Yesterday Emily turned 4 years old! Eric made her a birthday banner (his tradition for all of the kids) before he left for work. I made smoothies and the kids were outside eating them and the bees or wasps smelled the good fruit and started bothering the kids. Emily got stung on her right thumb. (What a stinky birthday present). I gave her a big bubble bath to clean her up and help get the stinger out (if there was one). She wanted a quesadilla so we went to Taco Bell for dinner. She got a Lilkins Webkins monkey and she says she wants to name it "Millie" (last night it was "Nemie"). We had cupcakes and ice cream (chocolate cake, chocolate icing, oreo cookie ice cream).
On Sunday Ian, Margarite, Neina, and Simon came down for dinner and we had cupcakes and ice cream then, too. They brought Emily a cute tiara with a wand (she loves to dress-up and be princess).
"I love my Webkins." "I'm so lucky for two codes". (Haley told her she has two codes on the toy).
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Chase got a STAMP
We have an award system where the kids can earn stamps to trade for things. In order to get a stamp you have to be on time for school. (I know, your thinking "But how could they be 'late' when you're homeschooling? Isn't that part of the reason TO homeschool?"). Well.......no. Not in my house.
The kids need to have their room clean, job done, be dressed, teeth brushed, and hair done by 9am.
(This proves very hard for them so I made the award system) (I think they must think what I thought you first thought) Did you get that? Well, I think they must think that they shouldn't ever be "late" because it's at home and it should be a 'fringe benefit'. I disagree completely. I like beginnings and ends (mostly).
Another way to earn a stamp is to be EXTRA helpful and happily do school/house work.
Can I just say I am SO proud of that bubba-wubba-boy! He missed his morning stamp (though he tried) and did a tremendous job earning a stamp (it was VERY hard for him but I saw and awarded his efforts)! It made him feel so proud of himself and I'm glad for that.
That was yesterday. That was a VERY good day.
The kids need to have their room clean, job done, be dressed, teeth brushed, and hair done by 9am.
(This proves very hard for them so I made the award system) (I think they must think what I thought you first thought) Did you get that? Well, I think they must think that they shouldn't ever be "late" because it's at home and it should be a 'fringe benefit'. I disagree completely. I like beginnings and ends (mostly).
Another way to earn a stamp is to be EXTRA helpful and happily do school/house work.
Can I just say I am SO proud of that bubba-wubba-boy! He missed his morning stamp (though he tried) and did a tremendous job earning a stamp (it was VERY hard for him but I saw and awarded his efforts)! It made him feel so proud of himself and I'm glad for that.
That was yesterday. That was a VERY good day.
"NONE-YA"
Emily: "I know what 'none-ya' means..."
Me: "You do huh? What?"
Emily: "It means, 'none of your business'."
Me: "Yep!"
She LOVES to know what things mean and I LOVE to know that she's figuring things out!
She brings me smiles.
Me: "You do huh? What?"
Emily: "It means, 'none of your business'."
Me: "Yep!"
She LOVES to know what things mean and I LOVE to know that she's figuring things out!
She brings me smiles.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Oh yeah...We're homeschooling!
I didn't mention (after my ranting and raving about what to do about homeschool) that all my praying came full circle and I AM homeschooling this year. (YIKES!!!)
We still have our tantrums mine is "Get it done! NOW!!!" or "If you were in public school....." Chase's is "Why do I have to...?" Haley's is (moping) "kay..." Tayler's problem is not school-work but house-work. "AGAIN?!!" is what I hear after telling her to "do" her job (meaning get it ALL DONE, and not just mostly done).
So why do I do this? I am not 100% sure. I just know that it must be better for our family than what's out there (at least locally). Maybe it's because I really want to be a patient person and this is my ultimate adventure in patience-making! Oooh...I love a challenge! (Excepting the fact that my poor children's childhoods are at stake!)
This is what I know about homeschooling:
It is HARD (for me) in every concievable way.
It is not cheap!
It is not always "rainbows and butterflies" or even mudpies and skinned elbows.
It is time-consuming.
It is life-changing.
It is lots of learning how to press eachother's buttons. Or not.
It is lots of reading.
It is trying how to do "life" and school at the same time. (It's best if you can incorporate the two)
It is spending LOTS of time together.
Sometimes it's a little fun!
Sometimes we get opportunities to serve others.
Sometimes we play together.
We grocery shop together.
We do 4H club (ours is a crafty club)
We go to the library.
