Assumptions

A friend of mine on facebook is considering homeschooling. Someone told her she would be punishing her kids. She made a comment about that and got these responses:

If you think about it, they dont get to hang out w/ friends and have the social time most kids need and plus time away from home/parents which some kids "feed" off of.

depends on who you ask!! if I did it and was making the kids do it Colton would tell you it was punishment too. BUT all summer long's worth of "i'm bored" and " there's nothing to do" has made me feel better about school. Is schools in Bloomindale not an option or Alamo?

Sounds like parents who don't know anything about homeschooling or keeping their children engaged. Neither of those are homeschooling issues. They are parental issues. I hate to hear things like that simply because someone might actually believe it.

The one on the bottom probably shouldn't anyway. She needs a little practice in punctuation and grammar, lol.

A work in progress

Dragon War by Christopher

Dragons coming down fast
Getting ready to have a blast
Knights are getting ready to have a kill
Getting ready to check my shield.

A dragon sees me,
Tries to kill me.
I call for help,
No one hears me.

One knight sees me...


I'll update when he finishes :-D

Another lazy weekend

Our weekend is coming to a close. I can't say we did very much. That seems to be a trend with our weekends lately. We went to visit my mom yesterday. I helped her sort papers for her classes so she could enter grades. She is a teacher at an elementary school in Chicago. It really helps to remind me why homeschooling is so important when I see the papers her students write and hear about the kind of kids they are. The kids had fun, they love going to visit my mom. Apparently Chris' co-op is a family joke of some sort. They've convinced my grandmother that the kids should be in 'real' school. I hope it stops soon, I'd hate to stop visiting. I'm so glad my kids have learned to ignore those kinds of comments.

Aaron hasn't had any more food. It's funny, I was so excited and now it just seems like extra work. He doesn't want them anyway. I hope the avocados didn't scar him for life. He doesn't grab at foods with the gusto that he once did. I guess we can try again on Thursday. We'll be busy every day until then.

Chris is still excited about his co-op but not very happy about the homework that comes with it. He's been working on it all day since he put it off until the last minute. He asked yesterday why no one else has homework. No one else has a class. I'm not sure he was happy with my answer.

Our science books have been great to read so far. All the kids seem to enjoy them, which is saying a lot. Amanda and Frankie were so much fun to watch as they pushed the walls to see if their force could move it. Amanda says the wall's force can move her but she'd need a lot of help to get them to move. We're hoping to do a project on friction this week. I was short a few things we need so I'll have to get out to the store.

Totally unimpressed

I assure you, it was even more amusing in person.

What is this?!?

Whose idea was this?

If I hold my mouth open, it'll fall out, right?

Smells so good!

Bad picture but this is the soap shelf. I got up this morning to pry the two logs on the bottom out of my molds. Now I have to put them back together. I have quite a bit. This is my share and sell soap. We also have a HUGE basket of soap for the house. Those are the ones I made when I was learning how and before I had molds to keep the shape consistent. The thickness isn't perfectly even :( I need a soap cutter. I may have to have one made after all.

Aaron and Nicky's check up day

Today Aaron went for his 6 months check up and Nicky went for his 30 month check up. They are both doing wonderfully, which I knew, but I really love their pediatrician and I like to hear her say that, lol. Aaron is a big 20 pounds 13 ounces. Nick's weight was 30.8 pounds. I found out today that their doctor is pregnant. She has the cutest little belly. She's due in 2 months and is still so small. I just saw her a couple months ago and had no idea. Since she's going on maternity leave we don't have to go back until Aaron is a year. She says he looks wonderful and since we don't vax there are no worries of missing anything.

After we left the doctor we went to go visit Mrs. Scott. She used to be our next door neighbor. Christopher was best friends with her grandson when they were about 5. They still love each other. They gave each other a big hug and were inseparable for the whole 8 hours we spent over there. It was so nice to chat with her. She had her knee replaced in July and I had been worried. Just a month ago she couldn't bath herself and she's already walking without a cane! She's having a speedy recovery. She just isn't willing to sit down and rest. She needs to take care of her grand babies and keep her house clean, lol.

