No More Preschool

I had to pull Carrie out of preschool this week. I hated it, but the traffic to get to the school has just become insane. Welcome to DC I guess... I just feel like it's not fair for my other three kids to spend 2+ hours three mornings a week driving to and from preschool. Before you think I'm totally crazy, let me point out that the school is all of about fifteen miles away. Lately though it is always something...road work, a wreck, rain causing unusual congestion. You have to put in two weeks notice, so she will get to finish the rest of December and go to the Christmas party and bowling field trip. I'm glad for that anyway. I'm sure I can handle a few more weeks of traffic for my baby girl. If she was my old child I would have no issues with her staying the whole year. It's hard with four though. Some days it feels like a constant struggle to balance everyone's needs. I'm still learning what I can and can't pull off.

So now I get to add another little one to my homeschool. Carrie was already joining us for a little work now and then, but with her being home full time I'd like to do more. She'll be five in January, and I know at this age Beth and Matt were really doing kindergarten level work. I don't see Carrie being ready for all that though. I'm thinking more along the lines of a "letter of the week" program and some extra crafts. Katy is 2 1/2 and she will probably be able to join in.

This is Carrie...she does tricks. :)

New Computer

This blog has given me so much trouble, but now that my husband has pieced together a new computer I am going to try again.

All is going well here in the Tyson household. We are finishing up our first semester of homeschooling and preparing for the holidays. Homeschooling is going okay. I have a  bad habit of canceling school when the weather is nice. Or when I can think of something better to do. And trust me....there is almost always something better to do here in DC. I am the queen of field trips. Perhaps I will be more on task after Christmas. Somehow I doubt it, but we'll see. The kids are both excellent readers, and I do math with them most days, so that's something. They also learned the Morse code and a little Latin this semester. And we spent countless hours out in nature as well as exploring our nation's capitol. Precious times.

We finally bought a new van, which is what has enabled me to take them here, there, and everywhere. It's nice, but that car payment is a killer. It makes me miss my old (long since paid off) van. Sometimes I feel like I should go back to work and help out, but I just feel so strongly that I am needed here at home right now. Back to clipping the coupons I guess! Being a stay at home mom is not always easy. I'm not one of those super crafty, make everything from scratch, and sell things on etsy type moms either. I'm happy with the kids are clean and safe, fed, the house is reasonably clean, and I got everyone to where they needed to go. And that seems like a very big task most days.

Katy is still quite the two year old tornado, but she is talking now, so that has been fun. Next on the horizon: potty training! She is showing zero interest, but one day soon she'll get there, right? I'm kind of excited that once she is trained that is IT. No more diapers unless I'm babysitting or working in the church nursery or something. I've had little ones in diapers for almost eight years straight...and a lot of those years had more than one in them. Santa Claus is bringing her a little tricycle this year, and I just can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Caroline is coming up on five! My insurance has yet to pick up her speech therapy, and I can't understand much of anything she says. Frustrating...for both of us I'm sure. The school system here is terrible, and it leaves me wondering if we should move so she can get services through the public schools next year. However, our insurance SHOULD pick up her private therapy, it's just being a pain. We've been working on this since she was two. First she was delayed, but not delayed enough, and now it's just a matter of red tape. I am on the case though! Other than that she is doing very well. We do have her in her on base preschool again this year, and she has made lots of friends and really enjoys it. She also takes dance lessons and is one cute little ballerina. When she's at home she enjoys digging holes in the yard. A new kid moved in across the street who also enjoys digging holes in the yard - a match made in heaven I tell you!

Matt Matt is 6 1/2 and is all boy. He's into cars, Nerf guns, and GI Joes. He is also the sweetest of my kids, and the first to help with his little sisters. He's just a lover. He's learning his times tables and doing second grade English, but he just wants to finish as quick as he can and head outside. He dislikes shoes and coats...and yes it is winter. This boy apparently has some redneck in him even though he was born way up in Connecticut.

