Garden Delights and other Tidbits

10 year old's garden. Tomato plant is surrounded by Lemon Cucumber!

Hello!! How are you? It's been a bit since I have blogged. I was trying to post daily there for a while, but I realized that I am way to busy to be able to blog something meaningful every single day. Eventually, my blog would resort to: I woke up, did my thing, cleaned some, watered the garden, cleaned some more, cooked some meals, and ran the children to all their appointments. It was sounding boring to me.

10 year old's garden, other side.

Well, of course, tons of things are always happening around here. Miss Jumping Bean and her mama are moving across the country to start a whole new and exciting chapter to their life. The little tyke was a little tornado sometimes, but then other times, she would climb up in my lap, and smile her cute smile, and snuggle down for some sweet baby love. She will be missed. 

6 year old's garden. Thriving Plants.

100's of tomatoes, this plant has lived up to it's name!!

The big girls took it upon themselves to set up and run a lemonade stand on the weekends. Towards the end of the first day, when they saw how much money they made, they declared that they were going to donate half of it to an EB charity. We have one more weekend for them to have their stand, and then we will mail that out. They also managed to sell a few Raffle Tickets (for an all expenses paid Australian Adventure for 6). They are very excited about their hard work paying off, and can't wait to plan out how they will spend it. We have encouraged them to save it for the upcoming trip, as every child feels rich with pocket money. So far, they have both been content to count the money box a few times a day. I figure they are keeping their math skills honed, so why not? 

My fertilizer jugs. 8 gallons of feed, all will be gone tonight.

The garden is coming along very nicely. I was able to take down the super gates that were surrounding it, and now the vine plants are exploring the new territory. The gates were to keep the toddlers from picking things in the garden before it is time, and to keep the dogs from digging up and eating the tender seedlings each night. Since the gates have come down, we have only had a few minor mishaps. I'll be moving some of the containers to spread them out a bit, and then transplanting the Tomato Tree, I suspect that 7 gallons of dirt for such a LARGE plant is just not enough. I've got a Rubbermaid bucket I can put it into, and then I can figure out how to Stake it better, as it's wire cage seems to be too short. 

Red Bell Pepper plant. It has about 8 growing.

Green Onions.

Topsy Turvy Tomato Plant. Doing just fine...

I've finally picked up some fertilizers that are making a fast and noticeable difference. Miracle Grow makes a Tomato plant food and a Vegetable garden blend. I was just using the basic vegetable garden blend, but when I picked up the Tomato blend, I was able to see improvements within 2-3 days! I use the Tomato blend on the tomatoes, red bell pepper, and the strawberries. The rest of the garden thrives on the garden blend. The 2 blends are colored differently too, so if I have jugs sitting around, I can know at a glance what plants I can feed. 

14 year old's 3 Sisters garden. 

The vine plants show their appreciation for the feed by turning the leaves a deep dark color. They look yellow and faded when they have run out of nutrients. Since I figured out the fertilizer problem, I was able to notice that as long as I water and feed the bell pepper plant, it stopped getting that hard leaf curl that it had. It's looking VERY happy here. So long as the little kids don't come along and pluck all the tiny peppers off before time, I can anticipate some delicious salads in about 2-4 weeks.

A few years back, I started hearing about the newest garden craze, the Topsy Turvy Tomato planter. I thought it was cool, awesome, neat, and totally necessary for my garden's needs. I looked up DIY bucket planters, and seriously considered making a few this year. While out and about, I scored one at a yard sale for only 1 dollar!! WOOT!!! I ran home, and started preparing it for planting. I read all the directions 3 times, and visualized how I was going to do this, so that I didn't break the delicate plant while filling it up with dirt. My hunny got excited too, and picked up 2 matching tomato plants, just the right size to fit through the opening. We were curious how it would work, and couldn't wait for it to hurry up and grow. 

Pumpkin flower and leaves as big as my hand!

