Home School Excitement!
I finally got to order my curriculum for our first year of home school. Actually, because it is so expensive, I only ordered half of it and I’ll order the other half next month. Anyway, we were so anxious that we almost tackled the FedEx man before he could get to the door!
Smarty was dying to rip into the box. He was kind enough to wait until I could take a quick pic of him first, though.
Once I gave him the go-ahead, he was off!
He ripped right in.
I like that the box can be turned into a castle when it’s empty. Smarty liked that too. He couldn’t wait for me to get the books on the shelf so he could have the box. If you look, you can see the print of the castle walls on the inside of the flaps.
The first thing he came to was a gift for me. How sweet is that? It’s a pendant made from a Widow’s Mite (read Luke 21:1-4). I can’t wait to wear it proudly. I should’ve taken a picture of it but I forgot. I’ll try to post a picture of it soon.
He was excited to see a CD from the Bible course. I’ve listened to it and it sounds pretty good. It puts their Bible memory verses to song to help them learn them.
He pulled out all of the books and called out the titles so I could mark them off of the invoice to make sure we had them all.
We made quite a mess! We had fun, though, and that’s what’s important!
I piled them all back in the box for a day or two until I could get the new bookshelf from my parents’ house. Once the shelf was in, I cut little yellow strips from the self-adhesive paper they sent with the curriculum and color-coded all of the books. The idea is that by having the yellow stripe on the binding, we should always be able to remember to put the books back on the correct shelf. I hope it works!
*Obviously, the cigar box isn’t part of our curriculum but I needed something to serve as a bookend.
I’ve been reading my Instuctor’s Guides and I really believe I’m going to love this curriculum. I can’t wait to get the rest ordered!
Thanks for sharing in this journey with me,
Just Like Mom
This morning, Bean brought me one of my hair clips. She handed it to me and turned around, obviously wanting me to clip her hair up the way I do mine sometimes. I tried, but her hair is too baby fine to hold one of my clips and it slipped right out. She kept trying to get it to stay in but it kept slipping out. I assured her that one day, I would pull her hair up just like mine. She seemed to be satisfied with that answer and went on her merry way. As she walked away, I recalled wanting to be like my mommy when I was a little girl.
When I was small, my mom had long hair. Often times, she would pull it up and clip it up off of her neck, much like I do now. I remember asking my mom one morning before school if I could wear my hair clipped up like hers. My hair wasn’t really long enough to clip up like that so Mom told me no but promised that she would clip it for me as soon as I got home from school. I remember getting off the bus that day and running to the house, so excited because Mom was going to clip my hair up like hers.
I think all little girls want to be like their mommy in one way or another. I can’t wait until Bean’s hair is long enough and thick enough that I can fulfill her requests to clip it up like mine. I hope that I always set such an example before my daughter that she will want to be like her mommy.
Decisions, Decisions
Every day I am faced with decisions. We all are. Some big, others small. Some of them are small things like what to cook for dinner, which pair of shorts match that top the best, or if my toenails really need to be repainted. Some are bigger things like whether or not we should put our house on the market, the best way to invest our savings, or concerning our children’s education.
Any decision concerning our children’s education is a big decision for me. As a mother, I want to do what’s best for Big Al and Smarty. I want to make sure they are happy little children. I want them to be well-behaved, well-mannered, healthy, God-fearing, well-educated men when they grow up. In order to do that, I must make some major decisions for their futures. I don’t know about you, but when I have a major decision to make, I pray first. I pray for God to guide me and to help me do His will. I have my own wants and desires in life but, more than that, I desire to follow the will of God. I constantly pray for His guidance in my day-to-day decisions and, more importantly, in all major decisions. I trust that God will always lead me down the right path and I trust that He has placed me on the right path for my children’s education.
