Ground Control

Week in Review randomly

2012-02-12T14:16:00.001-06:00

Aside from the regular activities (girl/cub scouts, Freedom Clubs, Dance, piano, tae kwon do)

ART
Grandma and Grandpa Duree took the kids to the library art card program. The kids have been really into this craze from Switzerland. They make cards and trade constantly with their friends. It’s a fun creative outlet for them (and mom).
We have also been busy making and signing Valentines and making boxes to exchange with friends this week.

Savannah: so sweet and innocent

Don't let her fool you. She is going through a very rambunctious 5th year of age. She is very loud and runs everywhere. She is into things and always finds a way to get what she wants. Like, climbing on grandpa.

FIELD TRIPS
We went on TWO field trips this week! We visited the State Highway Patrol Museum. We saw lots of old police cars, a memorial wall to fallen officers and a train simulation.

Our second field trip was to Orscheln’s, a farmer’s store, where they talked about the practical uses of many items sold in their store and let the kids plant seeds. We will go back in April to see the chicks and rabbits.

We learned that the Book It Pizza Hut awards for reading can be used for either personal pans, OR lunch buffets. We had a BOGO for lunch and thus spent $7 to feed our family!

Hazel Takes a Ride
I received a phone call, shortly after arriving at girl scouts, that a cat emerged from under my car as soon as we went in the building. I went and discovered that, sure enough, our cat had ridden on the udner carriage of the expedition a couple miles to the meeting place…and she survived! What a relief. Truly, a cat has 9 lives.

ALSO in the news…
Bella delights in telling stories about how she has a mermaid tail and swims with Ariel and Flounder in the ocean.

Becca has had lots of iPod time outs. She got an iPod Touch for Christmas and keeps watching Netflix! I know, right? She gets internet. It's like a little iPad. A friend recently told me she regrets everytime they get a new technological thing in their home. Ugh. We have started unplugging our internet, and voila! She appears. I have to confiscate it at night too. Really, we bought it for her music and books (because she can connect to my Nook account). Sigh. A work in progress, figuring out how to parent technology.

We have been valentine crazy, making valentines for friends and boxes. The kids' Freedom Clubs are having a Valentine Day party and the kids are really excited. I think the Freedom Clubs are turning out to be so fabulous. Not only are the kids gaining confidence in public speaking, learning new things from their peers and getting fun playtime, but I get to visit with so many of my wonderful friends! I think we all leave feeling edified. We parents need friends too! And who doesn't like an excuse for a party, and we have lots of those. It's turning out to be a great thing for our family and for those like-minded individuals who participate with us.

Jon’s Joke: What was the Sycamore tree’s problem? It was sick.

Jon also read "Who Was Harry Houdini" who said these words of wisdom: “No performer should attempt to bite off red-hot iron unless he has a good set of teeth.”

Ground Control

2012-02-05T18:24:00.000-06:00

Ground Control, first edition
In an effort to keep you updated with our family, we bring you “Ground Control”, a newsletter that helps keep us grounded, because sometimes we are up in the air. We thought we would do it on the blog, but have a family edition as well, because, let's face it, not everything should be online ;)

Here are our stories:

Bella's potty trained! We are a no more diaper household!

Go Go Go Cart
One of the anesthesiologists Ed works with had a go cart that sat in his garage for 5 years, and sold it to Ed. Ed had to do some carburetor work on it, but it is running and the kids ride it in circles in the cul-de-sac! Good times.

Happenings
Eye Exams: This week Rebecca, Jon and Savannah all had their yearly eye exams. I am pleased to report that Jon and Savannah have perfect vision, and Rebecca’s prescription has changed very little. She hopes for contacts in the near future, but she may be waiting a year ;)
Tae Kwon Do testing
Ed, Becca, Jon and Savannah all passed their tae kwon do testing. They are getting close to their black belt. Becca and Jon are red, Ed is brown and Savannah earned her purple headband to go with her purple belt.
Pinewood Derby
Ed and Jon have worked many hours this week on Jon’s Cub Scout Pinewood Derby car. It is sure to be a fast one!
Library art
Rebecca, Jon and Savannah all participated in a library homeschool program where they learned about sculpting, collages, photography and still life, and brought home projects to show it.

Savannah Strikes a Pose
And shows us how it’s done!

Books Read, Things Learned
Rebecca has read these:
39 Clues #3, Emily Windsnap #3, The Revolutionary War (a You Choose book), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest (both abridged) by Shakespeare. Jon is currently reading “FISH” a book on pirates. We continued study on the Revolutionary War, Betsy Ross, John Paul Jones; also ocean animals.

On Tuesday, we went bowling with Freedom Knights and Just Us Girls clubs, the history clubs, that meet at our home twice a month. Not everyone was there, but everyone who was had a blast. I'd post a pic of the 16 kids, but I'm not real big on posting pics of other people's kids.

Joke of the week: What gets wetter the more it dries? A: a towel.

Inspirational Thought: “ Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities” Aristotle

Monday

2012-01-23T10:02:00.000-06:00

So, here I sit, at the computer, blogging, which I haven't done much of for awhile.

A regular day today. School day, that is. We got up ten minutes earlier because Ed and I decided that since I read scriptures with the kids as soon as he walks out the door for work, that he'd like to participate. We just needed to get up a few minutes earlier. The older two kids and I, that is. That is. A phrase I noticed I've just used twice, shows my level of sleepiness.

So, after scriptures and a story from the Friend magazine, we continued our history study of heroines of the Revolution and the compromise to establish Washington D.C. in the south, so that the north could claim taxes from the south. Politics. Government.

We also read about jellyfish and octupuses.

Then we proceeded to the dining room table so none of us would fall asleep, where Jon commenced copywork and Rebecca decided to memorize Paul Revere's Ride, do some MCT Practice Town, spelling and did a journal entry on Ben Franklin. Yes, she always gets much more done in the same allotted time. I have to remind myself that he is two years younger.

This morning I had reflections remembering when I had only the two and Jon was my baby. Perspective changes when you think of one as "THE BABY". I notice that I will probably always treat Bella like the baby. People probably roll their eyes at me babying her. At least, I used to roll my eyes at mothers who did that with their babies. Now I understand. So, I pretended Jon was my baby. I love my baby.

Then we took a break, who knows how long it will last. An hour, maybe three. Jon is playing the piano. The younger girls trying to win my attention. We still need to get dressed, do morning chores, oh, and eat breakfast. By then it will be time for lunch, and we still have math and projects. Sure seems like a lot after two and a half hours of history and only part of our English.

Yesterday I decided I needed better lesson plans. I ended up pooling my resources and came up with a plan that extends through Feb. It includes all our subjects: history, science, reading, grammar, writing, math, projects, geography and critical thinking. I organized it so I wasn't trying to do everything in one day, like I try to do sometimes.... It's good for me to have that vision so then I know what dvds to get from netflix and what books to possibly check out from the library. As it turns out, we probably won't need any. We will be studying Thomas Jefferson, the French Revolution, Eli Whitney and Lewis and Clark, and I have many books on those things. I am also starting a k12 2nd semester of literature study with Rebecca which includes Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes and Don Quixote. We will see how that goes. I am always looking to the future, right, because she is growing up and continually needs more.

Hopefully, I will have more time for the little girls.

Also, last night we watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". Wow. Needless to say, we will be switching up our diet this week also, in an effort to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Life is happening...now. Off to get dressed for the day and, oh, yeah, breakfast, which is now brunch.

New Year

2012-01-05T20:26:00.000-06:00

I'm really excited about this new year. We seem to take a year at a time. Time seems to go so fast. Ten years ago my life was so different. Ten years ago we were college students. Ten years from now I will have 2 college students. I'm trying to savor every minute our family is together. I'm excited about this year because we have so many fun things planned. Looking at my calendar, we are pretty booked 'til June, with friends, books, and science experiments.

Last week I asked Ed if he would help me with electricity and magnetism. I realize now, that these are my weakest of subjects. In fact, I want nothing to do with them, except to use them at my convenience. But I have no desire to learn about them. Thankfully, he has a firm grasp on how these things work. He was able to put an electric motor together with the kids. Then he did some experiments with magnets. Needless to say, the older kids had a pretty good hands on experience, for which I am grateful. I told him to keep his stuff in a safe place because we'll need it again in a few years with the younger two! He also took the same experiments and taught my cub scout den. They were fascinated. I love seeing the wonder of young minds.

We are having a great week of school. We didn't take a big break like everyone else, because we take breaks all the time. Every week, everyday, we learn. But we did much more curriculum learning this week. I've tried so many different kinds. My friends roll their eyes at me. I have book cases full of stuff. I always think I can reinvent the wheel, or try to follow child led learning. But it doesn't work so great for me. We need a guideline. This time last year, and again this year, I'm turning back to Sonlight. I never stopped using it, but I'm realizing how it really does work for me. Every time I second guess something, I look at it and realize they had this down long before I ever considered homeschooling. So, I'm going to let go a little bit and just do it from now on. Complete. I had doubts, but now I see I should have had some faith. I guess I'm a hands on girl and need my own experiences. I will add some Michael Clay Thompson into Rebecca's language arts (because it makes me feel so smart!), and continue to use Rod and Staff English as a reference guide, because it is (dry) so complete. But I realize Sonlight is pretty right on with the elementary kids, and the upper curriculum looks great too. I'm excited!

We are also doing our (TJ education) clubs. I've started, (with help from many friends), the Just Us Girls clubs, Freedom Knights, Liberty (American) Girls and Firecracker Kids. We have incorporated extra activity days for bowling, legos, games, field day, etc. The kids love getting together. It's good for them on so many levels. We will also be doing a coop. I kind of wish we weren't, but the K-2 are doing Five in a Row. I really like that curriculum, but couldn't seem to get it going on my own. I'm glad she will at least have this experience. The girls are loving their dance classes, but tae kwon do is wearing me out. I will be glad when our contract is over.

So my M-Thurs are pretty busy Feb-April, but the 3 day weekend is open for whatever we want. It's a good exchange. And on a snow day, we will enjoy the snow! I'm starting to just enjoy what we are doing, and not stress too much about things.

I've always been a worrier so one of my goals this year is to not stress and just enjoy. That goes for all aspects of my life; school, body, money, relationships. So here goes to 2012! Praying for another great year with four fabulous kids.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-21T22:37:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas to our friends and family! With so many rushing around at Christmas, I've found my December the opposite. What a wonderful season to be alive and a great time to be on the Earth! We're grateful for this wonderful time of year of reflection on things that are most important, experiences we've had that brought us to where we are and helps us to know where we are going, and in remembering who has given us everything, even Jesus Christ. We have been blessed beyond measure this year. Makes me sing "Somewhere in my youth, or childhood, I must have done something good" because this year life created many wonderful memories. We found joy and fun in the following:

Snow
Silver Dollar City
Tae Kwon Do tournaments
Field Trips
Dry Ice
Camp outs
Friends
Lake trips
Birthday parties
Baptisms
Clubs
Fishing
Swimming
Baseball
Homeschool
Piano
Family

Individually:
Ed-is still amazing, full of integrity and thoughtfulness. He loves his job. He is blessed to be part of a wonderful anesthesia group. He loves to surf behind the boat. He is a fabulous chef.

Jennifer-is intuitive. She loves homeschooling her amazing children and learning right along with them. She loves to surf also. She is an amazing event planner.

Rebecca-is gracious. She loves to read. She loves to be outside, with animals and her friends.

Jon-is very responsible. He loves trains. He loves Cub Scouts, his friends, piano and tae kwon do.

Savannah-loves to be funny. She loves to create, draw, imagine and be happy.

Bella-is full of hugs. She loves her dogs (real ones). She loves playing with Savannah and creating tea parties.

From our family to yours, may God bless you and keep you! We wish you a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year!

Bella turns 3!

2011-12-09T16:12:00.000-06:00

Seems like I was just blogging about Bella turning 2. Now she's 3. I guage myself by her age. Makes me feel like a young mom again.

As usual, we had a week's worth of festivities, starting with Thanksgiving quickly followed the next day with a double birthday party with her cousin, Ireland, who turned the exciting 1! LOTS of cake was in order...

Then we went to Silver Dollar City...which is it's own post, for sure.

And continued with more cake on Sunday, Dec. 4, the actual BIRTHday. We just did a home cake, and let her put sprinkles all over it. I used peppermint marshmallows, and if you look closely, you might be able to read "Happy Bella" Haha!

Some typical school activities

2011-10-24T14:33:00.001-05:00

Piano

"Table Work" includes, writing and math

Savannah does lots of creative play, and Bella loves books.

And lots of Art, or their recent favorite are art cards they trade with friends. This is a picture of one of our recent "art" projects.

Family Fishing

2011-10-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

Ed was off today, so Grandpa came down to fish with us. Jon and Ed fish a lot. The goal is to get fish in the freezer before winter. This time I wanted to go. We had a fun time. It was nice because the little girls were contained with a movie in the car, and the rest of us could enjoy our fishing...sorta. Ed got frustrated with Jon, because Jon wanted to catch a big fish like Rebecca. Today, Rebecca caught a 4.5 lb bass, but she refused to touch it. Jon loves to touch fish, though, so here he is holding her fish for her.

Jon did catch a fish, though.

Then, to be funny, Jon put a small fish in the big fish's mouth

But the really funny part was when we realized the fish was actually eating the smaller fish.

Of course, Jon had a REALLY HARD time leaving that poor fish alone. I guess it's the boy in him that likes to touch slimy, stinky things.

Finally Ed said with a laugh, just let that poor fish enjoy his last meal in peace.

The fish is now in our freezer ready to be one of our meals. Thank you fish!

Back to the blog

2011-10-24T14:02:00.000-05:00

After an amazing summer of vacations, it's back to the blog. I'd had mixed feelings about blogging, but, here I go again. Our summer, as usual, was spent as much time at a lake as possible. Ed amazingly had a lot of vacation and so that's where we spent a lot of time...that and Branson. We love having Silver Dollar City passes. It's a good fit for our family.

We started "school", mostly just adding math and more writing to the books we were reading, in Sept. We have a pretty good flow now, here, towards the end of Oct. Becca is pretty much a reader and has gotten much more independent in everything she does. It's nice for me because I have more time to spend with Savannah and reading. Jon is also pretty independent, but needs me every once in awhile. School is good, though.

Ed still loves his job, so that's great. Makes us feel much more permanent, even though we've been here six years now. Every once in awhile I get an itch to go somewhere new, but trying to be content and let a good thing continue to be good. We have lots of friends and things are good and stable, for now.

In church we are teaching the "Strengthening Marriage and Family" class. We joke that we got along great until we started teaching it ;) This third time around, our spirituality is increasing, and our desire to serve the Lord is growing.

Help

2011-08-11T17:38:00.000-05:00

I think I am just feeling the stress of getting ready for FALL. And I am still trying to enjoy my going too fast, too busy summer.

I had a friend visit me Monday. I really like the way she decorates her home, and she helped me pick some get out of this drab brown, paint colors.

So, I painted the kitchen blue and green.
Green behind the cabinets, to make them "pop".

A grayish/blue on this one living room wall, trying to showcase this painting..."pop"

Blue behind the painting, trying to make it "pop".

But now I have a walk way with one blue and one green wall in my kitchen. sigh. I will have to live with that and see how I like it for awhile.

Next, I'm painting my bedroom and getting rid of pukey pea green soup. I don't know why so many people like that color. Yuck.

I'm also frantically trying to get ready to start school Monday. I gave myself a deadline to start, so maybe we will be serious by Labor Day. HaHa! This means, that, really, I'm tired of feeling crowded upstairs and so I am moving all our school downstairs. Which means, I hope we can still have a makeshift guest bedroom...sorta. I'm not sure where to put this bookcase. Another book case. And I hate stairs. My house doesn't feel big enough. But it is. We just have to be smarter utilizing this space.

Sigh.

Why am I starting these projects? I must be nervous about something. Or, I'm just running high on caffeine? Maybe I'm just sick of clutter in my main living space. That's probably it.

Hmmm.

It's that time of year...again!!

2011-06-25T19:31:00.002-05:00

The reason our blog is named outside the wake has nothing to do with funerals. Really. And it's that time of year again!

We all have our passions, even obsessions. Maybe it's scrapbooking, photography, cooking, camping, fishing, hunting, dancing, dieting, reading, being poolside, or at the beach.

Ours happens to be being on a big, beautiful lake.

Now here we will share a bit of our passion, even summer obsession, with our family and friends and in an effort to find others who share that same passion.and love of lake living, boating and water sports.

We went to Bull Shoals Lake for the first time this year and had an AMAZING time. The resort was so family friendly. The boys did lots of fishing, the girls did their nails and hair. Our days consisted of boating and swimming in the pool. Ed and Jon went fishing early for four mornings and evenings. We took a boat ride to the amazing dam. We were sad we had to miss the wakeboarding competition weekend. But we did wakeboarding of our own...at least Jon and Ed did. We all skied and kneeboarded. We tubed and swam. We lsitened to fun music.

One afternoon, we were all swimming when Bella yelled and demanded that it was her turn to ski and to all get in the boat! So we obeyed and she went kneeboarding with dad.

Becca overcame her fear and embraced skiing. She seems to forget year to year and we have to remind her that it's fun.

Jon got up on a wakeboard! He was so excited.

Savannah skiied to Miley Cyrus and danced on the way (on her ski, shaking her hips).

I love my family!

2011-05-05T15:05:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine is considering homeschooling and asked for some advise. I wrote this letter and thought I'd post it. It kind of shows my curriculum journey this last year.

In the beginning...

