Such a long time since I've posted. We've had some issues with our internet provider. Today Oakwood switched our service provider and now we seem to be up and running. We've been very busy. Last week we went to the Williamson County Fair.  Hunter was able to go on all the rides since he is now over 52" tall. Terry and I said he could do anything but the upside down rides. You can see a video of him on the ride here.
We had a great time.

Hunter at the county fair.

At the Buffalo Bill show 

Alison and Hunter on the Banana

On Thursday we went to Nashville Shores with Alison, Thomas and Stacy Korn. Hunter went to kindergarten/first grade with Alison in CA. Their family moved to Franklin this summer - we are happy to have old friends here. Alison and Hunter really enjoyed going on all the water rides; including the Banana which we were AMAZED they went on - it was a pretty intense ride.

Saturday we had a get together with the Pack 14 Cub Scouts. They will begin meeting in September. Today Hunter moved into his 4th grade Sunday School class at church. Lots of fun stuff happening.

Hunter and I will be heading back to Texas on either Wed/Thursday. Hunter asked if he could celebrate his birthday with his friends there. Terry will fly in on 24th and we will all drive back to TN on the 29th so we can be ready to start back to our school activities on the 30th.

Tuesday was a fun day for Hunter! He had his first Mandarin lesson with Zhu Yang (Susan). She is a student at Vanderbuilt University who does Mandarin lessons on the side. What a GREAT teacher for Hunter. She is very kind and covers a lot of things during his lessons. She was impressed Hunter was so ambitious with taking on Mandarin for his foreign language and wanted to know why. He replied, "I like Chinese food."

Tuesday night we went to an informational meeting on the Ambassador Club for homeschoolers. This club does debate, impromptu speeches and a student senate. It is a great club that is held every Tuesday night. The kids do about 1 - 1 1/2 hours of learning and spend time with a mime instructor who works with them on non-verbal communication. Then we break for a potluck dinner, followed by another hour of apologetics. I think Hunter will get a lot out of it.

This club came at a great time. We have been reading about William Wilberforce - he spent a lot of time "foyning" with his friends. Foyning is a game of sorts where you and a group of other people compete to see who can make the group laugh the most by telling a good joke or making a witty comment. This is now all Hunter wants to do. He still has a hard time coming up with material.

Wednesday we got together with our friends from CA who moved to the Nashville area over the summer. It was so much fun for Hunter to get together with their daughter Allison who he went to school with in 1st grade. She also has a little brother, Thomas, who is full of energy. They spent the day swimming - it was 103 degrees. After a full day of swimming, Hunter laid on the couch from about 6pm until he went to bed - he had a little bit of a sunburn.

Today Hunter finished his poster on the Owl Monkey. He had to do a poster for an animal from South America and part of our study of South America. He did a great job finding information on the computer about the monkey and making a poster. I failed to bring scissors with me to TN, so we had to borrow some.

Hunter with his poster on the Owl Monkey

Fun at the pool!

Hunter has been attending a class on Crime Scene Science this week. After class we go to the pool at the Rec Center. Below is a video of Hunter enjoying the slide. There are two other boys in his class. Daxton is 11 years old - he and Hunter hang out at the pool after class. the other boy is Hunter's age and is also home schooled.

Our friends from California who moved out here this summer are back in town. Hunter went to school with their daughter Allison. We are planning to get together with them next Wednesday. We are really excited to reconnect with them.
This weekend we are heading to Indianapolis to see Grandma Lola and Papa Jon - just because we can! It is only a 4 hour drive for us. We are so excited to see them. This will be our first trip there in years where Lola will not have to do our laundry!! I'm sad about that, but I am sure she is happy.
We continue to plug away at school. Hunter has started off the year with a bang. He is especially liking our bible study which is Young Peacemakers - all about how to resolve conflict. His first grammar test is on Friday!

Update of our first week of school

We survived the first week of school!! Hunter is doing a great job and is able to work much more independently this year. He is an amazing student! We did not have school on Friday because Terry took the day off from work - so we played this weekend. It was a fun time and I think we all needed some extra time together. Hunter especially liked going to the local pool on Saturday. Last Thursday Hunter got his new reading glasses!!! Since we will be doing A LOT of reading this year, we were happy to have them.

Hunter working with his new reading glasses

Hunter's school room

Dining room

We are getting settled into our corporate apartment. We told Hunter he will get to experience what it is like living in Manhattan or Japan. I've included some photos for you to get an idea of our living situation. As you can see, we've had to multipurpose many rooms.

Kitchen

Living Room/Hunter's bedroom.

Food Network has nothing on me! Anyone can cook up a great meal with a full kitchen and all the utensils at your fingertips - try doing a full meal with three pans, one baking dish and a spatula. Well, actually we have more than that, but you get my point. Dishes are done every night since there are only four of them!

Master Bedroom/Game Room

Hey - who is that handsome guy? It's Terry hanging out in our living room. I forgot our wireless router from home - BIG MISTAKE! No Wifi here - we are plugged in! Thankfully Terry can use his data plan on his iPad or I would be at Best Buy right now!

We brought a cot for Hunter to sleep in, but he prefers to take all the back cushions off the couch and uses it for his bed. We tell him he has the biggest bedroom in the complex!



Finally the master bedroom which also serves as the game room. Hunter has his Wii hooked up in here. He looks comfortable doesn't he? He did a lot of swimming today with Terry so he is exhausted.

After several months of vacation, today was the first time we were able to go to church as a family since MAY!!!  We had a wonderful time - Hunter enjoyed his class. He reported back that there is another boy named Hunter in his class.

Tomorrow Hunter starts a week-long class called Criminal Investigation Chemistry. It is for 9-12 year old kids. They are going to learn how to use science to solve crimes. Now if you steel his cookie, he'll be able to figure out who did it. This week our friends from CA who moved here this summer are also back in town. We look forward to catching up with them!!

4th grade starts today for Hunter!!

After a long summer vacation, we started 4th grade today in Nashville, TN!! We are going slow the first month of school so we can ease in to everything - today we did math, history, state capitals, reading, and typing. Hunter has also started his Greek Mythology book which is one of the electives he chose for this year. We will also be doing Young Peacemakers, science, grammar and writing. Hunter is also going to be taking Mandarin from a local college student.

Hunter with his new Mario notebook and folder.

Today we also FINALLY ordered Hunter's reading glasses. They should be in later this week - it will make reading much more enjoyable for him.

Limburger cheese, braunschweiger and summer sausage. I am home! Hunter and Jack went for a hike today and then had a fire in the back yard. We are happy to have escaped the heat in Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

Hunter with Katherine and Laura at George Ranch

Hunter rock climbing

We are on our last days of school before summer vacation. We have two more lessons in Spelling and Grammar. History will take us well into summer. Last week, Hunter and I went to George Ranch with some friends. The ranch has homes from the 1800's for kids to tour. In each house, they have people dressed in character for that era; they even talk as if they are the people who once lived in the homes. We learned a lot about life then. It was HOT though. Summer has struck early this year - yesterday I think we broke a record with 95 degrees. Today promises to be the same. Hunter and I have tennis lessons at 1:00pm!!! I am so looking forward to heading north!

We found a great indoor rock climbing gym in Houston. It probably has about 30 or more climbs you can do with ropes along with several bouldering options. A very nice place to hang out in the heat! Hunter is able to do the easy and some mid level climbs. He can get to the top rather quickly. Terry and I both trained to do the belaying for Hunter. We have fun!