Aug. 20, 2008 - I think I just found the coolest site!

I went to Hillbillyhousewife.com and they were doing a poll on the best website for kids out of list of sites. After I voted, I went to the site that was winning and I LOVED what I saw! Check it out for yourself! It is No Time for Flash Cards.com. Enjoy! And vote at www.hillbillyhousewife.com , too!

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Aug. 20, 2008 - Mornings

Mornings around here so far have been a huge problem. My boys wake up whiney and fighting with each other. What can I do to stop this? I do my BEST, and I do mean my BEST to get them to bed when they need to be. (Which is b/w 8-9pm). Ideally I would like them in bed by 8pm, but that is a rare occurance for one reason or another. Even though Jeremiah went into his crib early last night, he sat in there playing for like an hour. (Obviously he wasn't tired). But I didn't pull him out, I let him fall asleep once he was done.

Anyhoo, Ben will grunt and say things to Jeremiah to get a reaction out of him. Right now Jeremiah is whining because I didn't give him the breakfast he wanted.

I'm also trying to learn how to "wear" my baby so that I can do things with her close to me. I am wearing her right now and she is LOVIN' it! In fact she is falling asleep. Only problem is, in accordance to the pictures on www.kangarookorner.com, she isn't being worn the way the suggest - though she is still secure. So I need to learn how to better use this thing.

Well, anyways, any suggestions on how to make the mornings more smooth, please list them here! Thanks gals, love ya'll!

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Aug. 9, 2008 - Why Wait?

Why wait until the public school year starts to begin lessons here? I can start them off real slow and "ease" them into it. Why not? That's the beauty of homeschooling! My kids have complained long enough that there is nothing to do. I pretty much forced them outside yesterday and guess what? They had fun! Played in the sandbox for a good hour and a half - and they got along GREAT all day!!! I really need to buy this nature studies book to give me some direction on doing nature studies.

Once I finish my schedule planning and get my books in order, we're starting. I am aiming for Aug. 18th. It won't be "too formal". Homeschooling ought to be laid back (imo, remember, I love Charlotte Mason!) So, I'm getting my camera ready and am excited to share our journey! Looking forward to seeing where the year leads YOU! :)

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Aug. 6, 2008 - Looong Day

Jeremiah (16 months) has been fussy this week - VERY FUSSY. He had a fever for three days (Sun. Mon., Tues). His fever broke today, PTL, but he has been crying/screaming ALL DAY! He had an appt. yesterday and he doesn't have an ear infection or sore throat or anything. He hasn't been too interested in eating, either. My only guess is he's teething.

Well, I tried putting him down for a nap this afternoon, and I think he was already overtired from crying so much. So in his crib he was screaming. I mean, I guess that's what it was. It was (to me) more of a protest cry. Well, apparently someone was walking down the street (we get that a lot in our neighborhood, which is nice, I guess, lol) and because his window was open, heard him crying. She was knocking on my door and I answered, holding Ellie (3 weeks) in my arms who was also crying (I'm sure this lady thought I couldn't handle my own, or something!) and said she was walking down the street and "Just heard a baby screaming. Is everything OK?" she asked. I assured her everything was fine and that he was just "protesting" (of course I didn't think to add he isn't feeling well). But she walked away with the most disgusted look on her face and mumbled "My g-d" (sorry, didn't want to use God's name inappropriately, but you get the idea).

I wasn't embarrassed, not even sure if I was mad, but I sorta feel offended, I guess. Which for me is unusual, because I am not easily offended. Nor do I have anything to hide, and this lady was a STRANGER to me. I guess what bothers me is that she acts as if she's never heard a crying or even screaming child in protest before. What do people expect parents to do, allow our children to control us? Even with their crying/screaming??? It just baffles me and it rather bothers me that I feel like I can't even have my windows open because someone might knock on my door if one of my children cry in protest! (crying in protest has a different pitch and sort of "rage" that goes with it. It's not your normal whiney cry, but more of an angry, "I don't like that you're doing this to me so I am going to scream" cry. Make sense? So that added to my rather emotional, over-stressed day.

