Business and Pleasure

For two months, Ruth has been working hard, preparing for the SAT test. And, today she finally had the opportunity to show her stuff. This is *THE* SAT test, not the grade level test she always takes at the end of the school year; the same SAT test that high school juniors and seniors are taking in order to apply to colleges and universities. We aren't planning to ship our girl off to college just yet, but she is hoping to qualify for a special program for 8th graders through Johns Hopkins. We are so proud of her for her hard work and for taking on this challenge.

While she was taking the test, Jeff and I were working on our school schedule for next year. Seeing the schedule in writing is one of the things that always helps me feel like we can do this homeschooling thing for another year. And, it's always exciting to start thinking about all the things we are all going to learn.

When all our business was taken care of, we took the boys to a playground near the testing site to play while we waited for Ruth to finish up. After her test, we walked over to a nearby shopping mall for lunch and a puppet show. The day was a nice mix of business and pleasure.

Duck burger, anyone?
(To be honest, I was a little disappointed we didn't have lunch here.)

The race is on!

Sliding down the fireman's pole 

Teeter-Totter

Puppet Show

These Texas boys were excited to find
 toys that looked like prickly pears in the mall.