Yep, that's me.  I'm a BAD blogger.  It's been 3 months since I've ventured to put my thoughts on the world wide web.  I guess that means I am thoughtless.   I'm feeling more creative and will jump back on the blogger bandwagon more regularly.

Life has been it's usual chaotic self for us.  Short version (or highlights depending on how you look at things): in no particular order since there's no way I could get a timeline straight on things, struggling with homeschooling, still training the new dog, horses that are too smart and open the tack room to drag out the feed and host their own buffet resulting in hours of watching them for potential life threatening harm from their gluttoness, DH had to protect himself against someone who threatened him which created a legal mess & made him infamous in our little town (charges were dropped becasue he was completely right in what he did), one cat disappering thanks to pack of coyotes, another cat sick for weeks resulting in vet visits & anesthesia and a VERY expensive lab bill for his weird snot (I'm not kidding!), the 3 kittens have been fixed and after living indoors for a week to heal from their surgery have mastered the cat door & I now battle keeping them out of the house where they belong (hard to do since the cat #1 chose has decided she loves me best), #1 finally solved her medical problems she's been battling for 2 years by (TA-DA) simply removing her birth control (PSA: If anyone is on Nuvaring - rung to your bathroom and remove it NOW!  That stuff is way beyond bad.), I have sew 3 new valances for the kitchen, finished up all of my Christmas shopping minus the kids and have it all wrapped & boxed to mail out this week, finished writing the Christmas cards while watching the Yankies win the World Series, have been making fabulous & easy dinners in my crock pot (I heart my crock pot!), #5 has almost mastered pottytraining as well as sleeping in her own bed, #6 cut 2 teeth this week and I have developed a wicked cold which has me sneezing my brains out and is only made so much more spectactular by the early arrival of Aunt Flo today. 

Life is good - how's yours? 

I don't know how it is in your hosehold, but summer has just whized right on past us  over here.  Two weeks ago #3 started back up with the 4H Livestock Club working with feeder calves to get them ready to show in September, I took the plunge hoping to let go of some of my homeschooling pressures by enrolling #3 in CLASS.  In a nut shell, we will be homeschooling according to Christian Liberty Academy's program - they test him, send us the appropriate curriculum, I plan it out, teach and keep part of the grades, send all his tests and some work in to be graded and they issue report cards & transcripts.  No more stressing out over which curriculum to use, if I've picked the right stuff on the right difficulty level, did I keep things according to what the state wants, will a college be happy with what we've done, and on and on and on...............................

So I have been spending these last few weeks setting up space on the first floor for our "school" area, getting the workboxes set up (thanks to Sue Patrick's system!)  and planning out our year.  Of course, this wasn't as simple as some lesson plans - it meant rearranging stuff, reorganizing stuff, sewing new seat cushions for the pub table we will be using to do our work, etc.  A local preschool closed down and I was able to get bins of blocks, lincoln logs, waffle blocks,etc for a bargain for the little ones.  Not to mention a great Angeles tricycle for a whoping $10!  Back to the point, I'm getting closer to done with about 75% of the space ready and about 70% of the planning done and hope to be back to my usual chaotic life this week so we can start school next Monday................fingers crossed!

Well, it wasn't a disaster waiting around the corner, but something certainly sad to me.  I told DH several times over the weekend that I was feeling anxious and on edge.  Specifically, on the verge of a panic attack because I knew something "bad" was about to happen.  Monday passed fine (or as fine as it can in our chaootic household) Tuesday, not too bad, and on Wednesday the feeling seemed to lift, I felt happier and good about my ability to handle everything on my plate right now.  Eager to get started planning our coming school year and organizing in the process (thank you Supermom vitamins!).  Thursday morning I woke up and got going to have the phone ring and my heart drop into the bottom of my stomach.  My dad was on the phone - his sister, my aunt passed away on Tuesday night.  So sad that now his parents are both gone, his brother passed a few years ago, and now his only sister. 

