Socalval is hosting Weblink Wednesdays. 

My website for the week is what my kids at school are doing.  This is a great way to get the kids to apply all the knowledge they have learned about Earthquakes.  They even offer it in Spanish which is wonderful for my kids. 

In Virtual Earthquake you are able to determine where the epicenter of the earthquake is and how long it takes for different kind of waves to get to the stations.  It is for middle school and high school students.

This Saturday we were very excited to be going to a birthday party.  For an hour before we were ready to go the boys had been coming to me and asking is it time to leave yet.  I had them in their bathing suits (the beauty of living in FL) all ready for their party.  I go to get ready and when I come out, JR had fallen asleep in the couch all of five minutes had passed. 

I told myself this is perfect, I can get the bag for the present and put everything in the car and then we can go.  I opened the closet to get a bag and I start smelling poop.  I check in the closet move stuff around and I can't find the source.  I look down at my shoes, I look at all the backpacks/diaper bags wondering did we leave a diaper in there by mistake...nothing.  I ask Rob if he smells something and he says he does but neither one of us can find the smell.  Well, we have a party to go to and I had finished packing the gift.  Rob tells me that he'll wake up JR. 

A few seconds later, Rob says I found the culprit.  I walk over there and the couch is all wet.  I look at it and of course I smell it and I say that's not poop, that's just pee.  We both look down at the sofa and we realized that he had peed just right smack in the middle, which then made it to the floor.  So not only was there a giant spot on the slip cover and sofa but as well as a puddle on the floor.  I told Rob I'll wash him and redress him and you take care of the sofa.  I go to get him cleaned up and I walk in the aisle. 

The smell of poop is overwhelming and I realize that we had forgotton about the Princess.  I tell Rob that she must have pooped in her diaper and I open the door to a "wonderful" surprise.  There she stood with poop in her hands and on her leg and all over the bed.  I wanted to scream, I might have yelped.  I can change a diaper like anyone else but there is something about poop all over a body that just makes me squeamish.  I run to start the bath and finish with John Robert, I tell Rob about our next situation and take Josie into the bath.  I'm just repeating GROSS, GROSS, GROSS as I bathe her from top to bottom. 

Rob meanwhile has to get all the sheets and the sofa clean.  Poor William is just standing there, he's looking so anxious because he's going to be late for his party.  Are we still going? At that point me and Rob just start laughing hysterically because there's not much to do.  We just laughed and laughed and said the JOYS of Parenthood.

We finally made it to the birthday party and the boys had a great time.  Josie and Dada had a great time at home as well.

Yesterday, when Rob got home and we had dinner, we took the kids to the park.  We were there from 6:30-7:30 and it was wonderful.  The kids played and we were able to sit down and just watch them. 

It was wonderful seeing them all play together and enjoy each other.  We're thinking of having Josie's party there since it's free thanks to the HOA.  They have an enclosed area for the playground and they have picnic tables and grills right behind them.  I think it will be great!

Tonight, we have swimming classes for the boys.  JR is really getting to be quite the little daredevil in the pool.  What a difference a month makes b/c just last month he would not let go of the teacher for nothing.  He falls asleep in the car now on our way home, all that exercise instead of just getting carried around in the pool which is wonderful. 

W is doing well too if he didn't whine and complain so much.  He received his lego club lego's on Monday but hasn't been able to open them.  We have been having issues of him hitting his brother.  Trying to figure out what to do with him when he gets frustrated so that it won't continue. 

Socalval is hosting Weblink Wednesday every Wednesday about educational websites. 

My website today is  www.musictechteacher.com , I just started using this website in my piano classes.  My students are really loving it and it has brought some new tools in my toolbox.  For those of you who have children in music lessons this is a great website.  Just check out the games and quizzes sections, they have games for note recognition, rhythm, and music terms.  For those of you who want to have some music history and theory added, they also have that as well. 

Here are some of my favorite weather related websites for my kids at school.  These websites can be used for upper elementary and middle school.

This one you can create a hurricane changing water temperature, wind speed, latitude and moisture.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/pdf/canelab.htm

This one is a couple of different games that help you learn how to predict and report the weather.  My kids have lots of fun with these.

http://www.edheads.org/activities/weather/

This one is a lesson plan but it gives different types of weather maps and what they are used for and what kind of information you get from them.  It's a really nice lesson.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/weathermaps/

For those of us who live in areas where weather can be dangerous, which can be pretty much anywhere.  This site will help you make a family emergency preparedness plan.

http://www.weather.com/ready/?from=sitemap

Yesterday was the lunar eclipse.  It was a beautiful night but really cloudy.  After putting the children down, Rob and I took out the telescope and went to the front yard and placed a blanket and just admired God's creation.  We tried to get some shots of the eclipse during the clearing of the clouds but I had to go on the internet to get a pic of it.  By 2010, when we have another eclipse, the kids will be old enough to come out with us and understand the experience.

