Journey to Excellence

The month of June was an insanely busy month for us. It's mostly Brynne's fault. Eli and I are content to just sit at home doing our thing. But that Brynne just has to be busy, so we let her drag us all around. Here is a summary of our month: My heart almost broke dropping her off the first day. Brynne attended summer school this month. She studied math, English, genetics, and newspaper, and then took some elective courses including cooking, survival camp, and the building of a ground drone. The students took pre- and post-tests in math and English, and Brynne scored the highest in math of anyone in her class. If you are a homeschool mom I am sure you can relate to my feeling of relief not only that she did well but that apparently I have been an adequate enough teacher for her over the past 7 years. Really I am just so incredibly proud of her and am excited to see how she does in public school. I think she's going to knock their socks off. I coached Bry...

Three things on your Summer To Do List ... I covered some of this last week on Wednesday Hodgepodge but it was more in relation to us as a family. On this post I will get more specific about some things I am doing, as the adult Nicole who has a life outside her children and extended family . 1. This Saturday morning Kyndal and I are flying to Las Vegas to see Backstreet Boys in concert! This will be our 4th time. I believe we have seen them on every American tour they have had. The first time was in 1999 on Kyndal's 5th birthday. We saw them in Kansas City. When Kyndal was 16 we went with my sister and niece to see them with New Kids on the Block in Tulsa. That was the funnest thing I have ever done in my life, bar none ! Then we saw them at an outdoor concert at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City just a couple of years ago. It never gets old. We scream like teenagers every time they come out onto the stage and sing and do the choreography like we are part of the band. Grou...

Yeah, I know today is Thursday. It has been a crazy week! I have been enjoying a morning at home feeling a bit like a zombie but chugging lots of coffee. Blogging is something I have had the hardest time fitting into my schedule lately, but I felt like a little Hodgepodge reflection this morning. The first day of summer is this week. What are 10 things you'd put on your list of quintessential summer activities? Will you try to manage all 10 this summer? Our summer is half over, so we have been at the majority of these things already. Most of them will continue over the next month and a half. 1. Swimming 2. DQ (ours is only open during warm seasons) 3. Softball 4. Lake 5. Kids staying up late and sleeping in 6. 4th of July festivities 7. Grilling hotdogs 8. Sports camps for the kids 9. Lesson planning for the upcoming school year for me 10. Kansas City Royals baseball Do you collect seashells when you're at the beach? What do you do with them once you ge...

I realize it's Wednesday, but yesterday I never had a chance to sit down with my coffee and my computer at the same time. Today's question is a fun one, and one we should ask ourselves from time to time. It's good for the soul to be reminded. What is the best compliment you've received lately? Last weekend I went to visit a friend. While there we did some antique shopping, just browsing, really. I came upon an original Risk game with all of the pieces, in mint condition, for $15.00. On a whim I bought it for Dawson. When I got home I texted him a picture of it. Soon, he made a post on Snapchat. In it, he called me a freakin' GOAT. Now, I have been called lots of things in my life, most of which I will not mention here nor admit, but a GOAT is not one of them. I had to go to the worldwide web to find out whether I should be offended, because generation gap ! I was not offended. GOAT means: Greatest of All Time . And, not only did he think I was a GOA...