I was completely against homeschoolling. I mean, never, ever, and those people are weird, not going to do it. I wondered if that's what you meant by "futile resistance". Ed is the one and has always been the advocate for me homeschoolling, and now I realize that having spousal support is HUGE. But while he's all for it, it was my job to figure it out. When we were in Georgia I dived like you are doing, trying to figure it out. Unfortunately there is no handbook, no manual, no "right" way to do it. DANG IT!! And I refused to be one of those homeschooling moms that looked like a pioneer lady, from another century. Can't I be modern and homeschool?

Anyway,
I also called on some people I knew to help. I did hear about Well Trained Mind, and that is my biggest resource, really. I've done loads of the curriculums they recommend. It was a bit overwhelming trying to do it all. I've had quite the journey the last year and a half and sometimes I think FINALLY, I'm getting it, just to have the kids change on me. There is constant adjustment, as they grow, and the need for flexibility, which I had to grow into. But I love homeschooling. It's not easy, it's not perfect, it's great, and it's wonderfully fun, it's frustrating, it's soul-searching and inspires prayers. I read once that "You've been teaching your children since they were born, you are just continuing it."

I think you are great to be reading The Well-Trained Mind. I've also read 100 Top Picks by Cathy Duffy, and Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille. But they are all resources, and ways of thinking and doing your homeschool. I enjoyed the Home Companion to TJed because it actually showed HOW to apply the principles he taught (he's LDS, in case you didn't know).

First things first, make sure you get a copy of "First Things First" for legalities in MO. I think they have it at the library.

But first, I think you need to decide (which will be hard, and probably trial and error) if you want to do a textbook approach, which your kids are probably used to at school, or a real book approach, where the books teach you, emphasis on reading, alone and together.

If you like textbooks, Abeka is what I'd recommend, but I'd go to a demonstration kiosk and look over the stuff. I know many who use and love it and some who think it's way too hard and too parent intensive. But it is a curriculum many private schools use.

I've spent thousands of dollars on "curriculum" this last year. You are welcome to come look at what I've used sometime, if you like. I love to talk about it. Also, your boys are pretty close in age, that teaching them together would be fine, just individual math and language.

I do think it is important to quickly find a math program that suits your child. As Well Trained Mind says, and I agree, once you find a math program that works for you and your child, stick with it through the end. A lot of people like Saxon for high school math, I've tried Math U See, Singapore, Abeka and Teaching Textbooks. I've gone with Teaching Textbooks, partly because it's a cd-rom and my kids love being on the computer; also, because they teach doing the lecture, and then give practice problems and have quizzes and keep a parent grade book. Switched on Schoolhouse also has a cd based math, but a LOT of people that I know, use teaching textbooks. It's easy on the parent, friendly to the child. And they go at their own pace. When they finish a level they move up to the next. It is $120 for each level, but once you have it you can use it for coming up kids. There is a placement test online, but I found level 3 to be fine for Jon in 2nd grade. Rebecca, in 4th grade started half way through level 4 and is on level 5. And if it's easy for them in the beginning, great! Builds confidence. Eliminating math teaching really helped our program because I would get overwhelmed.

For history, I love History Odyssey. This is something you can teach and do as a group. It is really a guide, but it is in chronological order. It uses the Usborne Internet Linked World History Encyclopedia and Story of the World, as well as A Child's History of the World. I love Story of the World. I got the cds at the library and downloaded them on to my computer and put them on my ipod, so we listen in the car, come home and do the mapwork. Each lesson also gives a book list for the library...and our library is packed with great books.

For science...this has been tough for me. I did R.E.A.L. science, but recently, we went to Barnes and Noble and I let the kids pick out books. Jon picked out books on sharks and machines, so that's what we are studying about this summer...ocean wildlife focus, and then technology after that (TJed child led learning). I also bought the Apologia Elementary Science textbooks, and their accompanying notebooks, so one of them is Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day (based on the creation), it is Christian, yet seems to be pretty comprehensive in the older levels. Ed wanted to get them. And a lot of people use their high school science texts. I've also used the Complete Book of Science for 3-4 grades. I've learned with science, it's read a couple pages in an encyclopedia and draw a picture or write a little bit about it. (I'm liking Apologia because it's getting Becca to write more)

I actually used 2 curriculums this last year, and catered them to me, because I thought they were both so good and had what the other one lacked: Sonlight and History Odyssey.

I use Sonlight, which you can buy as a complete curriculum. But, I come and go with it. Some days I love it, sometimes I wonder about it. But it's a good guide. Keeps me on track with our reading. I can do all their things in one sitting, or spread out through the week. I have complete curriculums with them also. They do history, geography (I love their geography, at least for Core 2), science, and language arts. Some think their language arts is kind of weak, I'm on the fence with it. Some weeks it's more than what I did. I love their reading program.

I think Rod and Staff has an amazing Grammar/English program. Even in the Well Trained Mind they mention if you start in 9th grade, you need to start with the level 5 Rod and Staff. It's good stuff. I've only heard praise for it...except one negative from Becca that it's too "christian". Their sentences are all biblical or science factual, truths. But you can use it for handwriting, memorization, poetry too. Jon loves it, I think because it's straight forward.

Created for gifted english classes is Michael Clay Thompson language arts/writing program. I just used it with Rebecca and she loved the Caesar's English. But by the time we got to Paragraphtown she'd forgotten the grammer, and back to Rod and staff we went. I'm currently checking out Bravewriter for writing. I've heard good things about it.

We do Spelling Workout, and Sequential Spelling. Jon loves the first, Becca loves the second, and the first for fun, doing the puzzles.
I ordered Building Thinking Skills from Critical Thinking Co. for both of them, and Mind benders for all 3.

On days when I can't get my act together, they do Brainquest workbooks I got at Barnes and Noble. And we watch educational shows (like Wild Kratts on PBS, Magic School Bus, History dvds from the library) I do lots of car school, math songs, geography songs, primary songs, stories on cd, story of the world, etc. They LOVE Magic School Bus science, as well as Sonlight science dvds where they do experiments.

Some days are super, others aren't so great. I love when I have at least 4 good days of school. Usually one (when Ed is off) our school day changes. Sonlight schedules for either 4 or 5 days school days.

I also use Edu-Track to keep track of my school hours and what we did, and recently started counting "life skills" of chores, hygiene, bedroom cleaned up, babysitting, either as art, pe, or science, as well as LOTS of outdoor time for PE. I started with a planner though. Piano is music, but we are studying Mozart right now, and I plan on incorporating more biographies.
For art, I got Atelier art. If you do that, you may like Level 2 or 3. I got 4, which is fine for Bec, and the other 2 do it, but it's more challenging. I've heard good things of Artistic Pursuits as well. BUT I was told, not to worry about art my first year of homeschooling, so I didn't, and I'm glad. It became a concern when it was time.
I like Abeka for handwriting. Typing Instructor for typing (but we don't do this yet).

I really like www.timberdoodle.com I think their curriculum grade level ideas are good. I actually was doing some of their recommendations before I found out about the website.

A "good" school day for us looks like this:
620am get up and pray when dad goes to work. Read scriptures til 7
7am learning with the big kids, science, history book, poetry
8am math for one, english for another
9am Child of the Day leads the Pledge of Allegiance, says all the prayers for the day, gets to sit where they want in the van, gets to choose which chores they want to do for the day out of the chore pockets, and is my helper, and breakfast
9:30 Morning Chores, hygines, make bed, get dressed
10:30am Table work= math for one, english for the other, work with Savannah, continuation of history or science projects
noon lunch
1pm whatever

I do another Kidschool when the little girls wake up, reading primary readers, and scripture memory, Mother Goose. The big kids like to be with us because really it's for everyone. And we work on a song, read the Friend, geography, etc.

The little girls like to be at the table with the kids, so I have coloring books for them to do. For Kade, you may just need some toys, give Eden the responsibility to play with him. Your school time may be when he naps...that's prime time. I sometimes put Bella to watch a show when I need to think with the other 3. Remember, it took me a year to get to that place where it kind of flows. I had to figure out a routine, and my kids had to figure me out, and me them. Structure helps a lot. If Ed's schedule was consistent we'd have more, but we love it when he's home, so we have to be flexible (I have to be flexible)

For extra curricular it is common for the new homeschooler to be over inundated with activities...hence we are busy and trying to tone it down. We do Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, sometimes Runge homeschool or library homeschool activities, Speaktaculars (speech and debate experience for young kids), Tae Kwon Do, Piano, Savannah does dance Wed mornings during piano lessons for the others, of course Co-op, which is where we met a lot of our friends, book club at the library, volleyball (over tonight) and baseball (starts Mon), and I've been taking my kids to Columbia for the Young Liber Heroes Club (a TJed club), which I'll send you another email about because I'm thinking of heading up a club in town. Right now any free day we have is sacred, and we strive to have them. As long as my mornings are free, I feel pretty good about what we do. But I'm a sucker for play dates, so.............

In our homeschool group, there is a robotics club and 4H, both I think are good and interesting, just can't schedule them in right now.

I think one of the hardest things, for me, when I started homeschooling, was I thought I knew my kids. I've learned so much more about them since we've been home. I'm still learning their learing styles and personalities...because they are constantly changing as they grow.
But, I also realize it's not for everyone. Plugging into our homeschool group really helped me in the beginning. Having a support system, to me, was huge, and still is.

Good luck in your homeschool efforts and adventures!

TJed

2011-04-27T21:49:00.000-05:00

A "Thomas Jefferson Education" (sigh). I read the first book. Sounded great. I wanted more. Read the second book "Leadership Principles". Better. Had a bit more direction. Getting the vision. Read the TJed "Home Companion". Ah-ha! This is how to apply it! Re-read "Leadership Principles" (sigh). Ok. I have some work to do.

This is so off the mainstream conveyor belt of education. This paradigm shift from public school mentality to homeschooling has been a journey this last year and a half! It's been tough. It's been great. It's been confusing and frustrating. It's been rewarding and fun. Having a support group has made a HUGE difference in our lives. And now, after 1 1/2 years and counting, I'm more confident. Or am I? I guess I'm still going through this shift.

So, now that I'm a little more homeschool educated for our family lifestyle, I've been revisiting these books. I read them a year ago, but it didn't fly as I had no clue what I was doing. I'd wished there was a handbook for homeschooling, but there's not, because guess what? There's as many ways to homeschool as there are families. So...how to homeschool my family. I'll say "family" because I'm getting a fun education. (For example, we studied the North/South poles and animals that live there, and today at the dentist office I watched Planet Earth dealing with the North/South poles! It was fun for me to see the animals interacting).

So, TJed. I found a great homeschool group in Missouri called Family Mentors Leadership Education (FMLE) http://www.familymentors.blogspot.com/ In talking to one of the initiators of the group, she really opened my eyes to the leadership aspect of this. I also read some essays and ebooks I got from http://www.headgates.org/ in implementing the TJed ideas. I really like this concept.

I've been taking my children to a history/leadership club bi-weekly, child led. They love it! It's been good for our family.

We've also been doing co-op in our local homeschool group, and the kids love that.

When I mentioned to my friend about a TJed coop, she reminded me that they felt that coop is still on the conveyor belt of public school, and they were more on the child led leadership path. Things that make me go, hmmm.

Interesting.

I'm still digesting my new information and trying to see how to incorporate it into our lives, and re-reading the TJed books as guides.

One thing, for sure I'm doing, is re-organizing my home. I thought I had things well, but I'm feeling more the need to separate the family room from the entertainment room and setting up a comfy, family room conducive to learning and having structured time for school, but not structured content that I want my kids to learn. This would encourage reading many books, as well as anything else the children would want to do for school, whether it's building a train track, painting a picture, doing worksheets or having some one on one mommy time. It means restructuring my book cases to be more kid friendly to encourage reading. It also means having an organized art/game closet (boo). This last one is the hardest for me, and hence my stress for the week--knowing I have to organize my art/craft supplies and games.

It's been a crazy week anyway, so a good week to start encouraging child-led learning, which I did today. I gave Rebecca a few hours to read what she wanted and she read science books. Great! And she practiced piano. Another Great! And she's the one who is old enough for me to be really concerned about. Jon and Savannah both read and did piano. Maybe next week when we are more organized and LESS busy we can really start to enjoy this new way of schooling.

The summer is a great time to test it out, before we consider going back to curriculum in the fall. I'm anxious to see how it goes and flows.

Easter

2011-04-25T13:21:00.001-05:00

Here are some pics of our Easter egg hunt. We had a peanut/chocolate free one, and then an ONLY chocolate one ;) Oh yes, and gained 2 pounds in the process...YES! Just what we needed! jk.

I think 4-5 year olds are the perfect age for an easter egg hunt. It's really for them, but everyone else can participate.

You only get 12 eggs! (Aunt Heather, quick eat this one, then I only have 13...whew!)

Yum! She discovered the treasure.

Please be careful! I'm not sure that tepee is as secure as the Nez Perce! (Yeah, we learned about them last week)

Oh, yeah, and a birthday party for two very important people, Savannah and her cousin, Corban. Birthdays in our family (with our children, that is) last for at least a week, what with going out to celebrate, family celebrations and friend celebrations. We are glad that person was born, dangit!

I just threw this pic in to show we were there.

My (I mean OUR) Geography Puzzle

2011-04-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

I found out about a cool online store called http://www.timberdoodle.com/ I'd heard they had some cool stuff for preschoolers, and others. I noticed they sell complete curriculum kits by grade, none of their own stuff, because they don't make any products, just bundles of what they think are good products.

I went through by grade, looking for my kids and saw that I actually had acquired on my own, throughout this last year, a lot of things they sell. Kinda funny to me. Pat on the back. I noticed that one of their products was a 600 piece geography puzzle of the world.

Rebecca and I started putting it together (since it's suggested for 5th grade). There were so many TINY pieces. Not your typical puzzle with all the weird shapes. But it took me, I mean US, an afternoon to get it all together. And in the process, of course, we lost ONE piece!

Anyway, here is the finished product. Yay Me! I mean, US. Ok, ok, she did do Africa, which was by no means a simple project ;)

valiant effort

2011-04-25T13:07:00.000-05:00

In a valiant effort to photograph some girl cousins, this is what I got:

The original 7

down by 2

down 2 more...oh, wait, these are just my girls

another attempt

down 1...show me your teeth!

Get back there!

hmmm.

uh....

And...........that's a wrap! I seriously laughed through the whole escapade. Just keepin' it real.

Conference April 2011 Highlights

2011-04-03T21:49:00.001-05:00

Oh, man, I learned so so much. Here are some quotes, some paraphrased.

"Teach children to be examples of the believers" and "The greatest joy we receive in this life is following the Savior" Perry

"Pain brings you to humility (physical and spiritual pain). Christ suffered to understand this. We try to understand him" Richards

"You get surplus by spending less than you earn." Eyring

I loved Elder Packer's talk. He mentioned again that we are Latter-Day Saints and people who don't think we are christian either don't know us or misunderstand. He went on to talk about not being offended. To leave it alone, and that Latter-Day Saints are ordinary people and ordinary families.

"We live to die, and die to live again." "Be prepared to meet God." "Teach your children to have great faith....Obedience allows God's blessings to flow to his children....Overcome fear. Face the future wtih faith." Nelson

"Desires dictate priorities." "What we will desire is what we will become and get in eternity." Oaks

"If we are thinking only of ourselves, we will miss some of the most profound experiences of our lives." "Become the answer to someone's prayer and we can become the answer of our own." ""Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe." Uchtdorf

In the last judgement, you won't be judged on what you do, but what you have become. "Don't resist the things that help you put on your divine nature." Chrstofferson

Tithing--"it's not a matter of money, it's a matter of faith." Pratt

"To do without to be is hypocrisy. To be without to do is to be devoid." We shouldn't have to do lists, we should have to be lists. Robbins

You can watch the April 2011 General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at http://www.lds.org/

Princess Bella

2011-04-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

I love this girl. She makes me crazy sometimes, but she makes up for it in awesomeness :)

Dry Ice Chemistry

2011-04-02T19:08:00.001-05:00

Ed brought home some dry ice from work and explained CO2 to the kids. Fun stuff.

And I listened to it pop for hours afterwards, reminding myself that it was unflavored soda water....not so yummy.

Home Management

2011-03-28T22:10:00.000-05:00

I recently become acquainted with more people doing the Thomas Jefferson Education Model. So I revisited the book, and skipped to the Home Companion book. FINALLY, my questions were answered. I had a hard time putting it together with reading just the first book, but the "how to" for me was in the third book, which I just opened last week.

I was pleased to see that I actually already do a lot of the things mentioned, because I feel it is a lot of a classical education, and similar, yet different, from "The Well-Trained Mind". Yay me!

I was also soaking in the "how to's" of home management. Yes!

So, with all these great ideas and realistic ways for me to actually APPLY some home management skills, I was super excited.

The one implemented today: I made a "chore" chart, but not a typical one. I made "in" and "out" pockets. The chores were "tickets". And we have a "child of the day". So, the "child of the day" gets to say all the prayers (no more bickering over whose turn it is), sit wherever they want to in the van, get to choose the first chores, be the first to practice piano, etc. There are "A" chores and "B" chores, but you have to have 4. 2 "Bs" = 4 "As". When the chore is finished you place it in the "out" pocket.

My kids LOVED this. Rebecca actually did ALL her school work, cleaned her room and morning chores, did her "pocket" chores, and was bathed and ready for bed before anyone else so she got free time!

Jon always does what I tell him, or what I expect of him. He just goes with the flow. And he did his chores.

Savannah will still need to get the hang of it.

But it was soo nice to have help!

