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Committed
Nov. 3, 2006
Sung to the tune of Veggie Tales "The Pirates who Don't Do Anything."
All 3 Moms:
We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you
We can't do everything
Mom2:
Well, I've never been to Boston and I've never shot a musket,
and I've never built a cabin using nothing but an axe,
and I've never skinned a possum, and I've never staged a battle,
and I've never started home school before fall!
All:
We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you...
Mom3:
We can't do everything!
And I've never distilled water, and I've never banded birdies,
and I've never built an ant farm 'cuz I can't stand things that
crawl,
and I've never dug a fossil, and I've never owned a test tube,
and I've never started home school before fall!
All:
We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you
We can't do everything
Mom1:
And I've never slaughtered chickens, and I've never milked a
go-oat,
and I've never gone to 4-H or the local county fair,
and I've never sewn a jumper, and I don't look good in denim,
and I've never started home school before fall!
Mom2: Huh? What are you talking about? What's a milk goat and
denim jumpers got to do with being a home school mom?
Mom3: Hey, that's right! We're supposed to sing about academic-y
things!
Mom1: Oh...
Mom2: And who ever sews school uniforms? That's impossible! Why
even bring it up? Am I right? What do you think?
Mom3: I think you should do your laundry.
Mom2: Huh? Why do you think that?
Mom3: You should...
Mom2: Don't wanna!
Mom3: You wore that shirt yesterday!
Mom2: That's it, you're going to help me!
Mom3: Says who?
Mom2: Says ME, that's who!
Mom3: Oh yeah? Well I'm not picking up your socks! (pinches her
own nose)
Mom2: Argh!
Mom3: Yike!
Mom1:
And I've never done gymnastics, and I've never danced the polka,
and I've never painted daisies 'cause I cannot paint at all,
and I've never made a schedule, and my house is never perfect...
Mom2: It'll never happen!
All: And we've never started home school before fall!
We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you
We can't do everything
Mom2: Pass the pencils! Who's got the teacher's guide?
Mom1: Here it is! (holds up shredded paper)
Mom3: (groans, then smiles with sudden inspiration) Time for
recess!
Mom2: It's definitely time for Scotch tape.
Mom3: Oh, I don't like that stuff...
Mom1: Hey, look! I found a crayon!
By Joelle White and Maura Light, who wrote the chorus and started the whole thing.
It was originally posted on a Sonlight Forum.
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Oct. 31, 2006
Kitchen's a mess, but that's okay.
Jet woke me up this morning with the news that he had made Scooter's cake, and that it was in the oven.
He used one of my cake mixes. The oven was on the right temp but he hadn't turned it on, he only put in a 1/3 cup too much water, he put in all three eggs it called for, and totally skipped the oil. He poured it into the right cake pan, but didn't grease it. From the look of the bowl he used and the counter it was sitting on, he stirred with great energy but still managed to leave large lumps. He used a icetea spoon to stir with.
He is very proud of himself.
So I guess we'll see how it turns out. I'll let you know.
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Oct. 18, 2006
Blessed
This has been a crappy year. I mean a REALLY. CRAPPY. YEAR. Except for
Ran-Ran (which is a big deal, I know), this year has been mostly
horribly stressful things happening. And so far there is no sign of a
let up. I'm tired of thinking about it all. So, here's a blessings list.
My husband, who no matter how stressed we are or how difficult things become, never blames me, always loves me, and whom I never have to worry about deciding it's "all too much" and running off. He's also very sexy.
Jet: getting so big and handsome and strong, who loves school and his sisters and
brothers, who helps me around the house, and who tells me he loves me multiple
times everyday
Nessa: who still dances and giggles everytime we give her a compliment or we tell
her we love her, who has definate artistic talent, long legs and no sense of
balance
Ya-ya: my dark, intense child who loves making funny faces and helping with her
little brothers, who would love to be permenantly attatched to my side doing
all I do, the one who always notices when I'm not feeling my best and gives me
tight hugs
Scooter: with the biggest, brightest smile, who is thrilled to carry kittens around
no matter how they scratch him, who loves sitting on my lap, or patting me on
the head, who thinks he ought to be able to carry his little brother, who
climbs everything, and then falls off
Ran-Ran: like all my babies, getting too big too fast, crawling everywhere, pulling
up, with four teeth giving you the cutest smile, which shines without realization of all the pain in the world, grabbing all of the food off my plate and shoving it in his mouth but still loving to nurse.
