Speeding.

The summer is just speeding on by.  The local schools start up on August first.  That's only 13 days away.  I haven't even cracked open the Rainbow Resource catalog.  I haven't made any concrete plans as to what we are going to do this fall.  I know that my daughter will be using the same writing and French (she makes a face every time I say this),  son needs to work on spelling and writing, there will be science with notebooking and we'll do some grammar work.  We might go back and do Grammar with a Giggle or possibly get the one for high schoolers.  I think GWAG is for middle school.  Speaking of speeding by, how quickly have our homeschooling years gone?  I mean, we're going to have a college student and 2 high schoolers this year!  Four years and we'll be done.  :-(


We had an awful storm last night.  It knocked out our electricity for 4 or 5 hours.  We had no choice but to adorn ourselves with glow-stick bracelets and  play board games.   It made my younger son happy because he finally had someone to play Settlers of Catan with him.  We really should do that more often.  There for a while, we had board game day every third Sunday, but since my husband's work shift changed and now he works on Sunday, we've let that fall by the wayside.  We need to start doing that again.  

It's time.

The crunch is on for the county fair.  Both of my younger 2 kids are going to be turning in various projects for the fair.  The terrariums that we made in our 4H class, the tile coasters, the bean collages, plus the crochet mat, knitted dishcloths, collections of fossils, photos and other things.  Next Monday is when we turn them in and boy do they have enough to keep them busy this week.  

We also need to start thinking about what we are going to study this fall.  It's time to send our letter of intent to homeschool to the school board.  The Rainbow Resource catalog arrived in the mail.  I know the girl is going to be continuing the French and the writing books that she already has.  I know they are both going to to Life of Fred geometry.  I'm pretty sure we're doing chemistry this year, but I don't have a text book or other resource for that yet.  For my youngest we need to work on his handwriting and his spelling.  Both improved tremendously last year, but both need more work.  Later on, when I have time, IF I have time (my life's been crazy lately) I will share exactly what resources we are going to use and also my older son's college plans, which seem to be coming together now.  :-)

F-I-E-L-D T-R-I-P!

We took a field trip yesterday to Mammoth Cave National Park.  Our home school group planned the trip, but several families had things going on and so only 2 families went.  We took advantage of not traveling with a large group and were a bit more flexible than the group usually is.  We took in the walking tour of the cave, then went to Big Mike's Rock Shop and Mystery House, which has one of those houses with the crooked floors and walls where the water seems to flow uphill.  It was a ton of fun.  Then we had a picnic on a scenic overlook and then went to a really great salvage grocery store where I got Gluten Free Bisquick for 75 cents among other things and then came home.  It was a really good day.  I share pictures whenever my photographer (my daughter) feels like sharing them.  For some reason, attaching her camera cord to a computer and uploading pictures is a really onerous chore for her. 

Kentucky law says
KRS 158.080 states the minimal school term is 185 days, which includes 177 days of instruction KRS 158.070 and 10 non-instructional days.

I think someone did the math wrong here, and 177 plus 10 really ought to equal 187, but that's beside the point.  The point is that these 10 noninstructional days are supposed to be teacher meeting days, but since I really don't have any need for a teacher meeting, we try to do 10 field trips a year.  :-)

So the first one for 2012-2013 is done.

Busy busy day.

It's my own fault I'm so tired right now.  I promised my youngest son that I'd take him yard-saling on top of having to work my usual shift and having to meet the homeschool moms for mom's night out at 4:00 p.m.  So I rushed and got my work done very quickly, then took him to several yard sales and a thrift store on the lookout for Legos and YuGiOh cards.  We didn't really find any.  We got home and then I had 5 minutes before I had to leave again.  For mom's night we went to a salvage grocery store (our latest fun thing) then to eat out and then to Hobby Lobby.  We drove an hour each way for this, after we met, with 15 minutes of solo driving before that.  Thus, I am experiencing, the above-mentioned tiredness.  Actually, I didn't eat out.  I just had ice cream because I didn't want to risk getting glutened.  I have way too busy a weekend planned.  I've got work tomorrow then the first of our summer fun nights at church.  I don't really expect much of a turnout since it's Memorial Day Weekend and a lot of people will be camping, but I want the ones who do come to have fun.  Then Sunday, we've got a baby shower and I'm in charge of the games.  I'm thinking we'll make playdough babies and play baby gift bingo, but I'm not sure.  Sometime this weekend, I'll need to figure that out.  :-P

Another job update.

