A "normal" day in the life of a "normal" family should go something like this:

6:00am  Mom & Dad up & get ready for work

6:30am  Get kids up for school

7:30am  Everyone leaves for their designated daily posts (school, office, day care, etc)

5:30pm  Everyone returns home, dinner is cooked (or ordered out)

7:30pm  House is straightened, parents get kids ready for bed

8:30pm  Kids in bed (in designated rooms)

10:00pm  Parents in bed to start it all over in the am

Even in a HS family most dads return home by a certain time to spend the evening with their family.  In our family though, Dad is still working, he leaves around 7:00 every morning and usually doesn't come home until 9:00 pm or (usually) later.  He also has one or two nights every other week that he is out of town.  Sometimes he won't see the kids for several days in a row because they are in bed when he gets home & still sleeping when he leaves in the morning.  This is his job, this is life & I don't expect it to change.  He LOVES his family, we are well aware of that and he is fortunate enough to really enjoy his job.  We would never ask him to change what he does.  So our challenge is to find some way to spend more time with him without asking him to neglect his career.  This is what we have come up with:

He works out every morning and he is willing & excited to have us join him.  This means getting up at 4:00 am and riding bikes to the local YMCA (3m each way), running (the track) &/or swimming, and then biking home.  At home the girls & I will iron Daddy's clothes for the day and make a quick & healthy breakfast that Daddy can eat while we do family devotions before he heads out the door.  What a wonderful way to start the day, we get the best of him, while he is still fresh not tired from a long day at work and we are all working towards a common goal: a healthy, active lifestyle.  This way he won't feel too bad that the kids are asleep when he gets home (and they will be when we get up at 4:00!)  It is a solution for us and we are very excited to start this on Monday.  I think the first step will be to aim for this 3 days a week and see how it goes, I know the kids are going to need an adjustment period.  The girls are used to it but Jack will need a little time.  My 2 little ones will be thrilled to get into the bike trailor for a ride, they don't care what time it is but Jack will have to peddle his trail-a-bike behind Daddy so we will see how he does, he loves being with Daddy so much that might outweigh the early morning wake up call.

Sometimes you just have to get creative and make some sacrifices for a higher goal, our family is worth it!   

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Do you ever feel like you have run into a wall?  You are just stalled and can't seem to make progress forward.  I am at this point.  It hasn't been a bad week, i'm not complaining but I am irritated at myself.  There are so many small things i need to do but I can't seem to make myself do them.  For instance, my camera battery is dead & needs to be recharged but I do not know where the charger is so instead of taking 15 min to look for it, my camera remains dead.  This causes a problem because we have 2 Flat Travellers that need to go home but I can not download pictures to send home with them when my camera is dead.  Sooooo, I have 2 Flats that need to go home but I have not taken care of that.  Also, I promised a friend that I would send her a sample of our Math course but I have yet to get that together (for the above people, I have not forgotten you, just trying to get motivated)  I really need to get my bills, school papers, other paperwork organized but I just can't make myself start.  This is a HUGE problem because I just got a notice in the mail that I missed a payment on something, my husband is furious, I just can't seem to keep all the stuff in one place so I don't misplace it.  I know how to organize, I just haven't done it.  I am trying to force myself to do a few things & hopefully that will motivate me to do more.

Abby does not like Emily Dickinson at all.  I was devastated when she told me this.  How can you NOT like Emily Dickinson?!  After a few days of complaing about having to spend 12 weeks reading her poems I decided to let her read Christina Rossetti instead.  She loves her work.  After some thought on this I have decided that this shows some real growth in my daughter.  She cares enough about her poet studies to not want to spend 12 weeks on poetry she does not like & instead has chosen a poet she does enjoy, she really does enjoy poetry.  This was an exciting realization for me. 

Erin is really trying my patience.  She cries when I get her up in the morning, she cries when we try to do school work, she cries when I ask her to narrate, she cries when I ask her to help clean up, she cries when I tell her to start her chores, but when Daddy asked her (@4:30 am mind you) if she wanted to get up & go for a run & a bike ride she couldn't get up & ready fast enough!  Ugh!!!  She likes to watch me turn colors, I know she is hoping my head really will pop off!

I know I have only lived here since June but I am so bummed that my neighbor/friend is going to be gone for a whole month to Europe.  I am really going to miss her & her kids.  They are going to have such a great time and I will be praying for their safe & happy travels and eagerly looking forward to their return.  I know, I am so selfish!

