Sign Language

Tonight was our last night of sign language class. This is an adult education class that I signed myself, Emily, and Grace up for. We took it about three years ago, too. Brooke was able to go with us then, but this year she is busy with Strings that night. So for two hours a night for 10 weeks, we meet at the local high school to learn sign language. It is such a fun class! It is a lot of work for me to set up babysitting and make sure we are ready to go to class on Tuesday night. But once we are there I am always so glad that we did it! The girls and I really enjoy our teacher, she makes class so much fun! We have also gotten to know quite a few people through this class. It was nice to go back this year with some experience. We were able to pick up a lot more this year to add to what we learned the first year. I do wish we could spend more time practicing and using sign language in our daily lives. But when it comes down to it, it is hard to have the patience to wait for someone to sign something and then try to understand it! But it is still a great class and I am so thrilled at what we have picked up from it. Will we go next year? I'm not sure, it is quite a time commitment so we will just have to wait and see how busy we are next fall. But even if we go every 2 or 3 years I feel like it benefits both the girls and me!

Farmer Brown and Tag

Relay Races

Wipeout!!

Mrs. Castro and Grace

Emily and Flint

The winning boys!

The group getting ready for round two!

Phy-Ed At The Hall

One person on each team was blindfolded...

One person on each team was then to give directions...

And the winners found all three balls first!

On Friday we met up with our friends from the little country school for some Phy-Ed fun! We met at our new township hall for an hour. It was so much fun for the girls to get to see the kid's from this school again. It is cool how perfectly it goes when we get together with these kids! Their teacher and I were discussing how each of us on our own doesn't have enough kids to do much for games, but when we get together we can do so much more with them. And yet, it isn't too many kids where things get chaotic or overwhelming. Mrs. Castro had brought some balls to use in relays and ideas she had found on the internet. The kids (and Mrs. Castro!) did some relays, Farmer Brown, and Tag. We are hoping we can get together once a month and have this phy-ed class together. I am so thankful to be able to do this with the kids!

Swimming!

Today we went swimming with the kids from a little one room schoolhouse. My friend, the girls' fiddle teacher, teaches there. Last month we went with them to the fire hall for a tour, out for pizza, and bowling. Today was just as much fun as the last time. I tell you there is something wonderful to be said for a little country school. If I didn't homeschool, this would be where I would love to send my kids. These kids are so polite and friendly. These kids and my girls all get along so well. They hardly know each other, but they started right up playing games together in the pool. We spent three and half hours there swimming. We did take a little break for some pizza, but as soon as they were done eating, they were right back in the pool.

Here is a picture of all the kids together.

Sophia enjoying the water.

Emily and Grace smiling for the camera.

Sophia, Grace, and Emily warming up in the hot tub.

Allison loved the water, too!

Other than this fun day, nothing exciting going on here as far as school goes. We are actually on another four day weekend. This following the public school schedule is actually kind of nice. The kids were off on Thursday for Veteran's day. The school then just gave the kids Friday off because with it being deer gun season, they realize that most of the kids won't show up for school on Friday anyway. Yep, we have our priorities straight out here in the country! I am enjoying this, though. Maybe this is the key to preventing burn-out?

Snow Day!!

School was canceled for Brooke today. I jokingly asked Josh if that meant that it was a snow day for the rest of us. Well, the snowstorm somehow knocked out our internet and guess what? The girls' couldn't get into their computer school without being connected to my computer. So we all got our snow day!! I was very excited. I slept in and it was so nice. The kids slept in, too. Well, not Allison and Sophia. For some reason they were up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7:30. But Josh was up so he got them their breakfast...cookies and milk! I am sure they want me to sleep in every day that dad is home now! It was a very nice and lazy day at our house. I ran on the treadmill this afternoon and then Josh and I drove to town for a bit later in the afternoon. The kids watched a movie and played outside in the snow for the afternoon. We picked up some KFC for supper and now we are planning on getting everyone to bed and having some peace and quiet for the evening. But, it's back to the books for us all tomorrow!