Well, next time, I need to make a weight bearing brace to go across the bottom of the planter, and help hold the dirt and plant even with the bottom of the planter/bag. The weight of the dirt and the plant, only being retained by a small collar and sponge-cork is too much. The sponge-cork bowed out, sending water and fertilizer all over the stalk and leaves of the plant. In this scorching summer heat, it acted like a magnifying glass, and burnt the plant. :( I turned what was left of the plant so that it was sheltered part of the day by it's own shadow, and otherwise left it alone. I had actually given up on it in disgust when I found the burnt plant, because I did not seem to be able to keep it well watered with out leaking, and I was SURE the poor plant was going to die of thirst. As you can see in the photo, it is doing just fine!! Color me surprised!! At this point, we are thinking that the weight of the tomatoes will slowly pull the plant downward... but it turns out this plant yields fruit about 2 to 3 times the size of the 100's of Cherries tomatoes, and about 1/4 the size of the tomatoes off the Tomato Tree or the Fiery patterned ones in the red bucket. 

Pumpkin trellis after falling over last night.

Let's see, I showed you the 10 year old's garden, and the 6 year old's pond form garden, I showed you the hanging plant and the green onions... Oh yes. 14 year old's garden, which contains the "3 Sisters", Corn, Beans, and Squash. Her garden is both thriving and struggling. Some of the plants are just booming with growth, and others are seeming quite stunted. The pumpkin plants are HUGE, and their vines were creeping out of the super gates faster than I could re-route them! I had it climbing up the trellis, but sometime in the night, the trellis fell, leaving us thinking of another way to secure it in this solid clay soil (another good reason my garden is in containers). I'm sure I will have some kind of large vine support system in place before the end of the day. I happen to know there are a few pumpkins on the vine, about the size of an avocado, and I want to encourage good growth!

Tomato Tree, next to the 3 Vine buckets and trellis. 

My awesome Cucumber plant, drowned. =(

 Ahhh, now we are to the Tomato Tree. This thing is HUGE, and so are the fruits! This plant also hates me something fierce, just like the one in 10 year old's garden. The leaves are curled up and in on it's self, and it's almost as though it is trying to use the leaves as clothing or tree bark. For a little while, it tried to get mixed up into the trellis with the cucumber plant, but I carefully unwound all the little tendrils and shuffled the weight of the plant over so that it wasn't a climbing tool for the vines.  While all the leaves are curled up and hating me, the plant is still giving me some really big tomatoes once a week or so. 

2 watermelons, growing heavy on the vine.

Speaking of the Cucumber plant... It died. We had a 2 day rainy period a week or so back, and all the containers filled up. I had put drain ports on the buckets, so I wasn't worried. Until I discovered that the ports had clogged, and the plant had drowned. *UGH* This one will get untangled here today, and I will plant more cucumber vines in a different container while I fix that one. I was really excited to be getting such wonderfully big cucumbers for our salads; I can't believe I killed it! 

A miniature pumpkin hiding near the watermelon.

The watermelon vines seem to be doing very well. I had a few rough starts, when the heat wave was scorching the tiny developing fruits and killing them off faster than I could discover them. I've woven the vines up and around the trellis, and now I have 2 hanging melons! I am very excited. I hear that the vine will grow stronger, in order to support their hanging weight, I think I will put a small platform under them though, just in case. 

Miniature pumpkin flower. About 1/2 the size.

Garlic, Chives, and a lonely Cauliflower.

When the miniature pumpkin plant started to flower, the larger one hadn't yet flowered, I had nothing to compare it to. I had mixed up the planting buckets while I was planting, so I had been anxiously awaiting the first fruits to grow, so I could see what it was. The first pumpkin was ROUND like a ball and kind of yellowish orange. I thought maybe it was a cantaloupe, before it got the web-net skin over it. Once these little guys started growing though, there was no mistaking that it was the tiny pumpkins. That means the Cantaloupe plant is the one struggling to thrive out front (drain port clogged!), and it will probably get put into position where the cucumbers were. Right after I drill it a better drain port. 

4 year old's garden. Carrots, peas, Carrots.

 This is my 4 year old son's garden. He planted these tall carrots, and has come to check on them very regularly. Anytime he sees the orange head of a carrot peeking above the soil, he *has* to pick it. Next to the carrots is a few struggling bean plans, and next to that is a few rainbow carrots I had found in my stash of seeds from a previous year. Honestly, it was 2 years ago, and we are lucky any came up at all. *grin* 

Well, that is my little garden these days. Overall, I have to say that it is thriving. I would like it to do better, and I have more seeds to be planting for the fall. As some things phase out of season, I will be starting more seeds to take it's place. I can't wait to get the lettuce going!! 