I have started a running program recently and am into week 2 of going from non-runner statis to running a 5K.  Our household is on a health & fitness kick.  We really used to be in shape & followed a vegan diet.  That was 4 babies & 50 lbs ago.  Eric had a physical for insurance stuff for work & has high cholesterol.  We are now back to healthy eating, really trying to follow the Biblical dietary laws.  We are also trying to get into shape.  Eric wants to train for a triathalon, he has been biking to the YMCA in the morning (3m both way), running, and swimming.  Now his new idea is that we can all bike to the "Y" (the "what" as my 5 yo calls it), run the track and then swim before we bike home again.  If we get up at 4:00, we can be home by 6:00 and still have time for family devotions before he goes to work.  This really cuts into my reading time (again, me being selfish) but he works so late that it would be so nice to have this time for our whole family to be together before we start our day. 

Tomorrow we are going to PE class at the "what" and then to Weeks Bay for nature journaling with friends.  It should be a great day & we are looking forward to the outing.  I'll post more about this once we get back.

• Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I've been tagged by sweetie:

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED

      Anything about Charlotte Mason is great & they just keep 

      getting better but my most recent favorite is Charlotte

      Mason's book Home Education, this is Volume 1 in The

      Original Home Schooling Series.

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT

3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT

4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR

6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED

8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING

       Timberdoodle

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Today I got up late (Katy didn't fall asleep until after midnight, she just wasn't tired.  She hugged on me & kissed on me, it was just so sweet, I just wish she would do this in the daytime so I could really enjoy her when I am not so tired)  So, I didn't get up until 5:00 which means I didn't get to finish my scheduled reading for today but I did get the girls up at 6:00.  They did great, showered, dressed & ready for tea & Bible study by 6:30.  Then we had breakfast (smoothies) while we listened to Holy, Holy, Holy, The Three Ravens, and various pieces by Bach.  The girls wrote out their Bible verses, read poetry and started copying and memorizing a poem.  Abby is reading Emily Dickinson this term and Erin is reading Walter de la Mare. 

The boys and Katy got up, had breakfast, got ready for the day, listened to more from Bach, and then the girls started on chores.  After chores we decided to skip the YMCA (for me to work out) & go for a long bike ride.  It was so hot but I am glad we went.  Everybody was refreshed by the ride and we started back to school when we got home.  Abby read about the founding of North and South Carolina in This Country of Ours, she read a chapter from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, and about the happenings in the world during George Washington's time in George Washington's World.  I printed out a few timeline figures for her to go along w/ our Bible reading and with George Washington's World.  She did oral narrations of most of her readings and a written narration of her favorite part of George Washington's World.  Erin has had to focus on handwriting today because hers has been atrocious.  We are cutting her writing back to one line with me watching her write out each word and then I check it for accuracy.  She read about King Harold in Our Island Story, Charlemange in Trial and Triumph, and we are trying to find out why Christian thinks the world will burn and carry his family and himself to doom in Pilgrim's Progress.  She had a few timeline figures to color and place in her Book of Centuries. 

On our bike ride we saw a huge toad, we think it was an American Toad, so the kids drew pictures of the little fella and put them in their nature journal.  This was Jack's first day of Kindergarten, I am trying to keep school very low key for him, following Charlotte Mason's ideas as much as possible.  We decided to start with the basics, his name, today we worked on J.  I gave him a wooden letter J to touch and trace with his fingers.  Then I gave him a plate with cornmeal in it to draw his own J.  We talked about the J says "j" like Jack.  He has an alphabet puzzle that has each letter match a picture that begins with the same sound as the letter.  Then he had a choice of 5 letters to pick out the J and then 5 pictures to find the match for J.  He did great, he is such a smart little guy.  Tomorrow we will go on to the A but I will review J by going through the house with him to find things that start with J.  He seems to really enjoy this & caught right on. 

Seth got to play in the cornmeal trying to draw a J also, he did a great job, I was very impressed.  He got bored before we got to the puzzle and wondered off to play with his sword and castle.  Katy went to bed at 11:00am and didn't get up until 4:00pm (gee, I wonder why!).  Jack is very into Indians so we are reading a book called Pocahontas and the Strangers we read Ch. 1 today, we also read 1/5 of Genevieve Foster's  1620 Year of the Pilgrim's.  We read a Chapter out of the Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 1 about animal mothers.  We used the abacus to add numbers to 10.  For Bible study we are reading Leading Little Ones to God and the Bible.  He wasn't too excited about this until he saw I was reading out of the "REAL Bible" and when we sang a hymn he was hooked.  I think this was his favorite part of the day.  He drew a picture of the toad for his nature journal, watched a video called The Pilgrim's of Plimoth, and played out in the sprinkler.  He helped me fold clothes, made (and ate) popcorn and helped the girls clean up after school.  He had a pretty full day & seems to be pretty happy about school so far.  A few things I need to work on with Jack is getting him to stop singing while I am reading, he can't possibly be paying attention.  I gave him some coloring to do during one of the stories but he lost interest before I finished (the readings are very short).  Maybe I need to bring down his tree blocks he got for his birthday so he has something to do with his hands.  I have heard that this helps with boys.  I told him I didn't have to read to him but he wants me to, he just can't help himself with the singing.  (Just because it's funny I will tell you that he is singing a song from Phantom of the Opera) 

