This Amazing Planet

 *As a reminder, I am part of the Netflix Streamteam. I am being compensated for sharing with you, but as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A few weeks ago my husband came to me and said that he had heard Netflix had the show Planet Earth and would I like to watch it with him.

So I did.

And then our son started to watch it with us.

And then one of our daughters.

We were all fascinated by this show. Our planet really is amazing - the animals that exist on land, water, and air. The paths that rivers take. The underground caves to the tallest mountains. Even the things that scare me (huge spiders, deep underwater caves, the tallest points) are beautiful. Just gorgeous.

I won't ever travel the world or see many of these things in person, so sitting on my couch, in the comfort of my house is the closest I will get to it. While I'm sure these things are even more grand in person (I remember going to the Grand Canyon and just being knocked out by how gorgeous it is!), they are still amazing across the television. Baby bears coming out of their den for the first time? Eagles diving down to get food? A hungry lioness looking for food to feed her cubs? Underground caves so large, I think our entire city could fit in it? Deserts, tundras, ice, forests, swamps, all these things that exist on the same planet I exist on. It is. Ah. Maz. Ing. Truly.

Candling one of the eggs

And I love watching every moment of it.



In our house this spring, we got to the witness some of the wonders of our planet. In mid-April, we headed out and picked up a dozen chicken eggs. Not ordinary eggs mind you, these were not eggs to scramble or fry or beat. We brought them home and placed them into our incubator. For 22ish days we monitored the temperature, the humidity, we turned them, we candled them, and we were constantly amazed by them.

There is something about holding an egg in your hand, shining a light on it, and seeing a chicken embryo moving around.

In May we were treated to 4 of these eggs hatching. Three of their births, we were able to witness ourselves, with our own eyes.

Newborn chicken being greeted by another

It was purely coincidence that we watched Planet Earth while getting to watch our own little miracle here at home. But it makes you realize how all at the same time, the world is a massive place and yet so tiny all at once.

I'm so thrilled my children got to watch these chickens as they developed and were born and as they continue to grow for now. I'm also glad that we can flip on Netflix and get to watch so many amazing things about this world that I just can't take them to see. What an education both provide

The chickens are growing!

School, grades, now, and the future

So, last week I did grades for Mister Man and Miss M.

Phew! I'm glad I don't have a class of 20. Or, a high school teacher juggling 180 students!

It's hard work. For the most part, the kids are doing well. And while I could brag about a lot of things, I won't. I'll just say that for the most part, homeschooling works and works well for us.

Lest you think this is a post about where I tell you how you should homeschool too or else your children will be irrevocable messed up, relax. I don't think that. I don't think homeschooling is for everyone, nor do I think not homeschooling is bad.

This fall, my oldest daughter entered high school.

It was a time of anxiety and worry and excitement and fretting and wondering about all the good things that would come her way because of this. And that was just how I was feeling.

There was a lot on my mind with her going to school. Naturally, if it went really poorly, it would have proven that I had not prepared her enough and maybe the younger two should be enrolled ASAP. And naturally, if she did well, it would mean she was a bright student who was able to transition well.

She transitioned just fine. There was nothing to worry about. So there were a few small bumps along the way, but who doesn't have a few small bumps? And it's good. She has a semester of high school under her belt. She is an eighth of a way through her high school years, and I can't foresee any issues that we might have. Of course this doesn't protect us from something happening, but so far, things are good. And I'll take that!

Of course, that leaves me at home with 2 of the kids. And most days, we get through our work, and it's going well. But they see their sister going to school and they realize that it's not so scary. Because things that are new or different can sometimes seem scary.

And now Miss M (6th grade) is talking about maybe going in for middle school. Which means in a few years, it might just be me at home with one of the kids.

Of course, even if the oldest had been homeschooled for high school, she would eventually graduate and move on in life. And the second would follow a few years later. And it would be just me at home with one of the kids.

But there is a part of me that is still sad about that thought. Of course, it will happen. And when we reach that year, I think it will be my last year of homeschooling. Which means my now 3rd grader might enter school at 6th grade. And it will be a good time for him to enter - the last year in the elementary school, time to adjust before transitioning to middle school and all that entails.

And entering at 8th grade for the middle child will be perfect for her ... she wants to just do sports teams for 7th grade and then go in full time for 8th. And it will allow her to dip her toe in the waters, meet more kids, make more friendships, and then add in the academics the next year. Which is the perfect way to do it for her.

Just as entering in 9th grade is perfect for my oldest. Because of the move, it made no sense to go in sooner since a new school district was on the horizon.

Each child, on their own path, that is so similar, and yet different in ways that make it (at this moment) perfect for him and her.