Oldest son came in from work this morning and said that it went okay.  He didn't hate it.  As I said before, thankfully, he's not me.  He's got a better work attitude.  Actually he's got a better attitude in general, but he's not hormonal or just plain crabby or whatever I am.  :-P   He did finally manage to get to sleep yesterday with the help of a little Benadryl and so he was reasonably well rested.   We'll see how today's trying to sleep during the day goes.  Now I'm going to sit here and be thankful for my job where I set my own hours.  

The moms from the homeschool group and I went to the salvage grocery store together and saved a ton of money.  I got some pantry staples for less than half price and also a bunch of junk that I don't usually buy, fruit snacks, Capri suns, Snickers and gum.  My youngest son came to me and asked if he could have gum, then came and asked if he could have a Capri and then came and asked if he could have a mini-snickers.  Finally, I said "there's nothing in there you can't have" and he said "that's a really good answer."

The end of year count down.

We had 4H yesterday and it was nice.  My artsy friend had the kids making a collage out of beans and popcorn and stuff and it looks really neat.  Then we went out to eat at Fazolis.  I can't really eat anything there but the company was good.  I took Nutella, peanut butter and gluten free crackers as my snack.  That's my go to snack most of the time. It probably should be fruit but that's not the point.  The point is we had a really good time.  The homeschool moms and I hadn't gotten together in several weeks and we got kind of giggly and slap happy.  So much fun.  I'm so blessed to have found such a group.

Today we have a field trip.  I'll report back later on how it went.  

Last night

was Mom's night out with the homeschool group. Only 4 of us could make it but we had a really nice time. My only problem was with the restaurant. We went to a small family restaurant and I scanned the menu as I always do for things that would most likely be naturally gluten free. I'm not a fan of salads, so I avoided looking at them. I finally settled on an order of cheese and bacon fries with jalenpos and sour cream. (Health food, in other words). But then, when I came, the jalepenos had been breaded and fried, which I didn't expect. I couldn't help making a face of dismay when the waiter put it in front of me and he said "what's wrong?" and I said that I couldn't eat anything that was breaded so I couldn't eat this. Normally I wouldn't even attempt it but I felt bad because it's a small family-owned restaurant and they might need the money, you know? So I started trying the pull the jalepenos off in preparation to eat the fries when one of my friends bit into her fry and said "the fries are breaded too" and they were. So we had to call the waiter back over and I had to order something else so I ordered a salad (didn't want one, but I was hungry) and I emphasized to him nicely that it couldn't have any bread or croutons with it. He took the fries and said the dishwasher would eat them. When he brought my salad, it had saltine crackers (gluten!) all along one side. I just ate the side without the crackers and came home and ate my dinner. It was frustrating. I guess we'll have to stick to chain restaurants from now on. :-0

I've got

a busy 3 days ahead.  Today, I've got to take Mom to the pain clinic (which I pray will not be as long as usual!) and then tonight we've got the Wednesday evening stuff that lasts from 5:30 to 9:00 pm so I'm really hoping to be able to get a break in between the two events.  I'm tired just thinking about it.  Then tomorrow, we're getting up early and going on a field trip on our own with one other family..  Then Friday, we've got a meet and greet with the homeschool group, just to visit for a while since they haven't planned any field trips lately (hence the need to plan our own, I guess).  I don't know if we've got anything for Saturday because I haven't looked ahead that far.  Really, I think I prefer a minimum level of busy-ness outside the home because if I am here all the time I will start to think that I really should do housework and I don't want to.  :-P


Wow today is a pretty day.  I hope we get a similarly nice one for our field trip tomorrow.  This one is going to be wasted on the pain clinic, but hopefully my mom's back will feel better afterwards and she will be able to get out and do her spring gardening, so it will all be worth enduring the abysmal way that place is managed.

Our late valentine's party cupcakes.

Pictured at top is the picture my daughter took of our Valentine's cupcakes on Monday night.  At the bottom is the picture that I took (not realizing she'd already took a picture) on Tuesday morning.  Do you notice the difference?  Yes.  Someone stole one!  Thought we wouldn't notice, hmm?

The Valentine Party.

