Rylands Family

Praise the Lord!  We actually slept in this morning!  Well, by recent standards anyway....

Our family alarm clock.....

 AKA..... Tommy Rylands

gently tapped on my shoulder (as is customary in our house) at 5:45 am.  Not 3:30 like yesterday morning! LOL  So, as I always do, I sent him back to his room to read quietly for awhile to let the rest of us sleep.  Only adding to the routine with a "don't wake up your brother!" This one portion of the morning mantra is new (yeah!)

So, it is now 6:30 and as I go to check on the "little one", I find he has vacated his room, gathered his brother (ok...it was done QUIETLY) and descended the stairs for the all important "morning cartoons".

(There is very little TV time around here with the hectic homeschooling schedule and the no computer games on school days rule, so I guess they have to grab their electronic fix where they can get it! LOL)

Well, I am pleased (well, shocked, in awe, over the moon) to report that yesterday's school day, with BOTH boys working in the same room, went very well. (Where's that wood when you need it?)

We accomplished everything on our list for the day (and no, that probably won't be an ongoing habit) and even fit in Colin's first swimming lesson with the incomparable Ms. Thoma!  Can you believe that this teacher, who Tommy has used for the last two summers got out of her car and introduced herself to Colin---- in MANDARIN?  Seriously!  Ok all you God watchers out there----  there HE goes again!  Taking care of even the smallest details.  So, Ms. Thoma is not fluent in Mandarin, but she certainly had enough under her cap to make him comfortable and we had a fabulous lesson.

Tommy went first while Colin watched to get a feel for what it would be like. He loves the water and had clearly spent some time "swimming" before, but had no real swimming skills.  So, off he went with his swimsuit and goggles into the pool.  She gave him quite a workout (as evidenced by the consistent panting sounds...) but he was a trooper and followed her directions (and charades) very well.

After our swim lesson, it was back home for lunch and the afternoon session of lessons.  We wrapped up the day with Orchestra Practice and Colin came along.  A very nice young man about his age hung out with him while we practiced and they played "Angry Birds" while we rehearsed.  There was lots of translating back and forth, but they seemed to get along well.

Today's big activity is Homeschool Band class.

We will run out and get Colin a mouthpiece for Tom's alto sax and he will be ready to roll....  As a former band director myself, I am looking forward to taking him to class today. Maybe I can even help out a bit with the beginners.

Life is about to get a lot noisier in the Rylands' home!