Home Again - Homeschool Blogger

Finally Done with Kidney Stuff

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:45:00 -0600

Well, I hope so anyway. On Monday, I had my 5cm stone blasted with sound waves to break it up. It went really well. They got done faster than I expected. They also broke it up small enough that I didn't need a stint. I have had some pain with it. They gave me a prescription for pain killers, but they make me dizzy. I have a recheck next week and then hopefully we are done dealing with my kidney stuff for a very long time.

Discouraged With Homeschooling

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:01:00 -0600

This is our 5th year of homeschooling and our most difficult yet. I know that a lot of it has to do with having a mobile baby. It seems like every time that we get into a good schooling groove, I have to stop to nurse Parker to sleep. This disrupts things and it is hard to get the boys back on track.
The boys are still not really making friends with the homeschool kids. Every Park Day, someone gets invited to someone else's house. My kids are never invited and it really hurts their feelings. I have tried to encourage them to be proactive and do the inviting. I have told them that if we start inviting people over than they are more likely to get invited back. Unfortunately they say that they don't really like those kids anyway.
So they only really hang out with the neighbor kids which are all public schooled. Which makes my kids want to be public schooled also. So they give me attitudes about doing their work. I find that very draining emotionally.
I still really feel that God has called me to homeschool them. Please pray that things will get easier.

Christmas Photos and Knitting Presents

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:52:00 -0600

I like to do family photos for Christmas. It makes a good semi-inexpensive gift for my family. Especially for the ones that don't get to see the boys very often. I actually go to two different places, so that I can use coupons to get all the photos that I want for the lowest prices.

The other thing that I am doing for Christmas presents this year is knitting ornaments. I am making these little sweater ornaments. It is kind of fun. I am using up a lot of my leftover bits and pieces of yarn right now. Some of them are coming out very cute.

Football Season Has Finally Ended

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:35:00 -0600

Last night was the championship game. Kodi's team won 36-22. They went undefeated this year. He was so excited. I am kind of glad it is over. I didn't get any pictures with my camera this time. The lens cover on my camera is stuck half way open and is unusable. That is one reason that I am not blogging much. I don't have any pictures to show.

Football

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:25:00 -0500

Kodi is playing football again this season. He so loves it. He is getting to play more this year. He is on the Bears again and is really getting to know the coaches better. So far this year they are undefeated. Not only that but check out these stats:
Bears 68 - Cowboys 0
Bears 58 - Jets 0
Bears 23 - Colts 20
Bears 35 - Cowboys 0
The game against the Colts was very intense. They only pulled ahead in the last quarter.
Oh, and I have a football problem. Kodi wants to continue to play ball through high school and college. The city league ends at 7th grade, so he can play next year as well. He doesn't want to play 6 man football with the large homeschool group that is 45 minutes away. He wants to be able to be seen by college scouts. I however feel that God is leading me to homeschool them through high school. If I let Kodi go to public school then Eman will be angry if I don't let him go to. So I am praying about what to do in this situation.

I Must Be Doing Something Right.

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:10:00 -0500

I know I haven't been very good about posting on here again. I have been waiting until something pops into my head and says, "Hey, I should blog about this." Plus my lens cap on my camera is stuck half open, so I am not getting any new pictures right now.
Anyway, on to my point. Every now and then I get discouraged. I think that maybe I am not teaching the boys enough academically or spiritually. They still fight a lot. Which I know some of it is just normal boy behavior and a lot is probably not. However I have noticed this: Our having a new baby has done some growing in the older boys. Sure they have their moments like tonight when Parker needing me to nurse him to sleep disrupted our family game night or when Eman wanted to go hang out with friends but Parker was sleeping and I needed to drive Kodi to football practice. At Park Day on Friday, the boys went off with the other kids while Parker and I visited with the moms. The kids all head back when they notice that Park Day is almost over. They hang out nearby talking while they wait for the moms to say that it is time to go. Both of them came separately over to Parker to say hi and make faces at him. Like they missed him in the hour or so that they were away from him. Then Saturday during Kodi's football game, Kodi came over twice and checked on Parker when he was on the sidelines. Another kid almost backed into me and I kind of made a joke so that he was aware that we were behind him. Kodi said to him, "Watch out! My baby brother is sleeping there." They are very protective of him. Last night we went to Parker's aunt and uncle's house. Parker was getting to the point where he was ready to go home and go to bed. He was a little bit fussy and Kodi was holding him trying to get him happy. Parker's cousin who is two came up and slapped him in the face. Kodi got very upset and started telling her not to hit people. He was getting so mad that I thought that he might hit her. I got him calmed down, but he was still like, "You don't hit a baby that is already fussy."

Knitting Group

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:00:00 -0500

About a year ago, I saw a flyer posted on the wall of my library announcing a group for knitters. I decided to go visit it. It turned out that the lady leading the group was a woman I always saw at the library's summertime program with her granddaughter. She is a very sweet woman and had complimented me on one of my hand knitted purses. I enjoyed the meeting but since it was only once a month, it was difficult for me to remember which week it was on amidst homeschooling and life. So, I just kept forgetting to go. Back in June, there was a new flyer up announcing it again. This time it was once a week. I went once before my surgery and after my recovery I have started going almost every week. I have a blast. Parker and I are the youngest ones there. The other women are in their late 50's to 60's. We all knit and/or crochet and just chat about all kinds of things. It has been fun to see the latest projects that everyone is working on and to show off what I've been working on. Victoria (the leader) used to work as a fashion designer in New York. She is very innovative with her projects. She designs things and combines yarns in a way that I would never even think of. And it looks good too. She truly inspires me to be more creative with my knitting and not worry about sticking to a pattern. I think once I am done making my Christmas gifts for people, I will experiment a little with my surplus yarn.

The Voice of Experience

Tue, 1 Sep 2009 19:27:00 -0500

Ok, you experienced homeschool moms, I have some questions. Please help me on these two things:
#1 - homeschooling with a teething baby. Enough said.

#2 - Eman is really bad about interrupting me while reading or discussing things during school. Many times they are justifiable questions. But if he would just wait one more paragraph or so, the question would be answered. I am getting really frustrated, because I hate all the interruptions. Especially when I am trying to hurry because something else is going on.

Any ideas???????

Updated Link Hat Instructions and Testing Box.net

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:47:00 -0500

Link Hat

Strange Expectations

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:18:00 -0500

I grew up in a Christian home. I was almost always surrounded by Christians. We went to church regularly. I went to the church school for several years. I taught at a Christian school for 3 years. I was sending my boys to a Boy Scout troop that consists of Christians. It wasn't until recently that I realized that I automatically assume someone is a Christian when meeting them. I expect all people to have the same values that I do. I even expect them to raise their children in a similar fashion. I then end up surprised when someone says something unChrist-like or shows behavior that doesn't demonstrate having the same values. I know that even though I am a Christian, I still sin and do things wrong. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about flagrant anti-Christianity. It also really surprises me when I see people that don't make their children mind, don't spank them, or who just let their children rule the roost. I really don't know why this surprises me considering these attitudes and behaviors are becoming so common today.