I read a poem to him by Edward Lear The Popples Have No Toes, goofy but he liked it, he had a million questions for this one, did he really lose his toes or did he just think he did, who took his toes, where did they go, what did they do with them, why did he have to tie flannel around his nose, what is flannel?  This doesn't even scratch the surface, it went on & on & on....  

Over dinner we are going to go over Spanish and our picture of the week by da Vinci and then after dinner we will play s'math and read some books covering comparison.  Then on to baths & bed, I plan on reading a chapter from The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and a chapter from The Family Man.  These are free reading for the girls.  Today has been really nice so far, I even got to work on my nature journal.  Other than being tired and leaving the house really messy, this is how I had hoped our days would go.

** Just a quick update, we learned 5 words in Spanish (mother, father, sister, brother, and dog), played a dice game & s'math for math, and worked on Lesson 1 in Latina Christiana (Abby) and Prima Latina (Erin).  The boys are watching Two Brothers about 2 baby tigers, it's a very cute movie.  The girls are playing s'math.  We are doing picture study & then I am giving Katy a bath & off to bed with some stories.  I forgot to include a story or two for the boys.  I am going to read some Mother Goose and probably Goodnight Moon or I Love You the Purplest .

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

This past week was our first week back to school.  Monday was a holiday so we spent the day with Daddy and Tuesday we went for a bike ride & a picnic breakfast at the local fish pond/park & then over to visit friends.  Wednesday I got the kids up early, we did Bible study and then listened to our folksong(the Raven), our hymn(Holy, Holy, Holy), and a few selections from our composer (Bach) of the term while we ate breakfast.  Then we cleaned up & went to the YMCA so I could work out & the kids could play for an hour in the playroom.  Then it was home for lunch & studies.  We had a tough day on Wednesday, heavy on the academics.  After lunch we cleaned up, put Katy & Seth down for a nap & then the other 3 hit the books, recipe books that is, to make brownies.  The idea is to have them follow directions exactly, with a cheerful heart, as a team, as efficiently and diligently as possible.  When all tasks are carried out exactly they recieve the sweet reward of brownies.  Carry this over to our school year & I want them to put their best effort into whatever we are doing, following directions efficiently, diligently and with a cheerful heart to recieve the sweet reward of knowledge.  As an extra bonus we had friends over for tea & brownies & they brought peanut butter cookies (Yum!).  Thursday was a day to just browse our books and extra goodies for the new year.  The girls especially liked the games, poetry, and literature selections for this new school year.  I actually had to make them put some of the books away b/c Abby would have devoured a complete book in one sitting & I really wanted her to take the 12 weeks to go through it & savor the whole thing.  Friday we had a meeting with our homeschool support group.  We were supposed to go to the beach for nature study after but we decided to go to McDonald's w/ our friends from the group & stayed for a few hours.  They played at the playground.  We didn't make it to the beach b/c the kids were beat by the time we left McDonalds.  They are having their first official sleepover tonight and they are having a blast!  They rode bikes until it got dark & then came in for tacos (that was a hit).  Then we made popcorn & watched Chronicles of Narnia.  I made cookies so they are all on a sugar high running around screaming and chasing each other around.  I am trying to hide out & let them play for a few minutes before I make them quite down & get settled for bed.  They have asked to sleep in the living room and watch the Phantom of the Opera.  I love that these are the types of films they choose.  When the girls came over the other day they each brought their copies of Romeo and Juliet and were acting it out with my girls until artistic temperments took hold and the whole thing fell apart and they decided to go bike riding instead.  But just the fact that at 7, 8, and 9 years old they thought it was fun to act out Shakespeare is so thrilling to me.  OK, so that was our first week back at school.  Next week will be more categorically labeled as math, science, literature, etc but this week was a good start to let them know how much I wanted them to enjoy this year and what I expected from them.  I do wish we had made it to the beach for nature study last week but we will do that another day this week.  It's amazing how busy the week can get if I don't write things down to keep myself on track.  So I am off to work on our schedule for next week, I'll keep you posted on how it goes. 

