College Fair!

This past Sunday the whole family (YES ALL 5 OF US) went to a college fair. First off we did not know how long it would take and the idea of leaving Middle Peep home with Baby Peep did not appeal to Papa and I. They have stayed home before but this was a bit far away (usually I am no more than 5-10 minutes away) and we did not know how long we would be away so into the minivan we all went. Fortunately, there was a place they could hang out at while we went from booth to booth.

I discovered a book that talks about small liberal arts colleges and while I was still reading it (and loving it), someone on my homeschool email list shared about a college fair the organization was hosting. Since I didn't know if they would be coming back to this area and I was really enjoying learning about the schools in the book, I marked the calendar and shared with Papa Peep and Oldest Peep the date.

When we arrived, we filled out a registration card. On one side it asked our name and address and what year she would be graduating. On the other side were all the colleges in attendance and we were free to check off the ones we wanted to contact us further. They had a small 30 minute information session where they introduced their organization....Colleges That Change Lives....and made us feel comfortable and relaxed about the whole process. There were over 200 people in attendance and you could tell all were anxious to get to the booths. When they opened the hall, just about everyone ran over to talk to recruiters. Oldest Peep and I hung back and tried to figure out who would be our first stop. Papa stayed back with the boys to settle them into a game on his iphone. We stopped at Agnes Scott College as we remembered them from our time in Atlanta. As soon as the recruiter said, "All girls....." she lost Oldest Peep. From there we went to The Evergreen State College.....no swim team....keep moving. We wondered some more and then settled on Kalamazoo College. Swim Team? Check! Study abroad program? Check! Languages Department? Check! So far so good! We talked to the recruiter (who did not believe I was her mom) and he really sold the school to us. We were both very impressed with what he had to share with us. From there we went to a few others she enjoyed hearing about. What we.....really she.....most learned from this is that she can stand in front of a complete stranger and share with them what she thinks she might want to study, the importance of an active and competitive swim team, and her desire to see the world and interact with it in its languages. We also learned that she needs to work on eye contact and speaking up, but I say not bad for a first time!

To be honest, I did not really prepare her beforehand. We took her without really telling her what a college fair was all about. She was nervous once she realized what it entailed since she is always pretty shy around strangers.

Job well done sweetie! And don't worry, we will have plenty of chances for you to practice over the next few years!!!

More swimming!

Oldest peep swam the 500 yard freestyle this past weekend. That is 20 laps of 25 yards. She was very nervous and did not think she would make it all the way to the end. Her coach assured her that she swims way more than that at every practice.

She stayed pretty steady the whole way until the last 25. She realized she still had some power left in her legs and she kicked hard!

She came in 2nd place with a time of 7:01. She is swimming this same event this coming weekend and she hopes to improve that time now that she knows her arms won't fall off.

So while I wait

for Papa Peep to come home so we can go Halloween costume shopping, I will upload 2 more videos and a picture from this weekend's meet.





This one is Oldest Peep in the 100 BackStroke.

She is in lane 8. You can see her time at the end. She knocks her arm into the wall since she lost stroke count keeping track of her opponents next to her. Silly girl!

In the following video she got a gold time which means she qualifies for an invitational meet. YIPPEE!!!!!!!!

Here you can clearly see her slow reaction time. She is working on that!

The meet was great and we are all very happy for her success. She wanted at least one gold time and she got it in her favorite event. What more can you ask for?

The next meet is a long distance meet and she will have to swim 1000 meters or soemthing equally insane. She is taking today off to rest but tomorrow it is back to the training deck........

So why have we been MIA

Basically no school is getting done despite my best efforts. We have done math perhaps 3 or 4 times in the last three weeks. We are living our days in the car between dr appointments, baseball games every night, swim practice and swim meets. While driving it is impossible to take pictures! I do have some baseball,s wimming, and camping.....YES....CAMPING pictures to share later this week. For now, we have a Baby Peep funny to share with you all.

Me: Guys, you have to pick a song to sing. Musical friend wants to hear your singing voices.
Oldest Peep: I am NOT singing. eyes rolling far into her head
Middle Peep: Do we really have to? What kind of song?
Baby Peep: I want to sing too!

Me: Come on guys. You all have very nice voices and if musical friend gets a group together you are going! Like it or not. So start liking it!

(We have had this conversation over and over and I am at my wits end on how to get them excited.)

Oldest Peep: I can't sing and I don't want to sing in front of people. It is scary.
Middle Peep: I am shy. What kind of song do you want us to pick?
Baby Peep: I want to sing!

Oldest Peep: I am scared.
Middle Peep: It is scary. I could sing a Blake Lewis song.
Baby Peep: Yeah, mom! I am stage frightening like oldest peep. (No, they don't call each other peeps.)

