Mongoose Mayhem

This past month has been go, go, go. We have gotten our school year underway and I've been working non-stop on the homeschool group's Yearbook. This is our family "ad" that I designed.

Now, time to get back to work on my upcoming co-op class.

Our co-op group start this Friday and I will be teaching an Earth Science class to the 10-12 yr olds. So many things to choose from! The boys are excited since they love the novelty of seeing their friends an extra day each week through the Fall.

I'll do my best to keep photos regularly, especially now that yearbook is almost done and our school year habits are getting reestablished :)

We had a great time this past Thursday, attending a fascinating theater show about the Space Age. It started with the Soviet Union/USA space race and went through all the different stages from then until now. It was very well done! I think we all left feeling like student astronauts. Outside the Science building, the kids all had fun in the pond trying to get fish to nibble on their fingers.

Our homeschool group went to downtown Dallas for a trip to visit the restored Courthouse. It was a gorgeous building, with beautiful stonework outside and an amazing refurbished interior. Like stepping back into time!

The museum has a courtroom were school groups can participate in a mock trial. Jimmy raised his had to be judge but wasn't picked so he didn't want to be any other role! LOL All or nothing. Mike didn't want to say a word in front of anyone so he happily joined the silent jury (where Jimmy ended up too). The trial had to do with an Indian artifact being discovered on a woman's property. The kids had to decide who should get it - the lady or the original tribe that the Indian had belonged to originally. The landowner won in the end.

Jim was able to join us on this field trip because he'd been in London all week and had Friday off. So, we were able to turn it into a fun family day!

A few weeks ago, we awoke to an amazingly perfect Texas day. It was dry, sunny, and balmy, teasing us into coming out to play with our homeschool friends at Finch Park.

This photo was taken on the last day of the Dallas Maverick's Hoop It Up basketball camp.

It was a 9-4 daily camp all week in mid August.

On the morning of day two, I had some seriously moaning & groaning boys! They had a serious workout every day that week, which was probably a good pre-season warmup for soccer and football.

The other kid is Mike's friend, Cade, who is on his soccer team. Cade's step-dad is Frank, who is co-coaching the Manchester's Soccer team with Jim.

Besides being realy sore and tired, Mike learned that a few days of unlimited Gatorade (aka corn syrup) does not do a body good. He took my advice and stuck with water to put an end to the tummy troubles. They took the occasional shot to the head, gut, and groin but had a fun week, overall.

Football and soccer are well underway as we arrive in mid September. Mike's soccer team has had an incredible start, with 3 wins at a recent soccer tournament weekend. Amazing attitudes and teamwork!
Jimmy's team got off to a slower start. It POURED rain at the first game and we just won't even mention the score ;) This past weekend was another loss but Jimmy was away camping with Scouts.
Boy, those opposing football players are HUGE! I mean, several had to be in the 150's if not more in a few cases. Those looks like grown men on the field.

Jimmy is 106. Thank goodness for helmets and padding.