I am currently preparing for our "new" school year even though we school year round.  New school year to us means we finish up one curriculum and are going to begin a new one.

I have been working on restructuring the classroom to make it more efficient and functional.  Now that I am down to two students I have set it up to where all three of us can be in here at the same time and all have a workspace.  My 5 yo little guy is so enthusiastic!  He has his little spot with his pencil box and some other supplies.  He  keeps asking me if we can do "homework."  He's so cute!

Eventually I will have pictures.

This is the time of the year where I always get excited about curriculum for the new school year.  We school year round and will complete most of our current curriculum in July.  My plan is to start the new curriculum after a short 2 week break.

I have already ordered quite a bit, but I have just a few mor things to get.  Here is what we will use next:

5 yo ds

Science Animals and Their Worlds - Winter Promise

Math- Math U See Primer (already using and will just continue)

History- will tag along with big brother's Middle Ages study

Reason for Handwriting K

Sonlight K Language Arts Sounds, Letters and Easy Words

Also continuing with the Ready, Set Go Code books.

13 yo ds:

History- Quest for the Middle Ages Winter Promise

Science- Apologia General Science w/companion CD

Sonlight Alt 7 Language Arts w/ Wordly Wise and Keys to Good Language

Jump Into Writing- Apologia

Spelling Power (continuing)

Teaching Textbooks Math 7 (continuing)

Composer study- from www.homeschoolinthewoods.com

Artist study - from www.homeschoolinthewoods.com

So, there is the lineup! I can't wait to begin the Winter Promise curriculum.  We are finishing up My Father's World Kindergarten and Sonlight Core 5 Eastern Hemisphere which have both been awesome.

As usual I have been too busy to blog.  Sigh.  One day I may be organized enough to actually blog once a week instead of every couple of months.  LOL! Right!

Lucas graduated a couple of weeks ago.  It was beautful.  He graduated with 12 other homeschoolers.  He knew a couple of them already, but as the school year went on he got to know most of them.  Back in September they started planning together and met about once a month.  They chose a class color and a class song (Voice of Truth).  I am so proud of him.  He worked hard this year (Sonlight Core 400!!)  Two days after graduation he started his first job working in the kitchen of a local restaurant.  In the fall he plans on taking culinary classes.

This is him with his display table.  The table has things on it that represent his life.  As you can see, skateboarding is his passion.

My handsome son!!!

With his 13 yo brother.

With his handsome 5 yo brother.  My camera started getting blurry! So upsetting!

So, yes, I have my first homeschool graduate!  God is good!

I love home education.  Yesterday our small town was one of the particpants in the TEA Party protests.  We attended with our signs and my boys were priveleged to take part in something uniquely American.  We heard some great speeches and saw many friends and fellow patriots while we were there.  This was our very first protest, but definitely not our last. 

 

I have been using the My Father's World Kindergarten Curriculum with my five year old.  We love it!  We recently finished the lesson on Butterflies.  We spent several weeks studying them.  He learned the parts of the butterfly and two BIG words- chyrsallis and metamorphasis!  The finale of our study was a project in the local homeschool science/historey fair.   He won a second place ribbon and was so proud!

This was Day 1.  The caterpillar's were so tiny!

 

This was a few days later. Already at least twice their size!

Day 10

Day 14

Day 20

 

 

 

 

Here are the pictures from the project fair.  Yes, I helped with the display board, I organized, he cut and pasted.

His older brother did a project on China and got a participation ribbon.  He was quite upset that he didn't place.  He worked on it for three months.  He built a model of the Great Wall that took almost two months to finish.  He knew Chinese writing and he made (sewed- altered a pattern) a Emperor's Robe.  He also read about 8 books.

Wow, it has been too long since I have blogged.  I can't believe the year is almost over.  I am excited about it, don't get me wrong, I am just continually amazed at how time flies.  So much has happened this year, so how come I feel like I didn't get anything done?  LOL

We are on a break from school right now just to enjoy the holidays and "clean house."  I was planning on starting back on Monday, but I think we are going to put it off a day or two so we can get our holiday house projects done.  The boys want to paint their rooms, I want the stairwell and front wall painted.  Carpets need to be shampooed and the yard needs to be cleaned up.  It is possible we could finish by Monday, but I doubt it.  I also need to clean up the classroom so we have space to work.