My Beth girl is almost eight. Wow! She reads everything she can get her hands on and loves animals and art. I got her a pet bunny and mouse this year. Unfortunately after about six months with the mouse one of the little girls squeezed it too tight and it died. It was a pretty sad day here...she cried and cried, and so did I. I guess we will hold off on more tiny animals until everyone is over five. The bunny on the other hand is doing quite well. He's a bit of a jerk...I am not sure they are good pets at all. Beth loves him though, and so I have no doubt I am stuck with him for the next ten years! I got him fixed, so he doesn't bite us anymore, but he has eaten four holes in my carpet. Ugh. He hops in Beth's lap and lets her read to him, so she will defend him to the end I think.

Here are my little turkeys. Beth, Matt, and Carrie went to a USO party for children....the highlight of their year I think. And Katy is trying out my first attempt at cake pops - they were good!

I'm still alive!

I've just been super busy and have become a terrible blogger. Also my computer doesn't work right and I frequently lack the patience to deal with it.

This is our schedule this year:
Soccer - two nights a week for B and M. I'm coaching M's 5-6 year old team as well.
AWANAS - one night a week for B, M, and C.
Preschool -  three mornings a week for Miss C. It's also twenty minutes away.
Art Class - one morning a week for B and M. This is through co-op.
Homeschool PE - one afternoon a week for B, M, and C.
Swim Lessons - one morning a week for B and M.

Miss C is also starting speech therapy next week. I actually found another homeschool mom who does it out of her home, is covered by our insurance, and lives less than a mile away. How lucky is that? Carrie has a big vocabulary now, but I still have a hard time understanding her. Most strangers can't understand much of anything she says, and she's already 4 1/2. Her brother and sister of course can understand every word. In any case I'm hoping a little therapy will help clear things up.

On top of all those "extras" I still have the actual homeschooling, childcare, and housework to contend with. In short - life! I also have an awesome new minivan. Well - one year old, which is very very new for me. I still haven't figured out how everything in it works. There is a button for everything it seems. I do feel better having something reliable with all the driving I'm doing this year. I spent a lot of time sitting on the side of the road last year, and that is no fun in DC.

The homeschooling is still a work in progress. I decided I don't like the Oak Meadow, but we are still using bits and pieces of it. I ordered Rod & Staff English for Beth and Matt, and I do like that. Beth seems to enjoy it too, but not Matt. He's learning though, so we are keeping it up. I also ordered McRuffy Science - grade 2 for both kids - and we all enjoy that. Someone gave me Singapore Math for Beth, and neither of us really care for it. I think we'll pass that on to someone else. Right now I'm just using random workbooks for math, as well as teaching multiplication tables, money, telling time, and other random things I think of.

I've pretty much decided that this is my experiment year with both curriculum and schedules, and that we will do much better next year. Both kids were a year ahead in public school anyway, so I don't feel too bad that it's not going perfectly. They are both reading well anyway, and we take frequent and awesome field trips. In fact I just can't tear myself away from the field trips, and I'm sure that's why we have trouble getting other work done. I mean what would you rather do? Hike in a beautiful national park or do math worksheets? Yeah, I pick "fun" every time. I also still have Katy the toddler tornado to contend with, and she has been another challenge. A very very cute challenge, but hard to work around sometimes. Lately we've been doing our sit down work during her afternoon nap, and that has worked really well. Unless I get distracted by more field trips! Oh well, it will be cold soon anyway, and then we won't get out as much. This beautiful fall weather is just too hard to resist. Also we live in DC - there is a never ending list of options. Tomorrow we are touring The Pentagon. If all goes well, we'll tour the White House this winter. It is quite the process to get that one set up these days. Yesterday we hit up all the monuments and attended the Library of Congress's national book fair. Pretty awesome!

I will really try to get some pictures up later this week. I do take a ton!

Settling In

We are two weeks into our homeschool year, and are slowly working out all the kinks in our schedule. The biggest challenge so far has been keeping little Miss Katy happy and out of the big kids' work. She usually does pretty well, but it seems that she has decided school work takes away from her level of attention and steals her playmates, so she would like it to cease. Today the weather was pretty pleasant so I moved our school time out to the front yard. She loved it. I wish we could do school outside everyday. Maybe we can do a good chunk of it outside, at least until the weather turns cold. The only toddler related mishap we had today was that she ate ten (yes - ten!) sugar cubes I had set out for a science project. And then washed them down with some coffee. Oh Katy! Just what my toddler tornado needs. Also no one could find any orange crayons while they were drawing. I found Katy holding four of them plus one orange colored pencil. I guess that is her favorite color. Now I know! I managed to trade her the crayons for a new container of bubbles. All in all, things are going pretty well. In a few weeks, Carrie will start her part-time preschool program, and Matt and Beth will be begin their swim lessons, soccer practices, and co-op days. I'm glad we decided to start school early so we could used to that before adding in all our other activities. Despite the business (or maybe because of the business) autumn is always my favorite season. We have so many fun things to look forward to. Somehow even with the 95 degree weather, and ongoing pool trips, my mind is already headed for the season change.

