Cheetos and chocolate
No exercise for me recently. I feel disgusting and feel like I look disgusting. My female body has not been very kind over the last few days. As I was sitting here at the computer, I inhaled 2 snack-size bags of Cheetos and ate an ice cream cone. It’s almost midnight, but I have no regrets. Those were some really good chips and chocolate! Sometimes, I need that fix before I kick my rear back to the gym. Not to mention, my hair is so dirty and greasy-looking that it’s really embarrassing to be seen out in public. No “me time” right now.
I’m in an academic marathon for days on end it seems. I know we’ll be having trips and such ahead, so I’m pushing hard with our home studies. Four kids in four different grades-I start to look bug-eyed after a while. In the midst of my instruction, I’m encouraging my oldest to become an independent learner. That can be a challenging goal for him at times. Sometimes, I feel like beating my head against the wall with what I have to repeat to him or when I find work that was half-accomplished. But, I refuse to give up on this goal. Independent learning is an essential life skill to have.
Off to prep..no rest for the weary, and the tooth fairy needs to show up again! Two teeth in two days.
More exciting than a diamond..
It was like Christmas this week for me because my husband bought a new leaf blower. Our old one died (my Mother’s Day present from 2 years ago at my request), so he came home with a brand new blower. I can’t wait to use it. I love working in the yard. Great physical activity as well as a way to release some stress.
Today went as usual with the exception of me having to stop teaching and go to the dentist to get a permanent crown put on. Unfortunately, the crown that was ordered did not fit me properly so now I have to go back (again) for yet another one. Complete waste of time-ugh. I hate inefficiency..
Tomorrow I’ll only have my daughter to teach since the boys will be on a field trip. How wonderful to only have one child to teach for the day!
Hello Kitty at 2 A.M.
It’s in the wee hours of the morning, and I’ve just finished wrapping birthday presents for my daughter. She’s having a little party with some girlfriends later, but we always do the family thing. We made a flying trip through the local 24 hour Wal-mart (not a huge fan) to buy a couple of happies around midnight. This we did just prior to our arrival back home from the road trip. I think we drove about 19 hours in 2 days. I smell like a combination of Taco Bell and sweat-not pretty so desperately needing a shower. Now, back to the reality of house projects and academics. Lots to ponder from the sites we’ve just seen, but we will first celebrate with my daughter and eat cake. I love cake.
Vomit day
Well, might as well throw vomit into the mix of our day, literally. My 5 year old woke this morning with dry heaves which later turned into him throwing up in the yard and in the car. But you know I just say roll with it, so I kept teaching the other 3. The vomiting son would play for a while, then get sick, then play, then get sick, then read, then get sick. Never a dull moment around here. I did cover what I’d hope to cover academically, so I guess that’s a good thing. Sports and scouts and birthday presents followed. I finally got a work-out in around 10:30 tonight on the elliptical along with some core training and finished up around 11:30. You just do what you need to do. It’s now 12:30 in the morning, and I just finished eating dinner (yes, dinner)…buffalo chicken dip and ice cream cake. Likely not the wisest move on my part, especially since the stomach bug may be traveling through our household, but it sounded good at the time. Off to read and maybe sleep..
Christmas consumption
For many reasons I was behind in prepping for the holiday season. Hubby went out after our candlelight service to finish up shopping. He left the store as they were closing. I didn’t even send out Christmas cards this year as I simply ran out of time to do so. So, I’ve been working on New Year’s cards tonight. This event will likely become a tradition for me. To top that, I gave the kids their Advent calendars on December 23rd! Of course, they loved it because they thought they could eat 23 pieces of candy in one sitting! No, I didn’t let them, but they probably could have twisted my arm to do so. It just seems that I haven’t had my Christmas act together this year. However, I have been cooking for the past 2 days, and oddly enough, everything turned out really great. Unfortunately, the kids don’t really care for the traditional holiday meals such as sweet potato casserole and cranberry salad so we have many leftovers. Will need to hit the gym again soon..
We finished up academics a few days ago before breaking for the Christmas holiday. I plan to take maybe 2 or 3 more days away from the schoolroom so that we can regroup around the house, and the kids can enjoy their friends and new toys. I’ll let the pictures say the rest. Happy holidays to you and yours!
Using American Girl dolls to teach money
My daughter has picked out several items that she wants to buy from the American Girl store in Manhattan, so we spent the morning discussing how they can make money, the value of saving money, when to decide to spend their money, giving to charity, and the conversion of coins to dollars using charts. If you are familiar with the American Girl brand, then you know their items can be on the pricey side.
I’d love to tell you that I’m good at these life skills, but I’m really not. I love quality things, and usually those quality things come with a hefty price tag. Thankfully, my husband is much better in this area than I am.
Manhattan
We spent the day in the city..the Met, Central Park, the subway (yummy), and the Empire State Building. The kids actually did well being pulled along here and there. I could have spent hours at the art museum, but you can imagine how our time went there with four young kids. They enjoyed reading the map and seeing the gallery of armor, but that’s about it.
Don’t you just love New York? My kids don’t appreciate yet how amazing it is to have things like Broadway and these world famous museums so close to where we live. I grew up in the deep south where you had to drive 2 1/2 hours to the mall just to do some decent shopping! I’m so thankful they can have these kinds of experiences.
Last day of school! Where’s my teacher’s gift?
What a lot of work this school year has been. I end hoping I did a good job teaching them and providing a stimulating atmosphere in which to learn.
We ended today with the kids showing their father what they studied. Doing so gives them a sense of closure and accomplishment.
Now, we begin summer break. Projects that have stared at me for the last ten months will be addressed. Traveling may occur. Nails can be painted. The wardrobe can be addressed! Spending quality time with friends will happen OR, maybe we’ll just sit around the pool and do nothing. All in the Lord’s will..
Have a Lily day
I attended a Lily Pulitzer warehouse sale today with my girlfriend. What fun we had, and what a nice break from my classroom setting.
What does a homeschooler look like?
I was reading through some articles discussing the stereotypes of homeschoolers that still exist today. It’s amazing how a large part of the public pigeon-holes homeschoolers as having one look or one philosophy to guide their home environment.
The reality is there are many different reasons why people homeschool. These beliefs in turn affect how they approach life with their kids, what they teach them, how they dress, where they live, what goals and aspirations the kids have from their environment, how they speak, what outside activities they do, and so forth.
Homeschoolers can be very different from each other. I’d like to see the media pick up on that concept more.
Ivy League Homeschooling 