The Menagerie

Choices

2009-08-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

I really wonder if there is anyone else out there who obsesses and plans the way I do? Sometimes I think my need to plan and have paths laid out are what drive me. This need can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I wish it would turn off so I would be able to have a moments peace inside my brain, then again maybe I should just get a hobby!

Next school year I will have a high schooler. Just the thought of it is keeping me up at night, and it's still a year away! So many options, so many choices to be made. All the burning questions: What does he want? What do I want? What can I handle? What is the best choice for him? How do I ensure he gets into the colleges he wants? I'm literally tearing my hair out.

Here is my main conflict. I want to continue homeschooling him, but his snarky teenager ways are starting to get a bit on my nerves. He's always been such a wonderful and delightful child, now the testosterone has kicked in and he's well, a teenager. My husband keeps telling me that this snippet of it will pass in the next year, but I'm honestly afraid it might not. Some days it's like having a 3 year old all over again. The boundaries are getting pushed and the emotions are running high.

I think my plan at this point is to tour the high schools we're interested in when it comes time in January. This way we get a feel for what's available. I'll probably even consider enrolling him in one at that time just make sure he gets a spot, then make a decision in June. But even as I'm writing this I can hear the little voice in my head telling me I won't be happy with them. :)

Time for School

2009-08-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

What an exhausting summer! Lots and lots happened around here this summer. But not a single scrap of actual school work! So much for all of my great plans. It's alright, everyone needed a break after such a busy year. Bug spent the summer rereading Harry Potter and working at the vet. Monkey read and played outdoors as much as he could and Frodo is now a master at Magic the Gathering. He has memorized the rule book and taken out plenty adults who thought they knew the game well. His friends are insisting on a hard copy of the rules when they play because they think he's cheating (which he's not, he's just really is always right). So much for me thinking nothing got done around here this summer!
Our school year is shaping up to take a different turn this year. Monkey needs a lot more time outdoors and I need to be more flexible with him. Bug has asked to be completely independent from me and be in control of her education this year. Frodo, well I'm trying to get him to be more independent but the hormones are in full gear and he has temporarily lost his brain. So here is our basic plan for the year!

Math:
Monkey: Singapore Math and Right Start Math games. I will probably throw in some Family Math problems as well.
Bug and Frodo: Thinkwell, Beginning Algebra and The Life of Fred Beginning Algebra

Language Arts:
Monkey: First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, Spelling Power, lots of reading to me from what ever interests him and I plan on getting through the Andrew Lang Fairy books with him.
Bug and Frodo: MCT three times a week, Literary Lessons from The Lord of the Rings, they will do a semester online writing course so they can receive feedback from an instructor and they are participating in an online book club for teens. They will also choose their own books for free reading time.

History: Monkey will use History Odyssey level 1 Middle Ages and Frodo and Bug will use History Odyssey level 2 Middle Ages with a few extra biographies and a unit on navigation.

Science: Monkey will be covering Human Anatomy and anything else that strikes his fancy. Frodo and Bug will cover Anatomy and also use the escience life lab and Singapore Interactive Science. We will also read The Story of Science aloud everyday. They asked for a science heavy year since they felt they didn't get enough last year.

Foreign Language: Monkey will begin Spanish, Frodo will be taking Latin and Bug will be taking French.

I'm still trying to figure out music for everyone. Frodo plays the guitar and Monkey will start piano again this year. I'll also work in some music appreciation that goes along with our history study.

Everything else looks a bit like this:
Monkey: Shakespeare performance class, various sports teams, lego class, gymnastics and several park days.
Frodo: Shakespeare performance class, programming class, video production and editing classes, swimming and mountain biking.
Bug: Improv class, Shakespeare performance class, sewing classes, video production and editing classes, digital design and Photoshop classes, swimming and working on earning her girl scouts Silver Award.

I know things will change and need to be tweaked a bit. But overall I think were off to a good start!

Where is Summer?

2009-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

The weather here is sunny California has been anything but sunny. We have had two weeks of rain, humidity, dark clouds and cold. This is definitely not prime beach weather. Luckily we have been busy enough with other things this week to take our minds off of the weather.
On Tuesday, we spent the afternoon and evening at Disneyland. It's so nice to have an annual pass and not feel rushed to get through everything in one day. We also have rules regarding souvenirs; they aren't aloud to ask for any. It definitely makes for a more pleasant experience.
On Wednesday morning we met with a Muslim religious leader. He was great! He answered questions from the kids, gave them some information about his life and even ended with a joke. He was very sweet and we were so happy that he agreed to meet with us to talk to the kids.
On Wed afternoon Bug worked her first volunteer shift at the vet's office. She had to file a lot of paperwork. The best part of the day was the cat emergency. A cat came in who had been bit by a rattlesnake. So she was able to learn about the steps the vet took to determine what had bit the cat and how to treat it. She even got to look under the microscope to view the cats blood cells and learn how they were different from a healthy animal's.
Last night Bug and I also had a lengthy discussion about being a writer. It was great, she has so many ideas and doesn't know how to keep them all in order. We discussed why proper grammar and a varied vocabulary are important. We talked about ways to keep all of her ideas a bit more orderly. But we also had a great discussion about not letting other people's preconceived ideas on a subject inhibit her. I this helped her to understand that she could write wherever he imagination takes her. She was also feeling like people would think less of her because she wants to write books for young children. So we talked more about incorporating her art in to the books. I think she walked away from this feeling much more confidant about the whole process. This conversation also brought us back to the subject of her art. She was finally at a point to understand that you don't have to draw perfectly to be great at painting etc. She always had a hang up with this. She is an excellent colorist and was finally (after a year) ready to hear it. So now she is considering picking up painting again in the fall. (I was secretly very happy, she has had no self confidence in this area for a year because of one mean teacher.)
Lastly, just to show the contrast in my older two children, Frodo checked out Stephen Hawking's A Briefer History of Time from the library. He read the book at the park while is little brother hung upside down. :)

Adjustments

2009-06-09T06:35:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not after just one week I have needed to alter the kids summer schedule. After this week ended the kids and I decided that I have given them too much math to do in one week. I scaled it back from 12 assignments to 6 assignments a week. They were feeling too much pressure to get it all done, they didn't feel like they were absorbing the material. I'm so glad they are at a point where they were able to articulate that to me.
Yesterday I met with a therapist that we'll be taking Monkey to see. She came highly recommended by many families who have used her for gifted testing. She also happens to specialize in children with anxieties. I really liked her a lot. At this point she is thinking that his anxiety his causing a bit of a road block for some of his learning. There is a lot more to it, but its hard to explain everything without going into great detail. I am happy that it feels like we're on the right path.

Stay Positive!

2009-06-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last night hubby and I went out to see a concert. We saw Ziggy Marley and 311's Unity show. It was so great! It was wonderful to get out with out any children. There were so many wonderful things about the show. First, Ziggy's children were all at the edge of the stage dancing and singing along while he played. I thought that was really sweet. All of his songs were positive and he even did a couple of Bob Marley songs. 311 was just simply amazing. The showman ship was great, the music was wonderful and they had a great message about staying positive. We had so much fun! I so wished I was younger and down in the pit moving with the crowd. Ah, I miss those days.... Of course, now I have a total celebrity crush on Nick Hexum. LOL

Books, Cats and Computers

2009-06-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

Our day started out with a trip to the vet for our cat Miss Haru. She's driving us all crazy because over the past two months she has developed a nasty little habit. We have tried everything recommended to us but nothing has relieved the problem. So today we took her into the vet to have some tests run. Miss Haru ended up staying for the day and Bug ended up with a nice weekly volunteer position at the office. We'll have our results tomorrow and hopefully it will not lead to treating my cat like a princess.

Next on our list was our weekly library visit. I think the library ladies see us coming and try to hide. We check out such a huge amount of stuff, all of which has to be checked out by the librarian, that I see them cringe a little. But today was special. For the first time Monkey checked out five books to read by himself. He's already read them all except one. This afternoon he started looking through our bookshelves for more books he could read. Finally all those dusty books are going to get their day in the sun again!

Frodo spent his day setting up a web server and playing around with Linux. He was in heaven. We also decided to enroll him in a programming class at the local community college in the fall. He has been able to master anything computer related we put in front of him pretty quickly. I found my self laughing inside when he found the programming errors in the Lego Mindstorms project book I got him a few months ago. Speaking of Lego, we decided to start a First Lego League team. He is giddy about it. Now I just have to do a few things to get it up and running. But it will be great!

Much to Contemplate

2009-06-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

We just had our final teacher meeting of the year with our Charter school. It left several things for me to think about over the next few months and during the next school year. The kids are reaching a stage where I need to consider things which I haven't needed to consider before.
The first is the options available to us for Frodo for High School. It's kinda a big scary word for me. But it is only a year away and I would like to make smart choices that open doors rather than close them. He has no intention of attending a school whether it be private or public. There are other choices but we have narrowed it down to continuing with our Charter or filing as independent. I had assumed that I would file as independent when he reached HS age, but now I am reconsidering. I had a wonderful talk with my teacher today that made me feel more comfortable continuing our current situation. It really comes down to our teacher, we have had her for 3 years now and she knows us and our style of educating well. But this means that there are things to consider as I plan out his 8th grade year. A few of his 8th grade subjects will be able to count for HS if I just plan them correctly. They are things he was going to be taking already, I will just need to adjust them ever so slightly so they fit.
My next area of thinking has to do with Monkey. There is a lot to consider this summer with him. He is very intelligent, but a major wiggle worm and extremely anxious. His anxiety keeps him from sleeping most nights, and from participating in classes as well as making new friends. Also, in my opinion he is not just a typical boy that has a need to move around. He has such trouble focusing that it takes an hour to do one page of math that he knows. Most of the time he is noticing everything else in the world around him. When I do get him to focus, (it has to be really early) he makes huge leaps and really shows how much he understands. So now I am trying to decide how much more time I give him before I seek out help. But an option that I forgot about was presented to me today. I'm not quite ready to discuss the option, but it gives me some hope and it feels like it might be the right way to handle things.
So those are the things I am sure will keep me up tonight. As I tend to over analyze everything around me. :)

Mother of the Year Award

2009-06-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Chere Mere for giving this to me! I know it was a month ago, but I still thought it was important enough to do.