We have lived in this school district for just over three years. We moved here when Big Al was in the middle of first grade and Smarty was in preschool. Big Al has always been an active child but he was thriving in school and making good grades before we moved. Within a week of our move, Big Al’s new teacher called me in to tell me that my child is ADHD and I should really have him tested because he didn’t sit still and was fidgety in class and talked too much. She had already separated him from the rest of the class and had decided that she didn’t like him because he was a pain in her tail. Within a few more weeks, Big Al stopped doing his work. He just refused! He had decided that if his teacher didn’t like him, he wasn’t going to do her any favors and he started getting in trouble on a daily basis. He wasn’t making friends because his teacher had separated him from the kids during class time and he had to spend all of his free time in time-out because of his behavior. He wasn’t given a chance to make friends. He was miserable. We figured he was just having trouble adjusting to the move. Near the end of the school year, something clicked and Big Al got right back on track and finished first grade on a positive note (and shocked his teacher)!
Second grade, Big Al had an “old-school” teacher. When he tried pushing her buttons at the beginning of the year, she knew just what he was up to and she was always one step ahead of him. She was a wonderful teacher for him and he did pretty well in second grade. Big Al struggled a bit but Mrs. C always saw the potential in him and helped him to do his best every day. Big Al loved Mrs. C and Mrs. C loved Big Al. Mrs. C and I even became friends that year.
That same year, Smarty started kindergarten. He had a wonderful teacher who was perfectly fit for kindergarten. Smarty enjoyed going to school but complained that he wasn’t learning anything. He could already read (very well), add, and subtract. He was bored with his school work so his teacher would go to the first grade teachers and get math sheets for him to work on after he finished his classwork. All in all, it was a good year for both boys.
The next year, Big Al’s teacher was “Mrs. Fun Lovin’”. She was young and wanted to be the “cool” teacher. Big Al figured out really quickly that she thought he was the cutest little thing ever and wasn’t going to discipline him much. When we went to our first parent-teacher conference with her, she confessed that she had made up Big Al’s grades for his report card because he hadn’t been turning in his work. She just pulled them out of thin air! We were fuming, but she didn’t see the big deal. She had given him good grades because, as she put it, “he is a really smart kid and knew the stuff”. Needless to say, the entire year was spent with many, many visits to school to talk with Mrs. FL and the principal. Mrs. FL always joked that Big Al was so ADHD it’s not funny and he was so sweet she just couldn’t get on him about stuff. Big Al didn’t learn a single thing that year, including his multiplication tables. We were both really frustrated and so relieved by the time the school year was finally through.
Smarty’s year was okay. He had Mrs. W and she was an okay teacher. Again, Smarty was bored with the classwork and wanted to do things a little more advanced. He was already adding, subtracting, and multiplying but Mrs. W wouldn’t give him other worksheets the way his kindergarten teacher had. Mrs. W used Smarty to help kids who were struggling and he enjoyed that. By the end of the year, though, Smarty had had enough with first grade and was bored to tears. He began acting up in class and Mrs. W became really frustrated with him. I think we were all pretty glad when the school year was over.
It was after that year that Hubby and I started talking about other schooling options for the boys. We were really unhappy with many things about the boys’ school. It wasn’t just the teachers and the principal. There were other things that had gone on during the year that I won’t go into now. It just wasn’t good. We just weren’t sure that we wanted to send our kids back there again. I began to entertain the idea of homeschooling the boys. Hubby shot that idea down pretty quickly, though, saying I wouldn’t have time for it since Bean was only a few months old. I didn’t push it because I found out that Mrs. C was moving up to 4th grade and she and I had both talked the principal into letting Big Al be in her class again. I just knew this was going to be the best year ever. Big Al even did a little dance in the hallway at school when he found out Mrs. C was going to be his teacher! I couldn’t wait for school to start again.
When school started this year, we found out that Smarty was going to have Mrs. W again. He was so disappointed and so were we! Not only was he going to have Mrs. W but he was going to be in the same exact class again. Apparently, the only way she agreed to move up to 2nd grade was if she could have the same exact students she had in 1st grade. She even stayed in the same classroom as before! We tried to look on the bright side thinking that at least both boys had teachers we knew and had liked.