Back To School

Wow, a four day weekend was just what I needed! We managed to get a lot of housecleaning done. I had time to catch up on my school grading and planning. I even made out a new schedule for the week. I would love to post our daily schedule, but I don't know how to do that on here! Here's the basics:

• We are getting up at 7:00. I run first while the older girls get ready and get the little ones ready. Then Em and Grace take their turns on the treadmill. Having them run in the morning is such a great thing. It especially helps Grace to get some of that extra energy out right away in the morning. It seems to help her through the whole day!
• I have basic school scheduled in the morning and all the leftover stuff after lunch. That would be things such as reading out loud to the girls, having Sophia and Grace read to me, and any other projects that need to be done.
• Music practice comes after school and after nap time. Then we have some time for some daily house cleaning.
• Then it is pretty much supper and evening chores and bedtime.

Today didn't go as planned exactly because I had to run into town for a chiropractor appointment and I took Grace in to get her new glasses. But, as long as we are able to finish the major school things in the morning, then an afternoon here and there of missed school isn't such a big deal. I'm looking forward to tomorrow and hoping for a feeling of accomplishment by the end of the day!

B Is For Banana Splits!

One Good Thing About Homeschooling

I have a minor cold that is really knocking me down. It doesn't really bother me all day, but by the middle of the night my throat hurts, I cough a little, and my head just pounds. My head was pounding so bad this morning that I just couldn't get myself out of bed. Poor Emily kept coming in to tell me what time it was because I kept saying to come back in a half hour and wake me up. Then I would send her out again to check on me in another half hour. Finally, I woke up on my own around 9:30 and my headache was feeling better. Thank goodness! So another late start to the day. I guess I titled this post one good thing about homeschooling but now I guess I have a couple things that are good, that I was reminded of today:

• How wonderful to be able to sleep when not feeling well and know that the little girls will be taken care of. I didn't even have to ask or tell them, it just happens that way. The morning went on as usual even with me sleeping. They started school by 8:30 and had the little girls fed and ready without being told. I do love that part of homeschooling!
• The next good thing I realized today as the girls and I were taking a break and watching one of the Duggar shows. It was about two of the daughters and a trip they took together. We watched as they interviewed and followed these two girls on their trip. We learned how close in age they are and how good of friends they are. After watching a while I asked the girls, "Who does that sound like?" Emily and Grace were thinking the same thing. They are close in age and they really are best friends. They do have their arguments and times where they don't get along. But really all in all, they are so close to each other. I don't think if they were in public school that they would get along like they do, because really public school is so completely the opposite of that!

So I guess the good point to all of this is that it makes me realize that no matter how far behind I am on our school work sometimes, I am still so glad we homeschool. There are more important things in life than doing schoolwork and getting good grades. These kids are learning about real life, about caring for others when they don't feel good, about pitching in where it is needed just because it needs to be done, and they are learning to be best friends, not enemies. Those are the things that really matter in the end if you ask me!

A Short Week

Well, since we now have a public school student in the house, we are pretty much following the public school schedule. On the bright side of that, Brooke has Thursday and Friday off of school for teacher's convention, so the rest of us get it off, too! I am so looking forward to the days off from school. I wish I had the time to just relax, but I am leaning more toward having a couple of house work days. I am so far behind on everything around here, or at least it feels that way. So I need to do some thinking and figure out what I would like to accomplish. I wonder if the kids will be as excited as I am about this!? Hee hee!!

Anyway, nothing new on the school front, other than having a short week here. I am consistently behind on correcting school, but that is nothing new. I wonder if that will ever change or if I will eventually just accept that this is who I am?

Field Trip

Today was very exciting for the girls because we got to go on a field trip! My friend, the girls' fiddle teacher, teaches at a little one room school house. She has three boys and one girl in her school. She thought it would be fun for her school kids and my kids to go on this field trip together...and she was so right! We met them at the fire station at 11:00 for a tour that lasted almost two hours, thanks to a great fireman and kids that had a lot of great questions! After that we all met up at Pizza Hut and enjoyed pizza and some great conversation. Then we were off to the bowling alley for a quick game. It was a fun time for all of the kids, they all seemed to enjoy each others company immensely. We are hoping to be able to get together atleast once a month for a field trip or some phy-ed. I only wish we were a little bit closer so we could do more activities together. I forgot to get a picture today, but hopefully Mrs. Castro will send me one soon so I can put it up on here and you can see the kids in the fire truck!

Curriculum

Okay, nothing exciting to note today so I thought I would just let you know what we are using for curriculum this year.

