What we did (are doing) on our summer vacation. . .

HELLO!

It has been a fantabulous summer. My wonderful husband got me a new laptop for my birthday so I guess I should've been on here blogging, but there was no school going on.

Around mid-April we decided to take a break from homeschooling. . .

Of course, my 4 year old started reading during this break and now stays up at night reading all my old Berenstain Bears and Dr. Seuss books.

Of course, my 5 year old wrote several stories and made various picture books that she reads to her little sister.

Of course, my 5 year old started staying up at night reading books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG and the Animorph series her cousin Desiree gave her.

Of course, my 4 year old's handwriting improved by leaps and bounds, as well as her drawing skills.

Of course, my 5 year old lost 3 teeth -- what, that's not academic? Hogwash, it is a momentous occasion!

Of course, my 4 year old won a First Place Blue Ribbon at a Rodeo event for riding a horse -- again, it was a momentous occasion!

And finally, of course, we have had TONS of discussions about story plots, characterization, dialogue and setting.

Why, you ask?

Well, glad you asked! It's because during this time, Mama has been taking all those 'learning tools' she researched to use on the youngin's and putting them to use for herself -- in learning how to write a novel!

It started in April when my awesome husband bought me the Twilight series. I admit I felt guilty at first . . . this wasn't Charles Dickens or Charlotte Bronte or Jane Austen. But, you know what? I loved it! It helped me to remember that reading can be a FUN experience, too. It can be for pure pleasure sometimes, although that is not what happened with Twilight.

You see, it inspired me. I started reading a ton of YA books ( I would say I've averaged almost a book a day since that mid-April day--that's a lot of books!) and decided that I wanted to try it. I've always had a passion for writing stories. I have so many written in my various diaries and journals, and wrote many for my classes. Somewhere along the way, I stopped. I don't know what happened. . . oh wait, yes I do. Boys. Boys happened. Oh well.

Flash forward 10-12 years and the passion has been awakened. I joined a local YA/MG (young adult/middle grade) writer's group, made a few local writerly friends and exchanged our work for critique, and have now started a blog about the process: The Ending Unplanned. My current Work in Progress (WIP) is around 20k words! (by the way, you can subscribe there to follow my journey!)

Will I still be here at Keep The Way? Of course! This is our family homeschooling blog. I do need to get back to updating, which will probably happen on Fridays from now on, but rest assured I will still be writing here, letting you know about family happenings and our learning adventures.

So, what did you do on your summer vacation?