Boys and their Toys

I have spent the past few weeks trying to come up with and implement playtime ideas (Hello, busy bags!  How have I been unaware of these lifesavers for so many years??) for 4 boys ages 8, 6, 3 and 1.  With the addition of our 3-year-old nephew to our daily lives, our days are full, and I want them to be full of good things, learning, and happy times.  Griffin and Sammy are doing a great job getting their school work done in the mornings, and as we make some changes to our curriculum, they are adapting well.

We have been using Sonlight, and we love most of the books the company offers, but right now, with two preschoolers in our midst, Griffin and Sammy really need more independent study textbook/workbook type curriculum if they are going to get a full education.  Sonlight, up until high school, relies on read-alouds for parts of the children's education, and there is just no way that I can guarantee we'll have time to read aloud every day, so we were a bit lacking in those subjects.  Both Griffin and Sammy do well with independent study, so I'm not worried that their education will suffer if I'm not sitting right next to them.  They both are good readers, not afraid of new words, and come to me whenever they need help.

We will be switching to Rod and Staff slowly but surely throughout the school year, and by next year I hope to begin the school year using all R&S curriculum.  It is 1) Bible-based, 2) simple to teach, 3) simple (not necessarily easy, but simple) to learn, and 4) thorough -- some of our family's top priorities for our kids' education.  It is not a flashy curriculum, not a lot of pictures and fancy stuff, but I wonder if all of that doesn't distract from the real learning anyway.

Homeschooling is definitely a refining process.  Well, parenting is, really!  When you teach your own children and have so many options and choices and methods and styles to choose from, you really have to dig deep and figure out what is important to you as a parent.  I'm not saying that parents who don't homeschool don't know what is important to them.  It's just more intense when you have to make all of the schooling decisions on a daily basis for your children.

It's a lot like doing your own housework rather than hiring a cleaning service.  Or cooking your own meals rather than having a chef.  Or fixing your own car rather than taking it to a mechanic.  Or doing your own home maintenance rather than having all of the local  maintenance companies' phone numbers on speed-dial.  Or doing your own laundry rather than taking it all to the dry cleaners.

Really, our children's educations are our responsibility as parents.  If we choose to delegate that responsibility to someone else, whether that be private school, public school, charter school or private tutors, we give up control of that part of our lives and allow someone else to come in and do it for us.  We might still have "messes" to clean up after most of the work is done, those finishing touches that someone else might not be able to do just the way we want it done, and we can "decorate around" the work we have hired out, but for the most part someone else does the dirty work.

For our family, the "dirty work" that is homeschooling is worth everything we put into the experience, because we have found that "life IS the messy bits," as was so eloquently stated by Charlie's grandma in the movie Letters to Juliet.

Oliver has woken from his nap, so I must go.  He is 19 months old now!  Hard to believe he is growing up so fast.  He'll be 2 before I know it. 

In the Middle of Life

Bullet points today.  I don't have time to write a "real" post and try to tie everything neatly together, but there are so many things I don't want to forget.  It might be messy, but here goes!

*Oliver loves horses!  He turns to the horse pages first in his "name the animal and make the animal noise" books, and goes "pppppppppppp" with his lips, because he doesn't care about the whinny, he is just fascinated that this creature can spit and not get in trouble for it.  He had started spitting when he got mad (spitting mad?  now I understand those why those words would be used together), and would get a swift swat on the rear in return.

*We have been looking at land/houses in the country.  Driving around on Sundays to faraway places like... Paola.  And Wellsville.  And Louisburg.  We would love to have more than 10 acres, and have even found one foreclosure property that has 40 acres and a house in our price range.  We have work to do on this house before it is ready to put on the market, but it is getting done!  The places we have seen are motivational (well, some of them are).

I love this house, because it is unique, and it feels really big... oh, who am I kidding?  It IS really big.  It is probably too big, and we have just filled (overfilled) it with stuff and are ready to move to a place with a simpler house that maybe only has 2 bathrooms instead of 4.  We love having 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a nice kitchen, a living room with a vaulted ceiling, a cozy family room with a fireplace and bookshelves (what we now call the school room, even though we do all of our schooling on the couch and at the dining room table), and a finished basement big enough and equipped to house renters... but really, there are 5 of us.  We don't NEED all of the stuff, the rooms, and the stress that comes along with it.

Mike loves to work with plants and seeds, and he'd love to have a greenhouse, and I would like to keep ducks and/or chickens, and possibly even have a cow for milk.  Just a little hobby farm, so that we can work on not being so wasteful (chickens eat scraps, and we have learned how to make compost, but our HOA won't allow that in our neighborhood... they also won't allow a clothesline!) and also so that we can provide for our own family without being so dependent on the grocery store for everything!  Self-sufficiency is all the rage these days with some people, but we don't want to just jump in unaware.  We are taking our time and going slowly...  It will take time, and there will be a lot of learning, and a huge lifestyle shift.  I am learning how to can so that I can stock up on fresh, local foods when they are in season and can them for winter.  So far I have only done beets at Mama G's house with her and my two lovely sisters-in-law and my niece.  It was fun, and also a lot of work, but we have beautiful jars of beets, and I would love to stock my pantry with more things like this.

*I am considering selling scrapbook kits!  I'll probably start with a shop on Etsy and a website, and build it from there.  I don't have details yet, but I'm working on a plan.  Eventually maybe I could help with a monthly budget amount like groceries or something, but at this point I'd be happy to take care of the yearly homeschool curriculum purchase.

*Mike has been working long hours, with many overnights and phone calls early and late.  It is hard on him and on me, but I am so thankful that he has a job and that they need him.

*I got to spend Saturday with my mom and sister!  We drove down to the Louisburg Cider Mill (SO many memories from going there every year while growing up), and got to take in all of the craft booths.  The line to buy cider and doughnuts was outrageously long, so we decided to go back some time during the week when it's not so busy to indulge in some warm, sweet, sugary cider doughnuts and cold, spicy-crisp apple cider.  I can't wait!

