I am considering traveling there to check this out.  I've never been to a homeschool convention.  Sounds like fun though.  

Anyone else going?

I guess it has.  Where has the time gone?  I read blogs almost every day and didn't even realize it had been this long since I posted on mine.

I don't have much time to write now as it is late.   Although I have much to write about, it will have to wait.

We are all getting very excited.  We love this time of year.  Actually, I think we love all the seasons/holidays through out the year.  It's nice to have a change and something to look forward to. 

I've been watching the Food Network on t.v. looking for new recipes to try for Thanksgiving.  I think I do that every year.  I plan all of these delicious sounding recipes to try but then I rarely use any of the new ones.  Alot of the things I make for Thanksgiving I only make for Thanksgiving.  So everyone always wants to have those dishes.  You can only cook so much ya know!!!!

School is going good.  Not great.  We aren't doing anything that's reallly WOW right now but the kids are learning and everyone is happy. 

We are still going to the gym.  The kids love it and I have lost 4 lbs. and about 1.5 inches.  It's amazing what a huge difference that little bit has made.  I guess I have also built muscle which has helped alot.  I can actually fit into a pair of jeans I haven't worn for 3 years.  I'm not very big to begin with so a few pounds really has meant alot.  It's funny how you almost get addicted to exercise. 

Hope all is going well with everyone in their preparations for the coming holidays.

It rained the whole time.  It was cold the whole time.  But it was so much fun.  The kid's excitement helped overlook the miserable weather.  They got tons of candy and their costumes held up.  It sure felt good to get back home though.  

The other highlight of the day...I was shot...at point blank range.  O.k., it was just a b.b. gun.  But it still hurt really, really bad.  It put a hole in my shoe. And in my sock.  But not my foot.  Just a bruise there.  My third child was playing with it and he knew it was loaded.  But he isn't really able to get it pumped up enough to truly fire.  Or so we thought.  So, it was an accident.  We have told them over and over and over again to never take chances with things like that.  I bet he won't ever again. 

And one last thing, can anybody tell me any good websites that can teach me how to improve my blog?  I really want to add some stuff, but I just can't figure out how.  I need a blogs for dummies site.

I took this free brain test from http://web.tickle.com/tests/brain/index_main.jsp.  It said that I had a balanced brain (I use both sides equally...at least for this test) and that I am an auditory learner.  It said that this can often cause you to be indecisive because one side of the brain wants to look at it one way and the other side the other way.  Other than that, it sounded like a great result.

I know it's just a simple test, but hey, maybe that is why I am so indecisive.  I didn't think I was an auditory learner though.  I have always felt I was visual.  Who knows?

I'd like to know some of your results if you go take it.

The past few days have not been all that great.  I let the kids coerce me into a trip I really didn't want to go on.  I told them I figured the weather would be cold and rainy and we would not get to go outside much.  My in-laws told them otherwise, so they persisted and I caved.  I didn't even check the weather report because I assumed my in-laws had because they were so adamant about going.  The trip was to Lake Erie.  The weather was cold and rainy.  I hated it that I was right.  There is no glory in an I told you so when dealing with children (really not with adults either, but at least adults understand).  And it stunk because we were couped up in a camper (brand new and big at least) and couldn't go outside.  Then 2 of the kids got sick while we were there so I also didn't get any sleep.  (Why is it that kids always have to get sick through the night?) My fil also got sick coming home.  Between that and traffic, it took us 9 hrs. to make the 6 hr. trip.  Can we all say FUN???//

Now, the third child is sick.  He got sick yesterday at church and he is still sick.  This one is not a 24 hr. deal.  The other two had different symptoms from each other and this one as well.  I think I will have to take him to the doctor tomorrow because I think he may have strep throat.  He can't let the back of his tongue down and I'm not gagging him to see what I pretty much can guarantee is in there. I'd rather pay $$$$$$ to the dr. and let him get puked on to find out for sure.  I am a do it yourselfer sometimes, but not this time.  I'm hoping I am wrong....

