When you wish you had a camera!

This weekend I was able to take the children to our local roller skating rink--compliments of our library's summer reading program. Since Derek was unable to go, and since the children didn't know how to skate, and assuming I had to hold on to all three children someway, somehow, I decided to leave the camera at home. (I didn't want to fall on the camera and break it.)

What.a.mistake!

The little ones were able to get "trainers" for their first pair of skates, and they were able to "skate" immediately! They were so excited and immediately became independent out on the rink.

Cherish received regular skates, so I turned my attention to helping her. Soon she was skating on her own while holding onto the half-wall surrounding the rink. Before too long, she was able to let go of the wall for short periods of time. She was on her own!

Which left me. By myself. Watching.

I didn't get rental skates, because (like I said) I thought I'd be holding up three children. So, I just watched.

I can't remember the last time I smiled or laughed so much in a period of a couple of hours.

Hope and Andrew skated together from the very beginning of their time on the rink. They looked so little on that big ol' rink--like a little 2 and 3-year-old. Yet, at the same time, they were like a little old lady and a little old man, completely in love, holding hands, and having no clue that anyone else was out there on the rink with them. They held hands continuously, and as each one fell, the other one very gently helped the other one up. Over and over again. The love between them oozed! They laughed, talked, and giggled, and truly seemed to have no idea anyone else was around.

I heard so many people saying, "Look at those two! How cute!!!" I had to agree--and no one knew I had the amazing privilege of being the momma to that "cute couple" out there on the rink!

Oh, how I wish I had my camera! I have such special "photos" stored up in my memory. What a precious afternoon it was to witness such tenderness and love between two siblings!

Having said that, I finally decided to take a picture of the children on their first day of school. We had actually already finished school for the day when I finally got my camera out.

Hey, at least I captured them on day one! ;-)

This year, Cherish is in 2nd grade, Hope is in Kindergarten, and Andrew is in 4-year-old VPK.

 Cherish is 7, and Hope is 5.

 They were very excited about being homeschooled!

Cherish kept thanking me for homeschooling her. She said she loves it so much because she gets to spend so much time with me. What a sweet thing to say to a momma!

I am really only homeschooling Cherish and Hope. Andrew will be attending our church's school for VPK so that I can dedicate as much time as possible to Hope and phonics. Being that she is currently speaking Chenglish, we've got a lot of work on our hands! ;-)

And, since Andrew's school doesn't start until after Labor Day, he is working on school alongside Hope for now. They make such a great team! They so sweetly cheer each other on!

I need to seriously learn from their "cheerleading" skills!

Loving this summer!

I just wanted to give a shout out to Susan and all the others who have continually checked in on us these last couple of months. No, we did not drop off planet Earth. Yes, we are alive! Yes, we are well!

We have just been soaking up "together-time" this summer. We've enjoyed playing, playing, and playing (while throwing in work here and there along the way)!

Here has been our summer so far:

1. Teaching and playing board games and card games
2. Having pillow fights
3. Putting on "fashion shows"
4. Making balloon animals
5. Making balloon swords and having sword fights
6. Playing at the park
7. Swimming
8. Organizing closets
9. Reading books--(Hope and Andrew won the contest for the "Most Books Read" in the preschool division!)
10. Attending a baseball game
11. Skyping with family and friends
12. Looking at picture albums and remembering when....
13. Baking
14. Attending VBS
15. Painting
16. Hosting a Chinese foreign exchange student
17. Attending a Christmas party with our exchange student
18. Attending birthday parties
19. Making Lego creations
20. Going on vacation
21. Hosting a Power Up Club for a week at our house
22. Having friends over to play and visit
23. Putting puzzles together
24. Jumping on the trampoline with friends
25. Playing Chinese Jump Rope
etc.

And this weekend, we have graduation (for our foreign exchange student), a memorial service for a beloved friend, a mother-daughter sleep-over birthday party, and the children will learn to skate at a rollerskating rink....

It's been a whirlwind summer, but school begins Monday. So, we are making the most of our time together.

I have pictures, but that may be overkill ;). Thanks for reading (and caring about us)!