I've been debating writing this post. Fear is what has stopped me. Fear that somehow, if I put this out there, people will think I'm an inferior homeschooler. However, I promised when I changed the name of this blog, that I would be honest, with hopes that someone could relate and say, "finally, someone struggling with the same thing as me."
And so, here we go.
My weakness in homeschooling is.....lesson planning.
I hate it. More than that, I despise it.
Why? It makes my life easier. I do it, even though I hate it, so I know it makes life easier, but still..I hate it.
I hate it because I'm not good at it.
I really, really struggle with it. Once I get going, it is really ok, and I do it every year, it is just so hard for me to start.
In reality, it should be easy. You have 100 pages to do in 10 days, you do 10 pages a day. Simple, right?
You'd think so, but for some reason, when it comes to lesson planning, I freeze.
It is SO hard for me to get past the frozen part.
I have read all kinds of articles on how to lesson plan and taken classes at conferences, and still, I struggle.
I'm not really sure what I'm afraid of. Is it that if it's written down, and we don't do things on the days I plan for, I feel like a failure? I feel like we are suddenly behind! Behind who?? Behind what?? We homeschool for flexibility, so why am I concerned about getting "behind"?
I have planning to do. I will start tonight. Maybe. Ugh! See!!! I'm frozen!
So that's my weakness, well one of them, what is yours?
Showing posts with label school...at home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school...at home. Show all posts
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Homeschooling!
I know I promised this last week, but the next day our laptop got sick, and we lost so much stuff. For awhile, there was nothing but a black screen. Blah. No fun. Anyway, things are at least working now, even if all our pictures and files are gone. :-( Hopefully, when I hit "publish" this post will work and it won't direct you to a funky site.
OK, so, without further ado, here we go.
I cannot tell you the amount of times I am asked questions about homeschooling. I guess people think that since we've been doing it so long, we must be experts.
The truth is, every single year, we learn more. Every year, I change things up. I feel like a newbie, every single year! AND...I think most homeschoolers would say the same. We all have the same insecurities, even if we don't admit it.
Let me start at the beginning though.
Homeschooling is a very personal choice, and not a choice that is right for everyone.
We went into this with much prayer and soul searching. We believe that home is where God wants our children right now. There are so many reasons for this, but I won't get into them, because it's different for everyone. If you feel the Lord calling you to homeschool, follow the calling! If not, then maybe homeschooling isn't the best choice for your family. If at any point, we feel God is telling us to send them to school, we will.
We started homeschooling our eldest when he was in preschool. I was so excited and ambitious. He is now 15, a sophomore, and still homeschooling. We have always said we will homeschool for as long as it works for us, committing only to one year at a time. We homeschool the rest of them as well. This year we have a sophomore, a seventh grader, a fourth grader, and a second grader. We also have a 4 year old who will be doing preschool work, and a 1 year old who will be hanging out alongside us.
So what curriculum do we use? This is such a difficult question to answer. The answer is different for everyone. Not just every family, but every child as well. We have had years where we use a boxed curriculum. Those years we have used Alpha Omega Lifepacs, or ACE Paces. We also did a partial year of Sonlight. I say partial, because this curriculum was most definitely not for us, although some people absolutely love it. The boxed curriculum was mostly in our early years. For the last several years, we have been eclectic homeschoolers, taking curriculum from all over. The one thing that stays consistent is our math. We use Math U See, and love it.
This year, with the younger kids, we will be using unit studies. This is our first year doing unit studies, but I'm pretty excited about it. They are much more hands on learners than the older two are, so I'm thinking this will be a great fit. The eldest has his high school courses to take, and the second one will work on some unit studies, but mostly middle school courses.
Like I said, every year we find something we like, and something we don't like. It truly is a trial and error thing.
How do we do it? This also changes every year as our family grows. When we have a small baby in the house, we do our schooling when the baby sleeps. I don't have a strict time schedule, that isn't practical for us. We also have many doctors appointments. On those days, we make sure to get math and language arts done. This is the glory of homeschooling, you start to realize that everything is a learning opportunity, and what is in books is just a small portion of life. My kids are learning all the time, even if their nose isn't in a textbook. Therefore, when we can't be around the table, learning math facts, we know that it's ok! There will always be time for math facts!
A typical day (HAHAHA, that's really funny, there really isn't anything typical in our house, but if there was, this is what it would be!) looks like this: I have to start my day with prayer, if not, the day falls apart. Normally, I try to have prayer time with the kids too, but I must admit that sometimes falls to the wayside. We eat breakfast and do our morning chores. Again, I don't have set times for anything. Some days we get started early, and are done with our school early. Some days we get started late and aren't done till dinnertime. We just go with the flow! I then meet with the two eldest and go over what they are doing for the day. They are independent by this point and can do their own thing. Naturally, I'm here to help should any problems arise. During that meeting time the four youngest are playing, after all, play is a child's work! I then get started with the younger kids. We sit at a table and start with whatever we want that day, usually we start with math, but not always. The four year old always wants her own worksheets, and the one year old plays, or colors. We work on school for awhile(I told you, no schedule!), usually until they start getting antsy. Since I have mostly boys, this happens often! At that point, if the weather permits, it's outside to work off some energy! When they come back in, it's more school, then lunch...unless we started late, then it's lunchtime after playtime. After lunch, it's back to work. With the little ones, we can then work until we are done. The older ones have more work so may need another break. Although, in my house, they aren't required to sit in one spot until their work is done. There is lots of movement, so they may not need another break.
That's it...in a very large nutshell. Life happens, and like I said, that is what a perfect typical day looks like!
I want to clear up some common misconceptions about homeschooling. I often hear, "I couldn't homeschool because I'm not organized enough." or "I don't have the patience to homeschool". I am not organized. I struggle to be organized, but I just wasn't born that way. I really try, but usually fail miserably. It's ok though. Even with not being the most organized person, my kids are excelling. Why? I think because I love them and want them to succeed, so even though it may not be as organized as Miss Olga Organized, it still gets done. I also am not the most patient person. I have some children who can be very trying. I cannot tell you how many days I retreat to my bedroom, on my knees, to regroup. I tell God that I know we are doing this because it is His will, but that He has to finish the day for me! I then go back, and we get on with things. I also remember being yelled at in school, one teacher would through chalkboard erasers at us, we got hacks from the principal! I know that even if I yell at my kids, they know, without a doubt, that I still love them, and nothing they can do will cause me not to like them.
It really IS ok to be less than perfect and homeschool!
Oh, before I close, if you are considering homeschooling, the first thing you need to do is look into your local laws. Every state has different laws and requirements. The easiest way to do this is by googling it! Good luck in whatever choice you make, and please, if I left out anything, or if anything isn't clear, leave me a comment. Like I said, I don't claim to be an expert, but I'll do what I can!
God Bless!
OK, so, without further ado, here we go.
I cannot tell you the amount of times I am asked questions about homeschooling. I guess people think that since we've been doing it so long, we must be experts.
The truth is, every single year, we learn more. Every year, I change things up. I feel like a newbie, every single year! AND...I think most homeschoolers would say the same. We all have the same insecurities, even if we don't admit it.
Let me start at the beginning though.
Homeschooling is a very personal choice, and not a choice that is right for everyone.
