My other journal, the one I actually post entries on a semi-daily basis can be found at http://journals.aol.com/deshelestraci/MylifeasatransplantedYankee

You can go there and see our trip to the Warner Nature Center last week.  Very educational.  Emma is learning all about amphibians and will get her Junior Naturalist badge in the next week or two. 

Today was long.  Emma sings in the choir at church.  They sang at the second service and then they performed their play and songs at 4pm.  Of course, they had to be there at 3pm.  So we went and waited.  They did wonderfully.  I got some good pictures.  And I even have one of the songs in my head!  Good news, wonderful news, He's Christ the Lord!  Well done on the kids' parts!  Then we went to Home Depot to get our Christmas tree. 

 I bought stuff to finish my spinning wheel.  It had no stain on it and it has dried out a lot and needs to be repaired in places.  So we bought some stain and some sealer.  One Saturday I will be working on it since it is the day I normally  go to my spinning group.

We are staying caught up on schooling despite 3 weeks worth of illness to varying degrees.  Mostly colds and coughs.  And mostly affecting Bella.

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I have three blogs.  One I write in nearly daily, one that I usually copy and paste from the first one and then I have this one.  Sad, neglected blog. LOL.  We were so busy last week it was unreal.  Bella's birthday was on Wednesday.  She turned three.  Since my in-laws work a crazy schedule we had to have a separate party from the one I throw for her.  So two parties, one Home Interiors party, spinning group, co-op, doctor's appointment for 3 year old check up AND school.  I melted down on Sunday.  Didn't do anything I didn't want to do.  My husband did a lot of cleaning (bless him!).  My girls rested.  I rested.

This week we are paying for it with colds and girls who won't stay asleep at night.  I was awake from 3am to around 6 this morning.  The girls were too.  Oh my goodness.  We slept til 8 am.  Not long enough.

I am starting to hate Emma's math program.  We use Singapore math.  I feel it moves too fast, doesn't reinforce enough, etc.  So I guess it is good to figure this out sooner than later.  I have taught using both ABeka and Saxon.  I love Saxon.  I may go ahead and switch to it.  Anyone out there have any input either way? 

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I am really enjoying homeschooling.  Emma slept until 7 or so.  I watched the school bus drive by minutes before she got out of bed.  She gets enough rest and doesn't have to rush around every morning.  Some mornings we have places to go but not very often.

Co-op was pleasant this time.  The day was rainy and cold, so it was nice to have a safe, indoor place for the little ones to run off some extra energy.  I stayed away from the woman who gets to me.  That seemed to help.  I started reading to them about the Pilgrims and their coming to America.  I think it might have sunk in some since Emma asked me the next day what we would eat if we didn't have refridgerators.  She thought that was interesting. 

I don't know if I mentioned that Emma read her first book last week.  It is the first primer from her phonics series.  So I think I did.  But did I mention that I am proud of her? 

I would like to start some sort of science unit.  She is so curious.  We have talks all the time about different aspects of this world.

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We have gone nonstop since the girls and I got back from Oregon.  We had such a good visit, but it is good to be back home.

Emma has stayed on track these past two weeks as far as her school work goes.  We haven't done any big units or the like.  But she did read her very first primer from her phonics curriculum.  We use Veritas Press' Museum Phonics.  I like it and she usually does too.  I say usually because she has perfectionistic traits and hates to do the handwriting.  She thinks it should come out perfect the first time.  I have explained repeatedly that it is PRACTICE.  She still gets frustrated so we break it up into small, managable pieces.

We started going to a co-op.  Not sure if we will continue after Christmas.  It is kind of in the box so to speak.  I was hoping for some more exciting activities but I could do most of what they are doing at home.  Not to mention that one of the mom's considers her children to be advanced so her first grader is in with the third through sixth graders and her four year old is in with the K/first graders.  Wouldn't be such a problem if the four year old was mature.  But he isn't.  So I don't feel like we can cover very much because of his presence.  He's also not the most well behaved child either which adds to my frustration.  There is a lot on my plate right now and it seems that the co-op could be removed without much pain.  We only have 3 weeks this month and a party in December.  I suppose I could tough it out.