Emily - Emily is using Switched On Schoolhouse sixth grade this year. We actually had to buy the curriculum this year because Brooke didn't start SOS until 7th grade. But atleast I know I will be able to use it for Grace. The money savings with this curriculum is so great. Emily also has a composition notebook that I would like her to write in twice a week, but we are lucky to get in once a week. I have her write atleast half a page about anything she wants and then I correct grammar and spelling errors. This was a great idea I received last year from another homeschool mom. It really shows me exactly where she needs improvement. I just started having her do a Bible Copy notebook, too. I would like her to write in that twice a week also, but again I am lucky to have her do it once a week. I am hoping next week to be more organized in this area, ha ha. So what I am doing the Bible copy for, other than the obvious of learning the Bible, is handwriting because I decided not to order formal handwriting books this year.

Grace - Grace is using SOS 4th grade this year. I am also doing a separate phonics and spelling program with her. I just feel that she needs some(a lot) of review in phonics. So I ordered a program called Vo-Wac. The public schools around here use it and I think it worked well with Brooke having had it in public school in K and 1st grade. I did have to go back to second grade with this curriculum though because it is pretty hard to throw them in to the middle of it. But it has been very good for her to learn these rules and sometimes easy is a good way to start. Grace is also doing the composition and Bible copy notebooks.

Sophia - First off I have to say that Sophia LOVES school. She is so disappointed when it is the weekend and we don't do school. I am using Vo-Wac phonics with her, too. She is already learning to read some and just loves it. She is doing Saxon K for math. That has been going great. I really disliked that program with Emily and Grace, but I seem to enjoy teaching it to Sophia. I am glad that I had saved the teachers manual and only had to spend around $10 on the meeting book.

Allison - I can't leave Allison out. Last Christmas, my mother-in-law bought her some Kumon workbooks that I had told her I thought Allison would like. I don't think she was quite ready for them yet at that time, but she sure is ready now. It literally takes me less than ten minutes to do a page in all four books and it makes Allison feel so big to be able to do school like her sisters!

Lydia - I guess you could say Lydia has some school, too. I have been trying to do some "blanket time" with her each day. Which really means a couple times a week. I love blanket time because it teaches her how to stay where I tell her, how to play quietly, and how to sit still. She isn't crazy about it but she does get really excited when I tell her all done. She gets right up and starts picking up her toys and even carries her toys to her bedroom to put them away. Now Allison actually asks everyday if we can do blanket time and Sophia even wants to join in. It works good for me because it helps Lydia to see her sister's sitting nice. It just helps her to know what is expected. I guess the other thing Lydia does for "school" is get the "Lady With the Alligator Purse" book read to her. That is her favorite book right now.

It's Me!

The big smile says it all! Allison came up to me this afternoon and she was so excited. She was saying "Look, it's me! It's ME!" She was so proud of herself because she drew a picture of herself on her magna doodle. I thought she did a great job, too!

On the school side of things, I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning last night so I didn't get up until 7:30 and I let the girls sleep in even later because I knew Emily hasn't been feeling all that great. So I spent most of today trying to convince myself that I don't really need a schedule. We function just fine with this "get done what we get done and call it good" philosophy. I think I spend way too much time worrying about how to do things instead of just doing them. Is there hope for me? Probably not. I mean I've been this way as far back as I can remember so why would I change now. So anyway, I did manage to get school done with Sophia today. Emily and Grace did their SOS school. Grace did read aloud to me. I got a lot done on reformatting my blogs, yeah that's important. But all in all, if I look back, I would have to say that it was good enough. There's always tomorrow to catch up on things!

Not Such A Good Plan

We did it. We actually all got up at 6:30 this morning. It was nice. School was started by 8:00 so goal accomplished. I think most of the computer work was done by noon, too. You would think I would be happy. But after lunch when it came time for me to read aloud to the older girls, well, I guess you can see what happened in the picture! We all fell asleep! Well actually in this picture we are fake sleeping because we woke up when Josh came out and I had him take a quick picture of the sad mess we were! So needless to say, I'm pitching the 6:30 idea. Tomorrow we will wake up at our usual time of 7:00. But with me showering at night, mostly because Brooke and Josh use up all the hot water in the morning, I am out earlier and able to keep the kids moving. So starting school by 8:30 should be doable. It was a pretty good day though. We got quite a bit done. I guess the only thing I didn't finish that should have been done was helping Emily take notes on her History lesson. But I bet it will still be there waiting for us tomorrow! And I should have time to help her during the little ones' naps because hopefully we won't all fall asleep again!

