Summer Vacation

We attended our family reunion this Summer in Atlantic City, NJ, so we decided to make it a trip about touring the Northeast. The girls actually go to Atlantic City every summer to stay with my mom, but this year we all went. We visited, Philadelphia, PA, New Haven CT, New York City, Wildwood, NJ, and the girls went to Allentown, PA. It was quite an awesome time.





We shopped in NYC. We paid tolls, tolls, tolls, and more tolls. Please have your cash ready if you plan on driving up there.




We visited Yale! The big girl wants to go there in 4 years, so we went and did the tour to get her mind activated and to get the guided imagery started.


We Found an African American on the wall at Yale.

Yale's campus is beautiful!





Baby's first Plane Ride!


Awesome Vegetarian Restaurant in Chinatown, Philly. The food was awesome, so we ate there twice!

Test Scores are Back!!!

I'll have to admit that test return day is always a great day at my house. I have my struggles as a parent. I sometimes feel like I am not making any headway with the girls. Sometimes it feels like a thankless job, but when tests scores come in the mail I feel on top of the world. I usually feel like I am superwoman, and I have conquered Lexi Luther:)

Anyway, younger sweetie scored well enough on Science (95th percentile) to make it into Duke's Talent Identification Program!!!! I have to say that I am breathing a sigh of relief because if she didn't make it into that program like her older sister, we were gonna have to deal with a sad 9 year-old. No matter how we steer her otherwise, she insists on competing with her older sister. She worked hard to skip a grade like older sister, but since then she has been slack. She loves her projects, poetry, art, and music, but pretty much everything else has been ho-hum. Overall she was at 75th percentile, which is pretty darn good. In her true "just under the wire fashion" she will be able to keep her "gifted" status because of her Science score, so she is more than satisfied that she is still in the league with older sis. BTW - I am not complaining at all. My younger daughter is a phenomenal poet, actress, pianist, and Biblicist.

Older sweetie, who starts high school in the Fall, has done extraordinary in the testing department as usual. She is academia's dream student. Not more gifted than younger sweetie, but a high scorer in the way that schools want you to be. She scored a total 95th percentile, and above 90th percentile on 7 tests or subtests. What more can I say. She's a great tester. We have to work on her drive though because she wants to go to Yale. I need her to take things a little more seriously. You might think that because her scores are what they are that she is taking things pretty seriously, but that's not the case. She is naturally gifted in the 3Rs, but she refuses to be organized, focused and to give it her all. She wins at most everything, so when she loses due to lack of preparation, she freaks out !!! Big time. It's sad to see.


So I'll continue to do the happy dance over because my baby girls did well on National Standardized Testing. By the way we took the California Achievement Test. Now it's time to plan for next year.

Happy Father's Day

I love this time of year because I have some wonderful men who love me in my life. I usually replay in my mind all the special moments spent with my father, uncles, grandfathers, step-father, brothers and husband. Although many of them have had some serious short-comings that other women who have passed them in life would love to list, I am so very appreciative of how they have loved me.

Every since I can remember my father has always treated me as a sweet treasure. He’s always listened to me and laughed with me, and for much of my life he was the only one who told me he loved me. Although my mother would say he wasn’t a stellar partner and she could rehearse some pretty horrible love experiences with him, I am very thankful to her for allowing and encouraging a relationship between the two of us after they split. Until today my father and I talk and laugh have a ball on the phone because we live many miles apart. I haven’t seen his face in about two years, but I will see him again in July.



My step-father was also a huge blessing in my life. When he married my mother there were 4 of us children living at home. I was eight years old. He never disciplined us. He left up to my mother. He would quietly acknowledge that he knew we were doing wrong, but never offered a judgement one way or another. He has influenced my political views and my worldview, and I chose a husband a lot like him. He was hard-working, loving toward my mother, respectful toward us kids, and very intelligent. He and my mother split once all of us kids were out of the house, so I don’t talk to him much. Although, I have a lot of respect for him. One year I found his number and called him to say Happy Birthday after about 15 years of not speaking to him at all. I think it really floored him.

My Uncles have always been Wonderful to me everyday of my life. They have always guided me and protected me, and I am thankful.

Finally, the man I married is a culmination of all the best that I’ve known in the men around me. He shares many of their characteristics and most of all he loves me and my children dearly. I can’t think of a better example of a Father.

Thanks Haki for being a wonderful father. Happy Father’s Day!!!!

Beach Days

We moved to Florida to start our new life. We've been unpacking and trying to get the house in order. The first day we got here the girls set first things first and got a new library card. They love the library here because there is a new treasure trove of different books. We went to the thrift store to pick up some throw rugs and scored a mid-century buffet for the dining room.



The oldest daughter found some Manga Magazines, so we are loving life right now.

We take evening dips in the Gulf of Mexico. I love the beach after 6 or 7 pm at night. We watch the sunset while we swim in the water. Pretty awesome. Little baby is pretty crafty about eating sand. We really have to watch him. He loves, loves, loves sand.

Finished Testing & School is out

School was scheduled to end June 4th, but since we skipped a Spring break we are calling it quits a bit early. We tested for two days on Monday and Tuesday. We used a meeting room in the library since our house is filled with boxes. We are moving to Florida in about two days. We pick up the truck tomorrow and drive off on Friday! We are super excited and with any luck we will be on the beach on Sunday.

This year was filled with many activities and a plethora of learning experiences. I can't believe it's over. I really don't want it to end. We have voted to continue throughout the Summer. We'll do mostly projects and read some Shakespeare. Nothing too heavy. We will start a book series too as a family. We have finished the Harry Potter Series and I am going through major withdrawal. We listen to it on CD. Anyone have any suggestions on what we should read next? I am thinking the Percy Jackson Series.

My eighth grader is finishing middle school this year, so we really want to send her to a performing arts camp at Georgetown University as a graduation gift. The camp is really expensive. We are spending a lot to move, plus we have a family reunion to attend this summer, so we are using our faith to provide what she needs to go.

Baby girl went to Stone Mountain Park to for a Girl Scouts Camping trip. I can tell she had an absolute blast because every so often she just blurts out how this thing or that thing at Stone Mountain was great, and that she wants to visit there again when we visit Atlanta.

I went on a mommy retreat with another homeschooling mommy and a public schooling mommy. We went to Jeju Korean Spa. It was pure heaven. The place is filled with saunas, whirlpools, and cool pools, jeweled relaxation rooms and just a wonderful environment for relaxing. I really noticed that my face tightened up a bit. I didn't get special facial or anything. I just paid the $25.00 and got the normal sauna and pool spa time. You can stay all day if you want to, but since I'm nursing I had to come home after a few hours.

I guess that's it. Oh I joined a Facebook group called the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum. I love it because it provides so much helpful info.

Field Trip to A Special Place

We've been a member of a Yahoo Group called The Cabin Path. I would receive updates from the group about homeschool visits. Since we are leaving Atlanta, I put going there on my list of things to do. We went on Earth day, and it was amazing! This place is less than 5 miles from my house and it is 52 acres of nature's goodness. The owner, Sara was extremely welcoming, and she hosts homeschoolers every Thursday. She hosts several other groups as well. The Cabin Path Has a lake, horses, tadpoles, a labyrinth, many many trails, an ancient American Indian Mound, and many native trees, shrubs and plants of Georgia. It is a lovely place, and I truly hope to go back there every week until we leave.

I get Frustrated at the End of the Year

It's a good thing I have this blog or else I would think we have accomplished nothing all year. I am burned out. Sigh...