The Weekend in Pictures

We took a little time this weekend to explore downtown. I absolutely love downtown!

Organic Living

We have always tried to be aware of what we were eating and go for the more whole food/organic options. It seems though when we had our foster kids that our on the go way of life inched out some of that to a "easy food" mentality that doesn't serve us well.
In my efforts to regain control of our health I have committed to junking the junk! Today will be my first grocery day where I will not be buying anything non-organic, no coloring, no added sugar and so on. It will be an adjustment for some of us (hm, hm Ryan!) but it is long overdue.
I hope that we will start seeing some improvements and this will be an easy way of life for us, rather than a chore.
I've started baking bread and doing more things from scratch and my formerly domestic-fobic personality is fading away. Maybe it is being surrounded by cornfields and the country life, but I find myself embracing things that are totally foreign to my city girl heart.

In other news Avery completed another session of swim lessons. With fall approaching we are deciding what the next endeavor will be. It seems we may keep up with swimming and maybe work toward team for next year. In addition to that she is deciding between Karate and Figure Skating. Maybe we'll do both and she what she loves, but she'll have to do 1 at a time, or this mommy will turn into a Taxi.

Our Family Day (aka. adoption anniversary) is coming up next month. It seems unreal that Avery will have been our daughter for only 5 years. I find that I rarely think of the first year we missed. We are trying to decide how we want to celebrate this special occasion. I think we have decided to get her first AG doll and take her to the cafe in Chicago for dinner. We are tossing around a few other ideas, since I kinda wanted to save the doll for Christmas. The other options seem like a let down to me, but she wouldn't know the difference. And they really are things she loves and rarely gets to indulge in.

Gotta go, someone is begging me to help her make a calendar. Mommy's work is never done.

School Days are Coming!

I am so excited today. Our curriculum for this year arrived and I got to look over all of our stuff. Now if you remember how trepidacious I was last year about homeschooling, my excitement might come as a shock. It did for me. Honestly in the spring I had reservations about homeschooling again, but after weighing our options it really is the best fit for us this year. We'll take each year as they come. I think I now have a good grasp on Avery's learning style and my expectations. We are going to have lots of fun this go 'round.
Now when everything arrived I wasn't sure I ordered the right level. It looks like 2nd grade may have been a better fit, but that just means less pressure. I don't want her getting too far ahead, should we put her in a classical school setting at some point. And I still have reservations about her reading ability (disability?) that I want to monitor closely. So school is just a month away and I will be ready this time!

Swim lessons are going so well. She has a new instructor this time and he says she is progressing well. I think she might get her back-stroke down this session. We have 3 classes left.
After swim lessons we'll pick up something new for the fall - maybe gymnastics again, or ballet, I am not sure what she'll decide on.

I am excited for the fall and all it will bring. Although I love summer, I look forward to the leaves changing, hayride, pumpkins, and being outdoors even more.