And we have bread....

Yes, my first attempt at bread... well,

unless you count the other first attempt but I like to call that one "my first attempt at brick making" because if I call it that, I get to say that it was quite successful.

So here we are... true bread. Obviously I'll have to work on the presentation.. maybe invest in an acutal bread pan... but it was soft and the butter melted into it as the kids and I tried a bite.

Billy, hurry home from work so there will still be some left. Whether we eat it all this afternoon or it succumbs to bakery peer pressure and turns to a spongey tasteless loaf like most gluten free breads I know... I'm not sure it will last too long.

This is our last few days before school starts... both for the two classroom bound dicoccos and for the new and improved Teacher Trase and her wonder-student Mady. The kids visited their classes this week.... to snoop around and check out every corner. Harrison took his backpack, fully stocked. Madyline and I have written out our rough lesson plans for the entire month of September and visited the library to collect a managerie of books on mapping and geography and children of all nations. Our first two weeks will be a quick over view of the world and then we'll get deep into a new country every two weeks. First up... our homeland.. the good ole' USofA. But first, the lessons on latitude and longitude. I'll keep you informed of the interesting bits.

The summer has (you know what I am going to say) flown by... and I don't feel like we've done much of anything. Besides our trips to NJ and MO... we've been pretty boring this year. Not much hiking or beaching or exploring like usual. We've done LOTS of reading... and daily jumping on the trampoline. We've cleaned the house again and again (and again and again and you still can't tell we've touched it). We've spent lots of time at the farmers market and the library and the zoo. We've walked the the ice cream store more times than I can count. And the kids have logged miles on their bikes and scooter while traveling along side me encouraging me to run my best.

Last night, it was Harrison that was the best. We were doing the "biggest circle"... just shy of four miles. For an entire mile of it... we were apparently in a video game. He stayed close to me on his bike... and Each time we passed spraypainted markings on the sidewalk we earned "speed bonuses" and crossing the street gave us super powers and we earned double points for the next eight squares . There were sound effects... and tunnels to duck through and obstacles to smash. Apparently, I earned thousands of points... and we made it through the stretch without even remembering we were exhausted.

I think I might take him with me again.