Surprise! School Starts TODAY!

It is a beautiful warm Summer Friday and my foot is still out of order, having twisted it nearly two weeks ago and then aggravating it Monday while squatting down and digging for sand crabs at the beach. (I know, poor me! ;)   It has been a rough couple of weeks trying to keep these boys entertained at home while I use crutches and try to keep my foot up.

This week I was coaxed into purchasing the PC version of Minecraft, the hugely popular video game that the kids have been in love with for months on the Xbox360. I was crossed-armed adamant that this program would not enter my home, but logic won over when our new playmates created a server and wanted to meet online for private building parties. This was safe and T would be learning to type/chat online and get to spend quality brain time with a kid just like him.  A kid that happens to live a good 45-60 minutes away, depending on the infamous Los Angeles Traffic.

So now they've got the full online version of Minecraft and it is much more educational than the Xbox version. It is also infinitely more addictive.

We think we found Lucky's twin!

It's now Friday and here we are on this beautiful Summer day at the park throwing the ball for our fluffy pal Lucky and his presumably twin sister.  As I chat up the other dogs owner about the similarities in the pups, Lucky sniffs his new friend's rear and the boys stand entranced by the workers pouring concrete and smoothing it down on the brand-spankin' new playground. This lasts for maybe 8 minutes and then I've got two little boys hanging on my waist and arms (adding unwanted pressure to my sore foot) and whining about wanting to go home. "Why?" I ask. I am surrounded by lush green grass and fresh air and lovely trees and dogs to play with and throw balls for... what the heck? "I want to play Minecraft." my 8-year-old sulks. Seriously? My eyebrows and #11 frown line queries the child.

Oh yes, we were going home alright. And we were starting school. It is only 11:30 am!

After making a healthy lunch of their favorite tuna salad, I grab up Moving Beyond The Page and their newly decorated Spelling and Vocab books. I gave them 6 words to write and we discussed them with what felt like sheer glee! These kids were into it! So we covered Urban, Rural, Goods and Services, Wants and Needs. Interesting and fun to hear their ideas on these things. We moved onto Community Buildings and identified them on worksheets, skipping the whole "add a sentence" section, as that would probably end up more like the "add some tears" section   Next we moved over to the couch and read "Give a Pig a Pancake" and laughed our butts off. After that, a surprise Mad Lib and then two more because they begged.  PJ is starting to get what a Noun, Adverb, Verb and Adjective is!

T began his online math with Dreambox and found it pretty entertaining and educational, while PJ and I played the card game War and then did some Oooka Island. PJ took at turn at Dreambox while Tommy read some Horrible Science.

Next we made borax-based Slime for T and homemade Play-Dough for PJ and decided we need to hit Lakeshore Learning in the morning. We need a lot more Elmer' Glue because we want to test the degrees of stringiness based on how much Borax we add.

By now it's time for cleaning up the kitchen, picking up the living room and for Mom to start dinner. Minecraft at 4:30?  Be. My. Guest.

While tucking them in that night I asked them what they thought about their first day of school.  They said "It was Awesome!" I'm a happy mom.

Saturday morning and I'm woken with my new (un)favorite query...PJ stands by the bed and asked "Can we play Minecraft?" Oh dear, it's going to be a long day...

10:30 and we grab "Life of Fred: Apples" and cozy up on my bed. We laughed through two chapters and wrote our simple math in a separate workbook.  T can't stay away even though he already knows this stuff. We end up in a tickle attack because a resistent PJ won't recite the Days of the Week for me... Yes, this "schooling" is really stressful and rigorous ;-)

Next stop, Lakeshore Learning outlet where I scored big time on some awesome science stuff and filled the cart with educational games.  $175 later, we're ready to rock this school year.  Oh, darn it, I forgot the glue...

It's now Sunday morning, and Daddy finally has a day off.  T walks in at 7am says "Mom, can we play Minecraft?"  Oy, here we go again...