I have a bunch of pictures I haven't uploaded yet, but when I do I will be back to post them.  Meanwhile, this is it.  LOL

We started the "new" school year on Monday.  Technically we school year round, but we started a new curriculum on Monday.  SONLIGHT.  Gotta say I am loving it so far, but I am exhausted because the first two days were really long!  Yesterday and today went smoother and I am sure as we adjust to not having textbooks it will be even better.  We love the books and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Instructor Guides!!!!!  I didn't have to do any planning other than organizing the stuff SL sent me!! Wooohooooo!!!!  I am free! LOL

We are doing Core 5 with the 12  yo ds, Core 400 with the 17 yo ds and then using My Father's World Kindergarten with the 4.5 yo ds.  We are having fun, but I am tired.  LOL  On a bummer note, I didn't take any pictures this week!!!  Slapping myself and will take pics tomorrow so I have some to post.

I mean that in a very good way of course.  LOL  Well, that church we visited with the "New Beginnings" theme, let's just say the theme fits.  I have been emotionally struggling with the possible church change and holding back because my kids are "happy" at the church we have been at.  However, tonight the beloved youth minister announced he is leaving in 3 weeks to goto another church!  HA!!  Now the kids won't miss it nearly as much when we make the full time transition in September.  God is good.  All the time.

My 12 yo ds has been at church camp since Monday.  He comes home today thank God.  I have missed his little face!  My 17 yo ds has been sick for 2 days.  He has a 103 temp coming and going, stiff neck and headache.  I think he got sun sickness from skating in the heat on Tuesday.  He is drinking lots of water and resting comfortably.

 

Can I whine for a moment?  I am so sick of EBAY!!!!  I am torn because when I do buy/sell on Ebay it works in my favor, but I have had so many listings removed due to "policy violation" because I am allegedly selling "teacher editions."  I am NOT selling TE's!!!  I am selling student books and workbook type items.  I truly think it is the word "homeschool" that is causing them to assume the items are teacher items.  What a stupid policy anyway.  I highly doubt there are thousands of kids hitting Ebay in droves looking for their EXACT teacher manual so they can cheat!  As if students get graded on any thing other than the state "standardized" test these days.   GRRRRRRRRR!!!  So, now I am looking for alternatives to Ebay, none of which have the traffic or response rate that Ebay does, but it is free listing and less hassle when I do sell something.  I detest the high ebay fees too, but I guess we get what we pay for!  RANT OFF now.

 

I am still working on getting all the things I need for Sonlight Core 5 and 400.  I still need about 40 books.  Yeah, 40.  This year I am going to be smarter and each month I will buy SL gift certificates and then I will have the money "saved" up to just buy our Cores outright next summer!  The Lord knows if I save money elsewhere someone (read DH) will find a way to spend it on something else.  So, that is the plan.

My youngest is only 4.  I read so much in the online HS communities about people "homeschooling" their 2, 3, 4, 5 year olds.  I am torn on this!  I guess what I do with my 4 year old is technically homeschooling, but I think of it more as guided play.  BUT, I do use curriculum with him.  Of course we don't "do school" everyday, but we learn and play everyday.  My youngest is my most eager learner so that is probably why I am so enthusiastic to do things with him.  I just wish he had a longer attention span.  LOL  When we do things we do them in 15 minute spurts it seems.

 

First of all I bought "My Father's World" Kindergarten program.  It is so wonderful! I don't do everything it suggests because like I said above, ds only has a 15 minute attention span.  I figure that we will be continuing preschool/kindergarten for at least 2 more years.  My hope is to do first grade with Sonlight.  So currently we are doing MFW, but I also bought Sonligh P 4/5 and K.  The Sonlight K is way ahead of ds right now so I think we will keep doing what we are doing for now and when ds is 5 1/2 we can do the Sonlight K.

