Weird time for a field trip.

It's almost here!!!

But we are taking one today.  I'm off work and we have tickets to a Christmas light display that we'd like to see before Christmas, so today is the day and since we are going to be in the area, we'll visit the science center where we have a membership.  First, though, we've got to get this house cleaned up!  Oh my goodness.  We're a bit crowded here anyway and then when you put the Christmas tree up and get the gift wrapping materials out, it gets way crowded.  I like a clean house on Christmas day.  It helps me enjoy the festivities.

School this week.

Really, the way it has worked out with the busyness and excitement of this week, is that we are pretty much just doing math.  Math is the only subject that has a certain number of lessons that we really need to get done.  Everything else can flex.  So we're flexing.  Today, the kids did algebra and I did work and then we went to 4H where one of the other moms taught us how to make the cutest little candy bouquets.  Then we went to Pizza Hut and had our homeschool group Christmas party.  It was great.   We blessed the 4H workers with one of them while we were there but we don't know what we're going to do with the other ones.  Might just eat them.  Christmas calories do not count until after the New Year.

I did learn an interesting rule today.  One of the boys walked by the mom's table, burped loudly and excused himself, but quietly, so that his mom didn't hear.  She made him come back and told him to say excuse me.  He said that he did and she said "the excuse me has to be just as loud, or louder than the burp."   That way, everyone who hears the burp, also hears the politeness that follows it.  :-P

One week.

Today is a week from Christmas.  As usual, I can't quite believe it, how fast time passes and it just speeds up this time of the year.  At this time of day a lot of the celebration will actually be over and I'll probably be ready for a nap.  :-)  I went yesterday and got pretty much all of my shopping done.  I will pick up candy on Friday, which is my regular grocery day and Christmas Eve Eve and hopefully, I won't eat it between then and Christmas and have to buy more on Christmas Eve, but I am not making any promises.  I know how I am. 

Curriculum sale.

Westvon publishing is having a great sale, now through Christmas, all titles are 1 dollar.  Here's the link.  I have used their Boyscribe pack before.  It gives the boy something interesting to write while he's practicing handwriting. 

Christmas week.

The county school kids are already out for winter break and I am debating what to do with my 2 for the week prior to Christmas.  Thursday we have plans so we won't be doing much school that day.  I have no intention of letting them have the whole week off.  I think the youngest would just go crazy from Christmas excitement and drive us all crazy in the process. He's already asked me what time of the morning I want to get up on Christmas day.  I said "10 o'clock" because I was messing with him and he said "No."  so I said "9 o'clock" and he said "How about 8?"   So he'll be waking me up at 8:00 a.m. this year.  Hey, it's better than 4, which he has tried in the past!   I'd best keep the boy busy this week.  He's been watching this website very carefully and this is his theme song, Come On Christmas by Matthew West.  We may do some more Christmas-y activities this week and have some fun with it. 

Quiet.

It is very quiet around here as both of our boys are staying the night with friends.  My oldest son is gluten free and lactose free and so he packed a small cooler of food.  My friend offered to buy him whatever he needed, but I know that she doesn't normally shop in the grocery store in our town that stocks the most specialty foods and I also know that special foods are expensive.  He took some leftovers from our lunch, a carton of lactose free milk and a box of gluten free Chex.    This is the first official sleepover for my youngest.  They all 3 stayed with this same friend a few years ago when I had surgery, but that's the only time for him.  He was packed and ready to go by 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon, having finished all of his school-work.  He even had everything already in the car by that time.  Can you tell he was excited to go?

Finally, a homeschooling post!

I have mentioned that my youngest son has some trouble with spelling.  He's extremely smart and creative and just like a lot of smart, creative boys, he has trouble with spelling and writing.  He reads well, so it's not dyslexia.  I think he would be categorized as having dysgraphia and I don't know what the spelling issue is called, maybe dys-spell-ia?  Anyway.   Over the years we've tried various strategies to help him compensate.  He's learning to type.  He's working on writing in cursive because some people say it is easier.  We enrolled him in occupational therapy last year for 3 or 4 months until the therapist said that she had done all she could.  We've tried Sequential Spelling which worked very well for my daughter, but did not work for him (although it is something we may come back to at some point) and we tried All About Spelling.  Then, I read this article on Dianne Craft's website and I have been using her method since August and IT IS WORKING! 

Whew. Finally.

I worked very hard on my Christmas shopping and I think I got all of the online shopping done.  The last thing will be to pick up a few things locally.   I feel better now that it is mostly done.  I took the 2 younger kids today and let them shop for their siblings.  The oldest can go on his own sometime later.   We also got all the gifts for the homeschool kids and the cousins are done and crossed off the list.  I feel better with each one that is done.


In other news besides shopping, school and work are going right along as usual.  I'm getting more used to being right in the middle of things and better at getting my work done despite that.  We've been getting Christmas shows out of the library and watching them.  The other night we watched "A Muppet Christmas Carol." and tonight we're watching "Veggie Tales Little Drummer Boy".  I'm gradually getting a better attitude.