I am doing ok now. I took Jeremiah into my room for my 4th attempt to lay him down and I laid with him until he fell asleep. After dinner I think we will all take a walk and get some fresh air. SIGH

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Aug. 5, 2008 - Let the countdown begin....

...exactly 4 weeks until we begin our first lessons. How exciting! Yet, I have lots of reading to do yet to prepare! I need to brush up on my organization and get my creativity juices flowing! I also need to write down what we will be doing since there is plenty to choose from and we won't need to do all of it this year. Our meat and potatoes will be reading, writing, and of course math! That's what these early years are about! I just want to be disciplined enough to "stick to my guns". This is our first "legal" year, so I don't have a choice. I pray it will help me become more disciplined as a mom and teacher.

We plan to start "school" September 2nd. When will you start "formal" lessons?

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Jul. 28, 2008 - So much to do....so little time...

Wow, I can't believe how much there is to do around here! I can't seem to focus because all the things I "need" to do keep popping in my head!  I admit, things are a bit far gone since I'd been on bedrest and then having the baby and adjusting. But really, having the baby, recovering and adjusting has been the easy part! It's like I've done this before, or something!  But, my body healed incredibly fast from this delivery! I have no doubts it is all God - blessing me, knowing I want to get back to serving and blessing my family.

I have a lot of the "business" aspect of life to take care of. Including adding the baby to the insurance, calling and making more appts (for 2 of my other children), ordering the birth certificate, etc.

On top of this, and getting the house back in order, I need to finish planning out my school year. I still have a good 5 weeks, but I only get a little time each day to work on it - usually at night. And these days I try to get to bed early so that I am refreshed and rested to care for Elizabeth in the wee hours of the night/morning. I need to just write down everything that comes to mind that I would like to do or that needs to get done, prioritize it and work on it a little each day.

Welp, that's all the time I have to write for now - kids are upstairs, computer is downstairs.

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Jul. 22, 2008 - Elizabeth Nicole

Elizabeth Nicole

Born July 18, 2008

Weighing in at 6lbs 10oz and 19 inches long

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Jul. 16, 2008 - Pregnancy Fatigue is Taking Over

I am trying to keep up with the pace of life (even at a slower pace) and my pregnant body is just not having it. Guess it's time for me to slow down. I have a schedule (chores and all) put together for the kids. Wonders will be done even if they just keep up with thier tasks. My energies need to be saved for cooking, dishes, and activities with the kids (mostly sitting activities!)

I want so much to start school - I know that sounds crazy, but I'm just so excited about the curriculums we are using!

Well, I have plenty of books here to keep me busy, too!

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Jul. 10, 2008 - Ramblings On Our Home Front

I have stayed rather busy this week doing things for the upcoming school year and finding fun activities to take up our summer. Apparently being outside isn't as appealing to my kids anymore.  What's up with that??? Actually, having Jeremiah outside, who's still a crawler, is a big enough challenge to keep me indoors.  Being a curious toddler, he likes to play on the cement steps in the back and it makes me so nervous and I get really tired (and sore) from getting up and down to remove him. He thinks it's a big game. I suppose our best time outdoors (w/mommy) is while he is napping. I'll have to remember that for tomorrow. 

We've done lots of activities over the last two days. I'll have to show pictures once things get more underway. But we went for a walk just down the block and back and I took pictures of several different kinds of trees and we are going to look them up and learn about them. I got that idea here: Backyard Nature Dot Net. We are also creating a wall in the dining room for our reading progress. Everytime Ben has a book read to him, we will add a circle to his caterpillar/worm. Every time Gabriella completes a chapter book, whether she reads it herself or has it read to her, she gets to hang a butterfly on her wall. I was thinking of even including myself and Jeremiah in somehow. Maybe paint a tree on butcher paper, cut it out and hang it up and add apples to it whenever I finish a book, and for Jeremiah add leaves every time he is read to. Something like that. Hey, I like that idea!  Jon can join in if he wants, but he hasn't been doing much reading lately except for textbook reading for school. Come the fall he will be starting a master's program in engineering, if all goes well. 