Emma and I went to the library for story time.  It has been a while since we went.  I got so sad.  Most of the children there were 2 years old or under.  Very few three year olds and Emma was the oldest at 5.  I remember taking her when she was 8 months old.  We were faithful to that until her little sister became the child who would not sit still.  Nashville has a wonderful group of people who do the story time.  It is like no other.  The talent is amazing.  I'm going to make an effort to get there at least once a month.

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The girls and I are trying to get over the jet lag.  It's kind of hard since we were there for so long.  We just rested yesterday and I got some stuff done today.  Emma did do school and played with tangrams and a maze book.  

 I don't think Lou cleaned off a counter with a wet cloth the whole time I was gone.  I know he didn't sweep once.  Or vacuum.  Nice considering the dog situation.  He did change the sheets on the bed before I got home!!!  Ok, plus one for him.  He did bring flowers to the airport.  Maybe he gets two.

I am working on the pictures.  I don't want to put all in or you will be bored.  I also need to put captions on them.  Bear with me I 'm getting around to it.

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We are finally home! Super big thanks goes out to the pilots on our Frontier airlines flight from Denver. Seriously hard to get that sucker landed with all the rain and gusty winds last night. Bella threw up. I nearly did. Everyone clapped when we landed! I was never so glad to see land and feel the plane stop.

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I have been very busy so I haven't been updating.  As of yesterday we were still caught up with school work even though we are very busy in Oregon/Washington.  We have been to the zoo, the beach twice, many parks (my parents back yard is 10'x30' or so), Oregon Trail museum and many other trips.  We did also go to the Chinese festival.  We have mostly been having a good time.  My mother can be really trying so it is not always the most fun.  But my sister and I have a blast.

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I think I mentioned that for Co-op that I did a lesson on China, read the kids' The Story about Ping, etc.  Well, when I got to my mom's I found she had a kid's book by Amy Tan called The Moon Lady.  It was a story about a little girl and her day at the Moon festival.  That is what we did yesterday the New Moon festival.  So I tied all of this together.

  Laura's soon to be ex-husband (amicable relationship) came with us and I mentioned that the moon cakes would be fun to get for the girls since we just read the book and that was a component of the story, the girl eating her cake.  I was going to get one but decided against it since I was saving money for parking.  He came back with a moon cake for the girls to try!  How sweet.  We had it after dinner as our dessert.  And how was it you may ask?  Yuck.  ptewwy.  Bella liked it.  The rest of us gagged.  Oh well, the intentions were good! 

I was also impressed with Emma for her willingness to listen to the Chinese opera which was obviously not in English and was very loud and sounded very different to our American ears.  The costumes were amazing and the make up was great!  And she never once whined or said, "let's go, I'm bored".  Good for her.

This morning we are lazing around.  We are all dressed and school work is done.  But the girls are watching Peter Pan now.

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I had a funny moment this morning.  Emma was busy gluing finds from a nature walk onto construction paper.  She was at the same time collecting seeds from a seed pod.  After she was through collecting seeds, she announced that she was going to plant them in the back yard.  She and her sister were out in the back for a long time digging and watering and all the fun stuff you do with planting.  She didn't want my help, she wanted to do it herself.  Meanwhile, I was cleaning in the kitchen and talking to myself. 

I kept telling myself, "She really needs to get in here so we can get busy on "school" work.  Oh yeah, she is doing school work."  I must have repeated that to myself 20 times.  I "forgot" this is the reason we homeschool.  The freedom to live and learn is what I want for our kids.  I am so glad I kept telling myself to hush and let her enjoy herself.  She came in relaxed and refreshed and ready to tackle her book work for the day!

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I always knew I would love homeschooling. 

 I really enjoy sitting in the early morning with my girls and a cup of coffee while we all wake up. 

 I really enjoy my children's sweet dispositions that are still innocent and excited by the learning process. 

 I really enjoy getting to decide what we will get done on any given day and not having to worry about taking a break to go get my child from school.

I really enjoy sitting with my daughter while she works and learning more about her learning style. 

I really enjoy telling them that it is time to go play outside and watching them enjoy each other's company.  No one is "being mean" to each other, no gossipy, girly one-ups-manship.  Just two sisters who would rather play together than fight.