And while I know it's perfect for them. And I know it will bring them a lot of great opportunities and experiences and a good education, I'm not sure how this will all be for me.

I'm trying to not worry about it. After all, it's two, three, maybe four or more (if things change) years away. It seems silly to fret about it now. And maybe this is the perfect path for me and I just can't see it yet.

Of course, this is about so much more than me. This is about them. What is best for the oldest, for Miss M and Mister Man. That is the bigger picture. My picture is but a piece of it and I'm going to remember that the best that I can.

I'm going to be happy for them, and help them through changes and new things, I will help them when they need it and smile as they leave in the morning, even if inside I'm crying "No! Stay home with me please!"

And for now, I'm going to keep working on things at home with the 2 who are still here. And I'm going to continue to hug my oldest and tell her to have a good day at school each morning. This is our current perfect. I'm embracing the here and now and (mostly) not wanting the past or worrying about the future!

State Fair Adventures

us at 3ish am

Last Saturday, at 3 am, Miss M and I woke up and drove down to our state fair.

Yes, this was crazy. No, I don't regret it. Yes, I would do it again.

You see, Miss M is in 4H and a few weeks ago we had our county fair. She did pretty fabulously in the county fair this year and was chosen to be one of the delegates our county sent down to state fair.

Miss M with her shirt!

We thought we would head down Friday, but alas, all the hotels were booked (or had a two night minimum) and so I thought maybe we wouldn't get to go. But, she worked so hard, and this was quite an honor, so we talked over some ideas and figured out how to make it work.

So at 3am, we woke up. We had packed the car the night before, and since there isn't much else to do that early in the morning, we got on the road to head to Springfield, IL.

It's pretty quiet on the roads at that time. And so we ended up talking while driving, which was nice! I told her "take advantage of this! It's just you and I and that doesn't happen very often!"

Hello Pres. Lincoln!

We arrived at the fairgrounds a bit after 7. I attempted to nap (wait, is it called a nap if it happens that early? lol!), and we headed out.

She had to be at the 4H building around 9, and we ended up getting their early (which was great since there was a line). Since we were one of the first ones there, we checked in early, she got judged early and we had the rest of the morning to walk around.

her sewing

She showed in the Clothing & Textiles division - and did level 1 (the first level). I'm going to have a total mom moment here: I am SO proud of her! She sewed her shirt and worked really hard on it. For the side edges, she even did a french seam to make it look nicer. I was there to talk to her, to guide her (with words only) if she needed me. I stayed close as she ironed and sewed (just in case), but that girl did such a good job. Her shirt looks great! I don't think I could have done that 11. Um, actually, I didn't figure out how to do that until I was out of school!

Learning to use a drop spindle

After lunch, we were able to pick her project up, get the judges comments and see if she placed. She didn't, but it was a great experience and it's an honor just to be there (which I know sounds like a cliche thing to say, but I mean it!)

After that we walked around the fair some more. We spent some time with some other families from our club (who were also there to show a project!). And we had a lovely day.

moo!

About 3pm, we both looked at each other and declared that our feet hurt! That it was time to get going, though she wanted to do one more thing: milk a cow. So we did and we got back on the road.

She slept most of the way home, which didn't surprise me in the least bit. I was a bit jealous of her while she was sleeping! Though, we did have a plan to stop if I needed to catch a catnap. And if I felt I needed a lot of sleep, we planned to just stop at a hotel. Neither was necessary, but I think if we had stayed at the fair much longer it might have been.

We rolled up back at our house a bit after 7. Both tired, but both glad we went, and both wanting to go back next year!

Beyond this, I will say, 4H has been a great and wonderful thing for her. It was kind of dumb luck that we decided to join 3 years ago, but I'm so happy we did. She's learned so much, and had a lot of fun doing it. She's been able to show projects at the county fair, and now the state fair. She's learned some really good skills, created things she is proud of, made some friends, and has done some service projects.

I love 4H. She loves 4H and we are both eager to start the next club year!
 

The County Fair

Miss M's picture entered in "Reflections"

Last week was our county fair.

It was a long week. The fair ran Wednesday through Sunday, but we are at the fairgrounds every day from Monday through Sunday. A few days we came home and it took my last bits of energy to quick shower and climb into bed. Some of our days were 12+ hours of being at the fair. Three of the days I worked at the farm stand there too. I'm beat. My goal today was to do as little as possible.