These are the rules:

Admit one thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. Get it off your shoulders. Once you've written it down, you are No Longer allowed to feel bad. It's over with, it's in the past. Remember, you're a good mom!

The "we'll do it later" promise. I tend to say this little phrase much more than I would like. The kids are always asking me to do all these wonderful things, but I would honestly say about half of the time they get the "we'll do it later" answer. Then the next day when I am reminded of my broken promise but heart breaks that I forgot to help with the task at hand. Ah, I wish my memory was as precise as it used to be!

Next....Remind yourself you are a good mom, list seven things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. These are the things to remind yourself everyday that you Rock!

1. I love that my kids think I'm the coolest mom they know.
2. I love it when they all lay in bed with me reading away.
3. I love to see them all sleep.
4. The spray of freckles across all of their noses
5. I cherish that I am able to educate them at home.
6. Their enthusiasm makes my heart overflow.
7. I love that everyone of them has a great heart, but they are all very unique in every other way.

Now your supposed to tag more people. I will pass on tagging individually, if you reading this your tagged!

Items to Cover Over Summer

2009-05-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

So after all of these years homeschooling I am finally going to give my kids tasks to complete over the summer. In past years I have left summer open to free reading and imaginative play. But the kids are at a peak learning time and I don't think it would benefit them any if I were to give them a break. They are still going to get plenty of play time in but with a little extra effort. Not to mention all the natural things they inquire about on their own.
This is a list of what they'll be accomplishing this summer:

All three:
Read The World of Augustus Cesar aloud
Calligraphy writing

Monkey:
We will continue with Rocket Phonics, he's made huge leaps of progress and I don't want to slow him down.
Finish up Singapore Math 1B
Work some more in Daily Language Lessons for The Well Trained Mind (he responds really well to this)

Bug & Frodo:
Finish Caesar's English, Paragraph Town and Building Poems (This kinda took a back burner and we never got through it as quickly as I wanted)
The Life of Fred Beginning Algebra
Aristotle Leads the Way, book and study guide

For the older two kids I just wrote out a 10 week schedule for the summer that begins this week. I figured that would give them some extra wiggle room for other activities. Their list is not set up daily but rather weekly. This way they have to manage their time to get the assignments done by the end of the week. With Monkey we'll just keep with our natural daily routine.
They also all have free choice for the books they want to read. This is a really nice treat for them. I usually have them choose 3 classic books for every other type of book they read. There are some interesting choices popping up!

Back in the Saddle

2009-05-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally getting back to writing now things are slowing down. We are finishing up our last unit of our Epic adventure. We should be going to a Mosque and LACMA in the next week to finish up our study of Islam. It has been a very, very busy year full of ups and downs.
We have all learned a lot about all these great religions that shape the world. We have learned about real friendships as well as the heartache of losing friends. The kids have formed even closer bond with each other.
Looking back on this past year and seeing where we began and where things have taken us has been truly remarkable. I think the easiest way to do this is note the changes in each child separately.
Frodo is now a teenager. His transformation this year has been amazing. Physically he has grown six inches, several shoe sizes and when I look into his face he no longer looks like a boy but a young man. Of course he is happy that he is now only 1/2 inch shorter than his sister and is truly feeling for the first time in his life that he is the older brother. He has become assertive, more compassionate and his many interests have a definitive path. He has shown responsibility, honesty and a readiness to move onto the next level of academics. He also has very strong opinions about where he draws the line. He has also crafted very solid friendships with children of many ages and several adults. He has also become very protective of his siblings in a way that I have never seen him exhibit before. But best of all every ounce of his personality now comes shining through him with a confidence that just a few years ago I didn't think was possible.
My Bug has had the bumpiest road this year. She just turned 12 and stands only a few inches below me. She is still in the middle of transforming from little girl to young lady. Unfortunately from this we have had the roller coaster of emotions, self esteem and personality. But she has come out of the bumpiest of storms more confident, stronger and having a better understanding of herself. She has made mistakes that cost her, but most importantly truly learned from those mistakes and moved on even though she felt like her heart had been ripped out. I am proud of having a girl who speaks vehemently for what is right. But she has also shown wonderful leadership skills, been a wonderful friend when it was needed most and gotten over her terrible shyness. She is exploring the world around her and soaking in every part of it.
Last is my monkey. At 6 1/2 he just started to read this week. He is excited beyond belief! He also can instantly memorize anything he has heard which never ceases to amaze me. He has grown so much and has such an amazing physical mastery of his body that it astounds me. He is like a tornado where ever we go. A ball of so much energy that most people don't know what to think of him. We have learned that he only likes a few friends and too many people overwhelm him. He is teaching me not to take things too seriously but to recognize when he needs boundaries. Interestingly even though he is so physical he prefers to have girls as friends because of the way they tend to play. Also he's just so sensitive underneath his seemingly tough exterior. My next stop with him is working on his anxieties. He is very nervous around new people, situations and being away from me. So I'm working on a few things to help him along.
Now that I'm writing again I feel like I have soo much to say and can't quite get it all out. So until next time. :)

Time Out

2009-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be reworking the site. Please be patient please!
*hugs*
Gwen

Just Missing It

2008-12-10T22:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was such a lovely day for schooling. Even though there were other things going on we got so much done by deciding not to leave the house. Frodo took a math test for me and Bug did a lesson. Monkey finished his handwriting and math book. Then he used his new math supplies freely. Frodo wrote an essay response to some questions about the Taj Mahal. While Bug finally got caught up with her lessons and went to see Madagascar 2 with her friend. Then we just read until dinner time. I really miss the freedom of not having anywhere to be or anything to do and just reading. Even Monkey sat with us in the quiet living room flipping through his books.
Of course the reason our day was forced to be so restful was because I wasn't feeling great. But there is always something to slow your life down just when you need it.
Today we went on a field trip to the planetarium. It was really great. The professor gave the kids so much more information than I could have hoped. He was also so engaging, the kids (and adults) really loved him. I will admit I had to close my eyes during the rollercoaster effect, I guess I'm just not that young anymore!
After the planetarium we headed to a Borders nearby because Michael Phelps was there doing a book signing. Sadly by the time we got there the line was so long that the workers told us they doubted we would get in. We had several very hungry children between us all and ended up deciding it wasn't worth chancing it. The really sad thing was that the kids couldn't even get a glimpse of him because the store kinda barricaded the area where he was signing books so no one could see him. Oh well, maybe next time.

Petty Party

2008-12-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

I will start with the good then do a bit of a rant on a situation that is really bothering right now. First I cut all my hair and donated 12 inches! I love my hair shorter, its so much easier for me!
The older two kids had Shakespeare yesterday which is always wonderful. They also got their parts. Bug is Katherine in Love's Labour Lost and Frodo will be Launcelot in The Merchant of Venice. Frodo is soo excited, he's very good friend will be Gobo and the two of them will be quite the comedy duo. Even the teacher yesterday said, "Well I guess I asked for this". They kids also did math and played at a friends house for the afternoon. Our friend has an acre of land ( a rarity in Southern Cali.) so all the kids always have a blast!

I am so mad about what is going on in our homeschool group right now. It was such a wonderful group in the beginning but now one of the leaders has become very narcissistic. She has contradicted herself on many occasions, started picking off those who show her any kind of opposition, and done things that are just plain unethical. The final straw for me today was kicking someone out of the group for nothing other than her own personal agenda and then without talking to the other group leader removing her as a leader and saying that she can do what ever she wants, its her group. This just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth and makes me feel unsafe in such a terrible environment.

So then this poses the question "Do I really need a group?" I have a good network of close friends that we see regularly. Some of them are talking about setting up an informal group of their own. But really, there must be something in the water around here that leaves people with the need for world domination. This is the third HS group I have been in that something like this has happened. I have some decisions to make, but I am tired of standing back and letting the pieces fall where they will, people with control issues need to stop trying to control the masses. SO do I need a group, no not really. I guess the only thing holding me back is the comfort of having a "group" but I just don't really think its necessary anymore.
Thanks for listening to my little rant. :)

Huge Thanks!

2008-12-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

We just got our graphic in! This is the poster that we will have up in our school room. I owe a gigantic thank you to my dear friend Kozispoon for making this for us. Thank you Kozi!!! We love it!!!

Is This Better?

2008-12-05T23:37:00.000-08:00

Since a friend privately told me what a god awful picture I posted of myself, here is a better one. It's not the best but it was after all at the end of a very long day. But this is for my self esteem of course!

The sale today was wonderful. The kids sold out of everything they made, they were ecstatic! In the afternoon we went to our history group meeting. It is a Story of The World Group and we are about to finish book one. Bug was able to compare what Jesus was teaching to the teachings of Gandhi to the group. I was so pleased that she got the message of peace. The kids played driedel at the end of their discussion. This evening we decorated our Christmas Tree. We are certainly feeling very festive!

Preparations

2008-12-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

Today we spent our entire day getting ready for a kids holiday sale. In order to participate everything must be handmade. The kids had a great time getting there stuff ready. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Me after all the baking, looking very tired and covered in flour! Oops, don't look in the fridge!

Bug's cookies and many bags. She was still working on hats when I took the pic.

Frodo's baked goods. All were gluten/ soy/ dairy/ and nut free. He made cranberry and pumpkin bread as well as chocolate chip muffins.

Monkey's chocolate lollypops. He had to eat one today!

A Little Bit of Fun

2008-12-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting mix for us. The kids started out the day with their last Lego class. They have been taking a wonderful Lego engineering class. But we have chosen not to continue with it because honestly it is just too easy for the older two kids. They got more of a social time than learning time. It's not that the class wasn't great, but having a child that can build the Millennium Falcon blindfolded kinda changes things. Frodo probably could have taught the class. He is a natural engineer. He's been building things since he was very tiny. He is a master at Mindstorms and frequently enters challenges on their site.

