May 12

I've moved. Please visit me at my new place! trees all dance

May 11

May 9

before...

I found this little gem at the re-store last week and even though it was a little more than I wanted to pay ($8. I know), I brought it home anyway with intentions to repaint it. And I did.

after

May 8

Mom with me and little bro.

May 5

A few days ago, I told L that maybe we should send the kids back to public school. He knows me well enough to know that when I say this, what I really mean is that something isn't working for me. It's really helpful for me to talk to him about school as it helps me to gain some perspective and get new ideas. One thing we talked about was the lack of spontaneity in our days. I protested, saying something like, "Easy for you to say, you don't have to help five people get ready every time you leave the house!". He was right though. We finished our work quite early yesterday and I fiddled around on facebook and twitter for a while. I noticed that Darcel was taking her kiddos to the museum and I felt a little jealous. Then I realized there was nothing stopping me from going to the museum except the perceived difficulty in getting everyone out the door. So, I womaned up and asked the kids where they wanted to go. We decided to try something new and that's how we ended up at our local Homeschool Skate Day. The kids had never rollerskated before and they had such a fun time. Wren even ran into one of her friends from co-op! Sadly, this was the last session until fall, but we are planning to go back very soon with L. Is there something you could stand to add to your daily life and/or homeschool?

Playing Red Light, Green Light

May 3

I had a guest post up at The Mahogany Way yesterday...

May 2

We are so busy during the week that I like to spend my weekends doing almost nothing. That's not entirely accurate as there are generally one or two activities that we have to do, but you get the idea. Saturday morning was somewhat hectic. Even though I got up hours before we had to leave, I still found myself on the verge of being late. When we arrived, quite a few streets were blocked off. I realized that there was an event going on and I wouldn't be able to park in my normal place. I am not very familiar with the nabe I was in, so now I was late and lost. After getting yelled at by a cop for almost going the wrong way down a one way street, I was on the verge of a mini meltdown. Eventually I figured it out and got everyone where they needed to be. While waiting for the kiddos to finish class, I heard music and stepped outside to see a parade going on. What a pleasant surprise. Watching the bands and floats go by felt like a reward after the experience I'd had not long before.

7 Cities Crafters window for Art Everywhere

April 25

Right now I am...

• craving a red velvet cupcake like the one I had for my birthday on Tuesday.
• remembering how it felt to sit on the beach when the weather was perfect.
• planning a trip to Trader Joe's for more flowers.
• hoping rain is in the forecast so I can wear my new boots.

We had a great break.

April 14

Each of the kiddos is at a different stage of illness and so Spring Break has started earlier than originally planned.

April 10

Yesterday at Chippokes State Park

April 4

Though the calendar says that Spring started a few weeks ago, it didn't really feel like it until this past weekend. My doorbell rang bright and early with friends wanting the kids to come out and play. They didn't return till almost bedtime. They didn't let the rain deter them at all instead donning appropriate gear and heading out. Wren brought this little cup of basil seeds home a few weeks ago from co-op and I couldn't believe it when with a little water and sunshine, they started to grow. I know, right? Rocket Science. I also started some tomatoes from seed and now have 35 (I counted this morning) seedlings growing in my windowsill. I wanted to have a small container garden but looks like my plans have changed. Insert appropriate homeschooling metaphor here...or not.

March 31

Ready for Crazy Hat Day at co-op

 

There are only a few weeks left in our current semester at co-op. It's been a great year so far and I'm way more involved than I ever planned to be. I assist in one class, am a hall monitor and I've even subbed a couple of times. I really like it especially since the group is so diverse. I'm slowly getting to learn about the other moms and that's cool too. The kids love it and I'm really please we decided to join after all. Though the days can feel long, it's really nice to get out of the house and "work" once a week. We come home tired, but good tired.

March 25

We recently took a weekend trip to Washington, D.C. with my mom. It was the kids' first visit and I hadn't been in 15 years. We decided to visit the National Museum of Natural History because it looks liked the museum that we would all enjoy most. Now, I'm kind of a nerd about natural history museums having had a membership to the AMNH as a teenager. The kids and I agree that NMNH may have been even cooler.  We explored for hours only leaving before closing time because I had evening plans.

My proudest moment occurred in the Hall of Human Origins. Back when we first started to homeschool, I let the kids lead the way with science. I would ask if they had any science related questions they would like answered and make a list. I answered each person's question on a different day. That entailed doing research online, and finding books and videos about whatever the topic at hand was. I can't say I was surprised when Wren and Finch asked about the history of humans. It's something they've always found amazing. (Who doesn't?) All three kiddos became fascinated by Lucy's story and ended up spending a few days learning more about her. You can only imagine how delighted we were when we found an exhibit about Lucy tucked into a corner of the hall. I think my mom was a little shocked (but not much) and pleased when they started spouting off facts and generally gushing right there in the museum. And I had that feeling again. The "I made the right decision and this is totally awesome!" one.

