End of the school year

Here are 2 little kiddos that finished school. And did very well, I might add. By the end of the year, they were ready to be done and so was their mommy. So our last day was May 20th. A little earlier than I usually finish. I am now regretting finishing early. They are bored, ALREADY!

We took them to get ice cream at Cold Stone. And then went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 at the theater. I didn't get any pictures of the ice cream or the poster for the movie. So you'll have to trust me; that's what we did. This is at the theater (before the movie started).

I love this picture! I think it turned out so good! And Daddy took it. Yeah for my family.

Combinations

One thing C is a little weak on is combinations. He gets them, just slow. I thought he'd struggle with multiplication and division but he seems to understand it pretty good.

One day K and I set up a "trail" of cards around the house as a fun way for C to review his combinations. He thought it was fun. K had fun setting it up. And I was happy cuz he was reviewing while having fun. At the end, we all got candy. Oh the benefits of homeschooling!

The mind of an 8 year old

Yesterday for school, C had a seatwork paper that he had to do. One of his answers cracked me up, so I thought I'd share.


Here are the directions

Picture: butterfly minus one set of wings.

Here is his answer.


Translation: The butterfly can't fly because a pair of her wings are gone.

Very good answer.

Picture: Part of a flamingo

Here is his answer.



Translation: The flamingo (is) dead because her neck is gone.

HILARIOUS!

Cracked me up!

3rd grade?!

Look what came yesterday! Hard to believe that I will have a 3rd grader and a true kindergardner. They were excited to look through them. Not sure they will be that excited when it comes time to work through them. Such is life.

PS: sorry there is no picture! I can't figure out how to get it off my phone and onto here. It's too late to worry about it now. Just know it was a picture of the kids ABB books scattered all over the floor. They since have been put away very neatly so I can't even re-create the picture without making a mess. Just picture it in your brain.

PSS: (or is it PPS?) I figured it out! Actually kinda easy. So here is your picture.

School in the bathroom?

Today proved to be an interesting day. Daddy called me a few minutes after he left work and told me to check the weather. There was a huge storm headed our way; complete with high winds, lots of rain, and possible tornadoes. Great. Once I got up and saw how bad the storms looked, I decided to set up camp in our tornado room--our very small half bathroom downstairs. But I didn't want the kids to start school late. So I decided to have them do school, sitting in the bathroom, waiting the storm out. Of course they thought it was kinda cool. Thankfully, we didn't have to sit in there long--maybe 45 minutes. And thankfully it was all needless work; we are all safe and sound.After the storm was all done (it was lightly raining), I happened to look out the front door. I saw a lady with a long stick and a tub turned upside down--on something. So we went out to investigate. Turns out that she had trapped a snapping turtle. TURNS OUT HE LIVES IN MY POND! She was trying to get him out of the road so no one would approach this mean turtle and come away missing a finger. This lady had caught this same turtle before and knew how mean he was In the end, she took him with her and was going to have her son release him somewhere else so we wouldn't have to worry about him again. Check out the video of him snapping at the stick. Scary stuff.

The First Day of School 2010

...........was way back on August 4th. I am way behind.

C is in 2nd grade. Hard to believe. He is doing A Beka's DVD program again this year. His teacher is Mrs. Chappell. The order is a little different than last year and he actually has spelling tests this year. So far he is doing really well (good?). The lowest grade he has gotten on any test--so far-- is a 94%. The beginning of the year is A LOT of review. I think they are slowly coming out of that. I think he will really enjoy school more when they start science or history. He enjoys that kid of stuff.

K started in K4 this year. Her teacher is Mrs. Wasser. Love her! K is having some issues with school, but I'm not totally surprised. What has surprised me is how much better she does when I teach her instead of her watching school. There are some days that I ended up teaching her and she doesn't watch that particular subject at all. Daddy has kidingly said "You actually have to homeschool this year, huh?" I don't totally mind; it's just been a mental adjustment for me. I wasn't expecting to do so much hands on. But, as everyone has reminded me "she's different than C and learns different." Another thing that surprises me is the fact that she really likes numbers. She loves to count! I'm hoping that continues on into elementary and forever.

PS: For those of you that think we started school early---we haven't had a full 5 day week yet. Sad? No, that's the benefits of homeschooling!