Aunt Laura Sue was a wonderful woman.  Born, raised and resided in South Carolina, a true Southern Belle.  She was famous for her story telling or to be more acurate, going off on a wild tangent while relating a story.  I didn't get to spend as much time with her in years past as I would have liked.  She was very active with her church and activities, and well, being 3 hours away with so many young ones, travel for either of us wasn't easy.  I wish I had made more time - a day late and a dollar short.  Hug your loved ones tonight, tell them how much you love them and make sure to spend time with someone special, even if you have to go out of your way to make it happen.  Aunt Laura Sue, you will be missed here on earth, but welcomed so warmly into the Kingdom of your Father by those who loved you most.  Rest in Peace!

Today was a rough day for my new little guy.  It started at 1am with his last bottle for a while, followed by a 4am wake up and drive to the hopsital to have a 7:30 surgery to put tubes in his ears.  He had his first ear infection at 8 days and 2 rounds of antibiotics didn't relieve them so with fluid behind his eardrums, tubes it was.  Although the surgery went well, he had a rough afternoon not feeling well and being just overall cranky.  He only felt well sitting up on me to keep the pressure off his ears and have the comfort of mama.  Around dinnertime, after a tremendous poop, just short of a diaper blowout, the effects of the anesthesia seemed to finally wear off and he was smiling away at me again.

This is where I will once again shamefully plug my Sleepy Wrap carrier.  Adding to the list of reasons why I love it is this very important fact -----  when you can put an infant who is hours past a feeding into it and walk around resulting in his falling asleep..................that's a keeper!  Speaking of said infant........I'm being paged for his bedtime feeding.  I'm off to change a butt, feed a tummy and snuggle a warm cuddly baby.  Good Night!

Surviving the first 6-8 weeks with a newborn is never easy on mom or generous in the sleep category.  This baby is no exception to that.  When you add in that I haven't had a full, uninterrupted night's sleep in about 5 years now between being pregnant and having a baby and/or toddler in the house, well I am quite simply beyond tired at this point.  To make matters worse, my body is going through all the crazy hormonal-ness (is that a word?) of not being pregnant any more and then because we realized our new little guy has a overly sensative stomach like his daddy and big sister, he is now on the high-dollar allergenic formula and we have weaned.  Now, those of you who have weaned a baby before cold turkey are saying "Oh, you poor thing" and for the rest of you who haven't and don't understand what it's like to have your breasts swollen beyond recognition and so painful that your bra hurts..................back off!  LOL  So now on top of newborn waking up all night, toddler in the bed, crazy hormones, and whacking my body all out as it gets ready to ovulate and give me my wonderful monthly period - I AM OVER IT!  I am so thoroughly exhausted that it's not unusual to find me crying my eyes out quietly in the dark at 4am while rocking a baby.  When I DO get a few minutes sleep, I am so tired that I dream about sleeping!  That is truly just how tired I am.  DH is out of town for a few days on business and the moring before he left realized how close I am to my breaking point right now - which those who know me realize is quite a feat.  So upon his return Saturday, there's going to be some new laws laid down by this sherrif!  Little ones WILL be in bed by 9pm, not according to whenever daddy feels it's time for them to go so that I can have an hour of down time each night.  Because daddy is the insomniac, and I'm not - when baby cries for a bottle and he is still up while I am not, HE will get up and feed baby.  Now, don't go getting all mad at him for not helping me out - remember, up until a week ago - I was nursing.  He couldn't exactly help me nurse.  And more importantly ------ for the next 3 weeks EVERYONE in the house will do their best to help momma out so I can try to recoup some energy and precious sleep I so desperately need.

Sounds like a great plan, huh?  Anyone want to bet on whether or not it will work?  I don't blame you, even Vegas wouldn't touch those odds.................................

I have quickly come to the realization that trying to cook dinner with a crying baby and two toddlers going full tilt is an impossible task.  For whatever reason, the baby has decided that between the hours of 4 and 9pm - I must hold him and comfort him.  Not a problem since I bought my Sleepy Wrap  (truly one of the best inventions known to man!  Baby loves it, falls asleep within minutes of being in it, I have both hands free to get things done and I can wear him all day without killing my back)!  However, #'s 4 & 5 have decided that these hours are also the ones they must be going full-tilt and full volume!  This led to a VERY stressed out mommy (not at my best, yelling way more than I should) and being that I am nursing and can't have a few drinks to improve my disposition   I had to come up with a better plan.