We also re-visited nightly book reading. We are consistent on the reading part, but not nightly reading. I've read how what you do in the evening hours really prepares everyone for the next day's activities. So we are going to try to do that more. Interestingly, we are all going to bed earlier (at least tonight, which is why I had time to blog).

The next thing I want to implement better and more often, are to actually have our anticipated, talked about parent/child interviews every week. We will also start a "mentor meeting" once a month with each child, give them a planner and teach them how to keep track of their lessons.

There are so many more things mentioned. I can tell that our family will run a LOT more smoothly as we implement more of the ideas in the TJ Ed Home Companion book.

One thing (maybe 3) at a time. Developing habits.

I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

2011-03-16T15:28:00.003-05:00

"I I know who I am. I know God's plan. I'll follow him in faith. I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ. I'll honor his name. I'll do what is right; I'll follow his light. his truth I will proclaim."

http://jesuschrist.lds.org/SonOfGod/eng/testimonies-of-him/articles/we-testify-of-jesus-christ

Valentine's parties

2011-02-16T21:10:00.000-06:00

I am so blessed to be in a fun homeschool group. With over 200 families, there's always something fun to do. The teen club is amazing with all of their many, many activities (athletics, speech and debate, music clubs are amazing). The preschool group is so fun with their playdates. The "gap" kids, 8-12, have their own thing going on. The girl and cub scouts have been a good fit for our family.

This past weekend (well, Friday, Monday, Tuesday) we participated in THREE HUGE VALENTINE'S parties, and one amazing Tea Party! One was for the whole group. One was for the gap kids. One was for preschool. One was for Girl Scouts. Needless to say, my kids had PLENTY of Valentine's to oo and ah over, and I guess the trend is to give candy with those Valentine's now, too. So we were loaded up on sweets also.

Here's Jon and one of his good buddies at the first party.

And Ed and Bella at the same party. I love it when he's able to be with us!

And at the tea party is Rebecca and her good friend making new friends!

And Savannah sporting "heart" hair (the heart is shown upside down...work with me here.)

And Savannah with her good friend.

BUT, I don't have any of the super cool preschool party, or the gap kids playing board game party :( But they were good times.

Our Valentine's Day was filled with fun and a yummy dinner to end it all.

Factory made in 1992

2011-02-15T18:22:00.001-06:00

After I watched this I had some thoughts. First, I realized I was manufactured in 1992 and I'm still upset that I only felt comfortable around people my own age until I went on my mission at 21.

Second, it's sad to know that we are only getting our children through education by anesthetizing them. We should be waking them up to what is inside of themselves. Like the lady who choreographed "Cats" and "Phantom". They thought she was a problem child and needed meds. Turns out, she just needed to move her body.

Today was so nice out. I let Jonathan play scooter, bike, skateboard, scooter, bike skateboard...for 4 hours. I guess he needed to move his body ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

The educational paradigm is shifting. I wish I knew more where to turn. I'll continue turning to the Lord and hope I'm doing as he would see fit, considering he is letting me raise his children. I'm sure we both want to see them do great things in life.

What were your thoughts after watching the video by Ken Robinson?

Spring (slap) happy

2011-02-13T17:37:00.000-06:00

The weather warms up, the sun comes out, spring is in the air, though we expect some cold fronts and warm fronts to wrestle the next month, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's made me see the dust accumulated on my computer desk, ceiling fans and picture frames. Time to dust.

It makes me re-evaluate the lighting in my home. Well, maybe not the lighting, maybe it's the paint. I'm up for any ideas. I have only 2 windows in my front room that let in light, and the walls are a dark tan, but so is my couch, so, I will be searching for ideas these next few days.

I haven't given up the idea on the executive home again, with some acreage and a pond, an inground pool and pool table, but the longer we are here, the more we are settled and I don't want to move. So maybe put in a pool here? If that's possible. If not, we'll have to move ;)

Maybe some new flooring? And how are we going to organize school? Maybe put everything in the basement? The wheels are spinning in my brain. Change is coming....

The Virgin Queen

2011-02-07T20:55:00.001-06:00

Last week we studied about Queen Elizabeth I. I was so excited to see the lights go on in Jon's brain today as he realized (as we sang "Fifty Nifty United States") that Virginia was actually in the United States! He knew that Sir Walter Raleigh named Virginia after the virgin queen, affectionately known as "Good Queen Bess" i.e Queen Elizabeth. The light bulb was that even though she ruled in England, Virginia was in America and Raleigh was the explorer, uh, sort of. I mean, I guess he was the organizer for the exploration. I loved seeing him get the connection :)

On a side note, on the way home from dinner tonight (yes, we ate out again; long day) Bella kept yelling "Mom!" I'd say "What" or "Yes" and the first time she said "I wub oo" "I love you too" "BYE!" "Bye".
And again, "Mom", "What?" "BYE" repeated with laughter over and over all the way home.

My kids make me smile.

And my curriculum moment, of course:

Yesterday, I FINALLY figured out how my Edu-Track software works and it's sooo AMAZING! It was a pain getting it started, but then last night I was able to put all this week's assignments in and it printed me a "report" i.e. weekly schedule, for the kids to check off when they've completed what's on it. It includes not only school work, but scouts, piano, tkd, etc. So cool. And it keeps track of all my hours, which I know will be formulated correctly because it's a computer doing the calculations ;)

Then today I received my Atelier art program in the mail. I LOVE it! I'm going to be able to teach art! I'm so excited! This was just what I needed to get them doing some cool art projects, besides the crafty stuff we do, like Valentine's boxes today (which they loved, of course). Drawing/painting.

Things I'm thinking about today

2011-02-04T17:24:00.000-06:00

Get school done so we could go ice skating. Or rather, so the three older kids could go ice skating and mom could get out of the house for a bit.

Wish the kids colds would be over. Yes, we went ice skating even though Savannah and Bella have colds. Bella is much better, Savannah has a runny nose and Jon's allergies have been crazy this week. I know, I'm a terrible mother taking my kids out with colds. Oh well.

Too bad. We went ice skating. Which they always enjoy and ask, why do we always have to leave at 1?

Ran by to get Ed's sunglasses at Pizza Hut. Yes, we went to Pizza Hut for lunch yesterday so the kids could use their Book It pizza coupons. 4 of us had buffet, while Jon and Becca waited, and waited and waited for their pizzas, only to find out they never were made. They gave them a free pizza bar and made the pizzas to take home. BUT, Ed left his sunglasses. That man cannot seem to keep sun glasses.

Then I ran by to see how much I could get for a trade in on the van, thinking an Expedition XLong would be fabulous after test driving one a month ago. They wouldn't give me a price until I was ready to negotiate...hmmm.

We watched Guardians of Ga'Hoole last night. Of course, most movies are different from the books, but it was entertaining. Movie nights are always fabulous in our movie room/basement on the big screen. The basement is a mess.

And the toilets need to be cleaned. Along with laundry, again.

I haven't made dinner much this week. I did make an eggplant/beef casserole type thing, that resembled spaghetti sauce. I know it doesn't sound too appetizing, but it was actually really good! The kids didn't like it, but I needed to fix the eggplant, reminding myself not to buy it anymore because the only one who ever eats it is me, and Ed does out of guilt. But I actually really liked it. I'd shredded the eggplant so the kids wouldn't know. Of course, they rarely eat anything I make anyway. Tacos are a constant for them. Mexican is a constant food for our family. In fact, Ed just texted me that Mexican sounds good...which translates to, let's go out to eat...again. But that does not mean I'm a bad cook, just didn't have a plan for today.... I've realized I make great dinners when I plan at least the night before. That way, after I make breakfast and am in cooking mode, I can throw something in a crock pot, or get whatever I need ready for later. I cook once, maybe twice a day, even though we eat 3 solid meals with snacks throughout the day...all 5 sometimes 6 of us.

I'm thinking about a new food plan I'm going to try. I have a health coach now, and am getting some special food for breakfast/lunch/snacks and dessert, while I get to eat lean protein and veggies with my family at dinner. It'll be great. I love eating dinner with my family. Breakfast and lunch I don't care as much about. My friend lost 9 inches since Thanksgiving, so I though I'd try it.

School was forced today, even I didn't care for it. BUT, Jon and Bec had reading and math done before ice skating. And they did it while I worked out, so I know they didn't need me, which clears my view to see how independent they really can be when properly motivated. I did chemistry and English with Bec after ice skating, but anything afterwards is always hard.

I find myself constantly thinking about what to have my kids do next. What more "work" can I give them. What do we need to learn about today. That's the problem with curriculum. Sometimes I feel like I have to follow and get through the curriculum, when they'd rather be doing something else, their own learning. Jon's been building legos since we got back from ice skating. Becca is just advancing so quick I find I have to keep giving her things to learn. But then she gets frustrated when she doesn't get it. I'm working on building her confidence instead of her feeling stupid. It's a work in progress. So, thinking about school happens 24/7. Yesterday I bought an art program. I've been neglecting that area of school. It's called Atelier Art. I hope it's all it's supposed to be. Sounds good, though. School's always a work (or just work) in progress.

I've been eating too much chocolate. I've got cancurs in my mouth now. That's what snow days do to you, I guess.

I registered Rebecca for instructional volleyball today. I hope it's fun for her. Hopefully some other girls from our homeschool group will do it too. I may end up coaching, which is fine too, but I've not volunteered yet.

And my heart was overjoyed as I listened to Savannah read today. Makes my heart happy that she is learning to put her letters and sounds together. :)

Blizzard aftermath

2011-02-02T14:00:00.000-06:00

Seriously, what would I do without internet on a snow day. I've actually been able to post a few things! I'm so glad my electric and phone work, despite the blizzard we had yesterday.

When we woke up this morning the furnace wasn't working. It was trying to, but only for a few seconds. Fortunately, it was only 63, but we were cold! The kids have space heaters in their rooms, so I wasn't worried about them, until I found out Rebecca hadn't turned hers on. Oh well.

Ed looked in the instructor's manual (a rare occurrence), and he actually figured out that the exhaust for the furnace must be blocked outside by snow, and that it had an automatic shut off. So he removed it and reset the furnace. :) Yay. heat. I was a teensy bit worried about having to use space heaters the rest of the day and night while he was at the hospital. Thank goodness that wasn't the case. He amazes me *sigh*

Then he went to work shovelling the drive way at 7am. I let him shovel. I know. I should have gotten out of bed and helped, but I was cold, and the blankets were comfy, and I was going to do it later, when he was at work *wink* No, really, I was. As it turns out, all roads were snow plowed, except cul-de-sacs. He contemplated driving in the 2 ft of snow 300 yards to the street that was plowed. But we really didn't think that would be a good idea. He got ancy, and was ready to start shovelling the road. I was like, just relax. By the time you get shovelled space for 2 tires the snow plow will be here.

And it did come, eventually, at noon. But hey, it came. And now we have mountains of snow, and the road is actually melting really fast!

Here's a pic of my neighbor's house. The snow plow actually plowed snow over their drive way, and other neighbors' too. I think he must have respected us for the fact that our drive way was clear, just waiting to get out, because he did not block our drive with snow.

This is our house. It's kind of hard to tell, but it's about 2.5 ft high. That may not be high for some, but it was plenty high for us. But as you can see by the drive, it's melting pretty quick.

Here Jonathan and Rebecca are playing with a neighbor. Jon's on the left.

Jonathan riding the snow bank.

And Savannah. What do you do when you're sick on a snow day? Yeah, me too. Watch tv that is. In this case, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". Well, that kind of goes with cloudy and a chance of blizzard ;)

We have it good though, living in town. Makes me rethink my desire for country living. (but not that much).

Snow School Day

2011-02-01T17:26:00.001-06:00

We've had a few snow days this year, (and it started in Dec for Christmas). But for us, school goes on, which I think is fabulous, because then I don't feel so guilty missing "school" inside for "school" outside when the weather is much warmer.

We have traditional school days where the kids do some reading, writing, grammar, spelling, handwriting, math, phonics, critical thinking, map work. We also do history/geography/science together (well, mostly together; sometimes we lose Savannah to Barbies).

Some days we paint. Most days we color. Some days we do legos. We play games (most recently we taught the kids how to play Settlers and DaVionci's Challenge).

Sometimes school is jump start on the computer (the exception, not the rule). I love that we have a treadmill, just in case someone needs to burn off excess energy, or frustration.

I'm always trying to find the balance between curriculum and unschooling. I believe in both. :)

Recently, I'm going to count our watching of "Anne of Green Gables, and "The Sequel" for school. It is like a classic come to life. I mean, some books are made into movies, but the dialogue is so wonderful!

Here's what our day looked like today, on a "snow" day.

Language Arts, maps, reading, phonics, writing...and coloring (for Bella)

Meanwhile, Savannah played legos independently, building a magnificent tower.

Ed helps Rebecca build Lego Kingdom. We studied Queen Elizabeth today, whom she really liked much more then Bloody Mary. She pretended to have the evil Philip II of Spain kill William the Silent who won the war for the Dutch against Philip II, but then Philip had William killed, of course. Yeah. Middle Ages.

Ed also helped Jonathan build his Lego airplane. Lots of pride and joy in that project. Now, if it will only stay together....

The Year

2011-02-01T16:55:00.001-06:00

When you homeschool your children you realize how stupid you are, or how your education really LACKED, or maybe you just don't remember because pregnancy left you brain dead. At any rate, I'd never heard this Mother Goose rhyme until I was teaching Jonathan Grammar, using First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind ;) And now that I know it, I find it is dead on, couldn't be more correct. And thank goodness we had that internal drain and sump pump put in!

But for this month, January rings true!

January brings the snow,
Makes our feet and fingers glow.

February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again.

March brings breezes loud and shrill,
Stirs the dancing daffodil.

April brings the primrose sweet,
Scatters daisies at our feet.

May brings flocks of pretty lambs,
Skipping by their fleecy dams.

June brings tulips, lilies, roses,
Fills the children's hands with posies.

Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots and gillyflowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit,
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasant,
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire and Christmas treat.

Oh January...and February too, for that matter, because you know this is all going to melt and make my sump pump work overtime. This one is taken from my garage, looking down the drive into the cul-de-sac. I opened the garage door and realized I would need to close it quickly.

The driveway, that I'd helped Ed shovel a few hours earlier so he could make it up the driveway. After Jon and I prayed, he made it up. Amazing, the power of prayer. What a great example for my son :)

The front yard. You just can't see the drifts that have locked us in. We can't get out the front door.

But this too, will pass. And I'm soo amazed that we are actually prepared for something like this! We still need to work on our food storage, but we are good for a good while and don't need to go anywhere! Anywhere we would go is cancelled anyway. And this really doesn't affect our school day. (see next (newer) post)

2011-01-31T19:00:00.000-06:00

Today was a great school day. In fact, a lot of days are productive school days, even if it does take awhile to get "everything" done. I've learned that if I can get language and math done first, the rest is pretty easy. I've even found time to school Savannah! Which has been tricky because she is at a completely different level, but it's an easy level, thank goodness.

I've been trying really hard to not stress about things (school) too much or take things (school) too extremely serious. I've been focusing on Rebecca as she has hit a love of learning age and is interested in so much. Jonathan is faithful getting up and on his own getting his stuff done.

School occupies my thoughts...a lot. But I love it! At least it gives me something productive to think about. I find myself not thinking about myself as much, but my kids an awful lot.

One thing I do think about is a bigger home. When we bought this I was a "never ever going to homeschool" person. Things have changed and I wish we had a little bit more space. I read an article this week though, about being content. So, I'm seeing how that fits me. We will see.

Another thing I think about is friendships. I actually think about this a LOT. One of my best friends moved away and I realize that excellent friendships take time and trust to develop. The older I get, the harder it is. But I have gotten to know some wonderful women and hope to have some great friendships in the future.

Savannah just asked me to come hold her while we watch "Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel". I can't say no, so off I go...

Poor baby

2011-01-29T19:18:00.000-06:00

She is so sick. She's been sick for 4 days with a fever and just not feeling well. She threw up once, but it's hard to say if it was stomach upset or a coughing gag. The doctor gave us an antibiotic, just to make sure, but it seems pretty viral. The antibiotic is not doing anything that we can see....

A friend asked me if her eyes were goopy. Nope. But then i came home and they were swollen red. A few hours later they were goopy. Like pink eye. I called the friend, whose kids had all had it. She said it was just a viral cold and nothing worked. Ten days later they were better.

*sigh* Poor baby :( It's like having a newborn who needs to be held constantly. At least I don't mind that part so much. It makes me slow down and appreciate.

MMO

2011-01-29T11:51:00.000-06:00

Last night we went on a much needed date (they are all much needed; it's nice to get some adult time) to a work party and it was sooo fun! I met some of the new people and got to know some of the wives a little bit better. Ed really likes his job. I'm really happy for him. We've always tossed around the idea of moving here and there, kind of nomadic, the joys of travelling. But he really likes his job, and that's really important! So now our stay here is evolving into a permanency thing (at least attitude, because you really never know what the future holds).

In the meantime, I'm loving our homeschool group. I've met so many great people, and my children are making friends with GOOD KIDS who have great parents! So, where Ed is happy at work, mom and the kids are finding joy in their community.

Our homeschool group has started a Mom's Morning Out one Saturday morning a month at Panera Bread. I've gone a few times and it's always so great! It's so nice having that support system of good women that have similar goals as you do. In fact, I think it is detrimental. It is a big, big deal. At least for me. I'm sure there are moms who don't need so much social time, but I love any time I get to socialize with such great mothers. One thing I've learned homeschooling, that I didn't expect, was not socialization necessary for kids, but for me! I feel like I've made so many great, new friends and that makes me so happy. And to be friends with a seasoned homeschooler is so great because they've been where you are and have all kinds of ideas/advice, etc. :)

The Help

2011-01-14T22:34:00.001-06:00

I love it when I read a book that makes me
1. need to read a little slower to understand (you can't skim or you miss something) and
2. ponder the next few days about the moral of the story.