Crayons

If you ever attended Pensacola Christian School, raise your right hand. No, your other right hand.

If you ever were a TA at PCA/PCS raise your hand.

Everyone remember the crayons that were used in kindergarten? They are flat on one side and kinda rounded on the top. Anti-roll crayons.

I asked my mom to go to the bookstore at the academy and buy 3 boxes of the crayons for kindergarten for K next year for school. I think she will be very picky and want everything just like the kids "in" school have.

Here is what my mom sent me. This is what they now sell at the academy bookstore. Still anti-roll. But now a tri-angular shape. More anti-roll??? I think their reasoning may be that the triangle shape will teach them better how to hold a writing utensil (for lack of a better word).

Interesting. Does anyone else care? OK. Thanks for humoring me.

Chuck E Cheese

As an end of the year "congrats" we let C pick where he wanted to eat for dinner. He picked Chuck E Cheese. yeah rah

Actually we went early enough in the afternoon (around 3) that it wasn't very busy. By the time it got busy, we were ready to leave.

I actually think their pizza is awful but the kids had fun playing the games. Two different times K won the "big one" on a game where she got 125 tickets! Pure luck.

And of course the kids to pick out crap I mean prizes with their tickets.

K got all "jewelry" See that bug that C got? I put it in his glasses case, so that night when he went to put his glasses away, it scared him. I'm such a mean mommy.

1st and 2nd grader

C says that over the summer he will be a 1st and 2nd grader--since he isn't really in either. Mr. Literal-again.

I am very impressed with what he has learned this year. Have I ever mentioned how much I like the A Beka curriculum? And the DVD program? Love it.

Would you like to see his "report card?" Here are his grades for 1st grade. (very official looking, huh?)

Rogaine anyone?

It must never get back to C that I told you this story, OK? Please keep it between us. We told him it was "over" and he needs to think it is. (Am I such a bad mom or what?)

So we were at the State Museum the other day. I had taken K to the potty. When I got back, Daddy said "Did you see his (meaning C's) hair?" No I hadn't noticed anything. Then I looked closely at the front of C's head.

Notice the little bald spot right in the front of his head? Daddy asked him what happened. "I don't know. I think it must have just fallen out." Really? That's the best you can do? He is so not a good liar. We asked him off and on for about 4 hours and he kept giving us the same answer. Seriously? He thinks we'd fall for that?

Later that night he had AWANA Olympics practice and Daddy had practice after that. During Daddy's practice he finally admitted what happened. But by this time it was way too late!

Here is his story. He had a craft that day in school. He was sitting at his desk, with his scissors on his fingers and his chin in his hand. Let's start with "not the smartest position to be sitting with scissors." Then let's move on to "how did that cut the top of your hair?" His answer "I must have moved my hand down to cut and closed the scissors as I crossed the top of my head." Hmmmm. A little bit of logic in there. It could have happened. That's the most we got out of him. If that's the truth, "just come tell us when it happened!" He would have gotten a stern lecture about how to handle scissors but not the severe punishment that he ended up with.

Once we all got home from practice, Daddy applied the stick of punishment to the seat of learning. Plus he gets no video games of any kind for at least 6 weeks (this can get longer depending on LIFE between now and then) plus he cannot do his art projects for school for that long. They will all pile up and he will have to take one day to do them all.

He has had issues with scissors before. And he is my somewhat responsible child. What am I in for with the other child? Lord help me! ABSOLUTELY NO ART PROJECTS FOR HER WITHOUT AN ADULT PRESENT.

A little excessive?

So I was re-arranging my "coopy hole" in my room the other day--again (a little corner in my room that goes out over the stairs). When I started it was the location for: scrapbook stuff, our old computer, school stuff, misc craft stuff, pictures, picture frames, idea books, stuff to be scrapbooked (is that a word?), and many dust bunnies. One of the things I did was to put like things together. I had markers, pens, pencils, cards, scrap paper, pictures, etc.--a little bit everywhere. Once I gathered up all the pencils that C uses for school, I just had to count them and take a picture. And there are about 4-6 that are down stairs that didn't get in this picture/count. Any guesses? Guess before you look below the picture.

Here's a hint: he could use a new one every other day and not use them all through out the school year!