 

In addition to MFW we are doing alphabet lapbooks, lots of puzzles, Leapster "video games" and lots of reading.  We also play with wooden magnetic letters on the white board, drawing and tracing, painting, playdough and alphabet flashcards.  I've also enrolled him in music classes.  Plus he does Awana Cubbies each week at church as well as Sunday school.

 

One thing I can't wait to do with MFW is the Butterfly unit! We are going to "grow butterfly's" and I just know my ds will love it!  His big brother is a "science guy" and so far 4yo ds is very science oriented.  Lots of fun is ahead!

 

 

Well, I guess another month has flown by.  I meant to be here sooner, but life happens.  We have been up to lots.

Let's see......we have birds living on our front porch.  I noticed they were building a nest and I kept meaning to spray it down with the hose before, they finished, but now they are finished and I would be a horribly evil person if I sprayed it down now.  So, now I have bird poop on my porch, but aren't they cute?

I am not sure what kind of birds they are, but they are little and have black, orange and white in them.

 

Nolan also did swim lessons last month.  He had one of his buddies in his class.  They were private lessons held at someone's house.  I loved the pool and I would love to have one.  I had one in California, but that was then and this is now.  Anyway, here is the little cutie on the right.  His buddy on the left is cute too of course!

Here he is coming up with a ring he dove for!

 

And here he is about to jump in!

 

The garden is doing really well and Bradley and Nolan are quite the little gardeners.  Bradley just started some pumpkins, but I don't have any pictures of what has sprouted.  I forgot to take some.  But here is Nolan checking out the tomatoes.

"Look Mommy, I got one!"  These are the cherry tomatoes.

 

We also recently had an Art Camp down at our store.  The kids did some great promjects. I was so impressed!  Here is a mural they made.  Bradley's is the one that looks like Hitler, on the left.  It was an accident and he was not happy with how it turned out.  He was supposed to be holding up a sword.  He put a goatee on it and then one of the other kids said, "Hey, give him a mustache."  Then suddenly he looks like Hitler.  Not good, but what's done is done.  LOL

 

Then they did these really cool "sculptures" with pantyhose, coat hangers and paint.

 

This one here was a painting they did by sight.  The art teacher had a vase with these tall flowery things and they were supposed to paint it.  Brad's turned out really good.

 

This next one was a chalk drawing and the lesson was on light and shading.  Very cool.  This one is Brad's too.

 

Well, now this is funny.  We had a BBQ on the 4th of July.  I had made some corn on the cob and I stuck it in the lid of a Tupperware cake holder.  My DH put it in the oven for "safekeeping."   Meanwhile, the next day Bradley comes along and turns the oven on because he is going to cook a pizza.  About 20 minutes later my DH walks by the oven and says, "Why is there a fire in the oven?"   So, this is a little blurry, but here is the aftermath.

 

Anyway, back to the 4th of July.  We went into town and watched the fireworks show.  This was Nolan's first real time watching fireworks.  He loved it and kept saying, "COOL! AWESOME! WOOHOO!"  It was so cute and funny.  Here he is watching and covering his ears.  We had a great spot and they were loud!

All the girls in the truck with him are the daughers of our friends that we went with.  They loved Nolan of course and thought he was so cute! 

 

 

This is my husband on the left.  His friend Scott is the other guy.  They have been friends since Kindergarten.  When Scott was 17 he moved to Texas, but my DH never knew where even though they saw each other when Scott would visit CA.  Then we moved to Texas 3 years ago.  Scott got remarried, went to California, dropped by my MIL's house to look for DH and she told them we moved to Texas! LOL- turns out they are 30 minutes from us and now they are "reunited."  I love that story!

 

OK, I know this is getting long, but a lot has happened.  OK- cute pictures alert!  Here is Lucas reading to Nolan and below that is Nolan making his first batch of pancakes. (I helped a little, but he flipped them!)

 

 

OK- finally we have pictures from Music Camp. Nolan loves music!  They did a little performance the last day- singing "Yellow Submarine"  They sang it and they played it on kazoos.  They also danced.  Nolan is the one in the blue plaid shirt.

 

 

Until next time! (Hopefully it will be before another month goes by!)

