We Joined a Gym!

 The gym is small, but it has a pool.

Kids under 13 aren't allowed to use the machines, but they can walk the track and swim with me.

It's heavily discounted because it belongs to the local school district, and it's open to the public.

Now we have something special to look forward to when it's too hot, too cold, too gross, or too boring. :)

But nothing really beats a walk around the neighborhood.

We walked twice this week.

We started reading The Hobbit.

Our Gilgamesh book is quite racy!  I've edited many scenes, and we've been able to have family conversations about what is "virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy" and why we try to avoid that which is not any of these things.  

We've also talked about historical, cultural, and religious norms that are different from ours.

The kids liked their research assignment this week--any person ever.

Their reports ran the gamut from Shaq to Levi Straus to Taylor Swift and others.

Little Princess completed Flowers for Algernon and submitted her final essay.  I handed it back to her with instruction to use more quotes from the book to support her points.  Her points were well made, but she used general summaries instead of specific evidence.  

She's working on that now.

She passed her review board for her next CAP promotion!  

It was an especially nerve-wracking review board because they had a visiting VIP who was invited to sit on the board.  He noticed how long she's been sitting at her current rank, and he asked her point blank why she hadn't been promoting.  She says she was so, so, so nervous, but she answered honestly and articulately in such a way that the VIP was impressed and complimented her on her personal growth and experiences that she will be able to use to bless others.

She and I also spent a good amount of time with her list of dreams for the not-too-distant future.  She is now working on college applications and an application for a study abroad program that she learned about from a church friend.  

I grinned for a couple of days straight over her reaction to seeing the course list for a major in Physics with an emphasis in astronomy.

She couldn't hide her smile--even when she buried her face in a pillow.

My girl really needs to go to college!

At dance we finally got through the entire opening number.  What we have 5 weeks to accomplish is dancing that number with the correct timing for entrances and exits.  This opener has kids on and off stage in rapid succession!

My little Stars (3-6 yrs) have all three of their numbers memorized, and my Stripes (7-11 yrs) have 2 of their 4 numbers ready, with one needing some fun added to the basic steps, and one just started.

Our combined "younger kids" number is so fun!  Originally I made the choreography too hard because I thought the Stripes could help the Stars through it, but I was wrong.  🙃  I simplified it, and with the kids' enthusiasm, it is so perfect!

They're dancing to Grandma's Featherbed by John Denver.

Completely unrelated to school, Nature Angel came home from Utah with a new haircut!

Little Princess, Nature Angel, Pixie, Belle, and I all have such. long. hair.

I'm ready to cut mine off and try to have a pretty style again--it's been about a decade that I've been pulling my hair back into a bun every day.  

Nature Angel's small step is making me feel a little bit inspired.

We're trucking along with all of our other school--it's just too boring to write about. 

Except maybe Mister Man's electronics experiments.

He's just studying here, but a few minutes after this picture was taken, he (intentionally) burned out a resistor and a light bulb, then he blew a fuse.  I think it had something to do with limits of equipment.

Oh!  And a great source of amusement is how Nature Angel has inspired the rest of the kids to watch international television.  Kdramas are all the rage, but I found most of the kids curled up on a rainy Saturday watching Chinese period dramas.  

Beowulf is sound asleep on the couch after soccer, and Baymax is reading, but there's a whole passel of kids curled up out of sight listening to Nature Angel lecture them about the plot and characters of the show.

Baymax says, "It doesn't even feel weird anymore to listen to the Chinese and read the subtitles."

Somehow them watching Chinese TV feels educational in a way American TV doesn't. 😂

The second week of soccer was a blast for everyone--even on the muddy fields.

And most of the kids were able to serve in the temple on Wednesday night.

We are going to need to shorten a couple of our school days in the week to come in order to help out friends and neighbors, and I think we all need it.  

A little service brightens the soul.