Now I will say there are a few in there that are specifically K's, but only like 3-5. She'll use them this coming year (I have to order school for her soon! AAHH!)

113!!!! Crazy.

Snow Days!

For Indiana, we have had A LOT of snow lately! Compared to some of you, it's not a lot. Compared to some of you, it's too much!

Daddy has gone in late to work or come home early at least twice due to the chance of bad weather. The first big snowfall (according to C's measurements it was 4 inches) melted and left nothing. The second snowfall was about the same and is still here. That's when I don't like the snow: when it's brown and yucky and slippery.

The kids have gotten to go out and play twice this year. They had much fun, but were very cold. Thankfully they have snowsuits, but they don't have boots. So we do the "poor man" substitute: baggies--one pair of socks, baggie, another pair of socks. Works OK, at least for the short time they are out there.

Here is a downside to homeschooling (at least in C's eyes): he still has to do school even if everyone else cancels for a snow day. Poor guy. Actually I don't think schools have cancelled much this year due to weather.

Here are some pictures from our first big snowfall this year (that's C in the 1st picture and K and Daddy in the 2nd). Daddy even got in on the action. I was stuck inside with babysitting kids. I was warm. Maybe I'm the smart one?

Craft Day

I have started a new tradition. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I decided that we wouldn't have regular school, but instead we had a "craft day." We did have to do a few errands in the morning (got a present for Daddy accomplished). Then home to do crafts almost all day long.

They both had quite a few messyor very involved crafts that I had been holding on to. Let's see: a Star Wars BLACK color wonder (usually gets black all over his hands--remember this SIL?); painting sun catchers (from C's grad party); a plaster-of-paris hand print for K; hand art; at home Build-A-Bear for K; and foam airplane gliders.

We started with C doing color wonder and K painting sun catchers. They both did really good and didn't make a mess at all! Then they switched. C made a little tiny mess and K did good on the color wonder. Then we moved on to hand art. After K's nap I worked on the bear. That thing took me forever! K did help stuff it but that was really all she could do. She (her name is now Peaches) is really cute!

Craft day had to continue to Friday when Daddy helped make the foam gliders. C has a wooden plane that still needs put together and painted. It will have to wait til some other time.

The kids talked about craft day for many days leading up to it (I"m counting it as a homeschool day) and really seemed to enjoy it. I know I had fun; it was fun spending time with them. But I did learn 2 things: I could not go back to a job where I stand on my feet alot and I couldn't be a teacher trying to help many kids that are working on different things/levels and try to keep everyone going/happy. That second one should prove to be a challenge when I homeschool K next year.

School Is In Session!

C started school Tuesday--well actually Monday--kinda. OK. Long story short.

Late Monday afternoon I got a phone call asking if I could babysit 2 kiddies from church (their names are the names of the 2 main characters from Star Wars--no kidding. And at one time they had a black great dane named Vader. Seriously.) Anyways. They weren't going to be "delivered" to my house until 10:15, so I thought C would still be able to finish school for the day. Usually the first week of school is MUCH shorter than normal. But just in case, he did 2 subjects Monday afternoon and then finished his day Tuesday before they got here.

I am also babysitting on Thursday--4 extras for a total of 6 kids! Call me crazy! But remember, I have been praying for some money. God's just making me work for it (I tried to win the lottery; but no luck. JK!) And I have a possibility of a semi-steady babysitting "gig" starting end of August. Hopefully that will come to pass. It will be nice to have that "steady" income again. Especially right before Disney World.

So C will actually only have 3 days of school this week. But that's the benefits of homeschooling, right? Since his first day was split and since it was much shorter, I don't think it seemed like real school. At least to me anyways. I'm sure he thinks different.

K girl is wanting to start school this year too. But in her mind, school is watching it on TV. So I think I am going to have her watch C's Bible class and then she and I will do some papers, crafts, etc. It's hard to believe that she will be doing K4 next year!

So that is how our first week of school will be defined. At least I do NOT have a beginning of the year surprise like Momma! Love to her! And BIG CONGRATS! No, mother-in-law---not interested!

Organization

I have been trying to get many different things organized. And in the process, I have made some messes!