We went into this with much prayer and soul searching. We believe that home is where God wants our children right now. There are so many reasons for this, but I won't get into them, because it's different for everyone. If you feel the Lord calling you to homeschool, follow the calling! If not, then maybe homeschooling isn't the best choice for your family. If at any point, we feel God is telling us to send them to school, we will.
We started homeschooling our eldest when he was in preschool. I was so excited and ambitious. He is now 15, a sophomore, and still homeschooling. We have always said we will homeschool for as long as it works for us, committing only to one year at a time. We homeschool the rest of them as well. This year we have a sophomore, a seventh grader, a fourth grader, and a second grader. We also have a 4 year old who will be doing preschool work, and a 1 year old who will be hanging out alongside us.
So what curriculum do we use? This is such a difficult question to answer. The answer is different for everyone. Not just every family, but every child as well. We have had years where we use a boxed curriculum. Those years we have used Alpha Omega Lifepacs, or ACE Paces. We also did a partial year of Sonlight. I say partial, because this curriculum was most definitely not for us, although some people absolutely love it. The boxed curriculum was mostly in our early years. For the last several years, we have been eclectic homeschoolers, taking curriculum from all over. The one thing that stays consistent is our math. We use Math U See, and love it.
This year, with the younger kids, we will be using unit studies. This is our first year doing unit studies, but I'm pretty excited about it. They are much more hands on learners than the older two are, so I'm thinking this will be a great fit. The eldest has his high school courses to take, and the second one will work on some unit studies, but mostly middle school courses.
Like I said, every year we find something we like, and something we don't like. It truly is a trial and error thing.
How do we do it? This also changes every year as our family grows. When we have a small baby in the house, we do our schooling when the baby sleeps. I don't have a strict time schedule, that isn't practical for us. We also have many doctors appointments. On those days, we make sure to get math and language arts done. This is the glory of homeschooling, you start to realize that everything is a learning opportunity, and what is in books is just a small portion of life. My kids are learning all the time, even if their nose isn't in a textbook. Therefore, when we can't be around the table, learning math facts, we know that it's ok! There will always be time for math facts!
A typical day (HAHAHA, that's really funny, there really isn't anything typical in our house, but if there was, this is what it would be!) looks like this: I have to start my day with prayer, if not, the day falls apart. Normally, I try to have prayer time with the kids too, but I must admit that sometimes falls to the wayside. We eat breakfast and do our morning chores. Again, I don't have set times for anything. Some days we get started early, and are done with our school early. Some days we get started late and aren't done till dinnertime. We just go with the flow! I then meet with the two eldest and go over what they are doing for the day. They are independent by this point and can do their own thing. Naturally, I'm here to help should any problems arise. During that meeting time the four youngest are playing, after all, play is a child's work! I then get started with the younger kids. We sit at a table and start with whatever we want that day, usually we start with math, but not always. The four year old always wants her own worksheets, and the one year old plays, or colors. We work on school for awhile(I told you, no schedule!), usually until they start getting antsy. Since I have mostly boys, this happens often! At that point, if the weather permits, it's outside to work off some energy! When they come back in, it's more school, then lunch...unless we started late, then it's lunchtime after playtime. After lunch, it's back to work. With the little ones, we can then work until we are done. The older ones have more work so may need another break. Although, in my house, they aren't required to sit in one spot until their work is done. There is lots of movement, so they may not need another break.
That's it...in a very large nutshell. Life happens, and like I said, that is what a perfect typical day looks like!
I want to clear up some common misconceptions about homeschooling. I often hear, "I couldn't homeschool because I'm not organized enough." or "I don't have the patience to homeschool". I am not organized. I struggle to be organized, but I just wasn't born that way. I really try, but usually fail miserably. It's ok though. Even with not being the most organized person, my kids are excelling. Why? I think because I love them and want them to succeed, so even though it may not be as organized as Miss Olga Organized, it still gets done. I also am not the most patient person. I have some children who can be very trying. I cannot tell you how many days I retreat to my bedroom, on my knees, to regroup. I tell God that I know we are doing this because it is His will, but that He has to finish the day for me! I then go back, and we get on with things. I also remember being yelled at in school, one teacher would through chalkboard erasers at us, we got hacks from the principal! I know that even if I yell at my kids, they know, without a doubt, that I still love them, and nothing they can do will cause me not to like them.
It really IS ok to be less than perfect and homeschool!
Oh, before I close, if you are considering homeschooling, the first thing you need to do is look into your local laws. Every state has different laws and requirements. The easiest way to do this is by googling it! Good luck in whatever choice you make, and please, if I left out anything, or if anything isn't clear, leave me a comment. Like I said, I don't claim to be an expert, but I'll do what I can!
God Bless!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Time Management Skills
Time management skills.
Somehow I missed the class on this!
If I took the class, I failed miserably.
Most of the time I fly by the seat of my pants.
When it comes to homeschooling, people have told me I need to schedule everything.
To me, part of the glory of homeschooling is not having to have a schedule.
I understand the value of a schedule, but since having kids my life has not been scheduled.
Actually, our lives are normally scheduled around doctor appointments, and just life in general.
The problem, for me, comes with cleaning and schooling.
You see, I will tend to explain something to the kids, then as they get busy, I get busy doing housework.
Often though, I get sidetracked by the housework and it takes me a while to get back to the school work.
The funniest thing is you really can't tell any of that by the looks of my house.
Lately though, I've changed things up. Gone are the workbooks. Gone are most textbooks. We are learning by living life. OK, I'm using unit studies, but I can see us veering from prewritten studies soon.
For example, we are currently learning about gardens. Involved in this study is learning about Monet, George Washington Carver, and different types of gardens. That's just been this week, and it's a four week study. Anyhow, today I took the kids to the arboretum. We sprawled under the crab apple trees and the kids did their copy work (vocab words and words of wisdom). We discussed different types of gardens, and I read a chapter of The Secret Garden (our current read aloud). We then spent the afternoon tromping from the rock garden, to the rose garden, to the water garden, to the shrub garden, to the edible plant garden, and on and on. Matt met us there after work and we went to pizza and discussed what we would need to grow in a pizza garden.
It was so, so great, and I'm sure the kids will remember more about this than reading about gardens in a book. We have made plans to go back throughout the spring and summer to watch the plants grow and change.
All of this is to say, it was really hard for me to leave the house.
I knew if we left, I couldn't switch the laundry. I couldn't do the dishes. I couldn't pick up anything.
I'm learning that the housework isn't important. The relationship with my kids, and them learning is far more important.
The problem is, while everyone has chores, the house has been pretty neglected this week!
I just really need to get my time management skills polished!
Love this poem, though, because it is so true.
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Somehow I missed the class on this!
If I took the class, I failed miserably.
Most of the time I fly by the seat of my pants.
When it comes to homeschooling, people have told me I need to schedule everything.
To me, part of the glory of homeschooling is not having to have a schedule.
I understand the value of a schedule, but since having kids my life has not been scheduled.
Actually, our lives are normally scheduled around doctor appointments, and just life in general.
The problem, for me, comes with cleaning and schooling.
You see, I will tend to explain something to the kids, then as they get busy, I get busy doing housework.
Often though, I get sidetracked by the housework and it takes me a while to get back to the school work.
The funniest thing is you really can't tell any of that by the looks of my house.