While I was out fertilizing and watering the garden, I realized that I needed to pick some items. The lemon cucumbers were bountiful! I think I picked 8-10 of them, and there are still a few more that will be ready in a day or 2. I was able to pick tomatoes of of several of the plants, including a handful of small cherry tomatoes. I pulled the carrots from my 10 year old's garden, as they were lost underneath the large leaves of the lemon cucumber vines and under the wild sprawling branches of the cherry tomato bush. I will be working on tying that one up with some yarn, to give it some support. 

I need to look up when it is time to harvest the garlic. I don't want to loose it again this time around. I use garlic for everything, and if I can get it mastered, I could have fresh garlic year round!

Me, Hunny, and Flutters in the Petrified Forest, 6-2012

Not much else is happening around here right now. I am putting together the supply list for the upcoming school year. I have so much already planned out, and one child gets to have the option of independent studies if I can swing it. I have been busy with a lot of mental work, designing and running 2 community pages on Facebook. One is for my family and our life with EB and SPD, the other one is for my friend's son with EB, and his journey though life with the worst disease you have never heard of. You are welcome to check out both pages. Mine is Me and My Butterfly 3 , and my friend's page for his son is Dance for the Cure - Davion's EB Journey . Stop in, like the pages, wander around and read some posts, explore the photos, and on Davion's page, there are several video's of this young man busting a move. =)

If you are interested in purchasing raffle tickets for the Australian Adventure, please go to Butterflys and Bandages webpage, and read more about it. When you purchase your raffle tickets online, please put my name Misty Tanksley in the box asking for "Ticket Seller". The prize is an all expenses paid trip (from your nearest international airport) to Australia. You have 5 adventure packages to choose from (choose your own adventure?? WOOT!) and you will have exactly 24 hours from the time of the drawing of your name, to announce which of the 5 adventures you would like to take 5 people on with you. Yes, that's right, you and FIVE other people get to go!! Airfare, food, lodging and adventure, all included!!

You want to know what the best part is? If on October 31st, they draw YOUR raffle ticket, and you put me down as your ticket seller... I WIN TOO!!! If you win, I win an Australian Adventure for 4!! <3 br="" nbsp="">
The raffle tickets cost a mere $20 (USD) or £15. All money raised will go to support several EB Charities, including P.U.C.K. (Pioneering Unique Cures for Kids - research for a cure for EB), I Refuse EB (dedicated to raising awareness,  being a voice for those affected, promoting advocacy and supporting the research efforts), The Butterfly Fund (dedicated to helping families who have a child diagnosed with any serious life altering disease or event), and the Jonny Kennedy North East created to follow the wishes of Jonny Kennedy, helping other sufferers of Epidermolysis Bullosa and their carers.)

My 5 beautiful Blessings. Photo taken 6-2012 at Little America in AZ.

Thank you! I want you to know that I appreciate each and every one of you that come and read my blog. I appreciate seeing visitors from all around the USA, from Indonesia, Russia, India, and all kinds of countries in between. I know I don't talk about EB much here, but it is an every day part of our lives, and  it seems that it is time to start becoming more of an advocate and helpful friend, than just someone sitting on the sidelines, pretending everything is rosy. =)

To learn more about Epidermolysis Bullosa, go to EB Info. World. It truly is the worst disease you have never heard of.


Have a Blessed Day!
~ Misty

Meandering through the garden, thinking about the summer so far.

10 year old's pool garden. The Lemon Cucumber has taken over!!

Hello!! I've been struggling to blog often, with all that I have been doing this month. We were planning to study all summer long, but in reality, we've only hit the books once in the last 2 months. You know what? It feels good!! 

It's not that we haven't been busy. We've been busy almost any day we haven't been sick. We had a creeping flu bug come to visit, and the bugger stayed around for almost 2 whole months, hitting some people 2 and 3 times. We've continued attending classes for Taekwondo over the summer, and the children are about to have another belt test later this week. We also have summer session of Homeschool Co-Op going on. The kids have been working on their swimming skills, and last weekend the Music Theory classes started up as well. The kids are so happy with our Friday schedule.

You can see tomatoes growing, the carrots are still struggling, and the cherry tomato plant has gone crazy. I need to find a way to cage it after the fact.

I have been busy with the house, too. We have all been busy deep cleaning, pulling out the fridge and getting under and behind it, lifting the top of the stove, and mucking that out, and steaming carpets. I've gotten a lot of clutter busted, and I've had a lot of clutter resurface, it's a constant battle. When things happen (like a down pillow exploding in the drier), we have been using the opportunity to do maintenance tasks that had been neglected in the past (like moving the drier and cleaning out the air path). 