Sometimes I feel like I'm just running out of time with too many things to do.  These past couple of weeks I have felt overwhelmed and just like a chicken with her head cut off.  The worst part is that I feel like I'm doing so much that I can't do everything and then the things I'm doing are not done well.  Then I get frustrated and just want to throw everything out the window.  How do moms fit everything in?  I know I have an extra challenge of working but I also know that sometimes that gives me a much needed break from the children and the craziness that is being home.  I feel guilty if I go exercise and stick the kids in the child watch room, because as soon as I get home we have to leave and when we finally get home it's time for bed.  If I don't exercise, then I feel like I'm not being the best person for God and my husband because I need to lose weight.  At school, I feel like I'm not being the best teacher for my students and that I'm just trying to do the easy stuff for me. 

In other words,  I guess I need encouragement and maybe some time management help.

Socalval sponsors Weblink Wednesday as a way to help homeschoolers with different websites that they might find helpful.  I found this website while I was searching for some stuff for my ESL students.  It is pretty simple and geared toward elementary age but it is science stuff.  Ask Dr. Universe , gives nice and concise explanations to lots of science questions that kids have like Why are flowers colored that way they are? , I've been wondering why the ozone layer can't be repaired. Is it possible to release ozone into the atmosphere to fix it? , How cold and how hot can living things get? , When I'm tired, where exactly am I tired?

This website is more for the moms.  I found this website through another great website which I use on a weekly basis called Menus4moms.  I'm thinking of trying to bake my own bread or do something to lower our grocery bill that is totally outrageous.  Hillbilly Housewife has some resources to help me to do that.

This week, I really have seen God working in our lives. 

One of our goals for this year is for me to increase my piano business by 10 students so that I can have an income when I come home FT.  God has blessed me in the one month of the year with 9 students already.  I was expecting this to take some time but God had other plans.  I can definitely see that God wants me home with the children. 

Another way that God has been working in our lives is really about coming to him when things get difficult or challenging.  We heard an incredible message two weeks ago about how God using difficult times to change us.  We got together in our small group and had a great time of just sharing our struggles and then praying afterwards.  I have gotten so used to just complaining about my day and asking for advice from Christian friends, getting good advice but not taking it to God in prayer.  It is so much easier at times to just get quick great advice from other people but not really being patient and waiting for God's response through His word and prayer.

SoCalVal is hosting a Weblink Wednesday to help other homeschoolers with different links that they can use.  I found this website from PBS for President's Day coming up.  I think it has some really cool information about the presidents not just the famous ones.  This is geared for early elementary grades.

This weekend has been good and full of things to do.  On Saturday, the boys did their chore of cleaning and vacuuming mommy's car and then we all went over to our friends house to play. 

Sunday we had our first spanish service in our church.  It was incredible, some brothers and sisters from down in Miami came up to encourage us in our service.  It was so moving to sing and praise God in Spanish,  I did not realize how much I missed worshiping in that way.  Rob also came to the spanish service and enjoyed it as well, though he said he felt like he was madly treading water just to translate in his head.   I don't know how often we will have a spanish service but I know we will definitely attend them.  It was great to see old friends from Miami and we definitely need to make plans to have lunch or dinner with them. 

The two little ones and I went to a baby shower, while Rob and William went to a bowling party.  We didn't make it home until it was time for dinner, bath and bedtime.  Those our mommies favorite days.  LOL

Monday, since it was MLK day, Rob and I had the day off.  I was able to do school work with William and we finished our first lapbook, pictures soon to follow.  I think this was a great way to review our short vowels.  I'm not quite sure though, if I did too much stuff or what.  The lapbook lessons that we saw seemed like the parent did all the prep work, maybe I just saw it wrong.  Any suggestions? 

Our science lesson was how to build a computer.  Rob got his new computer parts in on Monday and we all sat and watched as he explained how to put a computer together.  It blows my mind how smart he is and how he knows how to puth something that for me is so intricate. 

We ended the long weeked with having some friends over for dinner and making pina coladas, the kids had pink lemondade.  Pretty nice time.

Our goal for this year is to get out of as much debt as possible and to make and keep a budget so that come January 2009 I can stay home with the kids.  So far this month has been good.  We have money in savings ( and it's way over the $2 we had last month)!!!!  We are also not in the red, which we were last month.  I've got to admit that we feel good so far about how we are doing.  We are also going to receive a week or two weeks worth of groceries from Angel Food boxes and we are signing up for the Share program as well.  A couple of families are getting together to buy in bulk hoping to save money as well.  It seems the whole country has decided to watch their pennies, we hope that we can be succesful.  The one really important thing that we are trying to do is to find out how God wants us to spend His money, we have been doing devotionals about that through Crown Financial Ministries.  I highly recommend it to anyone who needs help with finances or even if you just want to find out more about how God looks at money.