My friends: five of them have driven 600 or more miles one way to visit me. 2 of
those more than once, and plan to again. I have friends that no matter what I
feel think or do I can call them and I know they will be there, and also here, next to me, if it's bad enough. That is a really really big deal, and there is no way I can thank them enough. Now I also have friends here in South Carolina who have come forward and held me when I couldn't stand. I don't know what I would do without them.
My apartment: yeah, I'd rather have a house. But I have a nice apartment in a safe
neighborhood with a pool and a playground across the street, everything from air
conditioning to the water to the garbage disposal works, so really, I've got it
good.
Our vehicles: we have two. Most of our marriage we've only had one. And yes, the
van broke down, but we found out that we can fix it for only $700 instead of
$1500 like we originally thought, which hurts but is doable. And we have no debt
on either. So again, I've got it good.
Our nation: yeah, we have our problems. But I've been around the world. There
isn't anywhere better to live than here. God bless America.
Our health: Funny, we all have colds right now. But that's it. Colds. My parents, my brothers and sisters, my close friends, my husband, my children, and myself...we are all in pretty good health. Yeah, we have things such as blood disorders, diabetes, endimetrios, cyclic vomiting, weight problems, atopic dermetitis...but all are treatable if not curable, none of us are expected to keel over anytime soon, none of us are dealing with cancer,etc. It seems like so many people here or in my other groups, have someone close to them who is either dying or fighting so hard to live. I don't expect our health to stick around forever, but for right now, I'm thankful.
My parents and my sister: we don't always see eye to eye, but I know they love me.
I
have more. I'm thankful I have more, but...I have no more time. I'm not
sure I feel "happier" but I am more peaceful. Looking at this list, I
have everything that really matters. And then some. So down with the
depression. Life is good.
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Oct. 17, 2006
House
Oct. 14, 2006
Sad
Oct. 14, 2006
"Mommy, are we going somewhere?"
"Mommy, are we going somewhere?"
"Yes, we are going to go look at houses. Won't that be fun?"
"Mommy, I only want to look at a little bit of houses."
pause
"Mommy, do you know why I only want to look at a little bit of houses?"
"Why, honey?"
"Because if I look at a big lot of houses it will make me starve."
Not sure how that would work.....
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Oct. 12, 2006
Sorry I haven't been updating
Lots has happened, but nothing really worth mentioning.
I got a haircut and I hate it.
Crazy neighbor lady moved, which is good. Our last week with her was....interesting.
We've
given up trying to buy a house. Now we are looking to rent. We may be
moving into my brother-in-law's house, because they may be moving into
his brother-in-law's house, because they may be moving into his mom's
house, who are buying a new house because their 3000 sq ft house has
gotten too small for the three of them. Musical houses.
I would
LOVE to move into my bil's house. If we could, I would love to buy it,
but they are only renting, we'd just be taking over their lease. I love
that house that much though. It's only 1 bath, but that is the only
problem with it and we were looking at buying 1 bathroom houses
anyways. I'll post a description of it IF we end up moving into it. We
aren't holding our breath. If we don't move there we have another
rental picked out. It's not as good. The yard isn't very nice and their
are two steep staircases inside, which I wouldn't mind if my youngest
was 4 or 5. It's also a bit further away than I'd like, but that
wouldn't be a big deal if there weren't the other problems. Other than
those, it is a pretty cool house.
Christmas is coming and I'm not ready. Today we are going to focus on Christmas, I hope.
My
left leg hurts. It's been hurting pretty consistently for 3 days now.
I'm not sure why, or even how to describe the pain. It aches. Not the
muscles, either. I don't have any vericose veins. I really don't know
what's up. It has hurt like this before but never consistently, and not
this badly. The weird thing is nothing I do makes it feel better, or
worse for that matter. It still does everything it is supposed to do.
lol Oh well.