Some books you just read for entertainment and fun. Others make you pause and think. I can think of a few that I've read in the last couple of years that have left an impression.

Pride and Prejudice (but that's why classics are classics, right? You have to read a little slower, and there's a strong moral to the story.
Hunger Games series
Graceling and Fire
Host
I just finished reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

It took me to an era I didn't live in, and was never taught much about.
It opened my eyes to life today and how we got to where we are.
It also helped me to have a much greater appreciation for life in the south during the civil rights movement and the different backgrounds we all come from.

Hats off Kathryn Stockett for a job well-done.

Which curriculum?

2011-01-12T20:43:00.000-06:00

I've been using 2 curriculums with my children this school year and it's been wearing me out. I like stuff from one, and stuff from another. They have different strengths and weaknesses so combined I thought it was great! But a lot. Then last week, we were talking about something we'd studied in history last semester and they kids didn't even remember it. That's when I just decided, whatever. I'm just going to pick one and use that. They will pick things up as they get older, because they are going to forget everything anyway. I guess that's why every school year there is more repetition, just building on what you learned the year before.

I've been using Sonlight, sort of. I had a hodge podge of different things I was doing, pulling stuff together, but consistently using their readers. But not their language arts because I'd heard it was weak. But then a friend says, "But isn't that why Sonlight's supposed to be good, is because they combine their language arts as a follow up to the readers the kids are reading?"

So, while I've been using another grammar program, I decided to order the Language arts from Sonlight for both kids. It arrived yesterday. I had to have them start not quite half way into it, but where I felt they were. Today was the first day, and it was great. I've been doing soooo much, it was nice to say, this is your assignment. When it was done, it was done. I tend to think of more things for them to do.

Rebecca was done quickly, and independently, which left me a long time to work with Jonathan. He is really progressing in his reading and phonics, but writing has been hard. I know that's pretty normal for boys. The Language Arts is going to be more writing then I've been doing (which is not much at all) and it does go along with their readers, so it makes sense to them.

So I'm going to embrace the whole Sonlight program for the last half of this year and see how it goes. Right now, I'm thinking a load is going to be lifted off my back in stressing about what we're going to do and getting it all in. This is freeing up time to play and be creative in a lot of other things. AND I actually had time to be with Savannah, who is really starting to read!

One thing I've noticed about me is that I need a balance of curriculum verses unschooling. I think both definitely have their place. I'd been getting frustrated because with all our "curriculum" we never had time to do anything else! Today we were done fairly early and Jonathan asked if he could do something. I said, "Well, we're done with school, so do whatever you want!" To this he shockingly replied, "We're done with school?" :)

I've heard people say, I really like the idea of Sonlight, but then it's hard for them to get it going. I can say it's definitely been a work in progress as I've discovered more my teaching style and where my kids are at and what they like, and EMBRACED the program, doing what the Instructor's Guide tells me to, not my own agenda (which stressed everyone out). I was not even utilizing half of the things they were saying to do with geography, time lines, vocabulary, etc.

I love that I can look at it as a guide though and taylor things to our needs. For example, it is a very Christian approach, which I appreciate, and at the same time try not to make it too over the top. By that I mean, we go to church every Sunday, Wednesday activities, have devotions every morning and family home evening once a week, not to mention reading our scriptures everyday. Adding some of the books about geography and all the missions is great for some, but almost overkill for us, since we talk about stuff all the time. But, I enjoy focusing on a country and learning about it, sometimes adding the mission part, sometimes leaving it out. Depends on the mood of the day.

But as a whole, I'm rejuvinated. AND, I've been fitting in my hour long workouts on the elliptical with my hour long book read for the last 3 weeks! Nice...for the whole family.

We recently wrapped our first year of homeschooling, so here's to a great 2nd!

Here's to simplicity and less stress!

New Year!

2011-01-08T21:19:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions for a month now. My gift to Jesus this year is to be more fiscally responsible. So far, so good ;) We had such a splendid holiday. It lasted 3 weeks. I now understand why so many homeschoolers take the month of December off. There are so many fun things to do, and it's so hard to concentrate. It's like Spring fever, only it's Christmas fever.

We studied half of the 12 days of Christmas, and gave up on the rest mid way through December.
We went to Branson and got all Christmased up looking at lights, and Santa.

We watched Savannah's dance recital.

We made gingerbread houses.

We had a blessed, fun and white Christmas!

Forget the toys, let's play in the snow!

The next day we had a great Duree Family Christmas party. The kids made gingerbread trees; we sang carols; we had a little talent/share time; Grandma read the grandkids a Christmas book (her tradition); we ate lots of good food :) and loved the good company!

Grandma and Papa Duree

Cousins

Cousins after the story

This is one of my favorite pics! The men.

Grammy Horton! We were so blessed to have her with us this year for Christmas!

Bella sportin' her new "Christmas Sweater" from Grandma's Christmas read this year, "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck

We ushered in the New Year with family and friends, and had so much fun we think we will do it again!

After a nap.

Merry Christmas from the Hortons! God Bless us, every one

2010-12-20T10:48:00.001-06:00

Season's Greetings to our family and friends!

This last week we had the opportunity to enjoy "A Christmas Carol" production at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. It was so well done; one of the best live Christmas productions we've seen. The kids even enjoyed it. Of course, Tiny Tim is always the one that warms your heart in his sincere wish "God Bless Us, Every One."

So it is, from the Hortons to our friends and family. We wish you health, happiness and a surety knowing that you are a child of God and he is aware of you. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins so that we could return to live again with him. We are grateful for this knowledge, for his sacrifice, for his love and peace.

We hope you feel his love this holiday season as we all remember the birth of our Savior. We are grateful for the mother, pure and willing to accept the noble call and roll of motherhood to the Son of God, and for Joseph, who was her support and comfort. For the prophets who foretold of his coming and for those who still testify of him.

He has blessed us abundantly this year in our many travels and home life.

We have had opportunities to visit many states: Ar, Ga, Sc, Fl, and Tx to name a few. We continue to homeschool our children, enjoying the freedom it allows our family. We have been on many field trips and participated in our homeschool co-op. The children have excelled in their studies and made good friends along the way.

One of the highlights of our year was our vacation to Disneyworld! We ALL loved that so much, we've decided to go again in a couple of years. We had a fabulous lake summer and we became a Tae Kwon Do family.

Individually he as blessed us:

Ed-- Serves in church by co-teaching a "Strengthening Marriage and Family Relations" class; called to the Elders' Quorum presidency, TKD, avid reader, works hard at the hospital, continued to explore his culinary side by purchasing a wheat grinder and learned how to make bread; continues to bless Jennifer's life.

Jennifer--Serves in church also Co-teacheing "Strengthening Marriage and Family Relations" class (hmmm), avid reader, works hard managing a household and school trying to be organized and keep up with the calendar of events, still has 5 quilts to finish that she purchased in Feb; continues to bless Ed's life.

Rebecca--loves American Girl, fashion, Girl Scouts, piano, friends, avid reader, big helper, babysitter, playmate, searches for ways to earn money, cheerful, super friendly; continues to bless our family with her talents.

Jonathan--Geo tracks, Thomas tracks, hot wheels, Cub Scouts, piano; loves math and learning new things; helps with Bella, good fisherman, very responsible, tries super hard to choose the right; continues to bless our family with the song in his heart and his love.

Savannah--DANCE, piano, baby dolls, ice skates, loves to write, creative, fun, funny; blesses us with her sense of humor.

Bella--Love, baby dolls, keeps up with the big kids, best friend is Sammy, likes to draw; cuddler; blesses us with her love.

We'd like to leave with you our testimonies that the Lord lives. He is our Savior and Redeemer. We celebrate this time because of him. We give because of him. We help others and have a heightened sense of love in our hearts as we remember him.

May his love, comfort and peace bless you and yours this holiday season!

Love, Ed, Jennifer, Becca, Jon, Savannah, Bella

Bella turns 2!

2010-12-05T16:29:00.000-06:00

It seems like yesterday she was born. I remember it well. She's been such a b-a-b-y for the last 2 years. Lately, however, she's been showing us that she is not a baby so much anymore...or is she. She can be the sweetest little thing, and yet has reminded us that she has hit the TTs (terrible twos) early, in fact, compared to her siblings who were late in that area. (We had the terrible threes with them.)

A Horton birthday wouldn't be complete without a week's worth of celebrating. We started the occassion the day after Thanksgiving, celebrating with family the soon to be 2 year old.

After that party, it kind of went to the back of our minds. However, the other children were quick to remind us on Saturday that her birthday was indeed that day.
We went to Pizza Hut for lunch and played at the mall all afternoon. We finished celebrating with a big cookie, instead of cake this time. She actually blew out one candle!

Afterwards, of course, she was exhausted. Ok, and so was dad. (Incriminating, I know)

First Tournament

2010-11-23T19:53:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday we went to our first Tae Kwon Do tournament in Kansas City. We had soo much fun!

At the tournament, it was a bit crazy getting there and registered and figuring out where we were supposed to go. But once we figured it out, it was no big deal. And even fun!

The kids were actually just finishing their orange belts, but went registered as camo so that they could spar. You have to be camo to black belt to spar. They did really good! And they really liked it.

Jon went first. They put them in groups for age, belt rank and size. I kind of thought, later, that it would have been great for him to just compete orange belt. He probably would have placed then. As it was, he was the lowest ranking belt, but the experience was good for him. Now he knows what to expect next time. He got to spar and did awesome.

Rebecca amazed me! She's such a small, quiet girl. She did her form really well. Then when they went to spar, she was a firecracker! Punch, punch, punch, kick, kick; before they even knew what happened! And she liked it? She was actually really good at it and took third! Go Becca!

But unfortunately, I don't have any TKD pics of her yet. But here she is picking cotton!

And Savannah was really young for it, but had a fun time and she brought home the trophy! (the older 2 got medals, but the Tiny Tigers got trophies!) The kids couldn't believe she got a trophy.

When we went to our next class, Savannah received all her gear for sparring and sparred the first time last night. She loved it! She said she was so excited to "fight". Huh? But she looked so dang cute in her stuff. And little too.

Of course, here's the leader of the pack. He had a good time too. :)

I'm happy for my children and our family. I'm happy they have found something that they ALL like! And we can do together as a family. And it's fun!

We made it a mini vacation, visiting Union Station's, Science City, American Girl and we even saw Santa! He wished us a Happy Thanksgiving.

November Field Trips

2010-11-17T17:55:00.001-06:00

We seem to be going on lots of field trips this month. And every month, I guess. Seems like we are always doing something and busy. Nights and Saturdays off are soooo nice. Because they don't happen often.

We are scheduled.

This month we had fun at the St. Louis Magic House. I didn't have my camera...dang it! But we had so much fun. It was twice as big as it was a few years ago when we went, and since that was like 3 years ago, they'd pretty much forgotten everything that was there. We spent over 4 hours there.

We also went to our local airport. They learned all about wind patterns and different types of planes. Of course, it's just plain fun being on an air field. At the end they were given some toy airplanes and had airplane races, remembering to throw "into" the wind.

The girls pose with Lisa, a good friend of mine. My kids just love her.

Bella flying her plane.

We also went to Petco on a field trip. It was like going to a petting zoo...kinda. The snake and turtles were the highlights, especially when the turtle pooped on the floor. :)

We were amazingly blessed with a babysitter i.e. grandpa, so Ed and I could take Jon and Becca to see the 5 Browns in concert at the university. They loved it! So did we.

We rediscovered the conservation center and took the kids to their first Kids' club activity last night. They made 3 different bird feeders and were so excited to put them up and learn more about birds today. Of course, we had to put them up high because last time the neighbors' dogs came and ate them and took them back to their house.

We've also gone ice skating and on play dates, not to mention Girl/Cub scouts. Whew!

And we are only half way through the month. However, I'm seriously hoping it slows down a bit. But it probably won't ;)

October favorites

2010-11-17T16:49:00.000-06:00

How sweet is that? I love it. The best part is...it happens all the time.

Of course, Halloween is THE October favorite pastime. This was at church where I, ME!, actually won the chili contest! I was sooo excited! I won an apron, a hat and a jar of candy! The funny part is my brother won at his church too! Completely different recipes. ;)

And cute as a bug, er, I mean, Snow White.

This is a pic from her view...just in case you forgot what the world looked like when you were that small.

Some other favorite activities this month included a visit to Mizzou's agricultural farm where we went through a corn maze, a tractor ride and pumpkin patch. Here's Bec with a friend searching endlessly for the perfect pumpkin.

I started decorating for fall Oct. 1. That's going to be my new resolve as I will forever try to keep summer in my heart until at least then.

But I do enjoy the colors. And entirely appropriate for a month.

Christmas lights

2010-11-08T20:29:00.000-06:00

Every year we seem to miss putting our Christmas lights up a week late of good weather and into the cold. This year we beat it.

I don't have pics yet because we got a new computer and I'm trying to figure things out and have to reorganize some things...a pain. At the same time, our new computer is awesome and makes our new old one seem ancient, even though it's only 2 years old. So bear with me on the pics. Soon.

Arthur who?

2010-11-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

I recently acquired some fun books for Savannah. One of them was a riddle/joke book. The joke was:

Knock knock
Who's there?
Arthur
Arthur who?
Arthur any cookies left?

And I add, or Butterfingers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, taffy, homemade rolls. You know, the good stuff.

While my sister in law facebooks "You're worth more than that piece of candy" I'm like, yeah, but it's sure good.

At least in my mind it's good.

Is it really good?

Yeah. Good for me? Maybe not.

I was so excited to be done having babies and to get my body back.

HAHAHA! yeah, right.

I mean, I was excited, but now that it's come to the real time, I find myself completely unmotivated. Which is really unlike me. I've worked out my whole life. It's driven me. I've been obsessed with it. I may not look like it now, or maybe I never even have; nonetheless, it's true. I'd devoted my life to diet and exercise, whether or not I cheated. I did it. And did it. And did it some more. And motivated Ed. And my children. We P90xd it. We ran the track. We've done Biggest Loser DVDs. Body For Life. Liquid diets from a hospital, Hcg, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig.

And I was so excited and motivated again to get my body back, and now I find, for some unknown reason to me, I find myself tired, unmotivated, tired, unmotivated, don't care, whatever, I'll just get fat. I'm tired of fighting it. 20 years is a long time to be in a battle.

Oh you skinny people will never understand, even if you felt fat because you were pregnant, you had your baby and you are skinny again. Lucky you.

Variety is the spice of life, I guess.

So, here I am, tired; tired of dieting, tired of thinking about it, tired of exercising my butt of when it's not coming off.

Maybe this is a phase of life new to me. Perhaps I will get my groove back some day. Maybe soon, maybe later.

Maybe when my kids can work out with me without me having to watch to make sure they don't run into someone on the track. Or they're old enough to use the treadmill or elliptical without getting hurt, or hurting someone else.

Maybe if I had more time and wasn't homeschooling. It sure takes up a lot of time.

But I love it.

And I do love to exercise.

Someday it will come back into my life. I'm sure of it. Just not this week.

BBC

2010-10-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

I'm really going to tone it down on mom's overscheduled calendar...REALLY! And TRULY! I really am. I know, seeing is believing.

Soccer is over. :) But it was fun, despite the schedule. We were approached at Tae Kwon Do to be in the black belt club, which guarantees black belt in 2 years. We are supposed to sign this 2 year contract with ATA, which can be transferred or cancelled to any ATA in the country if we happened to moved, otherwise it's an obligatory contract for 2 years.

The commitment kind of scares me, but the kids and Ed are so excited! I am just dumbfounded that we are becoming a martial arts family! Never occurred to me that that would be real.

But they are getting pretty good at it. And I'm floored at how much my girls love it :)

But it's cool.

And I'm glad.

So that's it. That is going to be our thing for the next 2 years. And I'm good with that.

Geography centers

2010-10-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

I found a book at a classroom store called "Know your states" geography centers. Rebecca likes this kind of stuff. It's a break from the norm of schooling, so that's always fun. I finally got all the pages laminated and am on my way to making individual folders for each section.

It feels like it's been a bit of work, but only because I had to read the directions and put it together. It's not like it was hard to make copies and laminate pages. ;)

I hope it lasts for all 4 kids, darn it.

But by the time I've got these made it's too late to incorporate them today. I do still need to cut out and assemble the folders (and buy the folders too, I guess) But it's something to look forward to.

Today was a FABULOUS school day. No going anywhere. No interruptions. The kids actually got ALL of their stuff done! Math, English, reading, writing, history, science and piano!

It's a lot of me time when you've got 3 kids that need individual attention.

We did a bit more religion today. That always makes a difference. And the kids were really geared up to learn. (probably because we took so many blasted field trips last week)

We've also decided to just do Tae Kwon Do for the next couple of years. It is possible something else might sneak into that, but I hope not. I think I've overdone the overscheduling of mom. It's good to have "slow" time.

And that's why school went so great today: we had no other commitments. We could have gone on a walk, or to the library, or done a myriad of things, but we just stayed home. I like staying home. :)

Toning down and No more curricula?

2010-10-12T21:01:00.002-05:00

Maybe. The second half of October puts my mind at ease a little bit. It's half as busy somehow. Could be that the last soccer game is Saturday.

I'm really seeing the wisdom of decluttering my house and my schedule. I'm seeing the importance and necessity of staying home (with my kids). I'm starting to yearn for those snow days...cough cough cough...ok, maybe not snow days, but days of doing all sorts of learning at home together instead of running off somewhere.

