Have any of you used Life of Fred math?  I've just recently discovered this and it sounds exactly like what our oldest daughter needs, but I'd like to hear from some who have actually used it before.

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I have a confession to make...

...I have not done a very good job training my children to keep their rooms clean.  And from the looks of our home right this minute, evidentally they haven't learned the importance of helping mom keep the rest of the house picked up either! 

If the truth be known, while my mom did the very best job she could do raising me (which wasn't bad at all I must say), cleaning and keeping a home wasn't exactly an area that I was trained in nor had a very good example of while growing up.  So while I love a nice, clean, comfortable home, it's something that I really have to work at and push myself to do.  I don't want to pass on the same lack-of-training to my own children, so I know I have to begin by making changes in myself.

This is something I've seen a few times and am seriously considering purchasing, not only for the kids but for me too!  We have, and LOVE, Times Tales and this product, Zone Cleaning for Kids and Laundry Basket Cleaning was created by the same wonderful people.  Because of how great Times Tales is, I'm thinking that their Clean & Flip charts would be a great blessing to our family.

Check it out, and if anyone has used this and has an opinion on it, please leave me a comment here and tell me what you think!

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While most of us may never have to deal with Social Services, there are plenty of stories out there of families who have been the target of unfair invasion by those who do not agree with their decision to homeschool and who think they are harming their children by doing so.

So what can we do to protect ourselves from those who would like to interfere in our lives and cause us unnecessary problems simply because we homeschool?  First of all, I can not recommend enough that every homeschooling family join HSLDA, the Homeschool Legal Defense Association.  HSLDA is a nonprofit advocacy organization established to defend and advance the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children and to protect family freedoms. Through annual memberships, HSLDA is tens of thousands of families united in service together, providing a strong voice when and where needed.

And if you are ever faced with a social services worker at your front door, here are the steps you need to take:

• Stay calm.
• Be polite and friendly.  Smile.
• Get his name and business card.
• Do not let him into your home.  The only legal ways into your home are with:
  • an emergency situation (immediate and obvious danger to life and limb),
  • your permission, or
  • a search warrant.
• Do not allow him to interview your children.
• Tell him you are willing to cooperate if he will tell you what the charges are.
• When he tells you, tell him you will take your child(ren) to your physician and have him write a report to CPS.
• Repeat the above statements as often as necessary.  Do not be afraid of silence.
• After he leaves, write down everything that occurred and call Home School Legal Defense Asociation (HSLDA) and/or your attorney.

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This Thursday, March 1st, will be the 1-year anniversary of the passing of our dear Missey Gray.  If you didn't have the priviledge of knowing Missey, you can peek into her life at her blog here.  (I just want to say a big thank you to the wonderful people here at HSB for leaving Missey's blog up so we can all continue to glean from it.  I hope it remains available for a very long time).

If you are unfamiliar with Missey's story, last March 1st she underwent a C-section to deliver her 5th child and died from an amniotic embolism.  Moms around the country were shocked and hearts were broken as Missey had touched so many lives and helped so many other homeschoolers with her wisdom and kind spirit. 

In honor of Missey and all that she represented, homeschoolers around the globe are celebrating 'Heartschooling Day' this Thursday, March 1st and hope to continue doing so every year on (or around) this day.  One of Missey's entries on her blog talks of how she is she is putting away all the formal school work and just enjoying the holiday season with her children... playing, baking, etc.  So Heartschooling Day is a day to just put away all the formal stuff and just enjoy being with our children.  Do what THEY want to do.  Cuddle and read, go to the park, bake something together, get down on the floor and play Barbies or trucks.  Whatever!  As long as you're ALL laughing and making precious memories together.

Please join us in honoring this much-loved and very-missed momma.  I know it will touch her husband and children's hearts to know that Missey touched so many lives and that she has not been forgotten, but instead is being honored. 

If you do participate, please return here and tell about your day (Just leave a 'Comment' to this post).  I will be printing off all the stories and sending them to Tom and the children to let them know just how much Missey touched so many lives and that she is not forgotten.

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It's been 20 days since I last blogged!  Wow.  I think that's a new record.  Where in the world have I been you ask?

Well, believe it or not, for the first time in 11 years, I have a job.  Well, at least one I actually get PAID for .  But it sounds so funny to me to even call it a 'job'.  I can't believe I get to do this and actually get paid for it.

What is this wonderful job?  Well, I am now one of two photographers for all the newborn babies at our local hospital!  Can you believe that?  Someone's going to PAY me to handle newborn babies!  And, I can wear scrubs if I want.  Getting paid to work with newborn babies AND wear clothes as comfortable as jammies!  You've GOT to be kidding me!

This is only part time work, about 15 hours a week or so.  Out of 14 days I'll work 7.  What time I go in is very flexible, so we're still able to homeschool!  Depending on how many babies there are, which we're a small town so it averages anywhere from 1-4 or so a day with more here and there, I'm only there 2-3 hours on the days I go in.  And my hubby works from home, so the kids are taken care of.

I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect.  My two passions are babies and photography, so this opportunity was created just for me!

