Hey, Remember Me?

I'm back! I hope at least. It seems I have been able to carve out a little free time in the afternoons lately and the old urge to blog has come back! I won't try to catch you up on the last nine months all at once, not that anything too exciting has happened, but the kids are growing and all. Can't seem to stop them! Here's a quick clip of Aubie learning to snap beans. He's 19 months now and is becoming quite the personality; actually quite the strong willed personality. He is reminding me of Alayna!

Preparation Week

We've now ended three weeks of unstructured, unscheduled, flying by the seat of our pants while ignoring all cirriculum with the exception of History (who can ignore History?), and while it's been a nice change of pace and perhaps a necessary bit of chaos mixed with boredom and bickering, the kids and I are about ready to dive back into life the way we're used to doing things. The official schedule is almost complete minus the fact that I left out time to actually eat breakfast this year and that won't work as no one in our family can fathom skipping a meal. Next to do are the chorepacks, setting up new notebooks, finish reorganizing the home education room, and probably 30 other things I forgot about but will have to tackle once the educating process has begun.

Alton is particularly excited about this year because I am switching him from Saxon Math to Teaching Textbooks. I love Saxon and had a hard time with the decision, but 9 months of frustration and we both knew things had to change. Teaching textbooks is mostly done on the computer and has less busy work. Those of you who have done Saxon know how overwhelming all the work can be even if you pare it down a little. I'll keep everyone else doing Saxon until they reach 5th grade then reevaluate.

I mentioned this last year, but want to post again for those that didn't see it. We us "Managers of Their Homes" for our scheduling format and chore packs. I honestly don't know how it would work with four if I had not come across this. www.titus2.com

Mineral Deficiency?

Aubin is now crawling everywhere. He's figured out how to open cabinet doors and sticks anything he can in his mouth. We've had a new issue with keeping all legos off the floor because every day for a week we were fishing them out of his mouth. I think the kids have finally learned because I take legos away if I find them not put away!

He also enjoys the sandbox, but we have a little problem with him stuffing his mouth with the sand. So, we've been sitting him in the grass while we do yard work...and people wonder why we got to the trouble to do our lawn organically.

Swimming Lessons for All

We discovered a little late in the summer that the kids could take swim lessons for next to nothing at a base close to our home. We just got in on the last two week session. The kids loved it and were able to all three have classes at the same time. It worked great because as the kids swam Aubin napped in his stroller each day. I don't think he even knew he went to the pool for two weeks.

Alayna anxious for her turn to swim.

Avery's lessons were only 25 minutes while the others were an hour. He had a little time to kill when his lesson was over each day.

Alton crossing the pool with his newly honed kicking skills.

Avery enjoying pool time.

Tea for Three

Alayna is the persistant sort; very, very persistant actually. It works for her too. She gets an idea in her head and then pursues it until her poor tired mommy gives out. Her latest plan: a tea party. You're probably thinking that sounds harmless enough and that she shouldn't have to ask twice, however there is much more that goes into an Alayna planned tea party than you might think. There are specific groceries to buy, special dishes to display the food finery, the perfect place, time, and activities to be worked out.

When I finally settled on a day that I thought I could fit it in, she went full throttle. At least I don't have to do the planning once I agree. She called the two girls she wanted to invite and told them to wear puffy dresses and bring their fans. She was going to tell them what color their dresses should be so that they would be coordinated, but I discouraged that idea.

Today was the day, and by 11am I was completely spent with the preparations in addition to other things that came up as I knew they would. While it left a tired mommy, it left a happier little girl with some fun memories. Here are some scenes. All Set.

Plenty of yummy things to eat!

Time to dance and spin!

Already 8 Months

Even big babies have uncontrollable urges to nap mid-play.

A Dietary Indiscretion Leads to an Unexpected Blogging Opportunity

...Probably my longest title yet. It stems from a mind that is exceeding the speed limit with no signs of stopping. To what do I owe this state of things? A chocolate, sugar something or other, hyper-caffienated, iced coffee, spontaneously purchased at a weak moment is keeping me wide awake. At this point, I am not expected to arrive in dreamland anytime soon. Why did I do it? It was truly an act of rebellion. I've been working really diligently on my nutrition intake over the last two weeks and something in me gave in to temptation. I am in a deep state of regret and paying dearly for my choice. I resent the look of what I now understand to be amusement on the coffee barista's face when I placed the order.

Perhaps there are other things contributing to my lack of sleep. I enjoyed/endured a whole day of home school conference (with Aubin in tow) and I am inspired of course, with a million ideas and thoughts, and cirriculums fighting for center stage in my brain. I am completely overwhelmed by the new ideas and books and activities to share with my kids. It's exciting, thrilling, and oh-so-exhausting.

This, combined with the alarming amount of caffiene that I apparently took in has lead to time for reading a book, time for devotions/prayer, solving a scheduling problem that has irked me for some time, and now blogging. I am almost nervous because I've just about completed my to-do list. Well, I guess that's never true, but of the things that do not make noise and wake others peacefully sleeping away in my home, I am running low. 2:30am hmm....guess it's time to study some more aromatherapy as I have been meaning to do for weeks.