We had our homeschool Valentine's party today.   By having it a week late, we saved money on valentines which were half price, and candy.  It was a fun time.  We combined it with our monthly 4H meeting.  At our meeting today we made fake spilled drinks and real copies of some restaurant drinks.  The fake spills are made from tacky glue and will be dry in a couple of weeks and will be great fun in time for April fool's day. Family Fun  The real drinks were copies of a famous restaurant's cherry lime-aid and ocean water.  Everyone pretty much loved the lime-aid but the ocean water must be an acquired taste.  To me, it tasted like suntan lotion.   Afterwards we went for a snack at Taco Bell.  It was a fun day.

Happy Valentines Day!

We have our homeschool Valentine's party next week, because we like to buy our candy and treats after the prices have been reduced.  :-)  We also had our Halloween party a week after Halloween.  It was a scheduling difficulty at first, and then we realized the advantages.  Today, there's quite a bit of celebrating going on in our house and I'm pretty sure that we're all getting fatter by the minute.  Next week, we'd really better start on those New Year's Resolutions.  My husband went to the grocery on the way home from work and got everyone their favorite stuff, fruit pot pies, chocolate covered strawberries, Dove chocolate and Cheetos.  Better than flowers, if you ask me.  :-)

So many adorable valentines printables all over the web, so if you haven't gotten anything for your honeys, here are some from Pinterest. 

Sometimes,

I really just don't know what to blog about, but I'll tell you what I am up to this morning.  I am off work today and it's cleaning day and I've gotten started on that.  In between house work chores, I've checked Facebook, blogger and g-mail and took a tiny look at Pinterest.  I signed up for Youtube for educators in the hopes that I can find some good videos for the kids to watch on there.  I haven't explored it much because I'm just bouncing around between things today.  I don't really have much to say about homeschooling today because Thursday is their lightest day for school and they haven't started yet. 

I've read the first chapter of Wheat Belly.  I don't know why I get these books, it is just disheartening because  I have (2) friends and (5) family members whom I think would benefit from a gluten free diet and none of them will even consider it.  (I put the numbers in there because certain people who read my blog think that I think that everyone should go gluten free when really out of all the people I know, it's only 7, 2 with Crohn's disease, 1 with lupus, 1 with myasthenia gravis, 1 with rheumatoid arthritis and 1 with fibromyalgia) so :-P to those people.)   Wheat Belly is another book written by a doctor (I've read several) in which, when people took wheat out of their diet, they started feeling better in rather unexpected ways.  Their joints stopped hurting.  Rashes cleared up.  Brain fog and headaches went away.   Restless legs stopped being restless.  This all has happened to me too.  I feel so much better, but no one I have mentioned it to wants to even consider that it might help them or even try it for 1 week.  It's discouraging because I hate to see people suffer when I think they could feel better.  

Anyway.  Back to what I'm doing.  Right now I'm going to take a break from my up and about activities and sit for a few minutes, possibly watch a video and cut out the Boxtops for education for our homeschool group.  Through the year, I just tear them off of whatever package they are on and put them in a ziplock bag.  Then, this time of year when they are due, I cut them out more neatly, because I know that our homeschool group leader has to put them on some kind of form.  Last year we got 50 bucks for our group and I think it will be more this year because we've all been going to the salvage grocery store a lot.   (Chex gluten free cereal for 1.45 and a box top!)  

Busy Day Planned.

We have a busy day planned today.  It's our monthly 4H meeting and I'm going to teach the lesson.  We're going to do Mod Podge again.  Last time we did it I got it on my favorite shirt and on my jeans and in my hair. Today I'm going to try and be more careful.  That stuff does not wash out.  I had to cut it out of my hair.  :-/    Then we are going to eat dinner together and plan our homeschool group's activities for the next few months.  We've gotten into the routine of planning a quarter at a time, because if we try to plan too far in advance, we end up canceling and rescheduling a lot.  I got up early this morning, hoping that I can get my work done before we need to leave at 2:30.   Above is a tiny picture of our homeschool group.  The big one wouldn't load.  I'm 3rd from the left standing.  I think it's left.  :-)

Okay. Better. I guess.