I have been trying to figure out how/where/etc. we are going to do school since the TV in our room died. I rearranged some stuff in C's room and I think it will work. He has a desk in there (our old computer desk) that he usually plays Legos on. I'm going to have him do school there. Eventually next year when K does DVD school, she will be in our room in front of the TV. So C would have to move to his room anyway. This way, we can get all the "bugs" worked out this year. I am going to have Daddy hang a bulletin board over the desk for me to tack stuff up that he might need to see, i.e. his Cursive Writing cards. Right now I kinda decorated it for school (thanks Momma!).

Every morning I will have to take our laptop in there and set it up. I'll also have to take in all the school stuff that he'll need (pencils, scissors, crayons, papers, etc) I don't trust K enough to leave it all in there. She'd get into it somehow and do something with it--not good I'm sure. But I have a basket that I can pile all that in and just have to carry that over to his room. I am very jealous of a separate school room (Handy Family!) Maybe I'll just stop doing laundry (any other takers?) and turn our laundry room into a school room. If we were to ever move, I would LOVE a separate room. But for now, this is our plan.

Anyways. On to the organizing part of this post. I am also trying to organize the school stuff that is in my room. I have a pile of stuff that I am planning on working with K this year. Pre-school type stuff. She's excited about that. Plus all my scrapbook stuff is a MESS! I've also been trying to organize all my pictures on my laptop. I vowed to keep up with them when we got this new laptop, and well, let's just say, it's getting there. Plus we are still staining the fence and staining the boards for the swing set. So the garage is full of boards all laid out to dry and staining paraphernalia is out there in the midst of it all.

Throughout all of this, I have discovered that it would very nice to have a lot of money to spend on coopy holes (that's what I call all kinds of organization type containers--any and all get called that). But alas, I don't have that kind of money. So it all stays unorganized.

When everything is finally done, I'll be sure to let you know. We'll have a party. Since everything will be organized, I'll be able to find your address. Now, to find my youngest child. Where did I put her? Hmmm.........

I must BLOG!

My hubby commented that none of the blogs that he reads (mine, my sissy's, his moms, and his sissy's) haven't been updated in awhile. Well his mom's got updated today by his sister (did you follow that?) So I thought I'd update my blog. But since not much exciting has happened, this will be somewhat of a hodge-podge post.

Let's start on Tuesday. K girl had her 3 year check up. They said she is tall and skinny for her age. They asked if she was a good milk drinker (nope), does she like meat (only sausage), are there any guns in the house (why is that any of their business?), does she wear a helmet when riding her tricycle (seriously?), etc. So we get home that night and for supper I decided to try chocolate milk with her. Last time she didn't like it. This time---she drank all of it down. And has had4-6 more glasses since. Make a liar out of me. Then Wednesday night I made baked chicken nuggets and potato pancakes. She usually won't eat the chicken. Once again, she made a liar out of me. She loved them. I think I'll take her to the doctor more often. Maybe she'll eat better.

Thursday we went out to lunch with Daddy and a friend from work. She loves to see my kiddies whenever we go out. She's a sweet lady. Her and her husband just recently adopted a 9 year old boy from a very bad home. Amazing dedication.

Friday the kids and I had to go to Wal Mart--again. I am cooking breakfast for church visitation Saturday morning and needed supplies. I also got some stuff for our SS ice cream social Sunday night after church. I also am in charge of breakfast for SS Sunday morning. All in one weekend. What was I thinking?

After dropping all the food off, K had an appointment with the ENT to check out her ears. He said that they look really good. They are all but 3% closed. We are OK for swimming lessons. Except I don't think we will be able to get to them this year. The summer just got away from us. C got his DVD's for school in the mail the other day. We will be starting school August 4th. He's excited, but only a little.

On other notes:

*I finished sealing another section of fence. YEAH! Only the long side is left. I'll be so glad when it's done. Hopefully before it needs done again? (3-5 years from now)

*our other TV died the other day. What is with us and TVs? My mom says she is always breaking/buying a new iron; my aunt's problem is toasters; mine is TVs?????? Why can't it be something cheaper, like a can opener? This is the TV that C used for school. So we have been brainstorming to figure out what he's going to use for school. Maybe my laptop? Posts would be very scarce then. I'll keep you "posted."

*I mowed the grass Tuesday night. I hate to mow grass but that was the day I found the dead TV. I was so mad at the TV that I went and mowed grass. Here is a picture of the kiddies trying to help by putting the lawn mower away. Teamwork--for once.

