Homework not good for kids.

I knew this. Here's the article. My kids would have a couple of HOURS of homework when they were in public school. I read about it on Why Homeschool. It's just not worth it. Thank goodness we have choices.

Nothing.

That's about what I did today. I had big plans to get a bunch done today and I just didn't. I hate when I do that. I went to the grocery this morning and then I kept procrastinating and then it started snowing and the kids (my helpers) went out to play in it and now it's 6:00 pm, dark and cold and I don't want to get up and start doing things. Blah.

Oh well, the kids are happy because we finally have a little bit of snow.

My super powers.

I can often guess what time it is even if we've been out in a park, away from clocks. I never wear a watch, so I guess this is a good skill. This ability is not functional inside Walmart, though, because I might be in there for hours. Anyway, my kids have always been pretty impressed with this ability.

Tonight, when we left my parents house to come home, we were talking about how cold it was. The kids were wondering how cold it actually was. One guessed 4 degrees. I said, "No it's not that cold. I think its probably around 26." We got home and checked the temperature and it was, 26 degrees exactly. They were so impressed. My oldest said, "Wow, Mom's a clock and a thermometer."

Trying to sleep.

Last night I didn't have too much luck. I could hear sounds from everywhere. Someone was snoring. The new dog was whining. Someone else was talking in her sleep. Someone else couldn't sleep and has recently learned to whistle, so he was practicing. Finally, just as everyone settled in and I drifted off to sleep, the outside dog started barking. On the front porch. Which is just outside our bedroom window.

I can feel a nap coming on this afternoon ...

Proof that we really are crazy.

Here it is. We got another dog, making 3 dogs, 3 cats and 1 lizard. We actually planned it too. When we got Max, our first-ever indoor dog, we were not prepared for how crazy our daughter would go for him. She wants to hold him all the time (He's not a lap dog!) and she drives him crazy. Not to mention the fact that he's 6 years old and how is she going to cope when something happens to him? We decided that another dog would help diffuse the love and provide comfort in the future. We started looking for a young female dog, 1-2 years old, a mutt, already spayed, already house trained, smaller than Max and okay with kids, cats and other dogs. We finally found her yesterday.

The house training part, we're not so sure about though, unfortunately. Despite being taken outside about 100 times yesterday, she wouldn't go outside and went in the house. This morning, though, we've had 3 successful events outside, so we're very happy. I guess maybe it was the stress of moving houses, trying to get used to 5 new people, not to mention that every time we'd take her out, the outdoor dog and all 3 cats would gather around and stare at her. It would be hard to do something so personal with all that attention, I would imagine.

Anyway, she's here and if the potty training thing works out, she can stay. I'm thinking of designing some items on Cafepress with her picture on it. She's got quite a face, you gotta admit!

Hey, today really IS Friday.

I don't know why I'm so happy about it. I do work Saturdays. I guess it's just an old habit from my public school and regular-work-week days. It also has to do with our homeschooling system, our work lists and the freebies. Most of us save our freebies for Friday so we have a shorter day most Fridays. I didn't this time, but that's another story. I haven't felt good all week so my freebies got used very early. Tuesday, I think.

Anyway, it's Friday now.

This is the view from my kitchen window. Zoey, the calico, thinks this is her special place to sit and gets annoyed when Xena joins her. You can see it on her face, can't you?

I kept thinking today was Friday ...

but it wasn't. Darn it. ;-)

We went ahead and did school despite that depressing realization (that it wasn't Friday). We are reading through the last book of The History of US. Today's chapter was about the 1950s including the Korean War. I don't think I ever realized how quickly we went back to war from WW2 to the Korean War, although I guess I should've known since my Dad was in the Korean War and my uncle was in WW2.

We also did a lesson from the book on drawing called Drawing on the Right Side Of The Brain (or something like that.) It was very interesting. It emphasizes good drawing as a teachable skill instead of a magical talent, so maybe I'll even be able to learn to draw well. Could happen, I guess.

After school, we went to the library and the skating rink.

My younger son has had a very whiny week this week and has been a pain to deal with. The older 2 think that he can't remember public school well enough, having only been to kindergarten and a few weeks of first grade. They think we ought to give him a public school experience at home, make him get up early and sit at a desk for several hours, having to ask permission to go to the bathroom, etc. I'm all for it as long as I don't have to be here to hear the whining. Maybe we could get a substitute teacher that day!

Funny Max Picture.

My daughter took this one, no surprise there. Can't you just picture what he's thinking, "Did you not notice that I am a BOY dog?" Oh the indignity.