I really enjoy that when my daughter gets squirmy and doesn't want to finish a lesson at the time we can stop for a while and come back to it!

In all, I am loving homeschooling.

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This week has been interesting.  I feel a lot of peace.  Peace, especially about our decision to homeschool.  Our routine is established and we are having fun as a family.

I had two phone calls this week that gave me pause.  Why were they calling me?  What difference would my opinion make?  The first friend is a long time friend.  She has homeschooled her kids in the past but became caught up in her life and put them all back in school.  This year she has felt really called to homeschool again, but she really doesn't have the money for books.  She called me Tuesday to tell me she was going to do it.  Did it sound like a good idea or a crazy one?  She felt it would get her life back on track with God and give her some discipline.  I totally agreed.  In some ways she has been spinning out of control and hasn't been real willing to take responsiblity.

The second phone call was last night.  Another friend just wanting validation.  Am I doing the right thing?   Her son's teacher has trouble with his behavior.  I've babysat him plenty of times and he is no trouble, very bright, very loving. 

I feel that if you are called to homeschool (or do anything that you keep getting nudges about) you better follow through.  God will find a way for you to do it.  He will nudge you until you do it.

I just hope that I can continue to be a mentor of sorts to those who need the encouragement.  I think it's pretty funny that God called me to do this years before the kids were even born and He has found a way for us to do it.  We are on week 4 of our homeschool adventure!

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An online friend made a chore chart for both of my girls.  They are really cute with fairies on them.  All this week Emma has gotten out of bed and instantly begun her chores.  She has been very motivated to finish, to the point that she is mad because the dogs don't eat until the afternoon.  She wants to check everything off and be done.  She is the same way with her school work.  The funny thing is that my husband and I wonder if she could be from our family since neither of us are like this!  We have great intentions but horrible follow through!  I think it's great and am looking forward to adding different chores for her to accomplish.

It's very hard having young children.  No one is there to pick up the slack when you are behind on the chores.  I really can't ask my husband to help since he works very hard at his job.  It's very physical and mostly outdoors.

We went to a planning meeting for a co-op that we will be starting in September.  I am looking forward to it.  It will be a chance for us to have some socializing and some fun activities that I may not want to tackle at home.

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Our second week is underway.  The math books arrived on Monday!  They seem to be right on track for her.  Today was the first day she got to do "all" of her work.  It went well and Bella was even occupied!  That was nice.

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We had a blast during our first week.  Still working the bugs out on some sort of "schedule"!  But Emma was very disappointed that we didn't "do" school all day like she thought she would.  It was still fun for her. 

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I took advantage of Tennessee's tax amnesty weekend by purchasing most of our curriculum.  Cherri stopped by with teaching aids Wednesday.  There is a homeschool meeting tomorrow night.  We are almost ready for the start of Kindergarten on Monday!

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I got online yesterday and registered with Homelife Academy.  We are official.  Hip hip!

Today is Hubby's 34th birthday!  Happy birthday, hunny!

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Lou asked Emma how her room cleaning was going.  She had been working about 15 minutes.  She answers, "Swell (who says that?)!  All I have to do is get everything done and then I'm done." 

All righty then.

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Much to my dismay.  It will all work out.

Emma is going great guns with reading.  She has read one of her little phonics based Pup and Pop books 3 times now.  She is also into her velvety black lined frog picture I got for her from a yard sale.  She works on it nearly daily.  We are going to the Science Museum tomorrow.

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I called the Board of Ed today to ask what I needed to bring with me to file my letter of intent to homeschool.  They told me a Soc. Sec. card, immunization records and a birth certificate.  The Soc.Sec. card is not legal to use as a form of identification.  And neither is the birth certificate.  I put up a post on the homeschool message board I am on and many people said that I was right.  Several also said it is just easier to file with an umbrella school.  I realize that.  I am sort of torn between wanting to fight with these people and wanting to just file with the umbrella school.  I was planning on filing with the county until Emma was in 5th grade and had to be state tested.  Didn't make sense to pay good money ($50) for very little that I need right now.  I will be thinking on this and talking to some more people about it in the mean time.  I have until the end of the month to make up my mind.

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Daisy daisy,

God is planting seeds.

People are out feeding birds.

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