"A Wink and a Smile"

This is just one of the things that I am selling. Please ignore the pink toe that managed to find its way into this photo (oops) . Have I mentioned that I homeschooled for 3 years? Did you know that I really love to buy curriculum and books? I can't be the only homeschooling mom who has bought books that she never used ... can I? I needed to get off my booty and sell some of this stuff once and for all. Of course I know that eBay is funny in that you have to know what will sell. Sometimes it's just not worth the time and effort to try to unload stuff. It's been a few years since I have tried to sell, but believe me I know from experience that some things just don't hold their value. Hopefully the books that I have listed will put money back in my pocket. The main reason that I want to SELL is that my three oldest girls will be at schools that require me to BUY their curriculum. For each of them that amounts to nearly $300 ... yikes! If I can pay CASH out of w...

or rather we are observing DECOMPOSITION . MATERIALS: Everything (except a SODA bottle) we had on hand ... 2 liter soda bottle scissors pantyhose rubber band 2 cups of garden soil 1 cup of sand variety of organic material (leaves, grass, pine needles, twigs) inorganic material (plastic wrap, candy wrappers, and so on) 1 cup of water PROCEDURE: Basically we cut off the top of the water bottle, poured in the sand followed by the dirt, added half of the organic material then all of the inorganic material, and then the other half of the organic material. After this we added water, covered the bottle with pantyhose, put a rubber band around the bottle to secure and NOW WE WAIT AND OBSERVE. She loves SCIENCE!

This past Thursday we started the day early ... getting the oldest off to high school first (she caught a ride) and then these 4 got their day started. This will be the only year that I will have 3 of my girls in the same school ... kindergarten, 3rd, and 5th grade. That big girl is my 7th grader who is taking on her 3rd year in homeschooling. Of course there had to be the obligatory first day of school pictures. These are just a few ... Off to school ... Mommy and {c} ... no tears. Aren't you proud! Already she has a big job ... Once those little girls were off to school, the 7th grader and I headed to PANERA for our back to school breakfast ... I couldn't help myself after the breakfast. I needed to stop HERE to take a few pictures ... just can't resist the dimples :) I'm feeling good about this year.

Uniforms purchased Some school shoes bought school supplies ... check! high school books for my oldest were bought (I think they cost more than my college books) book bags and lunch bags ready THIS MOMMY ... not quite as ready ... at least emotionally. I cannot believe that my oldest will be a 10th grader. She is taking some challenging classes this year ... human geography, AP physics, AP chemisty, honors english, pre-calculus, and french 3. This girl is a smarty pants and I am so proud of her. What happened to that little girl with the pig tails? Something new this year is that I will have 3 little girls in the same public school. I'm hoping to make myself a little more visible in the volunteer department this year. While the school is new (only the 3rd year open), it still has some things about it that I am not so pleased about. I feel I need to keep an eye on things better this year ... especially with my precious 5 year old starting there. YIKES! My 5 year old is going ...

also including a certain 4.5 year old and her Handwriting Without Tears book Can it be possible that this little girl will be "5" come June 1st and that she (most probably) will be starting kindergarten come August????? Where has the time gone? sniff, SNIFF!

So far TODAY, has been a GOOD DAY. 4 girls got to their designated schools with the help of the bus and daddy. On M-W-F I have been blessed to have my husband help out so that I can get an early start to the homeschooling day with {k} ... my 6th/7th grader. Sometimes it's nice to get in a good breakfast that isn't so rushed ... This is "spirit week" with K12 and {k} wanted to do some work in MY SPOT. Of course our days are not all that quiet. The puppy (blurry, furry, white dog) likes to get some crazy play time in. I'd love to send them BOTH to the backyard, but alas, we have mud back there. This mommy doesn't need to add dog baths to her day . We've gathered some of the books on our home shelf to figure out which NOVEL we will choose. IF anyone has some great feedback on any of these, I would appreciate it. My oldest read all of them, but now it's time for daughter #2 to pick. Just 3 weeks ago our homeschool world had some changes. At the...

