We've been so busy!! Vacation, holidays, birthdays... I'm just now catching my breath - just before we dive into Yuletide (and then Spring semester for Ren & I).

It's been hectic, and it's been hit & miss with our routine lately, but that's ok. Things are settling down now and I hope we can hang in there.

This week Kati started multiplication, and did excellent with it! Before I ever showed her a completed times tables chart, she filled one in (online) and only missed five of the answers, but corrected them and got a perfect score! She loved it! She really likes math. She was able to see the patterns in the chart, and answered the lower numbers fast & in her head (actually she does it all in her head, sometimes with fingers).

I wonder if we should work out problems on paper sometimes, just so they know how. I guess I've skipped that in favor of teaching the tricks I use to do math in my head. I was too eager to give them the shortcuts, maybe? Are they shortcuts? I'll have to think about that.

Sera's making progress with her reading. She puzzles me, though. It's like she has the knowledge of how to read locked away in her head, and it takes hints and helping her remember short and long vowels to unlock it. She'll look at a word, and guess, start with the end letter (once in a while), or not even try to sound it out... all before she'll settle in and sound it out (often with my help). But once she gets going, she can do it... both with individual words, and with the day's reading. But not with the ease that her sister picked up reading. She seems to forget a lot from one day to the next. I guess we need to drill with her.

She's so much like her dad, that I wish I could talk with his early teachers, to see if he was the same way when he learned to read. I'd also like to ensure that she'll be a good speller, because he struggles a bit with that. But maybe that's just his lack of attention to details... which I'm fairly sure she inherited. Hehe.

We've also started typing lessons with "Master Gecko's Home Row Typing". It's okay -- kinda cute -- but I do want to get them a better program... Mavis Beacon or even the Spongebob one I saw. Something with quality graphics and lots of features like games and progress tracking for multiple kids. Perhaps we should get them that for Xmas.

Anyway, we're doing well, making progress, having fun. =)

The girls were given tennis rackets by our neighbor, who wanted to get rid of them. So now they're into tennis, and tried to do double workbook pages last night so they could go out to the tennis court first thing this morning. They only had a little bit to finish this morning before they went out.

So I guess we need to study up on tennis and try to learn how to play. I've always wanted to, anyway.  

Heading out right now to snap photos of them to put here.

All done bringing blog posts over here, BTW.

Kati wants her own Web site, now. I really like the features on MSN Spaces, so she might get a hotmail account and a Space. Now that she's reading, and able to hunt and peck on the keyboard, she might as well have messenger, too. She likes chatting with Daddy on it.

Today I'm starting to transfer my posts from my Space over to this blog. So some are showing up previous to my first post here. Which might look confusing at first.

Looks like I'm going to need to find an ideal storage space for photos that I want to post here. I'll have to look into that soon. MSN will have to do for the moment. If Snapfish will let me link in from my blogs, that would be perfect. Maybe I'll just use the 1 MB of storage here on HB. Won't last long, though. I'm a shutterbug. There just has to be a better way to manage photos here. I'm going to have to make the photos clickable to see them larger. MSN is more convenient that way. Oh well.

Ah ha! I can just copy and paste them from MSN and the thumbnails come over with their links to the larger pics. But that does mean I'll have to keep posting on MSN, and this will just be a mirror site. I'll have to think about whether there's an easier way that frees up my MSN blog.

Our new camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2) came today! It's so very much better than our old one! We can do such neat things with this one, like make posters & such. 5 megapixels is way better than 0 megapixels! LOL!

I'm thinking nature journals with drawings AND photos! And of course, taking photos of us going to library activities and doing school stuff. And maybe we should do a photo scavenger hunt with both cameras before I give the old camera to my friend who doesn't have a digital camera. I suppose they could take turns with the one camera, though. But two would enable simultaneous hunts.

So today I ordered the prints I need to do my Summer 05 scrapbook. Once they arrive, I'll be ready to start. I can buy more stickers if I want (I adore those 3-D stickers), but what I already have may be sufficient. I love the scrapbook kit Grandpa gave me for Mother's Day. I'd love to get more, because it makes it really easy.

Maybe I'll offer to do a scrapbook of our upcoming trip to Disneyland with the whole family, since it's a memorial trip for Grandma, who loved Disneyland. I could get the same Disney paper we used in the album we made for her funeral. I'm sure Ren's family would love that. I could even make one for each family if everyone wants to pay for supplies. Or just do that for holiday gifts this year.

Sera is writing her own book. She already drew the illustrations, and now she's writing text on it. She's in here for help with spelling.

I just had to note here that she said, "This could be the beginning of a beautiful new friendship with words." LOL! I'm so glad.