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Jack is 5 years old today!  I cannot believe it has been 5 years already.  So much has happened in that time.  He was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan at Bon Secours Hospital.  We had a wonderful midwife, my first experience with a midwife, she was awesome.  She was very young and pregnant with her first child.  We named him Jackson because I thought it was such a strong, southern name and since I am from the south, I wanted my son to have a name that would be a little piece of my origin.  I truly believed we would never live in the south again.  But, lo and behold, by the time Jack was 6 months old Eric had taken a job in Atlanta, GA.  So we lived there for 2 yrs & then moved to Macon, GA for 2 yrs.  In that time frame we lost Eric's mom to cancer and had 2 more children.  And in June of this year we made the move to Foley, AL.  Quite a bit of living to squeeze into 5 years, Jack has been a busy guy.  But right now his biggest concern is when can he open his presents!  Kids are so resilient.  He is such a treasure, my first son, and he brings me more joy than I can ever adequately express. 

Happy Birthday Jack, Mommy loves you so, so, so, so much!

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Hurricane Ernesto has changed course & is nowhere near us.  I don't even think it is a hurricane anymore, just a bad storm.  I loved all of the doomsday predictions about this hurricane season, they crack me up.  If we stop to think about it, the weather guys can't tell us accurately from day to day what the weather is going to be like, how can we possibly expect them to forecast an entire hurricane season before hand? 

I have a cold/flu thing.  I thought it was just a cold, I felt yucky all weekend and just slept.  Then on Monday Eric was not here so I had to get up and be in charge.  I really didn't feel that bad, I spent a few hours with the kids at the DMV getting the AL tags for my car and then I was so excited to be "street legal" we went to Pensacola for a nostalgic trip.  I found our old house, my old Elementary school, and the house of some family friends.  Their daughter has bought the house and she and her husband were there remodeling.  It was so, so, so good to see them.  I took the kids to Marble Slab for some ice cream & then I was just beat & my head was so stopped up, I felt like I was walking around in a fog.  It has just gotten worse since then.  I seem to run a low grade fever every afternoon (about the time I need to start dinner?!) and have a terrible cough.  Tomorrow is Jack's b-day & the kids have PE class until noon so I thought I would take him to see the Navy Blue Angels practice flying this morning.  We finally got to see them, it was amazing but the kids were in a complaining mood, they are not feeling up to par either so we left early.  From here I promised him a trip to Toys'r'us (spent WAY too much money) and then we went to Marble Slab (again), (why can't I lose weight, but honestly who can resist coconut ice cream w/ strawberries & chocoloate chips!) & then to Sam's club to use the membership I had purchased a month ago & have yet to use.  After this the combination of my throbbing, foggy head & the heat were making me dizzy.  I can't believe we are sick, I had so many fun plans for the week but now I just feel icky.  My parents are coming tomorrow night for the weekend & my mother will inevitably get sick, she always gets whatever we have, I will have to feel guilty for the next month while she is sick. 

We completely blew our schedule this week, I have been letting everyone sleep in because we have all felt icky.  We are starting school next week so hopefully we will be back to normal by then.  OK, I need to put my head down. 

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Yesterday morning during our Bible study we read Luke 5:12-16.  in case you need a refresher, this story is about Jesus healing the leper.  Jesus told him he was cleansed, his leperosy was healed, and then told him to go to the priests to make an offering. 

So here it is, DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....

"Jesus cleaned the man & told him to go make an offer to the priest."

That is just precious!

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We have had great luck finding new (to us) & exciting wildlife recently.  Yesterday, while at the beach my husband saw what looked like a fin come out of the water.  After watching for a few minutes I saw it also.  Then it seemed like they were everywhere.  Of course, we panicked thinking SHARKS!  But after watching for a few minutes we realized these were not sharks.  I am not a very good photographer so I hope you can make them out in the picture.  They are some sort of Ray.  They were everywhere, after we recovered from the initial shock we climbed back in & let them swim around us.  It was a very memorable experience for all of us.  I have been trying to find out what kind of Ray this could be & the best I can come up with is a "lesser" Manta Ray.  They swam in different formations but always in groups of 3 or more, the group in the picture had 6 or more.  I got this picture when a wave scttered them a bit & pushed these guys close to the surface.