The kids were sound asleep the whole way home. Nicky got carried into the house and was so worn out from the day that he didn't even wake up. I took a bath and checked on the soap I made this morning. I've been so frustrated with that lately. My soaps have been sticking to the bottom of the molds. When that happens I have to dismantle the whole thing to remove the soap and keep it in tact. I may buy some new molds soon. I would love some silicone ones that require no lining and don't stick. I just hope they work well with hot process soaps.

I noticed on the way home that the days are getting shorter. The days are already feeling a little colder as well. I don't want summer to end. I always dread the cold weather and the cabin fever it brings with it. Summer just began! I remember wearing a coat in June. This isn't fair. We should get at least 4 months of nice days. I wish Mother Nature would get her act together.

Tomorrow is Aaron's 6 month day! My baby is growing up too fast :( He gets his first meal for breakfast in the morning. I bought him some avocado yesterday and am so excited to see what he thinks of it. I bet he will find that eating is overrated and not worth the effort, lol. Nicky was not impressed with his first few bites of food. I must admit that Aaron is a lot more determined to get his hands on some food than Nick was so maybe he will surprise me.

I'll finish here.

Various pictures from today.





I find putting pictures on this site very annoying so I cut the last entry short. It's easier to just finish on another post.

We are on a science kick. Last week we watched a documentary on the coral reef. We learned all sorts of fun stuff and talked about how we could stop the reefs from disappearing and about all the things we need that will be gone once the reefs are. We learned more on animals and plants that rely on each other to live. Chris has been very interested in this and has been looking for examples of it since learning about the relationship that sloths have with algae. We learned about a species of fish that helps crab. The crab builds a cave to protect the fish and the fish watches out for the crab since it's eye sight isn't all that great. Frankie and I read 'Manfish' a month or so ago and she was reminded of Jacque Cousteau and his efforts in ocean conservation. Today at the library, as I mentioned before, we got lots of science books. I really like the 'Let's Read It and Find Out' science books so I got a ton of them. I hope these keep us busy for a while. I can't wait to read them! Zach got a dinosaur book that is so huge he should stay busy for quite a while. I really feel like we're getting a good start this 'school year'. It's not like we really have a set year but this is the back to school season.

Speaking of the library, I have my first complaint. I have two actually. I seem to have really annoyed the librarian this morning. I asked her if she could point me to the 'Let's Read It and Find Out' books and she asked what topic I was in search of. I told her I didn't care. She looked at me as if I were insane and told me that it doesn't work like that. I must have a topic or author. I asked her if she wouldn't mind looking the books up to find out who the author is and I got a big, long, drawn out sigh. She finds out and there are apparently many authors. She looked at me, smugly at this point, and told me I MUST have a topic. I told her to forget it and asked her to point me in the direction of the science section. She told me, "No! That is three whole aisles, what is the topic?" She was obviously not the sharpest crayon in the box. I told her I still didn't have a topic, just like I didn't have one the first 3 times she asked. She began to rub her temples as if I were giving her a headache so I told her I wanted something on plants. Again, she looked a pit annoyed because I didn't have a sincere topic and said she'd just click one and show it to me. I was happy to be done with her. Was it really THAT hard? Oddly enough, the topic she chose wasn't even the one I asked for. She could have picked 3 or 4 titles and showed them to me if she'd really wanted to be helpful. I think people like her need not be employed in the children's section. I know who to avoid now. There is an older man there who is great! I'll try to schedule my trips around his hours.

Complaint two! I called the library to ask if I could hold a meeting there. I was told I could. Once I got there I asked to speak with the woman in charge. She came out and completely blew off my introduction by rolling her eyes and waving her hand at me. It wasn't long or drawn out. All I said was, "Hi my name is Pauline and I called you yesterday." She went on to tell me that the library does not allow children's groups to meet. Not even when your group meets at a time when no one ever books a room. What sense does that make?