Happy 222nd Birthday to the Coast Guard!

"Adaptability is a characteristic of the American fighting man that has enabled this country’s Armed Forces to emerge triumphant in every major war we have fought. Adaptability is synonymous with the operations of the United States Coast Guard." - Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN

Daily Events

I just want to jot these down so I won't forget them. These kids are changing so fast, and keep me laughing for sure.

Katy had a horrible experience this morning. Her Mommy tried to make her wear something that was NOT her Elmo t-shirt, even though she had been very clear on the fact that she wanted to wear Elmo again. Her ten minute tantrum totally paid off as I dug through the clean laundry baskets and produced the shirt in question. It's very hard to be two!

Matt has taught himself to read upside down so his little sisters can look at the pictures while he reads. I think that is pretty amazing for a six year old. The girls now greatly prefer him to Beth, who insists on reading the entire page (no matter how long) before turning it around for them to have a quick look. Matt and I also had a long talk about why his daddy has to work weekends and holidays. The military closes....well never. If it's not his daddy it is someone else...they have to take turns.

All Beth wants for Chirstmas (okay...Labor Day?) is her two front teeth! Yes, the second one came out last night. This is the fourth tooth she's lost. For the first three I placed a dollar coin under her pillow. She loves those golden coins. I only had three though, and we've been unable to find a bank that will exchange currency for us without us having an account. Our bank doesn't have a local branch. So, Big Matt and I talked about it, he said he would find something for her, and then I went to bed. I should have stayed up...that man can't remember anything. After ten years of marriage I should know that too, so I rushed into Beth's room this morning first thing, and sure enough her tooth was still there. The other three kids were already awake, so it's pure luck I made it in time. I'm not ready for the "tooth fairy" thig to fall apart on year one of the first kid! I slipped two chocolate coins under her pillow, and she seemed pleased with that. She said it was because the tooth fairy knew she had been reading "Silverlicious."

Little Miss Carrie remains my glass-half-empty kid. Her compaint for the day is that Beth and Matt are going to a party on base that is for kids five and up. I reminded her that she gets to do many special things that they don't as well, such as her parties at preschool. I said "You even had an Easter Egg hunt at school...no one else got to do that!" And she said "Well.....some kids found eggs than me." Whine, whine, whine. That kid has got middle child syndrome in the worst way. Even though we have four, Matt and Beth are very close in age and get to do all kinds of big kid stuff. And then Katy is very much the baby.  I signed her up for another year of preschool, even though it is going to a pain to get her over there. It's twenty minutes away, and I'm homeschooling the older kids, so they'll all have to ride along. It's only three mornings a week though, and I think it will be really good for her. She loved it last year, and I think she does need something special just for her. A place where she is not only the little sister all the time, but is just known as Carrie.

VBS

As summer slowly winds to a close, we have been blessed to enjoy a fantastic week of Vacation Bible School.  All four kids have been able to go with me this year, since I am working as a teacher. Beth is in the 7-9 group, Matt is in the 5-6 group, Carrie is in the 3-4 group, and little Katy is in the nursery that they have for workers. They do games and projects even in the nursery so she has really been able to be included. She's really enjoying herself too. She's been home with me her entire life, with very little time spent with babysitters or even extended family. Never the less, she only cries about 30 seconds and then goes on to enjoy the whole 2 1/2 hours. I'm working in Matt's room, so I get see a lot of him, and I'm also able to check in on the other girls as they come and go.

Our theme this year is Amazing Wonders Aviation. Since we do in fact live on an Air Force base, the chapel was able to arrange a tour of one of the hangars for the kids. We went today, and they loved it!