A New Plan

That's what I do. A new plan, a new schedule. I just can't seem to ever get it "perfect". So the new plan this morning was to skip morning chores and get right to work on school. Well it seemed like a good idea until after breakfast when I realized that we absolutely have to do morning chores. I will go crazy if I have to sit all morning in a messy house. So tomorrow we will try to get up at 6:30 so we can all be ready for school by 8:00. My purpose for this is to be done with school everyday by noon. Doesn't that sound wonderful? That will leave the afternoons for projects, music, exercise, cleaning, or whatever we feel like doing! We used to get done with school by noon every day. But that was back when it was pretty much just Brooke and she was SO easy to homeschool. Now with Em and Grace it is a bit more work and Kindergarten with Sophia is fun but it also demands some time. Of course not to be left out, Allison is now getting to do some fun Kumon workbook stuff with me. So the good of this is getting done with the serious school by noon. That will be a relief. The not so good? Well, it leaves no time for exercise for me or the kids in the morning and it means getting up much earlier than I like to. So I guess it'll have to do for this week. I'm sure by next week I can think up a great NEW plan for us!

Traffic Lights!

Sophia is learning about the letter T this week in her school. So yesterday morning I surprised the girls with a Traffic light snack. They had a lot of fun with this one. It's just a graham cracker with frosting and the M&Ms for the lights. Sophia and Allison sorted out the M&Ms so that was great for them to learn to sort and to learn their colors. I can't take credit, though. The idea was in Sophia's Vo-Wac phonics book.

In A Panic

What am I doing?? I think I am crazy. I was so excited when the UPS man showed up today (do you think everone loves the ups man?) with the box containing our new phonics and spelling books for Grace and Sophia. Just so very excited! We put it on the table and opened it all up all of us very curious about the new books. Then I started taking the products out. Teacher's manuals, letter cards, picture cards, dry erase boards, and so on. Sophia just kept asking how soon we could start. I told her not until Monday. A good decision on my part because it didn't take long for the excitement to wear off for me. One peek into those teachers manuals and I could feel the panic rising in my chest. How am I going to do this? I am not a lesson planner. I am not a read from the book kind of teacher. Heck, I don't even consider myself a teacher at all, the older kids have been learning from a computer for a few years now! I'm not even sure how I am supposed to fit all of this teaching stuff into my already full day. So that is where I am at. Not a good feeling. I managed to look through one whole lesson for Grace this evening. Great, we can get a lesson done on Monday. Now how am I going to find the time to plan the rest of the week for her and Sohpia, too? Oh I know deep down that it will get done and everything will be fine. I am sure after a couple of weeks we will cruise through the lessons like we have been doing them for years. But for now, I can't seem to get rid of this panicky feeling.

Back To School...Kind Of...

So here's the pics of our new homeschool set up. Em and Grace at the wet bar counter with their computers and the other three at the table in the family room. Good thinking on Josh's part to keep that table for that room, huh? It was a good first day or sort of first day. I actually decided at 6:00 that morning that we would start school. As of the night before we were going to start on Monday. But I was up at 6:00 and just couldn't fall asleep so I decided we would just get ready and start. The computers were set up and I figured we could use a couple kind of practice days anyway. But Sophia hasn't started yet. I need to get to Sidney to pick up her teacher manuals from a friend and then get some lesson planning done. Hopefully I will be ready on Monday because she is very impatiently waiting! I did get the older girls caught up on their immunizations...Brooke needed hers to start public school. But while at the clinic I realized that I had completely forgotten about my statements of intent. I have to send them in to the superintendant of schools. I am supposed to have them in to her office two weeks before starting school!! Oops! Need to get those together this weekend and have them ready to mail on Monday. Thankfully we have a great superintendant that shouldn't mind. Of course if someone had a fit we would just add on two weeks of school at the end...I mean really...whatever. So I'm ahead on many things but very very far behind on more things, ha ha. That is just the way it seems to go. It does feel good to be back to schooling though. There is just such a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when everyone gets their work done.