Letting kids pet the chickens

All that said, it was an awesome week! Last week was the culmination of work that my daughter has been working on since late last year {which means it was also the culmination of the nagging I began doing late last year ;-)}For many of her project areas, she has to bring one project to the fair - a poster board, a kit, something she made, etc. However, what people don't see at the fair, is her project areas come with a workbook that she has to work through. She is also supposed to do some giving back, interviews, workshops, etc, as we can. For example, one of her project areas is photography. She worked through the photography workbook, at two different events she volunteered to take pictures to share after, she read some photography books from the library and also attended a photography workshop. She could have, had she wanted to and we made it work out, gone to a museum to look at pictures, participated in a photography show, showcase her photos somewhere public, created a photography how-to tips to display somewhere, taught a friend what she learned, etc, etc. Basically, my point is, it's a lot of work. It's so much more than the two photographs she showed for 4H, and the four photographs she showed in open class. And I love it!

Her cat grooming board

She meets with her club and they do things together. She picks her project areas (up to ten and each member picks their own as well). She works hard, she learns things. She has done experiments, interviews, giving back, and has learned a lot of things. She also builds confidence. There is some time management to be learned. We registered for the maximum ten projects this year. We showed in nine of them. It was a lot to juggle and we decided a few months ago to let one go knowing there simply wasn't time. Next year, I don't think she'll register for all 10 again, but maybe! If she does, she knows to start sooner.

My big thing is the confidence boost. My 10yo is the middle child. We haven't had any dramatic "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" moments in our house (thankfully), but I also get it's not always easy to be the middle child, especially when you struggle with some things that seem to come naturally to your siblings (though, that would be struggle if you were the oldest or the youngest too I think).

Her paper mache project

At the moment, Miss M is the only one of my children doing 4H. My 7yo will join when he is old enough, but I think the projects he picks will be very different than what she picks. And let me tell you, her having this 4H, this thing that is so uniquely hers, is fabulous! It helps too that her 4H club is full of some pretty wonderful kids and parents too. I could go on and on about this, but the short version is: she loves 4H and I love 4H.

So last week was fair week. This is our second year participating. Last year we brought 4 projects for 4H. It was nice and easy. This year we brought 13 4H projects, 8 open class projects, and 2 chickens. There were boards, kits, framed pieces of art, a rock collection, and more. Half the projects were turned in on Monday, half Tuesday (also the day we brought the chickens) and the fair opened Wednesday. It was a busy week. Thankfully, it was not very hot (because that would have been hard on the chickens).

Now, being in the fair isn't about the ribbons, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't exciting to get some good ribbons! Miss M ended up with (for 4H)  4 class champions, and 1 reserve grand champion. In open class she had 3 first premiums, 1 third premium, 1 fifth premium, and one Judge's choice special award (the picture at the top of the post).

Chicken judging!

In addition to all of that, she learned so much! We had no clue what we were doing with our chickens when we first arrived. Next year, will be so much easier (in fact, I think we will end up bringing more than two). She got to run around and have fun with friends. She befriended some of the other exhibitors there. And when she could, she would pull the chickens out so visitors could pet them.

I am so grateful that 3 years ago, after visiting the same county fair with my mom, she came home and told me she wanted to join 4H. I'm so happy I picked up the phone and got her in it. 4H has been an amazing experience for her (and me!) so far and I think it will continue to do so.

Her by her yellow rosette!

I love how all this hard work ends with the fair - the people, the food, the rides, the crowds, all of it - is just so fun! I'm not sure county fairs and 4H are appreciated as much as they used to be, but if your county fair hasn't happened yet, try to visit at least once. Stop by the animal exhibits, the 4H exhibits, the open class exhibits. Eat an elephant ear and a corn dog. Go listen to one of the bands play. Or see a pig race. Just go and have fun. I don't think you'll be disappointed. And next year, maybe encourage your child to participate in 4H or maybe you'll want to show something in open class. I highly recommend it =)

Sunday Gratitude

It's Sunday. So time to talk about what I am grateful for!

