Home schooling

I wrote this post last Thursday but I simply did not have time to finish it, or to be honest, I did not prioritize it among all the musts, shoulds and wants... It's all about prioritization isn't it! Well, here we go!

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It has been a great week so far. Lots of activities and great weather! We finally took out Noah inflatable pool that he got for his birthday in August. It was bigger and better than I thought and his slide fit perfectly over the edge so the boys can slide into the water. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this since me and Gabriel were in the water, too :-) I have been a little hesitant to filling it up with hose because I thought it was reused water (which is used in our sprinkler system) and that is so dirty one should not even touch it (according to the county's webpage). Well, after calling the county and asking them is was clear that our water taps on the house, to which the hose is connected, is not recycles water and fine to use, or drink for that matter :-)

When Alex and I went to bed the other night, Noah had already walked over to our bed and made himself at comfortable :-)

Noah's long hair has become a problem when he eats since the food gets stuck in it. The hat solved that (no haircut)

We had a pretty bad storm the other day day and we were all watching in safely from the front porch. For some reason there are no sound on my videos on my phone right now so you cannot hear the thunder, but you can see light from the lightnings if you look closely.

Yesterday me and the boys met up with Deborah, Curren and Toka in Central Park where they have a walk/bike path with different station along it where one can do different exercises, such as pull ups (not for me) push up, sit ups etc. Me and Deborah did the exercises, Marlee, Curren and Noah had their bikes and Toka and Gabriel rode in the strollers. It was great fun, but also scary how bad I was at doing some of the things. I guess, it simply means that I have to go back very soon, and do it again! I am so sore today!!! (but that is a good feeling)

My own little band :-)

Today we had some dinner guests over, two families, one that we have know since we moved here and the other one Alex got to know recently through an organization for people who have escaped communist countries. Soon after Alex's book came out we learned that these two families know each other, they are part of the same home schooling co-op, so we decided to have them over for dinner together. A great idea. The children had so much fun, both in Alex's chill-room (the garage, with the drums and table tennis) and outside. 

Marlee is helping me to crush the peppermint when making peppermint ice cream :-)

So why did I name this post home schooling? Well, as I mentioned, the two families who we had over tonight are part of the same home schooling co-op, so they are both home schooling. Growing up in Sweden, I learned that families who home school are either religious fanatics or very very strange (it is now even illegal to home school in Sweden). After living in Ormond Beach I have changed my view tremendously. I have known for a long time that a lot of Alex's relatives are or has been home schooled and they are smart and prosperous. However, I have not really spent time with "home schoolers" before coming to Ormond Beach. And they are all totally normal, even very nice, smart and they are not socially handicapped! ;-) As a matter of fact, Deborah, who is one of my best friends, was home schooled. However, there is a big difference between Sweden and the US. It is so much more organized here and the options and possibilities are endless. It is even possible to do part home schooling and part regular schooling where one chooses which subjects to do at home and which ones to do in a school in a class. It is just very interesting and refreshing for me to learn about this. It is a totally new world for me.

Ending this post with a video of Gabriel. Unfortunately, I have had some problems with my phone so there is no sound. Hope you will enjoy it anyways! :-)