I couldn't show pictures at the beach without showing Katy eating sand by the fistfulls.  She loves it, ugh!  How do you keep her from eating it when it is everywhere she touches!  But she sure is cute.

This is a jellyfish caught a week or so ago by a friend of ours.  She was very brave to pick it up.  I love the curiosity of homeschooled children!  (look Mary your famous!)

Talk about "Local Wildlife"  here they are in all their glory!

Like I said, I am not great w/ the camera so I hope you can make out the alligator lurking in the weeds.  Not only am I a poor photographer but I am also a big chicken so this is the closest (w/ my zoom lense)I would get.

Same 'gator different angle & he's going under. 

Ok, that's our show for today boys & girls, next week we will be traveling to the jungles of Africa for a wildlife safari....

I LOVE that this is school!

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

It is so easy to give someone else advice.  I have given many people my opinion on how to deal with boys and learning to read, starting formal school, potty training, discipline, you name it, I've read about it & can tell you the best way to approach it.  But....when it comes to my own boys, I freeze, I panic!  I really believe that boys should not be forced to sit & learn to read (unless they exhibit true interest) until they are 6 or 7 but in our house I am ready to start Jack (5 in 2wks) on a formal phonics program (the Well-Trained Mind version, of course!) & a whole term on "studying" Indians out of books.  Math, I am a bit more relaxed, we are going to be reading living math books & playing games as well as following the Family Math for younger kids. 

The point of telling my dark secret (I don't follow my own advice) is that I am now freeing myself of this burden.  I am going to let go & trust what I have read, what I have told others (and actually works) and follow my own advice.  I had originally planned on using a combination of Horizons Math & Saxon for K but put that away a while ago.  We started using the M&M Counting Book instead (this was a huge success).  So I will be giving some of my curriculum away (this is the hard part, physically letting it go so it is not here to fall back on).  On my friends list check out http://homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome/.  Lori has just started a group to offer your no longer needed curriculum.  I will probably post it there.  I need a few days to get up my nerve to really let it go but I will do it.

So what am I going to do with him?  I have printed out Charlotte Masons list of attainable goals for a 6 yr old.  That will be our syllabus for the year.  Next I have printed out a schedule to keep track of these goals & to schedule what we will work on weekly.  This is not an exact copy of Miss Mason's list but it will give you a general idea:

French: to name 20 objects and say a dozen little sentences, & sing one song

Nature Notebook:

1. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises/sets, and the way the wind blows

2. to describe the boundaries of our home

3. to describe any lake, river, pond, island, etc. within easy reach

4. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views

5. to mount in a scrapbook a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves, to name these, describe them in his own words, and say where they were found

6. to do the same w/ leaves & flowers of 6 forest trees

7. to know 6 birds by song, color, and shape

8. to keep a caterpillar (sorry hubby, it's for your son's education) and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations

Math:

1. to recognize, to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters

Language Arts:

1. to recite beautifully 6 easy poems and hymns

2.to recite perfectly and beautifully a parable and a psalm

3. to copy in print-hand from a book

4. to tell accurately (however short) 3 stories from Bible history. 3 from early American history, and 3 from Indian history

5. to tell 3 stories about his own pets

6. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song

7. to learn the days of the week, months of the year and the seasons, planets, and 5 senses

Reading:

to recognize the 26 letters, to read--what and how much will depend on his interest

(I will be using suggestions from a Ruth Beechick book)

OK, so this is Kindergarten.  I now have to put this into some sort of weekly schedule to accomplish this but I think it is doable, we have a little over a year!  Anyone have any advice to offer?

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

My knight in shining armor arrived on Friday evening to help tame the troops!  He is awesome!  The glass is replaced, the front door is fixed, the toilet flushes, & life is good.  I am back on the computer sporatically but I am trying to focus on some discipline issues with the boys.  These are things that needed to be addressed & I was ignoring them.  Now we should be in good shape come Sept 6th for our first day of the new school year.  The girls are doing great with their new schedule of up by 6 to 6:30 for showers & we meet at the kitchen table for Bible study & tea before we start morning chores.  This is a great improvement for us.  We have been trying to head out in the morning either after breakfast or for a breakfast picnic to a local park for about 1.5 hrs.  It is so hot that 1.5 hrs is about all we can stand.  We then head back home & either right before dinner or right after we have been heading out again to play for another 1.5 hrs.  Yesterday Eric came home early so we went to the beach.  The kids are really enjoying this (except when Abby got stung by a jellyfish).  I will post our final school schedule when I get it all worked out.  Right now I am rearranging rooms so the playroom & schoolroom are side-by-side.  This way the boys can play w/ supervision & are not left to their own mischieviousness (is that a word?).  This is working for us, even the dog is getting more attention these days!  If only I could get really organized, how peaceful this house could be!