• My husband: I know, I say this every week, but that is just how grateful I am to him. He stepped in this week and had my back. And then, when I was crying and sad, he just knew exactly what to say to make me feel better.
• Good doctors: I have been blessed with wonderful doctors. They know what they are doing, and they can treat me, but not only that but I feel like they listen to me and talk to me. Bedside manner counts in my book. And my doctors have it.
• Homeschooling: Our days are not always perfect. But I love them and I love that my kids are home and I get to teach them and help them learn, even when it's hard, and even when we are all having a bad day.
• Families that are helpful: So, after telling you I was thankful for two working cars (apparently the universe took this as a challenge) husband's car might be toast. We need them to look further and figure out what we are willing to spend on repairs. But, in the meantime, we are using a car we are borrowing from my mom/sister. And for that, I am very thankful. 
• Our town: I love the town we live in. I love our park district, I love our library, I love the sports programs for the kids. I just love our town. It rocks!
• The Motherhood: a great site that has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people and learn some pretty wonderful things. I stumbled upon the site several years ago, purely accidental, and couldn't be happier with that "accident." It has been life changing (and no, that's not an exaggeration). I love being a part of the site and getting to tell people that I work for them. The owners especially have a special place in my heart and have been so wonderful to me.
• Ravelry: Another website that I use often for my knitting and crocheting. I have found tons of great patterns and ideas over there. I visit the site at least weekly.
• Being so close to Chicago: I love that we can head into Chicago (and do things like ChiTAG) if we want to. We don't often travel into the city, but it's nice that it's there for when we want to. And Chicago is a pretty spectacular city. I love that we can drive there if we want to.
• The Chicago Blogging Community: No, really, it rocks. So many fabulous bloggers around here that I get to see occasionally (never often enough though!). They write amazing blogs themselves, are twitter friends and facebook friends, have rallied around me and are just amazing. Truly. 
• Game time with the kids: We try to play games regularly, we don't always succeed, but it's fun. I love playing games. I love too that as the kids get older we can move on to more complicated games. But I love playing them and it's almost always a good time. Last night, 13yo and I were playing Bananagrams (which we were given at ChiTAG) and we had so much fun trying to figure out two letter words and what to do with those z's and x's and q's! There were a lot of giggles to be had. 

 
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!   

School days

So we've been doing school for about a month at our lovely little home school.

When we started a few weeks ago, we started with basics: math, reading, writing. Every day. We have slowly been expanding. This is all new, crazy, fun to us, as until now we haven't used textbooks or done worksheets, or even done "school" every day. My girls are rock stars though and we have done 6 days of school pretty much every week so far.

The 11yo just finished reading the Mockingjay trilogy. I can tell she enjoyed it because she read the last two books in just 3 days! A book report is coming in later this week so we'll see what she tells me about in that. She also just finished a rough draft of a report of England. Writing is not her favorite subject and we sometimes butt heads when it's time to write, but we are getting through it. She did write one report last spring, and I have to say, for her first report? I don't think she did bad at all! We also just invested in a writing book for her that along with just more writing reports in general, will help to strengthen her writing even more. She is about half-way through her grammar book {and she's getting through it so fast I already ordered the next book because we will be in sooner than we think!} and she is doing some sentence diagrams.

{This brings me back to my 7th grade English class, where I learned about diagramming sentences. I don't remember my English teacher's name, but she looked like ET and we all called her that when not in class. One day she told us ET was one of her favorite movies when somehow we were talking about Drew Barrymore in class. I now wonder if she knew what we called her and said it just to get our reaction!}

Math right now is multiplication. Yes, just multiplication. She is learning it quickly, but remember we've never done textbooks before, so if it sounds like she's behind, the truth is, she is, however, it's not from lack of understanding! We are also doing major work on fractions right now. I do not think her book is teaching fractions well enough so we are actually supplementing with another workbook that also includes decimals and percents and how to go back and forth {I should note, this could be because fractions come in the next book, which we won't be using, so I need to supplement}.  She is about 1/3rd of the way through her math book. When she finishes, we will actually skip the next book in the curriculum and jump ahead 2 books. This may be confusing or not make sense, but it does make sense for our goals and will work based on the preview I've seen of both texts!

The (brand new as of yesterday) 9 year old is also ticking along. She is rocking her math book so far! The suggestion is 1 week per lesson. She's getting through her lessons in 2 days right now. In about 10 lessons I predict we'll slow it down and get more towards the week per lesson, but it's nice to see that so far is easy for her. {Truly, we could do a lesson a day, however, each lesson comes with 4 worksheets and I think 2 is more than enough each day!} Right now she is half-way through her math book. Good thing I already have the other book here for her to work from!

She just finished reading Arthur Makes the Team and is now on Stanley, Flat Again {for school}. It is awesome to have her reading books to me. This child struggled so hard to learn to read. She tried. And tried. And never gave up, but reading just clicked for her in the spring. So this reading thing is a BIG thing. On her own she is reading a bunch of the Amber Brown books. Her. Picking up books. On her own. And reading them? Just amazing!!

She is also working through a writing, grammar, and spelling book (from the same company as Miss A}. We just started this with her last week. I am loving this series of books so far. They are perfect for her. However, writing, and especially spelling is definitely her weak area. But we are working through it and most days she jumps in full steam ahead and just works. Seriously, if effort and desire was all it took, this kid would be a better writer and speller than me!

