What's going on with us.

We're still here. We're doing our modified summer school schedule which includes individualized studies for each child on what they most need to work on, an hour of exercise and 1/2 hour of chores/cleaning. It's going okay. I'm trying to get into shape for the summer, for 6-Flags and the zoo and vacation, all of which require a lot of walking, so me and the younger 2 kids are walking a little bit further each day. The first day we walked a mile. Today we are up to 1.6 miles. We go one mailbox further each time. Once we get to 2 miles a day, that will probably be it. I think that's a pretty good walk. Since we've started, my old knee injury has started hurting again. I'm not sure how that's going to work out with all the summer plans we have. Usually it will flare up occasionally and then goes away. I hope it goes away before any of our planned events this summer. Anyway, on our walks we've been seeing interesting things, cicadas, smashed lizards and frogs, a live snapping turtle (we think that's what kind it was because it was big) and today we saw a wild turkey and heard what we think was a deer running away from us, although we didn't see it.

We're in the thinking stages of planning a birthday celebration for our youngest who will turn 10! I can't believe it. They'll all be in double digits now. They are growing up WAY too fast. Anyway, I told him that if he wanted to party to be here for his birthday that he had to not only clean his room (which he shares for now with his sister) but also had to somehow get his older brother to clean HIS room. Should be interesting. I wish the kids wouldn't choose to have parties. I hate asking people to bring presents all the time. A few years ago we set a birthday budget and told the kids they could either spend it on themselves or have a party and for a long time, they did what we wanted and chose to spend it on themselves, but last year, both of the younger 2 chose a party and this year it looks like we're going to have at least one more.