Lately though, I've changed things up. Gone are the workbooks. Gone are most textbooks. We are learning by living life. OK, I'm using unit studies, but I can see us veering from prewritten studies soon.
For example, we are currently learning about gardens. Involved in this study is learning about Monet, George Washington Carver, and different types of gardens. That's just been this week, and it's a four week study. Anyhow, today I took the kids to the arboretum. We sprawled under the crab apple trees and the kids did their copy work (vocab words and words of wisdom). We discussed different types of gardens, and I read a chapter of The Secret Garden (our current read aloud). We then spent the afternoon tromping from the rock garden, to the rose garden, to the water garden, to the shrub garden, to the edible plant garden, and on and on. Matt met us there after work and we went to pizza and discussed what we would need to grow in a pizza garden.
It was so, so great, and I'm sure the kids will remember more about this than reading about gardens in a book. We have made plans to go back throughout the spring and summer to watch the plants grow and change.
All of this is to say, it was really hard for me to leave the house.
I knew if we left, I couldn't switch the laundry. I couldn't do the dishes. I couldn't pick up anything.
I'm learning that the housework isn't important. The relationship with my kids, and them learning is far more important.
The problem is, while everyone has chores, the house has been pretty neglected this week!
I just really need to get my time management skills polished!
Love this poem, though, because it is so true.
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).
The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Our Homeschooling Story
It seems like I've been asked about homeschooling quite a bit, lately. So, I decided to write an entry about why we homeschool, how we homeschool, and what we use.
I'll be the first to admit that I am a paranoid mom. No one is going to hurt my babies. When Matthew was getting to be school age, the school shootings were at an all time high. Either that, or we were just hearing about it on the news a lot more.
Growing up, I went to a great school. The country school that was "safe". I'll never forget seeing the brother of one of my classmates on the Sally Jesse Rafael show. He had been expelled because he had a hit list of who he was going to kill in the school. Around the same time, there was another shooting in a small town a couple hours away, another "safe" school.
If all this was happening at these schools, how could any school be safe for my kids??
Along with all of my fears, was the fact that Matthew was born with some facial differences. We learned very quickly that kids were cruel, very cruel. We also knew that Matthew would be facing surgeries during his early years of school. We couldn't figure out how he would manage to stay caught up in school with all the doctor's appointments we would be dealing with.
And finally, there was the fact that I really enjoy my kids. I couldn't fathom sending them to school for eight hours a day. I couldn't figure out how we could have a meaningful relationship if we only saw them a couple hours a day.
The idea of homeschooling appealed more and more to us, and we decided to give it a go. My kids have never been in public school, we've homeschooled from the word Go.
Over the years, our reasons for keeping them home have definitely changed. Yes, we still deal with the doctor's appointments, we still like being with our kids, and we still worry about their safety, but now it has become so much more.
We started learning about schools and how they teach for the tests. The higher the test scores, the more money they get. The schools have also started dictating what an acceptable absence is. When I was a kid, we could go on vacation, and my parents saying that we were with them, was enough to excuse the absence. Now, if you go on vacation, you get zeros for the time missed. When did the schools take the right to determine what is OK for their kids away from the parents?
There is also the fact that some of my kids have struggled a bit. I have been able to help them through, but worry if they had been in school they would have been left behind. Now, I don't know that for sure, but it seems like something that could easily happen.
Most importantly for us, is that we control what our children learn. Yes, my kids know about evolution, but we haven't taught it as truth. We believe in creation, and so those are the beliefs we've instilled in our kids. We like being able to pray whenever we want. On many occasions, we say a prayer before a test, or if things are getting difficult. We are allowed to talk about God whenever we want.
We have never said we will homeschool forever, we've always said we will homeschool for as long as it works for us. It still works for us, so we are still homeschooling.
As for what we do, I'm schooling four different levels right now. Matthew and Dillon are old enough that they are quite independent. Don't get me wrong, I help them whenever they need it, but for example, I don't have to sit and walk them through every math problem. They have instruction and then can pretty much go on their own.
I am using the workbox system for Collin and Zachary. I started it last year, towards the end of the year, and it seems to be what they need. Collin is one of my kids that struggles. Last year, and probably this year, I sit Zachy and Emily down with an activity (lacing beads in a pattern, or playing Jr boggle, etc) and I work with Collin. Then I switch. Collin plays with the girls and I work with Zachy. We switch back and forth until they are done with their school.
How we choose our curriculum could be it's own post, but I'm lazy so I'll pop a bit in here. In short, it has been years of trial and error.
We have stuck with Math U See our math, but everything else changes yearly. I keep coming back to Alpha Omega Lifepacs, though. Also,. Apologia Science is our science curriculum of choice. This year, we are using Switched on Schoolhouse for the older two boys. Not for all subjects, but some. We'll see how they like it. I'm not sure that Matthew is going to dig doing his schoolwork on the computer, but we'll give it a whirl. We are also using Horizons this year for Zachy. Emily is only 3, but I'll be working on letters and crafty goodness with her.
Is it easy? Nope. Am I organized? Not really. In fact, in most things, I'm quite lazy and I never follow through. This is how I know that God wants us to do this. We pray about it all the time. I couldn't do it without being able to go to God on a daily basis and lean on Him.
I hope this answered some questions. I want to add that I know there are wonderful schools out there, and since my kids have never been to public school the things I said are all things that I've heard from other parents. I don't mean to knock the public school system at all, it just isn't for us.
I'll be the first to admit that I am a paranoid mom. No one is going to hurt my babies. When Matthew was getting to be school age, the school shootings were at an all time high. Either that, or we were just hearing about it on the news a lot more.
Growing up, I went to a great school. The country school that was "safe". I'll never forget seeing the brother of one of my classmates on the Sally Jesse Rafael show. He had been expelled because he had a hit list of who he was going to kill in the school. Around the same time, there was another shooting in a small town a couple hours away, another "safe" school.
If all this was happening at these schools, how could any school be safe for my kids??
Along with all of my fears, was the fact that Matthew was born with some facial differences. We learned very quickly that kids were cruel, very cruel. We also knew that Matthew would be facing surgeries during his early years of school. We couldn't figure out how he would manage to stay caught up in school with all the doctor's appointments we would be dealing with.
And finally, there was the fact that I really enjoy my kids. I couldn't fathom sending them to school for eight hours a day. I couldn't figure out how we could have a meaningful relationship if we only saw them a couple hours a day.
The idea of homeschooling appealed more and more to us, and we decided to give it a go. My kids have never been in public school, we've homeschooled from the word Go.
Over the years, our reasons for keeping them home have definitely changed. Yes, we still deal with the doctor's appointments, we still like being with our kids, and we still worry about their safety, but now it has become so much more.
We started learning about schools and how they teach for the tests. The higher the test scores, the more money they get. The schools have also started dictating what an acceptable absence is. When I was a kid, we could go on vacation, and my parents saying that we were with them, was enough to excuse the absence. Now, if you go on vacation, you get zeros for the time missed. When did the schools take the right to determine what is OK for their kids away from the parents?
There is also the fact that some of my kids have struggled a bit. I have been able to help them through, but worry if they had been in school they would have been left behind. Now, I don't know that for sure, but it seems like something that could easily happen.