New plan - make dinners either in the crock pot or oven that can be made early in the day and served at dinner time!  Sometimes this means I am making dinner at 9am, but hey, it works for me.  Then I can either throw together a side or two, or better yet, have one of the other kids do it for me while I retreat to the reasonable quiet of my bedroom to nurse baby.  To get you started, here is what's for dinner tonight--

Crockpot Sweet and Sour Chicken

TAAAA---DAAAA!    Introducing Ryker Jude Scott

EVICTION NOTICE

I'm still here and still hanging on pregnant.  Wednesday I thought it might be the day as bad as I felt, no such luck.  then Thursday I went to the other OB in the practice that I like because my OB had the nerve to take a girls weekend trip to Jamaica - how dare her!  LOL  It's sometimes good to have another perspective on things ---- she doesn't feel that he's a very big baby, despite the size of my belly.  She also thinks there is too much fluid in there which is giving him his acrobatic space and ability.  Not a bad thing until you run through the scenarios......if my water breaks, which it did with my first two babies, and he isn't in a head down, ready to drop position the cord could drop out before him resulting in a prolapsed cord and danger to him.  Not a scenario I am thrilled to think about.  She suggested that if I make it to my appointment this Thursday, she would talk with my OB about a controlled induction where they could leak my fluid slowly to drop him into position as we need.  Hmmm, going in to labor on my own, afraid of the unknown and the 25 minute drive to the hospital not knowing if my little guy is okay in there, or going in for an induction where the medical staff is on top of things..............seems like a no brainer to me!  I'm not sure now if it's something to worry over or if she is just being cautious since i'm not her patient.  It has given me things to think about this weekend. 

So of course, after walking a whole bunch on Friday with the dog and kids, then walking a bunch shopping with #1 and the little ones while the guys were off for the day on Saturday, I came home and started having contractions about 8pm.  Nothing regular, very scattered in frequency until I finally went to bed after midnight.  I woke up several times thinking "why am I awake?" realizing a contraction had woke me up.  About 3am they were frequent enough for me to stay awake through them and wonder if it was really going to go into labor...............for the rest of the night.  Yep, no sleep whatsoever after 3am.  Lovely.  Normally if I have them over night, they stop when I get up to take care of the dog, make coffee, etc.  Not this morning - they kept right on going in all their irregularity until about 10 am when they....... just....... petered......... out.   So now I was very tired, very craky and very diappointed that it just didn't seem to be the day.  We got everyone ready and went to the mall to walk & shop & walk & walk ----- after coming home and DH letting me grab a quick nap, he has gone to pick up dinner and I have started having a few contractions again.  Hoping they really do something tonight other than torment me all night................ fingers crossed!

Life gets in the way like that sometimes.  I'm still here & still pregnant.  Four more weeks to go unless he decides to take pity on me and make an early arrival.  DH swears I am not going to make it to Mother's Day - from his lips to God's ears!  I am feeling huge - it's amazing how people don't think before speaking sometimes - If I only had a nickle for everytime someone asks how much longer and upon hearing "another month" answers "wow, are you sure you're not having twins?"  Um, yes I'm sure but thank you oh so much for pointing out how freakishly enormous I am!

So on top of all the last minute nesting I am feeling, #1 starting a full time job, our new dog coming home from the trainer this coming weekend and the "tornado swept look" I am cultivating in the house --- apparently the quarter horse kicked one of the minature horses over night.  His face is all swollen like he's packed an orange in his cheek and he can't eat very well.  A visit from the mobile vet, an exam, an ultrasound, xrays, pain meds and being locked in a stall in the neighbor's barn because we haven't gotten around to buying a movable pannel to enclose part of our barn if needed, he is screaming his head off drugged up and being seperated from his herd - while the "herd" all two of them, are screaming back at him over the fence.  I am home with just #4 & #5 and once I pick up #3 at his classes, get to put them down for a nap and run back to the farm store for the gate and special feeds for the "patient".  Somehow figure out how to catch up on the laundry and make some dinner having not gotten to the store yet this week.   It's always something..........................