Smarty started the year with all 100 averages on his report card. It didn’t take long before Smarty got bored again though. He hated the reading work because he was already reading on a 4th grade level. He knew how to add and subtract with regrouping and didn’t want to have to work on it every day. He knew how to count money. He knew how to multiply and could divide fairly well. He began to hate the second grade. He stopped doing his work in class because he said it was boring and it was the same old stuff over and over again. We tried to explain to him that he had to do it whether he liked it or not, but he still refused. Needless to say, Smarty spent a lot of time in trouble. His teacher separated him from all the other students because he talked in class. He sat at a desk in the back of the class, facing the wall. He wasn’t allowed to walk with the rest of the class to lunch or related arts because he talked. He had to walk on the other side of the hall by himself. He missed most of his playtime because his teacher made him finish the work he hadn’t done in class. And she should have. We wanted him to know that he had to do the work that was given to him whether he liked it or not. I guess Mrs. W got frustrated with him because, after a while, she started acting differently towards him. She began to punish him excessively and, often times, she would “make an example out of him” for the class. She became downright hateful to Smarty. She would throw his personal items in the garbage (chapstick, the toy he got out of the treasure box because he made a good grade, etc.). She became really sarcastic and condescending towards Smarty. He was miserable and so was I! Hubby and I went to school many, many times to talk to Mrs. W and the principal but nothing changed for the better, only worse. Smarty would come home and cry, saying she hated him. He begged us not to make him go back to school. By the end of the year, I’d had it! At our last conference, Hubby and I told her exactly how we felt. She was quite upset with us by the time we left her classroom. Thankfully, there were only two weeks left of school at that point and Smarty would be finished with her!
Honestly, if Big Al hadn’t had Mrs. C this year, I probably would’ve gone insane! Big Al really struggled with a lot of his school work but his behavior was much better. He and Mrs. C picked up right where they left off in 2nd grade. Mrs. C kept him on track with his work and his behavior but, with so much to cover before the standardized tests, she couldn’t help him keep up with everything he was having trouble on in class. He struggled because of many things he shouldn’t known from third grade. I knew that he was in good hands with Mrs. C, though, so I was able to deal with Mrs. W and Smarty.
As the end of the school year drew near and as our problems with Mrs. W and Smarty were at an all-time high, Hubby and I started talking about homeschooling again. Hubby was more open-minded about it this time. We just knew that something had to change. We considered private school but the tuition at the local Christian school for two kids would be about like paying another house payment each month. We just can’t afford it. We have been praying about it, and we feel like God is leading us to homeschool. As a matter of fact, I feel it so strongly, that I just can’t imagine doing anything else next year!
I started doing some research. I spent a few weeks looking at homeschool support groups in my area. I’ve read up on our state’s homeschool laws. I’ve already printed my Intent to Homeschool for the county we live in and have it all filled out and ready to send in. I’ve researched curriculum and have decided on the one I will use. I’m so excited!
I know everyone doesn’t think homeschooling is a great idea. I’ll admit, five years ago, when I had friends who pulled their kids out of public schools to homeschool them, I thought they were crazy! Their kids were dealing with a lot of the same mess mine have been dealing with but I didn’t understand why they didn’t just get over it and go on. I understand now. I know there are going to be people who think I’m crazy for homeschooling my boys with a toddler running around. You know what? I don’t care! I know in my heart that I’m doing what God is leading me to do right now. Who’s to say that I will homeschool for years and years to come? I may only do it for this one year and that may be enough. All I know is I’m making the decisions that I feel are best for my children and their education right now.
Where I’ve Been
I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted on my blog. I’ve not been on Twitter much either. Facebook? Well, that’s another story….
Here’s the thing: I have priorities.
When I started this blog, I thought to myself “Oh, I’ll have so much fun blogging! I’ll share all about my life and my home. I’ll share cleaning tips and recipes and stuff. It’ll be fantabulous!” So, I started this blog and I started posting fairly often and sharing cleaning tips and recipes and Wordless Wednesdays and so on. Then, one day I realized that I hadn’t been paying as much attention to my daughter. My housework wasn’t getting done. I was spending all my time on the computer, blogging and Twittering and reading other people’s blogs and emailing….and my daughter was growing up before my very eyes and I wasn’t spending the quality time with her that I should. God has blessed me with the opportunity to stay at home and care for her and I was squandering it!