Most importantly for us, is that we control what our children learn. Yes, my kids know about evolution, but we haven't taught it as truth. We believe in creation, and so those are the beliefs we've instilled in our kids. We like being able to pray whenever we want. On many occasions, we say a prayer before a test, or if things are getting difficult. We are allowed to talk about God whenever we want.
We have never said we will homeschool forever, we've always said we will homeschool for as long as it works for us. It still works for us, so we are still homeschooling.
As for what we do, I'm schooling four different levels right now. Matthew and Dillon are old enough that they are quite independent. Don't get me wrong, I help them whenever they need it, but for example, I don't have to sit and walk them through every math problem. They have instruction and then can pretty much go on their own.
I am using the workbox system for Collin and Zachary. I started it last year, towards the end of the year, and it seems to be what they need. Collin is one of my kids that struggles. Last year, and probably this year, I sit Zachy and Emily down with an activity (lacing beads in a pattern, or playing Jr boggle, etc) and I work with Collin. Then I switch. Collin plays with the girls and I work with Zachy. We switch back and forth until they are done with their school.
How we choose our curriculum could be it's own post, but I'm lazy so I'll pop a bit in here. In short, it has been years of trial and error.
We have stuck with Math U See our math, but everything else changes yearly. I keep coming back to Alpha Omega Lifepacs, though. Also,. Apologia Science is our science curriculum of choice. This year, we are using Switched on Schoolhouse for the older two boys. Not for all subjects, but some. We'll see how they like it. I'm not sure that Matthew is going to dig doing his schoolwork on the computer, but we'll give it a whirl. We are also using Horizons this year for Zachy. Emily is only 3, but I'll be working on letters and crafty goodness with her.
Is it easy? Nope. Am I organized? Not really. In fact, in most things, I'm quite lazy and I never follow through. This is how I know that God wants us to do this. We pray about it all the time. I couldn't do it without being able to go to God on a daily basis and lean on Him.
I hope this answered some questions. I want to add that I know there are wonderful schools out there, and since my kids have never been to public school the things I said are all things that I've heard from other parents. I don't mean to knock the public school system at all, it just isn't for us.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Coming out of my hole
I feel like I'm coming out of a hole.
When I'm pregnant, I tend to become a hermit. I really don't know why. I don't feel depressed or anything like that, I just like to be home with my family. The kids did their play, I helped with that, and there was always church involvement, but that was about it.
We are part of a home school group that meets every Friday for park day.
Last week was the first one we have gotten to this year.
This week, we have kicked school up into high gear and are back to our four day schedule. Usually, Friday is our catch up day. So whatever they were unable to complete during the week, gets done Friday.
Today, Dillon and Matthew both have a little bit of lap booking to do, and when I say little, I mean they both have one mini book to complete...which is not a lot.
Which all means we're hitting the park again today!
Last night, we had some friends over for dinner, so I got the house all clean for that. And that means I have very little preparation for Sabbath.
It's almost like a day off today! Woo Hoo!
I do have some picking up and laundry to do, and some errands to run, but for the most part, it will be a laid back day.
I feel like things are starting to move along like they did in the days before I was pregnant and in my hole. I like it.
And once the trees start to bloom, I'll feel even better! I can't wait! I'm so envious of all the people in the northwest who are talking about flowers that are starting to peek through the ground. I miss bulb flowers so much. I guess it doesn't get cold enough here to do to the bulbs what has to be done during the winter. So for now, everything is dead. That gets old real quick.
Spring is just around the corner though! My second favorite season.
Good times are ahead! I can feel it.
When I'm pregnant, I tend to become a hermit. I really don't know why. I don't feel depressed or anything like that, I just like to be home with my family. The kids did their play, I helped with that, and there was always church involvement, but that was about it.
We are part of a home school group that meets every Friday for park day.
Last week was the first one we have gotten to this year.
This week, we have kicked school up into high gear and are back to our four day schedule. Usually, Friday is our catch up day. So whatever they were unable to complete during the week, gets done Friday.
Today, Dillon and Matthew both have a little bit of lap booking to do, and when I say little, I mean they both have one mini book to complete...which is not a lot.
Which all means we're hitting the park again today!
Last night, we had some friends over for dinner, so I got the house all clean for that. And that means I have very little preparation for Sabbath.
It's almost like a day off today! Woo Hoo!
I do have some picking up and laundry to do, and some errands to run, but for the most part, it will be a laid back day.
I feel like things are starting to move along like they did in the days before I was pregnant and in my hole. I like it.
And once the trees start to bloom, I'll feel even better! I can't wait! I'm so envious of all the people in the northwest who are talking about flowers that are starting to peek through the ground. I miss bulb flowers so much. I guess it doesn't get cold enough here to do to the bulbs what has to be done during the winter. So for now, everything is dead. That gets old real quick.
Spring is just around the corner though! My second favorite season.
Good times are ahead! I can feel it.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Week in Review
So the first week of school started out great. With a holiday!
No, just kidding, it was great starting on Tuesday.
But boy, by Friday, we were back in the swing of things and the trials that come with that.
It is amazing to me how much Collin is like Dillon when it comes to school. This isn't a good thing, in case you were wondering.
But Zachy, boy, he just whips right along willing to do everything.
We did lots of baking this week, and quite honestly, I'm exhausted now.
Emily is awfully cute and just sits with us at the table doing her own thing.
Next week I have an OB appointment, I think on Friday, so we will have to be sure get everything done before it.
Wish us luck.
No, just kidding, it was great starting on Tuesday.
But boy, by Friday, we were back in the swing of things and the trials that come with that.
It is amazing to me how much Collin is like Dillon when it comes to school. This isn't a good thing, in case you were wondering.
But Zachy, boy, he just whips right along willing to do everything.
We did lots of baking this week, and quite honestly, I'm exhausted now.
Emily is awfully cute and just sits with us at the table doing her own thing.
Next week I have an OB appointment, I think on Friday, so we will have to be sure get everything done before it.
Wish us luck.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Dusting off the cobwebs
Once again, I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon. I don't know how I've managed to keep up a blog for almost ten years now..it's mind boggling to me.
So much has happened since the last time we spoke.
The big one is that Matthew had surgery. Surgery number ten, in case you're keeping count. The morning of surgery, I got a little teary eyed and asked Matt how this became our life. His answer, "because we are blessed". We'll blame my moment of weakness on hormones.
You can blame almost anything on pregnancy hormones, I've found.
So the surgery was kind of hard to explain, and I don't really feel like it, SO, I'll just tell you that is was a laser surgery that reduced the amount of fluid being produced in his eye. Thus, reducing the amount of pressure. His pressure was insanely low the day after surgery, but since then he has complained of pressure pain, and well, I'm not so hopeful anymore. He goes tomorrow for another follow up. We were told, however, that his pressure would spike for a month, and then go down, so maybe it's just spiking. We'll see.
Let me take this moment to tell you one of my pet peeves. I hate it when people (particularly those with a bit of medical knowledge) feel the need to tell me what we need to do for Matthew. Or how things could be improved. Or how there must be some way to get his vision back. You don't know the first thing about Matthew's eye. The doctors don't know much about Matthew's eye. You haven't been following him for the last 13 years and you don't know what's best for him. We, as his parents, are confident in his care, even if it doesn't seem to produce the ideal results. I am not dumb, nor is Matt. And my own dad is an ophthalmologist, so all of this is much more familiar to me than it would be your average Jane!
