• Jul. 2, 2008
New Blog Started

Hi everyone.

Well, in transitioning to our new school year in a month, I'm also changing my blog over to blogger.  You can check it out here School 4 Princesses

Check it out if you get a chance. 

Blessings,
Jennifer

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• Jun. 8, 2008
Breaktime!

It's finally official - we're on summer break!  I took the girls longer to get there than I would have liked, but they finally made it.  My goal is to get to working on next year's stuff to get it all in order.  I have all the copies made (I think) and am working to get them all into notebooks in the order they will be used.  I still have some science curriculum to buy, but am holding off until a few bills are paid and the money is there to spend.  I'm thinking that I will do some preschool work with Laura while we're on break.  She wants to do school and I think she's ready for something more than what I've been able to give to her thus far.  So I think after we get back from our little trip I will check out some books and we'll get started.  We're going to be doing   Letter of the Week .  

The girls and I will be traveling to ND on Tuesday to visit my Grandma and Aunt and Uncle in Minot.  My Mom came from NC to make the trip with us.  It's a ten hour trip - a long ten hours!  So we decided to leave after 4H and travel overnight.  I figure if they are sleeping then they are less likely to fight, and Molly won't have to be fed so often.  I'm praying that Mom and I can stay awake for the trip.  Coffee will help keep me awake but will make frequent stops necessary. 

Molly is moving!  She began rolling over and army crawling almost simultaneously.  She has figured out how to sit up in her crib.  She has chewed up several flashcards and destroyed our Minnesota bird and flower card from our MFW Adventures curriculum.  At least the girls don't need them anymore.  She is having a hard time settling down for her naps and at night and I'm attributing it to her soon to emerge top teeth.  Not looking forward to that as I think she's destined to be a biter.

Blessings.

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• May. 28, 2008
Summer Break - soon please!

Well, I've given the girls all the rest of their assignments for the year and told them that summer break would start whenever they were done.  That would have been enough motivation for me to finish the very next day.  But not my two ADD princesses!   I've had to change the rules and told them that if they don't finish before the PS (which is June 5th I think) that they will not be able to watch TV, have computer time or play with their friends until it is done.  We'll see if that has any effect.  Emily may make it soon - Sarah needs constant hand holding which I am not able or willing to do.  So she might not finish her work until right before we start into our next school year - August 4th.  That will drive me crazy!

Molly is sooooo close to crawling.  She reaches for everything in sight and does 360 degree turns on her tummy.  She cannot go far but wants to and will whine when she cannot get to what she wants.  So then I have to pick her up and it starts all over.  I think I'd rather just have her do the whole crawling thing.  I wasn't anxious for it to start but I cannot even sit her down for a minute now without having to pick her up.   She is also working on tooth number three.  She finally got the hang of a spoon and has become a veggie afficionado.  She loves her peas and squash!  I've mixed applesauce with her oatmeal and she likes that.  We'll probably add in sweet potatoes and green beans next week.

Laura just wants to play outside all the time (when she isn't eating or asking about what will be the next meal or snack.)  She cannot be out front by herself, but I will sometimes let her play in the back if I am in the kitchen and can look out the window and see her.  She'd play out there all day if I let her I think.  She has finally learned to peddle and steer her big wheel.  I may try to see if she can figure out Emily's small bike that has training wheels on.  It may still be a little too big for her - she's such a petite thing.  She is definitely going to be the smallest sister.  I know that there is going to come a time when Laura and Molly are wearing the same size clothes much as Emily and Sarah have for the last three years.  Then it's going to look like I have two sets of twins - and I will take all the sympathy I can, thanks. 

Blessings.

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• May. 22, 2008
Survivor Island

That's what I felt like I was living on for the past two weeks.  We've been without a computer because of something the kids did to it, and then I tried to fix and made it worse.  You never know how much you rely on one until it's gone.  We've lost a lot of programs that we'd downloaded originally or upgraded online.  We ended up getting a new laptop for DH and I and the girls will use the other one downstairs.  I don't yet know how we're going to work out printing from the laptop, which is where all my saved files are.  At least I didn't lose to much data.  That would have been devastating!

