Its all over

Summer is over. Over
The kids have helped me set up my classroom. Over
We have been to Erie for new backpacks and sneakers. Over
We have had one last hoorah at Presque Isle. Over
The kids have finished their projects and received their “big prizes.” Over
Erin has a new digital camera that also takes video. Over
Oh – and Bryan chose walkie talkies. Over and out.

End to Project Season!

I officially declare an end to Kelly Project Season! Really! We have painted, dug, scraped, cut, sanded, painted, dismantled, built, hung, rehung, sweat, occasionally cursed, and stepped back to check for the last time this season! Seriously!

This is a recap of our "deliverables" as Rick likes to call anything accomplished.

We started with a revamp of our dining room and built the murphy bed and shelves.

We are really pleased with this project and it has already been useful to flip the bed up and use the room for guests or... working on other projects!

As soon as summer started, I removed sod from around my wishing well and eventually (with the help of my ever thoughtful dad) laid mulch and planted a few more perrenials to create a new sitting garden where I can watch my birds. It is also turning out to be an excellent place to drink coffee in the morning.

And finally this weekend we installed new flooring in the kitchen! This was a long time coming and I am sooo pleased with the results! We have had that stick-on-tile on the floor since we moved in. It buckled and was broken on some of the corners. The final, laughable straw was Saturday morning when we woke up and walked through the empty room to get the kick start cup of coffee. We had moved the bench out the night before to be ready for the new flooring. Just as I was taking the last step through the empty room, a twitch caught my eye by the wall. There was a little garter snake stuck to the underside of one of the broken pieces of tile! Poor guy! Rick peeled him loose and dropped him out the window! At least now it should be harder for critters to come visiting!

So this was the last of our projects for the summer. Really! (except that Erin's friend gave us a bag of books and Rick is thinking about building another shelf in the library) Well, I have to run and call the roofer about the porch. But that doesn't count as a project since we won't be doing it. Well at least not by ourselves. Hopefully.

Language Barrier

This is the second summer that our big kids have played soccer. To quote C.W. McCall "a classified advertisement caught my eye..." and I signed them up for a European Soccer Camp. Who better to teach soccer than europeans? So for one week in July they went to a morning soccer camp coached entirely by europeans. Very Exciting. As it turned out all of the coaches were from Ireland - Double Exciting. Bryan couldn't wait to meet "real Ireland people." They were on two different age groups which essentially meant that Bry was one of the oldest in his group and Erin was among the youngest in hers. I should mention at this point that "No one asked [Erin] if I wanted to do this!"

At dinner the first night of camp they both announced that their coaches spoke "Irish!" Erin was distraught because she couldn't understand a word her coach said and "had no idea what to do!" Bry took the language difficulty more in stride and in true American fashion began teaching his coach "to talk English." He endeavored to teach her to say three instead of tree, so that the little kids wouldn't be confused. I'm sure she was quite appreciative of this!

By the end of the week they had both learned a quite impressive array of new skills. Bryan fell in love with soccer (and maybe a little with his pretty coach) and Erin had grudgingly started using her new skills in her regular games. Bryan had his coach sign his shirt and Erin was glad to be going home!

Last night I took pictures at our regular games and got some good action shots! Defense!!

Girls on the sidelines

Keeper making the Save!!

Defense in Action!

Every summer the kids each pick a topic to study for the summer. They do a little research and a task each day. At the end of the summer they earn a big prize and we go on a field trip. I think last year Erin did insects and Bry chose fish. (We ended up with 100s of babyfood containers with one bug in each one. Although I did draw the line at gathering dead, washed up fish for further study!) We were able to go to the Toledo Zoo to see their aquarium, butterfly garden and live insect display. An absolutely lovely zoo by the way. We would definitely go back to see the rest that we missed.

This year Erin picked magnets and energy and Bryan is studying the rain forest. So far Erin can explain atoms, electrons, forces, types of magnets and how to make them. She and her dad are working on creating an electromagnet, potato clock and lighting up a pickle. At the beginning of the summer Erin wrote to a magnet factory in Erie. They were nice enough to send her some information and invite her on a tour. We have been having a bit more trouble finding something immediate for Bryan to lay his hands on but he loves to search the Internet so he enjoys the research component. He has a simulated rain forest built in the yard right now. Today he slashed it so that when it dries out we can burn it and see if we can simulate the erosion effect. We're planning to go to Cleveland Zoo for their rainforest exhibit in a couple weeks for him.

Summer Fun!

So our summer is going predictably "Kellyish." For the first month we spend every morning at the park, walking, biking, digging in the sand,swimming and climbing.

Then we hit the occassional yard sale for magnificent treasures...

Eventually Soccer starts and then we have to get serious about our projects...

more to come later...