Well, I guess summer is finally here.  It has been in the 90's for 3 weeks now.  I hate running the A/C because of what it costs, but I hate the heat so on the A/C stays!

We are continuing school through the summer because we are on a new year round schedule.  We are finishing Science up today.  In the next couple of weeks we should be finished with Health and History.  We will continue Math and Language Arts right into our next school year, which will begin by the end of July.  We are going to try Sonlight this time around. I am really hoping we like it because I love not having to plan lessons!!

So here is what I have planned:

17 yo ds- Senior Year

Sonlight Core 400 Bible/Government & Civics/Literature

Wordly Wise Vocabulary

Analogies

Shakespeare Unit using the "On The Double" books

Texas History and English Composition at the local community college

 

12 yo ds 6th grade

Sonlight Core 5 Bible/History & Geography/Language Arts

Teaching Textbooks Math 6 and onto 7 when we finish 6 which we are 1/4 way through

Wordly Wise Vocabulary

Spelling- we are just going to keep a list of words he needs to ask me how to spell and words he misspells on papers.

Aplogia Zoology 3 Science

Health- haven't decided but either Horizons Grade 6, Lifepac or ACSI Health

He will take Art and Music once a week at our store classes. 

I think I am going to wait until next year to tackle a foreign language with him.

Handwriting - we are comtining with A Reason For Handwriting

4 yo ds

My Father's World Kingergarten and Sonlight P 4/5 along with tons of playtime!

 

I am excited about all the new curriculum.  Starting fresh new books always feels good.

I really don't intend to have so much time pass between blog posts, but life just happens and here I am!  As usual, we have been busy and having fun.

 

Yesterday we went to the Witte Museum in San Antonio and saw the "Bodies" exhibit.  I just took my 12 yo ds because 16 yo ds was visiting with friends and 4 yo ds- well, no way.  I have to say it was a combination of creepy/cool.  I am amazed by God's incredible creation and how intracately designed we are!!!  We are so complex and well, just phenomenal.  The only thing that bothered me a little, and I hope I don't sound racist or insensitive, was that the bodies were from China and so they were small, not like the average people I see everyday.   This was especially disappointing in the "Prenatal" area because the "full term" babies they had were only about 4 pounds.  On the other hand, in the baby section there was no denying that the baby looks human very early on and was a great testimony for the pro-life side I am on.

 

Before we went in people were instructed and asked/told repeatedly to turn off cell phones and not to talk above a whisper out of respect for the dead we were about to be among.  OF COURSE, as usual there were people who were rude- cell phones ringing, screaming younger kids, adults loudly talking.  I really wanted to say something, but I held my tongue.  At the end of the exhibit there was a guest book where you could write comments and several people wrote rude things, inappropriate sexual comments and comments having NOTHING to do with the exhibit.  There is a huge lack of respect out there and I find it so disappointing.

 

We attended with a friend of mine and her two homeschooled children.  Afterwards we went out to eat at a really fun place called "Goodtime Charlies."  It was a hole in the wall kind of place, but WOW was the food good!   After that, we went to Chilli's for dessert.  Can you say Paradise Chococate Chip Cake?? Yum!  In the car ride home my girlfriend and I played the Rick Springfield greatest hits CD and we sang and danced (yes, in our seats) along with the songs and tortured the children with our talents! LOL  Great fun!

 

OK- none of these pictures are from yesterday, but here are some recent pictures.  I can rarely do a blog post without pictures, so here they are!!!

This is Lucas before the prom.

This is the girl he attended with.  Obviously, since he is homeschooled, she invited him.  He had fun, but said that going to Prom wasn't as exciting as he thought it was going to be AND that it would not have been worth sitting in a classroom day after day, just to attend it! VICTORY!!!

 

Nolan in the muddy garden.

 

Wet, muddy dog.

 

Daddy with a wet Nolan.

It never ceases to amaze me how busy life can be.  I so desire to be at home more, but I don't know how to accomplish it!  I have certain responsibilities that, well, I must leave the house to do! Like grocery shopping, taking the dog to the vet, working in our homeschool book store, going to Bear's baseball games etc.  I know one reason I feel so overwhelmed is that currently my house is cluttered, most specifically our school room and kitchen!  The clutter makes my mind feel chaotic!  If only  I could tackle the clutter I might not feel so overwhelmed.  I go through phases where I do declutter and it feels and looks so good, but somehow the clutter finds its way back! How do I change my ways with this?  I am feeling hopeless and like I may never get "organized."