So those are the projects we're working on now. Gabriella is going to be doing a "stepping stone" project that her grandpa got her for her bday and we'll place it in her garden area - kind of show ownership to it. We're going to carve her name into it and she'll decorate it to her liking. That's another project I'll post pics of. It will be included in our Unplugged Project post next week. (The theme is stone)

Saturday we are moving forward with our housewarming party. I know, I think it's crazy to have it, too, but Jon really wants to do it. He doesn't want me doing anything for it, but it's really hard not to!  We're looking to have like 40-50 people coming and still need to finish shopping for all the food.  Plus, we as a family need food, too, lol. Thankfully we have a 24 hour shopping center. Maybe Jon can take the list tonight and get it all. I know I can't do it with 3 kids and being 9 months preggo - nor can I once he gets home because I'm so wiped.

Ok, I didn't want to turn this into a gripe session. All these preggo things are completely normal - plus I tire out quicker with more children to care for. I don't mind being preggo (except for the morning sickness) - I just wish it didn't come with so much discomfort and fatigue, lol. Speaking of which, this baby has moved around in my belly in ways none of my other ones have. IT'S PAINFUL. It's like she has LESS room then the others because the way she stretches causes her to literally stick out one side of my belly and she looks as if she is trying to escape. She will pretrude a perfect oval out of my belly and it surely hurts. It's kind of neat to watch (at least for me, other's get weirded out by it, lol), but it's still rather painful. It's like she is trying to push her self out the wrong way - through my stomach instead of the normal way, lol.

Anyhoo - tonight I plan to try to relax and work on our "reading wall" (by sitting down and cutting out letters and shapes). Jon is going to be cooking dinner and cleaning for the party. The summer sure has been a challenging one with trying to get the boys to sleep lately - with the time change. Esp. my younger one. He just thinks he can play in bed because it's still light out! We really need some room darkening shades. Late sleepers still wake up early bloomers and are fussy the whole day. That's been hard to cope with. But, we'll figure it all out! Those are just some of our current challenges.

OH! We are weaning Ben from the pacifier. Actually, weaning probably isn't even the word, because we just stopped giving it to him and told him they went bu-bye. He had a little bit of a  hard time the first two nights and I have to lay with him for naps (great, let's exchange one habit for another!) But he falls asleep at nap time within like 5 mins. So it's no biggie at the moment. It allows me to take a five minute break. It's harder just trying to "convince" him to take a nap. Last night he hardly fussed at all about the paci. He even said, "Paci is bu-bye", so he knows. We still have two hidden, but do plan to throw them away. I don't know why we haven't yet. Jon said he wanted them on hand for emergencies, but we've come this far (3 nights), there's no way I'm turning back now!  After he is comfortable without it, it's Jeremiah's turn. I am already trying to keep it away from him during the day. That's been hard because he's teething and he likes to chew on it. Don't know if I can convince him to chew on something else.

Ok, I think that's it for now. More to come and pictures to follow!

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Jul. 8, 2008 - Bored Children?

I admit, this hasn't been our "usual" summer. With me being on bedrest, it's really thrown some things off. Now that we don't have friends coming and going in the house everyday, the art of entertaining my children has fallen on me. I don't know what to do! I need to create some type of [flexible] summer schedule of activities to help keep them busy. I almost thought about starting school early, but I don't want there to be gaps from having the baby in between it all. Ugh! I don't know what to do! We have a wonderful sized yard - lots of toys, activities, art supplies, a basement, etc., etc. Plus, Gabriella got tons of new art projects for her bday (like string art, origami, etc.) How can anybody be bored around here?!?!?

Solution?

Time to go back to the "Mommy I'm Bored" box! My oldest created one and now I am going to help my 3 year old create one of his own and create one for my 15 month old toddler (yes, even he gets bored!)

I checked out a few books from the library today to give me more cool ideas. They are all by Trish Kuffner:

The Toddler's Busy Book
The Preschooler's Busy Book
The Children's Busy Book

That way I have activities at all my children's stages! I really want to buy these books, they are excellent resources and ones I would refer to again and again!

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