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I think I have lost control of my boys.  I really do not know how to reign them in.  I had never been around boys before I had my own.  They are so busy, I used to send them outside when they got too wild but with our current living situation I do not feel comfortable just letting them go outside by themselves.  So far, in the month & a half we have lived here they have broken the cover for the back of one of the toilets, flushed something down the toilet so it won't flush right now, broken the handle on the other toilet so it constantly runs, torn down some insulation in one of the closets, broken a ceiling fan/light switch, broken a window air conditioner, broken off the front door knob, and this morning Jack broke a window in my bedroom, it is shattered & of course Eric is out of town & it is about to rain/storm!  I think I need to spend some serious time with the boys to work on appropriate behavior.  I have been sorely lacking in this lately, I almost can't blame them, with the move & Eric working sooo much they are really rubbing my face in how little attention I have been paying to them.  So I will be on here once a week instead of a few hours every day.  I knew I should be doing this anyway but I am the type of person that needs the slap in the face to finally do the right thing.

The other thing we are changing in our schedule that we did this morning & it worked out so nicely is that the girls take a shower @ 6:00 when they get up & I make hot tea for us.  So we have Bible study together over hot tea before the boys get up.  We are going to study the NT & I Have A Soul M & W and OT & Beautiful Girlhood on T & TH and study the Biblical Holidays on Friday.  This will be for about 1/2 an hour & then they start chores.  It made the morning so much more pleasant & the girls have not acted sleepy & grouchy at all today. (I have though, the whole shattered window thing has turned me into a real grinch but I am working on getting over it!)  So that is all for this week, I'll write more next week.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

This is from my 7 yo daughter:

Fear

by Erin C

I am sad at night

I am happy at day

I am sad when I do not play

I am happy when I play

But a hand lies on me

and she tucks me in bed

and says, "Good-night".

She was inspired by her sister to write poetry.  She spent most of the evening working on this, I am very proud of her efforts.

• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

My 9 yo daughter loves to write stories, poetry, etc. & I wanted to post her latest poem:

The Journey

by Abby C

Head for the mountains,

Head for the lake,

Head for the forest,

Then take a break.

While in the mountains,

 take a hike.

Don't forget to ride your bike.

While at the lake,

 take a jump in.

Don't forget to take a swim.

While in the forest,

dodge the trees.

Hey!  Watch out for those humming bees!

And when you come

to your journeys end,

go and tell it to your friend.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We have allowed some very bad habits to run our lives.  Our children are allowed to stay up until 11:00 or so at night & sleep until 9:00 or 10:00 in the a.m.  I think this started when Eric was working in AL during the week, I enjoyed their company in the evening & we would stay up late on Fridays to see daddy when he came home.  Then in the morning I really enjoyed the quiet, I didn't dare wake them up.  What is the point of all this?  Well, this week we started turning around our sleeping habits.  I got up around 4:45 w/ Eric so he could go to the gym & I could have some quiet time before I got the kids up.  I got the girls up at 6:00 to start their morning chore packs.  The idea is to be finished at 7:30 w/ breakfast & all morning chores so we can start school.  We haven't started school yet, that will be Sept. 6th.  I am taking from now until then to get them used to the new time schedule.  They are to be in bed @ 9:00 with a 1 hour rest time in the afternoon.  The younger ones will rest longer if they need it but the girls have yet to sleep during their rest, they usually read.  I hope this will be a habit before we start back to school so they will not be sleepy & grumpy during the school day (as has been the case this week).  Each day has been progressively better but we blew it today.  I got absorbed in Judges & forgot to wake them up until 8:30.  So my ultimate goal for our schedule will look something like this:

4:45-Up, coffee, iron clothes, bible study, prayer, & other books

6:00-kids up & start chores, I get myself ready & start getting little ones ready for day, make my bed, clean bathroom, eat breakfast, clean up, & start laundry (breakfast outside)

7:30 start school (should be done in 3.5 hrs but give extra time to follow interests & allow for interruptions)

12:00 lunchtime chores, lunch, & clean up (lunch outside)

1:30 rest/nap

2:30 afternoon chores

3:00 read aloud & games

4:00 tea time (extra study)

5:00 outside

6:00 evening chores, dinner, & clean-up

8:00 baths, family time, stories

9:00 bed

I know I will have to tweak this but it is a starting point, a goal! 