*School is going well this year.  The boys are way ahead in math and reading for the year, so I'm not worried at all about them in those areas!  We are working our way through the science astronomy book, and our history books we're reading aloud either during naptime, or (what usually happens) Mike reads to them before bed.  We are doing the Book It! program through Pizza Hut, and that really works to make sure I keep track of the books they have read by themselves.  Griffin reads a LOT of books.  His favorites are the Magic Tree House series, but he'll read just about anything.  He's really getting into chapter books, and it is not unusual for him to finish one off in a few days.  He takes every spare minute to curl up on the couch and read... when he's not playing outside, raking leaves, or building with Legos.  I love seeing him enjoy books so much!  Sammy is starting to read for enjoyment.  I have convinced him that he IS a good reader, and he has been going out on a limb and trying new books.  He wants to read them while we're at the library to make sure he'll like them before committing to checking them out and taking them home.  He's such a perfectionist!  Good and bad... I am trying to draw out the positives and help him overcome the negatives of feeling like everything he does has to be perfect.  He really seeks out approval from others, and there is a fine line between wanting affirmation and craving flattery, so I'm trying to figure out that balance, and make sure that my words of approval are for who he is, and for his character, rather than just for his accomplishments.  I know it is nice to have that pat on the back at the end of a hard school project, though.  Even if that project is just a page of handwriting.  Those can be daunting when you are 6!

*Oliver's words so far: Dada, Mama, Doggy (his first official word after Dada), Tickle (Kicka), Cracker (Cah-cah), Drink (Dizz), Moo (he has the cow noise down!), Hiss (he doesn't really like the snakes, but the noise sounds similar to hush), Hush (from Goodnight Moon -- "the little old lady who was whispering "Hush"), and I'm sure there are others... I knew I needed to keep track of those words better!

*Sammy is a Christian now!  He accepted Christ into his heart in mid-September.  I have the date somewhere... He is so happy to tell anyone who will listen to him about his decision, and how important it is to have Jesus in your heart so that you can go to heaven and live forever with God when you die!  I am just so excited that my whole family will be in heaven with me someday.  I know some people will make fun of me for believing these things, and they might even say that I am brainwashing my children, but that's okay.  The only One I have to please is my Father in heaven.  I can never please everyone here on earth.  That would just be impossible, and a colossal waste of my time!  I have to do what I know in my heart is right.  Sammy is totally excited to learn about Jesus, and about the things God has promised to those who believe in Him.  I am excited to be the Mama of two born-again boys!  Oliver is next... :)

*Mike and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary a week ago.  Wow, it has been a full 10 years!  4 babies (3 of whom I am raising, 1 who we will meet when we get to heaven), 3 very scary ambulance rides, 1 year of cancer, and 2 people more in love with each other than when we got married, with so many wonderful memories and the support and love of both of our families and a whole bunch of amazing friends... we can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the future!    

Tomato Staking, Part 2

(I started typing this post, and typed several paragraphs before it started sounding very familiar.  I check my previous posts and realized that I already posted some of what I said in this post, but I'll leave it, because obviously it is a big thing that is going on in my life, and has been on my mind constantly.  So sorry for the repeated info!)
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Oliver is SO cute!  Look at those chubby cheeks!  He's so sweeeeet!  Those comments have been coming less and less lately, as Oliver gets bigger and loses his baby innocence.  He can still be very sweet and charming, and he is still cute, but OH MY WORD.  This child has a mind of his own, and he knows how to use it.  He smiles his way into trouble oh, I don't know, maybe 739 times in the course of a day.  I was desperate, people.  Desperate!!!!

Friends heard my desperation and began suggesting a book to me.  Several friends suggesting the same book to me means that that book WILL be purchased and in my house within a week or two.  Well, most of the time.  Unless you're talking about something like 50 Shades of Grey.  That book, and all perverseness of the sort, will never be inside my home.  But that's another topic for another day.

I have read most of the suggested book, Raising Godly Tomatoes by L. Elizabeth Krueger.  The boys think the title is hilarious, as we actually started to get ripe tomatoes on the plants in the backyard around the same time as the book arrived.  Well, I'm working on growing up some tomatoes of my own, but inside the house!  I am finding out just how helpful it is to have Oliver right beside me throughout the majority of the day.  He washes windows with me, he helps me push clothes into the dryer on laundry days, he sits in his high chair and watches me cook (I feel like I have my own little cooking show most of the time now, "Watch Mommy chop the carrots!  Now I will put them into the pan and stir them around.  Hot hot!" as he waves his hand around, indicating that something is hot.)  It is hard.  Everything takes longer with him around, because I am constantly correcting him and teaching him and showing him what to do and correcting him again and showing him what to do again...

I have been working on specific behaviors with Oliver.  Things I want him to do the first time, every time. Eventually I'd like for him to be obedient in everything.  But I started training him late, when he was already used to getting his own way in most things, so it will take him a while to get the hang of listening to Mike and me and doing what we say right when we say it.

The first one was "Sit With Mama."  This means no squirming to get down, no sliding down my leg, no pounding on me while he is sitting on my lap, no yelling in my face, and all of the other things he would do when I tried to hold him before if he didn't want to be held.  I have always told people that Oliver is "not a snuggler."  I am finding out that I simply hadn't trained him to sit with me.  Joy!!  He turned out to quite like snuggling with Mama.  I just have to enforce the "Sit With Mama" rules, and he does great.  We're working on longevity at this point.  He is up to about 30 minutes of sitting with me.  Most of the time, we are reading books or singing songs or "doing" something.  I'm getting him used to being on my lap, under my authority.

Next we started working on "Lay Your Head Down."  At any point while I am holding him, I need to be able to say, "Lay Your Head Down" and have him obey quickly and quietly.  Right now, I am requiring it when he is tired and is ready to go to sleep.  He hated this one when we started, and fought and kicked and screamed and turned bright red and asked for Dada.  But I persevered, telling him, "Lay Your Head Down," and then if he didn't do it right away, pushing his head gently down onto my shoulder (there is no abuse going on in this house, folks).  If he arched his back and pushed against my hand while I tried to push his head down, he got a swift pat on the bottom, which at first made him scream even more and arch his back and push harder.  I just kept on, push, arch, swat... push, arch, swat... push, arch, swat... until he figured out that, Wow, Mama really means business!  He would give in, crying, laying his head down and relaxing, until about 30 seconds later he would hear an interesting noise and his head would pop up again.  "Lay Your Head Down."  Push, arch, swat... push, arch, swat... and his head would be down again.

