3 Guys and a Girl

• May. 8, 2007 - "Me Time"

Now that the kids don't have to be up at the crack of dawn to catch the 7:30 bus, they are staying up later. Which means my "me time" (you know, the select few minutes I relish without having to fix a PBJ or vacuum up the birdseed that has been treaded through the entire house this week while we are doing our bird unit study, or herding the library books back to their designated wicker basket on the hearth) has been starting later and later. And now that we've started homeschooling and we spend lots more time together, the longer "me time" I seem to need.

I'm certainly not complaining. I am loving having the kids home everyday. I love that they have found things to do other than television and Playstation 2. I love that they are becoming even better friends. I love that we can jump in the car and go exploring at the drop of a hat. I love that I am getting to know them better. I love that we are all growing closer.

But that does leave me with a conundrum. All those things I did during my "me time" when they were in school, I now have to cram into those few hours at night. Let's make a list.

Read the book club selection for the month
Catch up with far away friends on the phone
Plan the weekly menu
Clean and organize the house
Read the scriptures
weed the garden
go to the gym
read up on the latest and greatest homeschool method
catch up on emails
paint a picture
Skim the DVR for past Ellen and Oprah shows
scrapbook
pay the bills
take the puppy for a walk
skim through my pile of magazines and catalogs

Not to mention spending time with the Mr. watching our weekly favorite TV shows ;The Office, 24, Amazing Race, Survivor (old school, I know), Dancing with the Stars, Lost, and American Idol.

How do you get it all done? And to top it all off, I got this whim to start a blog! Shoot me an email if you've got any advice for me. For now I will sit on this couch at midnight watching tonight's Dancing with the Stars, typing up this entry, surrounded by a blanket of library books, bird seed, and an empty ice cream bowl while the Mr. has long since hit the sack. I figure I've got what? Another half hour before bed if I have any chance of getting up in time to get my run and a shower in before our school day begins tomorrow?

Organization? Multi-tasking? Anyone?

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• May. 6, 2007 - Ramblings of a new homeschool mom

Well, we've been at it now for about 2 months. We pulled the kids out of school mid March. The boys thought it was a great idea. Miss M, on the other hand, was less than thrilled with the idea claiming that it would "ruin my social life". So far her social life hasn't suffered too much. She still plays with her neighborhood friends and sees her softball friends every week at practice and games.
So far the hardest thing for me has been choosing a direction for curriculum. After poring over numerous books and endlessly surfing the internet, I still don't know exactly what I want to use. For now during our "deschooling" period we are taking it pretty easy. Math U See has been a great way to review what they have learned and find out if there is something they have missed along the way. The library has become a gem. We visit it at least twice a week and come out of there each time with armloads of books. In fact, if I hadn't heard it with my own ears I would never believe that Maddy made the statement, "The library is even better than the mall!"!
I've started reading to them everyday. We started with "Swiss Family Robinson". Bad choice to start out with! The kids were quite bored, as was I. We ended up checking out the abridged version, finishing the book the same day, and having a dinner of pineapples, kiwis, oranges, apples, coconut, flatbread, butter and honey, and then watching the Disney movie that night.
The second book we've read together was "The Great Brain". Loved it! It kept the kids attention and they couldn't wait to read it everyday. We are now in the middle of "Tale of Despereaux". What a cute story! We should finish it this week sometime.
We are also in the middle of our first lapbook. We chose to study birds because we have at least 3 nests around our house right now and have been had the opportunity for many hands on bird activities. I'll post some pictures of the lapbooks when they are done.

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