I plan to spend some time here sharing what is going on in our little homeschool, my kitchen, my ongoing remodel (ugh) and my walk with the Lord. We are loving Sonlight Core B for my 5 year old son. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 3 Dec 2007 23:35:00 -0600 Mon, 3 Dec 2007 23:35:00 -0600 I can't believe it's been so long since I posted a blog. I didn't fall off the face of the earth but I am trying to get to bed at a decent hour and not be so grumpy.  Hence, my lack of blogging lately. Also, to be truthful I am probably, well, most definitely, addicted to the internet. I check email around 35 times a day and if I look at the headlines I completely forget about the time and start poking around on different links. The reason I think it's an addiction is because my house can be a total disaster and yet I sit there. Ugh. Anyway...all that to say that I'm really trying to stay off the computer as much as I can and be more productive around the house.  I just read that internet addiction is really a problem in Korea and they have a boot camp for it. Luckily, I'm not a gamer so that's not a problem for me. But my husband would probably like to send me to boot camp anyway...or maybe just give me a big boot...heehee.   Thankfully I have been very faithful with the homeschooling and I am still enjoying it. I do get frustrated at times and I remind myself that he's 5 and that I need to readjust my expectations. As we go further with the Sonlight Core B curriculum I realize that it doesn't really meet my son's needs regarding Science or Language Arts. It's a little bit lightweight in both areas. My son already knew his letters and our schedule calls for us to start "learning" letters via Dr Seuss' ABC's book. We are done with  letters so I am moving into Sing Spell Read Write as a supplement to what we are doing. The Berenstain Bears Almanac, Science and Nature Guide (that is part of Sonlight's Core B) is really fun to read but DS has a big interest in Oceans, sharks, dolphins etc.. so we are delving pretty deeply into that for our science now. ...which leads me to my new addiction...LAPBOOKING.  My DD (3) and I just finished our first lapbook (Nativity) and I am so excited. It was fun to do with her and she loved all of it.  I just purchased the SHARK project pack from Hands of a Child (www.handsofachild.com) and can't wait to start that with my son this week. I will try to post pictures of the Nativity Lapbook on my blog here (if I can figure out how to do that). I got the idea and templates from a yahoogroup that I belong to (lapbooking@yahoogroups.com) I got the template from  http://photojenic.wordpress.com:80/2007/11/20/advent-christmas-unit-study-2007/ but I don't know the original author. Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/438333/ Mon, 3 Dec 2007 23:35:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/438333/ I'm a wee bit stressed. We are in the middle of a big remodel/addition project (big for us). We added on 800 square feet in order to add one bedroom (master bed/bath) and one family room. We are now at the stage where I need to pick out light fixtures, paint for the outside of the house and tile. Frankly,  I am house-decorating challenged AND I just don't like to shop. I think all of my friends would be thrilled to decorate my house and I really wish they would! I cannot seem to figure out what I like (all of it looks lovely) and I find it extremely annoying that I can't choose something. I keep saying "we" but what I really mean is ME as my hubby is really, really busy with work right now and he has given this whole project to me. I am very thankful that we are adding on room but I just wish that I actually had an opinion on where the light switches should be, which kind of furnace I should buy or what kind of texture should be applied to the sheetrock. I really don't care. I'm not trying to be mouthy and say "I don't care" as in "whatever!" Rather, I really and truly don't care what it looks like and I really don't have an opinion. All the catalogs and decorating magazines are just lovely.  Everyone keeps asking me, "how is the remodel going?" I tell everyone, it's going great. Living with the noise, mess etc..is really a piece of cake for me. Making all the decisions is the challenge for me. But who am I kidding, I can't even decide what I want to eat at any restaurant.  I'll be at our favorite Mexican place ( where I always order chicken quesadillas) and I'll pore over the whole menu.  I'll agonize over which entree to choose and then I just give in....."Chicken quesadilla please."   I know that  my inability to make decisions must mean something.......... Sorry this post has nothing to do with homeschool or my kids. But I can say this: homeschooling is the LEAST stressful thing in my life right now. OK, real quick story about my son (5). We were on a beachcombing field trip today.  One of the ladies there is Miss Heidi. He keeps calling her Miss Hiney. I have corrected him SO many times. I'm starting to  get embarrassed. Have a great weekend everyone!!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/416000/ Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/416000/ I had such a wonderful time this past weekend. My dh was so sweet and stayed with the kids while I went away for a ladies scrapbook weekend. I love completing pages in my scrapbook. I usually try to squeeze in two of these retreats per year but sadly, I had not been able to in the past year. I completed 52 pages this weekend, finishing our 2005 family album and starting on 2006. YES! I am not a fancy scrapbooker, although I am in complete awe  of people who do those beautiful pages. Alas, my pages are fairly plain but I am so pleased that they are done. When you see another person's page design or layout that you like and you copy it that is what we call "scrapjacking."  I'll just tell you right now, I've never been scrapjacked .   We had such a lovely mellow day today. We usually have our co-op classes on Mondays but my son is sick (just a cold) and we decided to lay low today.  After finishing our work we went on the side of our house to pick apples. Our neighbor has a lovely huge apple tree in desperate need of a pruning. If I knew anything about pruning I would try to help her out by pruning it. Since I don't want to kill it I'll just leave it alone. There are several branches growing on our side of the fence and the whole tree is just bursting with apples. I filled my Longaberger basket with as many apples as I could carry (with permission of course). We made Crumb-topped Apple pies and shared them with all of our neighbors. We are blessed to have several neighbors that are quite kind and we enjoy friendships with many of them. I'm just feeling grateful today to have had a great deal of scrapbook time this weekend, a loving husband, kind neighbors who share their apples and to have my house filled with the scent of cinnamon right now. If you are in the mood for an apple pie try this recipe: Pie crust: 2 cups of flour, 1/2 t  salt, 2T butter (or oil), 5-7 T of cold water. Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter until crumbly. Make an indentation in the mixture and put in 5T of cold water. Mix it up with your hands - add more water if necessary until it's a beautiful white ball - not sticky. Cut in half. Place layer of flour on cutting board and roll it out. Each half will make one pie crust.  Crumb topping: 1/2 cup flour, 1/8 cup white sugar, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/8 t salt, 6T butter (you could also had 1/3 cup oatmeal for some fiber in there). Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter. Pie filling: 4-6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced, 2t cinnamon, 1 T sugar (double this to make two pies to match your two pie crusts). Put apples in a large bowl, add cinnamon and sugar. Put pie crust in dish and add the apple mix. Sprinkle your crumb topping over it or put your 2nd pie crust on. If you have extra crust after cutting it  from around the sides you can break that into pieces and place it on the top of your apples, then add your crumb topping. Place on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool and open the windows. If the hubby or your kids are outside they will be sure to come in right away.       http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/409122/ Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:15:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/409122/ It's been a few days since I've been able to blog. Another busy weekend for our household. However, I wanted to share something special that happened on Thursday. My 5 year old son and I were plowing through Math and he was enjoying our time together. He looked at me and asked, "Am I so precious to you Mom"?  " You are so precious to me, I love you and I am so blessed to have you" I said to him. He gave me a squeeze and a cute smile and started right back to work. I was telling my mom about that little exchange when she reminded me that I would miss all those type of moments if I was sending him to school. It just reminded me why I am doing this: I love spending time with my children. I don't want to send them off to school 7 hours a day. I don't want to  get what is leftover at the end of the day, bicker over homework then race to soccer practice and AWANAS. I'm not against public school, especially since I am a product of public school but I am so glad that I have made this choice to homeschool. I have lots of friends who send their kids to public schools and they are so happy with their choice.  I'm very pleased with our choice and I have peace about it. OK, since I told a story about my son I can't  leave out my sweet 3 year old daughter. On Friday morning both of my kids came flying into my room around 7am. We usually have some snuggle time and read books. Many times, in the morning, I ask them about their dreams.  Friday morning I asked my daughter what she dreamt about. This is what she said: " I dreamed that I wanted a playdate with Abby, and THIS time you said yes".   Needless to say, I arranged a playdate for her on Friday afternoon. Have a blessed Sunday everyone. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/404405/ Sun, 7 Oct 2007 12:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/404405/ It's been three weeks now and I know that it's early but I really love homeschooling my son (5).  I love the flexibility of it. I love how we have playtime in the morning and we are not rushing out the door.  I love how he comes right over when I start to read a story to him and he snuggles right into me. I love that he asks for me to read more stories.  I love that he is really giving his best effort when doing things that he finds difficult (writing and drawing).  I know that we will have difficult days...but I love right where we are now. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/394328/ Thu, 20 Sep 2007 01:42:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/394328/ I was so blessed to be at my friend's grandaughter's birth this weekend (it was so thoughtful of her to deliver on a weekend (hee-hee) ).  What a glorious morning it was...  we all cried and screamed when she had a girl (she thought she was having a boy...but never really found out what the ultrasound was).  She had hoped for a girl though. I have one of each and they are both a blessing.  Birth is so powerful and so empowering for new moms (my opinion). We have made it through our first week of homeschooling. Already I feel that my son and I are closer because we are spending so much time together. He's being kinder to me and to his little sister as well. I think that reason alone is the best benefit I can imagine. We just got back from our first night (ever) of AWANA's. The kids loved it and I'm hoping that they will meet some new friends. If you ever need a super fast cookie recipe try these Cream Cheese Cookies: Mix one block of softened cream cheese (8oz) with 1/2 stick of softened butter. Add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 egg. Then mix in 1 box of cake mix (the kind that has the pudding in the mix). You can use white, strawberry or yellow cake mix (they will all turn out great). Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 mins. People love these cookies. My sweet Aunt Suzie (who homeschooled in the '80s and  lives in a beautiful log cabin in NY) taught me this recipe when I was a kid. Whenever I make them I think of her. I hope you enjoy them. My ds made them with me today (our little project today).             http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/386795/ Thu, 6 Sep 2007 22:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/386795/ Hi.. I just started this last night and am still trying to figure this stuff out. Here is a little about myself: I'm 38, married to my wonderful husband Mark and we have two children. Riley is 5 and his sister Katie Rose is 3. I have always read wonderful things about homeschooling and really believe that it's the way to go. And here I am.... about to start homeschooling Riley. We are still waiting for our curriculum (YES!) but we have started working on a few things since last week. Before kids I was a midwife (CNM) and now I work very part time (once or twice a month).  I love babies, pregnant mamas, birth and the whole process!  Every birth is amazing. I came to this site because all of our friends start public school last week and we are feeling lonely. But I do feel that this is the best for my son and our family. I am just praying for patience and wisdom.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/382563/ Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/midwifeliz/382563/