I am considering switching to Singapore math.  I am using Math U See right now.  I really like the program.  It is very easy for the kids to understand.  It is easy for me to teach.  But I don't think it has enough.  There doesn't seem to be enough of everything else beyond basic math and word problems.  I bought several other workbooks to supplement.  I have also printed tons of worksheets online and found alot of websites with online games and such.  So, maybe I am just creating an issue that doesn't really exist.  I am very good at that.  I have read alot recently about Singapore math.  It sounds like a great program too.  It sounds like it may be harder but more in depth than MUS.  Perhaps I should just order one set of Singapore and test it out.  Oh gosh, here I go again.  I have the hardest time being confident in my decisions.  I really need to just pray about it and God will help me figure it out.  But in the meantime, what do you all know about these two programs?

We took a wonderful trip this past week to Pipestem State Park.  We used to do a trip like this every single year.  When my oldest son was in elementary school, they didn't say too much about them missing school as long as they kept up with their work.  We never had a problem with this with him. 

Well, now the school system doesn't want your child to have more than 3 unexcused absences per semester (like that is going to happen with the average elementary age child).  Trips are not excused.  There is also the fact that we have so many children between us now, that we can barely fit into one of the largest cabins.  So, we have pretty much curtailed the fall trips.  Now that we homeschool however, we can do them again.  Yippee!!!!  It breaks my heart though that I cannot take my nieces and nephews with me.  They are like my own children.

It was so exciting to watch my children in such awe over the changing leaves.  It's like this is the first year that the 2 middle children really saw what was happening.  We focused our lessons around trees, environmental communities, how the animals and plants work together to survive, etc.  It was so awesome.  It definitely brought to light another reason why I decided to homeschool. 

They have an arboretum there.  That was exciting for me because the children collected leaves that they made into an identification poster and all of the trees were labeled.  I learned quite alot myself.

On the way home, we stopped at a small farmers market beside the road and bought pumpkins, every type of bean you can imagine, fresh spices, and chestnuts.  And yes, we roasted the chestnuts.  Not by an open fire, but in the oven.  It was still exciting even though none of us really liked the taste of them.  It was a wonderful experience.

I wasn't exactly sure how much the kids actually retained from all that we learned.  We did so much and had so many discussions.  But, after the trip was over, I had them write about the trip.  I was so surprised by how much they remembered.  I was equally surprised when they talked about how amazing nature is and how perfect God created everything.

I will leave you with this photo of what we woke up to in the morning.  The colors won't be at peak until the end of this coming week, but we did get to see some amazing changes from the first day to the last.

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I've been thinking about this wife swap thing for a couple of days now.  I honestly don't think that I could do that show.  I can't stand to be away from my family for more than 2 or 3 days.  I don't know how I could survive 2 weeks.  I would also be scared to death that they would receive a psycho, nonchristian, drill sergeant type woman.  And wow, is that hard to answer.

I am usually receptive to hearing any advice or ideas that anyone may have.  That doesn't mean I always take it, but I will listen to it.  I know that the possibility exists that this other woman could bring some wonderful changes and ideas to our family, but I don't think that thought outweighs the possibility that she could cause my family to suffer tremendously.  And sheesh, what if they did like her better???

O.k., so let's talk hypothetically.  If I were to do it, I believe I would focus on some of the issues that are front and center in our home.  My first focus would be God.  If the family wasn't christian already, I would definitely make that priority one.  That would be such an incredible opportunity for leading others to Him.  I would also try to show them the importance of family time.  Reading together, cooking together, eating together, playing together, even just snuggling up on the couch and watching t.v. together are such important things to do with your children every single day.    Then, there is helping your children learn to be responsible.  This is huge.  This is hard.  But let's face it, we are raising adults, not children.  If we don't teach our children to be responsible in all areas of life, they will suffer as adults.  This includes everything from cleaning up after themselves to helping others in need (even if it's just helping your little brother hang his bath towel) to keeping a promise that they made.