It is a work in progress, but he has come so far in only a week or two!  Now, when he gets to "Sit With Mama," he sees it as a privilege (most of the time) and he wants to be in my lap.  We're still working on the longevity part.  :)  He'll bring me a book or two, and we have our favorite songs that we sing with wiggling fingers and tickling crawling spiders and little lights being blown out and covered up...  He whimpers for a little bit when I tell him, "Lay Your Head Down," but he does it, usually right away.  If he doesn't want to lay his head down, he does it anyway, but sometimes it will pop back up after a few seconds, and then we go through the push, arch, swat routine until his head is down for good.  It is taking less and less time because he KNOWS what is expected, and he knows exactly what will happen if he doesn't do what I am telling him to do.

My foot has healed enough that I can wear socks and my Crocs and walk around without too much pain.  So, I think the next thing I will work on with him is "Come To Mama."  I'm going to have to be brave when I do this one.  He runs away from me when I say this, so I have been avoiding saying it altogether, and never while I am standing up.  He only comes to me when I am sitting down, because when I am standing, he thinks it is a game and I will chase him, which I'm not going to do.  Now that I am feeling better, I am ready to be 100% consistent with this and spend time training him.  He doesn't know what my expectations are, because I have been inconsistent.

So that's where I am right now!  Making progress, although it feels slow and I get discouraged sometimes, especially because it is so hot and the heat makes me tired.  But God will give me the strength to endure, because He will never give us anything we can not handle, and obedient children is something we are taught to pursue in the Bible, so I know I have God's blessing in this.  Parenting is hard, but it is so worth it!

Tomato Staking, Part 1

I have been using the techniques in Raising Godly Tomatoes, by L. Elizabeth Krueger.  Well, Oliver knows what to expect now.  He knows that when I tell him to do something, he gets a tap on the bottom if he doesn't do it right away, and will keep getting nothing but a tap on the bottom until he obeys.  I have been working on "Come to Mama," and "Get your drink," both of which he knows how to do... but doesn't always want to do if he doesn't see the point.  I'm not trying to get him to do really hard things, I'm just making sure that he will obey when I give him instructions.  He has been doing well, but still has his struggles (don't we all!).

Oliver has come to love hugs and snuggles -- I thought he "wasn't a snuggler," but it turns out that he is just really strong-willed and didn't want anyone else to be in control of his time!  He doesn't like to sit still for long, so I have been working with him on sitting on my lap calmly for longer periods of time.  We're up to about 10 minutes now with no squirming!  Yippee!!  I might be able to go to Park Day with my homeschool group in the future if he learns to do this.  He wears me out otherwise, and I refuse to chase him all over the gym or the park with a hurt foot (It's getting better!  It doesn't hurt to put pressure on the blister now, it just feels like I am stepping on a big caterpillar when I walk.). 

Okay, so here is why I need prayers.  Our current issue, for the past week, is that he has learned how to climb on top of the coffee table and the dining room chairs.  He climbs up on a regular basis, and I tell him to get down, and he just sits there and stares at me.  He knows what "get down" means, but I thought he was refusing to do it, so I have been swatting him (my swats don't hurt, but he knows they mean that he is doing something wrong) when he doesn't obey.  Yesterday, I finally figured out that he can't get down by himself.  He needs me to turn him around onto his belly, and he can wiggle off of the table from there.  But he KEEPS CLIMBING UP!!! 

So this morning, I am trying a new tactic.  He climbed up on the dining room chair as soon as his feet hit the floor.  I was in the kitchen making coffee, and he started calling, "Mom!"  "Mama!"  "Maaaaama!"  "Mooom!"  and I walked over to him and there he stood, on the chair, waiting for the swat that he thought was coming, waiting for me to help him down, because I have always had to help him down in the past.  Hmmmm.....

Can you guess what is coming?

I decided to leave him up there.  "Get down," I said, and left the room.  He started crying and quickly flipped over on his belly and backed off of the chair.  He bonked his ribs on his way down, and that hurt a bit, but he was down really quickly, and he hasn't climbed back up... on the chair. 

He was a busy bee this morning, and learned how to open the gate if it isn't locked.  We have gotten lazy and have stopped making sure we push the gate latch down until it clicks to say that it is locked.  Oliver hadn't figured out that he could open it... until now.  He opened it about 3 times in 30 minutes, then I wised up and figured out what was going on. 

So he moved on.  He climbed up on the big black speaker in between the TV cabinet and the shelves in the living room.  Now he is stuck.  The speak is smaller than the chair, and he doesn't think he has room to flip over onto his belly.  He has been up there for about 20 or 30 minutes, and is desperate to get down.  It is not very high, and he could turn around and wiggle down with no injury, but it is a small space, and he doesn't think he can do it.  I am letting him stay up there, with no swats, just little gentle reminders to "Get down, Oliver." 

I had parked myself on the couch, watching him to make sure that he didn't pull all of the books off the shelves (a favorite thing to do while he is on the speaker -- can you tell he has done this before?).  But there he sat, happy as a clam, patting the shelves, patting the speaker, jabbering his baby-talk to me as I sat there talking back to him.  Hmmm.... 

I am now sitting at the dining room table, where he can't see me very well, and Griffin and Sammy have come downstairs and are eating their breakfast.  They feel sorry for him and want to help him down, but I'm standing firm. 

So, pray for me to have patience and not back down... and for Oliver to get down soon!

Update: I did help him down.  Mike came upstairs from working and suggested that maybe he really couldn't get down, so I went to him, and he climbed me like a tree in his effort to get off of that speaker.  He knows, though, that next time he climbs up he can expect to have a lengthy, lonely stay on the top of the speaker.  He is avoiding it like the plague now.  We'll see how long that lasts!  :)   

Second Update: He climbed up there first thing the next morning, and I left him there again.  Short memory, I guess.  He stayed there crying for 20 minutes, and I had resolved to leave him there for 30 minutes and then get him down, since he truly believed he could not get down.  Sammy came into the room and, not knowing what was going on, helped Oliver off the speaker.  And he hasn't been back up there since!  Yippee!!  He learned his lesson!