Hubby is trying to get a new job. This job would
have better pay, better hours and schedule, and much better benefits.
He has already passed the first two hurdles. He has an interview the
18th. We really want him to get this job.
And that's my update.
I'm disappointed in myself; I didn't want this to turn into a daily
journal. I'm too tired to write anything interesting, but I promise my
head is full of it.
Two last points: I am setting myself two
goals for this week. I am going to post them here and see if I can keep
myself accountible that way. Ok:
1. I am going to be in bed every night by 10 pm.
2. I am not going to drink any soft drinks.
Seriously,
those shouldn't be too hard for one week, right? The first one will.
The second one...I don't drink many soft drinks. Less than one a day.
It shouldn't be too hard. It's just the first step I hope to take to
get off of my sugar addiction. We'll see.
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Oct. 3, 2006
Kid's stuff
I have decided that I would be perfectly happy just shopping from these
two places for gifts for my children: www.hearthsong.com and
www.mindwareonline.com
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Oct. 2, 2006
update
School is going well. I've discovered that a schedule of 1 hour on, 30
minutes or so off works well. It leaves me feeling a bit harried, but
the kids get more done and seem to like it.
Jet
(and I, by default) have started volunteering once a week at a
dogs-only shelter just down the street. I want my kids to think
volunteering and helping the community is a "normal" thing, just part
of any full life. I picked an animal shelter because I thought it would
be better for him to start with animals who wouldn't be offended if he
spoke with child-like frankness to them, lol. I am very proud of him;
there isn't much petting of the dogs involved, just mostly cleaning
really nasty poopy trays (we are there first thing in the morning.)
He's doing great.
Anya asked me today if God was inside of our
food so that when we ate it He would get inside of us. Unintended
consequenses of saying "God is everywhere." Those types of questions are becoming everyday.
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Sep. 22, 2006
this has been a lousy year
Sep. 18, 2006
Musical Genius
We are working on learning "Over the River and Through the Woods" with
the handbells. My goal is for myself and the kids to be able to sing it
well and "ring" it well by the holidays. Today when we practiced the
sing part, I was having difficult hitting the first note, "G" correctly
(I'm not much of a singer) so I rang Nessa's G bell while singing,
"O..." the first syllable of the song. Nessa looked at me and said "No,
Mommy, that sounds like G. This bell is the G note." I stared in
astonishment at my little musical genius....she could tell what note it
was just by the sound? Seeing my surprised face, she reached over and
patted my hand. "Don't worry, Mommy, I'm sure there's an "O" bell here
somewhere."
While
I leaned back and laughed, she went through all the bells and
identified which note they played after ringing them, ending with, "We
need to buy an O bell, we don't have one!"
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Sep. 18, 2006
Back online...finally
Yea! I'm back! And on cable this time!
4 months, 3 weeks, and 1 day without internet. It's amazing I survived. lol
School has started. We've been doing it a whole month now and
we're only 2 days behind. Go me! lol I don't think
we'll try to catch up, I'll just say we holiday-ed.
Let me tell you, few things are better than being closely questioned by
a cynical stranger about homeschooling and having your 4 year old run
up with a picture she'd been drawing and saying, "Look, Mommy, a sun
flare!" It really looked like one too.
I will post more later, but I wanted to say I'm back. I really missed it here!
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Apr. 10, 2006
Playing Around....
Apr. 10, 2006
Articles and a question
This is a thought-provoking article about Christian arts and media:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/escapingcreativeghetto.html
This is disturbing article about the future of the church (I'm not
Southern Baptist, but I think it can pretty much be applied
anywhere.) Warning: this may be controversial.
http://www.sbtexas.com/default.asp?action=article&aid=2542&issue=2/16/2006
Ok, for the question, is there any way to reply to someone's comment
here? I'm probably just missing it but I can't figure it out.
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Apr. 9, 2006
"knock knock"
"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Honey"
"Honey who?"
"I like honey on sandwiches...with peanut butter too!"
"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Head."
"Head who?"
