Happy Father's Day!

This post is just a little something to honor and celebrate all the wonderful dads and those that fill in for dads when needed! Remember you are loved and appreciated EVERY day of the year, not just this one day. For all that you do to help raise your children (or someone else's children) we thank you.

Specifically to my dad...I love you! We've had rough times in the past but I am so very glad that we made it through them and have a good relationship now. I love having you in my life and in my children's life. You are a wonderful grandpa! Know that we all love you every day.

Specifically to my husband...I love you! You are the best husband and father I know. I am blessed to have you in my life. You have been helping me fulfill my dreams for over 11 years now and you continue to do so. You work so hard so that we can homeschool our children and do all the things that we do. Our children are so very lucky & blessed, whether they know it now or not. THANK YOU for being the wonderful, amazing you! :-)

Top 5 results

The results for the qualifying round are finally up from the Top 5 tournament this weekend. Alex placed 33rd in his division for the state and Morgan placed 7th in her division! This is from the top 5 from bowling centers around the state of TN. We are so proud of them. They are doing their best, having fun and enjoying it.

Spanish, puppies and bowling, oh my!

Thursday afternoon we did our online Spanish class with friends. The video portion was rather dry and had quite a bit of rambling, going off on tangents, but the kids enjoyed the notebooking that went along with it. Afterwards we headed to GC's house. Morgan, Alex, GC and I attended the Volunteer Orientation for the animal shelter on Thursday night and signed up for our first volunteer shift for Friday afternoon. When we got to the shelter we signed in and headed toward our jobs. We did some greeting & showing potential adopters around, cuddled kittens, played with a litter of puppies, and walked the sweetest dog. We visited plenty of other dogs & cats and shared some time & love with them. We were thrilled to see 3 dogs adopted while we were there. Yea! :-) We will be going back on Wednesday morning. Morgan and I are volunteering in surgery. We are very excited.

Saturday morning started out early...6am. We left the house at 7am and headed to Smyrna for the Top 5 bowling tournament. Both kids did great. Alex's 3 games were: 83, 79, and 72. His average going into the tournament was 71. Morgan's 3 games were: 150, 123, and 136. Her average going into the tournament was 114 (we think). We are so proud of both of them!

We left the bowling tournament and headed back towards home for a friend's wedding. The ceremony was beautiful and we wish Jacob & Whitney all the best in their future together.

Wacky Wednesday

Alex had his trial tumbling class last night....and LOVED it! :-) So, he is signed up for beginner tumbling classes at Discovery Gymnastics. He had a great class, was listening so well to his teachers and was trying all sorts of new things for him and doing great. I'm so happy for him (and us) because I really think this will open new doors for him.

Today we did math, grammar, and handwriting and did the notebooking for Beethoven for our Composers of the Past class. We just have Bach to do and then we are finished with that class. It is just a short, introductory, summer class.

Tomorrow we are starting our beginner Spanish class with some friends. It is through Currclick also, same professor as our Composers of the Past class. Tomorrow evening the kids and I are going to an orientation for volunteers for the Williamson County Animal Shelter with my mom. All 4 of us are wanting to volunteer there and have been waiting for the orientation.

Activities

Morgan has registered for 4 dance classes next year...and has expressed an interest in an additional one that requires teacher approval. I'm not sure she is ready for that one yet but you won't know until you ask so we let her put in her request/interest for that one. She received the letter from Nashville Children's Choir and is on the waiting list. However, she has informed us that she wants to focus on dance this year and won't be accepting a spot if they do call her. She is open to the possibility of auditioning again next year.

We took Alex to Discovery Gym today to inquire about tumbling classes and to let him see it again. We've been there once for a friend's birthday party but not while classes were going on. We have some friends that take gymnastics and tumbling there and they love it. We signed Alex up for a beginner tumbling class on Tuesday evenings. He gets a free trial class (tomorrow) and can then decide if he wants to continue. We have everything ready if he does. *Fingers crossed* that he enjoys it. I really, really think he needs an activity that is all his.

We had bowling tonight, 5th week in our family league. I had a baaad night scorewise but still had fun. Alex had 1 game at his average and 2 games above his average. Morgan was on fire tonight!! All 3 games were above her average including 1 game that was 83 pins above her average giving her a new, all-time high score of 194!! And she was on cloud 9. :-) Corey was off his game tonight too (not as bad as I was) and wasn't happy about it...but still had fun.