Happy Independence Day!

Oliver 1 year ago.

Mike and I watched the movie A More Perfect Union a few days ago.  Not a lot of action and adventure, but it was a great movie!  It is all about the convention, led by George Washington, in which the state representatives went through weeks of voting and discussion about the Virginia Plan written by James Madison, which (after revision and much rewriting) eventually became the Constitution of the United States, and was signed by the founding fathers.

I didn't realize how many states there were when the Constitution was signed, and how many people were already in the USA at the time (they said that Virginia alone had 800,000+ people!).  I don't know my US history very well, apparently!

I had always pictured tiny towns with struggling people, fighting off the Indians and barely surviving.  This movie showed the well-established towns and that the people were doing quite well, with the exception of the high prices that England was charging them.  The states were starting to argue, however, about the lack of order and about the rioting and court-burning that was going on because of their inability to govern properly.

George Washington was signed in as President of the United States shortly after the signing of the Constitution, and a new government was born!  It was exciting to watch this movie so close to the 4th of July, when at the same time of year so many years ago all of this was taking place.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July! 

A New Homeschool Year!

 

Here he is, my (big) little man!  15 months old today.

Cutie-patootie.

Griffin had a birthday, and I got to cut the cake!

Birthday Boy!  Talk about growing up fast.  8 years old!

Sammy the Ham 

   We started our school year two weeks ago, and we are slowly adjusting to the many curriculum changes that we have made.  Our schedule has changed dramatically from last year with the addition of a very active toddler who likes to get his way, so we are easing into school gently this year.  Last year, both of the boys had independent work only, and only needed to come to me when they had questions.  It worked great for us last year -- with the addition of a new baby, I needed all of the time I could get -- however, I could sense that the boys wanted more time with me during their school time, and I knew that they were just doing their workbooks to "get it over with" so that they could move on to much more important things, like playing the Wii!    

Here is our curriculum line-up for this year:

Bible -- We are following Sonlight's plan for Bible, which includes daily Bible reading, verse memory, and reading through the book Leading Little Ones to God: A Child's Book of Bible Teachings, by Marian M. Schoolland.

Character Training -- We're reading through the book Character Trails: Learning to Walk in Paths of Righteousness, by Marilyn Boyer.  Each week we read about a different character trait.  We read stories about people in the Bible, people from history, and modern kids (fiction) who display good character.  We'll cover attentiveness, availability, boldness, compassion, courage, decisiveness, endurance, flexibility, generosity, joyfulness, orderliness and thoroughness.      

History/Geography -- Sonlight has a great history plan, so we'll be following that this year.  We're using Sonlight's Core B, Intro to World History, Year 1 of 2.  Next year, we'll do Core C, Intro to World History, Year 2 of 2 and finish our study of world history.  We'll be reading together on the couch.  I haven't been great about reading to the boys, so that's one reason I love Sonlight.  It forces me to do it, and I already love our snuggle time!  I wouldn't give it up for anything.  Sonlight uses lots of Usborne books, missionary story books, and A Child's History of the World, by V.M. Hillyer.  Each week, we'll be praying for an unreached people group from one of the 5 main groups: the acronym is THUMB, and the people groups are Tribals, Hindus, Unreached (or Unchurched) Chinese, Muslims, and Buddhists.  We will be using a Book of Time, which is a big, spiral-bound book with sturdy pages, and we'll record the people and events we study on the timeline.  We also have a markable map and some wet-erase markers so that we can find the places we are reading about and mark them. 

Read-Alouds -- This year, we'll get to read through Charlotte's Web, Homer Price, Favorite Poems of Childhood, Little Pear, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Owls in the Family, Henry Huggins, The Year of Miss Agnes, Understood Betsy, Greek Myths, Mountain Born, It Could Always Be Worse, The Wheel on the School, Gooney Bird Greene, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Detectives in Togas, and The Case of the Gasping Garbage.  It is going to be a fun year!  We have dived into Charlotte's Web already, and we all love it. 

Language Arts.-- We're using Sonlight's Language Arts1 and Language Arts 3 programs, which is a very gentle way of learning about the English language.  Charlotte Mason-ish in its approach, each of the boys will be doing some copywork, dictation, creative expression, phonics/grammar, and spelling each day.  Not all of the subjects are covered each day, but it is enough work to last about 15-20 minutes.  This program is known for turning out kids who love to read and write.  It doesn't matter to me if the boys have memorized all of the rules for phonics and grammar (who actually knows them all?).  However, I really want for them to love sitting down with a good book in their spare time, and I would love for them to be able to express themselves effectively in writing as well.  We have extra workbooks that I can pull out if we need extra practice or have time to fill and bored children --  Wordly Wise for vocabulary and Explode the Code for phonics.

Science -- Apologia Astronomy!  We do this together as well.  All of the Apologia elementary books are written at a 4th grade reading level, and are intended for use with 2nd-6th graders.  There are 6 books, though, so I figure that even if Sammy doesn't remember any of what he learns this year in Astronomy, he will have at least had fun.  And I can say he has done all of the elementary books.  Ha!  Griffin won't be doing a couple of the books, since he will only be using the elementary books for 4 years, but science is right up there with art, in my opinion.  Sure, there are things we all need to know about the subject, and most of those things the boys learn just by being at home and playing outside and walking on the trail and looking at the stars... and Wikipedia!  But Apologia really dives in deep with the elementary books.  We'll learn about astronomy, botany, flying creatures, swimming creatures, land animals, and human anatomy and physiology.  Sammy is really excited to be doing "official" science now.  Last year we just looked up any science-related questions on the internet or borrowed books from the library about science topics.  We will get to do weekly projects and experiments, and they each have a notebooking journal that goes along with the textbook that has coloring pages, mini books to make, science phrases and Bible verses to copy, and fun activities to do.  It will be an exciting year for science!

