I finally sent out W's LOI and J's IHIP. I sent them in the same envelope so I hope the sup't knows to look at both and not just shove them together into J's file. Sigh. You know, it's funny, I have been telling more and more people that we're homeschooling and no one even bats an eye. It's almost as if it's actually NORMAL now, lol. My aunt, who I see very rarely and saw at the reunion last week, was very very supportive and bragged about it to her boyfriend. She is a real free spirit - modeled a lot, is an artist, is moving to St. Martin - and I knew she'd be great about it. The rest of my family is supportive, but seems to be keeping an eye on what we're doing. They don't understand the concept of homeschooling so maybe it's just curiosity. Who knows.

So W has been doing different workbooks with me almost every day. He prefers the 1st grade ones, but will being over a preschool or Kindy one every now and then. His reading ability has pretty much stayed the same for months. I know he likes phonics, so I bought him some word cards to play with. It shows short and long vowels, consonants, and beginning and ending blends. I hate calling them "flashcards" because that brings to mind coercive parents drilling facts into their kid's head. W plays games with them, and treats them like any other game.

J has been writing out the times tables as per her grandmother's request. She feels like she forgot a lot of it so she writes them out in a triangle, then the 2 ways of multiplying and 2 ways of dividing. She got another magazine today and has been reading some of the articles and stories. She still prefers that I read to her rather than actually reading it herself, which is fine, but I do wish she enjoyed reading on her own. Will that ever come back?

I took the girls to the mall today. I got K tons of school clothes. I gave in and got some Abercrombie, Hollister, and American Eagle Outfitters stuff. But, I did draw the line at the $92 Juicy Couture hoody and $138 Coach bag. She's kidding me, right? The rest of her clothes/shoes came from Delia's, Macy's, and Kids Foot Locker. J got a couple of Abercrombie tees, an outfit from The Children's Place, and some shirts from Limited Too. And of course I got W a few shirts, too.

Tomorrow I'm going to get this apartment organized (I say that a lot, huh?), and Tuesday-Wednesday we're headed to the Poconos to Camel Beach water park! It's supposed to be cold and rainy, but we'll make the best of it. K starts school Sept. 5th. I can't believe summer's over already.