 

In spite of my feeling overwhelmed, we still live life around here!  My husband started a garden about a month ago.  Then he decided we needed to fence in the garden so the dogs and our 4 yo couldn't get to it.  Our back yard is humongous and my DH just took over this one corner.  Now we need to figure out what to do with the rest of the yard!

Here is a picture of the fence in progress:

 

The fence is done, but I just realized I haven't taken an "after" photo.  LOL  Oh well, here are pictures of the garden:

 

 

 

Also new at the homestead is a PUPPY!  Here is "Diesel" with my husband: Aren't they cute????

 

Here is the puppy waiting for his food.  LOL

Well, I finally uploaded our latest batch of pictures.  We have been really busy as usual and we will continue to be busy.  We are going to the Zoo tomorrow so I will have zoo pictures up within a couple of days- God willing! LOL  I have been busy researching curriculum and working on lesson plans for curriculum I already have.  PTL for Homeschooltracker- they are awesome!

OK- so Easter weekend was great weather and a fun time for all.  We had a very nice church service and celebrated our risen Lord!!  At home my little guy, who knows Jesus loves him, also anxiously awaited the Easter Bunny who always brings chocolate :)

Here are some pictures of our egg decorating over at Grandma's house.  Grandma lives right behind us so it is like a second home to my boys. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's are my little decorators.

Here are our decorated eggs along with the goodies that the Easter Bunny left.

 

Bradley entered the homeschool Science/History fair again this year.  His project was "All about the Sun" this year.

 

 

Nolan loves to make forts with our furniture cushions and blankets.  Here's just one he built recently.  LOL

 

Lastly, here are photos of the boys cleaning.  I thought I better take a picture because like an eclipse, this only happens once in a while.  HA!

This one is Nolan vacuuming the stairs and the one below it is Bradley learning how to clean the granite.

 

 

Well, I am off to pack for the Zoo tomorrow! 

Wow, I really wanted to keep up with this blog better.  Before I forget, here is Nolan's cute Valentine Box.

 

Well, now that it is March we have Spring Fever.  It is spring break this week.  Lucas is off on a short mission trip.  It is his first, I am so proud of him for giving up his spring break to go help others.  Let's see if he ever goes on another one after returning.  LOL 

I decided that we are going to go to a year round schedule and we are going to switch curriculums or move up a level when we are finished with the curriculum, instead of trying to rush and stress to finish out a school year.  This way we can take time off without feeling guilty or like we are losing time.

I think I have decided on most of our curriculum for the fall. I am trying to get it all purchased by the end of April so I can spend May-August planning and getting all the daily folders filled.  Here's what we are going with:

Lucas 12th Grade:

Apologia Advanced Biology- Human Body

Notgrass American Government

Uncle Eric book series for Economics

Abeka British Literature

Wordly Wise Vocabulary

Analogies- some workbook

Abeka Consumer Math

Explorers Bible Study- Quest

Logic- Fallacy Detective (will do as a group with mom and brother)

Also, he will be taking one or two classes at the local community college.  Depends on if they are offering something he needs/wants to do.  Most likely Texas History and the second half of the English Composition class he is currently doing.

Bradley 6th Grade: 

Abeka Spelling, Vocabulary and Poetry

Abeka Literature- Of People- Plus we will continue to read lots of novels.  I like to use the Sonlight reading list.

Teaching Textbooks Math 7

Apologia Zoology 3 and Abeka Science (we'll do Abeka when we are done with Zoo 3 which will be one semester)

Mystery of History Volume 1- We will be doing it a little faster and when we are done will begin right away on Volume 2

Spanish- Switched on Schoolhouse

Logic- Fallacy Detective (as a group with mom and brother)

 

Nolan- Kindergarten

We are using My Father's World K.   We are starting it next month and will do it through the summer.  After that we may go with My Father's World 1st or Sonlight K.  Just depends on how well he is doing and how interested he is. I don't want to force school with him.  Just a couple hours ago and came up to me and said, "Mommy, can we do some school?"  He's so cute.  We "did school" for about 10 minutes and then he was done.  LOL

 

So, there may be some other changes or additions, but that I is what I am planning on so far.

