This summer has been most exciting. I took a break from work (which HAPPENED to coincide with not getting calls) and played with the kiddos! We spent three weeks traveling to the beach at Edisto, Nashville, and Knoxville, Tennessee. We saw lots of friends and family, made new friends, and got really tan! It has been a waterlogged summer! The girls got Six Flags passes from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas and we have worn them out! Six Flags is great fun when it's empty and below 90 degrees. Luckily, with passes we can bolt if either factor rises.

Our family is taking a new journey this year with Emma. We have decided not to go back to high school, and to create our own "curriculum" if you will. Emma has many interests that she has held since she was little. She is going to spend the year following those interests, learning as much as she can about them, and deciding if they are her life's direction. She is going to work, and I think she is going to love it. We spent the past 6 or 8 weeks mulling over this idea of "unschool" and trying to think about every aspect and consequence of leaving traditional school. We looked at private education and traditional homeschool. Neither of those paths looked good to us, so after much discussion and prayer, we have decided to give it a shot. Emma is very excited, I'm excited, and Muggs is totally jazzed about it, which took me by surprise. He's definately more of a traditionalist than I am. The only person NOT excited is my mom. She is really worried that we are ruining Emma. I guess I can see her point, being a public school teacher for almost 40 years. I don't know if she can see the bigger picture...yet. I've asked her to read a couple of books and keep an open mind, which she said she would, so hopefully we will all learn a lot from this and we will all benefit from the adventure! http://www.collegewithouthighschool.com/
Jackson has started football and that has brought on many hours at the field and lots of good times, so far. Friday was the first pads and tackling practice and Jack loved it. I have never seen him in his 8 years be totally entertained and thrilled as he has been playing football. It seems to be his thing!

So as summer draws to a close, we are so grateful for another healthy, happy vacation, and we are looking forward to all of the school craziness (I think) that is starting Monday!