So after Lego, we went over to library for a while. We read a few books on Mother Teresa and unsuccessfully looked for a few other things. After lunch everyone did some math. Monkey did handwriting, math, worked on memorizing a poem, painted a picture of the poem, colored a picture of Gandhi, and colored a map of India. Frodo researched and wrote a report on Gandhi and did alot more programming work. He's currently programing a music video, it should be interesting when he's done. Bug worked on researching and writing an article on Mother Teresa. In the evening we watched the first in a series of eight BBC movies on the Himalayas.

Later in the afternoon after much begging we had some friends over to play. It was alot of fun. They are very good friends of ours but see we see them so much for educational things the kids were on their knees asking to just "play" with no school work involved. How could I resist?

Daily Routine

2008-12-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

I really need to get back to recapping our days. We do so much everyday that I need some way of remembering! These are the wonderful things we did yesterday

Bug had an orthodontist appointment in SB (an hour drive). On the way we listened to two Teaching Company Lectures. One on the Bagda Gita and the other on the Biography of Gandhi. We had a great discussion after each of the lectures.
In the afternoon we watched "Desperate Crossing" which is a History channel telling of the Mayflower journey. Then the older two did their math and Monkey did some handwriting.
Next we read a story about an Indian mathematician and discussed his life.
Monkey and I then played some money Bingo while Frodo wrote more of a program he's working on. Bug made everyone in the house stocking advent calendars, which she place on all the doors. We ended our day going out to dinner. It was a very quiet day!

What the Heck?

2008-12-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

So I will admit the inevitable, I have been a super flake! I have had such a busy life recently that this blog has been the last thing on my mind. Here is a short list of what we have been up to recently:

~Traveled across country to two funerals over the summer
~The airline lost most of our luggage (permanently)
~We moved over Labor Day
~Unpacking........
~I wrote and am still writing a homeschool curriculum with a friend (because there was no way we could finish it!)
~I'm helping lead Bug's very busy Cadette troop
~Hubby has been working 7 days a week for several months
~We have been making spirutality a larger focus in our lives
~Frodo is finally growing at a normal rate!
~Bug is almost as tall as me
~Monkey is beginning to read
~We have discovered a fairly significant health issue with Monkey
~We had a Halloween party!
~ I lost 20 pounds (yeah me!)
~We went camping several times
Most importantly we are very happy.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

Some pictures

2008-08-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

I noticed today that I am seriously lacking in the picture department! I guess time has just escaped me. Here are a few from the past few months.
Were going camping for several days starting this weekend then we move as soon as we come home. I'll be sure to take lots while we're away!

What I do with my spare time

2008-08-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

Find out which heroine you are
Take silly quizzes like this to avoid packing!

A Little Summer.... With A Twist

2008-08-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

Things in my life are never uncomplicated. I had grand visions of a peaceful, relaxing summer. Days spent lazing by the pool or the beach with a camping trip here or there. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it sounded too good to be true.
Now that the dust has settled on the grandparent front, I go and make things even more complicated. For starters, we are moving at the end of August. I'm very happy to be moving since we are going to be closer to all the things we do and a bit closer to hubby's work. We made sure not to jump into anything too fast so we found a nice place in a nice area. But of course that means packing up this entire house in two weeks. We have a big camping trip scheduled for the end of August and I really don't want to miss it. So if I can have the house packed and ready to go before the camping trip then viola! we can just move after we get back. We are supposed to get home Wed. night from camping and move Saturday morning. I know I'm a little insane, but I really need the camping trip.
The other thing that is on my plate at the moment is my Epic adventure. A friend and I are currently writing our curriculum for an entire year. It will be wonderful once it gets done, but it is requiring a lot of research. So imagine combing that with all the other stuff going on it had been a bit crazy. Plus I do think we bit off a little more than we can chew. But the nice thing is that I feel intellectually challenged. I haven't felt this good about something in a long time and it has been great having someone to push me along. Now, if I can just get it all done by the deadline we set for ourselves!
And the thing that has thrown a monkey wrench completely into everything? I can't believe I'm actually going to admit this one but here goes. I have found myself completely obsessed with the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I started reading the first book on one of my flights. I thought hey the movie looks kinda cool so I'll read the book and I couldn't stop! I finished them all in less than week because I couldn't focus on anything else. I swear these books are like a drug, I can't stop thinking about them and obsessing over them. And they're written for young adults! Okay, so now you know my secret. Laugh if you will, but on the plus side they were my escape from reality that I desperately needed, something light and fun with a happy ending. Do you think hubby would mind if I traded him in for Edward? Hmm....

Catching My Breath

2008-08-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa and I

As of today things are finally feeling like summer! We have had such an emotional roller-coaster this summer that things have been delayed for far too long.
So after my last post, my grandma held on for almost an entire week longer. Some may say that was a good thing, but really she was just in such tremendous amount of pain that it broke my heart. So then I took a trip back east to help with and attend the funeral . I began outside of Nashville and ended up outside of Detroit. I was glad that I didn't bring the whole family this time as I needed to be able to grieve and there is no way it would have happened with them there. I felt guilty enough not holding it together for my mom's sake, I definitely would have put up the iron front in front of the kids. But it wasn't all bad. I did manage to have a great time with my cousin C and get in touch with another that I really like but haven't seen in a long time. I also got to see my sister and her kids which was great as well. Let's also not forget that somewhere in there I had a birthday! C and I got red velvet cupcakes that were super yummy.
So while I was on my travels the kids bonded with what my husband calls the kids "second mommy". The day before I left we got the kids a Wii and I think they played it at least half the day everyday while I was gone! Now its been my fun task of slowly weaning them off of it.
So now summer can officially begin! I can't wait to get to the beach and the fair this week!

Rembering "Chick"

2008-07-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

My dear grandmother will be ending her six year battle with ovarian cancer today. It is easy to say that I am devastated. I knew it was coming but has not made things any easier. She was a second mother to me when my own was unavailable. This is our second loss in the past 2 weeks. My husband lost his grandfather two weeks ago.
This is my part in my grandmother's eulogy next week:

When I was a little girl the thing I admired most about my grandmother was her beauty. I loved to go in her room and smell the different things she used to get ready everyday. I can still smell the fresh scent of Noxzema that will always be grandma to me. I would sit on her bed and she would tell me about stories from when I was a baby and about her children when they were young. Afterward she would always give me one of her special candies she kept hidden in her room.

As I got older she continued to share her stories with me. Slowly she started to tell me the tales of her childhood. There was always a good story about getting into trouble with the nuns in Catholic school because of her sassy ways or the boys doing outrageous things to her long braids. There were also stories that took me by surprise. Like attending Ukrainian school, taking the train to New York City and my all time favorite her days roller-skating as “Chick”. She would tell me about any story as long as I asked.

All of these stories opened a whole new person I had never imagined, but made my grandmother complete. As a child I had only seen her as a loving mother and grandmother devoted to her family. But these stories helped me to see beyond and I feel very special to have shared those stories sitting on her bed with her all these years. It also helped me realize that her beauty was more than skin deep. She was a wonderful woman who had undergone many things in her life with grace, dignity, beauty and a whole lot of spunk. I hope I can make her proud and do the same.

Quirks

2008-05-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by Patrice over at Making Peace for a game of quirks! Here are the ones I can think of:

~I have to do my morning routine in the same order everyday otherwise I feel a bit off kilter all day long.

~I can't stand to have anything touch my ears. I rarely even wear earrings because I'll figit with them the whole time.

~I don't sleep in, ever. I kills me that my hubby can.

~I detest wearing socks. If I do wear them you can bet their gonna be argyle. My kids think I'm weird for not having normal socks.

~I fall asleep with in seconds of watching any sort of tv or movie at home with my hubby. I've even tried sitting on a different couch. It must be something to do with comfort level.

~I have a strange obsession with being punctual. I can't stand to be late. Which has become very interesting when trying to get three children out the door.

Because I'm not so good at always following the rules I'm not going to tag anyone. I'm just feeling a bit accomplished for actually getting this done!

Where Am I?

2008-05-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

I have been very neglectful of my blog lately. The past two months have past me by with out a stop to say hi! I have just been so overwhelmed that this has been one of the many things in life that has suffered.
A few of the things which have kept mind occupied on other things have been:
Shakespeare rehearsals and then performances
Testing (which I hate but we had to do per our Charter)
Bug's Golden Birthday (Which seriously lasted an entire week)
House hunting
I know there is more but at the moment my mind is just so blank that I can't think.

I also have a dying grandmother and I cannot seem to get my mind off of her. I feel quite detached from reality at the moment. She has been battling Ovarian Cancer for 6 years. There have been several times that I thought it would be the end. But, alas she just keeps on hanging in there. So this time I truly thought I wouldn't get emotionally worked up. But I am such a mess that I cannot focus on anything this week.

So forgive me dear friends for my unintentional sabbatical I will try to be a bit more on top of things. :)

23 Things About Me

2008-04-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Having been inspired by so many posts about people here is some info about me.

1. My favorite color is green
2. I have never, ever dyed my hair
3. Growing up I desperately wished for black hair
4. I have been married since I was only 20
5. My all time favorite band is Weezer
5. I've listened to alternative music since I was 9
6. I could spend days in museums
7. I was an art major in college
8. Halloween is my favorite holiday
9. I love theater
10. I sing horribly
11. I love to read just about anything
12. Book series with the same plot in every book frustrate me
13. My favorite author is Jane Austen
14. I don't drink alcohol
15. I'm secretly pretty geeky
16. I hope to travel the world someday
17. I have been to almost every state
18. I would have a houseful of children if I could
19. I love Anime
20. I love to learn new things
21. I used to be decent seamstress, but now, not so much
22. I secretly wish to be more homemaker like
23. Coming up with interesting stuff about me is hard!