OK, stepping off my soap box now.
In other news, the boys all got parts in the play they are doing this year. Excalibur! It isn't your typical play though, so it would do me no good to tell you what parts they got because you wouldn't know who they were. Matthew got a pretty large role though, and I worry about him being dedicated enough to memorize his lines. I'm sure he'll be fine though. Dillon got a smaller role.
Collin and Zachary will be a tree and then knights who fight in the tournament. They are thrilled to not have to speak and to be able to sword fight. All's well.
Today, we started school. It went really well, and as usual, I'm thinking this will be the best year ever. This afternoon though, I'm exhausted. Oh well, this too shall pass.
Let's see, what else? Nothing that I can think of. And this is long anyway. Until the next time.
So much has happened since the last time we spoke.
The big one is that Matthew had surgery. Surgery number ten, in case you're keeping count. The morning of surgery, I got a little teary eyed and asked Matt how this became our life. His answer, "because we are blessed". We'll blame my moment of weakness on hormones.
You can blame almost anything on pregnancy hormones, I've found.
So the surgery was kind of hard to explain, and I don't really feel like it, SO, I'll just tell you that is was a laser surgery that reduced the amount of fluid being produced in his eye. Thus, reducing the amount of pressure. His pressure was insanely low the day after surgery, but since then he has complained of pressure pain, and well, I'm not so hopeful anymore. He goes tomorrow for another follow up. We were told, however, that his pressure would spike for a month, and then go down, so maybe it's just spiking. We'll see.
Let me take this moment to tell you one of my pet peeves. I hate it when people (particularly those with a bit of medical knowledge) feel the need to tell me what we need to do for Matthew. Or how things could be improved. Or how there must be some way to get his vision back. You don't know the first thing about Matthew's eye. The doctors don't know much about Matthew's eye. You haven't been following him for the last 13 years and you don't know what's best for him. We, as his parents, are confident in his care, even if it doesn't seem to produce the ideal results. I am not dumb, nor is Matt. And my own dad is an ophthalmologist, so all of this is much more familiar to me than it would be your average Jane!
OK, stepping off my soap box now.
In other news, the boys all got parts in the play they are doing this year. Excalibur! It isn't your typical play though, so it would do me no good to tell you what parts they got because you wouldn't know who they were. Matthew got a pretty large role though, and I worry about him being dedicated enough to memorize his lines. I'm sure he'll be fine though. Dillon got a smaller role.
Collin and Zachary will be a tree and then knights who fight in the tournament. They are thrilled to not have to speak and to be able to sword fight. All's well.
Today, we started school. It went really well, and as usual, I'm thinking this will be the best year ever. This afternoon though, I'm exhausted. Oh well, this too shall pass.
Let's see, what else? Nothing that I can think of. And this is long anyway. Until the next time.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Random Acts of Kindness
~~The post that started out with one thought and then got rambly. I should have done a bullet post. Oh well.~~~
On Sabbath, the kids were watching Veggie Tales. There is always a family fun feature on the DVDs so the kids were watching that. They decided that we must do what they were seeing.
We put all our names in a hat, then each person drew a name. For a week, we have to secretly perform random acts of kindness for our person.
I was thrilled that it was the kids who wanted to do this! It has been fun and there have been lots of beds made and rooms cleaned in secret.
Sadly, it is kind of hard to think of what kind of other things one could do without giving themselves away. But it's been really cool to watch the kids.
Totally unrelated, we've taken a big step and turned off the TV. I don't know for how long, but for now, it's off.
We are starting school after Labor Day so I'm trying to get organized for that. Speaking of that, I really should run to the homeschool store and see if the books I need are back in stock.
Tomorrow is another ultra sound. I was doing fine and not even really thinking about it because of OshKosh, but now it feels like tomorrow will never get here. I really want to know who's baking in there!
Also, tomorrow Matt is having surgery on his eyes to correct his vision. Keep him in your prayers please!
On Sabbath, the kids were watching Veggie Tales. There is always a family fun feature on the DVDs so the kids were watching that. They decided that we must do what they were seeing.
We put all our names in a hat, then each person drew a name. For a week, we have to secretly perform random acts of kindness for our person.
I was thrilled that it was the kids who wanted to do this! It has been fun and there have been lots of beds made and rooms cleaned in secret.
Sadly, it is kind of hard to think of what kind of other things one could do without giving themselves away. But it's been really cool to watch the kids.
Totally unrelated, we've taken a big step and turned off the TV. I don't know for how long, but for now, it's off.
We are starting school after Labor Day so I'm trying to get organized for that. Speaking of that, I really should run to the homeschool store and see if the books I need are back in stock.
Tomorrow is another ultra sound. I was doing fine and not even really thinking about it because of OshKosh, but now it feels like tomorrow will never get here. I really want to know who's baking in there!
Also, tomorrow Matt is having surgery on his eyes to correct his vision. Keep him in your prayers please!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Science Fair
We are now up to three people affected by this intestinal bug. Matt didn't make it through the night last night.
But since I know you all don't want to hear about any of this, how about some pictures from the science fair??
In no particular order because I'm lazy!
Dillon being judged.
Collin talking with his first judge.
Zachy and Collin did theirs together.
Waiting on judges..
Emily ran around all day making silly faces with her shirt...she's a nut.
What happens when you have baby fine hair that's been in piggie tails all day when you decide to take them out!
Look at all the people.
Matthew being judged.
So there you have it...the science fair in a nut shell. The kids had a great time and it was such a good experience. They're already talking about what to do next year!
But since I know you all don't want to hear about any of this, how about some pictures from the science fair??
In no particular order because I'm lazy!
Dillon being judged.
Collin talking with his first judge.
Zachy and Collin did theirs together.
Waiting on judges..
Emily ran around all day making silly faces with her shirt...she's a nut.
What happens when you have baby fine hair that's been in piggie tails all day when you decide to take them out!
Look at all the people.
Matthew being judged.
So there you have it...the science fair in a nut shell. The kids had a great time and it was such a good experience. They're already talking about what to do next year!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Lessons learned at the Library
I did it. I made the trek to the library, signed my boys and me up for library cards, and fell in love.
This particular library has a totally closed off kids area. I mean closed off. Doors and everything. Which means the kids could be noisy! Woot!
And, there was nobody there since it was during the day.
And, since we are home schoolers we were informed that we could check out eleventy million items at a time. Which is both a blessing and a curse.
It left me wondering why I had waited so long.
Which led me to wonder how often we do that in life.
I mean, how often do we think, "her? not sure I want to be friends with her.." and then once we do, we wonder why we waited so long. One of my very best friends started like that. In fact, she used to ignore me. But I was a pesky little bugger, and now we are the best of friends.
Matt does this often with food. He used to be very particular about what he ate. Now, he is more adventurous, and I'm sure he wonders what took him so long.
In life, I'm convinced, we just need to bite the bullet and go for it.
Oh, but what about the other side of this? What happens when we are quick to befriend someone and they burn us? There's always two sides. And that side often leaves more of an impression than the good side. It's what makes it so hard to step out in the first place.
But we must. Otherwise, our lives will be so boring not even we will be able to stand it.
Here's to trying new things out! And not years from now. Now.