We just laughed and laughed and laughed. If you know Baby Peep you realize just how frightening it WOULD be for him to be on stage. He meant to say he has stage fright like Oldest Peep. Exactly the reason I will drag push them gently to join this group. When looking at what each peep said in the car you clearly see their personalities. Oldest peep always quick to say no and stay there until I blow my top so to speak. Middle Peep will share his fears but will aim to please. Baby peep always wants in the fun...no matter what the idea.

Spanish Lessons!

My hard work has paid off!

We have started a Spanish Club. 2 moms from our new homeschool group are coming over weekly to enjoy a few hours of my beautiful Spanish language. We have planned activities for the kids and are trying really hard to only speak Spanish while they are here. Today we had a great day! With the beginners we played a matching game, we read a book, and we ate tostones. When the more advanced students arrived we played Monopoly, Dibujonario (my Spanish version of Pictionary), read some pictures books, and Oldest Peep gave us an oral presentation on a book she read. The assignment was to pick a picture book in Spanish and then tell us about it; the story line, what she liked about it, etc.

This is the book she read.

Empanadas que hacia Abuela

Here is her report (just as she wrote it).

• La familia de abuela vienen para una fiesta. La abuela hace empanadas para la fiesta. Ella pone calabaza en la empanadas. Los ninos llevan la calabaza a la casa. La calabaza en vuele la masa. El rodillo extiende la masa. Los nietos empujan el rodillo. El abuelo viene a la fiesta, y los primos da muchos abrazos. El perro de abuelo sige el todos partes. Son empujan el rodillo. Los primos arrive a la fiesta. Son persigen el perro! Los primos da abrazos a la abuelo. Ahora todos familia vienen a la casa de abuela. It is time para la fiesta! Abuela alimenta la familia. La familia loved la empanadas. La familia quiren leche. So abuela sirve la leche para la familia. La familia content est. Finally la fiesta was over. Abuela suena con las caras content. Este libro es bueno. Yo quiero que mi abuela hace empanadas todo dias.

English words Latin words

I was very impressed. I handed her the book, told her the assignment and then left it to her to do completely on her own. Afterwards I asked how she felt having done a great job? She said she was proud of herself. Once she started writing she said the words just came to her and she was able to do most of it without having to look things up. WOW!!!! Thank you SO YOU REALLY WANT TO LEARN SPANISH!!!!! Mr. Oulton (publisher) and Mr. Bolger (author) you are my heros!!!!

12 years old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

My oldest had a birthday yesterday! My baby is now 12 years old! I have no idea where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday was the 3rd day at the hospital of the horrible contractions and no progress birth that was my daughters. I still remember the look on my midwife's face as I was pushing and she saw all the hair that baby had. She still even more hair now and all the 12 year old charm of being the old girl in a family of boys! Below is my little homage of her 12 years with us. We have laughed, cried, and screamed at time but she is my heart and soul. What I would do without my rock, I can not even begin to imagine.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

"Look at all that HAY-AH!!!!" said in your best Boston Accent.

This is Oldest Peep at 4 months old.



At that time we lived in Boston and everywhere we went she drew attention. She had so much hair that as I was in the middle of delivering her, my midwife wanted to shampoo her hair. If I heard one more time "Look at all that HAY-AH" I was going to scream. It also always made her look older. I swear she is barely 4 months in the above picture....so small...so....

Here she is at 2 when we lived in Ireland. Matching hair.....that is not me...that is my sister for those of you who don't know...... and matching attitudes. SHHH!! Don't tell them I said that.

Here we are in FL at the beach. This was days after she turned 3.

Fast forward 11 years and this is Oldest Peep now.

Still all that HAY-AH!!!

And still silly!!

Happiness

I just love this face when it is happy and smiling. The huge dimples she inherited from my mother are wonderful to see. As she becomes older I see less and less of this spontaneous laugher. Due to many trying friendships I see these smiles have become more and more guarded. I will make it a point to help her smile, really smile, more often.

Let's see it one more time.

My rock!

What would I do without my oldest peep? She will make a great mom one day. She decided since I have been so preoccupied with this disaster in Peru she would straighten up the living room and dining room for me. What a girl. These boy peeps can destroy the cleanliness of a home in a heart beat. Well, baby peep is not always agreeable to these clean up ideas of hers. He protested and she instead of yelling at him and getting me involved as she is prone to so, she called Papa Peep. Papa Peep is thousands of miles away probably sitting in a meeting discussing coffee and she is calling him to straighten her baby brother out. What a girl! Don't disturb mommy who is having a hellish day of her own.



Here is evidence that miles mean nothing to disciplining baby peep.