So that gets you caught up for now. I'll be back when I have other news. I'll leave you with some pictures of 2 cute kids.

Happy Birthday, K girl!

Yesterday was K girl's third birthday. For some reason, she thinks she turned six (I think because her brother is 6?). Crazy girl.

For breakfast, she wanted chocolate chip muffins. Easy enough. For lunch, she wanted to go to "Bob Heavens." Both of the kids are part of the Bob Evans kids birthday club. Around their birthday, they get a card in the mail for a free kids meal and drink. For some reason this year K got 2. C also had a free meal from a reading program at a local library. So we all ate at Bob Evans and only had to pay for Daddy and I's meal. Nice.

We had saved 2 presents for her to open on her actual birthday. We got her a new Color Wonder book w/ markers. She loves those things! And so do I! They don't make a mess! We also got her a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse puzzle. She's really into puzzles.

It was kinda a low-key birthday for her since we had church, but I still think she had a good day. I really can't believe she is 3! This year while C is doing school, my plans are to start working with her on school-type stuff. It's amazing how different learning preferences and personalities are.

School's Out!

C is done with school! He just finished his last paper. I can't believe he is done with Kindergarten. That means he will be in 1st grade next year. Oh dear! I am very proud of him though. He has learned so much this year: reading (he's at a 4th grade level), addition, simple subtraction, simple story problems, money, counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s, many poems, many Bible verses (one for each letter of the alphabet plus others), simple science, hymns, about different countries, community helpers. It's so exciting to see where he started and now see where he is.

It will be nice to have time off, but he gets bored so easy (easier than most kids I think). I do have plans to keep his mind somewhat busy this summer. I'm still going to have him practice reading and his combinations (he struggles with some) and do a few papers here and there. Plus we plan on bowling once a week and going to see some free movies. Plus he still has baseball and I'd like for him to do swim lessons again. Whew! Now that I look at all that, I think we will be very busy!

Baseball/Softball games

I know I haven't blogged in a few days, but honestly I haven't had much to blog about. We had revival last week, so we were very busy every night last week. This week is not much better. Tonight is our only free night. Last night Daddy had a softball game. We went early to watch some of the other teams play. Daddy's game didn't start until 8:45; so needless to say, it was a late night. We had a good time, even though Daddy lost. It was a good game.

To back up a little, C was supposed to have a game last Saturday morning. We had rain almost every day last week, so the fields were very muddy. So they cancelled his game, even though it ended up being a nice day. We did a little shopping in the morning (new sneaks for Daddy and I, a Yoga mat for me, a new golf club for Daddy, new baseball pants for C (which I have to take back cuz he is too skinny!)). Daddy mowed the grass in the afternoon. It was pretty pathetic. So despite a cancelled game, it was a good day.

Now C has a game Thursday night this week and another Saturday morning. As of right now, it's supposed to rain again. I'm really praying he can still get his games in.

To fill in the other nights this week, Wednesday night is our last night of AWANA! YEAH! It's awards night, which is a very busy night for me. Then we are going out to eat Friday night for Mother's day. We never go out the day of. The lines are crazy! Last year, we got take out from Olive Garden. That was a great idea! This year we are going to Red Lobster Friday night and Daddy is going to cook Sunday. It seems like Mother's day came up quick this year .

On a side note, C only has 5 more days of school. He and I are both ready to be done. The quality of his work is going down hill and my "caring" is quickly following. Oh well; there's always next year. I'm hoping to keep him (and his sister) busy with other stuff this summer so I don't hear much of "I'm bored" I don't think I'll succeed.

Kindergarten growth chart

While we were gone, C actually did 2 days of school. He watched some while we were traveling and then did others one afternoon. This coming week for school, the teacher is measuring each child. She did this once at the beginning of the year and now is comparing the 2 measurements. In August when we started school, C was a little over 3 feet and 7 inches tall. We measured him tonight and he is 3 feet 8 inches tall. He has grown a whole inch since August! I can tell he is growing--all his pants are becoming "high-waters" and his shoes aren't fitting anymore. We also measured K girl and she has grown about an inch too. I love that they are growing and growing well, but I can't keep them in clothes!