Week In Review

Here are a couple pictures of Sophia and Allison painting one morning. It was funny because for some reason I decided when I set them up to paint to tell them not to mix the colors. So I gave them three colors and three paint brushes and explained to them that there was one paint brush for each color and that the colors were not to be mixed. Where was reality in that moment to remind me that I was telling a three year old to not mix the paint colors??? Yeah, hello Shelly, are you really thinking this is going to work? Of course, I no sooner sat down at my computer and Sophia was furious because Allison was mixing the colors. Duh mom. So I ended up eventually giving Sophia her own palette of paints because she was so mad at Alli for messing them all up! Nothing like passing on my perfectionism! In the end, I was given more beautiful paintings by my little sweeties! Is there really any better artwork than that?

So, we really did have a very pleasant week in our homeschool. We managed all their music lessons, speech practices, and daily work. I even got to attend a local homeschool meeting. I love to attend these meetings and hear what others are doing. I am glad I am settled enough in our homeschool to be confident that what I am doing is the right fit for our family. In the early years it was easy to listen to others and think I was never doing enough. Now I have learned to be content where we are and when I hear a great idea that I think we can actually implement, I write it down. Sometimes we actually even try it! At this meeting one mom was sharing about the journaling that her kids do. By the way, I happen to just love this particular homeschool mom! :) She has always been an inspiration to me. But anyway, I picked up a composition notebook for Emily and Grace so they can start doing some journaling. We did start out the year with some journaling on their computers, but we haven't done that in a while. But that was more for a creative writing purpose. This time I want to do more of a spelling and grammar approach. I know Em and Grace need more work in these areas and hopefully journaling will be a fun way for them to do this. I also picked up a couple extra notebooks for Sophia and Allison so they can feel like they get to participate, too! Also discussed at the meeting was testing. Brooke and Em were required to be tested last year so I went ahead and tested Grace, too. I have decided to have Grace tested again this year, since we held her back. I am really looking forward to the results of this testing. I am hoping we see a lot of improvement in her test, to reinforce what I think we have accomplished this year by keeping her back. But, that won't be until the end of April so we have a bit yet. Well, I think that is all we have been up to this week. I certainly hope that next week will be another great one!

The Perfect Homeschool Day...Well Morning Atleast

Yes, that is right, we had a great morning this morning. If I could dream up my homeschool world, this morning would be every morning! I managed to crawl out of bed at a decent hour (7:00 in case you are wondering) and onto the treadmill for a quick run. Then a little breakfast, a shower and ready for my morning chores. All the while the kids were up, in good moods, getting their chores done. Things just went so smooth! The best part of it all is shown in these pictures I took. I even had time to make up some banana bread with the bananas that have been waiting for a very long time to be used. But what was great was that while I was mixing it up, Lydia was busy eating crayons in her high chair, Allison was coloring and helping me, and Sophia was working hard in her workbook. The older three were quietly working at their desks in the bedroom. I only had to go in to answer an occasional question for them. This was the morning that homeschool dreams are made up of and the reason I choose to homeschool. I need to make this happen more often. We also managed to have lunch at noon, read for 20 minutes today to the little ones, and read to Em and Grace from the book we have been trying to finish, topped off with a 20 minute nap! :) I enjoyed a little computer time in the afternoon, followed by some pretty major housecleaning by all of us. Roast was in the crockpot, made by Grace after lunch, potatoes in the oven, thanks to Brooke. We finished up our day with a nice supper with Josh and our evening chores. My big discovery for the day...put Allison to bed and down for naptime in my room...amazing. Okay, I admit, there was a little bit of craziness with the cleaning and phone calls about our house(which we are selling), and I didn't get the girls' school corrected. But all in all, it was a great day!!

What we've been doing...

Things have been so crazy busy here. But then again, when are things not crazy busy here? I feel like I'm always a few steps behind. Whether it is with the laundry, the cooking or the school work, always behind. But slowly I am learning to let go and relax a little bit. Because this is what life is. It is not perfect. That would be boring. It is messy, as it should be. It is full of excitement, stress, and busyness. But it is good. And isn't that what matters most? Life is good. Even on the bad days, it is still so good here. :)

Brooke: Ah, the teenager. She should be getting her license this spring and we are so excited about that! Life will be a little bit easier when she can drive herself to a few things. Right now we are running to Alexander twice a week for Speech practice. That is a lot of time out of the day, but she just loves participating in speech. She is looking forward to their first meet next weekend. School is going good for her. Her grades are great and she seems to be managing her school along with her once in a while cleaning job, Speech, and violin practice. I remember those busy days!