She also does geography (just a mini-lesson) each day and we've discovered she LOVES it. I think definitely science/math/geography are her strong suits and definitely where she shines.

Coming down the pipeline: As soon as treatment for me has slowed down, I want to add in science and history. Also, at the start of the new year (which isn't all that far away!), the girls will be taking their first standardized tests. Can you believe it? They've never filled in bubbles before or done a scantron or anything like that! So today I purchased some test prep books for them. Here's where I add, in general, I'm not at all about teaching to the test or putting much pressure on test prep at this age. However, given they've never taken a standardized test, I think it's important that we do practice ... not for content, but just on taking tests in general. But oh my, I really struggled to buy those books today! I just kept thinking we homeschooled so we wouldn't HAVE to do this test prep stuff! LOL! But really, it's all good and it will all work out in the end!

Anyway, that's where the homeschooling stands. I'm glad it's going so well. I won't lie. We struggled over whether to keep them home this year {mostly wondering would I be up to teaching, would I be healthy enough, would they cooperate enough and be okay with this transition from informal to formal learning, etc, etc}. So far though? It's going very well. We have the occasional not wanting to do work because "my favorite tv show is on!" or "I want to play" but really? I feel that way some days too LOL! =)

A real conversation ...

So this year we are working on report writing with the 11yo. She is less than thrilled with report writing. It's hard. It's boring. Lots of sighs when it's time to do it, etc, etc.

So today we had this conversation

her: Just teach me grammar and spelling. It's all I need to know. I'll never have to write reports.
me: Yes, you will have to write reports. Writing is a key for so many jobs.
her:
me: Even if you go into fashion design like you want, you may have to write reports about your business if you want people to give you money to make more clothes and other things.
her: Well, let's be honest. If that happens, I'll just hire you to do that part for me.

And now? I'm the one sighing LOL!

As an  aside, she played at freerice.com today and earned 680 grains of rice to help end hunger just by practicing multiplication!

Your questions: Homeschooling

So today we'll hit the questions that pertain to homeschooling.

Rebecca asks "Dang, Erika stole my question. So, I'll ask this: what made you decide to homeschool? How did you know you'd be good at it? And as your kids get older, how do you deal with the subjects you don't know as much about as you need to? (If there are any such; I am embarrassed to admit how young my son was when I was no longer able to help him with his math homework just out of my own head.)"

 I decided to homeschool while I was in college getting my teaching degree. Yes, amazingly enough I am a certified teacher in my state and can teach in any k-8 classroom. (okay, I *think* my certification expires soon or maybe expired this month so I probably can't say that for much longer and be truthful about it}. Let me preface this by saying there are AMAZING teachers in this world. I know some of the best. I also, sadly, saw some of the worst. I do not think the worst make it for long. I think they quit, give up, but the truth is some kids have them for the year or two they hang in there. When I received my degree, my oldest was 3.5 and my youngest was 9 months old. That colored a lot of what I thought. I didn't want to risk them having the bad teachers. Not even for one year.

So I started looking into homeschooling. Did I know for sure I could do it? Um no. But I figured if the state of IL would let me teach an entire class of kids, I couldn't do much worse for a few kids at home. We started off pretty structured, but then stumbled into unschooling pretty quickly. So for a very long time, most of our homeschooling curriculum, we did whatever we wanted with no worksheets, textbooks, etc. I don't regret one second of it. I think my kids had lots of time to be kids, to learn and explore the world around them in a very nontraditional way. And it works. It works differently than school - by that I mean yes, they are behind in some areas. However, they are ahead in others. So basically, they are like all kids - they have strengths and weaknesses and we work with that.
This year, we left the unschooling behind and are now doing formal learning. It's an adjustment for us all. We now take tests and do worksheets. We study and make note cards. We drill with flashcards. We have due dates for assignments. The transition, especially for my 11yo, has been a lot easier than I anticipated. There is a lot they already knew - and we never had to waste time doing worksheets about 1+2. It's a bit harder for my 8yo - that said, I wish we could wait until she was 10 to make this transition for her as well. However, given both girls are almost positively going to school next year, I can't wait to make the transition for her. In an ideal world though, we'd unschool until 6th grade and then go formal. {That was always the plan, but cancer kind of changed it all}

As to what happens when I don't know something ... I do what I'd do if I was the classroom teacher ... I research it. I try to learn it all before we jump in, but often I'm learning right along with my girls. Here's the thing. When I was in college, I didn't in 2 years learn everything I might possibly have to teach from kindergarten to 8th grade. Often when a curriculum changes or a teacher switches grade level, that teacher has to prelearn what s/he is going to teach his/her class! It's true. So a teacher might have a teacher's guide with all that information in one spot ... but between google, the library and just asking people I know, I can gather up what I need and I'm good to go!