Confessions of a constant planner

2008-04-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks I have been thinking a lot about the older two kids futures. Frodo will be ready for high school in about 2 years and I'm already worrying. One of the things I love about homeschooling is the ability to do what we want. But I know that as the high school years approach the kids will have to meet certain criteria for college. I also think a lot of this is coming from pressure from my non homeschooling friends. They have been talking about how you need to tour high schools in 7th grade so your prepared for choosing which high schools you want in 8th grade. I mean seriously is this high school or college were talking about people?
But because of all this chatter I keep turning over options in my head. Options like, continuing with our charter school, switching to another that has a part time campus, filing an R4 so we can just do our own thing or a distance high school. The most important thing to me is the ability to take community college classes during high school for credit. If we stay with our charter they will actually have to take all their science and foreign languages at our local cc.
So for once in my life I am going to stop trying to plan something so far in advance and just go with it. This will be no small feat for me, but I think I can do it! Because after all, I still have a few years where I don't need to worry, I should really take advantage it for once! So instead of worrying I will spend my days enjoying our time and our new love for Charlotte mason. ;)

Spring Break

2008-03-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

We've been on Spring break this week. This has been such a nice break in routine for us. The kids have had multiple sleepovers, with kids coming in and out of the house constantly. It almost feels like summer. With the sunny days and nice warm air my mind is definitely playing tricks on me. But alas these days will end soon and our normal routine will begin again.
A few of the things we've done this week:
Met with our ES.
Bug had to take the 5th grade PE test.
Frodo had his endoscopy and biopsy (which went well).
Monkey got to see how a tow truck works.
Everyone just played.
We had a few school like things in there since we were supposed to take spring break last week. All the kids friends were on it this week so it worked out so much better.

Catching Up

2008-03-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

So even though I have the never ending cold we still managed to have a busy week.
Monday: Bug performed her Shakespeare pre-show scene for critic by the director. She is Juliette in the scene. The three kids working on it have to do all the blocking, directing etc. themselves, so this was sort of their approval to go forward with what they have done.
Tuesday: We got lots of school work done. We read The Librarian Who Measured the Earth and more of Archimedes and the Door of Science. We also read more Greek myths. Frodo also made a new friend who is new to homeschooling.
Wednesday: Monkey played with a friend all day. Bug went to Kidspace Museum all day and I chaperoned Frodo's Boys survival skills class. Frodo's class was really cool, this week was wild edibles week. The boys foraged for food and cooked an entire meal out of it. We had a wild salad, rose hip tea, prickly pears, cactus, and yucca root. It was surprisingly tasty.
Thursday: The kids went to a spring party. Then I began to sleep for the next two days!
Friday: I was still on the couch but we watched some History channel and the doctor's office finally called to schedule Frodo's endoscopy for next week.

Sick again

2008-03-20T10:06:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of post but I am sick yet again...

In good times and bad

2008-03-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

This week has been full of wonderful things but also some not so great things. I'm going to start with the good. We are having a FABULOUS week in regards to schooling. Things have never been smoother and I feel wonderful that I have renewed energy and enthusiasm.
We also had a great play date for the kids and mom. We went to a local art museum with a friend who just moved to the LA area. I also read a book this week that was non fiction *gasp*.
Now on to the not so great things. Baxter got neutered today. He's not feeling so great and has a bit of recuperating to do. But in the end it will be a good thing. He just breaks my heart looking so sad. I even had to put the "satellite dish" on him because he was trying to lick his wounds.
Now on to my dear Frodo. Just when I think this kid has already had enough to deal with more gets put on his plate. So we saw the pediatric endocrinologist on Tuesday. Which led to X-rays and a huge amount of blood work on Wednesday. They took 8 vials of blood. This seems like a huge amount when you look at the size of him compared to all that blood. There is a good chance he will be doing an all day test soon. He'll need to be admitted in the hospital for the day for this blood test. We are having to move quickly because even though you can't tell by looking at him he is full swing in adolescent changes.
Then today we had his usual six month check up with the pediatric G.I. doctor. This lead to the discovery of an allergy to corn. Given that the child can not eat gluten, oats or soy he has been practically living on corn! To top it off the biopsy on his small intestines and stomach that we have been putting off really needs to be done now. Hubby and I discussed it this evening with him and we're going to go ahead and schedule it.
Believe me I know there are much worse things in the world that he could be have. I do feel blessed that it isn't anything worse. We've also made him very aware of this. But my heart just breaks that its always him with the health problems. Of course for the rest of today he was incredibly upset that he will not be able to have corn. Lucky for him that in order to get a proper biopsy reading he needs to continue eating it. He wants me to make him everything he loves that has corn in it before he has to stop. So it looks like I'll be making lots of cornbread tomorrow!

The Plan

2008-03-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

Here is my direction for the rest of the year:

Everyone:

History:
Finish ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
World Geography

Science:
Archimedes
Nature Journaling (local plant, animal life, ocean life)

Art:
Hokusai
Trip to Getty Villa to see Greek and Roman art works
Child's introduction to poetry

Math: Finish current programs

Literature: Continuing with classics

Archery

Older two only:
Copy work: From Aesop and various sources
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Shakespeare program

Frodo:
Finish phonics program
Start Japanese?
Guitar
Fencing

Bug:
French
Piano?
Art lessons
Italics handwriting

Monkey:
Piano
Duo reading (he recently told me he doesn't want to read because he enjoys being read to. But he seems to know how to read much more than he lets on.)

I'm excited to have direction again!

Renewal

2008-03-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

I finally feel like I have a grip on schooling again! I've done a lot of reading lately on different educational theories trying to find the right fit for us. I have felt very overwhelmed lately with what the kids have been doing. And I have just wanted to find the right nitch. The hard part is that I find things I like about most all the theories.
Today I attended a Charlotte Mason seminar, which has me feeling like this is exactly what I've been trying to accomplish. I loved that the speaker was so honest about working things out with in a large family. I also loved that she talked about working other philosophies into what your doing.
Now I have always been interested in Charlotte Mason but there always seemed like so much to read before diving in. It was so wonderful to have a speaker lay it all out there for you. It was also great that she was so normal and human, not some super mom who gets tons of great books read to her 4 children of all different levels. I finally feel comfortable going back to teaching the same general things to everyone, just tailoring certain things so they are appropriate to each child. Because I can't complain enough how doing three separate curriculum's has killed me this year! I have been suffering from some serious burn out.
My favorite things that I got out of today were the nature journals and the art appreciation. The nature journals were remarkable. It is something I know my kids would love to do and it seems so communal with nature and their environment. The art appreciation has been very lacking around here lately. I love the suggestion of breaking it up with poets and musicians as well. I can't wait to get started!

Getting through the colds

2008-03-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

Everyone in the house has been sick this week. I dragged them through DLand while they were coming down with the cold. Boy do I feel like an awful mom! I have a lot to report as soon as I can stop being called for by the invalids! ;)

Better Day

2008-02-29T06:56:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was a much better day for Monkey. He was behaving normally again and the medicine helped his face quite a bit. He was also able to focus and do a good amount of his lessons. I am very relieved.

One bad day

2008-02-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today has been one of the worst days ever of having children. It started out on a bad note with news that a relative had passed away. Which wasn't quite so bad since there are currently 3 closer ones on the "watch" list. This was a great Aunt that my husband barely knew. But the hardest part of the entire day was Monkey.

Monkey had been complaining about his face burning. I waited it out since he has very dry skin and we had Santa Ana winds yesterday. I dutifully put on lots of lotion and hoped it would take care of its self. But last night he didn't sleep. He became compulsive about putting cold water on his face during the night. Which of course made his skin even drier. So I finally made him a doctor appointment but he couldn't be seen until the afternoon. In that span of time he completely "lost his marbles." He began sneaking into the bathroom when ever I left the room. We went to a friend's house for Spanish where he decided to lock himself in her bathroom, scream deafening screams all for cold water. I tried to carry him out, then he ran back into her house and lock the bathroom door again. So finally I walked out the door so I could move my car into her driveway to get him out of there easier. He hears me leaving and bolts out of the house thrashing and screaming the whole way. I had become so hysterical at this point that I was laughing because otherwise I would have been screaming as loud as him. She has to think we're all nuts. Plus she was crying because she is so empathetic that she couldn't help herself.
So, then a bit later we are waiting at the local drug store to fill his prescription from the doctor. (He's apparently having an allergic reaction to something, my guess is all the gunk floating around from the winds.) He again proceeds to flip out with the screams because I allow the other two children to walk home and go take the dog for a walk. He was screaming so bad that I thought for sure someone was going to accuse me of kidnapping him.
Once we're finally home again he gets put on Mommy lock down. I make him lay on the couch next to me and pretty much not move. It took about an hour for the medicine to start to calm him down. But he was still trying to sneak off to the bathroom. So in the end Daddy came home and he lost a whole lot a stuff for all the outbursts. He has finally just went to sleep and maybe I can calm down. If I was a different person I would so be whipping up some margarita's right now! Instead I'll just go watch AI with the other kids.

Life in Pictures

2008-02-26T21:32:00.000-08:00

My little "slacker."

Puppy play date. Baxter loved his new friend.

Monkey took this of me. I normally don't like pictures of myself but this one isn't so bad. Especially, since I have been sick again today.

Monkey's self portrait. You can see how irritated his skin is from all the winds. He's the only one of the kids with dad's hazel eyes, I love how green they look here.

Being sick and other musings

2008-02-24T06:41:00.000-08:00

The dreadful cold has finally caught up to me. I've been fighting it off all month long but now it is here in full force. If only I had the time to go with it. Nope today I'm still going to see the House of Blues Gospel Brunch anyway. I can't take cold medication, they all make me sicker rather than better. I used to take children's medication but I don't even bother with that anymore. Something about being a red head screws with how different medicines affect me. (Believe it or not this is actually a clinically proven thing!)
Here are a few things from this week:

~Bug got braces. Boy has she milked the pain. After three days she is finally eating "solid" food again.

~We had a huge discussion with Monkey about how Daddy isn't a slacker but actually works all day on his computer.

~Frodo got together with a friend that he never will again. The use of language was totally inappropriate between the child and parent.

~Bug is already planning her birthday party that isn't until May!

~She plans on Not including the "mean" girl.

~I am frantically trying to spend all of my kids charter school money by the end of next week.

~Monkey had a playdate with his best friend D.

I think that covers about most of it. I am off to get ready for my brunch!

Slacker?