6 year old's pond form garden. The strawberries are thriving and the vine-type volunteer is suspected to be Cucumber.

In order to help with the housework, I created an alter ego on FB. As that ID, I post challenges, motivations, and reminders. I also created kid challenges, to help kids learn to work on their responsibilities a little bit every day (instead of leaving it to the last minute). You can find River Heartsong on FB and send her a friend's request, just send a message, telling that you are from the blog, needing inspiration and help. :)

This tomato plant has 100's of baby tomatoes, and very small leaves.

I also realized over the last few weeks, that people come to my blog from EB related sites. I didn't think anything much of it at first... Until I realized that perhaps some of those people would rather hear about the one thing I barely write about, our EB. I'll work on that. Right now, there isn't MUCH to report about, because we stay inside most of the time. The big girls are getting strong enough in their TKD, that they are starting to damage their knuckles and tops of the feet during drills. The funny thing is, they have me slap on a border, and dash back out on the floor. They care more about the class than they do their injuries!! <3 after="" and="" bathe.="" fix="" get="" home="" p="" properly="" them="" up="" we="">

Garlic Chives in between the tomato plants.

I ended up finally deciding to make a page on FB for "Me and My Butterfly 3". It was a hard decision, mostly because we are not as severe as other patients. Then one day, I realized that EB has many forms, and each form has a range of severity. That alone is a GREAT reason for my girls to have a page too, because we are raising EB awareness. I intend to use the page for EB Awareness, posting updates and prayer requests for my children, and other butterfly children, and occasionally, I will use it to fund raise. Right now, I have joined in the efforts to sell raffle tickets for a chance to win 6 tickets (all expenses paid) to AUSTRALIA!!! Tickets are only $20. All proceeds go to Butterflies and Bandages to help EB families and help fund research for a cure.

This tomato plant is the twin to the one in the Topsy Turvey, a control, so to speak.

The kittens have gotten big! They are now scampering and climbing all over the house, and even the scared one is coming out more, and purring over getting petted. We meant to find them all homes, but the kids got so attached, we ended up giving them all names. Now to figure out how to get them all fixed, as we don't want another kitten problem in a few months.

14 year old's "3 sisters" garden. Corn, Squash (pumpkin), and Beans. 

Honestly, there is not much else to update on. I have been quite busy between all of that and babysitting the extra toddler over the summer. She has gained 5 pounds, 5 inches, and 50 words in her time with us. She has learned so much, like sharing, caring, and communication. I am so proud of her young momma, and hope that she stays in touch after they move to the other side of the country. <3 p="">

Oops. Well, the white corn is tall. Turn your head. Sorry.

Well, Enjoy your wanderings through my garden. Feel free to send River Heart song a friend add, and go like "Me and My Butterfly 3" of FB. God Bless you, and have a great day!! <3 p="">

Garlic, chives, and last Cauliflower plant.  

Oops. Well, this is the Tomato Tree. That red one should be done tonight :D

Cucumber growing...

Watermelon growing...

Well, I had hoped that this was the cantaloupe, but it seems to be shaping into a mini pumpkin.

Red Bell Pepper plant, recovering again from zealous over-picking by an excited child.

Mr. 4 swears that this is his garden, because his carrots are in it. His carrots are doing GREAT! He also has some struggling bean plants and some rainbow carrot seedlings growing.

Mr. 4, helping in the garden.

Another crooked view of the Tomato Tree (Which will be re-potted into a big bucket soon).

Loaded with tomatoes, yet the leaves are very unhappy.

Lemon Cucumbers forming...

Cherry Tomato bush, sprawling.

10 year old's Tomato plant... Beautiful tomatoes growing, but the leaves are miserable.

Miss 2.5 came out after nap to see what was going on. Somehow, "Cheese" translated to "Rowr".

Toddler Stages: "Mine!"

Early this morning, while I was waking up, I was scrolling through my FB news feed, seeing what's happened since I went to bed. I know I am not alone in this morning ritual. I get my coffee, I check the weather and the calendar, turn off the morning alarm, and sit down to sip my steaming brew. It's easy enough to find myself "liking" several photos, articles, and various posts from my friends on the other side (country or world). If I get up early enough, I get to see the posts made in the late night hours from my Australian friends, and catch posts from Europe as they are shared. I enjoy this time, as my family is all still deep asleep, and I can just be.

