Yesterday I became an Aunt again, Congrats Ben & Chris, what a gorgeous baby girl!

Alyssa is doing great in our first week of school, she got a 95% of her first Math & Vocab Quiz's. Ash & O, are loving what they are learning also, and all the girls do some drawing and art each day, and look forward to art time.

I came across this today, and it absolutely floors me. No wonder people are in debt, and spend just to spend! http://beatingdebt.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/discover-card-commercial-review/

What great things Discover is teaching our young people!

Well, we are 4 days in, and today was a good day. Although if one more person rings the doorbell or knocks on the door, I may scream! All the girls got a ton of work done today, and got along great.

Evelyn behaved great while the girls worked. I actually was fairly awake, even though E got up twice last night and wanted to play. I don't know what was going on there, she better not make that a habit!

O was totally bored, and done with her work in about 45 minutes. The curriculum we had chosen for her, was just to easy. So I returned it and we have ordered Sonlight for her, which is what the older girls are doing. Hopefully it will come in soon. I did give her some harder work to do today, and she was so excited!

Here are some recent pictures...

O riding on E's bike (well it will be her bike eventually), http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/rvwaldron/Kids/?action=view&current=018.jpg

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Ashley with Sawyer- her buddy

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Evelyn  http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/rvwaldron/Kids/?action=view&current=006.jpg

The first science experiment!

A- is doing Physical Science this year, and she has about 2-3 experiments a week.

Here are some pictures from our first experiment about Atoms. Notice the water- so cool!

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Today was our first day of school. We are not doing every course today and tomorrow, just sort of getting our feet wet. O- got all her work done, and wanted more! Ash- had a ton of math, and got some voacb and bible done. And A- actually loves her Math program Teaching Textbooks, http://teachingtextbooks.com/ . She got a few lessons done along with some Bible, Vocab, and Literature.

We then spent a few hours running errands to get some last minute things we decided we needed. O is off playing with a friend and A is babysitting. O can't wait to come home and read one of her school books!

Today we went out for Lunch and to Blackbeard's Cove to play minuture golf and ride on the go carts. The girls had a blast. Evelyn rode on my back and then on Bob's in her carrier, until she took over Ashley's club and ball, and was so funny trying to get the ball in the hole.

And can I just say " Where in the heck are our Fence guys?" They started on Thursday, knocked out our internet, forgot a post, and left one a bit crooked in the cement, and they have not come back! They were supposed to show up Saturday morning, well it is now 3:00pm and just started to rain and we still have no fence. No phone call, no returning phone calls, uggh that stuff makes me so mad!

More curriculum came today, I think our mail lady thinks we are opening a library or something with all the media mail packages we have been getting.

Well, I survived! We are having a fence installed and the fence company cut our cable & internet line yesterday and we have been without internet since yesterday at 11 am. I joked yesterdaay that I would go through withdrawal. Fully expecting sweating, racing heartbeat, shaking, BUT I made it!

I actually got a ton of stuff done. I offically quit working Monday and I feel I have been online way to much lately. I was thinking of taking a break, and apparently God was thinking the same thing.
I think once a week I will take a "break" from the internet, maybe not 24 hours, but a break.

Yesterday we got the girls a new computer. We actually had to replace mine a few weeks ago, and I sort of like the girls computer better...
Ashley's curriculum came yesterday, along with Olivia's science, and Alyssa's Bible. Today Alyssa's main history books arrived, and I got a shipping notice for Olivia's curriuclum. The rest of Alyssa's books will be here Monday. Our plan is to start school on Thursday the 21st.

Today is Bob and I's anniversary so Alyssa will get to babysit and we are going out for dinner.
The girls and I were at Target on Wednesday and I committed to them and myself that we will not go back to Target for 3 weeks! That is Sept 3rd! I can do it.....

So I realized at 8:30 am that we forgot to wish Great Grandma Happy Birthday yesterday, AND the gift I bought 3 weeks ago, is still waiting to be mailed. I am so horrible! We recieved O's Sonlight order, bought used, yesterday and I am so sad, it is NOT a complete set. Ughh! By the time I order the missing parts I may as well buy it new, so off to eBay it goes. And now I am back to the begining with her, except for Math and Science.

Ash and I had a "strange" encounter with a woman at lunch today. Let me just say some people should not have kids. This woman I pray does not and will not ever have kids, God help the man she marries. I have never in 13 1/2 years of being a parent run into someone so **** mean and beligerent. E- was crying because I cut her hotdog, and the Mom next to us said to her daughter "see someone else acts like you do, and cries when they don't get what they want", I laughed at what she said, thinking of O. Well, without going into to much detail, Pscho Lady ( my name for her and probably on  her birth certificate too) comes up to me and says I should apologize for my child crying because she doesn't want to hear it. EXCUSE ME?? You are out in public and you are in a LOUD Hamburger joint? Are you kidding me?

While I daydreamed of smacking her upside the head and smashing her little phone ear piece (oh, yes did I mention she was ON THE PHONE) into her ear, I calmy said "Well maybe you shouldn't be out in public if you can't handle hearing kids cry", she then smirked and said I am abusive  because I was laughing at my child. Um, excuse me- I was LAUGHING at the comment the Mom (normal, nice human being) sitting next to me said. I asked Psycho Lady if she had kids of her own, NO- gee there is a surprise. If I were her child I think I would jump off a bridge into a pool of sharks.

Now that, that is off my chest, I am off to decide on O's new curriculum. My next big decision is to sign the Handmade Pledge, http://www.buyhandmade.org/why-buy-handmade

I also want to participate ( sort of ) in the Compact, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecompact/ this totally interests me, though I am not brave enough to commit to a year! I think we, (ME) buy way to much stuff.

I blame it on the way I was raised, my Mom is a HUGE spender, but I really need to take responsibility and say enough is enough. I have gotten MUCH better than I used to be, but I think the US as a whole consumes WAY to much, and has become a disposable society.

Today was crazy! I got to encounter the tire store (I had a bolt stuck in the tread of  the tire on my Sequoia),  withdrawing 2 of the girls from public school, and the department of revenue all in the same day. My business license is turned in, and I am offically done working! Yeah! I stopped for about 2 months while we moved last Summer, and said I would not work again, that was part of why we downsized. And sure enough I got right back into it.

Well, I am officially DONE! And it feels good, a little scary, but good. I am excited to have extra time, and energy. I have been a business owner in one sense or another for 7+ years, and I am excited to be done with it, for now!

So all 3 girls are officially withdrawn from school, AAHHHHH! Really, I am also excited about this, it is a good day.

Some may ask " Your going to homeschool ALL 3!!"- Yes, we are. I will admit, B- is not as gung ho about this as I am. He is all for our 6th and 8th grade being home, but would really prefer O- to be in school. But as we know, he is the boss at work, and I am... Well, you get the picture. But seriously, I think this will be a great move for everyone. I will be posting some of our favorite homeschool links this week.

Today I am working on our daily school schedule, and activities.

Today the pressure is off, at least for a few days. All our curriculum is ordered and on it's way! I will be listing all our curriculum tomorrow. This was such a big decision. I think the first homeschoolers had an advantage in that, there were not many choices in curriculum. There really is an overhwhelming amount of choices out there.

I have found, at least what I hope to be, my Favorites!

Sonlight, Rod and Staff, Apologia Science, and Teaching Textbooks for upper grades Math.