This is how I organize my laundry.  I'm the one huge day or two of laundry kind of girl.  I tend to sort it on Friday night and put the first load in either Friday night or Saturday morning.  In the morning I switch the loads and keep going from there.  I like the fact that since it's laundry we can do other stuff while it's getting done.  I do fold it and put it away right away b/c I have found out that if I don't fold it and put it away right away it never gets done and when the next week comes around we still have clothes in the dryer or in a hamper waiting to be folded and put away.  I have my boys put away their clothes and hubby helps me put away clothes but I have to fold them.  I'm pretty tough on that.  Laundry folding and dishwasher placement have a format and if it's not done my way I have a tendency of doing it over.  LOL

Today, was our first day of school for our academic year!  We run our year from January to November so that we can relax during the holidays and not have to worry about school.  William was so excited to begin today.  All last week, our curriculum had been arriving and when it did he would ask me if we could start that day.  The first couple of weeks seem to be a review for last years stuff which is really good, since we have been out of our routine for so long.  I went over the first lesson on Sunday night and before I walked out of the house this morning at 7am to get to school, William was up and starting his schoolwork.  Lucille said he did it all in the morning with no reminding from her.  I'm really proud of William because I know I could not have been such an independent learner at such an early age.

We also started our first lapbook, with a review of our phonics.  We're going to have a vowel lapbook and a consonant lapbook.  We saw a couple of youtube videos on how to do it because I had never done one.  Gotta say I love youtube, we saw videos on lapbooks and Rob saw a video on how to iron a shirt.  (Neither one of us likes to iron.)  I'm going to try to link our curriculum, like I see other blogs do but I'm pretty new at all this stuff.  Thank goodness for my own personal IT department.

A senior, who goes to the school where I teach, hung himself because he had a bad family situation.  His mother went drunk to his funeral.  Last week a father threw all four of his children off a bridge.  This January in our local news two different husbands killed their wives and their children and then killed themselves.

It is so difficult sometimes to even listen to the news but I find that at times it is a definite wake-up call for me.  God has brought my family together and He holds my family together.  When I forget that God is the bond, things start breaking apart in the family.  Arguments occur, squabbles between the children are more stressful, communication does not happen and there is no love and no patience. 

There was a point in my christian walk where, I completely stepped off the narrow road and walked on the wide road.  I realized that all those people that I was critical off for doing all sorts of things were just like me and that I could be the worst of the lot.  I guess, I'm writing this and remembering all those families because that could be me.  I could be one of those families whose lives have been destroyed and I need to remember that and not think highly of myself.  I can't start thinking, well my kids behave better that their kids or I'm submissive to my husband outwardly so that is a credit to me.  Who am I but some dirt that God has put together.  God is the only thing that is holding me and my family together. 

Lord, I pray that I will always be humble to see who I really am before God and to be so grateful that he has forgiven me for my sins and has blessed with an incredible family. Let me not forget from where you took me and how far I can fall without your grace. Amen

Today was quite an eventful day.  I don't know about everyone else but my eventful days usually start pretty well and boring then one thing happens and your whole world is turned upside down. Today was that kind of day. 

I went to work and my high school kids are reviewing for their semester exams.  I have to make a side note that I'm so excited and proud of my ESL kids, their diagnostic scores went up in science and they seem to be really getting their vocabulary down thanks to root works.  I'm feeling very productive as a teacher.

I'm on my way home from school when I see that my grandmother had called.  I find out that William and her are on their way over to the house by train and that I need to pick them up ASAP, the only problem is that I have a piano class and no way of getting ahold of the student to cancel the class.  I rush home and our nanny offers to pick them up.  My piano student arrives and then I get a phone call from my mom saying that William and Mama are stuck on the train b/c someone crashed into the train.  I can't get a hold of the nanny whose at the station here b/c she doesn't have a cell phone and I can't get a hold of the student's mom to pick her up b/c she doesn't have a cell phone either.  I call my best friend, Lynn, and she offers to pick up William and Mama 45 minutes away in rush hour traffic.  This is what I call truly giving.  She packs up her three kids and just drives away, I was so grateful.  When they get home, we start trying to figure out what to do about getting Mama back home b/c she doesn't have her meds for the next day.  The train have issues b/c of the accident, so I tell her to spend the night and that I can put her on a train in the morning.  My best friend has more to teach me, I call her to tell her the plan and to thank her and she just expresses her heart to me about taking Mama back home that night.  I never thought about Mama just not being prepared to stay the night and her comfort but my best friend did.  She then offers to ride down with me to take Mama home so I won't have to drive alone.  What can I say about my best friend, she is truly giving and selfless.  Lynn if you are reading this, I love you for being my sister in the faith and always helping me to think about others first!