The girls were given all the rest of their work this past Monday.  They both finished with their math work last week, and all they have left are their LA books and the last 10 states from MFW.  I told them that when they were done with it then they were done for the year.  You'd have thought that would've motivated them.  But not my two.  Today I revised the rule and said that if they were not done when the public school let out that they were not going to play with any of the neighbor kids until they were finished. 

Molly has two teeth on the bottom now and can bite.  Not fun for me.  She is sleeping a little better at night but still doesn't nap well during the day.  She reaches for everything she sees now so if you sit her on the floor now she gets stuck on her tummy because she reaches for something a little too far away.  Laura is getting on my nerves because she is always asking for a snack.  The child can put it away - I've seen it - yet she eats very little at meal times because she is so picky.  Then she gets hungry because she doesn't eat her meal.  And she needs to know what we are doing at all times of the day!  And I usually don't know what we're going to do because things have been so up in the air.  Oh well.  I think I'm looking forward to our summer break more than the kids.

Blessings.

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• Apr. 26, 2008
MACHE, Hannah Montana, and First Tooth

Well, MACHE is over and it was another successful year.  I went to two seminars by Dianne Craft and was enlightened to the fact that my children's behavior may be due, in part, to a yeast overgrowth caused by antibiotic overgrowth.  Check out her website here www.diannecraft.org/index.html .  I say in part because there is also a sin factor involved, we'll see to what extent.  So I'm now looking into buying a host of supplements for three months to bring their systems back to normal and we will hope to see some behavior changes. 

Hannah Montana seems to rule the roost around here.  They are both into the music of Hannah Montana - and Miley Cyrus as well.  Actually, because it is always on in one bedroom, even Laura has been enjoying it.  You've never seen it all until you've seen a 3 year old belt out "Nobody's Perfect, I got to work it, again and again til I get it right" at the top of her lungs.  She can also do a mean Start All Over.  It's quite comical.

Molly got her first tooth today.  She took an hour and a half nap - which was great but completely out of character for my half hour napper.  When she woke up and I changed her I saw the telltale gray spot on her gum and stuck my finger in.  Sure enough, one corner had cut through.  I started giving her some rice cereal in an effort to try to get her to sleep longer.  But, parting those lips to get a spoon in is like parting the Red Sea - I think only God can do it.  And once I finally get some cereal into her mouth, she proceeds to blow raspberries and spew forth all the cereal that hit its mark.  I don't think my other three were as resistant to cereal.

I've got all my TOG materials into 3 inch binders and page protectors.  I bought Gamma and Delta from Math-U-See and MACHE.  I also bought Easy Grammer 4 for Emily.  I'm going to keep Sarah in Stepping to Good English through the 3rd grade level.  She will double up some on writing once we start Writing Aids in August, but I may not assign all of the pages in Stepping to Good English.  But it is a good program and she's done well so far.  I think I'm just going to purchase StartWrite and make my own writing assignments for next year.  I figure I can use some excerpts from their reading as well as some of their Awana verses.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with SOS for science.  I'm going to buy 4th grade and just let them both use it.  I may just let them go at their own pace as I think they will want to do a whole bunch one day and then not touch it for a few weeks.  Their interest in science is either red hot or ice cold.  I'll work with that for now.

Emily took the CAT survey test last week.  I also gave both girls the AOP Lifepac placement test for Language Arts.  I'm always curious to see where they are at with reference to that.  Their reading levels were very advanced - 7th grade for Sarah and 8th for Emily.  Emily tested at about 5th grade, though there were a few areas where she has some learning gaps that we'll work on.  Sarah tested into the last half of 2nd grade.  I won't bother testing any other subjects as the AOP scope and sequence is different from the somewhat eclectic one we've followed so far.  Sarah finish her math on Friday and will start her MUS Beta book on Monday.  Emily finished Beta last Wednesday and will be doing a Math Mammoth book on time as she still has issues with that.  After that she will start on her Gamma book after that.  Emily's two good friends have both started at a charter school near us that meets year round.  So I decided to follow that school's schedule so we will go through mid June and then take a break and start back on August 4th.  This will allow us to start before the public schools and other homeschoolers - hopefully to help with the library situation.  Plus, I won't have to hear, "We're the only ones in school today."