I have little boys who are active in school and extra-curricular activities. I’m constantly picking up or dropping off someone. Between Cub Scouts, basketball, baseball, football, and chorus, they’ve been keeping me pretty busy!
There have been other things happening in my life too. God had been working on my heart and telling me to become our church’s Youth Leader. I took that step of faith and haven’t looked back! It’s been wonderful! It’s also been time consuming. Between the weekly interactive lessons, the concerts, rallies, fundraisers, and convention preparations, it’s taken up a lot of my time. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As the youth leader, I am on a couple of committees and boards at church and I have to attend monthly meetings for each of them. I am also an active member of the women’s group at church. I teach Children’s Church and serve as the nursery attendant on rotation. I am the VBS director, requiring me to spend a lot of time preparing for Vacation Bible School.
I don’t tell you all of this to say “Oh, look at me, I’m so busy!” I tell you this because, honestly, I don’t know how all these awesome bloggers in the world do it all! Many of the women whose blogs I read also home school their kids. Some even have jobs outside of their homes. Some of them are doing awesome things with their lives and maintaining a really awesome blog and I don’t know how they do it! Kudos to all you awesome mommy bloggers out there!
So, basically, what I’m trying to say is…I got overwhelmed and I let my blog go.
But, I’m back. I have learned to prioritize so I can get things done and spend time with my kids and my family….and blog!
Crochet Brobee
I know I haven’t posted in forever and I’m sorry. The holidays have been so busy. My kids go back to school on Monday. Maybe I’ll have more time to post then. In the meantime, here’s a picture of the crocheted Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba I made for my nephew.
Happy New Year!
Ginger Cookies
I’ve been making a lot of cookies lately in preparation for the holidays. When I make a batch of cookies, I bake half and freeze half of the dough for later. This way, when my kids have a party at school or church, I can just pull out the frozen dough and not have to deal with the mixing & measuring involved with making homemade cookies.
Yesterday, I was making Ginger Cookies from my Betty Crocker cookbook. I mentioned it on Twitter and I got several responses. I had a few requests for the recipe and I couldn’t find a link for it so I figured I would share it on my blog.
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 t. ground ginger
2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 cups shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup sugar
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat shortening with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the 2 cups of sugar. Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and molasses until combined. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour mixture. *Note: I like to just dig in with my bare hands and get it all mixed up.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in the 3/4 cup of sugar. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet (I use parchment paper when baking cookies). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8 to 9 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and tops are puffed (do not overbake). Cool on cookie sheet for one minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
To freeze, I shape the dough into 1-inch balls and place on a wax paper covered cookie sheet so that they aren’t touching. I set the cookie sheet in the freezer until the dough is frozen and then I place the frozen dough into Ziplock bags. I like to label the bags with the cookie name and baking instructions. To bake, I pull out the desired number of dough balls, roll them in sugar, and place on a cookie sheet to thaw a bit before baking.
Save yourself some trouble during the holidays and put some of these bad boys in your freezer now!
Wordless Wednesday: Entrepreneurship
One of the many frogs Smarty was trying to sell at a wedding reception last month. He’s quite the little entrepreneur!
Just So You Know…
I received a phone call from my mother today. She had read my blog. I hadn’t even told her about my blog, but she had found out about it nonetheless. I don’t mind. I wasn’t trying to be totally secretive, but I wasn’t broadcasting it to people I know in real life either.
At any rate, my mother is upset with me. She’s angry especially about yesterday’s post. She is upset that I was saying ugly things about my family. I didn’t see the big deal with yesterday’s post because I never meant for it be something ugly towards my family so I called up my best friend and asked her to read it and give me her feedback. She was able to give me a different point of view. Her review of yesterday’s post: “Ouch”.
