New blogger-Alayna

Alayna my 10 year old daughter  has decided to take over my blog because I don't have to much time for it. She will do a good job of keeping everyone apprised of all our goings on.

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.