Math -- Sammy is using Horizons Math 1 this year, and he loves it!  He finishes quickly, and will often hunt through the next few lessons to see if there is any extra work he wants to do.  Griffin is using Teaching Textbooks 3, and it is a transition period right now.  Sammy will switch to TT in 3rd grade as well, because they can do their work in the student workbook and/or on the computer, and the computer program grades their work and keeps track of missed problems, and shows me if they have looked at the solution if they missed the problem... SO wonderful!  Griffin loves math, and the work is mostly review right now, so he is starting to get bored, but there are new concepts in there that I don't want him to miss, so he does the lessons to humor me.  :) He does like the fact that it doesn't take him long to finish a lesson. 

Critical Thinking -- We love The Critical Thinking Company's books!  Their book series Building Thinking Skills is wonderful!  The books really get the boys looking at things in different ways, and I have seen progress in other areas (math, writing, etc.) as a result of using these books.  They are "easy" and "fun" -- or so the boys say, but they are learning from them!  These books are also a great way to prepare kids for standardized tests, which we will be doing with Griffin this year and every year 3rd grade and up for both boys.  I know that many homeschoolers are opposed to standardized testing for many reasons, but we will not be sharing the results with the boys or moaning over low scores or exulting over high scores.  We have learned, through an acquaintance who didn't have any way to prove that her children were progressing in her homeschool, and eventually ended up losing her children for various reasons, that legally it is best to have record of our children's progress over the years if our schooling were to ever come under fire.  We want to be prepared!  I also don't want to have to keep every test and workbook in order to prove that progress.  Homeschool grade cards won't stand up in a court of law, because I could have just written them up yesterday and fudged the scores, as awful as that sounds.  The standardized test results will fit nicely inside our fire-safe box of important documents, and I won't have to pull out tubs full of work to prove that they are learning in our homeschool.    

Griffin told me that school is easy right now, but he sure doesn't complain when it is time to start working!  He finishes his independent work before lunch most days, and then we wait until Oliver takes his afternoon nap before starting our reading.  We tried doing our "couch time" with Oliver running around the living room, but that boy likes to be the center of attention, or at least have someone watching him, and he would screech and howl until we had to stop.  I am looking forward to putting together some Busy Bags, an idea I have seen in various places.  I want to get together with a bunch of other moms, and each one of us will make a bunch of the same bag, and then we can swap them until each of us has one of each kind of bag.  They are to use for little ones when you need them to be entertained while you can't be sitting right next to them.  There are tons of ideas on Pinterest!  I'm excited to get started on that.  Then perhaps our together time will be a bit more flexible, and we won't have to be quite so quiet!  The volume can get pretty loud during science, our "fun" subject!  :)

I'll be updating about school as our year continues!

Upside Down

We have spent the last month being sick and recovering, and it is so wonderful to be well again!  I am full of pent-up energy now, so I am using that energy to turn the house upside down and inside out.  We are moving furniture, cleaning (spring cleaning, perhaps?), touching up paint, and trying to get the house set up in a way that works for us right now.

In other news, Mike turned 40 this month, Oliver turns 1 this week, and I will be 32.  Getting older is sure a lot more interesting when you are only 1 year old!!  I can't believe Oliver has been around for a whole year already.  He has brought us so much joy, and been such a blessing to our lives.  He has also given us our share of scares and ER trips and doctor's visits!

Finding My Groove

I am one of those people who thinks they have to sit down and write up a massive, year-long, decorated (preferably scrapbooked) PLAN before I can actually clean something.  No, I can't just dust.  I have to have a plan of attack first.  So I sit down with my notebook and my pencil -- I have used Excel to do this too -- and plan my dusting out for the entire year, which rooms I will do on which days (this process usually requires both coffee and chocolate in order to do it right)...

Well, I am beginning to believe that the planning isn't conducive to the cleaning.  Ya think?  (This sounds really familiar.  Did I post this EXACT same blog about 3 years ago?  Or maybe 3 months ago?  Ha!)

So here is my new plan.  When I see that something needs to be done, I will write it down in my planner in the "Weekly Priorities" section.  I will have a set cleaning time every day.  This cleaning time will be non-negotiable.  While my husband is at work, my main responsibilities are taking care of my children and my home, so once I know that the kids have what they need to survive for the next half hour, I will then proceed to spend that half hour cleaning something I have written down.  I will keep a record of what I am cleaning on which days.

This will be much like Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.  It is hard to make a budget until you know where your money goes.  In the same way, it will be difficult for me to plan a cleaning schedule until I know how often things in this house need to be cleaned.  I have lived here for 9 years; it is time for me to have this figured out!  I have been trying to use others' ideas of what should be cleaned when, and my house is just different than other houses.

We are here all day (homeschool seems to work better for us when we are actually at home, imagine that!), and have 3 children (one of them a newly-crawling baby who needs clean floors), a large hairy shedding dog, a little dog who sometimes mistakes the carpet in the basement for her own personal grass pad, a shedding cat who likes to sleep on anything that looks warm and soft (my piles of unfolded laundry are her favorite. thing. ever.)... are you beginning to see the picture here?   It all adds up to one big hairy mess if I don't keep on top of it.  And I haven't been keeping on top of it.  So what do I have?  A big hairy mess, you're right!

We have been blessed with a gorgeous home that has 5 bedrooms (2 of which are being used as my craft room and Mike's office), 4 bathrooms (!), 3 living areas (living/TV room, reading/fireplace room, and rec room in the basement), a kitchen that has everything I need, lots and lots of beautiful wood - one of the reasons we loved this house from the moment we walked into it, and one of the things I desperately need to take better care of so that it will retain that beauty.

My house will need to be cleaned more often than many others' houses.  No one else's schedule is going to be the same as mine.  I have to make my own schedule.  I know; what an epiphany! 

I'm off to implement the plan!  Wish me luck.

Grandma Cripe

This past month has been a whirlwind.  I never knew that so much emotion could be jam-packed into one little month!

