You know, I really did mean to start that study on U.S. history.  It just hasn't happened yet.  I got the books out of the library, renewed them twice, and never opened them.  Most of the time I feel like my head is all fuzzy and I can't think straight.  By the time I get the kids in the schoolroom, I just want to do math and language arts and be done with it. 

So which is more important - having a curriculum that I'm happy with and I can use easily, or having a curriculum the boys are happy with and they won't complain about?  Because with the former, they hated school, but they learned.  We got stuff done.  With the latter, I can't consistently get things planned to the point where we accomplish anything.  I'm thinking of going back to an online curriculum, at least for some subjects.  I loved K12, but I couldn't afford to do all subjects for all the boys.  There are other options as well, none cheap, but it's got to be better than spending money on books I never use, right?

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the encouraging comments I've received.  I know that homeschooling is what I'm supposed to do, but sometimes I wish it weren't.  Sometimes I wish it were a viable option to just ship them off to school every day.  But it isn't.  And private school isn't an option.  We could never afford it, and I still don't like the idea of them being around the influence of other kids I don't know.

[[Sigh]]  So, I'm sort of writing my own curriculum here.  We're going to study early American history, to coincide with a co-op class my oldest son is taking.  I'm going to cruise the 'net to find appropriate materials to supplement this course of study.  I'm going to wait until Hubby gets home at night to try to teach the "group lesson" so he can keep the 3-year-old occupied.

And hey, if you're looking for some good recipes, I decided as long as I was planning out my meals every week, I might as well share my stuff with other people who might want to lose weight or just eat healthier (I have lost 65 pounds so far).  Just go here and join me for dinner!

We had such a fabulous trip - three weeks in sunny Florida and only one rainy day to speak of.  The boys had a most wonderful time.  I only wish we could have stayed longer.

Thank you all for the comments and advice on my previous post.  I still feel so discouraged.  I'm going to take a couple of weeks here before Christmas to just relax and not worry too much about school.  Of course, we have to do 180 days before June 30, but I can probably squeeze those in. 

My youngest turned three this week, and I'm hoping he will start to come out of his "terrible" phase soon.  He spends a good deal of the day crying over one thing or another.  We had one day in Disney that was like that, and Hubby was complaining about it, and I just said, "Welcome to my world."  He really makes me crazy sometimes.

I know you're all probably wondering where I've been and frankly, so have I.  Though I blog on my regular blog every day, I find myself wanting to be a little more honest here, where my family and friends can't find me.

I started this blog as a place to discuss my homeschool triumphs and tragedies, because I knew there would be other people out there going through the same things.  And it has been so wonderful to have the encouragement I've needed.  But the truth is, lately I haven't had any triumphs.  I haven't had any tragedies.  I've pretty much given up.

So here we are on our vacation in Florida.  I started school three weeks early so we could take this time off without falling behind.  I am discouraged.  I don't want to go back to school on the 10th.  I'm just so tired.  I'm tired of planning lessons, but I'm more tired of planning lessons that don't get taught.  I'm tired of math, but I'm more tired of children who won't do their math.  I'm tired of sitting in the school room, but I'm more tired of sitting in the school room waiting for children who don't come even when they've been called a hundred times.

This is bad, folks.  I don't usually get to this point until April.  Here it is November and I want it to end.  I feel like I'm totally screwing up here.  And I don't know how to get out of this hole.

We're planning this trip to Disney World next month.  It's been six years since we were there, so my younger two boys have never been (well, the five year old was in utero, but I don't think that counts).  They are all really excited.  As am I, since Disney is my favorite place ever and I would live there if I could.

Anyway... I was looking at the lists of attractions at each park and thinking about the fact that many of them require a visitor to have some sort of prior knowledge to understand them.  For example, what is the Swiss Family Treehouse if you've never read the book or at least seen the movie?  And I thought, hey, I should come up with a Disney unit study, where we discuss different attractions and study the stories behind them.  This will be particularly good for EPCOT, which by its very nature is full of educational opportunities, but it will work for all four parks, really.

So I'm going to spend the weekend putting together a few days' worth of studies based on Disney attractions.  With a little planning, I think this will make an exciting group of lessons, and will really enhance our time in the parks once we're there!

Thanks for the encouragement after my last post.  I wish I could say things have gotten better, but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels.  We leave for Florida in a month and we'll be gone three weeks.  I want to stay on track until then so that we can just relax while we're there.  I know I'll be able to count some of what we do there as school time (EPCOT for example), but I don't want to have to think about work while we're on vacation.

