Taking a Day Off

Yesterday we took the day off from school. I decided it would be a nice mid week break since the boys were doing so good, and I was so tired from all the school, football, and lawn mowing lately. I had to take the puppy to the vet for shots again and left the boys at home with a list of chores to do. They did a very good job finishing up their list and only called me 4 times -- LOL. As independent as they are, they still get nervous staying at the house for an hour by themselves. I just started letting Russell stay home with Zeke and the occasional time with Caden sleeping in the past 6 months. It has worked well for those quick trips to the grocery or the post office. It is so much easier than loading everyone up for a 30 minute trip.

Russell called and talked to his best friend from Florida yesterday. It was interesting. Zeke was really upset about the move since this was his first time moving away from friends, and even Russell got a little moody about leaving his friends towards the end. I kept telling them that all their friends were military kids and everyone would eventually move on. I told them that it was just important to keep in touch wherever you move on to. So, when he talked to his friend David yesterday, he found out that he is the only one of Russell's friends left. Everyone else moved away this summer. Wow, that was sudden. I knew a few where thinking about it and that a couple others might be moving in the next year but that was fast. Russell seems a little more settled in the move now that he knows others have moved on too.

The other thing they talked about on the phone was schoolwork. David, I think has to work a little harder in school than Russell. They have been in school 2 weeks, and he was already complaining to Russell that 6th grade was just too hard. That was kind of interesting because we are using the same curriculum at home as they use at school, and Russell is just flying through it. He doesn't think it is hard at all. He is really good at math and loves science. I wanted to start him in algebra this year, but there were a few things in the Abeka math book that I thought were good for him to learn first, so we are doing that right now. He has been zipping through all of it at about 2 pages a day. He is ready to move on to something new since the first almost 30 pages of the book are ALL review. He has finally made it to a new topic and is happy, but the new topic only last lasts 1 chapter and then we have 3 more chapters of review stuff. I think we will make it most of the way if not all the way through the Abeka 6th grade book by Christmas. The other thing he is really enjoying this year is science. He loves science, but last year I had to supplement his science every day by reading other books or going on line, because it wasn't detailed enough. The 6th grade book however is a lot more detailed and he is really enjoying reading and learning from it. The best thing this year is that Spelling seems to have finally clicked. I am not saying he is ready for any National Spelling Bee Championship, but all of a sudden his spelling seems almost effortless. YEAH!! Zeke on the other hand really struggles worse than Russell ever did with Spelling, and his Penmanship needs A LOT of work. His math is getting much better than it has been in the past. I think in part because I am able to sit and make him work through it to get the right answers. Before it seemed that his teacher was really not concerned with weather he finished his work or not, and I frequently reviewed his papers to find numerous missed and uncorrected errors. He had no idea he was doing it wrong because no one was telling him it was wrong and making him correct it. Hopefully this will be a big turn around year for him and really set the stage for better years to come.

We went to the mall and played a few arcade games on our day off and Caden rode all the little kiddie stationary rides. Then we had Chinese food in the food court. I ate too much. After that we went to the toy store and Zeke spent his five dollars that he got from his grandmother for his birthday. Still no sign of a card from his father, and no phone call on his birthday from him either. HMMMM.

On that note. The newest update in the Ex -soap is -- His live in girlfriend dumped him after 3 months. 'Nough said.