March 17

I recently tweeted that I'm pretty sure Robin is learning more from his R/C car hobby than from anything that requires sitting down at a table with curriculum. He reads, he fiddles, he hypothesizes and makes phone calls. He goes online and does price comparisons. He borrows my sewing kit tools and asks for help with parts. We take trips to the hobby store where he speaks a language that only he and fellow enthusiasts can understand. He is thinking of joining a local hobbyist club. His passion for learning about this subject is astounding. He has managed to create his own unit study. ;-)

January 31

January has been an eventful month. Things started off slowly and ended up with us on the go nearly every day. We finally made it to New York and had a blast as we always do. It was the first trip that the bigger kids were old enough to actually be out and about in the snow. We even got to walk in fresh fallen snow at the BBG. They were over it after a couple of days, lol. This trip, we did things that I enjoyed doing as a child in NYC. We went to the Sony Wonder Lab which I believe was the AT&T Lab when I was a kid. We also went to FAO Schwarz and waved to Eloise at the Plaza across the street. The kids participated in a community art project for Arty Facts at the Brooklyn Museum. I did Arty Facts as a kid and spent lots and lots of time at the museum so it was nice to be able to talk to them about that. Of course, they always find it hard to believe that such fun things existed back in the Dark Ages when I was a kid, heh.



Once we were back home, I felt the need to join a co-op after all. I saw my HS mentor/friend while in NYC and she unwittingly influenced me to do it. Plus, I kept seeing all these postings to local groups and finally just said, what the hell, why not? So, we are members of a small co-op now. I assist in one of the Kindergarten classes which means I get to cut, glue, and listen to little people while sitting in a tiny chair. No, it's fun. It is! The kiddos all enjoy their classes and I like that it provides a break from our normal routine. And we get to see Darcel and crew every week now! We had a really fun field trip last week to the Virginia Living Museum's Homeschool Day and I'm already looking forward to the next such local event. On the horizon for February are a couple of day trips and some changes/additions to our curriculum. If I've learned anything about homeschooling, it's that I will continue to tweak things to meet the needs of our kiddos as time goes by. L and I discussed what we will do for school next fall and we've decided to keep them at home. I'm still anxious about testing, but it's probably like everything else in that once I'm over the hump, I'll wonder what the big deal was.

January 20

What I don't miss:

• the morning rush
• wondering exactly what it is they do all day
• fundraisers
• turning into a shrew because of homework
• guilt inducing class parties and activities
• bullying
• my son hiding work he didn't want me to see

January 6

So we're back to school and things are going a lot better than I thought they would! I just knew our week would be horrible, everyone would be grumpy and that I would be questioning why I decided to do this in the first place. Turns out I was just projecting my own "back to public school after holiday break" issues on my kids who have no such hangups. We had to postpone our planned trip due to the snowstorm that hit the East Coast. Looking back, I think two weeks was too long to go without doing any kind of school. We had a major case of cabin fever due to the snow, so I'm sure that didn't help any.

I know that January for homeschoolers tends to be a time of renewal with people either starting a completely new school year or changing curriculum. And so it is for us. Finch is now working from (and loving) Math Made Easy. He finds math in general to be interesting and the shiny gold stars at the front of the book have only helped that, lol. The gentle pace is perfect for Kindergarten. I've added Daily Language Review for both Robin and Wren but Wren's book isn't here yet. I have to admit, DLR wasn't even on my radar until a friend linked me to something else by Evan-Moor during a chat. I'm glad to have found it as Robin quite enjoys it and it takes less than five minutes a day. We're also trying to restart daily read-alouds as they fell by the wayside some time ago.

And we did not join a co-op after all. Yes, I flip flop about these kinds of things. I just couldn't shake the feeling that we need to get our daily rhythm under control before adding anything else in. Honestly, I love our days...for the most part. Usually, I get up at least an hour before everyone else (which I've always done) for some quiet time. Then the kids rise, eat, dress and get to work. We do our subjects in a certain order and when I asked Robin what, if anything he liked about homeschooling, he brought up that order. He likes that we tackle the (ahem) harder or more boring subjects in the morning and then do fun stuff in the afternoon. I like that too. As awesome as some of the co-op offerings were, there's nothing more awesome than watching my kids learn and grow right here at home. 

January 5

This year, I've made some resolutions I can actually keep. I'm no longer a vegetarian. I'm now a bacontarian. I didn't even know there was a really a definition for what I was until I just googled it! Heh. I quit Weight Watchers. It was going quite well, but I don't have the time at present to count calories consistently. And I'm going to start drinking a glass of wine every once in a while. I've also pledged to speak before I think this year. So, basically, I'm going to become a fat(ter) loud mouthed drunk person. Super!