Right now, I have one week's worth of lessons planned out.  I tried to implement the first of these on Monday and met with nothing but grumbling and complaining.  My children obviously do not understand how lucky they are to be at home instead of sitting in a classroom eight hours a day.  The whole trip to Florida would be off if they were in school.  Instead, they whined about listening to a six-minute presentation online.  Six minutes!  Oh, the horror, the cruelty!  Give me a break.

I can't even get them out of bed in the morning anymore, let alone get them to do any extra work, and by extra I mean anything except math and language arts.  I'm so tired of yelling and being ignored and being treated like the bad guy for wanting them to learn something.

We are having one of those months, where nothing much seems to get done and I spend most of the day discouraged.  I feel like I've lost control and I don't know how to get it back.  I can get the boys to do their math and language arts, but as far as anything else, we've been completely negligent.  I'm just tired and frustrated.

The worst thing is dealing with DS2.  He demands constant attention.  So many times, just when I feel like I'm getting something accomplished, he comes along and starts screaming at me and I totally lose it.  I can't be an effective teacher and keep track of a 2 year old at the same time.

And I especially feel bad for DS11, who follows all the rules and does everything he's supposed to.  He ends up being "punished" by not being allowed to play on the computer or Wii because if he does, his brothers who have not done their work yet will sit and watch him and not get anything done.  It's frustrating me to have to take a privilege away from the one child who deserves to have it!

{{Sigh}} Just needed to vent.

What a wonderful visit my family just had with this lovely lady and her family!  My husband and I grew up in the same church as her husband, and I just happened to see her name on Mr. Linky back when we had the Homeschool Open House.  They are missionaries in Alaska and are on furlough, traveling around the country visiting different churches, and they stayed here last night while on their way south. 

We talked and talked and TALKED!  I always love meeting other homeschool moms, so we had a lot to talk about.  And their kids are great.  I hardly knew they were here, especially since my kids were being so rowdy!  Michele, if you're reading this, I hope you had as much fun as I did!  Let's do it again, any time you're in the area.  You're always welcome!

Lots of cute puppies!  Fun assignment!

Heb. 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

This week's assignment is to share our internet treasures.  So here we go!

A website I visit every day: Wunderground - this is simply the best weather site out there.  Anything weather related, they have it.  And they're usually very accurate.

First place I look for a book to buy: Amazon - always.

Favorite Homeschool support area: probably the Yahoo group for KONOS.  If you're using  their curriculum, there are lots of links and things, plus a place to chat with other KONOS families.

Homeschool site full of information I use regularly: Clickschooling.  Lots of information on websites you can use to teach.  Every day they have a new link.  I've found some of the most awesome sites this way!

 Site I buy new curriculum from: Discount Homeschool Supply - they seem to have the best prices around, and they are homeschoolers, too!

Site I buy used curriculum from: Homeschool Classifieds - other homeschoolers looking to sell their used materials.  Also, Amazon. 

A site that offers frugal tips to save money:  I don't have one

A site that provides good wholesome recipes: Simple & Delicious - I get the magazine, so there's extra subscriber content available, but even if you don't subscribe, you can find just about everything here.

A site I'd allow my children to visit: Professor Garfield - they love Garfield, and they love this site!

A site that offers a calendar with historical and other events: Universal Preschool has a nice day-by-day calendar.

Other sites that provide a wealth of information: Enchanted Learning is great for unit studies or supplemental activities.  But my favorite way to find a lesson plan is to Google "lesson plan" and whatever we're studying.  I have found some of the best resources this way and I highly recommend it as a way to homeschool for free, if you have the time to plan it!

Part 1 of this week's assignment is to use each letter of the alphabet to begin a word that describes me or something important to me.  So here we go!

A - Amiable

B - Books

C - Coffee

D - Dieting

E - Everyday

F - Friendly

G - Generous

H - Homeschool

I - Imaginative

J - Jana

K - Kids

L - Love

M - Music

N - Novelist

O - Open

P - Purple

Q - Queen

R - Rockapella

S - Shakespeare

T - Trivia

U - Unafraid

V - Victorious

W - Wild

X - Xcellent!

Y - Yak

Z - Zoo

A lot of those sound very peculiar when I'm not allowed any type of explanation!

And part 2 is to share a scripture.  I Cor. 9:24 - Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

It seems like my Hubby's been offered a job in Wisconsin.  It's the same company he's with currently, just a different job.  We don't know yet how much more it would pay, if anything, but he's already trying to figure out how we could keep our house here in PA and still live in WI for a couple of years.  He doesn't see the position they're talking about as lasting more than two or three years.  And then he'd probably be sent back here.