the writer who has been quite busy lately. *This might be a mishmash of a blog post ... a little like the thoughts running through my head. School, Homeschool, and swim practice are all back in session. After nearly 2 weeks, I almost feel like a routine is going ... ALMOST ;) Because it seems like I switch things up every year between Catholic school, homeschool, public school, private school. I could easily claim i n s a n i t y . Seriously, it isn't that bad ... My oldest did public school (in another state) for 5 years, Catholic school for 3 years, and now this is her second year in private school. Daughter #2 did 3 years of public, 2 years of Catholic, homeschool, private, homeschool (NOW). Daughter #3 did 2 years of Catholic, 1 year of homeschool, and now year 2 of public. Daughter #4 did 1 year of Catholic and now public (2nd year). *None of this includes the preschool years. Homeschooling is going OKAY. I won't say GREAT yet because I feel like there are som...

Make a Smilebox postcard

There were things I wanted to get done all summer, but of course they didn't happen UNTIL TODAY I needed to clean out the craft closet, clean up my sun room which also seems to house a lot of crafts, and then organize my new learning room which will be in my dining room this year. I decided with the new puppy I can't do "school" upstairs in our playroom/learning room. I think it will work out better being downstairs ... less running up and down for me ;) I moved around some bookshelves and placed them in our dining room to house the books and some of the crafty stuff that we may use more often. In the middle of all my organizing. We noticed how many darn crayons we have ... some broken or just not "new" enough. We decided to do something fun for the little ones and make some Crayola Crayon Scribblers. Basically you peel off the paper of the crayons and break them into small pieces. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Then you stick the broken crayons in l...

I stumbled across this as I do most things I find ... click here, click there, and get HERE I only wish I could be THAT organized. For now, I need to go clean up our playroom/homeschool room. It is a MESS!

Just two children ... the upcoming 6th grader and her 4 year old sister. I'm really excited about the decision. Right now I am in planning mode. I'm pretty certain what I will do for MATH, but am waivering on some of the other subjects. Back in February I did try to put my 11 year old on the list for the virtual academy in our state. They only accept a certain number and it is all based on a lottery system. Well, it appears we are on the waiting list. While I thought this was just what I wanted to do, I am now thinking that what I like about homeschooling is also the freedoms that go with it. So, I'm going to throw out a few ?'s to those who homeschool ... Any favorite curriculum suppliers? What is your favorite subject to TEACH?

Instead of planning my week from Monday through Friday, I am going to stop on Thursday. We get a lot of work done the first 4 days. Fridays will now be ... spelling/vocab test, map skills/geopgraphy, computer time, math, and religion (mostly reviewing Sunday school work). I would like to say that some days we can take a field trip, bake, and just do some fun crafts. I can do this because I CAN !

ABEKA Some days I wonder why I picked this language arts curriculum for {k}????? Maybe it is because I just wanted to have lesson plans laid (is that the correct spelling/use?) out for me. Well guess what? I LOOK at the plans and use SOME of their suggestions, but then I usually follow my own path. We have pretty much completed the 1st of 3 literature books. The stories have been disappointing to us ... boring and a bit conflicting with my Catholic faith. I have been patient with this part of the program, but some days I feel ready to sell them off on ebay. I like the grammar and spelling/vocabulary part of Abeka. It's just the reading part that I am not excited about. One of my biggest issues with {k} is that she has trouble with reading comprehension. I did find something I like ... Reading Detective (we recently started their software program). I REALLY LIKE THIS (and so does {k})!!!!! I may just take a break from Abeka and concentrate on this. How obvious is it that I am bra...

I was a little worried that when I started homeschooling my girls that they would not "love" it and eventually make some sort of comment about wanting to go back to their old school. THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED I was a little worried that I would not be the patient teacher that I aspired to be. SO FAR SO GOOD My life is still split between home (3 home) and the Catholic school (2 there). That is probably the one negative that I see. Each day I spend 90 minutes (at least) in my car driving and waiting in a pickup line. That is 7.5 hours of my week lost. ALTHOUGH, maybe I should look at in a more positive light. I do get to have some conversations with the two that I don't see for 7.5 hours each day. While driving, I often get some alone time to listen to the radio and while waiting, I read the newspaper. There is so much GOOD that I am witnessing My 9 year old is doing really well at home. She is genuinely happier . She is motivated to get work done. She is excited for swim ...