This particular library has a totally closed off kids area. I mean closed off. Doors and everything. Which means the kids could be noisy! Woot!
And, there was nobody there since it was during the day.
And, since we are home schoolers we were informed that we could check out eleventy million items at a time. Which is both a blessing and a curse.
It left me wondering why I had waited so long.
Which led me to wonder how often we do that in life.
I mean, how often do we think, "her? not sure I want to be friends with her.." and then once we do, we wonder why we waited so long. One of my very best friends started like that. In fact, she used to ignore me. But I was a pesky little bugger, and now we are the best of friends.
Matt does this often with food. He used to be very particular about what he ate. Now, he is more adventurous, and I'm sure he wonders what took him so long.
In life, I'm convinced, we just need to bite the bullet and go for it.
Oh, but what about the other side of this? What happens when we are quick to befriend someone and they burn us? There's always two sides. And that side often leaves more of an impression than the good side. It's what makes it so hard to step out in the first place.
But we must. Otherwise, our lives will be so boring not even we will be able to stand it.
Here's to trying new things out! And not years from now. Now.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The unpardonable sin of Home Schooling
Yes. It's true folks. I commit the unpardonable sin of home schooling. Someday, maybe the head home school people will forgive me, maybe not. And who are these people in charge? Oh yeah, it's us. We're in charge of our home schools.
What is could possibly be so bad that it is unpardonable? Well, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to hold it against me. Promise not to think, 'well she's obviously not a real home schooler' Because I try! I really do!
OK, are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? OK...here goes...I do NOT utilize the library.
I KNOW!! Pretty bad, huh? Pick yourselves up off the floor. Stop hyperventilating and just hear me out.
I'm intimidated by the library. While I was thinking about this post I was trying to put my finger on what it is that scares me. It comes down to one thing.
One rule. A rule that was so ingrained into my mind as a child that I am terrified to break it.
QUIET IN THE LIBRARY
PEOPLE! Have you any idea how hard it is to keep a 2 year old silent? Or a 5 and 7 year old who always feel the need to giggle uncontrollably until they are laughing big guffaws?
I hear of people who take their kids to "preschool story time" and while it sounds all nice and sweet, it is pretty complicated for people like us who don't just have a preschooler.
And so, I avoid the library. I'd much rather fork over our hard earned money to buy the darn book than to go through the hassle of the library.
Now, in my defense, when we moved here, I actually got excited about the library. I mean, San Antonio. It's huge, surely the library is great. Well the one near our old house was far from great. I even got us library cards, but hated the library.
But now. Now things have to change. The time has come. Matthew has to do a report on the capital of Texas (Austin in case you had forgotten!). His lesson went all into depth about checking out reference books and finding them at the library. So now I feel as though we must go. It wouldn't be the same to just google the info. I know I need to expose my kids to the library more. I know this. And I will.
I heard of a good library. It happens to be the library on base. I actually went in there a couple weeks ago in search of tax forms. It certainly doesn't look kid friendly, but hey..no late fees!
Tomorrow is the day. I'll trudge into the library, and perhaps my sins will finally be forgiven!
What is could possibly be so bad that it is unpardonable? Well, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to hold it against me. Promise not to think, 'well she's obviously not a real home schooler' Because I try! I really do!
OK, are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? OK...here goes...I do NOT utilize the library.
I KNOW!! Pretty bad, huh? Pick yourselves up off the floor. Stop hyperventilating and just hear me out.
I'm intimidated by the library. While I was thinking about this post I was trying to put my finger on what it is that scares me. It comes down to one thing.
One rule. A rule that was so ingrained into my mind as a child that I am terrified to break it.
QUIET IN THE LIBRARY
PEOPLE! Have you any idea how hard it is to keep a 2 year old silent? Or a 5 and 7 year old who always feel the need to giggle uncontrollably until they are laughing big guffaws?
I hear of people who take their kids to "preschool story time" and while it sounds all nice and sweet, it is pretty complicated for people like us who don't just have a preschooler.
And so, I avoid the library. I'd much rather fork over our hard earned money to buy the darn book than to go through the hassle of the library.
Now, in my defense, when we moved here, I actually got excited about the library. I mean, San Antonio. It's huge, surely the library is great. Well the one near our old house was far from great. I even got us library cards, but hated the library.
But now. Now things have to change. The time has come. Matthew has to do a report on the capital of Texas (Austin in case you had forgotten!). His lesson went all into depth about checking out reference books and finding them at the library. So now I feel as though we must go. It wouldn't be the same to just google the info. I know I need to expose my kids to the library more. I know this. And I will.
I heard of a good library. It happens to be the library on base. I actually went in there a couple weeks ago in search of tax forms. It certainly doesn't look kid friendly, but hey..no late fees!
Tomorrow is the day. I'll trudge into the library, and perhaps my sins will finally be forgiven!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Crazy Busy
It's been hard to sit down long enough to write an entry. I'm not sure I'll get through this one either, but I'll try.
School has us very, very busy. We are starting some new things. Matthew and Dillon are participating in the Science Fair this year, so we've been brainstorming. My sister recommended growing bacteria, of course Dillon jumped on that idea. So he will be doing a bacterial experiment of some sort. And Matthew will be growing plants using different types of lights. I'm excited that they are getting this opportunity. I never participated in a science fair, and honestly don't ever remember our school holding one.
We are also taking a stab at lapbooking.
Lapbooking can be done by any learner-- from preschoolers to adults. With this educational method, you make mini-books covering details that you've studied. After making a variety of mini-books about a larger topic, all the books are put together in a large folder. The finished product is called a lapbook because it's large and covers your lap.
The completed lapbook will serve as a review tool as your children refer to it over and over again. And if you have to keep a homeschool portfolio to document learning each year, lapbooks can be a very impressive addition- from http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking
I've been wanting to try this for years, but it always seemed like so much work. It is not at all. It's fun! I decided that we would learn about Disney World before our trip. So in addition to our regular schooling, we are doing a study of Disneyland (since it was the original). The kids are having a blast with it, and when we are done, I'll post pictures.
The Pathfinders hosted a valentine's banquet at church to help them raise money for Osh Kosh. They raised about $500, but it was an awful lot of work. Matthew told us that night that he was never going to be a pathfinder director because it was too much work. Poor kid!
Emily is doing better after her last med raise. I think, though, that it won't be too awful long before we have to go up again. I cannot believe that her birthday is right around the corner. March 3 will be here soon, and she'll be 2 years old. How did that happen? She has renewed our love for Sandra Boynton books, especially 'Blue Hat, Green Hat'. They have to be the best books ever written. We've also discovered that she is awfully cute in orange! Who wouldda thunk??
Our healthy living group at church is trucking along, and I'm down 9 pounds. It seems to be going soooo slow. It's frustrating. But with the support of the ladies at church, I'm not giving up!
And finally, please keep Zachy in your prayers. He is back to tiring out easily. I hate that. I assume it will be another adjustment to his pacemaker. I just wonder if it will be a life long thing, this tiredness. He is supposed to see his doctor in May, but I'm going to try to get the appointment in April instead since we will be gone most of May.
Phew! That was long, and it took me a very long time to write it. I had to read books and play a game of Candyland during the writing of this post. Thanks for hanging out with me for this long!