2008-02-21T21:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight in the car Monkey gave this peach of an announcement:

Monkey: When I grow up I not going to work. I am going to play video games all day. I am going to be a slacker.

Our response (after some serious muffling of hysterical laughter): Are you sure?

Monkey: Yeah, that's what Dad does. He's a slacker. So I'm going to be one too.

The things your kids say while sitting in the In-N-Out drive through are priceless.

Starting Fresh

2008-02-19T05:45:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful weekend of new beginnings. Frodo went on his first camp out this weekend since going back to scouts. We were a little nervous about his state of mind when he returned. He used to be a wreck when he came home, full of negative energy and sleep deprived. He came home yesterday happy and surprisingly full of energy. He of course wanted to tell me about all the bad things that happened. I stopped him short and had him tell me one good thing for every bad thing. This worked really well because it kept him from focusing on the bad and to remember the great parts.
Bug had friends over all weekend. On Saturday she had a new friend over and their time went really well together. Bug was a little nervous since she hadn't spent time alone with this friend. She had only played with her with another girl who is not nice and very controlling. They had a great time together and are making plans to hang out again.
I forgot to mention that Bug was actually grounded from the controlling friend. I also asked her to reflect on her friendship with this girl. She feels confused because she recognizes how unkind and controlling she is but says that sometimes she is nice. But it seems that she recognizes that the nice days are few and far between. It also hurt Bug that this girl has repeatedly been mean to a few little ones that Bug tends to have trailing her. She adores really young kids and gladly gives her time to them. I have tried to talk to the girls mom but it was useless. She thinks her daughter is a perfect angel.
I really shouldn't babble on about such drama. This situation has been driving me a bit batty lately. The last thing you wan to see is your child being controlled by another. But I think we have finally made progress which is making me feel much better.

Finally.....Pictures

2008-02-16T19:26:00.000-08:00

The store I wish I could go into!

Monkey being well a momkey

But the eyes...

Bug's latest painting: watercolor and pen

Today we finally finished moving some furniture around. This meant that I had access to my computer again (I've been using the kids which is fairly useless) So here are a few pics enjoy!

Where is my Valentine?

2008-02-15T06:17:00.000-08:00

So I am going to be a bit of a bah humbug here. We had such a bad Valentine's day! Our day started out okay. I made gluten free pancakes with heart sprinkles. The kids tried to wear something red. So far so good. Then Hubby tells me that he actually got me something this year. (He is the anti holiday person, hates almost all holidays citing them as just a way for retail to make a buck with no real value.) The bad part is, it was supposed to be delivered on the 12th and never showed up. So I spend my day hoping it might show up. Then we go to a craft class at Michaels and Valentine's exchange with one of our home school groups. This turned into the biggest three ring circus ever! I was on the fence before about leaving this group. Now I will, I just want to fulfill a few commitments then I'm so out. I won't go into the details of what happened but I had a crying child almost the whole time and a few very upset friends. We then had lunch with a friend, which was probably the highlight of our day. Next the kids had writing class and Monkey and I took Baxter to the beach for a while. Then I got a monster migraine and had to go to bed at 5pm! Out went all my plans of chocolate cake, and a nice dinner! Oh and the gift never showed up! Oh well maybe next time...

Arts

2008-02-12T06:43:00.000-08:00

I am so happy! I found an art mentor for Bug. Some of our very best friends are moving here from the Bay area and one of them is an artist. She is very excited about teaching Bug and Bug loves her work so it should be a great fit. She'll still continue with her formal lessons at the studio but this will give her some great one on one feed back and technique. C is an animation artist, she does a lot of story boards and comics. But she is also a great realist as well. She'll also take over as Bug's Spanish tutor as well. Its also a great excuse to get to see our friends much more.

Agenda

2008-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

Frodo and Bug made some interesting choices for what they want to study this week. Frodo chose Architecture. He checked out a bunch of library books and I am trying to think up a project for him. He needs more than written work. He generally needs something a little more hands on so I may have him draw up some plans. Bug chose The Underground Railroad. I think this subject may take at least two weeks if not three. She has lots of books and historical fiction to read. I'm also going to get a few movies for her. She is definitely mature enough to handle the meatiness of the issue so I think this is my chance to push her without her knowing it. For her project I'm going to have her write a journal as if she were a slave heading toward freedom. I'm also going to have her map out the routes and figure out exact times of travel.
We'll continue on with our Greek myths. I'll finish The Trojan War and The Book of Greek Myths. They will read The Children's Homer. We're also going to map out a family tree of the gods and they can pick one to illustrate or paint. They can pick some science topics on Brain Pop and hopefully our new Math program will become available this week. (We're waiting on our charter school to start). The Monkey just wants to do math all week. I think it's a good time to indulge him on that subject. All of this should keep everyone plenty busy this week.

Our Day

2008-02-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

We have had a very strange past two weeks. I have been looking for new inspiration and in the mean time not feeling very motivated. I have also not been feeling very happy with our homeschooling group situation (I'll save that for another post). So overall I have been feeling like I'm in a bit of a rut.
Yesterday, things started looking up. I feel like I'm slowly getting a grip on the new direction were taking and feeling confident enough to really start implementing it. My plan is to give them a directed lesson with me in the morning on one or two subjects each day. Then in the afternoon they can explore what they are interested in. Each of them will have discussed with me what they'll be studying beforehand and they will have activities planned to work on that they have chosen. This will be in addition to the classes they are taking. I'm still trying to work out the kinks so we'll see how this goes.
The current classes include: Shakespeare, Civics, Spanish, Creative Writing and Bug has Art.
Yesterday we did begin my part of the arrangement. We will be studying the Greeks for a while so we began reading some Mythology and The Trojan War. They are also individually reading Tales from The Odyssey. It's way to easy for them but they can finish each book in about 40 minutes. I'll move them up to something meatier next week.
The Monkey just listens in on what I'm reading aloud. He has also been choosing a subject a week to study. The past two weeks have been Dinosaurs. We just finished all of our reading so on Sunday I'm going to take him to the Natural History Museum to see the fossils. He still does a little math. I haven't been pushing him on reading lately. This seems to be working to my advantage because now he is more interested in it than ever. He's a child that tends to resist if I push to much. He also has an amazing memory. He can tell you everything he has heard. It's just a matter of what he decides to share with you.
In other news, Frodo had a check up yesterday and we now need to see an endocrinologist. I knew this was coming but I was hoping it wouldn't be for a while yet. Sadly, he is still growing at a snails pace. He hasn't bounced back as much as he should have since the Celiac diagnosis. So I agreed to have a consultation and to explore the possibility of growth hormone. I haven't done enough research yet to have an opinion on the matter. But the thought of it scares me a bit.

She Can Sew!

2008-02-04T22:01:00.000-08:00

I did it! Today I finally got the new sewing machine to work and I won the battle that ensued getting it there!
The new machine is technically Bug's. It was a gift from my mom for xmas '06. Only she just got it a month ago. In that amount of time Bug lost interest in learning how to sew. So I figured the best way to get her interested again was to get back into sewing myself and her interest would follow.
Now I used to be able to sew. I was actually quite good too. When I was a senior in HS I sewed a lot of my own clothing and was set to go to FIDM, until fate intervened and had me end up at UCSB instead. From then until now I had a crummy machine that I never had the patience to get to work right. I eventually gave it back to my mom to do with as she pleased. So when the new machine finally showed up I was quite excited to resume my old passion.
But as luck would have it I couldn't remember how to work the machine! I spent an entire day last week pouring over the manual trying to get the darn thing to work right. Of course I couldn't let my pride down and actually call a friend (or gasp! my mom) for help. So after a little blood and sweat I got everything figured out and was sewing again.
But then I let the machine sit there staring at me for a week. So today I pulled out Frodo's scout uniform to sew some badges on. The machine almost won, but I did triumph! And boy was it great not hand stitching those babies on! Now I finally feel comfortable enough to finish "the doll." The big plus is that Bug is coming around. I think seeing me get frustrated and get through it helped my little perfectionist realize that she might be able to as well.

The Nature of Things

2008-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

This morning Frodo and I have a meeting with the new adult leader of his boy scout patrol. Frodo has been on leave from scouts for almost 3 months. One of the biggest reasons is because the old ASM moved away and a replacement was not found quickly, thus causing a few of the boys to think they could run the show their way. Frodo already has a very fragile self esteem and this sent him over the edge. He also seems to need a little more help than the other boys because of his sensitive nature and lets face it his small size. So he decided to take a break for a while even though he loves scouting so much.
When I was informed a few days ago who the new ASM for his patrol would be Frodo wanted to join again immediately. This adult really went the extra mile for Frodo last summer to make sure the camp would accommodate his food needs. He has also been there consistently when Frodo needed an adult to goto. He expressed to me that he feels like he can trust this adult to make sure things happen the way they should.
I do hope things work out today the way Frodo would like. As much as I could do without boy scouts my son happens to love it. He's also good at it and it gives him something to do on his own. I have my fingers crossed.

New names

2008-02-01T14:42:00.001-08:00

Okay, since I am tired of referring to my children as C,J and S (mostly because I'm beginning to confuse them) I am hereby giving them new cyberspace names. J shall now be know as Bug, S as Monkey and C as Frodo. Whew, I feel better already. ;)

The Color Purple?

2008-02-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

This has been a rather slow week here. I have needed a little down time and time to recover from Baxter the sleepless dog wonder. I am happy to say that we have worked out the kinks of the sleeping problem but now I still need to get the potty training under control. He's so close yet just not there yet.
So today I allowed my daughter to do what my mother never let me do. She dyed her hair purple. Before you think I'm mad, it's temporary and washes out after 8 washings. She's been asking about it for months and I kept saying no. Hubby thought I was being a little too strict about it and wanted me to let her try it so she could get it out of her system. So finally after lots of thought I relented. She wasn't allowed to bleach her hair first so has had to live with the color it turned out. With her dark brown hair, It's more of an eggplant color, not quite the true purple crayon look she wanted. But she is happy nonetheless. Luckily C thinks she's nuts so that means I don't have to worry about him wanting to do anything to his hair. I simply couldn't allow his red hair to be touched. Perhaps that's why my mom never let me. I'll be sure to post a pic of the new do tomorrow.