I shouldn't even be on the computer, but I figured that while I shovel down my egg sandwich that I just made ... might as well sit and read and write a little. WE are heavy into our activities right now. Trying to keep up with everyone's schedules, business trips, meetings, practices, classes, and appointments is very tricky right now. I hope I don't crash ... I am having a little guilt right now about not making homeschooling FUN . We are busy, getting lots done, but my husband joked with me last night about how I am going through all the motions of school, but we need to do other "fun" stuff or else I could be done teaching their current grade by February. Coming up with ideas might be hard for me. I want things to sort of go along with what we are doing in our own home, but where I live might prove to be a little bit of an obstacle. You really have to look HARD to find field trips here. Maybe I am not giving where I live enough credit, but having once li...

I have picked myself up and decided not to be cranky about the anonymous commenter that hurt my feelings (boo hoo ). I seriously need to NOT BE SO SENSITIVE to statements made by others. I am a good kind-hearted person (for real) and I am pretty sure the man upstairs knows that. Except for GOD ... no one is perfect. Other good stuff going on ... Oldest daughter {e} has qualified for the Duke University Talent Search . Basically that means that she is one smart cookie who will be allowed to take either the SAT or the ACT in the 7 th grade. {e}'s little sister said that she can't take the test because .... she is too short ( LOL !). I guess there are not that many 73 pounders taking the test. {k} is doing well with homeschooling. I feel like I am closer to understanding her style of learning and what her key learning problems are. She started Catholic school in the 3rd grade (K-2 were in a public school) and honestly I don't think she has gone much past that in her reading...

Sometimes when I have a lot on my mind, I get this way ... not really knowing how to say what I feel. It is like having too many choices and not knowing what to pick. Right now my mind just has too many thoughts and I can't process them all. SIGH!!!!!! So here are some random thoughts ... *It is weird living two lives of school ... Catholic and homeschooling. Sometimes I wish they were all home, sometimes I wish they were all at school, but sometimes I think that it is probably good that I am only taking on the homeschooling role with just 2 girls (3, if you count little {c}). *Tonight {m} is going to her first sleepover and I am worried for her. She is 7, but still has bedwetting issues. She really wants to go, and I feel a little weak right now. Since she homeschools now, she doesn't see her friends as much. I wanted to make her happy, so I said yes. I just hope that she doesn't get embarrassed if something happens. She told me a few minutes ago that she is a little ner...

I should carry a voice recorder (I actually have one) so that I can actually remember and record all the things I want to say here in this lovely blog of mine. THINKING ... THINKING .... THINKING .... It will come to me later. This has been a busy week (and a good one at that).

Oh where oh where could I have gone ? Not hard to believe ... THE BEACH GREAT FUN and oh so relaxing, but now it is time to get BUSY. Tomorrow is the last of our summer break and we have a bunch to do before school begins on Wednesday. I am nervous, excited, but most of all happy to be teaching at home . WISH ME LUCK ...

After having one of those days, I look back at this post from nearly 10 months ago ... "An EXPERIENCE, not an EXPERIMENT" ... the words my sister said to me today. I spilled out my feelings to {H} about how I have been feeling ... a complete and utter mess. I don't always feel like I have Scott's support even though he tells me that I do. I feel like I need it written in stone ... you are smart, capable, and will do an awesome job! I know nothing is that definite, but I can't help to wish that it could be. We talked about how I am so unhappy with the schools and I feel compelled to make a change and to homeschool. She says that I don't speak with uncertainty, even though I seem to have those thoughts in my head. She says I know what I want, and I HAVE made a decision. What I need to do is to let it rest for now, since I am not planning on homeschooling until next year. Her brilliant idea of finding some extra resources never occurred to me. She asked how much ...