School has us very, very busy. We are starting some new things. Matthew and Dillon are participating in the Science Fair this year, so we've been brainstorming. My sister recommended growing bacteria, of course Dillon jumped on that idea. So he will be doing a bacterial experiment of some sort. And Matthew will be growing plants using different types of lights. I'm excited that they are getting this opportunity. I never participated in a science fair, and honestly don't ever remember our school holding one.
We are also taking a stab at lapbooking.
Lapbooking can be done by any learner-- from preschoolers to adults. With this educational method, you make mini-books covering details that you've studied. After making a variety of mini-books about a larger topic, all the books are put together in a large folder. The finished product is called a lapbook because it's large and covers your lap.
The completed lapbook will serve as a review tool as your children refer to it over and over again. And if you have to keep a homeschool portfolio to document learning each year, lapbooks can be a very impressive addition- from http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking
I've been wanting to try this for years, but it always seemed like so much work. It is not at all. It's fun! I decided that we would learn about Disney World before our trip. So in addition to our regular schooling, we are doing a study of Disneyland (since it was the original). The kids are having a blast with it, and when we are done, I'll post pictures.
The Pathfinders hosted a valentine's banquet at church to help them raise money for Osh Kosh. They raised about $500, but it was an awful lot of work. Matthew told us that night that he was never going to be a pathfinder director because it was too much work. Poor kid!
Emily is doing better after her last med raise. I think, though, that it won't be too awful long before we have to go up again. I cannot believe that her birthday is right around the corner. March 3 will be here soon, and she'll be 2 years old. How did that happen? She has renewed our love for Sandra Boynton books, especially 'Blue Hat, Green Hat'. They have to be the best books ever written. We've also discovered that she is awfully cute in orange! Who wouldda thunk??
Our healthy living group at church is trucking along, and I'm down 9 pounds. It seems to be going soooo slow. It's frustrating. But with the support of the ladies at church, I'm not giving up!
And finally, please keep Zachy in your prayers. He is back to tiring out easily. I hate that. I assume it will be another adjustment to his pacemaker. I just wonder if it will be a life long thing, this tiredness. He is supposed to see his doctor in May, but I'm going to try to get the appointment in April instead since we will be gone most of May.
Phew! That was long, and it took me a very long time to write it. I had to read books and play a game of Candyland during the writing of this post. Thanks for hanging out with me for this long!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Let's just jump right to it
I'm in the living room and overhearing Dillon and Collin.
Dillon is teaching Collin how to find the area of a parellelogram.
Ok, let's think about this. Collin doesn't know how to multiply yet. Nor does he know how to find the area of something simple like a rectangle. We won't mention that he doesn't know what area is!
He seems to be understanding Dillon though!
Dillon is teaching Collin how to find the area of a parellelogram.
Ok, let's think about this. Collin doesn't know how to multiply yet. Nor does he know how to find the area of something simple like a rectangle. We won't mention that he doesn't know what area is!
He seems to be understanding Dillon though!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Trying to catch up
Boy oh boy..I am struggling here. Which, I decided is a good thing. Things are going well, very well in fact. And I am full. When I am full, I don't feel as much of a need to write on a blank screen about my life. After all, there are many people around me enjoying watching my life. But then, I realize that there is family, outside of the family we have made in Texas, that is still really interested in our lives. There are grandparents who wonder what their grandbabies are doing. Best friends who wonder what their bosom buddy is doing. And so I must write.
I wanted to add loads of pictures, but that would take too much. Hopefully, I can get a photo entry up later.
So let's see, where do I even start?
We are members of a homeschool group that gets together every Friday. The kids love it, but let me tell you, it is really interfering with my day. I find that as the Sabbath rolls around, I'm still so far behind in preparation. I was just telling Matt this, and realizing that I need to get my bootie in gear. The kids are making such great friends and I'm enjoying my adult time too. I need to find a way to make this work better.
Last Wednesday, we(me and the kids) drove to Houston to the NASA space center. It was homeschool day there. This really deserves an entry all to it's own, but it's going to have to go here.
Driving through Houston was crazy. For some reason, I expected all the high rises to be all repaired. But from far away you could see, amongst the glass walls, the brown from the windows being boarded up. Along one part of the freeway the trees on the side of the road were all blown apart and down. Power lines were leaning. Blue tarps covered the roofs that had been ripped off. But what we saw the most of was the signs. Imagine the golden arches, you know that type of sign? With the light in the middle and plastic surrounding it? They aren't made for hurricanes. Many, many signs were blown out. The space center is south of Houston, and the further south we went, the worse it was. It was crazy. I've never seen a town after a hurricane before, so this was new to me.
When we finally arrived at the space center, we drove into a parking lot full of 12-15 passenger vans. I told the kids to look well because only at a homeschool function will you see so many big vans all together! The center was closed to the public, and it was totally packed. It was so good to be surrounded by like minded people! And I was also struck by the amount of special needs kids I saw. I often hear, "oh I could never homeschool, I have a child with special needs" Kids with special needs can hugely benefit from being homeschooled, in my opinion. Anyway, it was great.
All the space stuff was really great too. And I could go on and on, but I'm tired, so I won't.
The oldest kids are still doing rehearsals for Willy Wonka Jr. The show starts November 14, and it will be nice when it's over. They love it, and will do it again, it's just time for a break.
Pathfinders has also started, so the kids are really busy, all the time.
I was just voted in as head deaconess at church, so I'm spending any free time I have trying to organize the rest of the deaconesses. It's a job that has kind of gone to pot over the last few years, and I'm trying to fix it.
Sunday, we are having one big giant party for all four of the boys. Three have August birthdays, and Dillon's is in October, so we are just having a big party. I do hope it is fun, and the kids have a good time. It's been chilly and rainy, and I hope it passes. We are planning a luau in the evening, so pray for the weather.
OK, that is what's been going on, in a nutshell. I'm sure I've bored everyone, and that's ok, at least I won't forget these busy days!
I wanted to add loads of pictures, but that would take too much. Hopefully, I can get a photo entry up later.
So let's see, where do I even start?
We are members of a homeschool group that gets together every Friday. The kids love it, but let me tell you, it is really interfering with my day. I find that as the Sabbath rolls around, I'm still so far behind in preparation. I was just telling Matt this, and realizing that I need to get my bootie in gear. The kids are making such great friends and I'm enjoying my adult time too. I need to find a way to make this work better.
Last Wednesday, we(me and the kids) drove to Houston to the NASA space center. It was homeschool day there. This really deserves an entry all to it's own, but it's going to have to go here.
Driving through Houston was crazy. For some reason, I expected all the high rises to be all repaired. But from far away you could see, amongst the glass walls, the brown from the windows being boarded up. Along one part of the freeway the trees on the side of the road were all blown apart and down. Power lines were leaning. Blue tarps covered the roofs that had been ripped off. But what we saw the most of was the signs. Imagine the golden arches, you know that type of sign? With the light in the middle and plastic surrounding it? They aren't made for hurricanes. Many, many signs were blown out. The space center is south of Houston, and the further south we went, the worse it was. It was crazy. I've never seen a town after a hurricane before, so this was new to me.
