Tagged

I just saw that Bev tagged me on January 17. I'll try to come up with something...even though I DON"T think I'm weird ; ).
I was tagged by BevG.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 7 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 7 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 7 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I eat Ketchup in homemade tacos. Actually I prefer to have just a plain fried corn tortilla shell w/ ketchup-YUMMO!

2. For fun, we put on fake tatoos as a family...and I LIKE it!

3. I'm excited that Growing Pains is playing on tv again ~I cried during one episode recently.

4. I change my socks 4 times a day.

5. Yahtzee is my favorite game.

6. I can play the game boy for hours!!! I mean HOURS and not get bored-I play it more than my kids.

7. I enjoyed childbirth. Of course I've never had any complications so it's easy for me to say that.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

We started getting the Sunday paper because I started playing the grocery game (still in trial phase will post on that when/if I decide to join). I've always wanted the kids to read and discuss articles from the local paper. Today I gave them their first assignment. I'm surprised but they actually enjoyed it. I just typed up about 7 questions for them to answer from an article that we all read. Why haven't I been doing this from the beginning? It was super fast and easy. We will probably be doing this every week now. I did think about subscribing to the daily paper but then that would just become another chore and I have enough to do as it is.

We are going to a friends house for lunch today. Sometimes it is so nice to just put school aside and go hang out with someone. I'm looking forward to the "girl time".

Ahhhhhh...I can not believe how much more at peace I feel. I'm still amazed at how clearing out a little junk can really clear up brain fog. I literally couldn't concentrate and was easily irritated. I felt like there was no room to work in; like everything was falling in around my head.

Well, after our visit with friends we will come home and get our math done. Then I will work on my scrapbook. It's been a long time since I've made room in my day for a hobby.

Link to the grocery game for anyone who is interested: www.grocerygame.com

Ahhh...Peace and Quiet

We've had a rough day. I had a ton of work piled up (papers to grade, bills, record keeping, etc) and the kids were restless. I really should have just let them outside to play. I was determined to get our school work done today. Oh well, next time they go OUTSIDE!!!! BEFORE they drive me crazy.

Later in the afternoon I had to carpool and then take my kids to Awanas. I am really enjoying the evenings to myself! The house has been quiet and I've gotten so much done. I rearranged some closets and cleaned up my paperwork. I still have quite a bit left but I've made such good progress.

I really need the new start on organization. I was living in chaos before my brother in law passed away. That week really threw us for a loop and before I knew it EVERYTHING was in complete and utter chaos. It has been terrible. I can't focus and don't know one end of the house from the other.

Now, I have all my homeschool stuff organized in bankers boxes (the big white cardboard ones with lids) and on the shelf in the laundry room. I tossed so much junk out. I also threw a bunch of stuff in the sunroom for a possible yard sale this spring. This freed up the entryway closet for my scrapbook stuff. Which then freed up the space in my living room where it was being stored. So as a result my livingroom is less cluttered. HA! It feels so much better around her already.

Anyway, I've been busy and am amazed at how much I can get done while the kids are gone for 2 hours! I was in a much better mood for them when they came home!

Calm Day

We stayed up really late last night playing games together. I think the kids went to bed at 12:30 and dh and I went to bed at around 2am. So, we all slept in late this morning. I woke up at 9 and didn't wake the kids till 10:15. I figured they needed the extra sleep and I got to get in a workout child-free this morning. It was nice.

I don't think we actually started school 'till after noon. We have been having a nice day though, in spite of the late start. We had our Bible study and I've been making time for them to study their verses and pledges for Awanas.

Speaking of Awanas...I did the program as a kid. I had alot of fun and all. However, as an adult I've become less and less thrilled with "child evangelism". Especially when they are targeted in the lower class communities. I believe it's the fathers who need to be equipped and saved so they can then lead their family into salvation. "For if I am saved my household is saved". I have always seen Awanas as such a program. Anyway...stepping off my soap box...I recently let the kids join a club. They are having so much fun!!! It really requires me to work with the younger guys and the older kids can work independently. I do help them with their drill but otherwise they are studying on their own.

While I still haven't completely changed my mind about child evangelism, I am seeing Awanas as a tool.

In Mourning

My brother-in-law died in a fire on January 5, 2007. It was a tragic loss for our family. We buried him on Saturday. This week we will be picking up the pieces of our lives and moving on. We will need to catch up on all the school we missed. Although, the kids did stay with another homeschool family while dh and I were away this past week. My friend included them in her school day with her own children. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful friend. Still, we are behind on our own lessons.

Anyway, I may or may not be able to blog. It depends on how busy we get : ).

Looking Forward to Next Week

Yesterday went okay. We finished some school work at least. I don't know what it is. I can have the best of intentions and have everything planned. When dh is home we don't get anything done. At least never near what I plan to do and probably just enough to count it as a school day. We have fun though so who can really complain?

I'm going to give the kids their Latin quiz this evening. We get to start next week off on schedule. That is such a good feeling. "On schedule"...sounds like music to my ears.

I'm also looking forward to doing more Bible study with the kids next week.

My older ones are really growing in their personal study. Kelsea's been spending alot of time reading her Bible lately. She will start reading Beautiful Girlhood sometime this month. I've not found anything that I like as much for Zerrick yet. I'm still looking though. In the mean time I will have him keep up his journal as he reads on his own.

I've downloaded the Homeschool Tracker for the 3rd time. I've lost it a couple of times in computer crashes. The last time it kept having a bunch of errors. This time maybe I will get it to do what it's supposed to. I've thought about buying the upgraded version but am afraid of spending $40 and it not working. I do have a teacher's planning notebook. It just doesn't cover everything that Homeschool Tracker did. This time, hopefully, it won't let me down.

Ten More Minutes

...till school starts today. Dh is home today. It would be nice for him to see what we do on school days. Some how we always end up playing when he is off. I do plan to get our math, reading, writing, and grammar done for today. Then we will review for our Latin Quiz tomorrow. I want to set Zerrick up for science. I bought him Apologia's General Science on cdrom and then my computer shut down. Hopefully with a new computer he will be able to use it. I'm thinking maybe I should have bought it in book form.

Holidays Were Crazy Now I'm Sick

Ugh! I've been running a fever of 103 all day today. It's gone down to 99 now so I'm feeling a little better. Tomorrow we step back into full swing. Today we did literature. That's it. Literature. Which means we listened to The Return of the King on tape. Oh well I'm trying. I have been cleaning stuff out as I can. I'm a trooper. I figure dh goes to work whether he's sick or not to support us. I can work through being sick and at least go through stuff. It doesn't require much physical work. Who's gonna rest with the kids running around anyway, right?

I will probably start grading papers, for a co-op, tonight. I do have another week and a half before they are done. I worry about procrastinating to the last minute though and not having them done at all. So if I only get to look at one paper tonight it will be better than nothing at all.

Other than that? Nothing has been going on here. We basically cut out any extras for a few weeks and focused on the necessary. The holidays went well but man! time flew. We didn't do a whole lot of projects like dd would have liked to. We did bake alot of cookies though. I think there were just too many people to shop for. I liked it better when I made gifts for everyone. Though I don't think some of the people were as thrilled.

I needed that break from school though. I feel so much more motivated to get stuff done. I think it came just in time before burn out kicked in.