 

 

UNBELIEVABLE MATH PROBLEM

Here is a math trick so unbelievable that it will stump you. Personally I would like to know who came up with this and why that person is not running the country.

1. Grab a calculator. (you won't be able to do this one in your head)
2. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer? Of course you do.

LOL- Oh my goodness! I am so excited! I am FINALLY figuring out this darn blogging thing!  I added a music playlist AND a photo montage! I can't believe I did it! I was about the quit hsblogger because I was so frustrated with not being able to customize my blog.  Woohooo! I have a long way to go, but at least I made some progress today. 

My only beef is that my playlist doesn't seem to automatically play.  I don't think I am using the same one others have used.  If anyone can enlighten me I would appreciate it!!  Oh, and my playlist is pretty eclectic. I was adding on my favorite christian music and then I got nostalgic for my teenage years apparently because *somehow* Bon Jovi and others made it to the list.  LOL

Well, I am behind my goals of trying to be perfect.  LOL- that is why I haven't updated or posted any pictures. I have tons of pictures in the camera, but I haven't uploaded them.  I am overwhelmed by my life right now.  Here is what I want my day to look like:

Wake up at 5:30

Have quiet time with God

Do an exercise video

Wake up the boys

Have a nice healthy breakfast together

Do devotionals with the boys

Boys get started with school quietly while I do laundry, tidy up family room, snuggle with Nolan while we read or watch his "shows."

Shower peacefully without interruption, leisurely do my hair and take time applying my makeup

Work on lesson plans, do lapbooks with Nolan and have a nice family lunch

Do my shift at our homeschool store and come home to a dinner I put in the crockpot earlier

 

Instead- here is what my day usually looks like:

Drag myself out of bed at 7:00

Get on computer and waste time reading yahoo group messages and message board posts

8:00- remember to wake up the boys- rush them downstairs

We do our Devotions for Boys and Sticky Situations- but there are frequent interruptions because the 16 yo and 11 yo can't breathe in the same room together without someone calling someone an idiot or screaming out "Mom, he......(fill in the blank).

Make and have breakfast amidst fighting boys, a 4 yo who always wants you to "watch me do....." and a TV going in the background (the last several days it has been "The Lion King")

I do dreaded loads of laundry- all the while kids can't seem to quiet down or mind their own business in the other room

I am usually barely in the shower before someone comes barging in screaming about what someone else did or didn't do

I never seem to get to lesson plans, lapbooks are practically non-existent.  We have only done 2.

Lunch is usually on the run at a fast food place because I always seem to be in a hurry

My desk is always covered in books and school papers. I think up great ways to organize, but I never seem to have time to implement said ideas.

My quest to be the perfect, super christian, super homeschooling mom, super wife etc etc doesn't seem to be coming to fruition!  I haven't done ANY of my bible study homework this week, which means tommorow I will try to cram in 5 lessons before bible study starts at 6:30 PM   SIGH   Am I the only one who has these issues?  Why can't I have the perfect schedule, house, body and kids?  Why do I look at other people and surmise they have perfect lives?  Surely they are just better at faking it than I am.  Aren't they?

 

Well, this is kind of exciting.  I have never been tagged before.  LOL  I am supposed to post 7 random things about myself and ask 7 other bloggers to do the same- I am not sure how to do that part so hopefully I won't mess up.  So, here it goes.

1)  I have 6 tatoos.  I hate them all and if it wasn't so expensive I would have them lasered off.  Oh the joys (and consequences of being an 18 yo who knows it all!)

2)  I am 36 years old.

3)  I have 3 boys and no I am not going to try for a girl. 

4)  I own a homeschool bookstore with my mother.

5)  I have been married for 12 years.

6)  I miss the 80's.  LOL

7)  I love chocolate.  And it shows.