I think I like learning along with the kids the best. I like to tell them I don't know ... I like them to see I'm still learning and curious about things and looking stuff up. That learning doesn't happen only at school and stop once you graduate. I think all parents do this with some stuff. We've all been faced with questions we don't know, I just think I get them more since they are home with me all day.


Tracey asks "What do you like best about homeschooling? What do you like worst about it?"

I like best - having them all home all day =) What I think is worst about it? Is having them home all day!

No really. It's true, although mostly it's the best thing. I love them being home. I love them having more time to just be kids (even now with doing formal learning, we finish in 2-3 hours) and explore and play and just be. I think too many kids are already caught up in the rat race and don't have enough time to just be. Actually, I think too many adults are that way too, but that's a talk for another time!

That said, I'd be lying if I told you there weren't days I long to put them on the bus and get a break. That there aren't days I wonder if I've permanently screwed them up by keeping them home instead of sending them to school. That there weren't days I wonder why we decided to take a path that is not the normal one. But on the other hand, other parents have doubts at times too. So I think most of those doubts don't come from me homeschooling my kids so much as me parenting my kids.

Anymore questions, please feel free to ask! =) 

School's in session

We started our homeschool year on Sunday.

I originally thought we'd delay the start, but after lots of thinking about it (including toying with the idea of sending all kids to the local pubic school this year),starting early seemed to be a much better option. That way, should we need to take a day off here or there for any medical reasons, we'll already be ahead so to speak and have more lee-way. Although both girls are showing they can work pretty independently, so I'm actually not that worried about it. As long as they know what to do, they are good at getting it done, which is such a blessing!

We also came to the conclusion that 5yo can not continue at his private school this year. So it looks like he will in fact attending kindergarten at the local public school. I've got a call into the school to find out about registering him (since, um, technically, we should have done all of this in the spring for kindergarten! Yikes!).  The difference is all day kindergarten vs. half day. I really wanted him at the all day program purely for selfish reasons ...  I will try to do as many doctor visits, including radiation which will be daily, while he's in school and all day would have given me more flexibility. But we'll work with what we can get.

Anyway, this year is going to be very bittersweet for me. It appears (but I also know a lot can change in a year) that both girls want to go to school next year. So this could be my last year as a homeschooling mom. I'm heartbroken about this. I can't lie. But I also understand and at this point won't force them to stay home any longer. We'll see how this year goes though and next year is still a long way off.

For now, we'll be toiling away and hitting the books hard. Our big focus this year will be writing, especially for the 11yo. The 8yo will be focusing a lot on spelling.

I figure starting is the hardest part, especially when the neighbor kids are still home. But we've started. 3 days down. 54 more weeks to go ;-)

Random

So today's post is a going to be full of random things. I haven't much else to cobble together but I didn't want to leave the blog without posting for too long either!

• My 10 year old is recovering from pneumonia. Had she attended school (and these are the time I am extra grateful she is homeschooled) she would have missed 2 full weeks plus 1 day. The pneumonia is now cleared up, but she's still wheezing, so she's now using an inhaler and possibly a trip to an asthma doctor is in her future? Right now, we're just trying to get her back to 100% healthy
• My 8 year old has swollen glands for no apparent reason. Possibly she is fighting the same infection that knocked the 10 year old out and just isn't symptomatic (which would be lovely for her). Could be because she's been eating more wheat than usual. Could be just because I life decided I needed one more thing to keep an eye on right now. Who knows? All I know is next week both girls go back to the doctor to get double checked for both wheezing and swollen glands.
• The 4 year old is healthy - yay! And he's loving school. He's been going 3 weeks now? I don't know - the days tend to blur. But he loves it. And he thinks next year he wants to go every single day - we'll see. The school he is attending has kindergarten so I think we'll keep him there. At this point I'll keep him home after that, but at the same time, I'm keeping my options open. This seems to be the best path for him. Maybe someday I'll write a post just about how we came to this decision, but really, probably not. Just know I thought and thought and thought about it a lot. And this is where we are today.
• We're still homeschooling the girls - and that's going really well.  It's amazing how much we can get done, especially when 4 year old is at school and isn't interrupting every 2 second (yes, truthfully this is part of the reason we did decide to send him!)
• Still not getting much done on the crafting front. But I need to kick it into high gear here soon. I have three children that may want a homemade costume (okay, that I hope will want a homemade costume!) I am knitting a hat and mittens for the 4 year old and fall is letting us know he's here. Some days. Other days summer wins and it's hot again. It does feel like the weather is playing tug-of-war right now! I also want to do hats for the girls. They both declined mittens. Bummer. But I do understand. 
• My husband is working insane hours so I feel like I am now a married, single parent. (And seriously, hats off to all real single parents because I can't even begin to imagine - even with how much my husband is gone, he is not always gone and that does make things a lot easier). Anyway, I miss him. And some days wish he would come home so I could hide from everyone just for 10 minutes.
• I almost entirely gave up caffeine. I've had 2 drinks with it in about a week. I know, right, it doesn't seem like much, but seriously it is. Because I don't even want to admit to you how much caffeine I was consuming before, but let's just say it was more than 2 a day. So for 2 in a week (and only when I was out of the house and a caffeine free coke wasn't available) is amazing.
• Yes, I am still drinking coke. Just caffeine free. Baby steps here people. Baby steps. LOL!
• I recently read God Don't like Ugly and God Still Don't Like Ugly. Loved both books. Wanted to keep reading actually. There is a third book that I do plan on getting my hands on here soon. Because I really enjoyed htem and fell in love with the characters. (Side note - I read both on my Nook and they are both lendable, so if you have a Nook too and want to borrow one, let me know!)