Emily: School is going good for Emily. It is just the usual. We are quite excited about a new guitar teacher for her. He actually comes to OUR HOUSE!!! Does it get any better than that? A very nice young man who seems very excited about teaching guitar! He told her if she practiced really hard on what he taught her last Monday that he should be able to teach her a Taylor Swift song at her next lesson. Now that got her practicing hard this week! Emily is also continuing with violin lessons once a week. But next year she will probably have to choose one or the other. It is quite expensive for all these music lessons!

Grace: School is going so wonderfully great for Grace this year. She is just having such a great year. Holding her back this year is a decision that I think we will never ever regret. She is confident and feels smart! Her grades are great this year and it has helped her so much! She just started piano lessons last week at my neighbor's house. She is really excited about that. I think she just really likes having something just for her. It will be interesting to see if piano is something she really likes and will practice.

Sophia: I hate to admit that school has been pretty nonexistant for Sophia this last few weeks. I do try, it just seems so easy to get busy with other things and put off her work. Which really isn't fair since she always wants to do her schoolwork. So that is something I need to work on this week. She is working in three workbooks right now. One on lowercase letters, numbers, and alphabet games.

Allison: For Christmas, Allison received some cute little workbooks that I have been trying to work on with her. Fun things, like coloring, cutting, folding, and pasting. I haven't done much with her these last few weeks either. Okay, I promise to work harder with the little ones! I need to get back to story time with them to. My goal is to read to them 20 minutes a day, either before naps or before bed. I know that is not much, but it is a good goal time for me!

Lydia: I have scheduled in some signing time video time in the morning, in hopes of making myself sit with Lydia and Sophia and Allison for a half hour a day so they can learn more signs. Lydia is at that perfect age to start learning the signs. She has taken a couple steps here and there, but is nowhere near fully walking yet. We can wait for that, she is quick enough already!

I have been reading "Peter and the Starcatchers" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson to Emily and Grace in the afternoons. It is a great book and I highly recommend it for a read aloud. There are more books after this one, too. I think this book is what leads up to Peter Pan. Some days we can't stop reading, but most days I end up reading for a while and then falling asleep!

Well, that about sums it up for us. I'm off to bed, goodnight!!

Valentine Crafts

Thank goodness I have a good friend, Brandy, that loves to do crafty projects. First it was the advent baskets and now she found this great idea for Valentine mailboxes. All we had to do was show up with some extra scrapbook paper and she had everything else all ready for the girls! They had so much fun making these cute projects.

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Here is the finished project. Now Emily and Grace each have a special mailbox on their school desks just perfect for holding notes they write each other throughout the day. Aren't they cute? Thanks Brandy!!!

Daddy Taught Lydia To Color!

I saw that Lydia got a hold of the crayons on the floor so I asked Josh to pick them up before she ate them. Did he? No, even better. He taught her how to use them. Okay, so the big scribbles are his from showing her what to do. But she actually did it after he showed her how! I just love how he thinks outside the box! I am an inside the box person, inside the lines, don't mix the play dough colors! ;)

We finally finished our workbook!

This is a bit old, too. So much to catch up on. But, as you can see, back in November Sophia finished her first letters workbook. Wow, we actually accomplished something. She was quite excited to recive a special certificate for it.

Advent Craft

This is a bit old, but I just had to put up the pictures to this Advent activity that my friend Brandy brought over for the kids to work on one evening while the guys watched football. Emily and Grace had so much fun folding these little paper, ugh, what's the word, holders? baskets? Hmmm...my brain is not working right now. Oh well, anyway, the little kids had so much fun just playing with the extra scrapbook things that we had out. So after folding them, you hang them and fill them with something. I filled ours with hershey kisses and little sheets of paper with something fun to do on them, like read a book, watch a movie, and such. Each day the kids pick one out, counting down until Christmas. I would love to say I was dedicated to it, but we missed many days and they got a lot more candy that fun family activities. But we did more than we have in other years and hey, we were able to tuck it away for next year.