We would highly recommend this movie!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

I was worried that Esme wasn't going to have enough summer activities this year, but so far she's still got lego league, she'll do eight days of swimming lessons, and now she's going to do Junior Rangers. I think we're okay after all.

I am so excited to be out of school and have a chance to actually do Esme's lessons for a while! This year we divided our homeschooling activities almost perfectly in half - I did the research and lesson plans and Ethan taught Esme the lessons. We are about to start a new unit so I have some research to do, and then I'm looking forward to getting started on lessons next week! I am so lucky to have this summer off!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Today was my last day of school. I left school and went to pick Esme up at the library. When I got out of the car it was just starting to rain. I went into the chapel and said a prayer for all the students I've taught this year, and asked God to specially protect and guide 2 or 3 that were struggling. Then I walked out into the rain, and into the middle of a field so that it could pour down on me and wash away all the stress and tension of the last year, and leave me ready to start my summer. While I was in the rain I felt overwhelmed and grateful for my wonderful family that I was about to go inside to see, and so thankful for the opportunity to have this summer with Esme. When I went inside Ethan's whole desk was covered with Polly Pocket paraphernalia.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Gym and Swim


Esme finished up gym and swim this week. A local YMCA offers a class for homeschoolers during the day, and this was Esme's first experience playing typical gym games in a group and swimming with an instructor in a pool. Most of the kids were older so Esme didn't get a huge amount of individual attention, but she really liked the swimming teacher and he made sure to spend some time working with her each week. This summer she'll take swimming lessons with a group of kids her age and at her experience level - we're hoping maybe she'll have the same instructor.











One of our new favorite things to do is letterboxing. We find clues at www.letterboxing.org and have successfully found two. I took my class letterboxing and planted two along the way.