The school year begins

These pictures are from August and early September.  Yes, it is now December.  Yes, we have a lot of catching up to do....

First day of school for this little guy.

I'm not little.  I'll be six in three days!

This kid is brimming with confidence.

Who wouldn't with this awesome Minecraft backpack!

Saying bye to Mom.

Saying bye to his siblings.

Come on guys, let me go. 

Finally! Let's go!

Ok Mom, you can leave now.

He had a great first day!

Time to head back home.
Wait, I get to come back again tomorrow?

Jayden started violin this year.

I don't need a bow.

The kids decided that they would cook foods from around the world for Social Studies.
The first month was Australia.  Here they've made Aussie meat pies.

And now some pavlova, which ended up being a clear winner.

I think they ended up making it three times in one week.

Stretching their brains with some 3D puzzles.

For science they did some data collecting for a wildlife effort in Florida.

Birthday time!
This boy asked for a space helmet, gun and laser sword for about 3 months solid.  His inspiration was this video game.  He actually wanted a grappling hook too, but he didn't luck out with that request.

Got ya!

Jayden and Mom worked hard on his birthday cake.
He was very specific with what he wanted the design to include.

He seemed pleased with the result.

Happy birthday!

Helping mom play her video game.

Space breakfast.
(every bite he would open the visor, put the food in his mouth, then close it back up while he chewed)

Thanks for cleaning up Carter.  Now go clean yourself up.

Yay!  Finally some rain!

A cute guy putting up some walls.

And a door too!

Grumpy couldn't resist trying out Caleb's new helmet.

Cute girl

Just some sibling wrestling.

Coming home from school was a hot endeavor for quite a few weeks after school started.
We took a lot of breaks in the shade.

Mom and Jayden got to go to Beauty and the Beast.

More puzzles!

Getting ready to do some sign spinning for his candy stand.

It's too hot.  We'll just put the signs right here.
Candy for sale!!

Waving goodbye, Mom had to stop and get a picture.
Bye buddy!

Ripe peaches on the tree means....

A Peach Days parade!

Whoa!  That one has fire!

These kids got more candy here than they get at Halloween.
No wonder they love parades.

A nice afternoon for a picnic.

Our homeschool co-op decided to get a photographer to come and do back-to-school pictures for everybody.

They all turned out great!

This kid....

And since we were all there, the photographer threw in a family pic too.

It's always a great time with siblings in a parking lot.

Strutting their stuff.

Time for another birthday!
This girl has been around for 10 years!!

Just what I wanted!

Grammy gives the best gifts!

Instead of a cake, Jayden asked for donuts this year.
They were delicious!

Happy birthday J!
These were actually cupcakes we got for her birthday party that she planned all by herself!
Mom didn't want to do a birthday party, so she threw it herself. 
This girl knows what she wants and goes for it!