Exhaustion

2008-01-30T06:09:00.000-08:00

I am suffering from exhaustion. Our puppy has been up all night for the past week. Nothing is working to get him to quiet down. Everyone else has been able to sleep through his whining. He also has learned how to climb out of his pen that we put him in the daytime when were not watching. So now his kennel is his only choice. In addition I am feeling rather ill. I think I'm going to bury my nose in a book again today and let the kids handle things.

Being Gluten Free

2008-01-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

Today I'm feeling a bit inspired to talk about something close to me. If I haven't mentioned it before C has Celiac disease. This is a disease that changes the way you and your immediate family live their lives. Usually for the better.

On C's 10th birthday he had stopped growing for the third time in his life. Not just for a month but for an entire year, perhaps longer. The first time it happened, growth stopped from 6months to 13months old. This can be very significant in the development of a baby. But the pediatrician at the time just had me feed him fattier foods and was satisfied with his small weight gain. Then when he was 5 years old it happened again. The new pediatrician had his bone age done and checked hormone levels but other than his growth age being behind all was fine.

When the 10th birthday check up came around he was very ill. He had become gaunt and frail looking. He rarely had any energy and was so used to being in pain that he thought it was normal. He had also stopped developing academically and had frequent mood swings. He was also vomiting after almost every meal. My biggest fear was that he was developing an eating disorder. At first x-rays showed that he had a colon blockage the likes of which his pediatrician had never seen before. After several months of tests and procedures things weren't much better. Then we went to see a ped. GI. She was ready to write him off as having a weak stomach. Then as we were about to walk out the door I brought up the possibility of Celiac. My grandmother suffers from it but doesn't ever say much about it and I know she doesn't stick to her diet very closely. At that point we had the initial testing done. Sure enough that was what was afflicting our son. We then refused the next test to confirm the results because C had already been through so much. A intestinal biopsy just to act as a confirmation wasn't going to change how we would need to proceed.

Within a month of being gluten and soy (another allergy that showed up) free C was beginning to act like himself again. He had already begun gaining weight again and growing. His emotional health was slowly on the up swing so, his attitude was much better. The problem at that point was me. I felt like I had somehow failed him. Why hadn't I recognized the signs sooner? How were we all going to eat this way? How do I keep him from feeling like an outcast?

I studied everything I could get my hands on about Celiac. It is a highly genetic disease so myself, J and hubby have been tested. I will get S tested this year. I cannot tolerate much gluten but I don't have Celiac and neither do hubby or J.

Cooking is becoming easier but sometimes I still lack inspiration. But it is slowly coming. I am very slowly beginning to cook like I once did. As C's fears of eating anything that looks like gluten are starting to go away my want to cook is returning. For a very long time he just couldn't bring himself to even look at gluten free bread because it looked like the stuff that had caused so much pain.

This year it has been amazing to discover just how many places are willing to accommodate your gluten free requests. Last summer the boyscout camp he attended for a week made a special menu just for him. Many restaurants have a gluten free menu if you just ask for it. Also there are few fast food places that now have options (if you know what to ask for).

The hardest thing comes when people don't want to understand that it is not just an allergy. I'm certainly not discounting allergies esp. since many people can die from them. But sometimes people think that just because you can't see the effects of celiac immediately on the outside it must not be that bad. What they don't get is if I gave my son gluten in even the smallest form it is the same as slowly giving another child poison.

This week C goes in for another round of blood tests to make sure he hasn't had any gluten and to check his growth. It always makes me a little nervous. I am pretty sure he is still growing but we have reached the point where his peers are shooting up and he isn't. He will hopefully be delayed only by a few years. But we can't be certain. This is another gift of his Celiac.

But over all Celiac has lead to healthier living not only for C but for everyone in our family. Not being able to eat a lot of the junk out there has change us for the better. I look forward to being able to cook healthier food that a non gluten free friend won't know is gluten free.

U-Turn

2008-01-27T06:17:00.000-08:00

The road was closed yesterday so we couldn't go to the snow. The mountains were gorgeous so it did make for a wonderful drive. The kids feathers were just a little ruffled since they were all bundled up and ready to play. Hopefully next time.
Today I plan on dusting off my sewing machine and finishing some projects I started a while ago. One is a doll for J. It's a beautiful Waldorf doll she has named Pipi. But the only thing I ever got around to finishing last summer was her head. So there's no time like the present!

Snow

2008-01-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

Today we are going to the snow! Everyone is super excited. It has been raining so much this week, it has also been very cold. All the mountains surrounding us are covered so we won't have to drive very far. Now the trick is going to be getting back before the rain starts again today.
The kids are also going to be in for quite a shock! I don't think they realize how cold the snow will feel. But then again I don't think they'll care!

The Flow of Change

2008-01-25T06:31:00.000-08:00

Reflecting back on all of my years homeschooling I realize that every year this month always brings about the same change. I always re-evaluate what we're working on, taking stock of what works for the kids and what doesn't.
Interestingly just as I was writing about making the kids more organized last week I happened upon a book that I set aside a few years ago. The book was "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Dr. Oliver DeMille. It has a great theory that resonated with me when I saw him speak a few years ago. Then funny enough two days later at a dinner party a friend told me that day she had been to workshop with Dr. Demille and how wonderful it had been. This was too good of a coincidence for me to pass up. So I have spent the past week reading everything I can. Luckily my friend has quite a library of TJE writings.
I think the reason it hits home for me is because I have felt for a long time like my children a just going through the motions of school, even though they are at home. They only seem to be retaining things that interest them and they are not learning how to think. Just spit out the facts one day then forgetting them the next. So, I am excited to see where this next little journey leads us.
This week also saw the start of two new classes for C&J. They both began working with a Spanish tutor and a writing instructor. They loved the writing class. It is just a story writing class but it really inspired them which made me smile. They both loved the Spanish tutor as well. They can't wait until the next lesson!
Oh and if your wondering how my organized day went. It went really bad. It was nice to have a framework but beyond that nothing on the agenda was accomplished because things are always changing here sooo much. So we'll see.

Boy Interrupted

2008-01-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

The best laid plans lay to waste. This saying is especially true in our household. No matter how much I plan, something gets thrown in to monkey wrench my idealism. It can be very challenging for me sometimes because I like my days to have a plan. I also like things to work out to my expectations. I guess you could say I have a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to how I foresee the day progressing. And this would be why the powers that be chose to give me S.
S is unpredictable in everyway possible. He truly keeps me on the edge of my seat. After having him, I had to stop keeping to all my routines that I used to have with the other two children. This was a combination of his personality and the age difference between him and the older two. But now I find myself wondering if he would do much better if he had a set little schedule of his own. I am also wondering if this might benefit C & J as well.
I have been trying to get C & J to become more independent with their study time but I am finding that it is now interfering with our time as a family. For example, they both waited until after dinner last night to do the loose ends of their school work for the day. Of course, neither one finished and they will be working toady, which they were supposed to have off for C's birthday. SO I think next week I will try a more time approached schedule and do some rearranging of our homes school materials. Hopefully it will lead us in the right direction.
I am hoping that this will also give me more academic time with S. He seems to finally be ready for projects. He is also sitting still long enough to take in what I'm teaching him. I am very excited to move into this next phase with him.

On another note, we had to change C's birthday plans to Tuesday instead of today. Like his mama he doesn't take to change very well and was not very happy about it. We did compromise a bit for today. Plus everything is still the same it just got moved a few days. He understands why but he's not thrilled. But then again what kid would be. I'll just be working extra hard to make today a little extra special for him.

Birthday

2008-01-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

C this year hiking with a friend

C at 7
Tomorrow is C's birthday. As I said before he will be a whopping 12 years old. He has asked that instead of a party we go to Universal Studios and bring his friend. This seems so grown up! Mind you, I did tell the kids no parties this year since last year I threw three big ones.

I have to admit that every time my oldest gets another year older there is a certain pang in my heart. On one hand I'm happy that he's getting older, but on the other it makes me sad to see it happen. Honestly, I think it happens with all three but since it's C's birthday I'm just noticing it today! So happy birthday to him!

Baxter

2008-01-15T21:47:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Baxter asleep on hubby's lap. He is such a little cuddle bug! He has a great personality and follows me everywhere. Now if we could just get him 100% potty trained I'll be set!

Sense and Sensability

2008-01-15T16:32:00.000-08:00

Take the Quiz here!

He he, this was a fun little quiz. How I do love my Jane Austen.

Inspiration

2008-01-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

This is the work that completely inspired C to be an architect when he is older: Zaha Hadid . We saw drawings and models of her work at the Guggenheim in July of 2006. It was life changing for him.

The Newborn and The Firstborn

2008-01-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

I am still here but I feel like I have a newborn all over again. Who ever said a new puppy would be easy? I knew what I was getting into but perhaps just not to the extent. Baxter has to be watched constantly since we're in the middle of potty training. He also can't go in public until he is 16 weeks old. That's the one thing I wish I had know beforehand. Our life is currently chained to the house since we don't want to leave him alone for more than 2 hours at a time. But he's still worth it.