There's more, you know, but I'm done with listing...
I know that there are many who would scrutinize homeschooling families and try to find all the faults (I am that type of person). What is sad is those who do this but don't scrutinize public schools (I've done that). The government doesn't have to choose what's best for my child(ren), I get to decide that. That is an overwhelming responsibility but, as a mother, it's what I've always wanted. I never wanted to have children for someone else to raise. So we have our tantrums together and at the end of the day we still say "I love you. Nigh-night. Sleepy good." and mean it, even if we wake up tomorrow and throw a similar tantrum as we did today. I love stories of peaceful families where there are no sassing, yelling, hitting, threatening, etc. maybe someday we'll achieve that (I can hope, or at least wish), today is not that day, but I'm glad for this day.
So if we do a little better tomorrow (assuming it's not one of those really "bad days") then that's where I want to be. Progress is what we are working for; who knows what the end result will be?!
P.S. My kids LOVE to read and I LOVE that about them.
We still have our tantrums mine is "Get it done! NOW!!!" or "If you were in public school....." Chase's is "Why do I have to...?" Haley's is (moping) "kay..." Tayler's problem is not school-work but house-work. "AGAIN?!!" is what I hear after telling her to "do" her job (meaning get it ALL DONE, and not just mostly done).
So why do I do this? I am not 100% sure. I just know that it must be better for our family than what's out there (at least locally). Maybe it's because I really want to be a patient person and this is my ultimate adventure in patience-making! Oooh...I love a challenge! (Excepting the fact that my poor children's childhoods are at stake!)
This is what I know about homeschooling:
It is HARD (for me) in every concievable way.
It is not cheap!
It is not always "rainbows and butterflies" or even mudpies and skinned elbows.
It is time-consuming.
It is life-changing.
It is lots of learning how to press eachother's buttons. Or not.
It is lots of reading.
It is trying how to do "life" and school at the same time. (It's best if you can incorporate the two)
It is spending LOTS of time together.
Sometimes it's a little fun!
Sometimes we get opportunities to serve others.
Sometimes we play together.
We grocery shop together.
We do 4H club (ours is a crafty club)
We go to the library.
There's more, you know, but I'm done with listing...
I know that there are many who would scrutinize homeschooling families and try to find all the faults (I am that type of person). What is sad is those who do this but don't scrutinize public schools (I've done that). The government doesn't have to choose what's best for my child(ren), I get to decide that. That is an overwhelming responsibility but, as a mother, it's what I've always wanted. I never wanted to have children for someone else to raise. So we have our tantrums together and at the end of the day we still say "I love you. Nigh-night. Sleepy good." and mean it, even if we wake up tomorrow and throw a similar tantrum as we did today. I love stories of peaceful families where there are no sassing, yelling, hitting, threatening, etc. maybe someday we'll achieve that (I can hope, or at least wish), today is not that day, but I'm glad for this day.
So if we do a little better tomorrow (assuming it's not one of those really "bad days") then that's where I want to be. Progress is what we are working for; who knows what the end result will be?!
P.S. My kids LOVE to read and I LOVE that about them.
Monday, September 15, 2008
WIND!!!
Yesterday the power went out at church. When we got home, our power was out and stayed out 'til around 8:23pm. We are the fortunate ones. School was canceled today (even the University!), and even businesses are STILL without power! It gave me a bit of a chance to think about what it would be like not to have electricity, HOT water at the turn of a handle, cold food. What would I cook in? What would I cook with? What would I cook, period? A few days without electricity would probably send me over the edge (and except for wind, the weather was really nice)! I have always been aware of and grateful for conveniences (including electricity) and I just had to -what is the word or phrase?- um.... I don't know. I just am SO grateful that we had power before we went to bed. Also, I have received 2 specific and 3 other phone calls asking if we are okay and have power. My ward is GREAT (and very small)!
I would like to think that we would be fine without power but I won't lie to myself anymore, I LOVE ELECTRICITY!!!
I learned that I don't have enough candles, probably too few matches (to last days), not near enough batteries, not enough fuel for the camping stove, not enough patience (for days), not enough pots (to warm water for baths, etc. or for cooking), probably not enough games (that don't need batteries or electricity). I also found out that time does not go as fast when the power is out. I think that is fact and not a figment of my imagination (or lack thereof).
We had branches blown down all over our little backyard. No damage to the house. We're very blessed.