Blessings.

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• Apr. 12, 2008
MACHE conference preparation

Well, by this time next week the conference will be over.  I will have survived my third homeschool convention.  I am so looking forward to this conference.  More because it will be a time away for me - something I have not had in a long time.  I usually get to go away for one weekend in November every year to scrapbook.  I didn't have the chance to do that last year because of Molly.  And while I'm looking forward to it, I am also dreading it.  This will be the earliest I've ever left a nursing baby.  It's only for two days and one night but it's going to seem like a long time.  I'm trying not to think about it.  Molly is very much a Mommy's girl.  Laura is too, but she is finally able to get along okay with her sissies and Dad.  Molly will be another story.  Though she takes a bottle, she usually takes them sporadically from me and not others.  She's going to have to get over that if she doesn't want to be hungry.

So I'm trying to finish up my preparations.  I have some new things I want to look at as well as scouring the used tables for some deals.  Since I've made the decision to go with TOG next year, I know a few things I need for that.  I also need to firm up my science choice.  I also have several workshops I'd like to attend.  The Maxwells (of Managers of Their Homes fame) are going to be there and there a a few of their workshops I'd like to hear, but I'd also like to hear some of the ones Dianne Craft is doing.  I think I may end up having to order some tapes because some of them meet at the same times. 

I've been spending time trying to get stuff ready for our next school year, even though it is months away.  I figure I better maximize my time before Molly starts getting mobile and needs closer watching.  She can't even roll yet - though she did just learn to sit upright for a few minutes.  She likes her exersaucer for a while and then needs to get out.  I've made several file folder games for Laura to do and will begin copying the things I need for Emily and Sarah after MACHE.  I purchased a refurbished laser printer to make that a little easier.  While I love our Epson printer, it goes through ink like crazy.  I've bought all the folders, notebooks, page protectors and dividers we need for next year.  All I need now is paper and pencils and a few miscellaneous craft supplies.  And we're not supposed to start until August 4th.  The girls have taken the initiative the last few days to try to work ahead on some of their individual work.  Sarah will finish her Handwriting book in two weeks.  Same with her math.  She is technically done with her English so we're trying some things from Writing Aids level 1 to help her with her weak areas.  Emily still has about six weeks worth of English, but is only two weeks out from finishing her Handwriting and she will finish her Beta MUS book by the end of the week.  (Good thing I'm going to the conference to buy the next book.)  We will double up on our MFW Adventures stuff in May to finish that by the middle of May.  Then we are going to concentrate on a few odds and ends. 

Emily will be taking her CAT test this week.  I think she'll do fine.  I gave both girls the AOP placement test for Language Arts because I was curious as to where they were at.  Sarah placed as halfway through 2nd grade with an end of 6th grade reading level.  I wasn't surprised at all with that.  Emily placed as halfway through 4th grade with a somewhat undetermined reading level.  I say that because she rather bombed the 6th grade level but did pretty well on both the 7th and 8th grade levels.  I even called AOP to see about it and they said that was strange.  Guess those were just some weird words to her for some reason.  We'll see what happens next year I guess.

Blessings.

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• Mar. 16, 2008
Trying to catch up with life

It's been a while since I've posted.  Lots has gone on.  Let's try to get the short versions:

Emily - received another perfect score, 5, in the MMTA piano festival.  That means she is only 5 points away from a trophy.  I'm a little hesitant because she actually made several mistakes and I'm afraid next year she will become complacent and think she doesn't have to work so hard.  She also had a run in with my little Final Touch single blade razor.  She shaved off 2/3 of one eyebrow and put a little stripe down the middle of the other.  Now, it's bad enough to shave most of one off - but whatever possessed her to do the stripe I'll never understand.  She was devastated to learn it will take several months to grow back.

Sarah - is finally getting her two eye teeth in a year after they fell out.  I'm hoping they will push her top front teeth together so we can maybe get out of braces with her.  She is going to take part in the Sparks-A-Rama this year for Awana.  She has finished her Climbing to Good English book and is only a month away from finishing her math book.  We discovered that she can do her math very quickly and correctly if she "sings" the facts to whatever tune she chooses.  Some days it's "Twinkle Twinkle" - other days it's "The Best of Both Worlds."  I'm hoping she can eventually do math without the singing or the ACT/SAT will be really interesting.  Sarah will turn 7 on the 22nd of March.