"Head cukoo!"
"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Flowers"
"Flowers who?"
"Flowers for you! Yellow flowers. 'Cause yellow is your
favorite color. And when you smell them they will tickle your
nose!"
These Knock knock jokes brought to you courtesy of my oldest son, who
has just discovered these classic jokes and loves making up his own,
since he doesn't get the 'real' ones. These, however, reduce him
to helpless fits of laughter, no matter how many times he tells them.
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Apr. 6, 2006
And so it begins
Ok, here's the plan....
I'm
going to use My Father's World. It seems to have pretty much
everything I want: Charlotte Mason style, classical subjects, hands on
activities...and it's comparitively inexspensive. How cool is a
curriculum that includes a butterfly garden and an ant hill?
We are doing Kindergarten this year. Yes, my 6 yo son, 5 yo
daughter, and 4 yo daughter will all be doing Kindergarten. The
reasoning behind this is my son has been delayed in his language
development, and he is ADD: only now am I convinced he is ready for any
kind of formal schooling. He is very bright and active and has
picked up a lot just through daily activities, so I will add a few
extras to his schooling if this Kindergarten is too "light weight," but
I really think it is just what he needs right now. He may be
ahead in math, but we'll see.
My oldest daughter is only 15
months younger than Jason, and is pretty much on the same level
language-wise, and only a little behind him in math. Many people,
including themselves, think that Jason and Janessa are twins; doing the
same thing with both of them just makes sense.
Anya, right
now, is only 3. She turns 4 in August. She is probably not
ready for Kindergarten. However, she thinks she is as old as both
of her older siblings, and quite frankly, she is far ahead of where
each of them were developmentally at her age. There is no way I
could do school with the oldest two and not include her, and I think it
will be easier for all involved to just let her do Kindergarten with
the others while requiring less of her. She will probably do
Kindergarten two years in a row. I am buying her a few of the
preschool activities MFW.
When reporting school to the accountability association I will say I have two Kindergarteners and 1 pre-K.
How I'm going to do school in 2007 and onward I don't know, when Scott
and Ransom get into it all...Anya can't quite keep up with Jason and
Janessa and shouldn't be held back till Scott can join her....problem
for another time. She may be my only child in a grade all
her own. (I suspect I will keep Scott and Ransom in together as
well.)
I am planning on a year round schedule, starting this June 1st. I need to get on the ball!
I am currently thinking we will do school 6 days a week. My dh
works and goes to school 6 days a week, and I have found having a
regular schedule for all days seems to prevent any one day being
wasted. Plus, according to MFW Kindergarten should only take 90
minutes a day (I will probably add another 30 minutes). So having
school shouldn't keep us from anything else we want to do that
day. The 6 days a week schedule should also let me have more
flexibility when it comes to traveling and our holiday breaks. I
will have to sit down with a calendar today and figure out exactly how
this will all work out.
For our progress reports, portfolio,
daily plans, etc, we are going to do scrapbooks! Each child will
get a small scrapbook and we will work on it every day, as the last
school subject. Nothing too fancy, but it will have pics of us
doing school, their comments, samples of their work, their nature
studies, field trip reports, art work, etc. I'm looking forward
to doing these every year, and having them to look back on.
In
addition to MFW we are going to do God Made Music once a week. My
parents did GMM with me when I was homeschooled and I still think it
was wonderful, so I'm keeping it. We will also make sure to read
several books off of Ambleside Online's reading list. I hope to
sign the kids up for one "outside" activity per quarter, such as soccer
(this fall), drama (next year), art, etc... I'm happy about
soccer this fall...it's for ages 4-6. Which will include all 3 of
my oldest, this year at least.
So. To Buy for this
school year: one more GMM student book (for Anya), the Doorposts
charts I want, HSLDA membership, MFW curriculum, subscription to The
Old Schoolhouse, membership to PHEA, scrapbooking supplies,
and basics such as pencils, erasers, etc. I feel like
I'm forgetting something. All this added up equals .... a
lot of money. LOL I hope I'm not forgetting something.
However! Before school starts I need to get this house into some sort of order. So let's go see about that.
