Too Many Random Bits to Title

There has been so much going on in Bangsund-Land. We started our homeschool year two weeks ago on August 30th. It has been so much fun! Luke is doing kindergarten this year, and he LOVES it. Paul is sorting, stacking, coloring, cutting, pasting, playing, and doing his best to listen in on everything Luke is learning. I started slowly, so as not to overwhelm my students or myself. Our first week we just did Bible, Science, History, and Read-Aloud (Literature). Then we added Math! This week we have added Handwriting, but I am moving very slowly here. I think I burned Luke out (at four years old!) on writing because I pushed too hard last year. Tough lessons for the homeschooling mom, but necessary. This year will be different. We are playing with the wooden pieces and doing pencil pick ups that are super fun. We are going to make Mat Man tomorrow. :-)

In other news, the remodel is progressing beautifully. We have paint on the walls and lush, new carpet on the floor. The room is completely unrecognizable! I'm so pleased. We have already enjoyed lots of great family time down there. The boys are enjoying the complete lack of furniture as evidenced in the video below. I love having another space in our home that is welcoming and comfortable. We are hosting the BSF Young Adult Prayer Group down there tomorrow night. I can't wait!

Okay...here are some random pictures and a video!

Puzzle time! Very popular at our house.

Sorry about the quality of this photo...I had the camera on the wrong setting. Bummer. I couldn't leave this out, though! This was our first field trip. We visited the Northeast Emergency Food Pantry where our friend Howard works. We had already collected food at Paul's birthday party. Howard weighed our donation (47 pounds) and allowed the boys to put it on the shelves in the proper spots. Totally sweet field trip!

Reading history on the couch. So far we've done dinosaurs, early peoples, Ancient Egypt and today we started Ancient Greece. The pyramids and mummies are still everyone's favorites. Not sure that anything can top that.

Our awesome electrician in the "Nowhere Near Finished Basement." Please note the ugly carpet, wood-paneled walls, popcorn ceiling, bare bulbs, and mess. (Like you could miss them.)

Getting closer! We scraped those ceilings and removed that carpet ourselves. No need to use that eliptical on those days!

And now for the video that shows the "Much Closer To Being Finished Basement." Enjoy!