Awww look at that brood o' kids! I am so lucky to have four healthy, beautiful children and a pretty hot husband to boot. This picture makes me so happy :) I took this back in March right before we headed off to the zoo. I cant believe another school year has ended. It's the long lazy days of summer full of kiddie pools, otter pops, fireworks and trips up the mountain.

Summer is great. I love having free schedules, seeing my kids skin change from the pale white of winter to a nice toasty bronze. I love having the littles show me their colorful, otter pop stained tongues and getting sticky kisses from them. On a hot day, driving up the mountain and rolling down the windows to let the cool air blow in. Summer in Utah is a beautiful thing. So why am I so excited for school to start again?

This year will bring another big change to the McClary Academy. My daughter H will be joining her two older brothers and I. I will have a 6th and 2nd grader and then H in pre-school. I wanted to involve her more last year but she was very uncooperative and just wanted to doodle on her work book pages instead of following directions. Im so excited about it a could just squeal! Im already planning how to involve her in our routine by having Z my second grader read out loud to her for story time,offering him oral reading practice and her a fun story and bonding with her brother. J my 6th grader can spend time with her helping with math or hand writing!

I'm really looking forward to making school more of a group effort. Instead of just separating the kids by grade level and having them work independently I hope to create an environment where they work together and learn from each other. As much as I love summer I cant wait for it to end so we can start on another adventure in homeschooling. Maybe a new pack of number two pencils will do for now...oooh or notebooks. :)