Just in case you'd like to see if there are any openings close to you, here's where you can find out.

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Ok, surely there has got to be some kind of glass breaking curse on this house of ours.  Here's today's episode in our lastest on-going drama...

Granted, this is not nearly as bad as the lasagna or chicken noodle soup mess, but this time, as hubby was trying to unscrew a blown lightbulb it busted in his hands.  Glass and powder everywhere.  So now he has cut hands AND I still don't have a light in my laundry room/closet because the screw-in part (whatever that's called) is still stuck in the, um, the part that you screw a lightbulb into!

Can I just say... I AM SO TIRED OF CLEANING UP BROKEN GLASS!!!!

Stay tuned for the next episode of... 'These Are The Days of Our Lives'.  Sigh...

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If you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you probably know about the many 'mishaps' our family has experienced lately.  First there was our spontaneous science lesson, then there was my REALLY bad day, and most recently, our lovely lasagna disaster.  Oh, and who could ever forget about my 6-year-old's big shocker as well as his run-in with a metal sign, my washer being ever-so-kind as to allow me to experience what women of old used to have to do, as well as my first experience with 'the other driver'!

Well, since everyone seemed to get such enjoyment out of these adventures, my 10-year-old daughter thought she would add one more to our ever-growing list of 'fun' things to do to mom.  Wasn't that so nice of her?  Here's her latest addition to the ever-increasing grey hair I keep finding in the mirror.

This WAS her bowl of home-made chicken noodle soup tonight.  Not quite as good as my award-winning lasagna splatter, but I give it an 8!  Just in case you have forgotten, here's MY addition to our latest fun around here...

Funny thing is, my hubby and I simply couldn't believe it had happened AGAIN and we both just sat there for like five minutes just looking at it without saying anything or even making a face, like it was the most normal thing in the world (which lately around here, it is!), hoping the other one would get up and clean it up first.  LOL! 

Ahhhh... the joys of family bonding time (as in, while hubby and I are on the floor cleaning up glass... lots of good time to talk).  There's never a dull moment around here... anyone want to come for a visit?

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So, how many times have YOU gotten the socialization question?  UGH!  Don't you get SO tired of hearing that?  I'm not going to go into all the actual definitions of the word 'socialization' or the comparisons of the 'socializing' home schooled kids get versus public school kids.  We've all been there, done that, got the T-shirt.  If you're new to homeschooling and need some good defenses to use just let me know and I'll direct you to some really great articles on the whole socialization issue.

Anyway, our latest happening related to this issue is that our local high school had try-outs for 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe' last week and while our 10 year old daughter has been in our church's Christmas and Easter plays for the past 6 or 7 years and even had a leading role the past two years, this was the first time she had ever tried out for something big such as this. 

She was so excited to try out!  Even though she had to go to a new place, a high school at that(!), sit with people she didn't know, wait for 3 HOURS(!), and get up on stage and read lines she had never seen before along with people she had never met before she couldn't wait to go!

The first day there were nearly 90 kids trying out.  Only about half got a call-back, including our daughter!  After that, only 33 were kept, including our daughter!  So only 1/3 of those who tried out were chosen and she was one of them!

While she was hoping for a main speaking part she was too old for the youngest girl in the play and too young for the oldest girl and you had to be at least 14 to try out for the Witch (she's only 10).  She also read for the part of Mrs. Beaver, but the Mr. Beaver that was chosen was short and our daughter is quite tall for her age, so we knew that wasn't going to work out.  So, much to her initial disappointment, she is in the White Witch's army!  She's ok with it now, but those let-downs are a bit hard on us all, especially those young, tender hearts.

But here's the funny part.  She's been homeschooled for five years, WANTED to do this, tried out with kids she didn't know in a place she didn't know and was in the 1/3 of kids who made it for a play at the public high school (and she did REALLY good too, even giving one of the characters an English accent as she read, all her own idea... how brave!), but yet people just can't seem to get past the whole socialization issue.  In fact, when she tells people she's going to be in the play they're like, 'Oh!  Really?'  And then when she tells them that she's in the witch's army they're like 'Oh, really?' with this look on their face.  It's actually pretty funny.

The play will be the last three days of March, with at LEAST four performances in those three days.  I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures and share them here.

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To help make school more fun and interesting for our almost 11-year-old daughter, I handed over our Before Five in a Row manual and let her have the responsibility of doing that part of 'school' with her younger sister.  This is how I caught them the very first day!  I must say, after watching big sissy go through the manual, write down the 'lessons' she wanted to do, look up 'go-along' books on our library's website, printing out coloring pictures, pointing out to little sissy different things in the illustrations such as how you could tell the wind was blowing, getting her two brothers to help her act out the book for little sister, finding a book on how to make homemade ice cream, and buying, from eBay, with her OWN money, a green pocketbook AND filling it with all the things the little girl in the book had in her green pocketbook for little sister's birthday, well, I think it's safe to say that my future grandchildren are going to be very, very blessed with a wonderful, fun-filled, memory-making home education!

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