In a funk

When we moved to TN it was a planned move...something we thought about, saved for,etc. We thought we had thought of everything before moving. After living in NY & then FL we both missed the changing seasons and wanted out of the heat of FL. However, we didn't take into account the area we were looking at very well and how we would fit...or not fit. My family moved up here before us and they picked the area. We had been looking at other areas...although I'm not so sure at this point that any other area in TN would be any better. We changed where we were looking based on being closer to my family. It was a nice thought but not the best idea. Anyway, when we first moved it was exciting but I missed our FL friends horribly. We were in a close group of like-minded friends as well as a close group of homeschooling friends. We had access to a lot of different options for homeschooling classes & extras. The first year here I would have given anything to leave and then I settled down some. During the next 2 years I've been on a roller coaster about living here and/or leaving here. It hasn't been easy..we don't fit in at all...we aren't Christian, we aren't conservative Republican, we aren't gun-toting, we believe that global warming is real and are trying to live in a greener fashion (recycling, composting, reducing our useage, etc). I've tried to get the kids involved in various activities and we've met some people. Unfortunately no one that we have become really close with....which is a bummer because it didn't take very long in FL. I don't know if it is the core differences that prevent it from happening or the fact that everyone has lived here since they were kids and have lifelong friends so don't "need" a close friend. Make sense? Not that we don't have people we do stuff with...just nobody that I feel like is a really close friend...the do anything with, just hang with, talk about anything with, etc. We attend social events and I definitely feel like the odd one out...the odd family out even. The host includes us but then everyone else is so much like each other that it is obvious we aren't like them....not redneck enough, don't smoke, and all the other stuff I mentioned earlier.

So, I hear in passing all the things people are doing with their good friends on a daily basis and it is really affecting me right now. I've managed to get myself into quite a funk again. Last night hubby was working (til 5am) and I cried myself to sleep. I'm back to wanting out of here. :-/ Not that it will happen. The housing market *sucks* even if I could convince the family to move and there is no way we could move anytime soon. Alex isn't into anything here so doesn't have roots but Morgan loves her dance studio. I've got to find a way to accept it all and deal with it. But how do you deal with the deep down loneliness that you know isn't going to go away. *sigh*
I do okay dealing with the day-to-day stuff. I've always been good at the 'happy on the outside' thing so very few people know that I am not happy. Oh well...such is life I guess. Maybe we can schedule a trip to FL and seeing friends will help.

Updates

Alex and I have both been going through some pain issues recently. Alex with the severe pain in his leg and me with my knees. Luckily we are both past that and are feeling much better. I am still having weakness issues with my knees, as a result of whatever was causing the pain (?) I'm not sure. But I'm working on it. Alex had a blood test and x-rays to make sure his leg pain wasn't something really serious (cancer, bone infection,etc) and everything came back clean.

In other news, Morgan received her letter from the Nashville Children's Choir and is on the waiting list. She has decided that she wants to focus on dance this year. This makes it easier on us because if she was accepted into NCC then she would have to reduce the number of dance classes she is taking (current count is 4/week). She enjoyed auditioning and might do it again next year.

Alex is ready to try out a tumbling class at Discovery Gym. I will post after he tries it to see if he likes it. I am hoping he will enjoy himself so he will have an activity that is his alone. I think he needs that.

Morgan just spent several days with GC. She had a nice time and Alex enjoyed some time with Mom & Dad without a sibling. He did mention how strange it was to be so quiet without Morgan around. I don't think it is Morgan alone...but the 2 of them together. ;-) We are still doing some schooling through the summer. We went on a field trip this past Thursday to the Middle Tennessee Research and Education Center . We got to tour the fields where they conduct research on grapes, blueberries, and peaches; have a weather station that they monitor and report to NOAA on a daily basis; and visited the dairy barn to see the cows as they were fed, got milked and then saw a couple calves...so cute! We are taking an online class through Currclick on Composers of the Past. It is just 3 classes and focuses on Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. We will be taking a beginner Spanish one next. We are having fun with the composer class.