Also constantly on my mind this week is my oldest. C is turning 12 this week. I can't believe he is already that old. I think it would help if he looked as old as he is. All the other kids around his age are having their growth spurts and he has fallen even further behind. His best friend was over yesterday and to my surprise C barely comes up to his shoulders! I am so crossing my fingers that he is still growing and will have his growth spurt late like the doctors say. He has a friend who is 14 and only a few inches taller than him, he is now going to be getting hormone injections. I really don't want to cross that bridge.
We also had a big realization on his academic front this week. Because C went to school in K and 1st grades and came into K reading he was never taught phonics. I had been suspecting it for a while now. We took him to get tested last week and our suspicions were correct. I think this is why he seems to have so many strange issues academically. He is very intelligent but struggles in odd ways. So now it all makes sense. I just need to get it corrected now. I have a feeling after it is rectified he will soar again.
But he is still an incredible kid. He does so many things everyday that are completely selfless. I still will never believe his ability to construct things. For Christmas he got a huge Lego Star Wars piece and had it put together in less than three days. (not working on it constantly) Some day he wants to be an architect and I can see it suiting him well. So only time will tell.
Next time I promise a puppy picture!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T10:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay I still have not found the camera battery charger. Maybe someday I will. I am hoping in the next day it will turn up since we have a new addition to our family coming this weekend. As a Holiday gift to our family we are getting a new little puppy. I will post a picture here as soon as I can. He is an adorable little cockapoo. For those wonder what the heck? It is a cross between a cocker-spaniel and a poodle. He's adorable with golden curls. We have decided to name him Baxter. I had to veto a lot of names like, Frodo, Pippin and Golem.
We have decided to wait on buying a house after all. Hubby is a little nervous about the state of things. So we'll be staying put. Which for once is just fine with me. So we're off to visit Baxter. I promise the next post might actually be on Homeschooling and our trip over the holiday. Right now I think I just have puppy on the brain!

Christmas Jingle

2007-12-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

We had a very lovely Christmas holiday. We started out by going to a living reenactment of the town of Bethlehem. It was very well done, down to the shekels and Roman soldiers collecting our taxes. It was quite cold but such an incredible experience.
On Christmas Eve we had traditional family dinner out. This year we went to PF Changs because they have a gluten free menu. C was so excited that he wasn't able to eat. Which was a little ironic since we went there for him. We also came home and read all our Christmas stories, left milk and cookies and finished the night by allowing each child to open one present. C got 2 band shirts from J, J got the Rhianna CD from C and S got a Cars PS2 game from C.
On Christmas morning we had a lovely time with both grandmas and a very relaxing day.

This and That

2007-12-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

Now that our house hunting is on hold again we've had a little more time for homeschooling. Our past few days haven't been jammed packed with different activities. Instead we have been playing a bit up catch up on the main subject I have slacked on recently, math. All the recent rain has really helped us along as well.
This has been our week thus far:
Monday: Science, J is doing electromagnetics and C is working on some soil and compost projects. S read about polar bears and penguins. Then C&J had Shakespeare class, we listened to "Inkheart" and we went to the park for a while.
Tuesday: Math all around. More listening to our Holiday book "When Santa Fell to Earth" by Corneila Funke and we finally had some friends over for the afternoon.
Today: Lots of math, reading and slowly getting ready for Christmas. We also listened to a bit more of our stories. Plus S had a yearly check up today, he's grown a ton!

This is our holiday card photo. I won't even be getting cards out until Friday, I'm soo behind!

Seasons Greetings...

Holidays and Hunting

2007-12-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

The holidays always seem to throw me into a whirlwind of activity. This year has been no exception. And of course as always I am behind on tons of things which need to get done. The majority of the blame has a good reason.

We aren't doing a whole lot of traditional school work. But the kids are learning about what it takes to buy a house. We have been house hunting these past three weeks. So far the process has been slow and of course an emotional roller coaster. I fear finding the right house make take us sometime. Which doesn't sit very well with such an impatient person as myself. But we all of our lessons to learn right?

We went to see the Nutcracker ballet and made gingerbread houses this week. I am so glad it finally feels like the holiday season! I can finally get started on all those cookies waiting to be baked and presents waiting to be wrapped. This coming week we'll be going ice skating and to see a living nativity. Now if I can just find my charger for the camera battery I can actually get those holiday cards out and about.
Perhaps I'll have a new picture next time....

Busy Times

2007-11-29T17:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a very long while. Things have been super crazy in our house lately. I don't have time to write all the details now but the past month has included these things:

Halloween
Hubby's birthday
S's birthday
Thanksgiving
A few family health issues

And a few more things I don't quite want to go into depth about due to having to run yet again! I promise to write more very soon!

Second Hand Smoke

2007-10-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

The sky was dark and snowing ashes today. There are several fires burning near us. There is one so close that a local road is closed and the area has been evacuated. October seems to bring fire around here. Four years ago this week we had to evacuate our home for 4 days because the fire and smoke were so bad. In many areas there has been a lot of building loss. It also doesn't help that the air is hot and the wind is so hard that my windows have sounded like thunder the entire day. The worst for us is the air quality. Hubby has asthma, and S has a very hard time breathing in these conditions. I hope to get some sleep tonight but it even smells of ash inside the house. I pray that in the morning the fires are closer to being contained.

Golden Compass

2007-10-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

A ROCK'N GOOD TIME!

2007-10-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

This week we did something we never do, we slowed down a bit. It was great. We canceled most plans until the end of the week.

J did a little soul searching and realized how much she misses playing sports and being involved in something that's just girls. Sadly, sports are still not an option. She is taking a general sports class with one of our home school groups and still has a lot of knee pain after the class. Being her daddy's girl she is just too stubborn to take anything for the pain, wear a brace or even consider a sport that wouldn't bother her knees. Her condition will not go away until she is finished growing. She did decide to rejoin girl scouts. She quit the troop she was in because it was making her uncomfortable due to a certain religious bent. So today she is going with a friend to try a troop. I really hope it works for her. I am also going to keep pushing her to try swimming as her sport, she's very good at it and it wouldn't bother her knees.

S was crazy this week. It's got to be that his birthday is next month and he is going through a developmental phase. He was soaking up tons of information but turning around and doing everything he shouldn't be. By Friday, we went to a Halloween party and he seemed to have mellowed out. It was a really nice day, after the party we went to check out these fancy play houses that were auctioned off this weekend. They were so pretty, the themes were Curious George, Firehouse, Nicky (American Girl) and a Fitness clubhouse. All the kids were drooling over them but seeing how last year they went for about 30grand a piece they could only dream. We finished off a lovely day with a trip to CPK.

C has the best end to his week. Last night hubby took him to the Weird Al concert. It was C's first concert and they said it was a really great show. Somehow I lucked out and got them 2nd row center seats. They were sitting a few people away from Seth Green which made them quite happy as well. They have said the best part were the dancing storm troopers during the Anakin song. I do have to say I feel really bad about something I did to him at the Halloween party. I had to leave to take S to find a bathroom, while I was gone there was an incident between him and a girl. As soon as I got back a friend came running up to tell me that C had hit her in the mouth with a sword and wouldn't apologise. Anyone that knows C would know that this is not him. But trusting what she said to me, I didn't give him a chance to give his side of the story. As it turns out they were having a sword fight and his slipped and got her in the lip. He tried to apologize but she didn't want to hear it. So my lesson this week was a reminder to listen to your children first, before casting judgement on them. We got past it and everything is okay, but I still feel a little guilty. Until next time..

In Our Town of Halloween...

2007-10-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

Today we went costume hunting for S. C has decided to be Shawn White (which means he'll wear his clothes and tell everyone who he is.) J put together a Moaning Myrtle costume after we all got past our respective little issues. Today the fun really began.
First, it helps to know a bit how S works. He has some mild sensitivity issues with touch. I never know how bad they will be, it usually depends on a lot of factors. He is also slightly OCD. He has set things that must be a certain way in order for him to function. He is also the most physically active of my three children. I thought he would just grow out of these things, but it is becoming apparent that he may not for a while. He has also up until now refused to wear a costume. Last year he wore sweats and rain boots. Calling himself a "Construction Worker in the Rain."

S has been saying that he wanted to be Darth Vader for about a month. I of course had a few suspicions about this actually happening. So here is how it went down at the store today:

Me: Are you sure you want to be Darth Vader? You would have to wear a mask.
S: Ummm, maybe I can be Darth Vader with out the mask?
Me: I would still have to buy the mask, I could paint your face like the mask.
S: Ummm, maybe I don't want to be Darth Vader anymore.
We walk up and down the same aisle for 40 minutes. He picks up every toy weapon in the aisle and proceeds to hit something with each of them.
Me: How about a knight?
S: No I want to be Darth Vader.
Me: You could be Anakin, he's the same thing.
S: Ummm, ummmm, but I want to be Darth Vader.
Me: It's Darth Vader before the mask.
S: Okay, can we get it?
I proceed to dig through all the costumes and finally find the right size at the back. I open it and realise he'll hate the fabric.
Me: Let's try it on before we leave the store.
S: Okay....It's itchy, get it off! Mommy, I want to be Darth Vader!
He does a few more laps in the aisle, luckily everyone else seems to have costumes and the aisle is people free.
Me: Okay, S how about Obi-Wan? Look no mask, no itchy material and you can still carry a light saber.
S: Huh? Who?
Me: You know Vader's enemy, here let's try it on.
S: (puts it on) The sleeves are too long.
Me: (notice that this is my only chance and the least expensive costume to boot) It's okay, I can cut the sleeves off so they fit. Is it itchy anywhere?
S: No Mommy. Can I get it? But I need the light saber to match.
Me: Sure.

At that point he could have anything he wanted, an hour in a deserted costume aisle was about it for me. Then at the check out he managed to freak out the cashier by doing his "Ninja Warrior" jumps on and off her counter. By that time I just didn't care who he was scaring. It's just part of life with S.

Slowing Down and Drama

2007-10-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last week was busy as usual. With trips to Santa Barbara, Aquarium of the Pacific and all the usual things it was nice to have a slow weekend. On Saturday, C volunteered for the day as support staff at our local Relay for Life. S, hubby and I walked in it. Then on Sunday we did mundane things like grocery shopping and snuggling up on the couch watching a movie together.
The only thing that got me a bit outta whack was J having a fit because she thought she looked "lame" in her Halloween costume. I bought it for her in August because she had to have it. I brought it home, had her try it on where she pronounced how much she loved it. Then two weeks ago her friend, who I already have an issue with, comes over and says she doesn't like it. From that point on I have been trying to persuade J that her costume is just fine (esp. since I spent $70 on it and now cannot return it.) She put it on again last night to show hubby just how "lame" it looked. Which of course it doesn't. So now I have had to resign to trying to sell it. J has to make a costume out of what ever she has around the house. I think it wouldn't have gotten to me so much if:
a. she would have worn it somewhere (anywhere)
b. she hadn't changed her mind because of something someone else said to her.
I suppose this is just a part of her growing up. Although I am trying to accept it and go with it, it doesn't mean I have to like it!