Several recent deaths in our families have affected us.  My Grandma Cripe (Dad's Mom) passed away the week before Thanksgiving, and we attended her burial on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.  She was cremated, as she requested, and her ashes were taken to Garden City to be buried next to Grandpa.  The boys were well behaved during the short service, which was good since I was crying too much to be able to watch them fully.  Mike only had to take Oliver away once when he was getting squirmy.  The flowers were beautiful, the sun was shining, and I met some people who had known Grandma well and talked to me about what she was like in her younger years.

Grandma attended school in Bucklin, KS.  She went to Wichita Business School, worked at the Air Force Base in Garden City, got married to Grandpa, then worked as a seamstress and homemaker until 1971, when she went to work at Purnell's Fabric Store until 1990.  After she retired, she continued doing alterations for people.  I am reading this from the "In Remembrance" printout that was given to us at the burial.  It has a lovely picture of Grandma wearing her candy-apple-red eyeglasses, and a big red rose on the front.     

Talking with Grandma's old friends and relatives, and reading about Grandma, and also looking through the scrapbooks that she kept -- all of these things have inspired me to revive my sewing skills.  I know they are still lurking inside of me somewhere, possibly just waiting for a few lessons from my mom or Grandma Schwemmer (Mom's Mom), who are both excellent seamstresses as well and have taught me all I know about sewing.  It seems that sewing is a lost art, especially because it is less expensive to buy your clothes off the rack now than it is to make them.

I have a sewing machine that needs a new pressure foot.  I have some bits and pieces of fabric, and a few spools of thread.  Grandma left us some money that she said can be used for Christmas, and Mike told me that I can use it however I see fit.  So here is my plan.  I am going to use the money to buy supplies and sewing equipment, and then I will make some items to sell so that I can raise money for the sewing machine that I really want.  I would love to learn embroidery, so my goal is an embroidery & sewing machine.  I think that developing a skill that Grandma obviously possessed will honor her memory.

NEO November

It's time for another edition of NEO November!  What?  You've never heard of NEO November?  Well, let me tell you all about it.  It stands for No Eating Out November.  I have made a commitment to not eat out for one whole month.  We may have a few exceptions, i.e. Mom's Night Out, family birthday dinners, etc. but for the most part, our family will not eat out this month.  And I totally lied about the "another edition" bit, because this is the first time I have done this.  I'm thinking it will be a good weight loss plan, as well as the beginning of some great new lifelong habits.  Yay!

I have shopped for a month's worth of non-perishables, and have stocked my pantries, cabinets and garage shelves with good, wholesome, filling foods that will last all month.  Mike will be doing the weekly grocery store run for milk/eggs/veggies/fruit/etc. since he is not an impulse shopper like I am.  I should not be in the grocery store every week.  That in itself is not good for our budget!  I did not buy cold cereal, which has been a staple at our house for several months... basically, since Oliver was born.  He is now 7 months old, and I have got my groove back!  I want to make hot, nourishing breakfasts for my starving men in the mornings. 

I love spending time in the kitchen preparing meals for my family.  I am a slow cook, and I will probably never be one of those ultra-speedy choppers you see on the cooking shows.  I will never be Rachael Ray.  30 Minute Meals?  Um, probably not.  I'm more of a Paula Deen or Nigella Lawson.  I have never been accused of being a fast cook.  More than likely, you'll find me puttering around the kitchen, looking for another ingredient to add to an already perfect mixture, while all the men around me are holding their hollow, growling stomachs in misery.

I just need to plan for this, and be prepared to spend several hours in the kitchen every day.  It will be a new concept for me.  For some reason, I still expect to be able to go into the kitchen as soon as people in my house start saying they are hungry and whip something up.  Not. Gonna. Happen.  My husband is amazing at this.  He loves sandwiches.  Deli meat sandwiches, to be precise.  He could eat one every single day for lunch, and be perfectly happy.  Just meat, cheese, and Miracle Whip.  That's all.  He is also great at cooking up a quick, yummy dinner of chicken, rice and peas.  For some reason, my brain is not wired this way.  So I just need to plan on being in the kitchen for a while.    

Here's to many fun days in the kitchen this month!

Homeschool Days

Our little homeschool has gone through some changes since the beginning of the school year, which for us was July 11, 2011.  My plan was to work through an entire year, with a basic schedule of a few weeks of school, then a week off, a few more weeks of school, then another week off, etc.  I had it all mapped out, every week scheduled, with most of our "off weeks" scheduled for holidays, so that the holiday wouldn't interfere with our school week.  Very rigid, my schedule was.

Well.  Plans change, as Sammy likes to remind me.  (One fateful day in 2010, I had to change "the plan" for the way our day would run.  I can't even remember what "the plan" was, or why I had to change it that day, but it obviously made a big impact on my then 4-year-old.  Now, every time he changes his mind, he reminds me that "Plans change sometimes, Mommy!")

So... I had big plans for our curriculum this year.  We would use:

Horizons Math for Kindergarten and 2nd grade.
Horizons Phonics & Reading for Kindergarten and 2nd grade.
Horizons Spelling & Vocabulary for 2nd grade.
Horizons Penmanship for 2nd grade.
Bob Jones University Press (BJUP) History for 2nd grade.
BJUP Bible for 2nd grade.
BJUP Science for 2nd grade.


Seriously.  It only took us about 30 minutes to navigate our way through the annual homeschool conference in April and plop "the list" of curriculum down in front of the two vendors we wanted to purchase our curriculum from and wait for them to write up our order forms and pay for all of the wonderful books we would be receiving.  I had been out of the hospital for 5 days after having Oliver when the homeschool conference occurred, so the shortness of the trip was necessary.  C-sections are not very conducive to long walks. Otherwise we could have been there for hours! 

We were all (Okay, so maybe only *I* was) filled with the most wonderful sense of expectation and excitement for how "The Plan" for this year was coming together -- we would sit every day, and the boys would joyfully complete their worksheets, and we would read from the textbooks, and it would all be flowers and rainbows and sunshine.

