Back to School Time

    For public school anyhow. We do year round school. Back to school time means friends that go to "Big School" (public or private schools) are going to be sadly missing from weekday playdates. 1 & 2 are sad because we have a few staple friends we see regularly they adore and see less of and there's a lot less of the "Hey wanna play?" going on. The good news is Back to School clearance Sales in about a week. They LOVE those because I let them pick out pretty much as much art supplies, writing implements, markers, notebooks, clearance clothes and whatnots they want. 75% off! WOOT.. We also get the added benefit of having an Back to School party with them because we're all down with any reason to party.

This year I've found a new homeschool group. I'm also going to look into a new co-op I've found that meets 2 times per week and is free of fees except supplies when *I*  would be leading (which is - from my understanding 4 times per year with another person so.. 2 times a year? ) and parental involvement is wanted on the days you aren't leading which is more ideal that some other co-op setups (for these 2)  I've seen. I'm going to a "Mom's Planning Meeting" next week where I'll hopefully find more out about it, but the consistency of a group like that with the same people, a familiar routine but with new people teaching the kids new things *I* would never think of is somewhat appealing. People like that tend to do crafts and stuff that I abhor. I don't know if it's going to work out, but it has potential so I'm gonna give it a whirl. Plus, it may be a good way to find wee boy some more "boy" friends. He's a little too comfortable answering to the term "Hey, Girls! Stop!" whenever we go out with friends.

Girl Scouts starts again soon too. It wee girl has really enjoyed it so far. I think she's finally settling in with this group of girls even though she is by far the youngest and smallest. She's on par with reading, writing, and other academic skills and at the end of last year she told the girls she's got Aspergers - though I don't think any of them get it. (And really, why would they? The oldest girls are 9.) This year one of our *goals* is to ask for help. When she gets confused by what people say - which happens a lot - she tends to just stand there and be confused. So we've talked about how when she is confused about a game, a phrase, what's going on - to just ask. Maybe pick a friend or 2 (she's got a couple of good ones in there that are just fantastic girls) what something means. The other girls won't care, they're beginning to realize she's a little different and like most little girls when they've been around someone for a while, just ignore it.

The boy working on typing!

We turned the fish tank into a frog/tadpole tank. I ordered 15 tadpoles from Ebay (yeah, who would have thought??) and they arrived via Fedex a few days later. Oddly, only a couple got eaten and the rest have been turning into successful little frogs!

Our tadpole turning into a frog.