Nutso-rama!

I was really thinking that our summer was going to be so laid back. We didn't have any grandiose plans to go anywhere and with the cost of gasoline, we were just going to kick around at home. Oh, well, yes, there are a couple of scout camps in there. . . . and a youth conference. . . . . and a trip to see some plays at the Shakespeare Festival, but that's not much. HA! I'm starting to feel like this June was a repeat of last June. We didn't go big, fancy places, but one or another of us has been gone to something, somewhere for the last 4 weeks. Montana and Ford have been gone to Youth Conference since Tues and should be home sometime today. It's been rather strange and VERY quiet around here. Next week Ford heads off to one last Scout Camp at Entrada, near Moab. I think he's about worn himself out. On the missionary front: Jordan is now in his first area; Helena, the state capital. He likes his companion and had dinner with some people who knew his Grandpa Welch, but that's about all we've heard. He's never been one to use too many words. (roll eyes) We miss him a lot, but are getting used to only having six kids at home and all fitting around the table for meals. On the Addition front: We are this close to getting our addition done. Siding is on, not painted yet. All the lights and outlets are connected, just need to do one more thing in the breaker box, or something, not sure I understood what he was saying to me. The wood floor is gorgeous, I love it and I'm so glad I got what I loved rather than settling for something cheaper. We will have to wait a bit on cabinets now, but I'm okay with that. I'm looking at cabinets for my scrap/office area. Just the cheapest white ones at IKEA. I am going to get the upper ones now, and just use the long banquet tables til we can get the base cabinets and countertops. So excited to get all this stuff out of my bedroom! On the Homeschool front: After learning about EPIC Adventures and how they can work within a TJEd framework and heeding the feeling that I really needed to concentrate on the Founding of America this year, I am excited to have found at a bookstore in Cedar City a pre-written Epic Adventure called A Noble Birthright, Defending the Title of Liberty. I had looked at purchasing a downloadable version but really wanted to see what the inside looked like first, as I already had a type of US History format I was going to use. I was thrilled to find it at Classic Books in Cedar City and to find it for $10 less than the download price. I have read through it twice now and yesterday I took the time to plot it all out on the calendar so I could see how it could all fit in the Sept-May time slot. This will be mostly for me, I have felt so strongly the need to study this subject more, but this will be such a fun way for me to do You, Not Them and Inspire, Not Require and just invite them to come along for the fun with me. I have also already come up with some ideas for another Adventure, maybe for the following year? Not sure I feel up to writing my own, but maybe I'll feel braver about that after doing this one. The kids are doing well, the youngest girls are gearing up for their birthdays in the next 2 weeks. Hannah will be 9 and Sadie will be 7. Then Montana will turn 16 in August. He just got his wisdom teeth out plus another tooth for some orthodontic work, so that will put back his Driver's Ed for a while. Even with ins., the dental work was spendy! Ouch! He was such a cute little chipmunk! Thought we got a picture of him, but can't find it on our digital cards. Oh, well. Soren is getting to be quite the 2 year old. He is getting very ornery about helping out or picking up messes he's made and is so bold as to tell his parents "NO!" when asked to. He's learning to sit on his bed until he's ready to do what he's asked to do. So fun! He's still such a joy, though, and he makes us laugh all the time. He's just testing out his limits a bit and we know he's really a sweet kid, somewhere under that two-year old cover. Whew! If you made it that far, give yourself a smack on the forehead! You've got better things to do than read this.