This morning, I came across this gem:



We've all seen this, and laughed. We can easily identify with this, as we have ALL seen a 2 year old at one point or another. Sometimes, their understanding of their little world is so stinkin' cute! Unfortunately, some of us have also seen this mentality in grown adults. I can assure you, it is most definitely NOT cute at 15, 25, 45, or even 85!

Developmentally, the "mine" stage kicks in unprompted at about 16 months old. It can be earlier, it can be later, but rest assured, by 18 months they will have a FIRM grasp of what their possessions are. They are watching the world around them, and absorbing how it all worked. Perhaps Momma took the phone away with the words, "No, this is mine". It only takes one time of showing how 'mine' works, before you have a tiny possessive monster on your hands.

I wrote this, when I shared the meme:

"Yes, diffusing "mine" in toddlers and turning it into sharing and friendship is an uphill battle that must be won.

Adding an extra toddler into the mix, who is 6 months younger with no siblings brings the battle back, almost in instant replay. A little more than 1 month in, and I can honestly say, the end of the battle is in sight."

Then I realized that if I finished that train of thought on FB, I would have nothing to blog about. so I left the FB people hanging, and maybe even waiting to read what I am writing now. ;)

I watch a 17 month old little girl while her mother is working. Earlier in the blog, I named her Jumping Bean, and that name is going to stick for now. She has been with us for a little over a month, and has learned SO MUCH in the last month. She learned a few things before coming here, also. These things are what we struggle with on a daily basis sometimes, until she finally decides that it's easier to go play nice. This post is not about any of that though, just about "Mine!" battles.

My 2 yo loves her friend dearly, and looks for her and sometimes even cries for her when she is not here but there are times when she is so frustrated and mad too. She doesn't understand that Jumping Bean hasn't learned these hard lessons we just learned 6 months ago. Wild Boy doesn't understand that Jumping Bean is like him, curious, excited and full of energy. She wants to do everything he does, just like his little sister. Jumping Bean is always happy to come over, and curious to learn how to play like the other kids do. She can run the obstacle course like you wouldn't believe!!

As I said in my post on FB though, Jumping Bean has come a long way. One of the things I first noticed, was that everything in my house is "ours", and only the items in JB's diaper bag were truly HERS. She's 6 months behind Sarah in development, and in clothing sizes, so I have started her her own little dresser that I have filled with clothing for her to wear. Yes, she goes through 1-4 outfits in 9 hours. I have a backyard, and she is very active and curious. Did I mention FAST? I cleaned out the little girls' room last week, and pulled out a lot of the baby books and baby toys. I have 2 drawers in the living room dedicated to LR toys, and I am working on making the bottom drawer toys that Jumping Bean likes. The books went in a basket.

I defend all children equally here. I pay attention to who is playing with what toy with what toy, and I am already working on passing out duplicates of things to encourage good side by side and possibly interactive play. I have to keep things kinda fair, and yet the moment we have melt down and a tantrum happens all bets are off. Tantrums are not acceptable. I have taught many words and signs, I pay constant attention to baby body language and cues. I feed on demand, and I cuddle too. The basic needs are kept met, almost before the child needs it. I won't let any one child "take" from another, but I encourage them to share constantly.

Wild boy has learned to let the little girls play with the desired toy for a moment, because they only want it for a little bit, and then drop it and move on. He has learned to negotiate with them too. Instead of crying and screaming that a little one has taken his favorite flashlight, he now runs off and finds something that particular baby likes BETTER then what he had swiped from him. He kindly offers to trade them and happily bounces away with his prize. The baby girls see this kindness and sharing of belongings and self control of emotions, and learn to find ways to do the same. Jumping Bean and Flutters have been seen bringing drinks to each other, or retrieving favorite blankets for each other.

We still have battles. Some toys or joys will inspire the beginnings of WW3 if I am not present and on the ball. It is dangerous to my baby if things are yanked out of her hands, so I can have no lack of diligence on my part in this life lesson. Diffusing the situation, distraction, communication, and absolute boundaries WILL get your toddlers past this milestone in peer to peer interactions and friendships. It's our job to guide them through it, with kindness, love, and leadership.

Catching Up is Hard to Do.

