I got Tom up to walk Rocky with me today. It was really nice to spend time walking with him. BUT, he likes to walk longer. We walked about two miles and it threw me behind schedule but was so worth it.

When I came home the kids were just getting up~they'd slept in later because Maddie was out until 9:30 babysitting down the street. So I gave them their assignments for the day. One was to figure out what the HECK Tom and I found on our walk with the dog! It was about the size of an orange, bright yellow-green, covered with bumps, and oozed white sappy material. We figured out it was an Osage Orange, from a tree often called bois D'arc tree (pronounced bowdark) and is French for Bow wood. It was very cool, we'd never seen anything like it before. Here's a link to check out a picture, it's pretty interesting! www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/?p=589 I found out that horses do eat it, but not humans.

The kids also worked on how to make their diorama of the Battle of Antietam during the Civil War, as that was McClellan's swan song as a Commander of the Union troops. They got onto the homeschooling website we use, http://www.everythignhomeshooling.com/ and looked up the material. Monday the have to make sure they begin the actual work on the project. Today we also worked on some spelling and looking at information on the speed of light.

I'm sure the highlight of their day was getting to sweep and do some chores before the weekend! But it's paid off and they won't have to come home from soccer tomorrow and worry about it. Tom has to do a funeral so I guess it will just be the kids and I sweating it out in the 90 degree heat. Sure am ready for Fall here.

Tonight I'm going to fix lasagna and plan to watch a Miss Marple movie with Maddie. The boys and Tom will probably do their own things, the don't like Agatha Christie like Maddie and I do~she's started reading her books too!!!

Thank you God for crisp, ripe apples, finding new discoveries in nature, and time alone with people we love. These are truly some of your best gifts to us.

Today's Workout: Firm Advanced Cardio Blast
PM Yoga Workout: Firm Slim Solutions Yoga for Beginners

What I'm Reading: Max Lucado's newest, Outlive your Life: Your Were Meant to Make a Difference. Caveat: Don't read this one unless you want your mindset challenged.