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I'm not sure what to title this.  I think I need to ramble a bit tonight and I'm not sure where I am heading with this but here goes...

We went to Pensacola to the Naval Air Museum to see the Blue Angels fly.  We actually left the house by 7:30 (unheard of for me) & were there before the 8:30 start time.  This is where the day turned the corner.  The Blue Angels where out of town so we just went into the museum.  I love being around all of those soldiers, it makes me feel safe. They are usually so friendly and today was no exception.  After being in there about 15 min or so (the boys LOVED this, all the planes & helicopters!) the fire alarm went off & everyone had to evacuate the building.  The fire trucks, police, and ambulance all pulled up shortly after.  We stood outside forever when we decided we would leave & try again next week.  As we headed back to the car we realized there was an ambulance blocking us in so we went back to the front of the museum & waited w/ everyone else for the all clear.  There was no fire, I guess a fire alarm wire was cut while some maintenaince work was being done.  So we went back in for a few minutes & then decided to go see the lighthouse we saw from the parking lot.  We drove around until we found Big Lagoon State Park.  We spent about 2 hours exploring the park & boardwalks & watch tower.  We saw some beautiful birds and some crabs as well as barges and a lot of other boats.  We really enjoyed this, we identified a few flowers & kept one (I'm not sure if you are supposed to do that but Abby picked it before I had a chance to tell her not to so we kept it in our field book, it was a Butterfly Pea BTW, not something I would expect to see by the ocean).  Anyway, we drove from Pensacola to Alabama following the coast, it was such a beautiful drive, I can't believe we have been so blessed to live here.  I hope I never get tired of this view. 

I really need to post Erin's & Jack's curriculum for the year & I would like to post their schedules as well.  I am a little burned out from all of the scheduling & I needed a break this week, I will get back to it next week.  We are going to have a late start back to school, we will start back on the Wed after Labor Day.  I needed this time to clear my head & really put together what I am doing w/ all 5 of the kids this year.  I am so grateful for all of the moms with such wonderful ideas & resources that have taken the time to blog about them.  I am learning & utilizing so many things from others this year.  I really need to thank everyone.  If you just go down my friends list & check out their blogs you will see what I am talking about, lots of great, smart, resourceful moms.

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I had lofty goals for today. 

My plan:  We were going to be up & going by 6:00 am, chores & breakfast completed by 7:30 so we could head to the bank, Post Office, car wash, & get the car vacuumed.  Then home to work on the floor of the school room & check emails.  Everything complete by 11:00 & start afternoon chores so we could be ready for stories at 1:00, rest @ 1:30, 2:30 games & fun, 4:00 tea time, 5:00 start dinner & evening chores, 7:00 family time & bed by 9:00 for the kiddos.

God's plan:  The kids cried when I got them up, we finally left @ 8:30 to go to the bank, Katy threw up in the car just before we got there.  I took her home, cleaned her up (did I mention that she just got a new car seat!) and held her until she fell asleep.  Erin poked Abby in the eye (on accident) & it is really red, almost made a trip to the ER, Jack had a stomach ache & didn't make it to the bathroom, put him in the tub to clean him up & the water came out orange & wouldn't drain (renting is so much fun!), Seth sliced his thumb on a piece of glass (probably should have gotten a stitch or two but didn't), Katy has a fever at this point and just lays on top of me all afternoon, my poor baby!  Abby lost a tooth & it just would not stop bleeding.  Eric gives up & goes to bed @ 9:00, I am ready to head off to bed when the boys catch a 2nd wind & Katy's fever breaks & she is happy, happy, happy but not ready to go to bed. 

Who had the better plan?  At first glance, mine looks pretty appealing but through God's plan I was able to hold my baby all day, I was able to nurse Abby & Seth & show them a tender touch.  Jack & I were able to spend a few quite minutes getting cleaned up.  And Erin got to be my right hand & my big help.  I snuggled & held them all for most of the day.  I choose God's plan.

• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

I have 5 children so this could be a series of entries.  I want to start with Abby since she is the oldest & work my way down.  Abby is 9 and we follow Charlotte Mason using most of the curriculum suggestions from Ambleside Online.  We keep our lessons short (10 to 20 min) so we can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.  She is using Year 4 (which we started last year & took very slow, she is on week 15):

Grammar:  English For The Thoughtful Child

Latin:  Latina Christiana I

Math:  Living Math course

Musical Instrument:  Acoustic Guitar

Penmanship/Copywork:  Poetry & Bible Verses

Singing:  Folksong-The Three Ravens/The Battle of Otterburn/Scarborough Fari & Hymn-Holy, Holy, Holy/A Mighty Fortress Is Our God/This Is My Father's World

Artist Appreciation:  da Vinci/Monet/Rembrandt

Book of the Centuries

Foreign Language:  Teach Me Hebrew, Language Lyrics Spanish, Berlitz French, list of Creek words I found on a Seminole website

Handicrafts:  Keepers At Home

Musical Appreciation:  Johann Sebastian Bach/Mozart/Vivaldi

Nature Study: Handbook of Nature Study, Audubon Field guides, observation, & Nature Journals

Science:  Physics Lab in the Home, It Couldn't Just Happen. Exploring Creation with Astronomy, Madame How and Lady Why

Religion:  Bible, Trial and Triumph, Family Guide to Biblical Holidays

Geography:  Elementary Geography, Kon-Tiki

History:  This Country of Ours, George Washington's World, Abigail Adams

Literature:  Age of Fable, Kidnapped/Incredible Journey/Rip Van Winkle, Paul Revere's Ride, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 

Poetry:  Emily Dickinson/William Wordsworth

Shakespeare:  Romeo and Juliet/Othello/Hamlet

Plutarch:  Alcibiades/Theseus/Lycurgus

Art:  Drawing with Children

It looks a bit daunting for a fourth grader but remember she doesn't do everything everyday.  If we start on schedule we should be finished for the day well before lunch so our afternoons are free for projects, field trips, tea time, free reading, Flat Travel journaling, letter boxing, Seminole studies, games, beach, Bible Studies, etc.!

• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Against my better judgement I let the boys outside to play unsupervised.  I really like one of the girls to be with them or an adult but they really needed to burn up some energy and I desperatley wanted a few quite minutes to read to the girls.  So out they went and we were reading quite happily when I heard blood curdling screams from outside.  Jack threw open the door screaming, "Seth has something on his hand!" and slams the door right in Seth's  face!  Seth is horror stricken, screaming like a madman and can't get the door open.  I am running for the front door as fast as I can while trying to catch a glimpse through the front door window to see what has attacked my child.  I am envisioning a spider or snake or some hideous bug.  As I throw the door open I see it.  Crawling his way up my babies shorts is the fattest green caterpillar I have ever seen.  Boy, do we need to get out more!  After I removed the caterpillar to a jar and calmed Seth down the kids decided to name him Jackie (whatever!).  He has now taken up residency on our kitchen table & we are all watching intently for a cocoon to form.  So now the big question...what do you feed a caterpillar?  leaves, right?  Do I need to give him water?  We put a stick in with him so he can attach his cocoon to it.  What else do I need to do? 

• Comments (4) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

We usually school year round and take breaks when needed but last year it seemed as if we took more breaks than we actually did school work.  We had a new baby, Eric had his business he needed help with, Eric took a job 6hrs away so we traveled back & forth between Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee (my parents) and then the actual move.  So this year we are taking a different approach.  I am planning school and planning breaks.  I plan to schedule PE classes & outside HS activities for the kids to be involved in so we can plan our days around these.  I am also taking a more CM approach to our days.  I want to encourage the kids to narrate & write stories, either ones they have read or ones they make up themselves.  I am planning once a week Tea Time to read our stories, poetry, thoughts, observations, whatever it may be & compile these into a newsletter.  Abby will be able to send hers to a new friend in Michigan, thanks to her mom for suggesting this (Thanks Renee!).  I will make copies of these & put them in a binder for a keepsake for the girls at the end of the year.  I also want to use our tea time to do an extra Bible Study, a study of Biblical holidays, and geography study.  I have a world map that I am going to use as a table cloth on our kitchen table w/ a clear cover.  We have discovered Flat Travelers (Thanks for blogging about this Kris!) and will be checking out our Flats progress & updating journals for the ones we are hosting.  We are finally going to be implementing the Living Math course I have had since January, lots of applicable math, games, living math books.  We are very excited.  I have chosen some easy French, Spanish, and Hebrew tapes to listen to & we will be studying Latina Christiana for my 9yr old And Prima Latina for my 7yr old.  We will be studying Bach for the first term as well as Da Vinci.  I have backpacks full of supplies for nature journaling and lots and lots of books for history, science, etc.  We plan to read, read, read!  We are also going to be studying Seminole Indians & trying a few new handicrafts.  Now I just have to work out the details, get my supplies together, and fit it all into our schedule.  I am really looking forward to this more organized approach to school.  Maybe we will feel a little more accomplished this year.

• Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link