Oops, one more thing. This is a great article about the two types
of education you can get and their purpose's:
http://www.ditext.com/postman/mgs.html
Let's raise Athenians!
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Mar. 9, 2006
Still figuring out this site
This is fun, mostly. Addicting,
definately. I think I have now gotten over the "new website"
thrill, and can get down to actually blogging instead of obsessively
clicking the "random blog" button. LOL
Everyone who commented on first entry, thank you! I'm working on
figuring out how to respond to your comments....can you do that on this
site? Never mind, I've opened the support page, I'll figure it
out.
Two of my best friends from Memphis are coming to visit me
tonight. They are staying all weekend; I'm so excited! Also
rushed, my home is not ready. My life has been crazy since August
of 2005; it shows no sign of slowing down till after we are done
moving, and my house is definately showing the signs of 8 months of
insanity. Oh well. These two won't care, they've seen it
worse.
You're asking why I am babbling online if my house needs so much
work? It's the only thing I can do that feels productive while
NAKing. With my last baby I was able to wash dishes while nursing
(using a sling) but Ransom isn't quite the "anywhere any way any
position" nurser Scott was. Not yet at least. Maybe when he
gets older. Oh, and Ransom is now one month old.
Already. Wow. He's so beautiful. (Don't tell my
oldest I said that; he's very careful to remind me that Ransom is a boy
and boys are "handsome.")
Has anyone here used My Father's World
curriculum? I'm thinking about it...thinking it might lower my
stress level a bit this first year having everything already put
together for me. It's Charlotte Mason based and looks like
something I might put together myself anyways. I'd feel somewhat
bad though because I've already bought some stuff that I would probably
end up not using. My hubby is the greatest though, and said if I
think MFW would make my life easier then get it. I would love to
hear from someone else who has used it.
Oops, Ransom is done. Bye!
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Mar. 4, 2006
Hello
I
am starting this blog as part of my preparation for this, our first
"official" school year. I'm nervous. I'm not sure how to go
about all this, and even more I'm afraid I won't do it...that I'll
never feel that I have everything I need and so keep putting
homeschooling off till the "setup" is perfect....yeah. It's a
tendency I have, and I know I need to get over it.
One might think
that I would have an easier time than many others just starting
homeschooling. After all, I was homeschooled, all 13 years, no
less. My mother was one of the homeschooling pioneers, not quite
one of the first, but close on their heels. All in all I'd say
she did a pretty good job with us (myself and my little sister, both
homeschooled from K through 12th). I'm not sure, though, that
having been homeschooled is much help toward homeschooling my own
children.
My mother only had two kids, 2 1/2 years apart. I
have five kids, ages 6, 4, 3, 1, and 3 weeks. That's so
far. An important difference, don't you think?
Plus, I
remember what I put my mom through. This terrifies me: what if
one of my kids, or *gasp* more than one, does the same to me?? I
know it will happen, after all I have been the frequent recipetent of
the "parents' curse," you know: "I hope your kids are just like
you!" Yeah, that one. I think we've all gotten it.
Also, I don't plan on homeschooling the same way my mom did. She
used an expensive curriculum, with textbooks and tests and already put
together lesson plans and rulers with the curriculums logo on it,
etc. (By the way, if you are thinking of going the curriculum
path with your homeschooling, I do recommend what my mom used.
It's pretty good!) Me, I have to make things difficult by going
the Ambleside Online, living books, nature walks route.
Oh, and
homeschooling being so much bigger and more widespread doesn't
necessarily make things easier. I have to decide by the end of
next month which homeschooling group I want to join.
Which?!!?! My mother was happy if there was ONE in the
area!! There are so many options out there now I've been sorely
tempted to just walk into a homeschooling fair blindfolded and
whichever booth I bump into first will be the one I go with.
'Course with my luck I'll end up bumping the concession stand...
I'm excited about homeschooling. I'm also excited about posting
here about homeschooling, and other going-ons in my life, and meeting
friends who are going through their own homeschooling adventures!
(Please bear with me as I slowly figure out how to work this site. I'll catch on eventually, promise.)
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