And then Kati came in and Sera showed her the book, and Kati clapped, all happy for her, and impressed.  She's also working on a book.

I'm surprised they aren't writing replies to the faeries, since they found their second-ever letters from them today. I guess they figure they have plenty of time, since there was about a week between their last letters and the replies. Last time the girls replied within minutes.

I've been using my MSN space the way I want to use this blog. I should start updating here, either in addition or instead. Probably instead. I'd like the MSN space to be more personal, instead of about the family. What I'd really love is if the messenger would start showing multiple site updates. But that would require MicroSquash to integrate using blogs that aren't on MSN. Pshaw, that'll happen.

I wonder if I should copy those entries here before making new entries. I'd like to, if I can find the time. Then I could delete them from there and start fresh.

I guess this blog is getting a rather slow start. But I hope to get it up and running soon.

Once again we hit the library (on Sept. 8th) for the Make & Take Crafts activity. We made Big Mouth Frogs! The girls really enjoyed cutting them out, gluing, coloring & designing them.   We missed the Mad Scientists activity and I missed the Beginners Scrapbooking and joining the knitting circle because I was too chicken to call & register in time.  We also failed to catch the Summer reading program. But oh well. We're looking forward to the activities coming up this Autumn. We love the library!

I'm going to try this blog site and see if it will be sufficient, or if I'll want to supplement it with Web pages I make, or whether to just go with my own Web site.

For now, I'll go more anonymous, and consider using our real names later.

I just wanted someplace for Grandpa, Granny, and whomever else to come and peek at what we're up to. I was originally thinking of printing & mailing a newsletter, but this would probably be more convenient for all of us, especially since I can share it with more people.

Anyway, I'm excited for Fall and all the ideas I have for this year!

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Update, 09/30/05: Anonymity lifted. I'm going with it. =)

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Today I took the girls to the library to make bead necklaces.  (Pictures attached.) Sera's was totally symmetrical, while Kati strung random beads onto hers. We had fun!   They say they love going to activities at the library. I love it too.  I hope they'll have plenty of good ones after the Summer.   We also picked up yet more books and stuff. One of them ought to complement the "Adventures of Fairy Princesses" unit we're about to start doing with Peggy & Alyssa... It's an activity guide called Days of Knights and Damsels. And right now the girls are both looking at I Spy books.   And our latest Usborne books came last night! Sera's in love with the Fairytale Jigsaw Book and the Big Book of Mazes. We plan to get some origami paper soon because we now have an origami book, plus another checked out from the library. The Car Travel Games is back-ordered, so it'll come later. The Stories From Around The World (mini edition) is beautiful, as is the Greek Myths one. I hope they'll get Stories From India in the mini edition soon.   And today I signed and sent off our second ever schooling exemption certificate (renewed it) to the school district. Another year of homeschooling - yay!   --------- Update, 09/30/05: Usborne has the mini edition of Stories From India now! Yay! I need to order it! ---------

Sera spent her b-day money from Aunt Angie the other day. She bought a plush flower with a smiley-face on it. Kati got one too. We also picked up a new outfit for each of them. So I took pictures of them.

We bought some job charts with stickers to help us organize our day. The girls like putting the stickers on and earning 25 cents for each sticker. I may create and print my own charts after we use these up.  I think I already have some on my computer.

I'm also going to go make some copies of projects, including a newsletter we'd like to send to Granny and to Grandpa, to show what we're learning and doing each month.

Oh, and I downloaded a bunch of lessons plans recently on the subject of Japan. =) And our most recent order of Usborne books came on Monday! We got:

The Big Book of Experiments
First Encyclopedia of the Human Body
Pocket Nature 
Twelve Dancing Princesses

The last one was back-ordered, so we'll get it in a week or two. Pocket Nature is a compilation of 7 books (Wild Animals, Birds, Fish, Creepy Crawlies, Butterflies & Moths, Flowers, & Trees), so I saved lots of money on that, because I did want all of them.

This year for Fathers' Day the girls made cards for Dad & Grandpa that were pop-up frogs on lily pads. They also made jumping origami frogs for them. I'll have to snap a photo of them.

We went to their Uncle Marc's for dinner. Aunt Miwa made curry rice, and Aunt Ann-Marie made a strawberry cake and a turtle cake. It was all delicious! The dads got nice blue T-shirts. I hope they had a good Fathers' Day!

I've had to drop my Japanese classes for this semester, which does make me sad (I loved them!), but I'll get back to them later, maybe this Fall. I will have more time to spend with my kids and concentrate on their education, at least. We may go to some Natural History Museum classes or science camp, and we're thinking of getting a family pass to Red Butte Garden or to Clark Planetarium or something. And just having more time and energy, in general, will be a good thing.