 Then are issues such as modesty, living for the world, "keeping up with the Jones's", following society instead of God, placing more value on material things instead of family.  Oh wait, I only have 2 weeks right?

I am an admitted packrat.  I can't stand to get rid of anything.  I mean nothing, unless it's true pure garbage.

 I have things I used in high school (&*^% years ago) that I will never use again.

  I have all of my books from college that haven't been opened since my last class. 

 Enough Tupperware and Pampered Chef and the like to fill 3 kitchens.  And of that I have about 12 utensils I use regularly, about 8 containers I use regularly (I do use all of the pantry containers), and only about 6 pots/pans/baking dishes I use regularly.  A few extra pieces I use around the holidays.

I can't even describe how many serving bowls, platters, and the like I have.  We used to have huge parties (50-70 family members) but rarely do anymore.  And if we do, everybody brings something now.

Clothes, clothes and more clothes for the kids.  I never know what to keep and what not to keep for hand me downs for my kids.  I have every pair of blue jeans that 2 of mine and 2 of my sisters have ever worn.  I am going to someday make a quilt out of these.  50 plus of their t-shirts I have kept to someday make them quilts with.

Sheets and blankets like you can't imagine.  I only use 2 sets per bed.  But, I may have overnight company and need to make 4,289 sleeping spots.

And then there's the toys.  Oh my, I could make Toys'R'Us cringe if I ever opened a store.  That is undoubtedly the hardest of all for me to get rid of, with their clothes coming in second.

I have been weeding out things like mad.  We are building a new church building, so most of the kitchenware has gone there.  I've found homes for most of the clothing and tons of the toys that I have been able to part with. 

This morning I was planning to go in the toy room and finish clearing out.  I just can't do it.  It will be almost empty when I carry out the last few boxes that we already packed up to get rid of.  They don't play with hardly any of what they have.  I have my one box that I allowed myself to keep for sentimental purposes.  They are going to want new things at Christmas.  So, it isn't like they are going to be toyless children.  But it makes my heart hurt.  It makes my throat tighten.  It almost brings tears to my eyes. 

Why do I have such a hard time letting go of these material things?  They won't remember them in 20 years.  I won't either.

These material things are so minute in the broad scheme of things.  I have a happy loving family and home, so it isn't like they are filling a void.  The mess they create drives me crazy.  So what is it that makes it so difficult to let them go?

I have prayed relentlessly about this.  God has given me the courage and strength to go ahead and toss things.  But, I can't seem to get past the heartache of it.

After we left the gym, I took the kids to eat lunch.  DS7 wanted chili.  He said "I want to eat chili because it's chilly outside.  Hey, chili chilly, that's a homophone!!!"

Very encouraging.

It's chilly and rainy, leaves are laying on the ground, and trees are beginning to turn.   It's definitely beginning to feel like fall.  My favorite season. 

Fall and spring are the two times of year that we make changes around here.  I always like to get the house cleaned and reorganized.  We switch out cold weather and hot weather items.  I don't do a whole lot of redecorating for the seasons though.  Just a little.  For instance, I am going to change out the bedding from lightweight summer blankets to heavier, cuddlier winter ones.  I also do a few things outside such as close down the pool and put summer toys to bed.  It always feels so good when it all gets done.

I used to go all out decorating for Halloween.  I haven't done too much the past few years.  But since the kids are home all day now, I think I am going to really decorate it up.  I think I will feel like I am getting a whole lot more out of my effort because they will be here more hours during the day to enjoy it.  I love to do fun foody things for them too.  I have a rather large collection of magazines pertaining to Halloween decorating/entertaining.  They are about the only ones that I go back through year after year.  I don't think it's that I really like Halloween as much as it is that it's so easy to do the decorating.  I have a much harder time at Christmas.