When we finally arrived at the space center, we drove into a parking lot full of 12-15 passenger vans. I told the kids to look well because only at a homeschool function will you see so many big vans all together! The center was closed to the public, and it was totally packed. It was so good to be surrounded by like minded people! And I was also struck by the amount of special needs kids I saw. I often hear, "oh I could never homeschool, I have a child with special needs" Kids with special needs can hugely benefit from being homeschooled, in my opinion. Anyway, it was great.
All the space stuff was really great too. And I could go on and on, but I'm tired, so I won't.
The oldest kids are still doing rehearsals for Willy Wonka Jr. The show starts November 14, and it will be nice when it's over. They love it, and will do it again, it's just time for a break.
Pathfinders has also started, so the kids are really busy, all the time.
I was just voted in as head deaconess at church, so I'm spending any free time I have trying to organize the rest of the deaconesses. It's a job that has kind of gone to pot over the last few years, and I'm trying to fix it.
Sunday, we are having one big giant party for all four of the boys. Three have August birthdays, and Dillon's is in October, so we are just having a big party. I do hope it is fun, and the kids have a good time. It's been chilly and rainy, and I hope it passes. We are planning a luau in the evening, so pray for the weather.
OK, that is what's been going on, in a nutshell. I'm sure I've bored everyone, and that's ok, at least I won't forget these busy days!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Just stuff
Last week, one by one, my kids battled illness. From ear infections to bronchitis. Loads of fun, and doctor visits. Now, thankfully, everyone is on the mend.
To celebrate, we went to six flags yesterday. Well, not really to celebrate. We simply went because it was the last day the water park was open, and we hadn't been yet. It was hot. And crowded. Lest you be concerned that we can't keep track of all our kids amongst throngs of people, let me assure you that they are easy to spot. You see, my kids are TWKEs. The Whitest Kids Ever. They stand out among the crowd. It is impossible to see that we live in south Texas and that we wear shorts year round. We have no tans to speak of. All I kept noticing were the darkly tanned bodies around me, and how conspicuous our family was!
As we were leaving, a crowd of young people (early 20s? dang, I'm old) was in front of us. In short time, there was a fight. Two guys against one. Right in front of us. The sound of fists hitting bodies is still fresh in my ears. What point does fighting serve? Seriously. I guess it's human nature though. Thankfully, security was there in no time flat. Then the girls were trying to convince the security guards that no one was actually fighting. Here's the sad thing, during the fight, a little girl went and grabbed her dad's arm, "PLEASE STOP DADDY!!" While he was hitting the other guy. She was not hit at all, but can you imagine??? Horrible.
Today was our first day of school. It was a smashing success, and tonight I'm tired. No rest for the weary though. It's now time to get kiddies ready for bed to start again tomorrow. It's looking like it's going to be a great school year. I officially have a 7Th, 4Th, 1st, and K this year. And little Emmie tagging along. Fun times indeed!!
To celebrate, we went to six flags yesterday. Well, not really to celebrate. We simply went because it was the last day the water park was open, and we hadn't been yet. It was hot. And crowded. Lest you be concerned that we can't keep track of all our kids amongst throngs of people, let me assure you that they are easy to spot. You see, my kids are TWKEs. The Whitest Kids Ever. They stand out among the crowd. It is impossible to see that we live in south Texas and that we wear shorts year round. We have no tans to speak of. All I kept noticing were the darkly tanned bodies around me, and how conspicuous our family was!
As we were leaving, a crowd of young people (early 20s? dang, I'm old) was in front of us. In short time, there was a fight. Two guys against one. Right in front of us. The sound of fists hitting bodies is still fresh in my ears. What point does fighting serve? Seriously. I guess it's human nature though. Thankfully, security was there in no time flat. Then the girls were trying to convince the security guards that no one was actually fighting. Here's the sad thing, during the fight, a little girl went and grabbed her dad's arm, "PLEASE STOP DADDY!!" While he was hitting the other guy. She was not hit at all, but can you imagine??? Horrible.
Today was our first day of school. It was a smashing success, and tonight I'm tired. No rest for the weary though. It's now time to get kiddies ready for bed to start again tomorrow. It's looking like it's going to be a great school year. I officially have a 7Th, 4Th, 1st, and K this year. And little Emmie tagging along. Fun times indeed!!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Pictures
On Tuesday, we went on a really cool field trip. We went to a local river and some aquatic biologists taught the kids all about how they catch and study fish, crawdads, and insects. The kids got to get into the river and catch things and then look at them under the microscope.
Everyone was having so much fun. The little kids got to scoop things out with fish nets while the bigger kids used the more sophisticated nets.
Poor Zachy though, he was in the water, and a crawdad thought his toe looked yummy and clamped right down on it. Poor baby. Everyone was having a gay time and Zachy was screaming cause it hurt so bad. It broke his toenail. He wouldn't set foot in the river after that. He was wearing sandals, but his little toe was just sticking out there.
You will notice there are very few pictures of Matthew. That is because he was in the older kid group and they got in the water and went on the other side of an island. The island had grass that was a million feet tall and you couldn't see the other side. Therefore, no pictures of him. He had an absolute blast though. It's nice to see him come out of his shell.
I also have to add that the biologists were so glad to do this field trip. You see, normally they do public school kids, who can't get in the water. They were excited to be able to take the kids in the water and let them do this themselves.
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Zachy is always collecting things. Including berries from this tree.
Dillon got to hold one of the big nets!
Zachy and Collin learning about life in the water.
A fish that Dillon caught. They were told that this was not a native fish, and did not belong in this river, so it was ok if died while they passed it around!!
Emmie wanted in on the fun. She later tried to drink this water!
Everyone was having so much fun. The little kids got to scoop things out with fish nets while the bigger kids used the more sophisticated nets.
Poor Zachy though, he was in the water, and a crawdad thought his toe looked yummy and clamped right down on it. Poor baby. Everyone was having a gay time and Zachy was screaming cause it hurt so bad. It broke his toenail. He wouldn't set foot in the river after that. He was wearing sandals, but his little toe was just sticking out there.
You will notice there are very few pictures of Matthew. That is because he was in the older kid group and they got in the water and went on the other side of an island. The island had grass that was a million feet tall and you couldn't see the other side. Therefore, no pictures of him. He had an absolute blast though. It's nice to see him come out of his shell.
I also have to add that the biologists were so glad to do this field trip. You see, normally they do public school kids, who can't get in the water. They were excited to be able to take the kids in the water and let them do this themselves.
.jpg)
Zachy is always collecting things. Including berries from this tree.
Dillon got to hold one of the big nets!
Zachy and Collin learning about life in the water.
A fish that Dillon caught. They were told that this was not a native fish, and did not belong in this river, so it was ok if died while they passed it around!!
Emmie wanted in on the fun. She later tried to drink this water!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Fire Department Field Trip
Today we went on a field trip with other homeschoolers to the fire department. The kids had such a great time. The highlight of the day was spraying the hose. And since we were all headed home, they got to get soaked. The picture of Collin and Zachy I took while they were waiting for their turn to spray the hose. The wind would blow the water towards us, and I kept seeing them huddled together to stay dry. It didn't last long. All four of them were soaked by the time we left.
They also thought the fire truck was pretty cool. Everyone told me they want to be firemen now. Except for Collin, he wants to be a cowboy!
They also thought the fire truck was pretty cool. Everyone told me they want to be firemen now. Except for Collin, he wants to be a cowboy!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
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