I'm rethinking "curriculum". I've recently acquired some amazing books. "The Bookshelf for Boys and Girls", "My Book House", and 2 sets of Childcraft encyclopedias, one from 1947, one from 1960. All are so different and yet the same. They are written for children and include amazing "true" translation (well, at least closer to the original) of poems, Mother Goose, Fairy tales and other stories, biographies, information on art, music, science and so much more! I want to read these treasures with my children, and find myself stuck in curriculum mode. I'm starting to relax more, though, wondering how I can tweak my "guided" curriculum and add these gems that are so age appropriate and treasures of classics for my chidren.

I'm also excited because since I have four volume sets, I have one to pass down to each of my children. I'm in love with old books, especially as they become more rare and as we enter the digital age. I would love a Nook or an iPad, but it's hard to replace a real to goodness, heart warming, good book read in your comfy chair.

I'm really hoping that our Horton Prestige Academy figures out how to incorporate this into our school quickly and soon.

We are also working on having a specific day a week for Girl/Cub scouts. Not only does it help them earn badges but it teaches them so much and it's fun. I want to add a little bit more art (projects) and music (history). I'm also trying to listen and guide my children in the things they are interested in learning about. I keep thinking, I like to learn about what I'm interested in; they probably do too. As long as we've got this reading/writing/rithmetic thing going fine, why not venture out and learn what they want? I've got a guide, I tell myself, and it's ok to branch out. I mean, I want to play more games!! We definitely need more games (today they played "dice" and Jon was amazing at adding lots of numbers! and fast!)

Maybe I could do all this with no problem if we'd just quit going on field trips! Haha! But we LOVE field trips! Yesterday we went to a farm and learned about corn and soybeans and went through a corn maze and picked pumpkins. Then we played at a park for a few hours. It was beautiful weather and such a great time. Yes, that is the clincher. We go on tons of field trips. At least one a week. Sometimes more. Tomorrow we are going to Grant's Farm since we have to go to the city anyway. I'm sure we'll do some school on the drive. We always do. Yes, we are often "car-schoolers".

In the meantime, at home, I've got good stuff I'm doing and for the most part pleased. I guess it's just always a work in progress as we change and grow. And maybe a need to tone it down a bit more. We'll see.

TOO BUSY!

2010-10-03T19:17:00.000-05:00

And my husband says, "You scheduled it all".

What was I thinking! I mean, seriously! Tae Kwon Do, Soccer, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Piano, Dance, Activity Days, Speaktaculars, Coop, library, field trips, vacations, homeschooling and other random events. My calendar is crazy busy, like 2 or 3 activities every single day!!

And yet, I find myself with a free day and think, "Oh, what can we do that day?"

All right, I admit it. I have a problem.

I was originally paranoid about homeschooling the kids and their "lack of social" experiences that I went crazy nutso cuckoo birdie.

What was I thinking????

Ok. So, I really didn't know what to think, because I've never done this before. But I'd read others' experiences. Why could I just not listen!?! and learn and take the advise.

BECAUSE I'M STUBBORN. that's why.

So now we have a calendar full of events and activities. I mean, really full.

So what to cut out? It's not like any of those things are BAD.... And some of them are only once or twice a month.... And some of them are my favorites.... And some of them are Ed's favorites.... And some of them are the kids' favorites....

Sigh. Now that I've got that off my chest, I've seriously got to figure something out because I'm on emotional overload here with all these commitments. At the same time I think their fun! (Ok, something is really wrong with me. Maybe I really am ADD).

I can't cook when my counters are crowded and dirty. I can't think when my calendar is crowded. It overwhelms me.

There's also the day to day living that needs to be taken care of, i.e. cleaning of the home and people inside it...Oh yeah, and some sort of learning. (Fortunately, I make the older 2 get up at 6:30am and we actually have language and math done before breakfast)

Ok. Well, there's only 2 more weeks of soccer and then my schedule lightens up a bit. I see some potentially empty, could be fun days the second half of October.

But I'm still looking for the "me" time slot. Or the "us" space. Or just a break in the week. I've heard before you should try to have 3 consecutive days of nothing on your calendar. I'm seeing the wisdom in that. I mean, my kids are so young yet, it's not like they need all this stuff.

So, that's my new goal. After soccer. Is to minimize and try to have more consecutive days together.

Field Trips

2010-09-27T20:59:00.000-05:00

I was somewhat reluctant to blog tonight, but obviously not reluctant enough because here I write.

Today was sooo jam-packed. And it wasn't even planned to be that way. In fact, this whole week has been jam packed. I'm starting to hope ADD isn't a learned behavior, because if it is, my kids are going to get it from me.

Today was Field Trip day. This one was actually scheduled. We have them on Mondays or Fridays this semester, as it turns out. But last Friday's trip to the Zoo was completely unscheduled and spontaneous because I wanted to go. I felt justified taking the kids with me and calling it a field trip. We rode the train, carousel and went to the petting zoo. Then we pet the sting rays, whose stingers had been clipped :)

I knew the Zoo had these sting rays at the beginning of summer, but after having been to SeaWorld and Atlanta's amazing aquarium, it seemed a little blah. But here, now, being the end of the summer, it was a bit more exciting. We got to feed them too. It was totally bizarre. It was like a vaccuum sucking your hand.

Anyway.... Today I took the kids to the "Youzeum". If you guessed it was a museum about "You", you're right! There was a lot about the body and how a body works. They dressed up like doctors and worked on a dummy. They checked out the ambulance, saw different kinds of brains and saw themselves on TV. There were some cool things there, and the museum will be closing in Oct for good, so I'm glad they got the opportunity to go.

That makes 3 field trips in one week. I see many more on the horizon.

Apples and Alpacas

2010-09-20T20:48:00.000-05:00

Today we went on a field trip to an Alpaca farm. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was pretty cool.

It's always nice going out in the country. It reminds you that you either really want to live in the country or really like just visiting.

I usually think I'd welcome the opportunity to live on some acreage, but not having a farm, like an alpaca farm. In fact, probably not any animals that I have to clean manure up after. It just seems like a lot of work/responsibility.

Not to say that I haven't thought of having some chickens, despite the fact that my brother has lost upwards of 50, to predators in the city. So I don't know that I want that drama either. But maybe a couple more dogs and cats, maybe. Maybe fish in a pond, but they don't require much, just bait. Then maybe some tame ducks and geese that I pen up at night to keep from predators.

These pics are of the birds getting out of the cage for the morning.

Whereas, now, we can leave the cat in the garage for a week and she's good...really. As long as she doesn't lose that magnet ball that lets her in the doggie door. And maybe hire a sitter for the dog, or take him with us. Sammy is fun. He really likes to be with us.

But, OH, I realize that it may be some of y'alls dream to have alpacas. And I guess in their own way they are kind of cute. Especially the babies.

The owner let the kids have wool? I guess that's what you call the stuff they shave off the alpacas. They had 4 layers of wool, grain against grain. In a ziploc they added soapy water. Then they rolled it up and mushed it together and rolled it up, for about ten minutes.

It ended up that the wool fibers all held together and made a hot pad type of fabric?

We never did pick apples, but there was a pretty good sized orchard there. Savannah says "Oh! I've never seen apples on trees before!" So funny. And so fun.

The "Pocket" Dictionary

2010-09-14T21:09:00.002-05:00

Today our homeschool co-op started. Rebecca is in an American Girl History class, a music class and a fun grammar class titled "Can you see what I'm saying?" She LOVED all her classes. I was really glad because I (she) was a little nervous she wouldn't like them. It helps having friends in there.

On the way home after our day's activities she rips out a dictionary and proceeds to tell me: "We got this dictionary in American Girl today! I knew I would get stuff at co-op, but not like this! This is great! It's a dictionary and look! It's a "pocket" dictionary. I can take it with me everywhere!" She opens the book and proceeds to read: "tom-cat, a male cat; tongue, a muscle on the bottom of your mouth, or the flap on the top side of a shoe; (you can see she is in the "T" section) toilet, a porcelain bowl used for excreting human waste. Isn't this great!! I am going to use this book all the time! Do you want to read it?" (Um, sure, but I'm driving.) And she continued reading the dictionary.

And so I sit here so proud of my daughter who loves the dictionary. Ok, not really. I mean, of course I'm PROUD (or pleased to satisfy the literal people I go to church with who are always saying "we shouldn't be proud, we can be pleased. I mean, whatever). I've just kind of got my eyebrows raised thinking, all righty then. The girl loves words and knowing what they mean. It's not a bad thing, it's a new tool, a new path to wisdom. Some girls love words and don't know how to use them or what they mean. It's kind of strange the things that make kids tick. But hey, I love that she knows how to use the alphebetical order and look them up! (can you tell I'm searching here, amidst the fame of the common dictionary...I mean pocket?)

In reflection, maybe I enjoyed the dictionary when I was that age....

Fishin'

2010-09-09T20:13:00.000-05:00

The weather's gettin colder and the fish are biting again, especially in the rain, as is demonstrated by Ed's, Jon's and Grandpa's latest fishing trip to a friend's little lake.

Aahhh, yes, crappie, bass and blue gill

Jon's awfully proud

The cleaning station, our back yard...hmm.

The finished product

Ok, so the fish would have looked better next to some fresh veggies, but we actually had it as a taco with some amazing chipotle sauce. Sooo yummy! And a ziploc bag more full in the freezer for a later date. I mean, they caught A LOT of fish! So fun for them :)

Slumps

2010-09-08T21:37:00.000-05:00

Recently I've come across some blogs that I really like (refer to blogs I follow). Some of them are just informative and some of them are really uplifting or inspirational, or just plain funny. I like funny and informative the best, hence, my latest referall to http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ I enjoy her quick wit, advise and ideas.   And I'm really needing it now as I find myself recently overwhelmed. She says to blog all the time, to nourish it, even when you don't feel like it. So I thought, maybe I would try that.

I haven't blogged for awhile because I've been finding myself in slumps lately. Rehashing some of the same old crap that keeps popping up in my emotional memories.

1. I miss my dear friend who moved to St. Louis. I love and miss all my dear friends, but she actually lived by me. The older I get I realize the harder it is to develop those kinds of life long friendships of trust, and how important they are.

2. I miss my body before 2nd baby (because I developed and had my best body after #1...thank you Body For Life)

3. I miss the second home (the perfect one) we've lived in since Ed graduated with his Masters, with the hot tub, pool, 5 bedrooms with a pool table, on the acre in the country with fabulous neighbors. We are on #4 now. Nice but not nearly as fabulous.

4. I miss the money I pay in taxes.

5. I get overwhelmed by my children sometimes. And really, I mean only sometimes. I LOVE being with my children. I LOVE learning with them. I've learned more history this year then I remember ever learning in High School. But sometimes, it's overwhelming getting our studies ready for the next day. It occuppies a LOT of my brain time, and I don't think real clearly sometimes.

6. My dog needs a bark shock collar.

7. I don't like feeling vulnerable in social settings.  I recently started thinking I'm the socially awkward one. I've been conversing with more adults over this past summer (as my kids have had numerous play dates and I've had more adult conversation then I have in what feels like, since I've been married) and am seeing my social flaws hard core. I find myself worrying about what other people think...and I hate that. I'm trying to free myself from that which seems to tie me down.

8.  I get frustrated with my own pride and defenses, or oppositional defiance in conversations with others. If that even makes sense. I find myself arguing with people when I probably agree with them. (ok, maybe that's more of the social flaw issue)

9.  I want to be content with what I have, but I want to be out of debt and have plenty of reserve to retire well.

10. Age has been fabulous until this year. Getting old sucks.

I remember in 5th grade arguing with a girl as we stood in line to go in from recess. I don't remember what she said, but I told her not to take things personally. Then she said something to me and told me not to take things personally. And I said, "Ok, I won't". And from that time forward I tried really hard not to. I often let things just slide off my back. In fact, even through all of high school I maintained that same attitude and was consciously always happy, which made me, really, always happy, and often the initiator for fun (it helped that my parents provided me with a car and let me drive my friends around !)

I'm trying to find that joy again. I see it, I feel it, and it's coming, coming, coming........yeah, it really is, but for now I guess I'll just keep reading my latest blog finds and try to load up and be around those that are uplifting, and frankly, have a good sense of humor. Wit...it's one of my goals. ;) Wish me luck!

Adult Education

2010-08-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

"In our modern society, whenever education is the subject, we always want to talk about the kids. We care about them, and we know their education is important, but we also find that it's eaier to talk about their education than to imporve our own. In reality, you are unlikely to pass on to your children a better education than you have earned yourself, no matter how much you push them. The most effective way to ensure the quality of their education is to consistently improve your own." Oliver Van DeMille

I find myself in this predicament all the time. I want my children to know this and that and more about the other thing, oh! and let's do that too! I get so "busy" doing and thinking of all these things for them. Yet, in reality, it's because my own education was so poor, despite the fact that I graduated high in my class, and am a college graduate with 2 Bachelors of Science and a Minor in Music! I often feel that I know nothing. But I want too! And I get lost in the educating of my own children to forget my own. I'm the one who needs to be reading that classic (because I have read very few, but seen lots of movies). Or, I'm the one who needs to take that art class, or quilting class, or learn how to cook that dinner or make that bread, or do that for P.E. I'm the one that needs to cultivate the art of conversation, and to remember to be positive and have a good attitude.

I project these things on my children, and I'm the one who needs them! I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to re-learn all these things WITH my children, (since they are the ones who helped my brain go to mush i.e. pregnancy, added responsibility, etc).

The volcano

2010-08-22T21:54:00.000-05:00

On tying up loose ends as we gear up for another school year, here's the volcano Ed made with the kids in March...yes, March.

The kids have been begging me to explode the volcano for months, so how come we haven't exploded the volcano before now? It was just on the list of loose ends to tie up, an unfinished project. But when we did it, it was pretty cool.

We tried 2 different methods. First we tried baking powder with vinegar (and red food coloring, of course)

It kind of oozed out, didn't explode like we'd thought.

Next, we tried dish liquid, baking soda and more vinegar (with food coloring)

And it foamed and oozed out, a little creepier then the first time. Then the super science friend who was over said maybe we needed to add alka seltzer and maybe it would pop and explode? I don't know. But now we have officially foamed out our volcano. And it was fun!

Jon skis!

2010-08-22T21:48:00.000-05:00

Feeling confident after a successful wakeboarding try...again (Yay Jon!) He wanted to try skis! He gets up, we turn on the music, and it was time for the Iron Man theme song (his favorite) and with the stereo cranked up, disrupting all the other boaters, I'm sure, Jon skied...for a LONG time!

Starting Medieval

2010-08-18T14:54:00.001-05:00

Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.

As a family, we learn year round. Every week I observe and keep a record of what my children are learning. But I do have to be a little bit organized and need a bit of a schedule for myself to see where we've been, what we are doing and where we are going.

This year we are studying Medieval. We just finished Ancients and the kids are really looking forward to learning about this time period. So am I, actually, because I don't know much about it. And for sure, History(+Geography) and Science, BY FAR, are the funnest subjects.

At the onset of Medieval, I had the kids dress up accordingly. Rebecca was so excited to dress up (Jon, not at all), I was a little surprised. This is what she came up with:

I thought she was pretty creative with that.

So by schedule, we've been getting up with dad for family prayer at 6:30am. By 7 I expect Jon and Rebecca to start their seatwork, hopefully keeping the little girls asleep. This includes Math, Spelling, Handwriting (and typing for Bec) before breakfast, around 8:30am. Afterwards we work on English, piano and "Kidschool". Kidschool is what I call our reading time. Reading Childcraft encyclopedias, scriptures, songs, the Pledge of Allegiance, fairy tales, library books, or whatever I feel like reading to them.

After Kidschool today, I let them play Jump Start on the computer. They love those CD roms and they learn a lot from them. During which time I could spend individual time with them while the others had computer time (Bella just happened to nap :) Afterwards we are finishing our chapter on the Fall of Rome and colored some pictures that represented their own "Magic Carpet" to fly around the world (mostly ancient Rome). I did not realize, that while I was making lunch, they actually all created real magic carpets, stashed with bedroom stuff, like a campout! Here they hold their pictures of them on their magic carpets.

They worked really hard on the coloring and cutting and loved this simple activity! After hours of "school" they continue to play on their magic carpets with a floor map and globe on hand as they travel to destinations around the world. :)

I'm really proud of my children. They are getting the feel for learning at home, and I love the flexibility.

Yesterday was the first day of school in our area and everyone saying summer is over. Ed happened to be off, so we went to the lake,

and he surfed

and Jon got up first time on the wakeboard! (he's attempted all summer)

and I LOVED the freedom I felt of making our own family schedule. Our summer is not over...not yet.

And if I sound like I'm rubbing it in, I'm really not. I'm just so excited to be with my children more and to cater to the things we want to do. I love my work.

Tsunamis

2010-08-01T15:53:00.000-05:00

This week Jon checked out a book on tsunamis. I've been trying to figure out what type of books he likes because he doesn't care so much for any kinds of fiction. I watched as he picked out a book on snakes, astronauts, space, tsunamis, oceans, fish...ok, so he likes non-fiction; things he that are real that explain why things are certain ways.

After we read the book on tsunamis there was an experiment we tried. Fill up half a container with sand, make a village, and half with water. Drop a small ball, medium ball, and large ball to see how the different sizes of waves affect the village

(we used rocks instead of balls)

The result:

A tsunami to our little village, toppled over trees and drowning people, the shore a mess. But did it stop? Oh no, the boys made sure there were wave after huge wave as they kept slamming the container with their rocks. The container finally broke. Boys. Destruction. Girls stand by the wayside. Boys having a great time, and learning too

Nursery pic

2010-08-01T15:46:00.000-05:00

One of our nursery leaders has called me 4 times to remind me to bring a family picture for them to put up since Bella is now in the nursery. 2 of those times were last night. So I looked and was unlucky at coming up with a family pic taken since April and, well, she's grown since then! So Ed set the camera timer this morning and these are what we got:

One might think it was for Savannah's class. She is definitely our little picture "poser".