We've been taking care of our friends' goats and chickens while they went on a road trip for a week. They have lots of branches down in their backyard but their animals are doing well and all the fences are intact. Their power is still out, though. They live just less than a mile (on winding roads) from us.
Yeah, I milked a goat and the kids collected chicken eggs and even watched the hens lay eggs as well as watched them mate ('what are they doing?' 'that rooster's mean!'). Ahhhh, life experiences. You don't learn that in a classroom!
I would like to think that we would be fine without power but I won't lie to myself anymore, I LOVE ELECTRICITY!!!
I learned that I don't have enough candles, probably too few matches (to last days), not near enough batteries, not enough fuel for the camping stove, not enough patience (for days), not enough pots (to warm water for baths, etc. or for cooking), probably not enough games (that don't need batteries or electricity). I also found out that time does not go as fast when the power is out. I think that is fact and not a figment of my imagination (or lack thereof).
We had branches blown down all over our little backyard. No damage to the house. We're very blessed.
We've been taking care of our friends' goats and chickens while they went on a road trip for a week. They have lots of branches down in their backyard but their animals are doing well and all the fences are intact. Their power is still out, though. They live just less than a mile (on winding roads) from us.
Yeah, I milked a goat and the kids collected chicken eggs and even watched the hens lay eggs as well as watched them mate ('what are they doing?' 'that rooster's mean!'). Ahhhh, life experiences. You don't learn that in a classroom!
My baby growin' up!!!
Emily says "yogret" for yogurt and "Krogret" for Kroger but Friday we came home from Kroger and I said something about Kroger and she said "Kroger!" I said, "No! Krogret!" and she said "but you said 'Kroger'!" Oh no! She said "Kroger". Now watch, she'll start saying banana instead of "bamana". Then I'll have a baby, no more! Boo-hoo-hoo.
Meanwhile, my Haley (11) is reverting to baby-talk by using adding "ed" instead of using a different word. (I can't remember what words she's done this with lately but let me tell you it doesn't make me feel good since I'M HER TEACHER!!!) I don't know what's going through that head of hers! She said something like "maked" (like Emily says), and she wasn't teasing. Oh that hurts; my pride is bleeding! Oh well, she can either learn or sound ridicoulous, that's her choice! I'm not teaching her to speak like that.
Meanwhile, my Haley (11) is reverting to baby-talk by using adding "ed" instead of using a different word. (I can't remember what words she's done this with lately but let me tell you it doesn't make me feel good since I'M HER TEACHER!!!) I don't know what's going through that head of hers! She said something like "maked" (like Emily says), and she wasn't teasing. Oh that hurts; my pride is bleeding! Oh well, she can either learn or sound ridicoulous, that's her choice! I'm not teaching her to speak like that.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Progress
Eric took his MPRE (ethics portion of the BAR) and he got a great score! He can take the BAR in any state he chooses. I'm so proud of him. He doesn't think it's that big of a deal because it wasn't really hard to pass, but he did talk to a woman from summer courses and she could take the BAR in Kentucky but not in Ohio (which means she didn't score high enough to be able to take the BAR in Ohio). His score went well beyond the needed score to take the BAR in any state. He's so modest but he's excited. Me too!!! Another step in the right direction WOO HOO!!!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
"Tag" 6 Random Things About Me
I don't know how the "tags" work but I'll just do this for Kristin since she wanted to "tag" me.
6 Random things about me.
1-I lllove to sing and would like voice lessons.
2-I lllove the sound of the violin (played by a professional) and would love to be able to play.
3-I am generally overwhelmed and I guess I pretty much choose to be. (Since I CHOOSE to homeschool).
4-I am very impatient (I know it, I'm trying to do better).
5-I would love to have clear skin.
6-I am grateful for my beautiful, healthy, happy children (and hubby, for that matter), that drive me to the place of carnival sounds and blurry fields of daisies (aka "crazy"). I wouldn't want to know life without them. They're the best.
6 Random things about me.
1-I lllove to sing and would like voice lessons.
2-I lllove the sound of the violin (played by a professional) and would love to be able to play.
3-I am generally overwhelmed and I guess I pretty much choose to be. (Since I CHOOSE to homeschool).
4-I am very impatient (I know it, I'm trying to do better).
5-I would love to have clear skin.
6-I am grateful for my beautiful, healthy, happy children (and hubby, for that matter), that drive me to the place of carnival sounds and blurry fields of daisies (aka "crazy"). I wouldn't want to know life without them. They're the best.
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