I'm giving the kids a long weekend from school.  I want to use this time to finish up all the clearing out and cleaning.  I also want to work on our school schedule.  I have found that it makes a huge difference when we all know exactly what we are expecting of ourselves.    I had a public school teacher tell me they only did their planning a week in advance.  I do not think that will work well for me though.   I would rather have the year planned in advance and make changes as necessary as we go rather than be staring at a black hole all the time.  This will also give us a good indicator of our progress. 

I think I might have too much planned.  There are so many resources everywhere you look.  I find myself constantly saying "ooh, that looks great," and "oooh, we have to do that."  I am trying very very hard not to overdo it. 

My mom has kept 2 of the kids for the past several days.  She has been so supportive of the homeschooling idea.  She has done their work with them, taken them on field trips, and even researched on the internet to find things to go along with our tree unit.  Love ya mom.

It has been nice to have time alone to work on truly organizing the house and getting things really cleaned up.  I can't believe how dirty my house was.  I hired a cleaning company to come in and actually clean while I am organizing and getting rid of stuff.  It always seems if I work on a "project" the rest of the house goes to pot.  But without all of the kids and having someone to clean at the same time I am beginning to really see a difference.  Now if I could just get the piles of stuff I have gathered up all of the way out of the house and out of my life, it will all be good. I'm hoping I will do a better job at maintaining.

It's amazing how quickly you can accumulate so much stuff.  We always have the weirdest little piles of things laying around here.  I never know what to do with or even where it came from half of the time.  Does anyone else have that?  I'll have to post a picture of one of these such piles and see if anyone recognizes it.

We also joined a gym so that the kids can have lots of activities to do over the winter (basketball, swimming, raquetball, etc.).  I decided I should try to start working out too.  So I signed up for some classes.  I'm hoping I can stick with it and not make a complete fool of myself.  I didn't buy the membership for me to do that so hopefully I will keep up with it.  I bought the membership for the kids.  If I had bought it for me then I'm sure that I would not continue going regularly.  I'm trying to play the reverse psychology card here.  I'll keep you updated on how it's going.

Today is the start of a fresh new week.  I have a fresh new attitude.  The kids do too.  We bought some new supplies and did a little bit of organizing.  I spent Friday with a friend of mine that is a teacher and she helped me plan a few things out.  Imagine that, a public school teacher supporting homeschooling. 

The kids had an action packed weekend and I think that has helped their attitudes somewhat.  And we are looking forward to our first "trip when we should be in school" this week.  I bought 3 ring binders to put their work in to take with us and they each will have their backpacks to carry their other school stuff in. 

Aaaah, the power of prayer.  I prayed last week for peace and security in my homeschooling decision and bam, bam, bam, I have it.  We will have victory.  Well, we aren't 100% there yet, but we are on our way!!!  Isn't God great?

I can't believe how hard it is to get on here and blog.  I have been on several times, but never felt like it was the "right" time to do it.  I might need to rethink that.  It feels good to "talk."

Thank you all for your inspiring comments too.  It has made me realize that I need to become a commenter on other's blogs.

Until next time...

Well, we're in the middle of our second week and I'm not sure I've made the right choice to homeschool.  I've spent way too much money, put in way too much time and effort, and I don't feel like things are going well at all.  DS7 seems to really hate it.  DS9 loves it.

I don't know what I'm doing.  I keep feeling like I need to be following along with ps.  I'm scared they'll be classified as "behind" if I don't.  I really want to go my own way with them, but do I have the nerve?

DS9 is much advanced for his age...read at a 5th grade level in 1st grade.  DS7, I guess is right where he should be?  Sadly, I didn't realize it, but, he doesn't even solidly know 3+2.  Is this normal for 2nd grade level?  Two different personalities and learning styles.  I pray to God for the strength and ability to do this thing right.

I still don't even have our lesson plans laid out solid.  I don't have a science curriculum.  The history I chose is completely different than what they are learning in ps.  That's this weeks main goal- to get my plans squared up and written down.   I think I will let them do simple review and reading the rest of this week while I get my ducks in order.

I will tell more about our family next entry....Until next time.