Can Summer Really be Over?? (Bridget)

Wow. I know it's been a long time since I blogged but really nothing eventful has taken place this whole time. We've had a non-summer as far as weather is concerned with nothing but rain and cool temperatures. I feel like we're back in Southeast. Now we're headed toward fall. The chokecherry leaves are already turning gold and falling. It's really unbelievable when you think of the rest of the country having the hottest month of the year. Oh well, this is Alaska after all.
Having an early fall helps get me geared up for school which starts this Wednesday! We've received pretty much all of our school stuff so all that's left is to do some planning. It'll be tough homeschooling all 4 kids for the first time and keeping up with Ethan who is starting to walk now. I'm hoping to get Molly's work done in the morning and have the boys get their tough subjects done in the morning so we can do our reading and projects in the afternoons. We'll see how that works. As usual, I'm excited about the new curriculum we're trying out and happy about the tried and true curriculum we've come to appreciate. Having allotments for 4 kids gives me leeway to buy some frivolous and fun things this year like a bunch of cool art supplies from Dick Blick, some games, some arts and crafts and logic puzzles and workbooks. I also bought tons (not as much of an exaggeration as you might think!) of classics. The boys are going to be involved in the Young Statesmen Club where they will read classics and discuss one per month with other boys their age. Even Molly will be getting together with 2 of her friends to read some Five in a Row books and do lapbooks and cooking projects associated with what they read.
So, it's goodbye summer and hello school. I don't have many school supplies to buy, like pens and notebooks and all that but I couldn't resist buying a few new clothes for the kids - especially Molly. To me, that's what "going back to school" is all about! You have to have a new outfit and new supplies for the first day!! The boys couldn't care less about new clothes and Molly isn't as enthused as most girls would be but by George she's going to have new clothes anyway.