Post Much?

I know, I know! It has been WAY too long since my last post. I have thought about it many times over the summer but then think of all the time pressing tasks at hand and put it off (again).

Well get ready for this... a SUPER Summer Update! (Mono-Blog!)

May 28th - (the date of my last post) Was Noah's 11th birthday. We went on a date to celebrate!

The first week of June was filled with field days and school recognition ceremonies. We spent the weekend with family at my nephew's baptism!
The second week we had Noah's moving on (to middle school) ceremony. And watched him perform in the 5th Grade Talent Show!

I will post the video here soon!

(Ryan on guitar, Noah on drums and Andy singing the song he wrote!)

We spent the 20th - 24th of June at Cub Scout Day Camp with over 200 boys ages 6 to 11. I was the program director, Garrett volunteered at the BB range, Evan worked with the kids in the Me Too (siblings) camp, Noah and Eli participated as campers. My dad even helped out all week as a Quarter Master. He kept the coolers full of ice water, transported equipment, plunged toilets... you name it, he did it and with a smile to boot! I love my dad!

July brought an addition to our family with my baby sister's wedding to Dustin Marshall.
We all worked tirelessly to put together a reception for her and it turned out great! The days following the reception the rest of us Woodward kids and our families spent at a beautiful house on Lake Wylie. I love my family and am so grateful for each and everyone of them. My siblings taught (tried to teach) Garrett how to dive. Erin and I bravely performed back dives! I hadn't done a back dive since I was a teenager at girl's camp! We had cannon ball contests and the kids fished off the dock. Monday evening my parents stopped by on their way home from dropping the newlyweds off at the airport. Not having their swim suits with them, my dad borrowed some trunk and my mom just jumped in fully dressed! I can't say that I blame her. We were having a lot of fun and she was missing out.

After my family left (boo hoo) we spent a week gearing up for home school. Yes, you heard correctly. We decided early last year that we would home school the boys this year.

On August 1st Garrett and Evan headed for a week at Scout Camp and Noah and Eli and I started our first day of home school. Currently we school Monday thru Thursday. We aim to start at 8am everyday but letting go of the summer schedule has been difficult for some of us, including me!
We are learning Spanish, Math, Science, and for Literature the older boys are currently reading The Giver by Lois Lowry and the younger boys are reading The Secret School by Avi.
So far it is going well, not without some hiccups, but well.
I am staying busy with the planning and "teaching". I hope that once we get into a groove, my planning will be easier/less time consuming.

Well that is all we did this summer! It went by way too fast.

How was yours?

Past Blast Wax Museum

Today my 5th grader became a historical figure for a few hours.

The 5th graders at McAlpine Elementary were all assigned a historical figure to learn about and become at the Wax Museum they held today. My Noah was assigned Nelson Mandela and he was AWESOME! Did you know that Nelson Mandela's middle name, Rolihlahla, means "stirring up trouble" in Xhosa (his tribal language).

(The resemblance in uncanny!)

Here is a link of the local news station's coverage... yup, we made the morning news!

http://www.foxcharlotte.com/rising/History-Comes-Alive-at-McAlpine-Elementary-113871289.html

Another way Axe body spray lingers

Noah's 5th grade teacher has a great hands on teaching method. He is young and fresh and is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our kids. In case you don't believe me you can check it out on his website;

http://web.me.com/schoolingwithmra/schoolingwithmra.com/Welcome.html

My reason for this post is not to talk about Mr A, but to tell you what he's done for my son Noah.

Noah came home a couple of weeks ago with the assignment of writing a commercial. To say he was gung-ho about it is an understatement. Writing is not one of Noah's strong suits, but what he lacks in that area, he makes up for in creativity and ingenuity. He decided to make a commercial advertising Bare-A-Cuda man spray (similar to Axe). He and his friend Christopher worked for days on a script and a video. This is what he turned in, early!
(I don't get the tag line "It IS the man" but he's 10. It made sense to him!)

Random Photos

I have taken a few random photos in the last week or so. I thought I would share...enjoy!

Ezra enjoying the bubbles!

a Sunday activity with Banana-grams

Noah came home from school and made this poster.
He wanted to sit at the end of the street with the posters to collect money to "save the tigers"
After acknowledging that the tigers are important and their cause needs to be heard, I told him that most people are donating for the humans in Haiti!
I promised I would put this photo on our blog to get the word out.
Consider yourself informed... tigers need saving!

Eating beets makes your tongue pink... see?
(the photo doesn't do it justice!)


Hope asleep with her head hanging off the landing!
What a wacko. She usually sleeps with her head resting on the step to the left.

R.I.P. Poofy

Poofy the hamster was found unresponsive today. We are all very sad. She was a sweet "little mouse" and she will be missed. A private service will be held in the backyard later today.

Noah and Dad built a box for her and in the box he put a rose and the following letter.

Dear Poofy,

I will always remember you. I wish you were still here, but I know you are happy up in heaven right now. I will miss your tickly little whiskers and the way you stuffed your cheeks full of food and stuff. You were the best little hamster in the whole entire world.

Love,

Noah

Lions and Tigers and... Wolves?

Noah has worked very hard this last year to finish up his Cub Scout Wolf badge. We are so proud of the things he has learned and the enthusiasm he has for Scouts. He also was awarded one gold and two silver arrow points.

Nope, nothing

I really hate to look on my list of blogs and see that not one of them has been updated. It is annoying. Though not as annoying as checking your blogs to see that none were updated only to find out that your blog reader was messed up and just not showing you that they were updated. Hello.. why do they think you use the reader in the first place? (they being the blog people who are responsible for any and all blog reader thingy problems)

So let me just say that it hurts me almost as much as it hurts you to see that my blog hasn't been updated since the 18th of February last. (Why don't we still talk like that... it is pretty cool huh?)

I have tried to find something to blog about but can't think of anything. I thought of a few things but didn't think you would care. Oh ok, I will tell you...

1st - I ordered some shoes for Noah from Zappos.com. Noah has wide feet and I figured it would be easier to use Zappos.com with free shipping and return shipping than trying every store in town to see if they had wide widths in his size. It was a breeze except for the part where I forgot to click the "wide width" button and ordered medium widths by accident. oops! I waited an hour to make sure the info was in their computers and then called. WOW! customer service is back baby, I was helped immediately and then given the expedited ONE DAY shipping and VIP site (so I get one day shipping from now on!). My mistake was remedied in less that 4 minutes and the shoes (wide width) were here the next day. FABULOUS but blog worthy? I didn't think so.

2nd- My hubby is coming home for the second weekend in a row. Also Fabulous but didn't think it was blog worthy either.

3rd- ummmm... well there was the pest control guy I waited for all morning .... only he didn't arrive until I was half-way thru my shower. AWKWARD yes, blog worthy, no.

4th- ummmm... nope, nothing.

What a ZOO!

Call me crazy but we just adopted another pet. Noah has been saving for a hamster and we found a great deal on craigslist. Meet Pooffy (aka Pooffer, Poof Ball, Double Stuff, Mouse) In case you are keeping track the score is: 6 humans - 4 creatures

She is adorable and is Noah's pride and joy.