Laura - turned 3 on March 9th.  She is so proud to be three and not two anymore.  She has developed several annoying quirks: an ability to open any safety lock, sneaking food when I'm not looking, pulling a stool over to dig around in the kitchen cupboards and discovering the sprayer on the kitchen sink.  But, she has also surprised me by telling me the names of almost all the upper and lower case letters as well as most of their sounds.  I may end up adjusting my timeline with her and start 100 Easy Lessons in the fall.

Molly - is now 4 months old and huge.  She is still waking two to three times at night to eat, much to my displeasure.  She certainly doesn't need to eat - she is almost grown out of a size two diaper for pete's sake!  She has been enjoying the exersaucer and loves to flirt with anyone that will give her attention.  She also has developed a very high (read shrieking) singing voice when she isn't getting the attention she thinks she needs at the moment.

I have finally decided what to do next year.  I had been planning to do Prairie Primer, and I think I will do that during the summer months.  I'll just pick a few activities a week for each book to keep them from being bored.  But I have decided to go with Tapestry of Grace.  I really like the overall program and how it can be used through our family several times.  Emily would go through the whole program twice as would Sarah, but Laura and Molly could go through it three times.  It seems as if it could be a little teacher intensive at first until I get the hang of it, but I'm really excited.  I am hoping to attend the MACHE (Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators) convention in April and I'll be looking to get Gamma from MUS for Emily, and 4th grade SOS science.  I'm also going to look for several used books for our TOG YR1 Redesigned.  Now I just have to figure out when I can go and how to get there.

Blessings.

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• Feb. 11, 2008
Just get me through Lord!

At this point in the school year I'm not sure who wants summer break more - me or the kids.  We're just finishing up Week 20 in our MFW Adventures.  We are pretty much only doing the history now.  The girls are attending a homeschool art class so we cut out the I Can Do All Things.  I'm not generally up for the mess that science seems to create.  They are more interested in checking out books from the library about different topics anyway - animals, rocks, and dinosaurs usually.  They have more Bible from their Awana program right now than we are doing.  So I just throw in the history along with their Math, Handwriting, English and Spelling.

I've been having second thoughts about what to do for next year.  I've been planning on doing MFW ECC.  But, we have some serious character issues we've been dealing with the girls on.  So I've been looking into doing KONOS.  But then I've also been impressed by Heart of Wisdom, Student of the Word and Tapestry of Grace.  But since money is an issue and I don't have the adequate time to do all the research I'd like before our MACHE convention, I've decided to utilize the Prairie Primer that I acquired on a trade from a friend. She gave me the first edition, fourth printing of the book - so it's a little old and has writing in it.  But I looked at a new one today and it looks like with the exception of the Appendix, there isn't much difference.  And she also gave me a ton of stuff to go with it.  I guess Scholastic used to have a Little House club and they got something in the mail every other month.  And she had all the reference books as well as some extras.  So since we all love Little House (our Laura is named for it) I decided if I didn't use it now I probably wouldn't.  Next year they will be 4th and 2nd so it seems like a good fit.  Then I can spend my time at the convention getting a very thorough hands on to decided what I want to do going forward.  If any one has any good experience with any of the above curriculums, please give any advice.

Molly is now three months old.  Where does the time go?  She is laughing and smiling a lot.  She has yet to sleep through the night.  She has put on weight nicely (and has a fat little tummy to prove it.)  All three sisters adore her and can be a big help at times.  At other times (read naptime) they can be a hindrance.  I've taken a leave of absence from the YMCA.  I went back for two weeks but was so overwhelmed with starting back to school at the same time, as well as the aforementioned character issues with my oldest girls that I decided I had to sacrifice that time.  Not that I made that much in six hours, but for me it was more about getting out and being with other adults, and letting the girls socialize with other kids.  I don't have that now.  I'll have to get it somewhere else.

Blessings.