I have been trying to teach my children something that I didn't understand until my 20's, and now in my 30's I am still working on. You would think, that once the light bulb flashed, years of doing it wrong would have no bearing on the matter, I could just *Poof* get it right. Unfortunately, lazy ways are "easy" until they pile up and become SO MUCH that they are overwhelming and you don't even know how to begin.

They wouldn't have a lesson to learn, if there wasn't real life application. Every day, the children have a page or 2 to do in each of their books, to march their way through their book studies. They know this, we've been doing it this way for many years now.

A while back, I decided to condense things, since I was noticing that some subjects were getting "forgotten" in the mix, or entire books mysteriously dissappeared for days on end.  A new hole punch and some binders were purchased, and I made a binder for 4 of my 5 children. Each section had 4 weeks worth of work (with some sections only needing 4 days of work per week). I wrote out a list of the books and pages assigned, and then made a checklist chart for them to mark of a square as they did each assignment each day. I came along on Fridays, and inspected the binders, highlighting where they really were at by my verification on the check chart.

The first few days were fun! They loved the new plan, and they worked hard to knock out their work each day. I talked to them about how if they diligently worked at this pace, they would get through the next 4 weeks with very little stress. They heartily agreed, and happily made their marks on their charts. By the first Friday, they had kept up pretty good! I was impressed, and had high hopes for the new plan. I couldn't wait to show them the surprise about the new set up when it was time to make the next binder refill!!

The second week, I started noticing little things. Certain children had too much "free time", getting sullen and moody as though they were stuck in video games rather then education. I checked the checklist, and saw proper progression, and left it alone. 'I know my children are smarter then to try to play me for a fool," I remember thinking. I would know on Friday.

When Friday came, one binder was still stuck on last Friday, and the other binder was all over the place. Some subjects were right on track, yet other subjects hadn't progressed at all. (The little kids are not in the binder checks, because I walk them through each subject at their own pace). I gave the kids a pep talk, praised the good and disapproved of the bad. I told them that they had to work harder, if they had any hope of keeping priveleges.

So far, the natural consequences are light. Their work is compounded, and their priveleges still stand... tenitively. This would have been the perfect time for them to get in gear, and at LEAST do the minimums in each subject, so that they at least kept up.

Another week progressed, and glasses came in. All excuses were finally off the table, except we have been sick since November, so not much got done by one, but the other gave the appearance of doing studies her all... for 2 weeks. On binder inspection day, I was horrified to see how far behind they were!!! They had 3 days to complete 2-3 weeks worth of work!!

They cried, complained, moaned, whined, found 30 reasons they couldn't possibly work. I pushed. I don't like being lied to. They worked VERY hard, but failed to meet the deadline. They now have 1 month to complete History and Math for last month, AND all their studies for the current month by the time their Teacher returns. They lost electronics, and the child who lied and faked it is grounded until certain things are complete.

You would think, that they would remember how good it felt when they were keeping up. You would think they would WANT to knock out little bits every day to make progress. This is not what they are focused on though. They are focused on the incredible amount of hard work they have ahead of them (especially the child who loathes her text book).

Today, I put together the binders. I pulled out the stacks of finished work from the binders. I pulled out the next sections, and punched the holes. Now I need to make the new pacing charts, and I will have to micro manage them every day all day long, to show them how easy is REALLY is, when they are making diligent, honest progress.

I did show them 2 of the surprises today. The first one was that my oldest is done with "reading" for the rest of the official school year. She got a Certificate of Completion for that. The second surprise was showing them how much of their books they will be done with at the end of this 4 week period. Both were motivation points for the girls, and my second born was happy to learn she only had a week of reading left... (kinda, she's further behind due to Mono and Migraines).

This is an ongoing lesson. I did not learn it over night, and I had noone to hold my hand and teach me good pacing and diligence. Maybe we will all master it together, one day at a time.

PostScript:
     The natural consequences of shirking work is compounded work under a deadline.

     The consequences for outright lying about doing the work and pretending to be busy doing it are not quite so simple.

Improvements in school

My big girls have been working hard at doing their studies, both completely and daily! Here is Dd's 2nd grade writing assignment for yesterday:

Hehehe I only had to spell a few things for her!

DD has been improving in handwriting, here is her assigment in Spelling for yesterday:

I should also mention that DD got an 88% on last weeks Chapter 2 Math test, and Dd got an 80% on her last Math test too :D GOOD JOB Girls!