I got out of the house yesterday.  I took my daughter shopping to use up some of the Micheal's craft store gift cards that she got for Christmas.  We also went to the salvage grocery store while were out and exchanged a game at Target for my youngest son.  It was nice to get out of the house.  We've just been hibernating for the most part, since Christmas.  We're going to spend a quiet New Year's Eve at home and then we have a Christmas party tomorrow afternoon.  My daughter and I have been giving some thought to New Year's resolutions.  I want to walk more.  My daughter says that she's going to try and do 10,000 steps on her pedometer every single day of 2012.  If she is planning to use up all the yarn she got for Christmas, she may have to learn to crochet and walk at the same time.  :-)  I do feel a little better.  I am not really looking forward to next week as there are several doctors appointments, homeschool activities start back up and we will be busy again.  I dread being busy, but I actually think it's good for me, just like I think starting back to school will be good for the kids.  :-)

The first official Christmas celebration is

believe it or not, today.  The homeschool group that I'm in has a Christmas shopping and lunch day out for the mom's every year and this year, it's a bit early but it was the only day we could schedule it.  I always have to buy a gift for the 10 dollar gift exchange and that is very difficult as we are all so different.  One of the moms always spends way more than 10 dollars, like 25 or 30 and I feel kind of bad selecting her present because I know that and one always feels bad because she doesn't know what to buy ... and one mom who is very smart and uses coupons and probably only spends a dollar but gives a gift that is worth at least 10 dollars and there's me who bought a Christmas CD for 8.99 and then felt like that wasn't enough so I bought another Christmas CD for 3.99 and put it with it. We all have our quirks I guess.

Before I leave, I'm going to make a couple of small changes to my kids schedule.  They won't like the changes, but the big major chore list is coming back and I'm going to add in a little bit more of everything else, if you know what I mean.  Youngest needs more spelling and writing practice.  I'm not sure what I'm going to add for the girl to make it "fair", but something.  :-)

A little better.

Today has been somewhat better, somewhat less painful than yesterday so maybe the antibiotics are working.  I got my work done and then we had 4H and someone else was teaching the class, so that's good.  They made apple fritters or dumplings.  We got there late because we had to add coolant to our car and it took us a while, but boy did those fritters or dumplings (whichever they were)  smell good.  Yum.  I have the recipe and I might try and make some tomorrow if I get time, which I probably won't. This new work schedule is making everything like that difficult.  This may only be temporary.  :-(  

The kids didn't completely get done with school before we left, so they are finishing up now.  I guess they are not the only ones because as we were leaving the restaurant earlier, one of the other kids in the group asked her mom if she still had to do math tonight.  Boy did that sound familiar.

Whirlwind weekend.

Yesterday, I had to work, then stop in the middle and take my daughter to her guitar lesson, then come back and try to finish work.  Then, I had mom's night out in a neighboring town, which is also where the nearest Michael's craft store is as well as the salvage grocery store.  So I finished work, went to the salvage store, met the moms at Tumbleweed, had dinner, went to Michael's, then to Target because I didn't find everything I needed for today at Michaels and then came home.  So basically, other than 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there, I was gone for 12 hours yesterday.  One of the times I was home briefly, I decided to apply makeup for the night out festivities.  I went into the bathroom and while I was applying makeup, all 3 kids came into the bathroom to talk to me because they'd missed me throughout the day.  I looked at myself in the mirror and thought "you are one blessed mom." 

Today, I have a similarly lengthy day planned,work with my new longer schedule which is proving pretty difficult to accomplish each day and then multiple preparations to go to Trunk or Treat tonight.   Then tomorrow is pretty much the same.  Whew.

Burn Out.

I was talking to another homeschooling mom about burnout after 4H today.  She said that she's just feeling blah with homeschooling and doesn't want to do anything.  Boy have I been there.  This one of the reasons, I think, that  I change our schedule frequently.  It helps keep it interesting.  Another thing I like to do is occasionally do something different, a field trip or a unit study, even if its only one day long and when we have to start back to school in January, I like to buy something new like a science kit or something, just to help with the transition back after the holiday break.  It's hard to come back down to real life after the holidays.

Pictured above is the craft we did for 4H today.  Another mom had planned to bake cookies, I knew it wasn't going to take an hour and a half so I visited this blog.  We've used several of her projects at 4H and they always go over well.   This one pictured is hers.  I didn't have the bright colored paint, just water color, marker and crayons, so our colors are more subdued, still cute though.  Most of the kids seemed to enjoy it.