Nature hiking

We had a really great day today. While we're still sad to have missed homeschool group we had a lot of fun. We started our day at the library. We got lots of science books. We also got tree, wild flower and bird field guides. We made a nature 'kit' with some sketch paper, crayons, pencils, paper bags and the field guides and set off to Red Oaks. Once there we found a few really cool wild flowers. Chris and Amanda took turns identifying them. Here are a few of them. Keep in mind I've never identified anything before, lol. If you see an error, please let me know :-)



Asiatic Dayflower

Blue Phlox

Goldenrod. I can't tell which kind, there are so many!

Small Wood Sunflower

We took a nice long hike and identified some trees(okay maybe just one, which was a black walnut tree, and took pictures). We found as many leaves as we could. We spent time in the discovery room where we read books, made leaf prints, drew spiders and butterflies and checked out the bugs and pollen. We found all the items in our scavenger hunt from the hints I made. We didn't see any birds but we sure did hear a lot! It was a fun trip.

Now it's time to make dinner.

Bonus blog!

Because I rock! I am having a really good day. I was able to look past my tardiness to the co-op which is big for me. I usually harp on it all day. We got home, I took care of some past due business, called the library to find out about their meeting rooms, talked to the people at 4H, made dinner AND dessert on time. I finished a book I'd been reading. I had a nice time talking to new moms and an old friend. I wrote 2 blog entries and my house is clean. It doesn't get better than this. I plan to nap after dinner, get up, put the kids to bed, make soap and hang out with my husband. It's amazing what getting things accomplished does for me. I might even be up to the hour long car ride to Joilet for homeschool group tomorrow.

Chris's first day of co-op and other things

Chris had a really nice week! Since it's a one day a week thing, his week is done. I love it. I haven't been around such school-y people in a while. Most were more go with the flow type people but they were all closer to structure than I'm used to. One was very structured but did so because her daughter was used to school and seemed to want her mom to mimic school at home. I don't know if I could do that, lol. We ended up being a half an hour late. I am the queen of getting lost. I got lost literally 2 blocks from my destination, that is talent. Not only did I get lost but I ended up two cities away from where I should have been. I need a GPS like last year. Chris has homework, how weird, though it's not the torture that is school homework. He has a week to finish it so he doesn't have to sit in a desk for 6 hours then come home and sit at a table for another hour or two. I think this will be good for him. He likes it, I like it and he's getting older and has new interests. Aaron was the perfect baby. He smiles right on cue and always manages to get ohhhs and awes. We were there for 5 hours and the only fussing he did was when I had him in the sun too long. I was chatting outside for about an hour and he'd just had enough of the heat.

I am thinking of starting a 4H club. I have always wanted the kids in one but I would rather them be in a homeschool club. Not because I have something against public school kids but because I don't like to be out late and I really don't like activities on the weekend. Plus, meeting places are so hard to find during evening and weekend hours. I need at least 2 more kids over age 8 before we can start. You need 5 to start a club. I will have to do some reading as 4H seems to be much more inclusive, as far as projects and topics, than I thought. It's not all live stock and plants after all!

I have thought up a fun way to teach letter blends to the girls and am excited to start it! I think they will like it and it will keep them interested. They are terrible learners when you sit them down and teach them. They learn so much better though movement, art and song.

Now, maybe a trip to the library. I have no ink and stuff to print. I also need some new books for the kids.

The zoo and my weekend

On Friday we spent the day at the zoo with Dawn and her two boys, Nathaniel and Peyton. We had a great time! The kids got to play and I got to have mom talk, which is always a plus for me. We got to see the dinosaur exhibit at Brookfield zoo and it was great! I always knew how big dinosaurs were but I didn't really KNOW. Man, they are big! Seeing the t-rex really helped me understand just how worthless those little arms were and how scary that thing must have been. Nicky was not impressed with those big, loud creatures. He doesn't like loud noises. He kept his head securely buried in Mack's back the whole time. He was actually really good at the zoo until the end. By then he'd missed his nap time and was starting to act just a little naughty. It really was a good day. After that we stopped at my mom's and had pizza for dinner.

