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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Birthday Month

It's a big month around here. 

Thomas is 355 days older than Sarah Grace.  If it's too late (or too early) or if your math skills are just a bit rusty, that's not quite a year apart in age.  Neither of them have any idea what it's like to function without the other. 

What that means in day-to-day terms is that there is constant struggle for one-up-manship between them.  They squabble loudly and shout "That's not fair" to one another and occasionally to Joshua or me.  Their interests are mostly very different, but where those interests overlap, there is brutal competition.  Things can get very intense.

Gritty and grainy, but priceless.  

But in between the arguing and sleeping?  They play hard.  They giggle and are silly.  They plan and plot.  They are sincere and loving.  The are fierce and protective. 

My heart squeezes watching the super special bond these two have.  And those sweet little ten days each year when they're both the 'same age'?  It causes my Mama's heart no end of reflection on the events the past years have paraded through my life. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Second Day of Kindergarten/First/Fourth Grade!

Yesterday was our first full blown day of school.  Well, except our history curriculum because I conveniently neglected to look at the book at all until two weeks ago and I suddenly realized we had NONE of the supplemental books.

I like to fly by the seat of my pants, but I might have just pushed it a wee-tad too far this time...

Ahem.  Let's start again, shall we?

Yesterday was our first full blown day of school.  The kids bounced on their little toes, anxious to get their hands on all the pretty new books that have been stacked and waiting for the beginning of the school year since March.


See, I started to plan ahead....

They piled into the school room and I directed them to their seats and started handing out new school supplies.  They ooohed and aaahed in a way that would make you think they didn't pick out their own notebooks and what not (they did, by the way).  Everyone eagerly sharpened their new pencils that are emblazoned with sparkly words declaring what grade the owner is in.  Then they tucked in and we got to work.

This is the part where I'm thankful that Daniel has seen his way to be sweetly having a growth spurt right now and needs two naps a day in order to be even remotely agreeable to be around.  It makes the what-to-do-with-the-baby question SO much easier to contend with!  Obviously, this picture was taken just before he went down. 


As they settled in around the table, Thomas couldn't help himself...he burst into song.  The kid aspires to be a Newsie when he grows up.

We were really groovin' to the new schedule and wrapped up pretty much on time.  The afternoon school session with just the top three went really well.  All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better start to the school year.

Today, I woke up with an upset stomach and a killer headache.  I readily agreed when Joshua brought Daniel to me after his breakfast and said maybe Daniel needed a bit more rest.  I reached for Daniel and the two of us slept/rested for two more hours! The older four were allowed to watch T.V. until Mommy made an appearance.

Only the second day of school, and I blew our routine to bits.  Not only was our morning shot, but our afternoon was promised out in various different ways.  Which is why we started school at 5 this afternoon.  I abbreviated what we'd be doing only to have the kids BEG to do ALL of their school work.

Um, y'all, it's looking like a pretty good year! How long you think they'll keep this up??

And you, are you off and running with your school year yet?  How's it going??

Saturday, August 03, 2013

If It Helps, I Recycle

It's that time of year again!  It's tax free weekend here in Alabama, which means we stay at home and cower while the masses do their thing.  Perk #4926 of homeschooling is I don't have to show up to school on the first day with 17 grocery bags of school supplies in tow.  And my kid.

I don't know how you mamas do it, I tell you.  It's all I can do to get my brood up and dressed and fed by 8, never mind in a classroom and actually presentable with their homework from the night before.  And Lord, peace to all y'all who have 'em on a school bus before 7:30AM.  Just peace.  Loads of peace.

At the end of each school year, I tell myself, "Next year, I'm gonna be all organized and have the first semester totally laid out."  Tweakable, but laid out.

And then I finally get all the swimsuits and towels clean and dry at the same time and it's two days before the day I have scheduled to start school and the new curriculum is still stacked in pretty piles with the cellophane still wrapped around the teacher texts and we don't have any pencils with erasers anywhere but it's okay because we've forgotten how to actually write our letters over the summer and I haven't lifted a finger to plan out the way our days will look with four children doing school this year and a toddler who likes to run amuck with Sharpies or planned out even a day's worth of work and now there's no food in the pantry so it'll probably be okay that I haven't lesson planned because we're all gonna starve to death anyway.

About the time I get all worked up and the panic starts to really settle into my bones, my sweet Joshua says, hey, don't worry.  I've got the kids.  You take the entire day to just do what you need to.  And if you need another one, just let me know.




Yeah, my Joshua is better than this guy.  All.  Day.  Long.

So while my guy whisks all our sweeties away for a day (or two), I'll be tackling the school room and killing trees.  Here's my predicament:  I like to be streamlined and organized and I love my computer.  However, as I've confessed before, I'm a tree killer.  It'll take no less than two calendars, 1 full size spiral, more copy paper than I care to mention, and an extra notebook that I just keep to jot ideas down in.

Also, I need a new August to August calendar.  These are my faves!


I console myself with the fact that I thoroughly utilize our recycling options.

I'll sit down with all my books and start plotting out what subjects we need to tackle on what days with what kids.  I'll make charts and post them and print off weekly (or maybe daily, I'm still deciding...) assignment sheets for my kids who do much of their work independently.  I'll mesh our chores with our school with our outings with room for me to run and hide with a bag of Dove chocolates.

And at some point I'll get out to a store to get pencils with erasers.  So my kids can rip them off and throw them at one another or chew on them or whatever it is they do that makes them disappear so fast...

How do you lesson plan??  I'd love to have some fabulous new tricks to try!!!