Not So New But New Truck For Marc...

Vehicles always break at the worst time.  Marc and I bought his Dodge Ram Truck back in 2002 brand new.  We've kept it all these years but used it minimally up until the past 2 years.  Marc was always driving a company car putting minimal miles on the good ole' Dodge.  When he switched to Party City and then Best Buy, he started using his truck more.  Just to give you an idea on how minimal the truck got used... at the beginning of 2017 the truck only had 74,000 miles on it.  It's 15 YEARS old!  Well low miles and being maintained doesn't always mean it will run/last forever.  On his way home from work, Marc's truck overheated so severely we had to have it towed.  Upon inspection, the mechanic realized the entire engine block was shot.  New engines are a minimum of $8,000.  With the truck being so old and other possible issues which would make that price go up even more, we opted to trade it in and get a "new" truck.  With Marc driving over 30 miles one way to work everyday, it made zero sense to buy a brand new truck.  We searched for a few days before stumbling on this 2004 Nissan Titan Truck.  The bonus was that it's a 4x4.  His dodge was not.  This meant more hunting and easier access to rougher terrain!  While Marc would have preferred a brand new truck (or jeep), we agreed the Nissan was the best option at this time.

Homemade Soap...

A friend from Prescott was super sweet and showed me how to make soap.  This is a hobby I wanted to learn for quite some time but the whole lye thing had me very nervous.  It really isn't difficult, just a little time consuming.  This batch was my first test batch.  Now that I have done it once, I'm anxious to start experimenting with the recipe and ingredient options!  Let the fun begin!

Coloring For All Ages...

Great Grandma Simpson is visiting which started an evening coloring session after dinner but before bedtime!

Ridiculous Spelling Words...

While I do believe these are words a 1st grader should be able to read, spelling them isn't important!  Here's to hoping next weeks words are a little more grade appropriate!

Lunch With Great Grandma...

Great Grandma came to visit us for the week.  Before bringing her down to our house, we took her out to lunch.  Maia enjoyed all the attention being on her while the other kids were all at school.

Maia's 4 Yr Old Pictures...

Maia wanted her picture taken and since I missed out in the spring with all the moving plans it worked out great that she was so willing.  They came out so cute and it only took 10 minutes to capture all these shots!

Pubic School Vs. Homeschool...

I still stand by my words that there's pros and cons to public schooling versus homeschooling.

The past few days of school for Rosalia, have been less than fun.  She has cried more times than I can count.  She did this in preschool and after crying for over 2 months (after we moved to Prescott), I pulled her knowing we would begin homeschooling the other kids.  She is not the most social, outgoing personality.  I wouldn't say she's shy but she's certainly not a go getter. She knows how to play with others but where homeschooling failed her is the ability to detach from her siblings and parents.  Though, we were a super social family, there's a HUGE difference between dropping your kid off at a school and attending a homeschool event where siblings and parents are close by.  Most kids are forced to learn to detach as early daycare/preschool but for Rosalia...we did her NO favors and now we pay the price.  I just hope this doesn't create such an issue that she's booted from the school (we open enrolled into this school meaning they can boot her).  

So now, I get to be the meanest person in her life and send her despite her tears all throughout the morning.  😢

Some may think I'm mean for not nurturing her desire to stay home and will even insist this is something that will change as she ages...well I've seen kids like this never detach!  So am I regretting my decision to send her to public...nope not at all.  

Sisterly Love...

First Day Back To Public School...

We had a pretty early morning, with the children waking up at 5:30am!  Now, we don't head to school until 8:30am but I think it's safe to say we had some very excited children.  Ironically, we were "late" because we had to park so far from the school grounds in order for me to walk them in (which I always do on the first day of school).  So as you can see, Rosalia is pictured walking in the hallway where we were able to catch up with her teacher and class just before the final bell rang!  They all came home happy with their new school, teachers, and classmates!  Hopefully, this transition goes smoothly.  I have my reservations especially with Garrison and Rosalia but only time will tell!

Kids Are Away Maia Plays...

When the older kids are at school, Maia plays hard.  So hard, she puts herself to sleep after making a Maia sized mess!