A Little Bit of Pixie Dust

2007-10-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

J when she was 6.

I touched on something in my last post that I am really sad about. I think J losing the last of her baby teeth has been more traumatic on me than her. Which is rather funny since she is the one who had to actually get the teeth pulled.
I can still remember the first time the tooth fairy left her a gift. The sparkly, crinkly wrapping paper, the "pixie dust" all over her bed and her bounding into my bed the next morning to show me what the tooth fairy had brought her. It is one of the best childhood memories of her. The gifts were always books in the beginning. Then they matured a little bit as she got older. When she found out that everyone was getting money while she got books she was pleased to have a "different" fairy. But eventually she really wanted the cash. Showing the sign of her age the last thing her fairy left was a pair of pretty earrings and an itunes gift card. But her fairy also left her a card telling her how much she would miss being her fairy and that she would always watch out for her.
Now my daughter is very quick. She knows her fairy very well. She seemed very touched by it all. Even though my oldest still has several teeth to go and my little one hasn't even gone there yet, I am still sad. Perhaps it is something about her being the first of my children to lose all her teeth. It just seems a little out of order. But then again she has always been the mature one. A grown up in a child's body. There is just something so magical about little girls and fairies. It's a class all of its own. Lucky for me S loves fairies more than anyone would ever guess.

Flying By

2007-10-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

This past week has flown by incredibly fast. I blinked and it was Monday all over again. Here are a list of some of the things we did this week:

~Pulled C out of K12. He is much more relaxed and back to himself again.
~I held a 5 year old book club, we read "Daniels Duck" and the kids carved things out of soap.
~C attended a book club where he was the only child who understood the Holocaust and what was really going on in the book "Number the Stars." (World War II is a bit of a passion for him.)
~C and J attended a sports class, C went skateboarding.
~J understood that Native Americans used every part of an animal they hunted. She also finally "got" fractions.
~S read 20 library books. I think I need to break down and get a "homeschooler crate," my back is killing me!
~J had her art lesson.
~J lost her last baby teeth. Well actually she had them pulled because she had "shark teeth", baby teeth and adult teeth in the same spaces. So the tooth fairy mad her last apperance to J. *frown*
~C got a new guitar. (Dad's old one, but new to him and full size.)
~We attended a field trip about Ventura's Chinatown during the gold rush. It was one of the best we have been on. Amazingly before we went C was able to tell me all about how the Chinese immigrants were treated based on a few books he'd read.
~We attended the coolest show! It was called "The Birdhouse Factory" it was sort of like Cirque de sol. Everyone loved it.
~The kids fed the animals at the zoo.
~S finally learned how to play by himself!!!!
~Finally, C, J and I saw "The Seeker" in the theater. It was C's reward for finishing the book. He tried to tell me about all the differences, I'm just going to have to read it this week!
~Oh yeah, we fit some homeschooling in their too!

Now, I shall sleep and rest because our new week has already begun!

Calming

2007-09-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

So I am finally beginning to calm down about this whole curriculum thing. J is set, I decided to supplement what she is already doing and replace a few things to make it more at her level. I am also doing a combination of Living Math, Math U See and math games for her math lessons. So far so good.
Today, I finally decided that I've had enough with k12 and will be pulling C out on Monday. He doesn't know this yet and may not want to give up the computer. He'll live. But I am feeling better already. I have been totally stressing about it ever since I realised that he figured out how to "work" their system. About the same time it also hit me that he hasn't been learning anything either. Hopefully I can relax a little bit now and move forward with a little less frustration. (But of course, now I need to figure out what I am going to teach him!)

B'NESS

2007-09-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

So, the funniest thing happened yesterday. S was in the car with hubby and I waiting in the drive through line at In-N-Out. Out of nowhere he tells hubby the following:

"Dad, I'm going to get a dog, it will be my dog and my b'ness (ghetto version of business.) It will sleep in my room and no one can play with him except me."

Hubby and I are practically splitting at the seams trying not to laugh at this. S was so serious but the ghetto language was too much. Sadly, hubby wants nothing to with a dog in any size. Maybe with more lines like these S can get him to soften.

Ch-Changes

2007-09-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

So a few days ago J decided to cut her hair. This is the shortest cut she has ever had. I have finally stopped looking at her twice when she walks into a room. It actually suits her quite well. It's just that I still have a pang in my heart for the days when she was the age S is and her hair was long and in ringlets. She just looks so grown up now. I know she is growing up and I'm excited but I still miss the little girl. Our parents were all correct when they said it goes by so fast. ~sigh~

Obsessions

2007-09-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

Okay I will admit it. I have a problem with planning. As in, I over plan and analyze everything in my life. My favorite obsession is the kids school curriculum. I generally feel fairly justified when a new obsession occurs, but when I can't seem to make a decision I start to wonder if I'm going overboard.
Two things have brought on my latest issue. We'll start with the simple one first. I hate the fact that C is using K12 for his school work. I thought it would be great for him. He still likes it, but it honestly makes me seethe. In the three weeks he has been using it, all he has learned to do is take a test. I am willing to give it some more time to see if my fears are unfounded. After all, I know plenty of other middle schoolers who are using it successfully. It has also been great for his need to have a plan. (A child after my own heart.) But, I just happened to notice the other day that he has figured out how to work their system. This of course puts me in a tail spin because as a homeschooler I want him to learn how to learn, not take a test. So this little issue will have to wait a few weeks for an answer. But my plan is to not allow him to have so much freedom when doing his lessons so I can make sure he's not "working it."
My big issue currently is J's history and science. She has been completing a weeks worth of science in 45 minutes. I know this is an obvious sign that it's too easy for her. She would really like to just do it anyway. She has convinced me that she will just do several weeks in one week then move onto something else later in the year. I am pretty sure that I am fine with this. But to top it off her history is also too easy for her. So of course now I can't stop contemplating if I should continue on with what she has but with supplementation, or return her history and get her the next level up. I went to a friends today who has the next level and she kindly got everything out so I could look it over carefully. Honestly it just confused me more. It would be fine for her, but when I mentioned the change J was rather upset. I'm pretty sure it's because she likes to have things easy. But easy doesn't do her any good.
So tonight shall bring more obsessing and planning. Just maybe I'll have some sort of enlightenment tonight and figure all this out! But knowing me there will be just another obsession around the corner.

Little Shop of Horrors

2007-09-18T17:28:00.001-07:00

So as of today my children are all the proud new owners of carnivorous plants. They are soo excited about them. There was a boy a at our homeschool group selling the plants and slowly each of the kids came up asking for money. He must of made half his money today on my family alone!
I only know that the one J bought is a Venus Flytrap. I have spent the afternoon searching for the names of the two the boys bought. Of course neither of them can remember the names either. We decided to keep them outside until we can figure out how to care for them all properly. Luckily the kids have undertaken this big job and are enthusiastic to learn everything they can about them.
So considering I have a black thumb when it comes to gardening, we'll see if these little monsters make it through the week! lol

Back from Nature

2007-09-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm still getting the hang of this picture thing!
On Sunday, all of us took a lovely hike in the local mountains. It was a very nice walk. All the kids enjoyed themselves and asked to go back to the spot again.

I love being out in nature whenever I can. Sadly, to get to most anywhere around here you need to drive. The one thing which is nearly impossible to get hubby to do on his day off from work. So now I am on quest to find more outdoorsy stuff in our "own backyard." Who knows maybe my inner tree hugger will show herself again.

Speaking of all this nature, C is super excited because he is going to Joshua Tree this weekend to rock climb. He is by far the biggest nature buff among us. I will admit that I'm a little nervous. But hey he'll have a bike helmet so what am I worried about right? (I'll secretly cross my fingers that I won't be the parent who gets a call from the emergency room this trip!)

Are we back in Kansas?

2007-09-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

The story of my life these days has been "The Wizard of Oz". S and I are smack in the middle of reading Ozma of Oz and halfway through the Wizard of Oz movie. Ironically, after watching the movie yesterday I met up with some friends who out of no where started singing Follow the Yellow Brickroad. That's gonna stick in my head for weeks. I'm humming it now.

So our first week back to doing "school" went a little bumpy. You know, we went through the poppy field and the mice queen had to save us and all. But like our heroes things are beginning to take shape. For starters, I threw away those darn green glasses to see the Emerald city for what it's really worth. I don't think I'll melt my witch but maybe leave her to her own castle and have the flying monkeys keep watch. My lion even cried when he said good-bye to Glinda (for now.) But the best is watching my three little companions realize the strengths that were always there. I can't wait to see how this year's story unfolds. I'm sure it will be just as exciting as ever. "And that's how we pass the day away, in the merry 'ole land of Oz!"

2007-08-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's nice that the day is finally at a close. C is having a friend over to spend the night. This usually means he will be more like a typical moody pre-teen in the morning. Generally, he is fairly cheerful and not too moody. But if he doesn't get 11 hours of sleep he turns into a pumpkin.
J was lucky today and got invited to go to the county fair with a friend. Sometimes she seems way too mature and other times its like have a 4 year old all over again. She had a great time and is now hanging out with C and his friend.
S had swim lessons today. He did much better than usual focusing. He also sat through two chapters of The Wizard of Oz. We may actually finish the book before the end of summer! The best part was that he was able to recite everything about the book to a friend of mine this evening. I have a tendency to underestimate him. Since he is the "baby" I tend to not push his independence as much as I should. Of course everytime I do I am always amazed.
Note to self: Start taking pictures daily.

The Winding Road

2007-08-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

I feel like I should have an intro since this is my very first posting. Honestly, I was totally inspired by a friend's wonderful blog, that I just couldn't resist trying it out myself. I have long been holding back on the idea of journaling, so I am excited to finally give it a try.
I am a homeschooling mom. It's funny how that simple sentence really sums up most of my life right now.
Our menagerie has 2 boys, 11 year old C and 4 year old S. There is also 10 year old daughter J.
Well, as S is in need of help cleaning his room I will have to fill in more details a bit later.