So, the problems with moving are many.  First of all, this house can't just sit empty.  But we'd have to either pay caretakers or rent it out.  And it's nowhere near rentable condition right now.  Which means it's not in saleable condition, either.  There are just lots of little things that need to be done.  And then there's the unfinished room over the garage. 

Of course, there's the positive side of moving.  I love exploring new places and meeting new people.  We would be close to everything the midwest has to offer.  And the homeschooling law in Wisconsin looks great compared to here.  That alone is enough to entice me!

Right now we're waiting to hear what the offer would be.  It would have to be really good for us to consider it.  And of course, if he really wants to do it, I'm not going to tell him he can't.  I'm just blessed with a husband who would never make a decision like this without me.  But it's still a big decision!

Julie has given me this nice award.  I mean, literally, a nice award!

Isn't that sweet?  She is another mom of 4 boys who always has sweet comments and I appreciate her thoughtfulness.  Thanks, Julie!

I think I'm supposed to pass this on, so I will think on it and come back later.  Right now, it's time for breakfast!

Welcome to the first homework assignment for Blogger Friend School 2007-2008!

Originally, I started a blog as a way to keep my family informed about what we were all up to.  It seemed like a really easy format for sharing stories and pictures.  But then I discovered it was a wonderful way to meet people with similar interests and started blogging more for fun.  I started this particular blog specifically to talk about our homeschooling journey and to meet other homeschoolers.

My dream place to blog would be anywhere that I could get away from the kids for an hour!  I find it very difficult to compose a coherent thought, let alone actually write everything I want to, most of the time!

I usually blog in the morning, before the boys wake up.

My favorite drink is coffee, hands down.  I like flavored coffees, and I drink it black.

My favorite book is difficult.  I have many favorites.  One that jumps to mind is Captivating by Stasi Eldridge.

My favorite dessert is anything chocolate.

My favorite scripture is Romans 8:28.  I have found it to be true time and time again in my life - all things really do work together for good.

So there you have it!  I'm going to go visit some other classmates now!

I love finding lesson plans and resources on the web because it's free and I don't have to leave home to get it.  The other day I found this awesome website with hundreds of games for learning and practicing English grammar.  You can choose the level of the child, the topic (antonyms, for example), and then choose the activity.  DS8 played the game I picked for him, plus two more without being told!  Check it out!

The co-op meeting went well, or pretty well.  We had a couple of minor problems, for example when I told the other committee members that there were 22 kids in one of the classes.  The teacher for that class didn't put a maximum number of kids, and the other classes that period were full, so she got everybody else in the 9-11 age group.  We ended up calling the other teachers and convincing them to take three extra kids each.  Then we printed all the schedules, stuffed them in envelopes, and mailed them out.

I started getting phone calls the next day.  "Why am I helping in Gym?"  "My kids didn't get their first choices."  "I told J I didn't want that class."  Etc, etc.  Most of these problems could have been solved if they had just specified their preferences when they filled out the registration forms.  But no, they'd rather wait and complain to me so that I have to move people all around to different classes and then reprint and resend all the forms.  It really bothers me when adults can't follow directions, you know?

So co-op starts a week from Tuesday, and once it starts, there are usually very few problems.  It's just getting everything together before then!

We have gotten off-schedule somehow in the past two days.  Hubby and I overslept until 9:30 today, so all the boys overslept, too.  Here it is 11:00 and we haven't started school yet.  And this, my friends, is why I'm so glad I spent all that time making up lesson plans ahead of time!  Even though we're getting a late start, we still have a list of what we need to cover today.  So maybe we'll finish a little later than usual, but it will get done!

Our homeschool co-op committee, of which I am a member, is meeting at my house today.  Which means my house is actually clean for a change!  Not that I don't clean every single day, but I do tend to allow a certain amount of clutter when it's just us here.  Anyway, we're doing a potluck lunch and then sitting down to stuff envelopes.  I was in charge of assigning all the adults to classes as helpers, and we seem to have a lot more helpers than classes.  Not sure what to do about that.  Everyone is supposed to be required to teach or co-teach a class to participate, but not everyone follows that rule.

So, anyway, co-op starts on the 11th of September and goes for ten weeks, the last week being the showcase when kids perform or show off what they've made in their classes.  Just thinking about it makes me tired.  Oh, well, the kids like it.  And I do enjoy the adult interaction.

Well, they'll be here any minute.  Better get ready!

Shell, the oil and gasoline company, has a great section on their website that explains what fossil fuels are, where they come from and how they are used.  There are cute little videos to watch, games, and other stuff like that.  We happened to be starting the Stewardship section of Konos yesterday, and the first section in there is about natural resources, so this fit right in.

The only caveat is that they talk about it taking "millions of years" to form oil or coal, but besides that, this was a great resource.