Back to school? Are you kidding me?

2010-07-31T21:47:00.006-05:00

Today we told our children it was the last day of July. July 31.

I'm not ready to see all the "back to school" stuff in the stores. I admit, I'm kind of excited to see all the cute new styles of clothes coming out, but, come on, seriously? We've only had 2 months of summer and it's back to school? I brings up dread just from my own memories of my school age days. So, it's the last day of July, named after Julius Caesar. Tomorrow is August, named after Augustus Caesar, (I learned this with the kids this week in history). And I guess I should be thinking more back to school like stuff...maybe?

Well, I guess I have, kind of. And here comes a word on the homeschool part: I have been thinking about what we are going to study this year, how to tweak our learning for the childrens' different learning abilities and levels. And so I have come up with what we are doing this year, which has actually been a relief off my mind as I've struggled through my first year of homeschooling.

A friend clued me in on History Odyssey, so I ordered the first of 3 books for the year on the 2nd part of world history. I got it and I love it! It uses Story of the World, but also A Child's History, and the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (which I already had) and the lesson plans are pretty simple (yes! lesson plans!) and the lay out is much easier for me to understand then the Story of the World Activity book (though I think I will supplement with that because I do like it) in getting myself together. I also ordered R.E.A.L. Science Chemistry and I think that is going to up our level of science, for sure. I'm really excited about these two great finds. Meanwhile, I will incorporate my Sonlight books that go with Core 2 (we are doing Medieval this year) which are their reading level readers as well as read alouds, and geography. So yeah! I feel like things are coming together, and I guess I have been thinking about school....

I will continue using Rod and Staff Grammar because I think it's fabulous, A Reason for Handwriting, Sequential spelling for Becca, and will try A Reason for Spelling with Jon (Seq. spelling didn't work so great for him, but then I learned you are supposed to start when they are 8...whoops! no wonder!) I got Teaching Textbooks Math for Rebecca and she loves it. Yeah! And Jon will stick with A Beka Math until he catches up for Level 3 Teaching Txtbooks. I will also try to incorporate more games and real life uses of math. I've not done that too much, although Rebecca is learning to cook. Bringing Savannah into the picture was a little stressful, but it's mostly learning to read with her. She is great with her math and writing. I just need to read more to her.

So I guess I've been thinking kind of back to school, only being that this is my first year homeschooling, I've been thinking about this ALL year, not just summertime. And I'm excited to have a plan as we do start school, which we really never stopped, just take breaks here and there.

But back to school? Ugh. Headache. I'm so excited that my children (Oh! and me!) still have at least a month and a half of summer left. It won't start to cool down until mid Sept. And we have school days, sometimes weeks, but we have play days, especially in this nice weather. And have had lots of play dates, which I've been so grateful for. And my children are making friends, which I love. I guess I'm pretty flexible when it comes to school and play. But when I'm supposed to log 600 core and 400 non core hours (=1000 :) a year, and I've got 100, split pretty equally between core/non-core, just with July, I think I'm doing all right. It makes me happy for my children to get to be children and not have to sit in chairs all day.

Mary, Mary, don't be contrary!

2010-07-31T21:07:00.001-05:00

We have planted a raised garden this year. Four boxes to be exact, which is really more like 8 because they are tiered and each one is about 2' x 4'. Half of them died i.e. watermelon, cucumbers before they even had a chance, then lettuce and cabbage (due to lack of eating ) cilantro went to seed, and decided to get rid of chives. What we are left with, then, are our favorites, squash, tomatoes and, first time for us, peppers.

Here's the zucchini

We have had 5 of these so far, so we have mostly eaten steamed zucchini, but once made chocolate zucchini

cake, which was amazing! Tomatoes are still trying to ripen, and peppers are growing!

Permission tried

2010-07-29T12:55:00.001-05:00

I had my blog on permissions, but decided to open it up again. :)

Freedom

2010-07-25T20:08:00.000-05:00

I looked at my calendar today. Summer has been so fun and filled with friends and family! We have gotten to know so many great people and have done so many fun things I feel so blessed and am so grateful! Then I look at my calendar today. We have fun things planned this week, but a bit of a breather from play that we can actually do some "school" for the next couple weeks before we go out of town again.

As I looked at the calendar, of course I'm looking at Ed's work schedule. He is usually off one day a week and most weekends. During the summer when he is home we try to do as many summer things as possible i.e. swim, boat. It's a bit shocking to see a limited number of days before it starts to cool off i.e. end of Sept. I won't even go into Hobby Lobby because I know they are already setting up for Fall...blah! So, trying to make the most out of the summer weather, I'm shocked and saddened because public school starts Aug. 17. Then I'm completely elated and feeling liberated because I am no longer a SLAVE to the public school system!!! It is soooo great to have freedom! Just because other families cater to the slavery of public school, we get to enjoy summer for a whole other month and a half! I love it! It's a great feeling getting to do what you want to do when you want to do it.

Fabulous vacation

2010-07-24T15:14:00.001-05:00

So, I guess, for us, a real vacation is isolated on (or near) a lake with a boat and a beach. What else do you really need? Nearest town (and I mean, maybe population 1000) is 10 miles away. The kind of vacation where you truly do spend time together doing the outdoor thing, or whatever indoor thing you bring for down time, or in the event of rain (puzzles and games, dvds). And despite the down time (which, at times, can make you scream) you really do have a great time! Of course, having my brother and some cousins there made it that much more fun.

Beach time

Sammy seeks shade.

Uncle Dan makes a fabulous sand castle

Things go smoothly, until they don't

Becca rocks out on skis

Chillin'

Rebecca earned a Girl Scout badge for Small Craft, so of course, Jon had to learn to drive too. In all reality, he will probably end up the best driver in the family (in a few years).

Cliff jumping!

And what you don't see are the puzzles, cards, games, dvds, books, naps, dinners, the mens' many failed fishing expeditions, or the womens' saving grace trip to Walmart (30 min away; smallest Walmart I've ever seen) to get, you guessed it, the forgotten swimsuit for one of the kids. And of course, they were all out of girls' swim suits so she got boys' trunks and a tank. make do or do without, right? And we couldn't have her doin without ;)

Now we've been home for 2 days...resting from vacation.

20 great reasons to homeschool

2010-07-10T23:06:00.008-05:00

Came across this today. Thought it was great.

Yes, Math!

2010-07-10T21:42:00.001-05:00

I've been searching frantically for a math program for Rebecca for othe last 7 months.

But, I think I finally found it! It's Teaching Textbooks. I've heard a lot about it from other parents in our homeschool group, and after trying A Beka, Math U See, Singapore and Right Start, she is loving this. It came in the mail yesterday and we opened it up today. We put in the CD-rom and Voila! She was doing math and did 3 lessons today because she thought it was fun! I remember loving Algebra in 9th grade because I got it, I understood it. I think that's how she is feeling. It's slow enough for her to comprehend and then she fills in her answers on the computer and it keeps track of her grade, and helps her if she misses a question.

The funny thing was, she made a school schedule for July and Aug and dubbed Saturdays as her day to relax. ? What does that mean to a 9 year old? It means going to Build and Grow at Lowe's, Diving into her latest Geronimo Stilton book, doing 3 lessons of math, and finishing with hours of listening to The Lightning Thief audiobook while she follows along! Yesterday she loved working on her American Girl lapbook and I'm starting to think...we may be onto something here! Of course, the mandatory hour of english, handwriting, writing and spelling is four times a week, but if the rest of it is reading, lapbooks and doing experiments, we're good!

Oh! Let's not forget P.E. Outside the wake :)

Aahhhh, feels great to hit the right buttons!

Being open-minded

2010-06-28T15:06:00.000-05:00

I used to think I was a pretty open-minded person. I mean, I have my opinions, but always considered what other people said or were doing or thought. Wondering if there was something I should change (though, usually pretty stubborn to not change much). Only recently I realized that I haven't been nearly as open minded as I thought I was or at all as much as other people. Not until I started home-schooling my children. Now all my paradigms are shifting. It's really bizarre. It's weird and kind of hard when beliefs or ways of thinking your whole life are challenged and/or need to be a bit modified. I don't mean my religious beliefs, but just beliefs about life in general. Or expectations. Or goals.

I haven't felt much antaganism from people much since I started home schooling. And in fact, I started in GA and it was pretty mainstream in the area where I was. My whole life I was appalled at home schoolers because they weren't doing things the "right" way, and partly because some of them I knew reminded me of pioneerish type families, not really into fashion much, real low-key. But you could never argue about the kids. Always great kids, polite, could carry on a conversation with anyone. In GA I met beautiful, fashionable, women home schooling their children and that opened my eyes as I realized I was missing out and I thought, "what am I doing to myself?" I'd not been open minded enough to see what was really happening and what this might actually mean to my family if we continued to home-school. And since then, talked to several "grandmas" who encourage or say they wish their grandkids were home schoolled. I mention grandmas because I always try to listen to what those older then me have to say because they, are, well, older and have more life experience then me, and were most likely, at some point, against home schooling too.

Recently, I guess, "what comes around, goes around", as I've been hit with that same prejudism/antaganism from some that I used to give to others. One sad thing for me is that I had some friendships before I started home-schooling which have now changed in a big way. And then there are new people I'm meeting who want nothing to do with me because I am home schooling. The worst part for me is that I go to church with these people. And I find comfort, some from other church members, but also from my home school group.

But I'm trying to find the compassion and understanding in myself for a lot of different things right now, including, knowing home schooling isn't for everyone, and empathizing with their "not able to ever do it"iveness. And I may not always home school every child at every time. I mean, who knows? You never know what's going to happen, really, until it's time. But for now, this year, again, I'll be home schooling.

One woman shared with us a commencement address to a group of home schoolers, and it really hits the mark, so I thought I'd share it here. It's come at a good time for me, only reaffirming my decision to continue on and keep doing what I'm doing. Of course, so do so many talks in the General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I think to myself, "Really? Did they not hear what I just heard?" In the end, you are responsible for your childrens' education whether public, private or at home, and not just in teaching religious beliefs, but in all facets of life. And if you choose a school setting, great for you! Can we still be friends?

http://blog.bravewriter.com/2010/05/18/congratulations-class-of-2010/

Nursery

2010-06-27T21:48:00.000-05:00

Bella started nursery at church (for the 18 mos-3year olds). This pic was about 6 mos ago.

That's a major landmark in the land of last baby for the family. Ed and I went to Sunday School and then our Relief Society/Priesthood meetings and that was something! But my arms felt empty and I wondered what to do with myself. Yes, it's great being with the adults in adult conversations and feeding my spirit, but my heart is aching as my last baby gets older.

I love my children. I think they are fabulous. They make my life full and happy.

Branson family vacation

2010-06-15T22:31:00.001-05:00

Recently I've had a few family members mention how we seem to travel and go places a lot. I hadn't really compared us to anyone else in that category to think of it really, but I guess, maybe we do. Some of it wasn't planned, like Army activation and sight seeing the south this past winter,

but I guess that counts as a bonus, for sure. This year we decided we'd get Silver Dollar City season passes in Branson again (to go when we have a chance), since my brother and sister-in-law wanted to go there as a family reunion type vacation. We did get to SDC once

But for the most part we were with family doing various activities. I think we all had a good time. Definitely fun for the cousins to be together: Posing at the Landing,

Boating,

Showing off dance moves,

Baby love (tutus by Aunt Linda)

more showing off,

It was a fun time.

Growing Up

2010-06-03T10:45:00.004-05:00

On a recent trip to a well-known drug-store, me with four adorable young ones, get out of the car and stop in the parking lot to chat. Out of the blue, the one, not as young one states the following: "Whenever we go places I hope there are boys there around my age, older then me, but not too much older, just a little bit." To which I reply, "And why do you hope that?" To which she answers, "I just hope they think I'm pretty."

This is what happens when you buy a book for your "wishes she was at least a tween" daughter that has a title starting with the words "A Girl's Guide to..." whatever it is. In this case, becoming a young woman and all its wonders. So I guess I now have 3 adorable young ones and one pretty one.

As hard as it is to see them grow up, it's also fun to go do things with them they couldn't do when they were little. Times and Seasons.

When I'm a Man

2010-05-27T22:37:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we were driving and Jon says "Dad gives Mom everything she wants! When I get married I'm sure going to have to work a lot for my wife! I'm going to have to work a lot because I'm going to be a man." And he was kind of laughing and at the same time a bit overwhelmed at the idea, sighing a bit. I'm still thinking this over.

Grandpa Love

2010-05-25T18:19:00.000-05:00

Here's some love to Grandpa from sweet Bella as he sings her a song

Love it!

Summer planning

2010-05-19T19:59:00.003-05:00

Today we planned our summer. It's gonna be fun. It's been raining, raining and raining and hard to think about summer when it's in the 50's and raining for a couple weeks. We're thinking of planting rice in our backyard; it's got a good chance of growing.

You get hints of summer, but where is it? Well, I've had this feeling, it's right around the corner. Looking at the forecast it's more rain tonight and thunderstorms tomorrow. BUT, in the high 80s and up to 90 after the weekend! Woo-hoo! Maybe the kids will be able to dip in that pool we put up 2 months ago at Easter when it was warm!

As we get a bit antsy, and before we knew the forecast for next week, we reserved a campsite at a lake. We are camping Memorial Day weekend! A favorite pasttime for many folk, but one we've never ventured to do. But we love to camp! We are soo excited! And I mean, every one. We didn't go with the baby last year. We did that once and the baby kept the campsite awake. But with the campsite that full, someone's bound to be noisy anyway, just not us...well, I guess it could be us. You never know. And by camping, I mean, our great big double tent with closets and air mattresses, of course, because who can actually brave the ground, or rain if it happens (please no!!) but it won't be so hot we have to plug in our window unit air conditioner ; ) And we'll have batteries for the dvd player. Camping! Fun.

BTW, we invite anyone we know to join us!

And for the rest of the summer, lots of trips to the lake. Different lakes, during the week jaunts to the lake, birthdays at the lake, ahhhh. Nothing as relaxing as being by water.

Made it through Tiger!

2010-05-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

First, it was a great school day! Of course, it helps that Ed was home and could help Rebecca with her math. That seems to take her the longest time. And I've got to report the good days because I don't want to be a complainaer and there are so many ups and downs, but really more ups then downs. The highlight of today was studying black holes.

Second, Jon earned his Tiger badge and became a Wolf Cub Scout tonight! We went to the end of the year awards ceremony. He's been working really hard the last couple of weeks to get it. He was so proud. And would make comments, like, he didn't yell in the car (like Savannah was doing), because he was a Cub Scout. Amazing how being in uniform changes a person! I guess that's true to all walks of life.

I've been really impressed with the Boy and Girl Scouts in our homeschool group and I realized tonight why.... The parents are so involved and we have great leaders! Here we go to a Cub Scout activity and almost all of the dads were there with their boys! And, in fact, the dads are usually the ones taking them to scouts in the first place! It is a different experience for me from what I've experienced in our church scouting packs and troops, especially in the 12-18 category where there's only a few supportive dads and it's so hard to get dads to commit to much with their boys. In a church pack or troop people are asked to be the leaders, and not necessarily because they have a child involved, it's just their calling at church. In a community troop or pack you get leaders who want to be there and have a vested interest because their children are involved, and loads of fun activities to do! It is just a different level of commitment, and as a result runs much smoother and there are lots more voluteers for helpers. And activities done in a community pack that are often like pulling teeth to get done in a church pack, and a lot because moms and dads aren't as committed. I can appreciate what the church is trying to do in adopting the scouting program for their boys and young men because I think it's a great program, and I know it's hard to find good leaders or volunteers. Maybe that will change sometime. It leaves me wondering, though, how we will go from here. Now Jon is a Wolf and can't be in the church pack until he is 8,
when they start the boys as wolves, but at which point he will be a Bear, so he will be ahead of other boys his age, but yet only allowed to go in the group with the boys who are his age, who will be Wolves. Whereas, in a community pack he could advance. Yet, I want to support the church pack too, and think it's good for him to be with the boys at church activities too.

I'll be pondering this for the next year. Do both? I guess we could, but he can only be registered in one pack and so would only get awards at one pack mtg. Something to think about. But I'm proud of my little Cub Scout.

Ah, Capri

2010-05-15T20:59:00.003-05:00

Ed and I've been reading "Red Sails to Capri" to Jon and Rebecca this week. I didn't think we'd finish it, but reading a chapter or two every day, we actually finished it in about 10 days. It's a delightful story about a boy and his adventure around his island of Capri, off Italy. We got really wrapped up in his adventure and really enjoyed the story. During the story the kids got really interested in Capri so we did some mapwork of western Europe listing countries and then we looked up Capri on Google Earth. I forget how cool that tool really is! We flew across the world to Italy and located Capri, a tiny island off the coast of Italy. We could see it clearly as we flew around it in the sky (via satellite, of course) and could see cliffs and boats and swimming pools. And then today we discovered the Blue Grotto and watched You Tube videos (which I've never looked up before) of vacations and other peoples' pictures and videos of the island. It was so cool. Would be fun to visit, yet I feel as if we were there (and a lot less work with 4 kids in tow). The kids keep asking me now if we can go to Capri! I love it. They have also been asking if we can go to Egypt. So, our next project will be Google Earth to Egypt (because we've studied Egypt this year). Geography has taken on a new face. Technology is cool.