Alright, I think that covers most things. Now I must run. 8 year old has run out of jeans that fit her. By run out of I mean we don't own any that fit her anymore, not that I haven't been keeping up with the laundry. Okay, I haven't been keeping up with the laundry, but still, that's not why she ran out! LOL! So we are off to get some winter clothes shopping done. Except with how my kids grow, it will really probably be fall and 1 month of winter shopping before they all grow out of them again ;-)

Today I will be ...

over at the Heart of the Matter Homeschooling Virtual Conference (as a listener and not a speaker) and doing laundry - because isn't that beauty of doing the conference virtually? I can listen and do laundry at the same time! And oh, I'll probably be knitting as well because I need to hurry up and finish!!

And when I get a chance I'll pop on and discuss vacation and I have lots of e-mails I need to read and respond to as well!! =)

My 2 cents ....

not that it matters, but you might have heard about the uproar because Subway had a contest and specifically said no home schoolers may enter. (story here if you care)
Seriously, I do NOT care that they have excluded home schoolers. I CHOOSE to not enroll my kids in a public school. I CHOOSE to keep them home. No one forced me to do it.
When you pull your kid out and home school, you have to realize there are things they will miss. Sure, you can recreate some of them - art shows through co-ops, dances through co-ops, etc, etc ... but there are things that you give up when you home school.
I will NOT throw a fit about being able to miss out on a prize that includes playground equipment. My family does NOT need 5000 of playground equipment in our backyard. We are not part of a co-op that could use it. We do not belong to a YMCA to donate it to. I am not crying about being excluded from this contest.
I will not complain to Subway. I will not boycott them. I will not forward links to every person I know asking them to do the same because Subway must surely be against homeschooling.
I think many are making a mountain out of a mole hill! It's a contest to win playground equipment. It is not a law that is making home schooling harder. It is a contest sponsored by Subway.
I do not understand the big deal or why so many are so upset about it. Would these same homeschooling parents then not take part in a contest that was only open to homeschoolers? My best bet is probably not, but I don't really know and I frankly I don't care.
I just wish people would stop flooding my inbox with e-mails telling me to write letters and complain and not eat there anymore, because truthfully, I am NOT offended at all by being excluded from this contest. And I don't understand why other people are.

A Reply ...

I'd respond directly to the commenter, but they signed anonymous (although I'm thinking it was because you don't have a blogger account not because you wanted to be anonymous) so you all have to read it! LOL

You wrote:

Anxiety is a tough thing....I'm so sorry you have to deal with it. After being on the board for 6 years & reading your journal for awhile, I've never picked up that you had anxiety. You are very well-spoken and seem to get your opinion across effortlessly here online. My 6 year old has bouts of terrible anxiety, sometimes to the point of causing irritable bowel or feeling the need to throw up.

Do you think part of your reasons to homeschool is because you have anxiety about letting your children not be with you? Would think it's very important to keep involved with homeschooling groups so your children don't feel secluded.

Thanks for your nice words about me being well-spoken (I never feel that I am so that was especially nice to read!). And I'm sorry about your 6 year old. I see it in my 5 year old too - she's just like me. Especially in that she'll go to something a few times and then freak out and not want to return. I hate seeing my bad traits in my kids, but there it is. Right now though she is in a preschool program and for the first time ever she keeps going back. We had to miss days this week because she was sick and she was SO mad I wouldn't let her go. I can not tell you how much that excited me. But she will pretend to be sick to avoid going places or just beg to stay home and it makes me so sad because I know it comes from me (and it's probably both genetics and environment that affect her).

