Doing dishes while holding Violet, with help from Leif

So first of all I'd like to say our 'thrift shopping only' has already started to present some challenges. My first order was to find Leif a lunch kit/backpack for pre-school. I thought I'd already bought him one for his birthday last Christmas, but upon searching every closet in the house realized I must have given it away. We went off to Value Village because it is the closest and the largest thrift store around, however it is certainly not the cheapest. I found him an Incredibles lunch kit with a big strap for 3.99. Not a great price, considering the Cars one I thought I already bought for him last year I got new for 1.50 marked down. It was clean and in good condition though, which was more than I could say for the Spider-man option. The back pack was 6.99 used, and it was all crusty inside, so we stuck with the lunch kit. About a week later I found the Cars lunch kit in my closet under a jacket, so now he has two. While at Value Village I did find Violet some Pedi-Ped shoes in new condition also 3.99. New I think they are around 25.$ which is more then I would ever spend. I have continued in the last two weeks to search for shoes for Lilli and boots for Leif. Still no luck, but I have found Violet two pairs of jeans, two dresses, a knit zip up sweater, and a couple of shirts. I've got Miete and Lilli both pretty dresses for 7.99 each, and for Leif I found a cute green hoodie, some cords, and a blue and yellow striped church shirt. I will take pictures and post them. Chris is having a challenge trying to find leg warmers for cycling in the colder weather. Those aren't the cute colored leg warmers that my Nana knit for me when I was young in the 80's and that plenty of girls are wearing now. I don't know if they are the type of thing you can really find used, but he's trying, and if he can't then maybe I can learn how to knit and make him a cute pair.


Adventures in Homeschooling

   Homeschooling was off to a shaky start. I guess getting back into the swing of school is difficult for most kids after a long summer, but possibly more difficult when the environment doesn't change, as is our case. Lilli, in particular was really fighting getting back to work. Since running into one of her school friend's mom at the grocery store a week ago, she's been begging to go back to school. She is such a social child and is always looking for fun and excitement. She enjoys being in a group and participating in activities, and group type  games. Although we go on frequent field trips, and attend assorted classes with other children it is not on a daily basis. Because of Lilli's persistent begging, and her rambunctious personality we decided it might be best for everyone if Lilli went back to school. Today we went down to Hammond Elementary, the school my girls attended prior to homeschooling. My intention was to register  Lilli back in the Montessori program. Turns out the classes were all full and she would have to be placed on a wait list. I thought possibly she could attend regular 1st grade although she wouldn't know anyone. She was fine with that, but the staff informed me that we are no longer in the catchment for that school, so we would have to register at Maple Ridge Elementary, where we definitely did not want her attending. I opted to put her on the Montessori wait list and continue with our Summit home school program until there was a place available to her. This was very disappointing to her. She cried on the drive home, and it was all I could do not to cry as well. Who knew how long we'd have to wait before a spot opened up for her. We returned home and back to our regular school work. A short while later I received a miracle call from Hammond. They told me that not five minutes after we left the school someone else had come in to withdraw  their child from the one of the 1st grade Montessori classes. Seriously amazing! Lilli and I were so excited that we were hugging and crying. I really can not get over this miracle. Anyways, now I just have a bit of paper work to do and Lilli should be back to school by next week. My life is about to get a bit more hectic. My fingers are crossed that all will go well. I really feel that this is meant to be.