Wait a second.  How long have I been a Boy Mom?  7 years?  You would think that by now I would have learned that boys don't do flowers and rainbows and sunshine.  They love dirt (playing in it).  And rain (playing in it).  And worms (playing with them).  At least my boys do.  And they abhor sitting still.  And listening to me read from a textbook/reading from a textbook by themselves?  Torture -- for them AND for me.  So yeah.

Our plans changed.

I went back to Square One.  You know, the place where you don't know anything about anything?  I was there.  I had to re-evaluate my entire educational philosophy.  Plan A had failed miserably.  It had worked last year.  When I had one student in 1st grade.  But this year, with two students in Kindergarten and 2nd grade?  Tears, whining, moaning, moping, arguing, complaining, bickering... oh my goodness.  You thought I had perfect children?  I sure had you fooled!  Ha!

Epic fail.  What was Plan B going to be?

Charlotte Mason?  Unschooling?  Unit Studies?  Classical education?  I studied, researched, and spent hours poring over so many books and websites, all claiming to be the best, have the best, produce the best.  But what was the best for *us*?

I love textbooks.  They are straightforward.  Read this, answer this, test this, repeat (times 12 times the Number of subjects), graduate.  Isn't that how school is supposed to work?  That is how I learned, and I loved school.  Private school, public school, homeschool, college, I loved it all!  Bring on the school.  I loved the methods, the repetition, the organization -- especially the organization!  Office supply stores make my heart go pitter-patter-pumpernickel.

So I am trying to take my love of learning and the *way* I love to learn (and teach), and combine that with the ways my children love to learn (and their learning styles and modalities, but that is the topic of another epic blog post), and turn it into an education.  The method that is emerging is ending up looking like Eclectic Homeschooling, if there is even a definition for that.  Basically, we are going to try things out and use what works for us.

I know, I know... we've been homeschooling for how long?  4 years?  And I am just now catching on to this?  Supposedly, every homeschool family goes through this.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of doing something different from "everyone else."  Fear of doing something wrong.  I thought that since I had been homeschooled, I would be immune to the fear. I was wrong. 

I am so afraid of doing something "wrong."  Can I just admit that?  But I desperately love my children.  And I *know* my children.  My husband and I know them better than anyone else on this earth.  And that knowledge is what I use to reassure myself that I am truly doing what is best for them.  I am not an ignoramus.  I am a well educated person.  I have my parents to thank for that.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!  And because they loved me enough to spend years of their life (and bucket-loads of their money) on my education, I am confident in my teaching skills.  I just have to figure out what method I want to use!

So this is Plan B.  What works for our school in 2011.

Sammy:
English - Horizons Phonics & Reading (see link above).  And reading.  And more reading.  And maybe a little more reading thrown in there, just for kicks.  He'll start math next year, when he can read better by himself.
Character Training - Lessons in Responsibility for Boys
We also talk about math a lot.  The boys both love numbers, so it just naturally comes up in our everyday conversation.

Griffin:
English - Horizons Phonics & Reading (worksheets: see link above).  He reads a ton.  He hides and reads.  You will usually find Griffin behind a chair reading if he isn't answering when you are calling him.  I don't know this from experience or anything.
Math - Life of Fred: Apples (textbook written by a very passionate mathematician) - We have begun using this, and it seems simplistic for a 2nd grader, but it was written for homeschoolers, so that they can go at their own pace.  The child who can't yet remember every single addition and multiplication fact off the top of their head is supposed to start with the first book in the elementary series.  So that's what we did.  We love the story of Fred.  He is a 5-year-old teacher at Kittens University, with a doll named Kingie (who was a prize in a kids' meal at the King of French Fries restaurant, and goes with Fred everywhere).  Fred and Kingie have to use math to figure out the everyday problems they come across, so there is never any asking "Why do I need to know this?"  I believe that Griffin will have finished this book in just a few months if he works on it for 20-30 minutes a day, and then we'll move on to Butterflies, then Cats, then Dogs, then the soon-to-be-published 8 other books in the elementary series.
History - Story of the World: Volume 1 (Classical)   We love reading this together.  I don't think we'll do all of the coloring pages, and we might look over the maps but we might not color on them as they suggest (can you tell my children are not too big into coloring?), but we love reading the history of the world, written in a conversation-like style the kids love.
Science - E-science with Miss Aurora Lipper

Character Training - Lessons in Responsibility for Boys (see link above)

The boys are also both taking piano lessons from me.  We have begun very slowly.  Okay.  Actually, they have had one "book" lesson, and the rest of the time they have just sat down and fiddled around on the keys, with me asking, "Where is Middle C?"  "Show me all of the sets of two black keys."  "Can you find the rest of the C's on the piano?"


We go to karate every Tuesday morning, which they both love.  They are getting better all the time.  Griffin gets to test for his yellow striped belt in November.  I'll make sure to take some pictures.  :-)

Anniversary Number 9

I love my anniversary presents!  Last year, we began a new tradition.  We go to the Louisburg Cider Mill the weekend before or after our anniversary (number 9 this year!), and I get to pick out my anniversary presents from the bounty that awaits me when I walk through their creaky swinging metal doors.

Only this year, we went during Cider Fest, so I also got to choose from the wonderful handmade goodies in the rows of booths outside the store!  Honestly, we were having so much fun outside the store that we didn't even make it inside.  I chose some hair ribbons, fabric bookmarks, lavender hand lotion, orange lip balm, a cute little fabric credit card holder (I use these for gift cards, coupons, etc. more than credit cards), a soldered charm with the letter C to use on a chain or leather (I can only wear sterling silver or platinum, so I have to be kind of choosy), cinnamon spiced pecans, kettle corn, cider doughnuts, and CIDER, of course!!

The boys were happy, because they got to play in a multitude of colorful, blown-up structures.  And Mike got to talk to two people he knew.  It happens very rarely, when we go out, that he sees someone he knows and I don't see anyone I know.  Apparently I know a lot of people.  Or at least, I know their faces.  Their names... well, let's just say I know their faces.

Mike also spent quite a while gabbing (do men actually gab?  or do they just... converse?) with a man who builds log cabins... oh, the dream of a cozy log cabin on some luscious rolling hills, with a greenhouse, some chickens, a cow named Molly, and a meandering stream that winds its way through sprawling acres of land... and then I woke up and realized that we still live smack-dab in the middle of suburbia.  But we can dream of log cabins, and verbalize (can you tell I went to thesauraus.com and looked up "talk" -- because I totally did) with people who actually live the dream.