On a different note, school was tough this week, for me. I've been driving myself crazy and stressed out about what the kids are or aren't learning. I think they are learning a lot, but there are always those doubts because it's an education I didn't grow up with and shifting to a homeschool paradigm is huge and different compared to the public school paradigm I grew up in. I've read so many other thoughts on this though, and see that if people could go back, one of the things they would do differently is to stress less, especially in the early elementary years when things should be fun. And have more fun with their kids, and take more field trips (which we do plenty of) and memorize more scriptures, and enjoy each other. And it makes sense, I mean, kids learn by playing, exploring, using their senses and teaching facts along the way, that require short attention spans. But it's easy to think if it's fun and they aren't sitting still it must not be soaking in cause they aren't paying attention. In reality, they are paying attention and getting it. Sometimes I catch myself feeling like if it's fun maybe they aren't learning. But that's public school speaking.

I started the sequential spelling program, Rod and Staff English program and did new math lessons this week. I tried to do them 4 days in a row, and it was SOOOO hard. But it's all good stuff. So I figure I need to pace myself better, and give a few more breaks between the subjects, because these are time consuming subjects, especially when you try to do them back to back. I mean, there's no invisible authority I have to report to and it doesn't matter how it gets done, right? I just have to figure out how we're going to do this. So, I was thinking, while I work with Jon, Rebecca will have to be in the other room reading or playing math games with Savannah, and then switch, while Jon does something with Savannah, and then, of course, while they take a break, I can work with Savannah. All this supposing Bella takes a nap, which she usually does anyway. That will be my new plan this next week. I also had a "project" day on Friday and Rebecca loved it. She's doing an American Girl history lap book and LOVES it. Jon did some requirements for scouts for his projects. I had so many projects I wanted them to do, we did only a quarter of what I had in mind. But, at least we visited Capri.

I was always planning on doing school year round, but I think we will go until June 4th and take a break, kind of. I mean, still counting everything for school, but on a much lighter schedule, not so intense. Who knows, maybe a not quite as intense schedule, or how 'bout a better organized schedule, would carry over to the next school year.

On a different note, Rebecca and Ed are also reading "Double Identity". So here's the quote of the day: "Science and religion deal with different questions. Science is how things happen and religion is why. The problem comes when people forget what they're asking of whom." (Double Identity)

Ready, set, homeschool!

2010-05-01T21:30:00.001-05:00

We've decided to homeschool year round this year. I know a lot of families do this, so I thought we'd try it. It actually makes plenty of sense to me since it's not a secret how much kids lose during summer vacation and the first quarter is catching up and review from the previous grade.

Well, I decided on curriculum...FINALLY! I really stressed about it, which I guess is kind of silly. I mean, it's not like they aren't learning. They are constantly learning, whether or not I'm teaching them what I want. This week we went to Ripley's Believe it Or Not Museum in Branson, Dixie Stampede and Silver Dollar City. All places of learning, and fun. If it's fun does that mean you aren't learning? hmm And we listened to very fun math songs on learning the times tables, Beethoven's Wig classical music for kids, Dr. Suess books and Story of the World on the way up and back, and they watched Little Einsteins. All I considered school on the road.

But back to curriculum...

I ordered Sonlight this week. I'm soo soo excited. I decided to get the Part 2 for the two older kids because we are finishing up the first half of World History, so we will be going straight into this. I'm excited for the readers to read along at their reading level with the history. I also got some handwriting and sequential spelling from Sonlight. I will also be starting at the same time (being around mid-May) Rod and Staff's English for their grade levels, and continuing with Math U See and A Beka combined. I may need to find a writing program for Rebecca (I have to see more what English will be like) and hope to get them on a typing program too. We also use the elementary Apologia Science (but I supplement reading A Beka texts and may supplement with Sonlight too, still undecided, but science is soo fun and everywhere!)

I also realized that Savannah needs more attention, so I went ahead and ordered her the Sonlight Kindergarten Newcomer package. It has everything from science, language, readiness skills, the readers and history (more like world cultures) and handwriting. So she's set, and if it takes us a couple years, that's fine because she's only 4. But I don't think it will take that long. Will keep posted on that. But I'm really excited to have direction for reading.

I will probably continue supplementing with Story of the World just because I like it. So, I find myself doubling up on subjects, but I think that's just fine! What's amazing to me is their retention! And my own learning! Today on the way home we were listening about Alexander the Great. Then Ed and I started having this conversation about the 7 wonders of the World, and how Alexander died (poisoned? Sounded like). Funny. Cool. Fun. It's all about the kids...ok, not really.

I know a lot of people don't even use many materials or even buy much curriculum because they are so talented at coming up with it by themselves or don't want to spend the money, and again a bit more talented then me. I felt I just needed a bit more direction, yet with flexibility. I feel like I was already doing a "Well-Trained Mind" approach, turned into "Sonlightish" but I feel good with these decisions that we've made for our family, so I hope it works out well. I think worry comes more from my background having attended public school. When I talk with others who were themselves homeschooled and turned out great, they are much more relaxed. They will pick it up. We all learn...everyday.

Birthday Fairies

2010-05-01T21:13:00.003-05:00

It's a partaay! And Savannah was soo excited. She'd been planning this Tinker Bell fairy party for awhile.

They made fairy crowns

Ate mom's Tinker Bell cake (and ice cream)

She loved having each of her little friends there.

"Hello, look here! Look at me! Say cheese! Hello?" Yeah.

Best Friends (It says so on their shirts!)

Determined to make my goal

2010-04-26T21:47:00.001-05:00

One thing about me...I'm a goal-setter, goal-getter, competetive, have high expectations of myself. If I make a goal I will try my darndest to make it. Hence, my goals are serious to me, and I have the drive not to fail, and I don't commit unless it's something I really want, and this applies to all aspects of my life. That doesn't mean the end results happen immediately, but I keep them in sight/mind.

So, here's to the 40 bag purge. I'm not there yet, but made substantial progress today! Keeping the goal in sight. Our basement is FINALLY put back together and boy does it feel soooo good. The wall was re-drywalled, the drain and sump pump put in, the carpet relaid. And the pump works, by the way. With all the rain we have been getting, it has been coming on and the water surging out the drain outside. So nice to have a dry basement again.

So, we've been able to go through all the stuff we had in our storage room and got rid of at least 4-5 bags of stuff. Went through some closets, got rid of more stuff. I now actually have a huge shelving unit that holds 1500lbs for all my food storage! Hit the garage somewhat.... Anyway, ended up with a truckload of boxes, bags, good will, totes. 300 pounds of stuff to the dump, and the rest given away to appreciative souls. So I figure I'm up to at least 30 bags now (Ed thinks more, but I'll over-reach it just to make sure definitely get all 40, no slackin...eventually). It sure does feel like a huge burden has been lifted. But I'm not done yet. Still have cupboards and some closets, a shed outside....But I will reach my 40 bags, hopefully in the next month.

Maiden Voyage

2010-04-12T22:01:00.002-05:00

In case you've ever wondered why our blog is titled "outside the wake," today we will clarify. It has everything to do with boating and...

Yes! We bought the boat we've been dreaming of for five years now! Today was our Maiden Voyage! We were pretty nervous because it's a nice to us boat and drives a bit different then our previous boats. It's a Tige RZ4 and man, are we excited for summer...with good reason.

Despite the water temp at a refreshing 64 degrees, you can't keep a good man in the boat.

Or his son

even daughter?

Is it summer yet?

Course, some of us were a bit more reserved...maybe next time, which will be like, um, SOON.

Definitely a good time had by all. With hopes, dreams and passions of many more warm boating days.

update

2010-04-07T20:41:00.000-05:00

So, I tried the 40 day bag purge. The problem was I got distracted with life i.e. homeschooling, painting the girls' rooms and a basement still under construction, where much stuff is. It is still my goal, I'm up to 15. Probably by the end of summer I'll exceed 40 bags. Wish I could have made it by Easter.

The other thing was the no sugar for 20 days. Every day I had to start over. I will now rescind that goal. I must have sugar every day in some form. Oh well.

This week we are much more familiar with some area homeschoolers. Today was a fun fun day. We had someone over for everyone (except Bella, who slept through a lot of it). Lots of play time. So good for the kiddos. Jon has a new friend and they are getting along fabulously so far. I love that he isn't surrounded by girls all the time now. He revels in masculinity right now. He loves going to scouts because "Mom! There are NO girls there, and NO moms!" Yeah. A guy's guy. Doesn't help that Rebecca has often posted signs "No boys allowed." sigh.

Oh what do you do when it's Easter time...

2010-04-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

when all the world is spring. Do you sit by a stream and lazily dream about life as it passes you by? Is that what you do?...Not this time! So if you don't know that song, that won't make sense to you. Easter was great! We had a couple easter egg hunts,

Bella's first

for big kids too,

good food, a stinky dog, family and friends and great weather! So great, that we decided it was time to put up the pool the Easter Bunny brought.

just in time for the storm tonight, mind you. Can't blame us for being extremely excited for summer!

Changes

2010-04-03T22:13:00.001-05:00

There have been so many changes in our lives this year. This whole, less then a year, in fact, just 10 months. Buying a house, starting school, moving to GA, homeschooling, moving back (and not going back to school), callings change at church, and good friends moving. The last one has been particularly hard. It's one thing when you are the one doing the moving, or changing, or have things going on. A bit different when the change affects you but has nothing to do with you. Whether it's family or friends (like family) but it's not your change, it kind of makes you want to change or go too, but on the flip side you have to re-evaluate what it is you really want and what is really best for your family.

So that's what I've been thinking about a lot the past few days. What do I really want? What do we want as a family? What is best for our family? Individually?

I really like my house. It needs to be personalized a bit, homier. Wish I had a pic of it. I haven't had much time since we moved here to make it ours. It's a process, and it doesn't help that the basement internal drain project is not quite finished. But the house really works for our family. However, we are outdoor people. We love being outside. In fact, this week, the kids were out at 8am, and in at 6pm. Hard to keep them contained when the weather's been so nice. But, feelin a bit crowded and need a bit more elbow room outside. Of course, there's always the pool issue. Having had an inground pool, I don't think we appreciated it as much as we should have. Miss it soooo much.

Yes, we taught our kids to ski in our pool.

Every year since we've had some sort of pool. Even yesterday we went ahead and bought a little 10' wide, 30" pool. Something to get cool in, gearing up for the summer. I had a friend give me open invitation to come use their pool because they're never home and wish someone could have fun there. So when their 12 year old is home I think we'll go play with him at his pool. It always matters so much more once the weather gets warmer.

Another thing this week was we had people over for the first time since we've been back and I'd forgotten and came to understand about myself, how much I enjoy feeding other people and having company! I mean, I knew we liked to entertain, but didn't realize how much we really enjoy it. So, I like my house because I feel I can entertain ok here, it's not super fab, but it's ok. But when we had the pool we could have pool parties and people over and eat good food and socialize and it was always a party. Been trying to duplicate it ever since on a much smaller scale.

Then Ed really wants land. I realize the reason I like our house in Parkview was because there was an acre between everyone and there was elbow room (and a pool, and hot tub).

But he wants like 40 acres. We've been looking and have decided it would be more affordable to buy an existing home/pond/acreage as a package, not land and build. That would be much more expensive (unless we built a log cabin, the most affordable of all homes probably, but is just not our style). So if we found something would we get it? No. Not feeling the push to move. Love our house. Actually like our yard too. We'd build a pool here if we could, but the trucks can't get back between the houses to get to the back. sigh. And you're saying, but you just moved there!

Now I know that it sounds all really silly and you're probably saying just be happy with what you got. So, there you have it. Trying to figure out all this change. What is it we really want. The thing is, before we went to GA it was a house we could live in indefinitely, and possibly leave Jefferson City. But while in GA we decided we really like it here and don't really want to leave! Ed loves his job. There is always the chance things would change. There is sooo much change in the medical field change could happen in an instant. But I'm tired of living that way...in the "it might" or "what if". Everyone else bought houses and are acquiring land. And in GA we decided we would like to go ahead and settle in Jefferson City. That changes things a bit with our house. Rather then live in a house where you know you're going to move someday, I wish we could get to the house we want to settle in for at least the next 10 years. I know I overthink this, and worry too much and need to relax and think about something else.

K. So how bout this? There are no LDS youth for Rebecca in this area. She has phenomenal Christian friends, which I LOVE! I'm so glad. I just wish there were some her age in primary at church. She's the only girl. We prayed for boys for Jon, and we got them. I've been praying for girls too, but that's not really happened. sigh. She had a bad math day yesterday and was so distraught thinking she was a failure and stupid because she couldn't get some of these math problems. I felt horrible. I asked her if she wanted to go back to school and she resolutely told me "No!" They don't do the fun things that we do at home at school! And I would miss everybody!" Ok. When I told Ed he was pretty upset that I hadn't discussed it with him before I even gave her the option. I said I didn't know he felt so strongly about it. To which, he replied, "I didn't know I did either, but I do." Interesting. It's feels like it did when Jonathan was born and we felt soo strongly not to get him vaccinated immediately. We waited and he slowly got all his shots. Only later we found out he has a weaker immune system and horrible allergies. So we felt validated in our decision. So. Then I had a dream last night that we moved to TX because there are so many more LDS folk there and we're confident she'd have friends her age in church. Once upon a time, Ed and I did say we would move if necessary for our childrens' well-being and faith. ?

Which makes me ask myself, what's wrong with me? Why am I so uneasy? Why can I not be content or feel settled? What is going on? If I had the land, pool and house (right, if I had it all), would these feelings go away? These are the self-probing questions I'm trying to answer. Where is all the uneasiness coming from? Do I have a bit of a nomad in me? Do I just need to go on vacation, like, every month? I need to settle down for my childrens' sake, and all of ours, actually. Which makes me think, we're going to be in this house for a long time.... It's financially the smartest, best choice. Course, no one has ever accused us of being financially smart....

Trip to the Childrens' Museum

2010-04-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

I've been really excited to visit the Mid-Mo Childrens' Museum. It did not disappoint.

They learned... Anatomy

Logic

Money

Healthy food choices

How to wash hands

and music appreciation.

More Princess fever

2010-03-28T20:38:00.000-05:00

Here are a few more princess pics, per request. Can you tell they feel pretty?

He was so good to go along with it...

More hcg

2010-03-26T21:58:00.003-05:00

I've been on the hcg injections for 38 days now. I've lost 27 pounds and over 10 inches. I don't have a lot of energy to do anything extra other then being a mom with my kids. That could be expected on a 500 calorie diet. However, I'm going to try to cycle again next week because I love to cycle, but I'm kind of nervous for lack of energy; I hate feeling completely exhausted.

I've learned that under normal protocol you should only do hcg for 28 days because of the low protein in your diet, not because of immunity to hcg. So, on our program we take protein supplements which are very low calorie. I can do that for 3 months and then should take a maintenance of 3 weeks. It's a very unforgiving program. If you cheat at all you could easily gain 3 pounds the next day which may take 5 to lose again (example, I ate 2 small brownies and that happened to me).

But I love the success I'm having. I'm a third of the way to where I want to be, but as I get closer to goal weight, I know it will be harder and slower to come off (watching Ed, that seems to be true, though, he has lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks, he only has 8 more that he wants to lose and it may be stubborn).

Horton Prestige Academy of Art and Science

2010-03-26T21:57:00.005-05:00

Today was a FABULOUS homeschooling day! Everyday is pretty good, but I really enjoyed today. And the kids enjoyed it, which is why I enjoyed it.

I recently attended a conference where the speaker advised to have at least 3 days (she said consecutive...ha!) of no plans, just staying at home. Today was one of those no other plans days, although not a consecutive one. So last night I looked over our studies for today. I went to Classroom Connection and got some stuff on geography and we had a lot of fun today. The kids loved the map I got for the wall, and identifying the states and capitols, rivers and lakes. They enjoyed learning about the Greeks and writing their name in Greek. Rebecca loved the freedom of doing science projects that she could do all by herself, and document them. They were good on their reading, language, writing, and math. Jon was a bit frustrated with his new math book. I looked at it and realized I'd bought the one for the 2nd half of 2nd grade! But he still did it fine! He's actually finished the first grade math I had him doing, and so now I'm onto something else. I can't hardly wait til the homeschool convention in a few weeks where I can sort through, analyze and see first hand so many exhibitors. I am hoping to find our fit for this next year, and will probably start on some of it in April.

It's interesting how they excel in some things, need some work in other areas, and how you cater to their needs. Both Jon and Becca are completely different math learners. That has been a bit weird for me, I mean, I don't know why it would be since he's a boy and she's a girl, right? But figuring it out through observation has been interesting. And learning how I teach! That has also been interesting to see what works best for me as a teacher.

But outside of the basic subjects, all of which we did, we logged so many hours today, like 9, counting outside play for P.E. and Piano for both kids. We spent the entire day doing "school" and it was fun! This is what I've been trying to figure out. How to make it fun. I think I've just been overworking them, actually, scared to death of them "falling behind". But in actuality, I think they are making it just fine! I've been afraid to deviate from phonics, math and language, but am learning how to actually make it fun. Today Jon read his phonics book, which I could tell he wasn't enjoying because it was about a girl. So I gave him "Shoo Fly Guy". A few months ago he was so intimidated by this book, but today he read it with ease and got a kick out of it! I loved hearing him laugh as he read it to Savannah.

