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!

School Room

We are homeschooling our children this year, and decided that it would work best to dedicate one room for all our materials. We turned our smallest bedroom into the school area, and now have two kids in each of the other bedrooms. A few weeks in, and I am so glad I made the decision I did. Too much clutter just makes me crazy, but with four kids and a fairly small house it is a constant battle. I love having a space where we can put everything, and a door I can just close to leave the mess of unfinished work and projects behind us. Now the kids do branch out and do their reading and other independent work wherever they want. The school room is just where we do all of our group activities and where I work with the kids one on one. It's most important function is truly storage. I just love having all the space and everything in one place. We started off schooling this month and have just been taking it slow. This week for example is VBS at our church so that is where we are spending most of our time and energy. Next week should be another school week, and then I hope to fit in at least one more family trip this summer. The homeschool part of our day only takes about two hours, so that still leaves tons of time for swimming pool trips and all kinds of other summer fun.

Miss Beth...I love this kid :) She's a second grader this year


All three of my little students. The toddler tornado wanders in and out as well. Big guy Matthew will be in first grade this year. He is reading on his own and is a math superstar. Little Carrie is 4 1/2 and in pre-k. We decided to send her back to the preschool she went to last year, so she will be there three mornings a week, as well as doing fun homeschool things with us.


Our planets. The picture doesn't do them justice. They glow and are so cool! I think they are my favorite thing so far. I am enjoying this as much as the kids.

Lazy Summer Days

What a great spot for popsicles and a good book. I love the little flower bed Beth made for her favorite stuffed kitty Socks. I'll be so sad when she is too old to tote Socks around everywhere.