Memorial Day

I cannot tell you how thankful I am to the men and women of the armed forces and their families. They volunteer to give up years, and sometimes the rest of, their lives in order to ensure our way of life. In the name of freedom and liberty, these people leave the love and comfort of their homes, families and friends to put their lives at risk... many of them knowing that they might not return... to make this world a safer, better place.

I must admit to feeling a little sad when I think about what Memorial Day weekend has become. It was meant to be a solemn day to honor and remember those who have lost their lives, who willingly made the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I could continue to live our lives that are so full of freedom, liberty and safety. But Memorial Day has become a gluttonous festival of one-day sales, pool openings and bar-b-ques. People gather together, not to honor our fallen soldiers, but to shop till they drop, guzzle beer and burn meat.

We have determined not to teach our children the new and commercialized start-to-summer version of this holiday. This is not to say that we do nothing fun, but we take the time to teach the meaning of this day. And we honor our men & women in uniform.

Yesterday, we spent several hours at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery with more than 5,000 members of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Adventure Club and Girls Scouts. It was the Good Turn. We had a ceremony where the flag was raised, then lowered to half staff, and then the scouts and their families place a flag on each an every grave in the cemetery. It is a solemn and reverent occasion. Here are some photos I took:

School's out for Summah!

There are only two Alice Cooper songs to which I know any of the words... the title of this post would be one of them.

Summer vacation has begun.

Wednesday was my last day of school, and I've been doing pretty much nothing ever since.

Oh, there are lots of things I should have been doing...

but it is so rare that I have two whole days to myself.

Yesterday I went to see Sex & the City 2. Yes, I know it's a very Christian movie to see. Ahem. But it's really not that bad. Despite a few naughty words and two (I think)... um... gratuitous scenes, it's mostly just about a few girlfriends who trip & stumble though their lives. I think my favorite part was when the two moms in the group (Charlotte and Miranda) toast all of the moms who raise their kids without a full time nanny! Most of the women in the theater laughed out loud at that!

Today I also didn't do much. I sorted a few magazines. I went to the gym. I shuffled a few papers here & there.

Next week I being preparing in earnest for summer school.

Next week I also begin blogging in earnest about summer school. (I know that everyone is probably very interested in my very exciting summer plans...)

I'll also be blogging about the garden, the boys, the house and anything else I find interesting, amusing or otherwise noteworthy.

So, check back Monday for some sort of incredibly fascinating post about some sort of incredibly fascinating topic. Cheers!

3 - 2 - 1

SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

Well, it's almost summer vacation.

I have four music therapy sessions to do this morning, and then I will finish the day by cleaning out my car & packing up instruments for the summer.

And then I can sigh. I can breathe. I can throw the stress by the wayside.

I can get everything ready for our Summer (Home)School v2.0

I'm excited. I'm using next week to clean up the house (because by the end of the school year, it resembles Oscar the Grouch's home), and to organize materials for three very full months of home education. I'll also be blogging about the organization process, as well as our adventures as we go through the summer.

So, if you enjoy the likes of The Three Stooges and Abbot & Costello... then this will be the blog for you. I am quite certain we will be bumbling through lessons in Bible, Patriotism, spelling and math. I am sure to trip & fall flat on my face. But, it will almost certainly be a comedy of errors, as I am determined to embrace this summer with grace, humor and joy.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Wave!

Hi! I'm still here, though some days it feels as though I'm barely here.

As the school year winds down, my stress levels (and the amount of time I have to spend addressing work matters) goes way, way up.

Hence, my lack of presence around the blogosphere.

sigh

I promise, I will be back soon. (The countdown currently stands at 9.5 days left in the school year!)

And when I come back, Purple Brick Road will be bursting (yes, BURSTING, I say!) with posts on Mother's Day, homeschool, teaching the nontraditional learner, faith, gardening, kidspeak, recipes and maybe even a good, old fashioned giveaway or two.

For now, I will leave you with a photo of my Mother's Day gift. My husband & boys are so awesome!

Sorry the quality of the photo is so bad. The problem with wanting to take a photo of one's fancy new camera is that you have to take the photo of the fancy camera with the less than fancy camera on the iPhone.

Oh yeah, I'll also be posting all about my hi-jinx adventures in learning to use this thing...

It's May!

And do you know what that means?

IT MEANS THAT WE ONLY HAVE 3.5 MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL!!!
(I'll bet you didn't know that the teachers are worse than the students!)

And then our Summer-At-Home v2.0 begins!

This is the last big push of the (public) school year, which means it's a hectic month.

At work, I have last minute music therapy assessments to finish, files to organize, progress reports to write, and student information to gather for the person who will be serving my students over summer school.

At home, I have to finish getting the garden planted, plan the entire summer curriculum for my own boys, compile materials for the projects we will be working on, figure out our schedule (including Ty's sensory breaks - new this year), pick a knitting project or two (or five), and I'm feeling that springtime urge to clean my house from top to bottom.

Never fear, I will be sharing much of this right here at My Purple Brick Road! (I know. Try to control your excitement. I can hear you groaning with boredom and clicking the "delete blog" button on your Google Reader....)

The most important thing, the thing that is weighing most heavily on my mind, is what and how I will teach for summer school. Some of it is dictated by Ty's school curriculum - I've got to get him caught up on spelling, math and writing so he's not too far behind when he starts second grade. I'm a total newbie, and since we only get to homeschool during the summer... the learning curl is a bit flatlined.

Ahem. So if anyone has any general advice on homeschooling, helpful links, books I can get at the library, etc., I am happy to hear about it!

There are several blogs I will be scouring for tips and wisdom (you know who you are!), but I welcome all comments!
Thanks!
Have a great day!