And I love the fact, that when it's so nice out, like the couple days we've had this week, I can send them outside and they love it! So that's how we deal with spring fever, we bask in it. I remember sitting in school on beautiful days, probably not learning much. I feel bad when I look at the clock and it's 2:30 after we've had a great day full of great things, and kids are still in school and won't be home for an hour or two. I'm glad my kids can still be kids and take hour long breaks of play outside. And they are so creative! Of course, it helps that the neighbor's cousins are visiting here on spring break and there have been tons of kids in our backyards this week.

I'm also sooo grateful for the great scout troops in our group, both girl scouts and cub scouts! I am so happy to have found a good girl scout troop for my daughters! I gave up girl scouts as a girl because of the cliquey-ness. I saw that with the troop Rebecca was in a couple years ago, and even among the leaders. I'm impressed with this troop as they seem to try to include everyone and the girls all like each other. I think she may go through Girl Scouts as far as she can! But looking at the badge books, I think we need to incorporate scouting into Horton Prestige Academy of Arts and Sciences. How many kids come home from school or on the weekend and have to do all their scouting stuff and don't have much time, or don't want to, or parents are too busy. I'm glad earning badges can actually be part of our curriculum.

Also, one of my favorite things now are audio books, or cds on my iPod. I love the kids listening to books in the car. They always are asking for one. I actually came across a headline today "How to do School in the Car". I thought that was funny, but I can see how it's possible!

Another thing I've been thinking about is having a designated Art class. I mean, we do projects and crafts, but a friend told me this week she really loves the art projects her son brings home from school. Ahh, another thing to master. I'll be researching some of those projects so we can do them here. I actually have lots of ideas that go along with our history lessons, they just all take prep work. I need to do better with that.

So little by little I'm figuring it out (the kids, me, curriculum, routines, activities). And Ed is soo supportive. He loves helping Becca with her science projects, and having Jon help him build things, or watching the little girls while I do one on one time with another. Things are looking up.

Yeah, it's been a good day.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

2010-03-24T21:55:00.005-05:00

Ok, so the first week of Feb we went to Disneyworld and I now have pictures to prove it. Disney has a "photo pass", so whenever you see a photographer they take all kinds of pictures and it goes on your card, like a credit card. Then you have a month and can order the prints before they get deleted. I went ahead and got the CD. We had like 180 pics.

My favorite part of Disney was going to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Yes, it cost a bundle, but was soooo fun and totally worth it to me. Aahhh, fun times.

Gettin the beginning of the hair done, then make up...

Who wants to be a Diva Princess?

At the same time, Rebecca sat across the salon...another Diva Princess.

Daddy kisses her hand.

What was funny about Rebecca being Cinderella, was that afterwards we were shopping and little girls came up to her wanting hugs thinking that she was the real deal! Made her smile.

AND

Of course, we can't forget the "Cool Dude"

Of course, there was mom who loved the whole thing, and dad who was ready to leave before it started...

And Bella who took her first steps!!

We had a magical vacation

Anniversary call

2010-03-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

Ed's on call tonight which kind of sucks because it's our anniversary today. He did it so we could go to our nephew's birthday party tomorrow and he'd be off, which was thoughtful of him. It was so nice in Georgia because he had call once every 2 months. Of course, he had to stay in house. Here he has call once a week and one weekend every 7 weeks, either a Sat or Fri/Sun, but it's beeper from home, so if nothing is going on he gets to stay home.

In the beginning it was hard to get used to, now I'm used to it. But with all the burglaries in Jefferson City the last few months, I had him show me where the gun was and how to use it. A bit more comfort there. And the dog would probably wake us all up, protective thing that he is. Still, whenever he's on call, I just expect him to be gone all night. So it's a treat when he gets to come home for the evening, even better, when he gets to sleep at home. If there just weren't so many darn women having babies :) They think they don't need any meds, until they're dilated to, like, a 4, then they're screaming and my husband has to sleep at the hospital until they're delivered, and it's always in the middle of the night.

Recently it's just the thought that he gets paid overtime for that, that allows any contentment for it all. I guess I'm taking on his attitude of rolling eyes at all the complaining women...now that I'm done having babies. Yes, women go through a lot, and yes, men go through a lot listening to them complain. I'm married to such a wonderful man. Never complained about any of my complaining, which is amazing because I complained a lot. But I guess not as much as others because he always would thank me for not complaining as much as some others.

So today we've been married for ten years. Pretty fast how time flies. And wonderful. I really love our relationship. We don't really fight about anything. We pretty much agree on most things, and think the same about a lot of things that probably other couples fight over. Our relationship has always been easy (knock on wood that it always will be). He thinks things through so thoroughly that I've come to really respect his way of things. It's always better then mine, and in fact, much more sound then ANYONE else I know. It's a shame so many people lack common sense, and I mean just plain common sense. Of course, I am stubborn and sometimes insist on doing things my way, which only ends up aggrevating me.

I don't know how I got to be so blessed. He has truly blessed my life in every way. We have so much fun together, and now we have so much fun with our children. Today he sent me flowers: 10 red roses for 10 years of marriage, and 4 white, one for each child. I'm so happy, and he makes everything possible. I thank the Lord to having found me a perfect match.

40 day Lent bag purge

2010-03-17T21:49:00.001-05:00

So, I'm not Catholic, but I wanted to participate in a 40 day bag purge as my contribution to Lent. So far I have 12 bags gone, trash, clothes, toys, whatever. I don't know if I will make 40, not because I don't have it, but because I'm slow. I don't know that I'll have them done in time.

I finally got to Savannah's room today and was able to purge 3 bags. Her room is so much better now. The closet is so organized and her toys are put away nice and she and Bella have room to move around. We can walk through it. I want to paint it now. I'm thinking pink and yellow.

I'll have to do Jon's room next. Then move on to the basement and garage. Like I said, this may take me a bit longer then a couple weeks. Maybe a couple months, but I will persevere. Oh yes.

Sammy

2010-03-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

Meet Sammy. He's a great dog.

We love our dog. Everyday he gets smarter and we like him more. He's still in a crate for potty purposes, but he's doing really great. He's only yelped once during the night and it was when he was sick to his stomach (poor Ed). And he's been real good at not peeing in the house, course we take him out a LOT. It's good for the kids too.

But today we realized he was really, super great at fetching. Ed's always wanted a dog that could fetch (just didn't know it would be a migit dog). It's like, they are either born with it or not. Sammy's a smart dog. He's a good fetcher. He's a shihpoo and won't get much bigger. It's a great size. Everything's small and manageable with Sammy...so far.

Cub Scouts

2010-03-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

It's official, uniform and all.

Yes, he's a Cub Scout. A Tiger Cub Scout. And he's so proud to wear the uniform and do his duty to God and his country and be a good example, and nice and helpful and choose the right and all that goes with it. Ed explained that, especially when he's in uniform, he has to be respectful and make good choices. Jon did not disapoint. So proud of him. And LOTS and badges to earn now. And so much fun to be had.

There's a bit of Irish in there...

2010-03-10T22:00:00.001-06:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

March 5, 2010

2010-03-05T21:38:00.000-06:00

Today was a great day! I got so much done! My craft/homeschool closet is coming along well, and I still have room to fill! We moved a bookcase over and my books are more organized now, and I have room to add! The computer guy is coming over tomorrow. We are switching from DSL to cable. DSL drives me nuts. It's slow and eratic. Nothing interrupts the cable. I already feel so much more organized, like I can breathe easier as things are s l o w l y coming together. It's a process.

We got some school in, which is good, of course. I found a Math CD rom by Reader Rabbit and they LOVE it! Hey as long as they are doing some math, I'm good. Now that I'm more organized, next week should be a much better routine/schedule week. Time fills up fast in this homeschool group, though. Field trips every other week, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Music/art groups, Co-op, and anything else in between; like library activities, Runge conservation activities(we haven't done any of those yet), YMCA activities (none of those yet either). Thinking about Tae kwon Do and Hip Hop Dance, which we did in GA. Always thinking about something with school.

It's a bit hard coming back home because we've had so many changes in less then a year. Moving, then moving again, and then again. Being in school and then out, and then coming back and staying out. I know it's a little bit of a struggle for the kids and I'm praying for their friendships to grow. And even to make new friends! Jon's got 13 boys in his co-op class, so I'm REALLY excited for him. He needs some friends. Rebecca has always made friends easily. So far she has a lot of friends, but they are either a year or two younger, or older. It'd be nice for her to be with some right on the same page with her.

The dog started dog-training school today, with Jon as his handler. And he actually comes, and sits! After 1 training lesson! He is not peeing in his crate or in the house, so things are looking up! And we really like our dog. He's really soft, and a low low shedding dog (for Jon's allergy sake). I definitely think a small dog is the way to go if you want the dog inside at all. When you do take it out, it can be in the yard because it's small, running shorter distances really works it more then it would a bigger dog, it's easy to wash in the sink, it's messes are small, it chews things that are smaller, like crayons, and you can take it places (though, Ed said it threw up on the way to the school tonight). If we had a bigger dog, I'd say, let's move to the country...oh wait. I'm saying that anyway. (ok, not really, cause I really am coming to really like my house). If we could just break him of his poop eating habit. I mean, that's just gross. On the upside, hardly any poop to clean up outside. Still, it's just gross. I hear that's common for breeded/kennel dogs because they don't have toys much to play with, they find something else! Gross. Did I mention that grosses me out? Yuck.

And Ed got home early from work today! That's always SUPER nice. And maybe we will get uninterrupted sleep tonight. That is always dreamy.

HCG

2010-03-03T21:14:00.000-06:00

Some of Ed's co-workers have lost lots of weight on the HCG plan so I decided to try it. HCG is a hormone found in pregnant women where the body taps into fat stores it normally won't tap into, to feed the baby. Well, put the hormone in your body when you aren't pregnant and your body will tap into those fat stores also!. (Plus, some women are ending up pregnant!) There is the homeopathic stuff, about 1% and then the injection, 100% hcg. I tried the homeopathic in GA and wasn't crazy about it. I'm doing the injection now, for the last two weeks. The first 2 days on hcg are loading days, eat as much high fat, calorie food as possible to increase your fat stores, because then for the next 28 days you will be on a 500 calorie diet: 3.5 ounces of chicken, lean beef, fish, shrimp or crab; 3.5 oz of spinach, lettuce/cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and 1-2 half fruit a day: strawberry, cantaloupe, orange, apples, berries. Supplemented with tea and only 3 packets of stevia a day, and 1 melba toast. My program also incorporates a protein drink to ward off loss of lean muscle tissue.

The first 12 days (post load days, of course) were soo hard because I'd be hungry. But they are also allowing up to 2 cans of diet soda a day...yeah!! I actually like the food choices I'm allowed to eat, so that was good. And I have some yummy recipes that are program appropriate, which are awesome! i.e. like the curry chicken I made tonight.

Here's the thing. EVERYONE who does this diet is successful! It's been 2 weeks and I've lost 15 pounds! I'll do it a while longer until I get closer to where I want to be. Then there is a maintenance phase for 2 months.

The place I go to is in Columbia, MO, called Meta-health. This diet is based on the findings of Dr. Simeon. You can find his pamphlet online and read about it if you're interested. The great thing is, that if you don't cheat and stick with it, you won't be hungry, even if you are on a low calorie diet. The science behind it is that you go into starvation mode, and reset your hypothalamus-i.e. metabolism.

New Math Program

2010-03-03T21:07:00.000-06:00

Today I received a new math program for my children to try out. It's the 3rd one. I've seen Saxon (looks very boring), and A Beka (so much repetition, yet very comprehensive), and Math U See (a little different, but also ok). This is Right Start and it uses an abacus. It is very Montessori-ish. The whole idea is to "learn" math, not just rote memorization, but to learn how to think mathematically. So many tools came with it: a dry erase board, colored blocks, wood blocks, popcicle sticks, a balancer, a clock to figure out time, geoboards, an abacus, lesson plans, workbook, appendixes.... I'm really excited. If our first lessons go well, I'll get it for Rebecca too. She's at a stand still starting to hate math...not good. Maybe this will change her mind.

Scouting's started

2010-03-01T22:18:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it starts in March for us, but that's because we haven't been able to do anything like that this year. Rebecca went to a Brownie troop and the girls were so great! We had bad girl scout experiences before with the girls being cliquey or the leaders being snobby. This is a homeschool troop and she had so much fun and they made lots of crafty things.

Following I found out Jon could go to Tiger Cubs because the group has Cub Scouts too! I'm so excited for Jonathan because he's not around many boys, we are around girls much more often. So, I'm really hoping he makes some good friends. And I'm excited for him too. He thought it was awesome.

Becoming domesticated

2010-03-01T22:14:00.000-06:00

Rebecca is really starting to bloom in so many ways. She just took one maturity leap forwards. Perhaps it's because she asked me what "mature" meant last week. She is helping me sooo much. She says "What would you do without me?" She watches Bella, takes the dog out, helps Savannah, clears the table, does her school work. And her speech has become just a bit older. She makes funny jokes and gets humor. She comprehends things that surprise me. I'm soo glad she's around. I love her so much. She makes me so happy.

potty training puppy

2010-03-01T22:06:00.000-06:00

I wanted to get a dog, and I don't regret it. I really like him, little shih poo, "Sammy". He's really good. Loves the kids. He's not so big he can't hurt anyone, unless Bella's laying down, but even she does good with him. He's so soft, and he hardly barks unless he thinks we're in trouble and he can't tell what's happening (he heard but couldn't see Ed in the closet). But the dog stinks. I was told if you give too many baths their skin oil works overtime and can make them smell worse...whoops. Then the potty training thing. Finally was found out tonight how to do the crate training thing. I've just never potty trained a dog before. It's a bit of a pain, but really it's nice to have an excuse to go outside even if it is FREEZING!! One of these days I'll post a pic, but we are still moving back in and things are so chaotic and lost in piles everywhere, I don't know where what computer chords are. But he is cute, soft and cuddly, and most importantly, I don't mind having him around...yet.

Homeschooling resources

2010-02-26T20:27:00.000-06:00

I decided to start a list of resources I'd recommend if you are thinking about or starting homeschooling. I will update it periodically as I learn more.

The Well-Adjusted Child (misconceptions about "socialization"
100 Top Picks for Home School Curriculum
The Well-Trained Mind

And websites:

www.homeschoolreviews.com
www.thehomeschoollounge.com
http://simplycharlottemason.com/
www.donnayoung.org

Curriculum I've heard great things about:

Classical Conversations
Sonlight
My Father's World
Thomas Jefferson Education

Or you could go eclectic, which is what I felt "The Well-Trained Mind" did, create your own subjects from different places. If I did it that way, I'd do "Story of the World", "Saxon" math, "Apologia" Science, Rod and Staff grammer, and read lots and lots of classics, starting with Aesop's fables and working through the Jr. versions of classics. Somewhere along the line you'd need writing, possibly "Writeshop".

But really, for math, you have to find one that works for each child. It may be www.alabacus.com (Right start), A Beka; Math U See; Saxon; Singapore; or one within a curriculum you choose. A lot of people use Saxon and Math U See. I just got the Rightstart math and it looks awesome! Stay posted!

"Typer Island" as a learning to type program. Timez Attack for learning your times.

Then don't forget that any new skill your child learns can count as school, for example baking, sewing, constructing etc.

2 in 1

2010-02-26T20:18:00.000-06:00

This morning we read a scripture story, like we do most mornings, followed by a history chapter, which we have started doing because the two are so closely related. In our history lessons we've been learning about ancient Egypt and now New Egypt. Today's story was about the Pharaoh getting scared about the Hebrew slaves growing and how he sent the law to kill the newborn baby boys (Israelites). It's easy to see he was nervous because Egypt had been conquered by the Hyksos not too many years earlier and the Israelites posed a threat. Then we go into the story of Moses. As we are a bit into the lesson, Rebecca's face shows a "light bulb moment" and she says, "Mom, it's like church and history at the same time--like 2 in 1!"

It was a proud moment. Yes, dear, faith and religion have been around since the beginning and so it's definitely in the history of the world. It plays a big role.

Fun day, busy day

2010-02-25T21:32:00.000-06:00

Ed was off today and we had nothing planned. I heard about a music/art class group for the kids so I took them. They loved it and met some new people. Boy did they just LOVE being and doing something rather then being at home, which we've done for a week and a half.

Afterwards, I got a phone call of a cancellation on a field trip, so we went to the Veterinarian Museum here in town. That was really interesting.

We came home and did math and language, then Rebecca had a group piano class. Afterwards, we went to the library where the 2 older went to "Spy School" and the younger two played. Our library is really great. The childrens' section is made for children, where they can play and read while mom looks around. I checked out some great books and visited with another woman in our group. I'm learning so much.

There is just so much diversity in home school. So many different things you can do, teach, visit, learn. So many different styles. Right now I'm on the quest to figure out my children with math and get them something that will work well for their particular learning style. There is also a book club at the library for 3-5 graders. I'm so excited because Rebecca missed her "guided" reading group at school. This month she will read "A Wrinkle in Time". I'm glad about that.

My new friend recommended some books that will hopefully help my own learning as I try to gear up for next year, because that's really what this is all about. I'm trying to figure out what we should do for school curriculum next year: order a complete curriculum, like "My Father's World", "A Beka", or "Classical Conversations", or "Sonlight", or just hodge podge it like I've been doing: "Story of the World" history, Usborne Science Encyclopedia plus Apologia Science, and Rod and Staff Grammer. I did just order "Typer Island". I've heard good things about it as a typing program. I also would need to find a writing program. But I think I'd like something that ties all subjects together, which brings me back to a complete curriculum because it grows on itself and intertwines subjects with each other so you see in history what was happening scientifically, or reading books about it. I really need something that ties it all together.

I will continue to think and pray about this.