I think we're still recuperating from the Holidays. The girls are up late and sleeping late this whole week. I think I need to schedule some early outings so their sleep schedule gets back on track, lol. Tomorrow we have a homeschool Game Day so that'll work. It'll also be great seeing everyone again after a few weeks. The concert was great. The kids loved it and here's a pic I took:


J had a solo lesson yesterday and her coach is saying her technique has really improved, she is doing better than ever, and she'll definitely be ready for the end of January competition. This is one of our "optional" competitions that is less than a mile away so we do it as practice mainly. Our first big one is in NJ around the end of Feb. W has pretty much decided he doesn't want a solo anymore and is happy just being in the 2 group numbers. I think it's because his friend told him how 'scary' it is to go on stage alone and also because the studio owner hasn't rehearsed with him in over a month. I know he'd love it if he just tried it once. He's surely a ham like his parents and sisters. It's just getting over that hump of fear that's holding him back. But I'll just wait until he's comfortable and comes to me. All it would take would be too see another boy his age doing a solo on stage. I hope we see one! LOL.

Oh, so remember the hamster W got for Christmas in the cool Spiderman cage? Well, yesterday when they took it out to play with it, it started having babies right there in the doll crib! I came running over, picked up the hamster and put her right back in the cage. One of the babies was in my hand, but I put it back in the cage next to the mom. I know that's a no-no, but she seems to now have 4 or 5 of them in there and hasn't eaten any yet. I know that's gross, but I was afraid since my hand got involved, she would. So now it's Day 2 with baby hamster pups and all is well. You can just imagine all the questions from the kids. Especially since B made sure to get a BOY hamster. They have been researching baby hamsters for me and are finding out all these things about them. Here's a pic of all the pups and one of the protective mama. Sorry they're blurry, I had to take them fast, lol:




W got his first library card the other day. He's never been a big fan of the library, but now that he can use his own card, he wants to go more. I really want to make a weekly jaunt there, but it seems we never find the time. It's 10am and already W has asked to "do workbook" (he did a 2nd grade book today, numbering the order of 6 pictures), do a learning website with him, and has started a Finding Nemo jigsaw puzzle. Next week I'd like to take the kids to a museum (maybe we'll try the American Indian one again) and I'll be setting up a homeschool group event at the NY Hall of Science for later this month or February.

I started a photo diary of all the activities the kids did/do this year. I'm calling it (our-last-name Homeschool '06-'07). I'm keeping it on a MS Word document which works better for me. I was looking for a free website, then decided this one should not be public. So basically it's the activity title, 3-6 photos, and a short paragraph about the activity. It looks wonderful and totally satisfies my need to be persnickety. I love doing this stuff.