So, I have spoken typed words that cannot be taken back. Those words have been hurtful to others and I never meant for them to be. Yesterday’s post was meant to be about myself and my often unwillingness to put forth enough effort to go home to visit. The message was supposed to be that I need to get over the fact that I think differently from some of my family members and love them the way they are and I need to go home more often. And I do love them. They are the same people I grew up with and I do love each and every one of them.
My mother was most hurt by the sentence “I don’t go home if I can help it.” I didn’t mean that I never want to go home again. I meant that I get so busy doing things in my church and with my family of five that it is hard for me to take the time to go home to see my extended family. My friend helped me to see how that sentence did not come across the way I meant it to be.
My mother was also upset that I mentioned “fist fights at Thanksgiving”. I feel like I should specify that it’s not like that stuff always happens – it was a one-time incident that someone got into a physical disagreement at a family gathering. However, my family has arguments and disagreements. Doesn’t everybody’s? While I thought that it was no big deal in mentioning it, my mother feels that it should have “stayed in the family”. She’s right, I suppose. No need to air any of my family’s “dirty laundry”, right? I’m sorry for having done so.
My mother also read through my previous posts and she was hurt by my post about my mother-in-law. I never meant for that post to be hurtful to my mother. I also did not mean for it to seem that my mother was/is a bad mother. I only meant to say that my mother-in-law is a wonderful lady and I am lucky to have a mother-in-law like her because a lot of people don’t have a good relationship with their mother-in-law. I never meant it to cast a negative light on my mother.
My mother is a wonderful mother. Sure, we have our ups and downs but my mother has stood by me and forgiven me time and time again. She has been there with me through thick and thin, in good times and bad. She has helped me through emotional and financial trials and tribulations. She and my father have helped me in more ways than I can ever repay them. Sure, they’re my parents and that’s what parents are supposed to do, but I know a lot of parents who don’t and wouldn’t do the things my parents have done for me.
I just feel like I need to “clear the air” and make sure my readers know what I meant by the things that I’ve said here on this blog. I would never intentionally hurt someone else, much less in a public forum such as this. Although it wasn’t intentional, I did hurt someone else and I am publicly apologizing for my actions.
I am truly sorry.
Going Home Again
I received a call from my mother yesterday afternoon. She was calling to let me know my grandmother had been admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. They had already taken her to the Critical Care Unit due to her condition. I immediately burst into tears and announced to Hubby that I must go home to visit my grandmother.
Even though home is only an hour and a half away, I don’t go very often. I don’t see my grandmother or my parents as often as I should. I rarely ever see my seemingly zillions of aunts, uncles, and cousins. There are children in my family that I’ve never seen. I’ve never seen most of my cousins’ children and when I have seen them, it’s only been a time or two. My family has only seen my boys a handful of times in the past 6 years and most of them have never even laid eyes on Bean.
I don’t go home if I can help it. It’s complicated. My parents and my husband do not get along. When given the opportunity to move away from there six years ago, we jumped at it. So much has changed in my life since then. I’ve become a more devoted Christian. I love my Lord, my church, and my church family. That’s something my family just doesn’t understand. I’ve changed the way I parent and I’ve tried to make the right decisions for my children. Words like “shut up”, “stupid”, and “idiot” are considered bad words in my home. Many members of my family allow their children to curse and, on occasion, take the Lord’s name in vain. I don’t allow my children to eat lots of sweets or play video games non-stop or watch cable TV. Those are all things my family just does not understand. I teach my children that honesty is always the best policy. Many members of my family have committed some sort of fraud in order to receive a disability check each month. They have decided that I am “stuck up” and “snooty” and that Hubby and I think we are above them because we don’t live the same wreckless, careless lifestyle that they live.
To their defense, not all of my family is that way. Not all of them feel that way toward me and not all of them live a wreckless, careless lifestyle. And even though my family is filled with several rednecks and “crazies” who hold grudges and get in fist fights at Thanksgiving dinner (long story, don’t ask), I still love them. They are my family and that is enough for me. They still love me too.
I packed up my children and drove to the hospital yesterday evening. My parents were there and several of my aunts and uncles. My parents were happy to play with my kids in the waiting room and I was able to spend some time visiting with my grandmother. Thankfully, she was feeling much better. However, visiting hours were over half an hour after I got there and I had to leave the CCU.