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• Jan. 15, 2008
The More the Chaotic Merrier

Well, it is merrier having four - but it is also a lot more chaotic!!!!

We started back to school last week.  DD 6 is doing okay and is actually ahead for the week but DD8 is getting on my last nerve every second of the day.  She has become so incredibly sassy that I cannot stand to hear her voice anymore.  She has to argue everything and belittle any effort on my part to help walk her through the things she doesn't understand.  Someone told me a few weeks ago that the even ages are the hardest for girls.  Well no wonder I'm tearing my hair out - I've got girls ages 8, 6, and 2!  Does that mean that next year will be easier?

We signed the girls up for a home school art class that meets on Friday afternoons.  They love it and that makes it much easier for me as I am a horrible artist.  I don't have a clue how to teach it and it is their favorite subject.  I'm now debating whether to sign up for the second quarter of it or sign up for the third quarter of swim and gym at the Y.  The art class sure would be cheaper.

I'm starting to make final decisions on curriculum for next year.  Have been planning all along to do MFW ECC.  However, with DD8 having so many issues, I am considering the AOP Switched on Schoolhouse computer curriculum.  She cannot argue her mistakes with a computer!  The problem would be getting her a computer to use - even a used laptop - wouldn't be in the budget.  Not to mention the fact that her sister would be constantly saying how unfair it all was.  (Sometimes I wish they were twins so they could do things at the same time.  Sarah hates having to wait another two years for the things Emily gets to do.)  But at this point I'm desperate to end the arguing and fighting with her and if changing curriculums to something else will do it then it would be worth it.

Blessings.

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• Dec. 10, 2007
Halfway Through the Break

Molly is officially one month old now.  And we are officially half way through our break.  I cannot believe how fast that went.  I suppose when you spend so much time awake that happens!  I think my body is adjusting to the lack of sleep.  Even though Molly is sleeping better (I think) than my other three at this stage.  But I was kind of spoiled with them sleeping through the night.  Laura still wakes once or twice a week needing help to go potty.  But that only takes a few minutes.  God has gifted me with the ability to fall back into a deep sleep within a minute or two of being awake.  I think that gift is what helps me get through.  Not that I'm not tired and cranky - just ask my kids :-)

I have spent some time thinking about changes that we will have to make with regard to schooling.  I downloaded some planners for the girls from Homeschool E-Store.  I plan to have their entire week's work filled in the planner page when I give it to them each Monday.  I will break the assignments down by subject for the week, but leave it up to them when they will do each  assignment.  I realize I  may be setting myself up for failure.  I think the first week or two they will be motivated to work ahead and finish (their individual work anyway) in a day or two.  But  that will probably change and they will procrastinate their work.  My hope is that their will be enough  times that they do work ahead that it will benefit my schedule. 

I am also trying out the E-Mealz website.  They provide you with recipes and a shopping list for a weeks worth of meals.  I know I won't use every meal, and there will be things we don't like on there, but just to have it planned out for me right now so I don't have to think about it is nice.  I'll let you know how it goes.  If I like it, I'll add the banner to my blog page.

The girls (all four of them) have their Christmas program at church next Sunday.  I have to find a big white t-shirt for Laura (an angel), I have to find Sarah's sandals for her to be a Bethlehem traveler, and Emily found a big stick to use as a shepherd.  (Molly just gets to look cute in her Christmas finest.)  Even I have to dress festive to hold Molly on stage.  We also have our 4H Christmas potluck tomorrow.  We made Chocolate Dipped Ritz cookies for the Awana leaders, and this week we have to make some more for the Sunday School teachers. Our church has the theme Simply Christmas this year.  Each week there is a short skit with our youth pastor and acting head pastor's wife.  They dress as Red-necks and talk like forrest Gump and relate the week's theme in a fun way.  Yesterday, my DH joined them on stage and played Dueling Banjos with "Billie Jo" (played by Michelle).  The funny thing was that his red-neck wear was pulled out of his closet of normal clothes!  He was a little worried because he isn't an actor - a very talented straight-faced guy actually.  He'd play poker well if he knew how.  But he did great and the girls loved seeing him in it.
Blessings.

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