I don't keep my kids home because of it. I have an entire list of reasons of why I homeschool and I assure it it's not in the top ten reasons. I'm sure it plays a part - I know I can't say honestly that it doesn't play some role. But if it were the only thing, my kids would be at school. Because, I almost feel like I have to try to make more of an effort to be social since they stay home. It is not easier on the social anxiety to keep them home.

At the same time, my kids aren't secluded either. They have friends. They attend Awana, we sometimes take them to Sunday school, we get together for playdates, they have lots of neighborhood children to romp around with (most afternoons I have at least 4 girls sitting in my tree! I actually love that the kids lately have been spending so much time at our house!), and then there are park district classes. My kids interact a lot with other kids without me needing to test my ability to be social with large groups of people. For that, I am truly grateful! If the only way my kids could interact with others would be for me to fight that feeling and get truly plugged into a group, I think I would be extremely motivated to do it for them.

As far as not wanting the children to be apart from me, well, if we had more disposable income, I'd have a sitter once a week so that I could get away for a bit and relax, clean, craft, watch movies, etc, etc! I admit when my first was a newborn I NEVER wanted to let her go anywhere and I was ultra picky about when I left her and who I left her with. But that particular paranoia of mine, yeah, I got over that! So we certainly don't keep them home because I can't bare to let them go .... there are so many other reasons. But, I won't lie, I love having them home most of the time. My kids rock and I love the time with them - but I do actually crave breaks from them ROFL! =)

Happy Leap Day!

So in honor of leap day, we did a few frog related activities around here. Not too much, because, well, the kids had a very in-depth, involved game going on in which they were pretending to be doctors and veterinarians and they NEEDED to take care of their animals and baby dolls. And frankly, I think that sort of play is precious and actually important so we only interrupted for a bit.

We found some frog noises on the internet and they had a blast listening to them and I heard "play it again mom!" lots of times - who knew frog noises could be so exciting?

Then we tried to do a little science experiment with magnets with the goal of creating some leaping frogs. Although we had fun making everything, they didn't quite work out as we hoped ....

First we decorated some shoe boxes to look like a place a frog might be. We cut out a tissue paper frog. Then we took a paperclip with string tied on it and taped it to the back of the frog.
The theory being that if we put a magnet on top of the box, the frog would "jump up" to the magnet. The truth was that, our magnet was not strong enough to pull the frog up. The box was probably too high. And the magnet and the paperclip had to be VERY close together for the magnet to actually pull the paperclip ...


I know it looks like they are touching, but I assure they are not. However, that was the farthest apart we could get them to stay. So, we didn't get "leaping" frogs, but we did make a pretty neat "floating" frog!
I told the girls next time we go out, we'll look for more powerful magnets and maybe we can have leaping frogs someday!

As a bonus though, we had to try out a LOT of magnets to even get the floating affect so we talked about how magnets come in different strengths and tested out if it could pull the paperclip and all that stuff, so at least we did some magnet exploring today!

Anyway, happy leap day! =)

What annoys me ...

I have to share what annoys me with you - although no one who reads this blog has ever done this to me - but I need to get it off my mind.

It really annoys me I get e-mails, or notes, or messages, or IMs, or whatever that say something like "ALL homeschoolers should support this guy" or "ALL Christians should avoid reading this book." or "ANYONE who breathes air should not watch this movie."

Okay, really ... do ALL of them really do whatever the e-mail says? I think not. And secondly am I SO dumb and SO stupid that you feel you must tell me what to do because you know another wife/mother/female/Christain/Homeschooler who feels that way? And must their opinion be somehow more informed and more important than mine and hence you need to tell me what to do? It is annoying. In fact, it's very annoying.

Yes, I know many homeschoolers support Huckabee. I will not vote him simply because of that. So stop sending me links about why I should.
Yes, I know many Christians are up in arms about A Golden Compass. Frankly, I am not. And also, none of my kids are old enough to see the movie. And if I want to read the book, I will. I don't need you to tell me about it. Nor do I need Religious leaders sending out memos regarding the same thing. I think instead of worrying about this one book, it might make more sense for our leaders and cognregations/etc to focus on, oh, teenage mothers, people who can't feed themselves, people who can't afford their medications, poverty, helping those with drug and alcohol addictions who can't find other help, etc. And maybe people are doing that, but spam my e-mail box with stories about how you are helping and doing good in this world.

Thank you.

O

Outdoor education ....
we sometimes school outside if the weather is good enough and the fancy strikes us. We mostly do this, well, simply because we can =)