Although my visit with my grandmother was short, I was glad I went. It set my mind at ease to see her. She was feeling much better by the time I got there. She had been given an IV for the dehydration and some antibiotics for the pneumonia and they had brought her some food. We chatted about my kids and I filled her in on all that they’re up to these days. Before I left, she told me she loved me and said to come see her soon. I told her I would. And I will.
Going home is never convenient or easy for me. But I know it’s something I have to do. I have to make that effort.
I’m Dreaming of a Frugal Christmas
Actually, I’m not the one dreaming of a frugal Christmas, Hubby is. See, I love giving gifts so much that I would put us in serious financial trouble if it weren’t for Hubby’s limits. Hubby doesn’t like saving all year long to spend our entire savings and add a little more to the credit card balance just to give lots and lots of really great gifts. So, we compromise and set a reasonable budget.
This year, Hubby has announced some major cuts to the Christmas budget. The past few months have been a bit financially difficult for us. We’ve made do but we’ve tacked a lot more debt onto our credit card. We’ve worked hard to get through this rough patch and we’re finally back on track so we don’t want to mess it all up by spending too much money at Christmas this year.
I’ve decided to be a sport and not fuss with Hubby about his budget cuts. As a matter of fact, I totally agree with him. Just don’t tell him I said so, okay? Anyway, to help out, I’ve started thinking of ways to lessen the impact of Christmas on our finances.
I recently took up crochet. I love it. I’ve decided to make several handmade gifts for family members. I did some searching and found several free crochet patterns online. I’ve also purchased a few patterns on Etsy. Some of the men on our list will be getting one of these beanies and a matching scarf. Some of the women will be getting a pair of these slippers. One of our nieces will be getting one of these hats and a small, inexpensive toy. Her sister will likely get one of these hats and an inexpensive toy. My nephew is a huge fan of Yo Gabba Gabba so he will be getting these. The cost of purchasing these patterns and the yarn is less than we would spend on gifts for each of these people. Hopefully everyone will appreciate their handmade gifts and the hours it’s taking me to make them.
I have also been working to prepare and freeze cookie dough for the holidays. It never fails, my children will be invited to parties (or having them at school & church) and there will be cookie swaps going on and this way I don’t have to spend time preparing something during the already rushed holidays. Since I have been picking up a few ingredients at a time while doing my regular grocery shopping, I don’t have to rush out and spend a pile of money buying everything at the last minute. It’s also great to have the dough on hand for unexpected visitors during the holidays.
For the ladies in Hubby’s office, I always make a tray of special treats. I usually make several different kinds of candy and place them on a tray but buying all the ingredients can get expensive. This year, I’ve decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls in the shape of a wreath. Flour, yeast, sugar, and cinnamon are much cheaper than paraffin wax, several bags of chocolate chips, coconut, confectioner’s sugar, peanut butter….you get the point. I also bake homemade cinnamon rolls for my children’s bus driver and teachers. I like to prepare them the night before and pop them in the oven the next morning to warm them up and drizzle on the icing and deliver them while they’re still warm. Everyone appreciates a warm cinnamon roll and it’s a nice change from the usual “teacher gifts”.
We don’t spend a ton of money on our kids at Christmas. We never have. They always get really nice gifts and they usually get everything they want (within reason) but we still don’t spend a lot. I like to shop online. I can usually find better deals that way. Last year, I got my son a baseball bat that had been marked down from $130 to $50! Since my boys like baseball so much, we often shop the clearance section on MLB.com. Once the season is over, many clothing items (especially short-sleeve t-shirts) are marked way down. I can usually get them a really cool t-shirt for their favorite team for $10! Often times, you can get free shipping online but for me, it is worth the shipping cost to save gas and aggravation going to a ton of stores trying to find something.
I’m still brain-storming ideas for saving time and, most of all, money during the holidays. If you have any ideas for me, please pass them along. I need all the frugal-ness I can get!
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