A couple of weeks ago, when Borders was still in business (what a sad "before" and "after" that is!!), we went to their establishment and I purchased -- oh, the excitement of book-purchasing!!  It should not be called "buying," for that overused word does not convey the depth of what it means to walk out of a store owning a little piece of someone's heart that they have uncovered on paper for the world to read (much like a blog, but I digress) -- I acquired a lovely book called The City Homesteader: Self-Sufficiency on Any Square Footage by Scott Meyer.  Ideas galore!  I can't wait to dive in to the depths of this volume of inspiration.

Okay, I am now closing thesaurus.com and am going back to using my regular vocabulary.  I mean dialogue.  I mean words.  I mean... sorry, I couldn't help it.

Here is a random picture from our week, because I can't just type a blog and not post a picture as well.

This beautiful lady took up residence in our home on Wednesday of this past week, which just happened to be our actual anniversary date!  She sounds absolutely charming, and the boys love her as much as I do.  I can't wait to begin their "formal music training," i.e. piano lessons!  Bring on the Alfred books!  I will be re-learning right along with them.  The wonderful family who gifted us with this piano -- they only requested that we have her moved professionally so as to spare her, and our backs, any harm -- also gave us some music that was stored in the bench, so the day after she (I don't have a name for her yet, can you tell?  She is a Winter spinet... any suggestions?) came to our home, I sat down and tinkered around with a lovely little piece called, "Wild Honeysuckle Rag," which appealed to me right up until the word "rag," but that's its name, so I suppose I can't change that unfortunateness.

I know, I know, a rag means something different in music, but it can have so many different meanings... we weren't ever allowed to call a towel -- no matter how old, dirty, stained and torn -- a "rag" when I worked at McDonald's.  Oh, no.  It was always deemed a "towel," right up until its counter-wiping days were over and it was laying in a trash heap somewhere.  I still can't call my towels rags.  Habit, I guess.

Sunday is my school-planning day for the week ahead, and when I sat down at my computer at the dining room table I had every good intention of starting that.  So now I will actually go and do that.  My childrens' brains will thank me -- later, maybe years later, but they will thank me!

Smiley

Oliver is 5 months old!  It is hard for me to believe that my littlest guy is so big.  He smiles a TON, which has earned him the nickname "Smiley" at our house.

Sammy loves his little brother!  He will occasionally ask to hold Oliver or feed him, and I just love watching them together.

Oliver loves his Super Yummy Teether from Discovery Toys.  It smells like vanilla, and I use DT's Boomerings to attach it to the high chair or swing or carseat so that it won't get lost.  He likes to play with the Boomerings almost as much as the teether!

As soon as we put Oliver in the Jumparoo and his feet touched the floor, it was destiny.  The sky opened up, the angels sang, and he had a new favorite place to hang out.  He doesn't just want to be held anymore.  Oh, no!!  He wants to jump!  He wants his feet to make contact with a solid surface underneath him so that he can use those chubby springy legs and bounce! He apparently wore himself out in it, and I snapped this picture just before he woke up and smiled at me with those tired blue eyes.

I think he may be a bit concerned with the quality of the food at this establishment.  This was the first bite of one of his first oatmeal feedings.  He wasn't exactly a fan at first, but I think it's growing on him.

 

I have no idea what he was reacting to in this picture, but the look on his face cracks me up! 

A bunch of other fun pictures.  Griffin is very protective of Oliver!  He will run and get his pacifier to calm him down, and he'll stand there and talk to Oliver for a long time while he coos and giggles and blows bubbles at Griffin.  I think Oliver laughs the loudest for his big brother.

Oliver Henry

This is what we have been up to for the past 4 months!  Oliver is such a happy guy, and we have so much fun entertaining him for one of his wide-open-mouth smiles.  He even smiles in his sleep (last picture).

He loves baths, too.  He's sleeping most nights through, with the occasional 3am feeding.

He has lost all of his dark hair that he was born with, and has blonde-ish hair now, just like Griffin and Sammy.  Speaking of, Oliver loves his big brothers!  That is, when they hold still long enough for him to engage them in "conversation."

I'd have to say, though, that Oliver's favorite toy right now is his Mama.  And I'm okay with that.  :-)

This morning before school, we played dominoes.  With Eric Carle pictures.  It is a lovely game called Matchominoes, which was a present to Sammy from Aunt Susan.  Thanks, Aunt Susan!  We have a lot of fun with it.

Next up was a craft made with craft sticks we bought last night on a family outing.  It will eventually be pen/pencil/paintbrush holders, and I'll post pictures of the process when they are done.

I think I *might* need to work with Sammy on perseverance.  He kind of gave up after only a few sticks.  Or maybe crafts just aren't his thing!

Griffin breezed through his schoolwork today, and then the boys wanted to play the Wii.  Only it just happened to be lunchtime.  So I told them that if they would make their own lunch when they were done playing, they could play the Wii during lunchtime.  And I sat here at my computer and enjoyed a lovely lunch of California Pizza Kitchen, Sicilian Style.  Fresh from the microwave.

It was heavenly.  Kind of.  And at only 43 grams of carbs, it totally fit into my diet right now!  Much better than the hot fudge covered brownie sundae with nuts and cherries and whipped cream that I wanted.  Well, I could have had the nuts, anyway.

Speaking of nuts, the boys decided that they would venture into the world of peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich making today.  Thus far, they have only made deli meat sandwiches.  There was more spreading involved!  And more goo!  And more mess!  And more fun!  Whee!!!  Yeah, I think they'll be doing that again.  Those PB&Js tasted WAY better than the ones Mom makes.   And I got a break, and a quiet lunch with only the sounds of Mario, Luigi and Yoshi in the background.

I need to go figure out what's for dinner.  It has just been a lovely day -- did I mention that it is above 60 degrees outside?  I've had the windows open all day -- and I wanted to write about it.