Of all of the items we’ve been sent to review, this happens to be one of the products we are still currently using.  Apologia Science General Science book for 7^th grade - #3 likes how it is broken down within each chapter so I can give him a certain number of pages to read, experiments to complete and then the question at the end to see just how much he understood.  There are questions at the end of each chapter to check his comprehension and since it seems to pack a lot of information into each chapter without being “boring” (his words) it’s a win-win textbook for us.  Some of the experiments are a bit involved, some are simple enough he gets #4 to help him with it and a few have just been ignored due to the time involved/supplies on hand issue.  Let’s face it – with 5 kids and another due next month I just don’t have the time or energy to stay ahead of him on what supplies he needs to complete something so lo and behold, the beauty of home schooling – WE SKIP IT!   If you’re looking for a science curriculum that is creation based, this is a strong one I recommend.  I’ve mulled over the idea of Apologia for several years and I’m very glad to have actually gotten my hands on it for review – I have already tagged their web site to order our books for next year!

As much as mom likes getting new curriculum to try out, the kids are not so overjoyed.  So the few times we have gotten a box that contains and actual toy – they are thrilled!  Today we got a nice size box from Schleich containing an assortment of their play animals.  There were about 8 of them from a pig (not sure what variety since my farming days were MUCH younger), a fawn, a deer, a hippopotamus and I can’t remember what else.  The kids have already scattered them through the house so searching for them to give an exact inventory is probably a lost cause right now. 

Most of what we have gotten for review has been geared toward child #3 at 12-13 years of age or middle school so I am always happy to get things for pre-school to work with the younger kids also.  One thing we got recently was a book by Critical Thinking Books called Beginning Mathematical Reasoning.  DS is so excited to have his own “math” book to do each day.  I am not a big “book” person for the pre-school set leaning more toward hands on stuff and saving some coloring pages or activity sheets for the times when he insists he sit down and work at the table with his older brother.  Boy was I wrong about this book!  The pages are simple, concepts easy to grasp and illustrations big and colorful – I usually plan to sit down and do a page or two for his attention span and we end up doing a dozen or more pages!  I’m not having his use them as actual workbook pages yet, but as an interactive lesson between the two of us.  I like that it spirals the concepts building upon each one as we go along.  Even when we come across and new concept and I am doubtful of his ability to “get it” he picks it up quite quickly assuring me that Critical Thinking has done their homework on age appropriate concepts.  I will be looking at their products for future teaching and I suggest you do the same!

Tapestry of Grace is another curriculum I had heard many home school moms speak the virtues of.  I like the idea of a more biblical based curriculum and one that weaves a unit together for sticking power in a child’s brain than just imparting a bunch of facts to memorize.  We chose a middle school unit based upon the Civil War and I headed off to the library in search of books.  I love that all of the planning is done ahead for me – from reading assignments are broken down by subject as well as reading level, writing assignment are by level and even activities are provided to choose from.  There is a booklist to help me plan the unit, picking and choosing which books are best for our family as well as a wealth of information covering all of the background I need to teach my children saving me the feeling of not knowing what we’re doing or spending all of my free time to research it all to prepare.   In my busy life, I need all the help and time savers I can find!  We also got a product called “Pop Quiz” which is a CD and flash cards that cover the material and make reviewing a game for dad to do with them to reinforce the concepts learned.  Only one child was old enough to participate so some of the “game” fun of it was lost, I’m sure but it was still enjoyed.  We happened to time the unit to wrap up with a local Civil war re-enactment here that made the unit that much more fun.  I will be looking into TOG for the upcoming years and especially as we go along teaching the younger children in years to come.

Well, when we started reviewing for the crew we were told to be honest.  Here goes……………..Spellquizzer just wasn’t my cup of tea.  Primarily since we don’t do a whole lot of spelling formally.  We go over words in his literature/reading vocabulary wise, but do most of our so called “spelling” as a corrective process within his writing.  That being said, Spellquizzer is an online program that as a parent you can plug in your child’s words for the week and it creates games & activities to practice those words to master them.  Is it a good program?  Probably, but without using it (which didn’t fit into what we do) I can’t back it 100%.  My best suggestion would be to head over to the TOS Crew blog to see what other crew members said about it or go check out their site yourself to see if it may be what you’re looking for.