Yesterday was a total waste of a day. Today was pretty wasteful too. I sat on my behind playing on facebook and watching Caillou on netflix with Zach and Nicky. How's that for an exciting weekend. I promised myself I'd get the addresses of friends I've promised soap to, didn't happen. I had two 4 pound batches of soap planned, didn't happen. Chris starts his classes tomorrow and I still haven't gotten his supplies. I'm mom of the year today. I guess down time is good. I've been really stressing lately. I've been spending my days tense and upset and even though I didn't do anything these last 2 days I can say I'm a lot more relaxed, calm and happy. Maybe I accomplished something after all :-)

Now on the next week! I have so much to do and I'm so excited. Really, this week isn't much different than any other week but I'm really looking forward to it. Aaron has his 6 month check up and Nicky had his 2.5 year check up. I can't wait to see how big my little chunky Aaron is. He also get to eat this week. He's been staring my food down for weeks so I hope he's not too disappointed. I can't believe this baby is 6 months old. It doesn't see like it's been that long. This year is flying by.

I better run. I'm in the mood for a nature hunt tomorrow and I think we'll have a scavenger hunt while we're at it.

No more crowds

Hurray for the return of the school year. All summer the parks, museums and zoos are crowded with children. I really hate crowds so the start of the school year is always welcome. We had a nice day at MRU today, as usual. The kids did a really fun craft and the parents decided on what the plans for the upcoming fall season. We have many classes and groups in the works and I'm very excited about it. Nicky got to switch riding toys with Nathaniel at group. Nicky loves this little tricycle. Once the trade off is over I may have to buy him one.

Have I mentioned how awesome Aaron is lately? He is! he is the happiest child ever. He is such a joy. He's sitting up, smiling and going backwards with the look of much confusion, lol. One day he's figure out that forward thing. He starts solids in a week! I'm so excited. I should be over this after 1000 kids but nope. I'm just as excited about Aaron as i was with Chris. This baby thing never gets old.

Nicky is...a trying toddler, lol. He has no gray area. I'm either laughing so hard I could cry or feeling like i just want to cry in general. I'll be glad when this time is over. I bet he'll be a great kid. he has such a winning personality.

And me! I have a soap room! This means I have indeed gone so crazy over this soap thing that I've devoted a full room to it. I've also learned to make body butter so that'll be in there too if I ever buy jars to put it in. One step at a time.

Chris is always asking to do academic classes. I always think he should do something sporty. I give up. He'll be taking learning vine classes this fall. He's taking grammar, history and writing. It's only a day a week on Monday. I hope he likes it as much as he thinks he will.

Tomorrow is La Leche League meeting. I can't wait to go since it's been a while. I'm not even sure why I'm so excited, maybe the idea of getting out of the house with 5 less kids than I normally leave with, lol. After that WILL. We're having a pot luck lunch tomorrow, fun!

BIrthdays and summer

Since my last post my oldest daughter turned 9! She had a great day. I took her to a 'mom and me' dinner and then Mack took them all to the movies. We had a celebration for her, as well as Frankie, at my mom's house on Sunday. We've had such a fun summer and it seems as if it is just starting! I can't help but feel sad for the public school children near me. They are going back next week and the week after and the warm weather has really just set in. I'm just starting and they are all done. We've really been enjoying our time with our group until an incident that happened yesterday with my daughter and a little boy at our group. It really makes me feel sad that the racial issues that should be long dead are still going on. The little boy is 8, I can't help but wonder where he learned the horrible things he said yesterday.

On to a subject that always makes me feel great, my little Aaron. He's getting so big! He's doing so much already. He started sitting up just before he turned 5 month and has 3 more weeks before he can start solids. He seems to be very excited about food but I suspect it has more to do with shiny spoons and colorful plates than actually eating anything. My family, or some of them, seem to think he NEEDS to be eating My baby is 5 months old and not old enough just yet. Even if he thinks he should eat, I know it is best for his health if he doesn't. Three weeks won't hurt him and I know he isn't starving, he really couldn't get much fatter, lol.

The next two weeks will be spent finishing our passport since the program is nearly over and we haven't visited many places yet. I must admit, I prefer to go when public school is in session. Things are much less crowded. The reading program is also nearly over and only Chris has gotten all of his paws. The rest are on the last level and need a few more.

That is all for now.